Q & A with Eric "Vanilla Gorilla" Spoto

[5.0stang]

Two Questions for you Eric:

1. What prep do you do in your final few days before a meet to be mentally and physically strong as possible? (Nutrition, workouts if any, mental prep, etc.)?

2. I believe I heard a story of you having an armwrestling match with Devon Larratt? How did you fair? What did you think of Devon's strength?

Thanks!

[JimboSlice123]

1.) could you explain your dynamic day/ light day?

2.) what you do for forearms ?
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that!

Could I also add
3.) what do you do for warm ups? When I bench I either go too light or too heavy.

4.) I can only get like 6-7 dips (BW) per set and only like 4 wide grip. Should I do wide grip or normal? Is there anything I can implement to get better at dips? Or just get stronger and do more dips?


Sorry for so much questions

[CharlieMats121]

Thanks man thats def cool

[NeonDeon21]

I felt bad for this guy when he failed in november. Hopefully he can do it in march

[astolpho124]

Question for Eric,

What do you think the human potential is for bench press? Do you think anyone will ever go far beyond 700? Reason I ask is Big James Henderson claimed a gym PR of 744 pounds in an interview for connection magazine in 1999. Is this something that you feel is within reach?

connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/1999/july_august/gettingstronger.htm

[ink81]

Hey Eric, nice benching in the cage on the weekend, made that 700 look easy.

Just wondering if you had any links to any armwrestling video's of yourself? And 1 more question, are you planning on opening with the world record again at the end of the month? Cheers mate.

[untranslatedZA]

Sigh i saw your 700lbs bench in the cage ... so good. As far as i can tell the crowd was like ..... yeah ok thats ... cool. Its actually dissapointing, i showed my gf and she said its for people like her who dont do powerlifting it barely looked like u lifted it, since the range of motion is so short, and using those 'skinny' plates ...... i wonder if someone could craft a longer bar, and powerlifters use oly lifting plates instead. 700lbs looks like 200lbs, so people go, "ive seen a dude in the olympics pick that over his head np". 700lbs in oly plates bench would be the sickest thing anyone will have seen. Anyway, hope u make the World record soon. Good luck with training.

[Claymore1]

Two Questions for you Eric:

1. What prep do you do in your final few days before a meet to be mentally and physically strong as possible? (Nutrition, workouts if any, mental prep, etc.)?

2. I believe I heard a story of you having an armwrestling match with Devon Larratt? How did you fair? What did you think of Devon's strength?

Thanks!

I know Eric won't tell the story, so I will. Sunday before we left the expo to go to the airport Eric and I were walking around and Travis Bagent was armwrestling people at a booth. I encouraged Eric to go up there and rip his arm off, at first Eric wouldn't do it....but he gave in and approached travis. Travis looked at Eric's name tag and said "O **** I heard of you" they locked up and travis said right away " your gonna kill me" and Eric did THREE TIMES in a row !!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA My boy is a F R E A K !!!!!!!!!!

[ink81]

I know Eric won't tell the story, so I will. Sunday before we left the expo to go to the airport Eric and I were walking around and Travis Bagent was armwrestling people at a booth. I encouraged Eric to go up there and rip his arm off, at first Eric wouldn't do it....but he gave in and approached travis. Travis looked at Eric's name tag and said "O **** I heard of you" they locked up and travis said right away " your gonna kill me" and Eric did THREE TIMES in a row !!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA My boy is a F R E A K !!!!!!!!!!

He is definitely a Freak of nature. Would have been good to get some footage of those rounds

[MadMick27]

I know Eric won't tell the story, so I will. Sunday before we left the expo to go to the airport Eric and I were walking around and Travis Bagent was armwrestling people at a booth. I encouraged Eric to go up there and rip his arm off, at first Eric wouldn't do it....but he gave in and approached travis. Travis looked at Eric's name tag and said "O **** I heard of you" they locked up and travis said right away " your gonna kill me" and Eric did THREE TIMES in a row !!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA My boy is a F R E A K !!!!!!!!!!

I bet he wouldn't have had much to say seeing you two monsters walking up. No one in their right mind would arm wrestle Eric, his shoulders, chest and Tri's are incredible.

What about you Creed, what are your numbers like? I seen you in heaps of Vids and no doubt you're a big strong bloke.

[Singh1996]

Hey Eric,

I am currently suffering from an R/C tear and am going to physiotherapy and doing exercises to help it heal. Do you think that my shoulder's will ever be 100%? Lifting a jug of milk, or leaning on my elbow the wrong way even hurts right now.

[bulldogs702]

Good on ya Eric, you're a champion mate. You'll take that raw record soon enough, people are always going to talk **** and try to discredit something they can't do but there are twice as many people that believe in you.
You don't get that much exposure here in Australia, but let me tell you, some people are watching your videos over and over every single day.

