EDITOR’S NOTE:
Welcome to the Athlete Journal of world champion powerlifter Chris Duffin. Follow Chris as he trains and competes in various events over the coming year. Chris’s journal will be posted every Tuesday.
BRIEF BACKGROUND (for more detail – my personal website KabukiWarrior)
To provide a little background I am a competitive strength athlete in powerlifting but also known for some of my strength and work capacity “feats” I’ve done in exhibitions. In addition to being an athlete, I am also owner and Head Strength Coach at Elite Performance Center in Portland Oregon. In the past three years I’ve been ranked number one in the world for either the deadlift or squat in my weight class.
This year I have decided to get into raw powerlifting. Raw lifting is done with only the use of a belt, wrist wraps, and possibly knee wraps (depending on the sanctioning body). This is as opposed to the use of the special powerlifting suits and shirts that provide extra support. Raw lifting is much more challenging on your body over the long term than when using this supportive gear, but right now I’m looking for the extra challenge.
I did my first raw competition in March of this year, which gave me the current number one ranked raw total in the 220lb class.
CURRENT COMPETITIVE PLAN
My raw competitions over the next year are my priority. They are in August, December, and February of 2013. I have a few other competitions to do, however, too. In November I plan on doing Worlds in multiply powerlifting as it in the US this year, which I may not see again in my career. To qualify I have to place at the top three in Nationals at the end of May. I hope to qualify with minimal specific training in powerlifting gear so I can continue with my raw training. I will also be competing against strongman Derek Poundstone in July at a deadlift event, if I can fit it in.
- May 2012 – Nationals, wearing minimal powerlifting gear
- July 2012 – Deadlift with Poundstone
- August 2012 – Raw Pro/Am
- November – Worlds, in powerlifting gear
- December – Raw meet in Oregon
- February – Raw unity meet
TRAINING WEEK ENDING 5/5/12
MONDAY
The prior week I trained pretty hard and Monday was my fourth day straight of training. I began warming up and on my last warm-up set I decided it was time to just take it easy and give myself a break.
Bench
135×10
225×5
315×5
375×3
Stopped here
Prowler
3 x 150ft passes with the prowler for a little conditioning work
WEDNESDAY
Squats
165×5, 5
275×5
385×3
495×1 added belt
585×1 added knee wraps
650×1
715×1
805×1 added power briefs (typically worn under a power suit)
825×1
Glute Ham Raise
BW x 25
BW+2 chains on neck x 16,16,12
FRIDAY
Stretching x 30min
Dynamic Effort Bench
145+#2 bands doubled – approx 16 sets of 3 w/20sec rest between sets
Messed around with some Clubs
One-arm Snatch & Windmill (Had never done these before so just trying to learn the motion)
45×5
65×3
105×3
135×1
Ab work on Swiss Ball
Ab/Psoas work with “deadbugs”
SATURDAY
8:30am Fasted training
Speed Squats to 14” foam Box using Buffalo bar
Warm-up then
155+320(in bands) Approx. 10 sets of 2 reps w/40 sec rest between sets
Filmed to show how you set that pace w/3 people
Deadlift w/Hook Grip
3rd week of hook grip and still trying to desensitize thumbs
475×1 w/5 second hold
545×1 w/5 second hold
605×1 w/5 second hold
635×1 w/15 second hold… yes 15 seconds!! My thumbs were screaming
1 arm Dumbell Row – Strict
150×22,20 per side
Chins
BW x 10,5
Kettlebell Face Pulls (technique available on EPC Website)
50×16,16,10
See ya a little stronger next week.
