Lets Talk Linear Periodisation with WSM Martins Licis

2019 Worlds Strongest Man champ MARTIINS Licis, talks us through linear periodisation and how how he structures his training cycles into two 6 months phases.
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[@paullee3660]

I love that Martins always explains what he is doing and doesn’t just show videos of himself lifting.

[@santiagosola6144]

So basically you train like a mortal for four months and the last two you go super saiyan.

[@Jeton6]

it's fascinating that Martins' accent is distinctly more pronounced here than in his own vids. great interview.

[@mightyquinn5135]

Most people including myself are to impatient to wait a year or even 6 months to measure their gains. But I wish I had taken this approach as a young man.

[@Housemusic90]

Haha exactly! I love to peak almost all the time.. but Im full of injuries

[@PhiyackYuh]

@@Housemusic90 well you are at almost peak all the time though. Full peak of injuries 😂

[@TylerSmithMusic1]

He is such a smart guy. Martins should commentate or coach after his career

[@diegom.4537]

Thing is, he seems to be smart enough for his career to last decades. Training smartly guarantees longevity. I mean, not complaining. I am willing to watch a lot more content from Martins. I just think it will take a really long time for him to retire, if he wants to.

[@billysharp5443]

@@diegom.4537 He's said in the past he wants to branch out into other strength sports, Olympic lifting for example. Think that would be a great idea, solidify your rep as one of the strongest ever in multiple sports. Bit like Thor, won WSM and Arnold plus loads of others and also totalled 1100 in powerlifting after a very short prep. Or Hicks, another 1100 not quite been able to replicate it in Strongman, I know he won brits but talking about the major shows, but he's still a fantastic Strongman. Branch out.

[@makaan699]

​@@billysharp5443 But picking up weightlifting seriously at the age of 30+ is quite hard to imagine. Most pro weightlifters start before 15 and are almost done by 30.

[@dandychiggins7240]

I feel like this is one of the best and more important training videos on KZbin... I'm gonna follow his advice!!

[@TheDanishDuke]

Such an intelligent lifter and a world class strongman ! 💪💚👌 You da maaan!

[@jrwilliams4029]

I haven’t viewed all of your competitions; albeit I have viewed all of your WSM Finals multiple times including the top 2 advance to WSM Final Heats. It is truly refreshing to become immersed in your last 3 WSM forays because your effort and comportment is consistent and inextricably intertwined to your inherent love and passion for Strongman. With that being said from a peanut 🥜 gallery vantage point, the Martin Licis in Columbus 10-12 weeks ago was a mere mortal compared to 2019 Juggernaut Licis ( no pun intended.) It seems you have shed that sluggish sallow skin from The Arnold and have returned to your grass roots and your fitness is returning. I hope to see you around 315-320lb for WSM because anymore is going to slow you down in the events you need to win or place high in so that you can defend your title against Thor and Mateusz who are the only real dangers to prevent you from repeating. From one weirdo to another, keep up the hard work and recovery and good luck! Jedd Williams

[@None-zv2qk]

easily my favourite strongman

[@fernandosa78]

Hotpander The pander I don’t know.. Mateuz seems cooler

[@Andrew-eg7fy]

How long ago was this filmed? Based off of how he looks on his KZbin channel, this must've been filmed like a year ago.

[@billf9526]

Considering they refer to him as Worlds Strongest Man, it would have had to been after he won in June 2019.

[@donbelisario8811]

@@billf9526 Yeah, I remember that 975 lb dead lift, was last year at arnold classic strongman, he got in second place

[@Kasper-xe4iw]

still WSM though, as the comp isnt until November

[@garrethkippenhuck8750]

@@Kasper-xe4iw last year WSM was held in the spring

[@RenRealism]

why would I Alex Winner know??

[@johnknestis3851]

Martins’ approach is simple and smart. He’s going to dominate for many years.

[@Kavriel]

He probably got so strong because he spent his time building strength instead of testing it.

[@vincentveilleux1035]

Well said. The idea of taking your time in fitness is taking hold.

[@Jeton6]

incidentally, it seems very savvy to train so progressively, with avoidance of 1-rep max's outside of competition.

[@jefferylord3068]

Jeton Ademaj fk that!!!!! Get the pr!!!!!!!!!

[@tylerh629]

@@jefferylord3068 Juji!? Is that you!?

[@wangotango5447]

I've hear parcel tsoutoline suggest that a lot of the top guys only max out a few times per year in competition. I want to know what my absolute output or progressive ability is without assuming. Not sure I agree fully but sounds safer.

[@wangotango5447]

*pavel tsoutoline

[@tylerh629]

@@wangotango5447 Just as an FYI, they are not guessing. They take their 3 or 5 rep max and use that to calculate their 1 rep max. If you constantly go for your 1 rep max, you burn your nervous system out and then you end up lifting like a granny for a month or more while it heals. Happened to a power lifting aquaintance of mine.

[@jamesdavies8822]

Great information, I guess a lot of us, including me are guilty of trying to go to high too quickly. I always benefit when I regress my training and perfect the movement pattern

[@KwisBwown]

bless up lahd! humble and very insightful!

[@stephenford8748]

Professor of strength

[@metalrocks999]

Martins!!!!!!

[@vovestruman]

Hey Martin I have 2 questions 1: you said how many reps you would do 20 to 3's etc but what about sets? 3x20 5x8? 2: how many times a week would you do the big three squat bench deadlift? And great video you get right to the point no pointless BS like literally everyone else on youtube.

