# About to Join the 1000 Pound Club **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431 "2009-02-04T16:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flyhalf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea5d25/32.png) [@Flyhalf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyhalf)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/21 "2009-02-04T23:29:48Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Make sure your neck isn’t still pencil thin like it was when you were standoff. It’s going to be sore till Wednesday from a match on Saturday; get used to that. Also, it’s considered bad form to have a comb in your pocket in the scrummage. I was never that small. I was put into the backs when I started because there wasn’t a spot for me in the forwards and I was pretty fast. So basically I’ve always been a forward who just happened to play in the backline (and select side at that). Also, I’ve propped before (I have played EVERY position in a match at one time or another) and so I feel like I’m coming home after 17 years. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/22 "2009-02-04T23:42:24Z")
Ugh, squats. Almost as evil as the squat-_thrusts_ I used to have to do at the drop of a hat in the Army. God I hated that exercise. Give me the pushups, the situps, the running, but stuff the squat thrusts up yer arse, drill sergeant! Oh, and congrats **Santo Rugger**. I’ve been contemplating whipping this almost 40 year old body back into shape recently, as I’ve noticed that my two young sons are starting to wear my ass out! ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/23 "2009-02-04T23:57:33Z")
I also thought the title meant **Santo Rugger** weighed 1000 pounds. Hey, we’re a bunch of geeks sitting at the computer… 😃 Anyway, I’ll call you when I need my piano moved, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/24 "2009-02-05T02:03:17Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > 315 is my current goal on bench; it would be so awesome to put up three plates, especially since that’s about when you can notice the bar bending when you take it off the rack (plus, I mean… come on! It’s THREE plates!). I looked into bench shirts, but I’m just now getting to the point where I’m letting myself take creatine and using lifting straps, so a bench shirt isn’t really in my realm of thought right now. If you don’t mind some unsolicited advice I think lifting straps and bench shirts are a waste of time anyway when training for fitness or a sport other than powerlifting, that’s just my biased opinion of course, YMMV. You don’t wear lifting straps on the rugby pitch so why wear them in the gym; you can get a really strong grip by learning to use a hook grip on deadlifts like olympic lifters do. You might want to wait until the offseason, of course, to try anything new like that. I started weightlifting for high school rugby and really wish I would have known about Bill Starr and his ilk back then. Most people don’t follow Olympic lifting any more, check out the strongest man in the world [Hossein Reza-Zadeh.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijQwHIKzMbo&feature=related) BTW: The weights lifted in the vid are in the 400-500 lb range, he has clean & jerked 263 kg. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/25 "2009-02-05T03:22:39Z")
> [@HongKongFooey](#): > > If you don’t mind some unsolicited advice I think lifting straps and bench shirts are a waste of time anyway when training for fitness or a sport other than powerlifting, that’s just my biased opinion of course, YMMV. You don’t wear lifting straps on the rugby pitch so why wear them in the gym; you can get a really strong grip by learning to use a hook grip on deadlifts like olympic lifters do. You might want to wait until the offseason, of course, to try anything new like that. I started weightlifting for high school rugby and really wish I would have known about Bill Starr and his ilk back then. Pour on the advice. I’ve lifted on and off for the last 10 years, but never with the goal of putting up bigger numbers; it was always to increase my endurance. I completely agree with you, though, and I only use the straps for my highest or two highest lifts of the day. For the record, I came in 10 pounds under 1000 on my dead lifts today. I wasn’t disappointed, though, because I was doing five reps at 350; I just got too tired to get the 360 up. I just discovered the hook grip a couple weeks ago. I keep forgetting to try it out, but it looks promising. I’ve read that it hurts your thumb really bad, and both of my thumbs have been so badly jammed at several points in time that I’m a bit skittish about it. But I’m going to try it any way. FWIW, one of my best tackling games ever was when both my thumbs were busted, and I couldn’t grab anything at all. Made me wrap up really well. > [@](#): > > Most people don’t follow Olympic lifting any more, check out the strongest man in the world [Hossein Reza-Zadeh.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijQwHIKzMbo&feature=related) BTW: The weights lifted in the vid are in the 400-500 lb range, he has clean & jerked 263 kg. Holy. Crap. I wonder what that guy weighs, because 105kg+ doesn’t seem very descriptive. Hell, I weigh 105kg+, and I’d look absolutely _tiny_ next to him!!! ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/26 "2009-02-05T03:25:58Z")
