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Adam Katz

@adamfkatz

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Powerlifting Coach | CPU 105kg🇨🇦
Anti-casual
@unbridled_strengthperformance
Let’s get after it ⬇️

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Nationals recap!

762.5 kg//1681 total (2.5kg PR total)
100kg//220 bodyweight
Squat: 282.5kg//623lbs (+5kg)
Bench: 175kg//385lbs (+10kg)
Deadlift: 305kg//672lbs (-12.5kg)
(Took a swing at 320kg//705 on my third)

Pretty far from what I set my sights on when I started training for Nationals in September but proud of the outcome regardless. Can’t have the +40 comps if you sneer at the +2.5’s.

Most of this prep was pretty coloured by piecing together what I could through injuries. A nerve compression in my low back made squat and deadlift training quite inconsistent and there were long stretches this prep where I couldn’t bench much more than 100kg without severe pec pain. Still rallied and managed to earn my keep to stay on the Nationals stage with a PB subtotal.

Big thank you to @ian_adaptive.sp for his attention to detail and support through this prep. Wouldn’t want anyone else at the helm.

A huge thank you and congrats to my rock @squato_gelato for having herself an absolute DAY on the platform and her support through this prep❤️ also I heard she benched 100kg ‼️🍦🐗😤

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance taken in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador by @adamfkatz

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7 months ago

I am stoked to announce that I will be offering IN-PERSON services to the Hamilton/GTA area! Sessions will run out of Iron Valley Strength, located in the Ancaster Sports Center.

I am offering:
-Weekly 1-on-1 training for both powerlifting and general fitness/strength
-Personalized single-lift technique and programming sessions for experienced lifters
-In-person, hands on sessions for current athletes wanting further technical help

Having worked in person as a trainer for many years, I look forward to returning to doing more of it. I love hearing about my athletes’ lightbulb and eureka moments in the gym. Seeing those lightbulb moments happen firsthand and line-up a new PR is something I find myself missing.

Online coaching is wonderful and I love it, however it has its limitations. I find it is not for everyone, particularly newer, less accountable general gym-goers or those requiring more extensive technical correction.
Let me help you make a difference in your life and training.

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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2 years ago

You’ve overthought and tinkered with your programming within an inch of its life, bought the newest stiffest knee sleeves, downloaded the hot new diet app and criminally undershot everything except that top single.

Short-sighted quick fixes help in the short term but are stifling your longterm development and potential as an athlete. You need sustainability that brings you forward as an athlete.

Does doing less, and trying to make a hard path easier really seem productive?

You need to demand more of yourself to get the most out of your training and be the athlete you deep down know you can be.

In the age of “coaching” being a powerlifting-themed email and spreadsheet job, you need a real coach. One backed by evidence, experience and hundreds of hours coached online and in person. Not an Excel jockey.

If you’re ready to take your training to where you know it should be, let me help you make 2025 your strongest year yet.

@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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2 years ago

There are few resources more directly available to you as a lifter than your immediate community.

It’s way more exciting to ask the lifter at your gym prepping for a high level competition what their training is like heading in

It’s more helpful to ask what got them there and what the training that allowed them to get to that stage

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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17 hours ago

282.5kg/623 x3
257.5kg/568 x5
230kg/507x5 beltless
GHR+5kg x20

Trainings been a bit all over the place on account of knee and pec issues the last few months so leaning into the things that I AM able to push. Bringing good vibes, fun heavy tunes and some big iron to pull sessions is good for the soul.

@ian_adaptive.sp
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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a day ago

Athlete highlights!

@the.tongdynasty finished up our first block with our first comp together and she absolutely SMOKED it with a 9/9 day and +12.5 on the total in just 6 weeks:
160kg/353 squat (+5kg)
70kg/154 bench press (+5kg)
162.5kg/358 deadlift (+2.5)

A few conservative calls on the day as we don’t quite know where her ceiling is at just yet but quite sure it isn’t this

@luke_capstick6
317.5kg/700 x2 deadlift PR
150kg/331 x3 bench PR

The lad is not only a puller but steadily becoming a bencher as well! Luke’s deadlift training remains a bread and butter alternating primary day for managing fatigue and progression, alongside a a static RPE hinge accessory day, currently we are running a dimel deadlift

Bench has seen some solid strides this year as a whole. 150kg is usually a hard single to end preps so smoking this for 3 is a massive sign for overall strength gain

@pwrliftkg_dc
160kg/353 x5 bench press PR

Dans bench is on a serious hot streak since Nats in the spring as we look to capitalize on that momentum coming into States in a few weeks.

