Hi to all....
I guess you could call me a newbie to your particular neck of the woods...i've spent the last four years training (perhaps overly so....more later) as a bodybuilder, but have recently developed a passionate interest in making solid strength gains and making strides in my muscle maturity, as my foolish adherence to various M&F and Flex mags in my younger days resulted in a great deal of cable and machine work at the expense of the two attributes i'm seeking...though the core was ALWAYS free weight compound exercises. Don't get me wrong, every cloud has a very silver lining, and in this case my early reliance on "detail" work has yielded me a relatively proportional physique that is well-balanced. However, I have certainly encountered a point of diminishing returns: I'm stuck somewhere between abercrombie model and the physique i'd ultimately like to have at 6'1" and 235lbs (give or take...having gone as heavy as 252).
On the advice of PLJay (who assured me that powerlifters don't despise builders and generally are more than willing to offer up advice and welcome newcomers to their ranks...of which he appears to be a paramount example).
Anyway, long story short.....I don't see myself fully converting to powerlifting permanently (might as well be honest), but would like to immerse myself in it a bit to the point I may entertain the notion of entering a contest. While strong by normal gym standards (maxes of 315 bench, 225 military, 275 incline, 405 strict form dead, 455 nonstrict) I'm definitely one of the weaker ones in this forum, especially given my bodyweight. I'd like to see a 405 bench and (maybe?) a 600 dead within the next few years (four or so??). Anyway, plan on getting my feet wet with the basic nine week routine outlined on elitefitnesssystems.com, perhaps adding in "some" chain work at the midpoint (as the program is designed without it), as the lockout is one of my strong points (on both bench and dead) and I've been trying to find a creative way (aside from partials) to give that portion of the lift justice. Hoping you'll all be as willing (and friendly) as PLJay in tolerating my questions as they come up.
Awesome forum btw....training videos from all are inspiring as hell!
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