What Does it Mean to Be Strong?
Chasing strength with Stuart Locke
The Why
"I had to lateralize my approach because powerlifting can be taken away from me at any moment. I can still coach if I'm paralyzed. I can always make someone else better. By helping others, I can still get fulfillment from lifting weights." - Stuart Locke
What does strength mean to you?
In classical periods, strength correlated to a higher status within the community. In ancient China, a warrior's physical strength reflected their family's social prowess.
Nowadays, strength is more nuanced, but it still holds immense extrinsic value. And pursuing applause is a slippery slope.
"When you first get into powerlifting, and you're good at it, there's a high degree of extrinsic motivation. People recognize your abilities, and they're nice to you," explains Stuart Locke. "I had to do a lot of work to find my love for training again."
Stu started powerlifting after college. He played football and rugby at the University of Ottawa, so powerlifting came easy.
His first meet was in 2016 at the age of 22. Within a year, he added over 300 pounds to his total, jumping from 1,525 to 1,857 pounds.
Powerlifting measures absolute strength. Lifters see how much weight they can move for one rep. Athletes compete in the squat, deadlift, and bench press and have one attempt to reach their max in each lift.
Unlike finite goals, though, where there's a clear destination or finish line, no such thing exists in powerlifting.
Building strength is like chasing the horizon. You'll never catch it, but that's not the point. Powerlifters are content, never being satisfied.
Lifters spend months, even years, chasing five-pound jumps to their totals. This level of commitment can have serious consequences, though.
There comes a point when every lifter must reconsider their relationship with the concept of strength. For Stu, that moment came on January 4, 2021.
Chasing strength was all Stu knew up until that point. So, when he was diagnosed as bipolar, it nearly broke him.
"A month out from my third meet, I broke my back in June 2018," says Stu. "After a year of rehab, I tore my left quad in May 2019, then my right quad in September 2019. I tore my peck in Jan 2020, but the worst came when I had that mental breakdown. I lost a bunch of weight. I had to reconsider my sport."
They say if you love something enough, it'll test how committed to it you actually are. With his mind and body broken, Stu had to re-examine more than just his sport.
He had to reframe his perspective on strength. Because strength is more than your ability to move weight. It's the capacity to endure extraordinary difficulty and come out the other side kinder.
It's about learning to be a better friend to yourself. It’s the realization that you hold immense intrinsic value, and it's worth sharing.
So, Stu dove head first into coaching. He's now the head coach and managing partner at Kodiak Barbell.
"I had to lateralize my approach because powerlifting can be taken away from me at any moment," says Stu, smiling. "I can still coach if I'm paralyzed. I can always make someone else better. By helping others, I can still get fulfillment from lifting weights."
The Training
Periodization is the most common way to develop a training program. Periodization breaks down your training into different phases, each devoted to different outcomes. There are three main types: linear, undulating, and block. All have merit, but they all struggle to balance competing adaptations.
Competing adaptations
Hypertrophy focuses on increasing your muscle size, tone, and mass. Aerobic capacity refers to the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during a workout. Strength is the amount of weight you can move relative to your body weight.
All are necessary, even in the sport of powerlifting. But you lose previous adaptations if you use traditional periodization methods. So, the best way to ensure you don't regress is to do all these adaptations within one training block.
Conjugate periodization
Conjugative periodization aims to decrease physical weakness by rotating stimuli and intensities. You maintain the previous training cycle's modifications by working on competing adaptations within one training week.
The basics
Stu has never self-programmed. He's always relied on a coach. A basic week for Stu consists of 3-4 days of squatting and deadlifting and 1-2 days of benching. Each session takes between 2-2.5 hours to complete.
Emerging strategies framework
Periodization is a top-down approach. The plan is set, and the athlete executes, regardless of emerging information. "There's a huge variance between athletes, though," says Stu. So, a bottom-up approach may work best.
"The emerging strategies framework is based on the concept of time to peak," explains Stu. "Instead of coming at it from a specific framework, you create a training week and repeat that cycle until there's a drop in performance. You then adapt your programming based on how that person responds to the stimulus." So, as the athlete progresses, you can adapt the plan based on the emerging information.
The Food
Powerlifters must ensure they’re getting adequate protein and carb intake. But they also need to make sure they’re consuming enough.
Weight moves weight.
Powerlifting is a weight-class sport. “The people who are most successful in their weight class are those who fill out their class with less body fat,” explains Stu.
Meet prep
One common mistake powerlifters make is overeating before their meet. Powerlifting meets are a series of three sprints, not a marathon. So, there’s no need to carb load the night before. Instead, focus on low-fiber foods that digest quickly and won’t leave you feeling sluggish.
Supplements
“Do your research,” says Stu. “Creatine, caffeine, and protein powders are all independently verifiable. Everything else has dubious efficacy.”
The Gear
Stu’s gear kit
Powerlifting belt
Wrist wraps
Virus singlet
Knee wraps or sleeves
Squat shoes or flats
Deadlift socks
Lessons Learned
Stu, on what’s not allowed:
“There’s no fucking quitting.”
My $0.02
Strength and physical fitness will always have extrinsic rewards.
That’s not a bad thing.
We all want to look and feel good.
Because compliments are nice. The applause is great.
Until it fades, and you’re right back where you started.
Earn the respect of the person you are today.
Pursue that person’s applause.
Seek their approval.
It’s a much more worthwhile endeavor because if you can’t be a friend to yourself, how can you expect others to?