F-Mac

[F-Mac]

Hello, my name is F-Mac and I have been fortunate enough to be considered "Strength Verified" here at IA.com.

I currently compete in powerlifting in the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) which uses the IPF rule book.

My best lifts in a meet are a 617 squat, a 413 bench, and a 606 deadlift all done in single ply gear in the 242lb weight class.

I was heavily involved with sports from a young age. I played hockey, baseball, football, and rugby up until I graduated highschool. I didn't start training seriously with weights until I was in university.

Initially I started doing a typical high volume bodybuilding style split and training 5x per week. Most people will rag on this type of training but it worked very well for me as a newbie and I managed to go from 165 to 207 over approximately 5 months while still having a visible 6-pack. The main reasons I believe this worked was because despite the fact that I was doing a TON of volume, I was (inadvertantly) doing all of the big strength exercises (bench, squat, deadlift, rows, overhead presses) and eating a shit ton of food.

Following this I continued messing around with BB style splits, diets, etc and my weight fluctuated between 190 and 220 for several years without making any real progress.

One day I stumbled upon a hard-gainer style workout & diet plan (can't for the life of me remember what it was called) which basically had me training 4x per week with all supersets while stuffing my face with tons of food and high calorie shakes.

My weight went up (as did bodyfat) and so did my strength........initially.

I eventually stalled, got sick of being fat, and cut back down to around 205. My strength numbers were "ok" for the average gym rat but I still couldn't bench 3 plates or squat over 500.

This is when I came across IA.com and had wes train me for about a year and a half. During that time my strength numbers shot up, my diet got way better, and I got to a point where I could easily bench 3 plates and squat over 5.

After training with IA for a while I decided to try it on my own again and have gradually managed to get my weight up to around 245lbs while only geting moderately chubby (my diet is mostly to blame for that.....it is not great, but I am slowly cleaning it up). The primary training style I used after training with IA was a slightly modified 5x5 which worked very very well for strength but I did have to add in more deloading than what you see in the "Madcow" versions.

For the past year or so I have had a training coach who trains a lot of lifters in my powerlifting federation. My routines right now are centered around slow linear progression with rest periods tossed in as required. I start well below my max and work up slowly over the weeks adding 5 lbs or a rep or 2 each week. This has been working fairly well for me thus far.

I plan on competing at the Canadian Nationals again next year in April after which time I will likely go on my own again and do a little bit more experimentation. Thanks for reading.

[iron addict]

THANKS for sharing!

Wesley

[Billsterl]

f-mac which city of canada do u live in? and do u know how i can find some real gyms around here?

[F-Mac]

Bill, I am in Fort McMurray, AB.

I don't know any guys from your area, but I did come across a website put together by a guy over on MMI that has a pretty detailed listing of gyms worldwide.........might want to check that out:

www.gymvisit.com

[clickclickbooM]

Originally Posted by F-Mac

Bill, I am in Fort McMurray, AB.

I don't know any guys from your area, but I did come across a website put together by a guy over on MMI that has a pretty detailed listing of gyms worldwide.........might want to check that out:

www.gymvisit.com

fort mcmurray eh.. my dad just visited there

im from kamloops BC

good read anyways