Balancing Life & Lifting with Pete Rubish

[Pete Rubish]

Hey guys! First off, I just want to say that it's a privilege to be a part of the Animal team and I look forward to growing stronger and helping others grow stronger with a great company by my side. I'm starting this thread as a way for you guys to ask me any questions that you may have. Whether it has to do with my training, nutrition, supplementation, or really anything general, feel free to ask away!

A little background on me is that I used to compete in the 242 class, but now compete in the 220 class. I've totaled 1851 without knee wraps and my best meet lifts are a 667 squat without wraps, 418 bench, and 788 deadlift without a belt.

[Universal Rep]

Saw ur intraworkout shake mix of Juiced Aminos and Powerade. How does that bad boy taste?

[knotahumanbeing]

Congrats man, well deserved.

[Pete Rubish]

Saw ur intraworkout shake mix of Juiced Aminos and Powerade. How does that bad boy taste?

Pretty darn good, but I will honestly say that I've been using the Juiced Aminos only now and it tastes just as good. Strawberry Limeade is definitely my favorite. Loving all the new flavors.

Congrats man, well deserved.

Thanks buddy, I'm excited to have this opportunity!

[Lethall105]

Yessss!! So excited for you Pete, well deserved! Will we ever see any lifting back in a basement with the washer/dryer going crazy again? On a more serious note, what are your current accessories for bench and deadlift? How do you go about choosing them, and how long do you incorporate them into your training for?

All the best
Lethall

[Pete Rubish]

Yessss!! So excited for you Pete, well deserved! Will we ever see any lifting back in a basement with the washer/dryer going crazy again? On a more serious note, what are your current accessories for bench and deadlift? How do you go about choosing them, and how long do you incorporate them into your training for?

All the best
Lethall

Well someday I do hope to own my own home and we will definitely be putting in a garage gym. So while it may not be the basement gym that we all remember, it will be similar. There's no doubt about it, I tend to get more intense when I'm in a private environment.

My current accessories for bench are primarily: military press, football bar military press, tricep pushdown variations
My current accessories for deadlift are primarily: safety-bar squats, barbell seal rows, and 45 degree barbell back raises with long pauses at the top (These are all done beltless of course)

I basically incorporate these movements and keep them as my only accessories for my entire 15-20 week meet prep. A common mistake is that lifters rotate movements all the time, whether it's main lifts or accessories. You find what works and you stick with it.

[LoneWolf45]

Yo Pete, In the past you have talked about dieting down to stay lean, but also still want to be strong. How do you balance strength with staying lean. Obviously i could eat a ton to add a few extra pound to my total, and sacrifice looks for being stronger. I would rather stay in decent shape even if it means slower progress in strength, is that possible?

[Pete Rubish]

Yo Pete, In the past you have talked about dieting down to stay lean, but also still want to be strong. How do you balance strength with staying lean. Obviously i could eat a ton to add a few extra pound to my total, and sacrifice looks for being stronger. I would rather stay in decent shape even if it means slower progress in strength, is that possible?

Big time fell off the map this last month, so sorry for the late response here. It's been a hectic time with moving to a new state and all.

But to answer your question, I have always been blessed with pretty lean genetics although I certainly know what it takes to lean out even more. I've found that I run into problems staying strong on a diet when I cut out all processed types of food. I really think you need to still be getting in some of those not so good calories around your training. What would happen is that I'd eat baked chicken and rice, only to hit a wall and run out of energy very early on in my training. So my main suggestion would simply be to make sure you're still eating enough to be strong and get in plenty of food preworkout.

[Strength Cleveland]

Hi pete, know you tried smolov when you were younger, what was your experience with it?

[GunRock]

Hi pete, know you tried smolov when you were younger, what was your experience with it?

I'm going to see Pete tomorrow at our seminar, I think this is a great question to ask him. If I get to ask him, I'll video his response and post it for you.

[GunRock]

Hi pete, know you tried smolov when you were younger, what was your experience with it?

Strength Cleveland, I asked Pete your question, he basically said that programs like that run the risk of overtraining lifters. He prefers to use an RPE approach to training so he can train according to how he feels. He also said that your squat is going to improve but that it's going to come at a price because of all of the squatting. He thinks that sort of training frequency can be too much for lifters.

[Pete Rubish]

Hi pete, know you tried smolov when you were younger, what was your experience with it?

Strength Cleveland, I asked Pete your question, he basically said that programs like that run the risk of overtraining lifters. He prefers to use an RPE approach to training so he can train according to how he feels. He also said that your squat is going to improve but that it's going to come at a price because of all of the squatting. He thinks that sort of training frequency can be too much for lifters.

