Reactive Training Systems

Rich · Member

RE: Weeks on a cycle

Date: Jul 24, 2008

Mike: I plan on starting this routine August 25th. I'm going to do a rather high volume deadlift routine for 3 weeks to get my sumo deadlift back into shape before then. This also will build up my work capacity even more so I can handle the Russian style routine without a problem. I've made it through the Smolov squat routine a few times with no problem and amazing gains, so I'm thinking this russian style training will be great for me.

Rich: PTP = Power to the People. It is a book by Pavel Tsatouline. It is a very good read if you want to learn a great deal about strength training.

I found the Sheiko volume/intensity outlines on the DragonDoor website. I believe the article was called "Peaking on Demand." I've read nearly every article on that website as they are high quality and you will learn a lot.

You can find a couple of Sheiko routines as well on JoeSkopec Powerlifting.

Mike Tuchscherer · Guru

I agree on PTP. Eric Talmant posts on this website and EliteFTS.com and he's a virtual expert on russian/sheiko style programming. He does a lot of Q&A about it on the Elite website, so if you're interested in getting questions answered about that style of programming in particular, I'd direct you to him.

As far as the Safe's Contenders... I love 'em. Here's my shoe story....
When I first started, I got a pair of rebock hi tops (same style, but I think they were Nike... who cares). I loved 'em and they felt a lot better than my tennis shoes. Then I got a pair of chuck taylors and I thought they were SO much more stable than the other shoes. Years went by. I got a pair of olympic shoes for assistance work. All of a sudden, my Chucks didn't feel as stable anymore. I then bought the safe's shoes and now I feel like I'm setting up on concrete blocks. They're awesome. There's a couple of take-aways here:
1) the stability of your shoe is relative to what you've experienced. Until you feel stable, you don't know what stable is.
2) The safe's shoes are fantastic.

That said, if you like squatting with a heel, a lot of guys are going with the AdiStar's. From what I've seen, the material on the upper can be a little flimsy and unsuppportive. Sherman at Quest will be coming out with a new squat shoe that will be totally bad-ass if you like the adistars. He has sold the Do-Win's in the past, but feels that the heel is too tall. The new shoe will be somewhat of a hybrid between the sturdy construction of the Do-Win's and the Just-Right heel of the adistars. It looks to be pretty awesome, but I don't think it will be available until October or so.