[@quangpham6373]

This is gold !

[@hobotoachumi9403]

Finally i know what i need to do. Thank you

[@danielnye346]

Good evening legend Martin's! Can you please just confirm what your final phase of this great periodization would look like after 5x5 e.g. is it 8x3 or maybe 6x4? Also do you do this for all your main lifts e.g. squat and overhead as well? Thanks, Daniel.

[@timothybauer1947]

That was a great video. Thanks Licis

[@grgoss1]

What a great video. Thank you.

[@TheWolvesCurse]

this guy is the Alain Prost of the strongman world xD. all very calculated, technique driven, intelligent. no need to destroy yourself, if there's no use or reward in that.

[@sergiupobereznic]

Great talk. Thank you.

[@tylerdurden7484]

You've got to get your cycle just right. Super straightforward guys.

[@Xplora213]

This does reflect the way he has risen to the top but this method is clearly not working anymore with the more regular heavy shows. Something more like conjugate (instead of linear/block) would anticipate the heavy work and account for it. The reality is that offseason doesn’t exist right now for Martins so the 4 month build is unrealistic.... Unless the heavy work is smaller comps and we are only talking about gym prep.

[@_d0ser]

Awesome video. MARTINS!

[@entre9199]

very clear and precise i hope te world follows. Who is your greatest competing inspiration of all sports Martin?

[@chrismontanaro7155]

Thanks, Martins. Can you give an example of the type of increase in 1RM one might expect to experience after a six month period of building strength this way? It seems like an awful lot of time to invest, so I'm curious what kind of payoff we're looking at.

[@zboy3456]

i’d start off doing it maybe 1-2 months at a time.

[@PrimeMatt]

Simple is often best 👌🏼

[@RICHIE_RICH89]

Martins probably has the best technique. I dont think anyone would argue that.

[@GiantsLiveSTRONGMAN]

Great content!

[@ONE-pg7wd]

Bruh you really just😭😂

[@1970HondaCL100]

This is just sad. How old is the video even?

[@blinkandkornlover]

Solo.. to build concentric strength, think and train eccentricly? Best picking up a deadlift from a high rack and lower it slowly? But ofcourse vary it

[@EnglandLives]

2:23 - overload eccentric training

[@babycheesus666]

so interesting. I took a different approach to Martin - to each his own I guess. I tested my max as often as possible, got injured and quit. Now I'm a professional keyboard warrior.

[@mariusweber4990]

Awesome video!

[@Yogiraj1969]

Strongman. Biomechanist. Scientist.

[@chengyu1634]

Martins is so cute!

[@2wemootee]

This mans hands look like bear paws

[@ktoth29]

Great Video

[@igordimitrov3370]

How do you transfer from reps to 1RM? For me it's like a different exercise, so every training session I try a top single or a few singles that are close to the moment max and I can't do double without a grind. I was failed in every long term programs, because always there are weeks when I can't follow the percentage and rep range and other when I'm very strong and perform I can perform way better than what's programmed. The only successful programs for me was Smolov and The Bulgarian method where you try you moment max every session.

[@neal520]

You might not be being honest about your maxes hence why programs aren’t working for you, other factors diet, sleep etc.

[@kobemop]

lifting at his level is probably different

[@igordimitrov3370]

Neal I try to analyse every session, what I eat and how I sleep and I don't have problem with skipping some sessions if I'm not recovered. My problem is in general with long term or block programs. They became total mess - for example when I have reps I'm out of breath or I don't feel the movement, after programmed deload I feel beaten or like a jelly, or when I've got peeking I'm can't push as hard as shoud be and vice versa. So at the end I'm pushing myself all the time to follow the program and building pressure and anxiety or I injure myself. Now I train by feeling and I feel more calm. But sets for reps and singles are always have been like a different exercises.

[@garrethkippenhuck8750]

Igor, PM me for some advice. I'm a CSEP Clinical Exercise Physiologist, High Performance Specialist in Canada. I'd be glad to help you!

[@joelh.6154]

Just a question to literally anyone, with linear periodization do we see like consistent muscle and strength growth or does it like dip down hard?

[@hydromhtri]

Tony Gafgarion It’s slow but you’ll definitely see growth as your baseline of the weight you lift goes up. Once you start the cycle again your working weight goes up and that should get you stronger and probably bigger. It also depends on your diet and quality of sleep. I’m no expert it’s just what I’ve seen personally.

[@MajesticSkywhale]

The first two months is essentially a long hypertrophy phase that then gets maintained and slightly built in with the strength work so I don't see why not

[@MarkKislich]

Howdy Sir I wonder about Deadlifts in the first phase.... Surely, you don't do 15 reps? Probably more like 8? 😁

[@joshuagibbs9961]

Are you training strongman events all year long with using linear periodization are waitOmg till you closer to a contest before your adding implements into your workout? Is there any reading material you can recommend on this programming?

[@strengthfrank2916]

Superman is to Bizarro what Martins Licis is to Larry Wheels

[@saulhudson7640]

Do you do any high pulls or variations of Olympic lifts in your training?

[@RenRealism]

high on pot-ten-use

[@liammorgans7329]

He does snatch grip deadlifts

[@Timmlyboy]

the to strength gains

[@khitai8227]

This vid looks older Martins is slimmer and more wildery looking now. Dem cakes tho

[@RenRealism]

liked your own comment I guessing

[@julianlaustsen1991]

the key is steroids and alot of food.