Raffi

Raffi had already resistance trained for 6 years in addition to many more playing soccer, water polo, judo, and BJJ, before beginning Power Block training with me.

Within the first 6 weeks of training he was able to

• hit a 100lbs PR in the deadlift, going from 235 lbs to 335 lbs in his first test
• increase his power clean from 0 lbs to 205 lbs
• improved his max deadlift to 335 lbs (almost a 50% increase) in 2.2% of the time it took him to get to 235 lbs

Prior to training with me, he had not done a single power clean. To go from that to 205 lbs at a bodyweight of 185 lbs as an already fully grown man whose focus was not power training or Olympic lifting is pretty much unheard of. We didn’t do a single set of less than 10 reps until he attempted his 1RM during testing, hitting 195 lbs on the first day and 205 lbs on the following test.

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Raffi’s max went from 335 lbs in the deadlift to 400 lbs in another 9 weeks. He went from a max of 235 lbs to a max of 410 lbs in 6 months training despite having already lifted weights on a split program 3–5X a week consistently for the past 6 years! He wasn’t just floundering on his own either; he was following a designed program as directed by his soccer and water polo coaches. His shoulder press max also increased to 195 lbs up from his pre PB PR of 145 lbs. Raffi’s 1RM for pullups was 90 lbs extra on the belt and in under a year of training it is now 155 lbs extra while his BW is still the same 184–188 lbs. His muscular endurance is also drastically improved as he went from being able to do around 15 pullups to 27, without letting go of the bar. As more evidence of his much improved endurance and cardio, which was the focus via high volume training, Raffi also holds the pace PR out of all Power Block athletes I have coached, finishing all 5 sets of a tough metabolic workout in just 37 minutes. It’s also important to note that the volume of weight he was able to lift per workout increased by about the same amount as his strength, measured by 1RMs, increased, showing that his strength and endurance are improving simultaneously, something truly remarkable and special to PBT.

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The magnitude of results Raffi saw are truly unheard of both in theory and in practice; throughout my strength and conditioning career whether I was at a high school, D3 college, UCLA, working with professionals or with the general population. Raffi has reliably been able to hit 80% of his 1RM for 6 reps in a block for anywhere from 3 to 6 sets throughout his time PB training, even as his max has continued to improve, showing that this is not some fluke only accomplishable through ‘newbie gains’ at the start of one’s lifting career.