Richard Hawthorne is a phenomenal powerlifter. He didn’t get that way over night. I am sure he is naturally talented, but he still had to put in the time to gain the strength necessary to hit a 650 pound deadlift in competition at a bodyweight of only 130 pounds. You can see him in action if you watch the next video where he is deadlifting 610 pounds for four reps.
610 x 4 reps
Go Slow and Never Hit a Plateau
Richard shares some of his wisdom about how to gain fast, but he emphasizes that if you are in such a big hurry to get strong that you lift too heavy and compromise on your training form, you will eventually hit a plateau and have to start over with the right form. This will take longer than starting out with lighter weights in the beginning but never hitting a plateau, so you must never add so much weight that you make habit of lifting with bad form. I am example of someone who was always in a hurry and used bad form, but I eventually learned to only add weight if I could maintain good form. Yes, it seems slower in the beginning, but it in the end, you gain more strength.
Listen to Richard’s advice in the following video:
Just to highlight some of what Richard said, He emphasized the following:
It sounds like a contradiction, but Richard says the way to get stronger faster is to slow down and take the time to get those reps and sets underneath your belt. Doing it the right way is going to take time, but if you do it the wrong way, it’s really going to take time.
Once again I agree with Richard. In doing so, I must confess that precision point training isn’t designed to bring you the very fastest results, but is designed to help you achieve repeatable sustainable results. I believe the best way to do this is to use perfect form and train according to your capacities for strong training by maintaining the same rep pace throughout each set, and by stopping each set at the point where you feel that a steady rep pace and/or form will break down. This must be done within the context of repeating sets for a muscle group as long as it is at full strength, but no longer. Consider these recommendations if your main goal is ongoing consistent strength gains. Best of training to you.