A game changer in his bench programming has been touch and go and close grip work as a means of enhancing pressing power. He benches with a big sink, so building strength with movements using less momentum allows him to push past the dead zone a lot of sink-benchers hit by @adamfkatz

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3 days ago

Athlete highlights!

@sayeaut
-155kg/342 single, 2.5kg over comp best and 2.5kg under gym best
-pretty breezy 5 rep max of 135kg/297lbs

@brooke_powerliftz
-150kg/331 x3 deadlift. Not a PR, but within striking distance of one and with substantially higher movement quality. We’ve been working hard for a while to neutralize the way Brooke’s back tends to round during deadlifts. Huge step in the right direction here.
-Squat double PR match of 130kg//286 lbs. Squat training has been up and down this year, however some tweaks we made to training after her summer comp have really let things take off recently!

@meliss_vivrmt with
-deadlift triples PB’s on back to back weeks, finishing with this 136kg/295 x3
-52.5kg/115lbs bench PR, 7.5kg over her comp best bench

@fuels_errand with a bench PR of 80kg//176lbs for a double while also being in the end stages of ultra marathon prep #whosgoingtocarrytheboats by @adamfkatz

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8 days ago

Dirty secret: it all works.

Executing everything that isn’t a single @9 with @5 Backdowns with furrowed brow, harrumphy energy means we limit our ability to progress.

Buy-in matters but understanding that your program presents opportunities to exert effort you would be putting in regardless allows for a greater range of things to work.

Ruling things out just means you stifle avenues for progress in the future.

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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8 days ago

In my decade (so far) of competing in powerlifting there’s honestly not a lot I would change. I do feel I’ve learned a lot and that those lessons were necessary for my growth and longevity.

That said, here are some niche reflections and thoughts that would have helped me along the way.

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance

Even early on, I was never short on passion and opinions. I dove headfirst into powerlifting and didn’t look back.

With that said, I was snooty about starting powerlifting outside the CPU and engaged in pointless discourse of federation elitism a LOT

This was a rough, confused phase, trying to balance uni social life activities with training seriously. I was never especially keen on big nights out but they happened nonetheless.

I remember Christmas 2019, someone on the coaching team I was on at the time made our coach a bingo card, one space saying “Adam craps the bed on a session from a hangover”. That was a wake up call on the athlete I was becoming.

At 22, I’d consistently trained through the hardest thing I’d been through in very suddenly losing a parent.

I had become mentally strong through this and understood what training meant to me but had developed numerous unhealthy coping mechanisms. I was high-stress, substance dependent and hoped going up a weight class would fix the issues I felt. This was not the case, I wouldn’t shake these issues until 24.

Something great I did do at this time was commit to finishing my junior years as an open lifter to remind myself of the path ahead.

Beginning to coach full time at 24 had me becoming very outcome obsessed. It took me until almost 26 to realize that the goal is doing the work and letting the chips fall where they may.

I truly feel this is the phase where I became a much better, invested athlete.

Who’s to say? Let me get back to you on this one👍 by @adamfkatz

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9 days ago

A little bit of creativity with accessory execution goes a long way!

Striving to find little ways to touch up on skills you find challenging helps greatly in improving our performance.

The same movement can yield many benefits with the right execution.

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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13 days ago

Training from yesterday and some notes, thoughts and the like

275kg//606 x3
This felt real good, probably the fastest I’ve ever moved 270kg+ for any number of reps

@ian_adaptive.sp
@unbridled_strengthperformance

Now that Nats is known to be on the new eleiko bar I’m doing the bulk of my training on the Iron Bull bar, which feels functionally identical

I’ve always struggled with whippier bars for deads as I find I extend way too early in the initial pull due to the extra give that the bar has, which this set felt particularly impacted by

Proprioceptive cuing is a massive help that we don’t take enough advantage of. Turned cap around to let me force a more downward head posture which in turn let the pull feel less unwanted extension in the initial wedge

82.5kg//183lbs OHP for 6. I think this might be an all time weight PR for weight put over my head. Liking these a lot as I rehab a pretty gnarly pec strain

GHR 5lbs x15
I’ve always had issues finding ways to train hamstrings that don’t feel sketchy since both of them effing off in 2021-2022 several times. Most hamstring curl machines feel suspect even with ideal positioning. A GHR always feels much more loyal and intuitive to push so been running these by @adamfkatz

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15 days ago

“Start small, build the habit”
Orrr… just start. Let the details align to what works for you, but just start.

It doesn’t need to be perfect but sweeping change is easier to identify with and adhere to, even if it is initially disruptive or “different”.

Big change demands evolution, small change allows for negotiation.

Stay strong.
@unbridled_strengthperformance by @adamfkatz

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16 days ago