IoannisDyonisos
Level 1 Valued Member
I have long been interested in Bob Peoples who pulled 728 back in 1947 at about 185 pounds bodyweight and always enjoy reading any articles written by or about him as he is my favorite lifter. In addition to these articles I was pleased to find that Bob Peoples wrote book titled Developing Physical Strength which was an interesting albeit short read.
Anyway Peoples, whose Dead Lift record lasted from 1947 into the mid 1960s, not only often trained the Dead Lift heavy five times a week with a maximum poundage in a low rep rage (generally three to five reps) he almost always hit the Clean and Jerk, Standing Press, Snatch, and Back Squat very if not quite equally as hard during the same workouts. I always looked up to Peoples as motivational as he seemed much more relatable or relevant to myself and what I might be able to accomplish through training than other notable world record holding lifters like the great Soviet weightlifters such as Pisarenko or Alexeyev, American icons such as Paul Anderson or Ted Arcidi, or professional athletes like the members of the Bulgarian weightlifting team or American Football Players as he split most of his time between Farming and full time factory work while building his record Dead Lift and almost certainly was drug free unlike the Soviets, Bulgarians, and Paul Anderson or professional football players.
Most people would tell you that heavy Dead Lifting done five days a week could not possibly be productive much less consider doing that with three-lift Olympic Lifting and Back Squats also added into the same workout as a option that was realistic. I have found however that while jumping vigorously directly into such training might indeed suggest that it is not at all productive and must certainly be unsustainable that the body can adapt to the workload quite nicely. After previously having abandoned efforts to do all of these lifts in one workout twice due to failing to Dead Lift something I could typically easily handle for five once following heavy squats and then finding it completely impossible to stand from what should have been an easy squat clean after Dead Lifting on another occasion I attempted the approach again with the conservative strategy of using insignificant weight in all the exercises and increasing it slowly to substantial poundages and found that my body adapted to the program perfectly.
I now Press, Bench Press, Squat, Snatch, Clean and Jerk, and Dead Lift five days a week in the same session and have exceeded my personal bests in all these lifts whereas before I would more or less focus on one or another and gain strength here while losing it there resulting in a situation where none of my personal bests in any of these exercises co-existed with each other and so I am much better off strength wise I would say. Generally I train three days consecutively take a day off and then train twice consecutively take another day off and repeat that sequence but also I will occasionally take two consecutive rest days.
I believe that Peoples, the Dead Lift, and less commonly his style of training are often misguidedly dismissed due to the fact that Dead Lifts are essentially useless for increasing pressing strength in and of themselves and the completely false but nonetheless prevalent rumor that Bob Peoples could not bench press his bodyweight and was useless in pretty much anything besides Dead Lifts which could not be further from the truth. While it is true that Press was not Peoples best Olympic Lift and he almost never did Bench Presses he managed 225 in the Press on numerous occasions at officiated Olympic weightlifting competitions during the late 1940s when the lift was judged very strictly, broke the official Tennessee State Record in the Snatch at one of those competitions despite always using a shallow power snatch, and is credited by the 1956 head coach of the United States Weightlifting team with having performed a 300 pound Bench Press despite never having trained it seriously. Peoples actually struggled more with fixing the Jerk than Pressing as he rarely managed anything over a 275 pound Clean and Jerk in competition despite being able to power clean over 300 pounds at 185 when the record for C&J in the top weight division was only 402 pounds.
If I remember correctly even Pavel himself actually incorrectly quoted this rumor of Peoples not being able to bench press bodyweight in one of his books which is a good example of how prevalent this misconception is. Peoples furthermore would actually many times use less than perfect form in training sessions as he found incorporation of less than perfect form essential in maximizing strength gains but nonetheless always stressed and practiced perfect form in training for competition and so almost certainly pressed a decent bit over 225 with more of a back bend or a somewhat asymmetrical pressing out of the weight neither of which would pass as a good lift in 1940s weightlifting competition and he also almost certainly did more than his record 728 on Dead Lift with hitching and or straps like many strongmen can often be seen doing in their training. Anyway I was wondering if anyone else here had any old magazines with articles on Peoples training I have not read or had incorporated more his ideas into training than simply exercise selection or the frequency of Dead Lift training with any success.