Yep, while Smolov is a short-term solution that can work and add a lot of pounds to your squat quickly, you have to also think about the toll it can take on your body in the long run. I always wonder if that had any role to play in my hip having the issues it's had. It's VERY tough on the body to be handling weights in the 75-90% range four days a week. The whole methodology behind smolov is that you build up such an insane foundation and volume tolerance, that when you back off from it your strength goes through the roof. But most people can't make it through the program or even the initial four week base mesocycle without suffering an injury. There's a reason why you don't see elite powerlifters using it. It's not because it won't work, it's because they wouldn't get through it without injury. So I am not big on it.

[Strength Cleveland]

Yep, while Smolov is a short-term solution that can work and add a lot of pounds to your squat quickly, you have to also think about the toll it can take on your body in the long run. I always wonder if that had any role to play in my hip having the issues it's had. It's VERY tough on the body to be handling weights in the 75-90% range four days a week. The whole methodology behind smolov is that you build up such an insane foundation and volume tolerance, that when you back off from it your strength goes through the roof. But most people can't make it through the program or even the initial four week base mesocycle without suffering an injury. There's a reason why you don't see elite powerlifters using it. It's not because it won't work, it's because they wouldn't get through it without injury. So I am not big on it.

Thank you guys so much for your help! So much respect and admiration for you Pete.

[C.Coronato]

How'd the seminar go? I woulda loved to see that!

[Pete Rubish]

Thank you guys so much for your help! So much respect and admiration for you Pete.

I appreciate it man! Sorry I was a little late on the response there.

How'd the seminar go? I woulda loved to see that!

The seminar went very well! I have never done one before, but now I feel comfortable with it and would love to do plenty more. Leanna had a blast as well, so we're hoping to do some more together. I also have to give John Greaves props for organizing everything.

[Strength Cleveland]

One more question, I know in a video a long time ago you mentioned the Supple Leopard, what are some other good pieces of literature for powerlifting?

[Pete Rubish]

One more question, I know in a video a long time ago you mentioned the Supple Leopard, what are some other good pieces of literature for powerlifting?

I'm not real sure as far as books, but I love to reference Kelly Starrett's mobilitywod youtube channel and the supertraining06 youtube channel puts out a lot of great informative videos with top lifters. Those have helped me a lot.

[DJBraddy]

yo Pete,

first off hope to meet you when i get back from deployment and i am on post leave. I am gonna try to get up with Gunrock and do some training, so maybe I will see you by chance.

second, do you have any recommendations on fixing the dreaded good morning squat. i just noticed today that when im dropping into my squat my bar path shifts forward from centered on my foot to my toes which i believe leads to my hips shooting up and thus causing a good morning squat....any help would be greatly appreciated.
I started strengthening my quads as i thought this may be the problem but im not too sure.


thanks for any response,
dylan

[Pete Rubish]

yo Pete,

first off hope to meet you when i get back from deployment and i am on post leave. I am gonna try to get up with Gunrock and do some training, so maybe I will see you by chance.

second, do you have any recommendations on fixing the dreaded good morning squat. i just noticed today that when im dropping into my squat my bar path shifts forward from centered on my foot to my toes which i believe leads to my hips shooting up and thus causing a good morning squat....any help would be greatly appreciated.
I started strengthening my quads as i thought this may be the problem but im not too sure.


thanks for any response,
dylan

Well if you're in North Carolina, then you're certainly not far from me. I drive through there on my way down to Georgia every once in awhile anyway.

If you're getting pitched forward on squats, that generally comes down to switching from a high bar position to a low bar position. Whenever I squat high bar, that definitely tends to happen to me as the weights get heavier and my back wants to take over. It's much less of a thing if you get the bar low enough. But the problem with low bar is that it can aggravate your elbow, forearms, and shoulders in some instances.

[DJBraddy]

Well if you're in North Carolina, then you're certainly not far from me. I drive through there on my way down to Georgia every once in awhile anyway.

If you're getting pitched forward on squats, that generally comes down to switching from a high bar position to a low bar position. Whenever I squat high bar, that definitely tends to happen to me as the weights get heavier and my back wants to take over. It's much less of a thing if you get the bar low enough. But the problem with low bar is that it can aggravate your elbow, forearms, and shoulders in some instances.

I am dude. I am stationed at lejeune. I'll be back in Jan if all things go as planned for us. You plan on going to the cage this year? I am trying to get the money and leave together to go this year.
On to training though, I squat low bar, pull conventional. I think I had begun to ego lift a tad and that is what was leading to the squat problem so I backed off a tad and started 5/3/1 and thus far have met all of my goals on reps so we will see where this leads me. I also do not think I was focusing on driving my back into the bar, just driving my hips up so my chest was falling and making the bar drift over my toes a tad putting a lot of strain on my back. I am now trying to correct that but I am learning this all on my own as I have no coach.
My goals are 405/315/550 at my first meet maybe later next year.
Anyways man hope I didn't ramble on or soak up too much of your time, but thanks for the response.

-Dylan