Written by: Kevin Cann I am writing this article as a person who makes a full time living as a powerlifting coach. I do not own a gym, I am not a personal trainer, all I coach are competitive powerlifters. With that said, many will get upset with the words written in this article. I am not writing this to upset anyone but stating my opinions on this matter as it pertains to the growth Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann My Instagram feed is constantly filled with lifters hitting personal records (PR). Most of these PRs that I see are actually hit in the gym. Now, the goal of powerlifting as a sport is to be hitting your best lifts at the most important competitions of the year. If you are not hitting your best lifts on the platform at the most important competitions, then something is going wrong with your Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I wrote extensively about my failed RPE experiment not too long ago. I was pretty confident that I could combine an RPE system with a Sheiko program. The problem was that it did not work. The RPEs were too light for some days and too heavy for others. You see, there is a nice flow with a Sheiko program. There are some hard days that force the body to adapt, medium Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann Zatsiorsky states in The Science and Practice of Strength Training That the maximal effort method is the act of lifting a maximal load against maximal resistance. This method, according to Zatsiorsky, is best for improving the intramuscular and intermuscular coordination to improve maximal strength. He is basically saying that lifting heavy is best to lift heavy due to the adaptations of the muscles and the central nervous system. Any lift taken between 90% Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann That title is part click bait and part truth. For those of you that know me, know that I feel that Westside style training is very inadequate for the raw powerlifter. Multiply and raw are vastly different sports. Best way I have heard it explained is through this analogy. Racquetball and tennis are both racquet sports, but vastly different in how they are played. The same goes for raw and multiply. Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann Dave Tate of EliteFTS posted this question on Instagram the other day: “Most coaches I speak to that only endorse the “sports specific” angle for powerlifting (only do the specific competition lifts) would have a more expanded view of the training process if they took the time to learn what dynamic correspondence is.” The wording of this question bothers me a bit. Explain why you do things a specific way instead Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I typically write posts about training. This one is going to be a little different. The last month has seen some major changes for the Precision Powerlifting Systems crew. We are no longer affiliated with Total Performance Sports as of January. We are our own entity now. We are now located at RX Strength Training in Somerville. Jeff, the owner, is an awesome guy and has created a great training environment Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann Progressing a program is something that is a necessary part of getting stronger. However, I feel many athletes and coaches may not know how to do it appropriately. There are a number of ways in which you can progress a program. The most usual are adding weight to the bar or adding in more repetitions. However, when do we know when it is appropriate to add more weight on the bar Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann No matter what program you follow, it has to abide by the scientific principles in order for it to be effective. The more principles that the program abides by and follows, the more optimal that it will be. I am going to give a quick rundown of these principles. Most of which are well explained in Dr. Mike Israetel, Dr. James Hoffman, and Chad Wesley Smith’s book “Scientific Principles of Strength Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann This is a question that I receive a lot from my lifters. “Hey Kev, when do we get a deload?” In most cases it is more of a joke than anything else. However, I feel the need to explain the concepts of the deload in a Sheiko based program. Often times we see deloads put into a program every 3 to 8 weeks or so. The time frame here can vary. Read More