Gen Strength Coach

Structure creates safety for ambition.

When the plan is solid, you stop second guessing and start pushing.

You know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and where it’s taking you.

That’s what structure gives you. Not restriction, permission. Permission to go after something bigger than you thought was possible.

Build the framework. Then go after it.

10kg PB on Spoto press for Emry Williams this week 🙌

Spoto press is named after Eric Spoto, one of the greatest raw bench pressers of all time. The movement involves pausing the bar 1–2 inches above the chest before pressing, no touch, no bounce, no momentum. Pure pressing strength.
It’s one of the best tools for building control, staying tight in the bottom position, and developing real static strength off the chest.

We’ve been targeting Emry’s sticking point with these. He’s very explosive off the chest, but we are looking to build strength and speed through the mid-range.

Our focus recently has been 3 things:
1. Stability through the shoulder and upper back (accessories included face pulls, chest supported rows & push up plus)
2. Controlled descent. Then intent.
3. Maximum force off the pause.

A 10kg jump on this variation (he pressed 150 kgs x 5 each set) doesn’t happen by accident.

Emry has been putting in the work and more importantly, trusting the process. Technique first, load follows.This is what consistent, patient training looks like.

Can’t wait to see what nationals prep brings💪

Over the past couple of months I have been doing professional development with 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰 focused on strongman/strongwoman.

Last week we worked on the hitch.
Illegal in powerlifting.
Completely legal and strategic in strongman.

The starting height in many strongman deadlift variations is often higher than in powerlifting, meaning hip extension becomes the key movement. What I noticed with the hitch was the ability to bring back more quad involvement above the knee, resulting in greater explosivity as both the musculature at the front and back of the leg were contributing to locking out the deadlift.
It is not an excuse to avoid training hip extension if that is a weakness, it is a tool to use strategically. Worth noting too that a
no-hitch deadlift is often faster, so in a max rep event it may actually make less sense to use it.

As an equipped powerlifter who often struggles at lockout myself, I am also keen to explore what training this movement pattern might do for my own pulling strength. Could be fun. It might just have even re-ignited the fire to put a suit on and hit some heavy pulls.

In summary, get strong without hitching, but use it strategically when it makes sense.

Staying curious is part of the job. Thanks again 𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰

💪

Raw power is a gift. But power without control has a ceiling.

Emry Williams is one of the most naturally explosive athletes I coach. That force production and speed is genuinely impressive, but explosivity without control will only take you so far before it starts working against you.

So we slowed it down. We built the pattern.
We focused on owning every position in the squat before loading it.

This week? His squat pattern looks better than it ever has. And now we are taking that same control and applying it to his deadlift.

This is how the Generation Strength Performance Pathway works. You do not just fix one lift. You build movement quality that transfers across everything.

The ceiling just got higher.

Merinda - Professional Strength & Power Coach GenStrengthSystem