Anyway Peoples, whose Dead Lift record lasted from 1947 into the mid 1960s, not only often trained the Dead Lift heavy five times a week with a maximum poundage in a low rep rage (generally three to five reps) he almost always hit the Clean and Jerk, Standing Press, Snatch, and Back Squat very if not quite equally as hard during the same workouts. I always looked up to Peoples as motivational as he seemed much more relatable or relevant to myself and what I might be able to accomplish through training than other notable world record holding lifters like the great Soviet weightlifters such as Pisarenko or Alexeyev, American icons such as Paul Anderson or Ted Arcidi, or professional athletes like the members of the Bulgarian weightlifting team or American Football Players as he split most of his time between Farming and full time factory work while building his record Dead Lift and almost certainly was drug free unlike the Soviets, Bulgarians, and Paul Anderson or professional football players.
Most people would tell you that heavy Dead Lifting done five days a week could not possibly be productive much less consider doing that with three-lift Olympic Lifting and Back Squats also added into the same workout as a option that was realistic. I have found however that while jumping vigorously directly into such training might indeed suggest that it is not at all productive and must certainly be unsustainable that the body can adapt to the workload quite nicely. After previously having abandoned efforts to do all of these lifts in one workout twice due to failing to Dead Lift something I could typically easily handle for five once following heavy squats and then finding it completely impossible to stand from what should have been an easy squat clean after Dead Lifting on another occasion I attempted the approach again with the conservative strategy of using insignificant weight in all the exercises and increasing it slowly to substantial poundages and found that my body adapted to the program perfectly.
I now Press, Bench Press, Squat, Snatch, Clean and Jerk, and Dead Lift five days a week in the same session and have exceeded my personal bests in all these lifts whereas before I would more or less focus on one or another and gain strength here while losing it there resulting in a situation where none of my personal bests in any of these exercises co-existed with each other and so I am much better off strength wise I would say. Generally I train three days consecutively take a day off and then train twice consecutively take another day off and repeat that sequence but also I will occasionally take two consecutive rest days.
I believe that Peoples, the Dead Lift, and less commonly his style of training are often misguidedly dismissed due to the fact that Dead Lifts are essentially useless for increasing pressing strength in and of themselves and the completely false but nonetheless prevalent rumor that Bob Peoples could not bench press his bodyweight and was useless in pretty much anything besides Dead Lifts which could not be further from the truth. While it is true that Press was not Peoples best Olympic Lift and he almost never did Bench Presses he managed 225 in the Press on numerous occasions at officiated Olympic weightlifting competitions during the late 1940s when the lift was judged very strictly, broke the official Tennessee State Record in the Snatch at one of those competitions despite always using a shallow power snatch, and is credited by the 1956 head coach of the United States Weightlifting team with having performed a 300 pound Bench Press despite never having trained it seriously. Peoples actually struggled more with fixing the Jerk than Pressing as he rarely managed anything over a 275 pound Clean and Jerk in competition despite being able to power clean over 300 pounds at 185 when the record for C&J in the top weight division was only 402 pounds.
If I remember correctly even Pavel himself actually incorrectly quoted this rumor of Peoples not being able to bench press bodyweight in one of his books which is a good example of how prevalent this misconception is. Peoples furthermore would actually many times use less than perfect form in training sessions as he found incorporation of less than perfect form essential in maximizing strength gains but nonetheless always stressed and practiced perfect form in training for competition and so almost certainly pressed a decent bit over 225 with more of a back bend or a somewhat asymmetrical pressing out of the weight neither of which would pass as a good lift in 1940s weightlifting competition and he also almost certainly did more than his record 728 on Dead Lift with hitching and or straps like many strongmen can often be seen doing in their training. Anyway I was wondering if anyone else here had any old magazines with articles on Peoples training I have not read or had incorporated more his ideas into training than simply exercise selection or the frequency of Dead Lift training with any success.
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