Lessons From Mike Webster

If you don’t know who Mike Webster is, you owe it to yourself to stick around. Sadly, I was too young to grow up watching Mike play. And, truthfully, if I didn’t grow up in Pittsburgh, I probably wouldn’t know who he was. So before getting into his training methods, here’s a quick biography.

Mike was an American Football player who played the center position until 1990. Sadly, his life was cut short by brain injuries—a result of many concussions over the span of his career. His most notable stint was with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 70’s, a team now known for being one of the toughest in the history of the NFL. Just watch some old footage if you’re in doubt. But Mike’s beauty, for us at least, is his off-the-field training.

His son, Colin Webster, wrote two interesting articles for Mark Rippetoe and StartingStrength.com. The first one is, Reflections in Iron: Mike Webster’s Training Methods. The second, Quotes from Iron Mike Webster. Both explain Mike’s old school philosophy and training methods. And after reading them, it’s no surprise that the Steelers of the 70’s dominated their opponents.

His methods were old school, similar to Bill Starr’s. I can’t confidently say there is any influence there, but Starr was with the Colts in 1970. His methods could have spread after their Super Bowl win.

From the exterior it looks like another meathead, powerlifting influenced, non-specific “strength and conditioning” program. But if you really read the articles, there’s a lot of beauty in Mike’s training methods. I don’t know the extent of how Mike knew what he knew, but it seems he learned mostly from experience. And if that’s true, he was an astute gentleman that was very “in tune” with his body. So read the articles, but take note of what makes Mike’s training special.

Here are my notes.

• The training equipment is that of a minimalist—barbells, racks, benches.
• He noted that a closer grip on the bench press was more applicable because he needed tricep strength.
• He took exhaustive training notes.
• Although he used different schemes, he recommended 5×5 on the classic lifts.
• He performed all types of speed and speed-endurance work – 40’s, 100’s, 400’s, and 800’s
• The training atmosphere was business like. You didn’t play around.
• He used higher reps to build “body armor” and train different areas of the strength continuum. He felt higher repetitions helped him maintain his strength throughout the game.
• He did drills specific to his position to make him a better snapper and to get off the ball faster. This is the whole specific physical preparedness (SPP) I talk about. So while he was a squat freak, he also knew that he needed specific practice to get better at his position.
• He ran long distances, developing the aerobic system (something most coaches would gag and die over today).
• He ran the stadium steps. Again, aerobic development. He felt this helped his legs remain fresh throughout the game.
• He sought technical mastery for his position. He trained to get off the ball faster and snap more accurately.
• He used higher repetitions at points if he felt beat up.
• On par with Bill Starr, he took outrageous supplements.
• Didn’t train just to train. He understood what would make him a better snapper, and trained for it. “In fact, in later years he tried to drop a few pounds every season, he said it was necessary for an older player to stay quick off the ball.”
• He ate three meals per day.
• He had a low resting heart rate for a strength and power athlete. (Hello aerobic training.)
• He sought refuge in nature after the season. An extreme deload? Or perhaps the ideal deload?
• He realized that maintaining a high level of performance throughout the game was most important. (Hello again aerobic development.)
• He realize the importance of slow progress over time. This is what I call “crock pot strength.” Slow cook it. “Even at five pounds a month, that’s still 60 pounds in a year, so if you keep going and don’t quit, in two years you have added more than a hundred pounds to your lifts, and that’s how you get great as a powerlifter. Just take it slow, be patient and don’t get hurt, and you’ll get there.”

While the above information is interesting, Mike’s greatest source of insight comes from one paragraph inside of Quotes from Iron Mike Webster. If I had the resources, I’d print it out all fancy like and put it on my wall.

“So you have to tinker with it, lift enough to stimulate growth and strength gains, and do it in such a way that you can recover and adapt before your nerves forget all about the fact that they had to lift something heavy a few days ago. You can try and track every little thing, or you can just work hard, lift in an appropriate rep range with a weight appropriate to that rep range, and let your body figure it out, because it’s smarter than you anyway, and we’re still trying to figure out how it all works. You just need to put together a reasonable schedule, be consistent with it, and accept that some days you will feel like crap and feel weaker and still blow it out of the water, and some days you will feel great and miss lifts you got last time with ease. Don’t stress over it, just stick with the weights, eat and sleep good, and you will get stronger. It’s a process, and it takes weeks, months, and years rather than days and hours. So consistency, rather than training to the point where you have failed with a given weight, and rather than gotten one more rep with five pounds less, is what will make you grow. Go to failure or don’t. Just make sure you leave the weight room knowing you’ve done something in there, and chances are you’ve done enough.”

RIP “Iron Mike”