> [@Flyhalf](#): > > I was never that small. I was put into the backs when I started because there wasn’t a spot for me in the forwards and I was pretty fast. So basically I’ve always been a forward who just happened to play in the backline (and select side at that). > > Also, I’ve propped before (I have played EVERY position in a match at one time or another) and so I feel like I’m coming home after 17 years. Well, in that case… Glad to have you back, Donkey! 😃 > [@Sonnenstrahl](#): > > I also thought the title meant **Santo Rugger** weighed 1000 pounds. Hey, we’re a bunch of geeks sitting at the computer… 😃 > > Anyway, I’ll call you when I need my piano moved, thanks. > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Er, congrats, BTW. That should come in handy if you even need to move a fridge. 🙂 Speaking of geeks in front of the computer, I’ve been helping my friends move since my first day of college. I went to an engineering school, so we were all a bunch of nerds. I climbed the stairs countless times and met a bunch of grateful parents that day. And also shaved two guys heads, but that’s a different story. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/27 "2009-02-05T04:12:00Z")
Congratulations on your accomplishment. It sounds much harder to achieve than weighing 1000 lbs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HellsBreezeway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HellsBreezeway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HellsBreezeway)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/28 "2009-02-05T05:01:35Z")
Damn! Congrats on the huge lifts. I would love to put up numbers like that someday, but I’m doing too much endurance training right now for big strength gains. After fire season I’m planning on a couple months of hardcore barbell training. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/29 "2009-02-05T05:08:30Z")
**Hells** , let me know when you want to get started on that, I’ll forward you some of the programs that were shared with me. A lot of them are 8 week programs, 3 times a week, which seems like it might suit you well. As **Fooey** said, though, if you look into Bill Starr, madcow, and Starting Strength, you should be able to find everything you need. ---
**Author:** ![HellsBreezeway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HellsBreezeway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HellsBreezeway)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/30 "2009-02-05T07:43:46Z")
Yeah, I’m a big SS/Crossfit freak. I did SS workouts religiously for a month in the spring and the gains were pretty awesome. But it was amazing how quickly those three workouts a week took up all my time, by the time I got done eating 4000 calories and sleeping 10 hours a day. What 8 week program do you have? That sounds ideal. (I’m still a pretty novice lifter: BP 170, squat 215, DL 300 at BW 160. If that makes any difference.) ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/31 "2009-02-05T10:46:08Z")
Again colour me impressed with these achievements. I’m currently on 176 for squats (2x10 reps) and 143 for deadlift (2x10 reps as well) - my weights are in KG which is why they probably seem a little strange. But then I’m a 5’7 guy who weighs about 155lb so I don’t think what I’m lifting is proportionately too bad, and I’m certainly no rugby player (although maybe I’m missing out given that I hear they’re not called rugger buggers for nothing 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/32 "2009-02-05T11:45:38Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Holy. Crap. I wonder what that guy weighs, because 105kg+ doesn’t seem very descriptive. Hell, I weigh 105kg+, and I’d look absolutely _tiny_ next to him!!! 6’1" 360 lbs as far as I recall. I think of myself struggling to break 300+ lbs from the floor and then I imagine what it must be like to be standing in front of a bar loaded to to 580 lbs and knowing you are about to hold it at arm’s length above your head. I can’t believe there are human beings that strong. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431/33 "2009-02-06T04:18:03Z")
> [@HellsBreezeway](#): > > What 8 week program do you have? That sounds ideal. (I’m still a pretty novice lifter: BP 170, squat 215, DL 300 at BW 160. If that makes any difference.) The think I realized was that beginner, intermediate, and advanced aren’t determined by how long you’ve been lifting or how much experience you have, but by how fast your gains are coming up. There’s a _lot_ of stuff out there, but the one recommended to me that I ended up using was: > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! There’s a bunch of 5x5 programs by these guys out there, but they’re all basically squatting three times a week, benching and barbell rows twice a week, deadlifts and military presses once a week. Since I’m technically a beginner, I modified the numbers heavily (there’s an Excel spreadsheet you can download), and gained up much faster than they suggest for intermediates. The programs look funny, because there’s no bicep or tricep, only one chest workout, only one back workout, very little shoulders, no extensions or leg curls. But, trust me, when you’re at the end of that workout, you won’t have the energy to do any more sets. Plus, you work your secondary muscles a _lot_ more than you think with bench and rows. > [@HongKongFooey](#): > > 6’1" 360 lbs as far as I recall. I think of myself struggling to break 300+ lbs from the floor and then I imagine what it must be like to be standing in front of a bar loaded to to 580 lbs and knowing you are about to hold it at arm’s length above your head. I can’t believe there are human beings that strong. Again. Holy. Crap. I certainly remember not being able to break 225 from the floor. The first time I attempted 315, I was so surprised that I actually got it up that I almost dropped it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-to-join-the-1000-pound-club/484431.md?page=1)