I'd just like to know if you think there is the same (or similar) potential for closer grip bench press? People like KK have done close to 600's but obviously he's at the upper end of the scale. I have dislocated my shoulder 16 times in various ways but i can still bench to some extent (3 x 405 with maddog slingshot). Ultimately i want to get in the mid 500's, so any advice you can offer would be much appreciated. I have recently started hitting my tri's hard with dips, weighted dips etc, but my range of motion is limited with dumbell flys and things like that.

Cheers mate,
All the best in the future.
Mick

Thanks MadMick I think your body can adapt to anything. Closer grip bench obviously feels a lot better on your shoulders so stick with them. The advantage with closer grip is the explosion out the hole plus you are able to keep your elbows nice and tucked. The disadvantage is the range of motion is increased. You can make it a point to work on your flexibility and try to increase your arch to cut the range of motion down a little. Since it is a longer movement you are going to really want to explode out the bottom to carry that momentum threw the top half of the rep. Try to work some paused triple boards they should help. I have no doubt if you want ti bad enough you will get to mid 500's or more.

1.) could you explain your dynamic day/ light day?

2.) what you do for forearms ?
Thanks so much, I really appreciate that!

Monday is my Max effort bench day and Thursday is my speed day. I have tried a couple different splits and that is the one my body handles best. I do speed work on average 2x per month the other Thursdays in the month I might do a rep day if I feel beat up or a triple board day if I feel strong. I do my Speed work a little different then some of the videos I have seen. Instead of doing the negative and positive fast I control the negative at my normal decent than explode on the positive. Usually 5-8 sets of 3 reps. I prefer to use some type of band to help cushion the elbows at the top of the movement, it kinda prevents them from over extending.

I haven't trained forearms in a couple years. When I use to train them my favorite exercise was using a pre set straight barbell the ones that are like 4 feet and wrist curl with my hand in the middle of the barbell. I would rest my forearm over a bench so its slightly angled down and do wrist curls that way. You are balancing the bar the whole time and it will shock your forearms.

Two Questions for you Eric:

1. What prep do you do in your final few days before a meet to be mentally and physically strong as possible? (Nutrition, workouts if any, mental prep, etc.)?

2. I believe I heard a story of you having an armwrestling match with Devon Larratt? How did you fair? What did you think of Devon's strength?

Thanks!

Before a meet I try and rest,relax,eat and stay well hydrated. The nerves before a meet can kill your appetite especially the day before and the day of the meet. You just gotta try and force feed and get some good sleep.

I have trained with Devon a couple times. He is a absolute specimen his videos don't do him justice. He is a legit 6'5" strong as hell and has the best endurance I have ever seen. Last time we trained I was able to give him some trouble first 15 minutes of practice inside in a hook. In the set matches we had, he got the better of me. His outside pulling combined with his arm height makes me feel real uncomfortable. Whats crazy is 2 hours into practice he felt stronger than when he first got there. I have video footage of the practice somewhere.

Could I also add
3.) what do you do for warm ups? When I bench I either go too light or too heavy.

4.) I can only get like 6-7 dips (BW) per set and only like 4 wide grip. Should I do wide grip or normal? Is there anything I can implement to get better at dips? Or just get stronger and do more dips?


Sorry for so much questions

I prefer to do a lot of warm ups compared to most power lifters. I go 135,225,315,405,495,585 at least one set of each sometimes more. Thats all before I do one work set. I rather be overly warmed up and maybe be 1-2% weaker on my top end sets than not warmed up enough and increase the chance of a injury.

You are doing the right thing. Whatever you are weak at should be your main focus that will give you the best results. I have noticed that people progress in dips faster than any other exercise. After you can't do full dips try to do a couple partial reps dips to take it past failure. Once you can get to 10 reps try adding a 20 pound weight and try to rep that. Stay consistent and within 2 months you will be getting like 20 reps on dips.

Question for Eric,

What do you think the human potential is for bench press? Do you think anyone will ever go far beyond 700? Reason I ask is Big James Henderson claimed a gym PR of 744 pounds in an interview for connection magazine in 1999. Is this something that you feel is within reach?

connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/1999/july_august/gettingstronger.htm

If everything went right in training leading up to a meet no injury's feeling good I would say a mid 700 is possible for me, maybe 740 type range. That's a lot of ifs but I definitely think its possible. Raw bench has been kinda stagnant since the late 70's they said Jim Williams was hitting around 700 and that's over 30 years ago.

Hey Eric, nice benching in the cage on the weekend, made that 700 look easy.

Just wondering if you had any links to any armwrestling video's of yourself? And 1 more question, are you planning on opening with the world record again at the end of the month? Cheers mate.

Thanks, the cage was a really fun experience.

There is some arm wrestling site that might have a video or two from some tournaments but I think there a paid subscription site to watch the videos. I have some training videos floating around with some good guys have to look through my stuff.

As of Right now I was actually planning for a May 19th meet. I will open with somewhere between 675-695 most likely.

Sigh i saw your 700lbs bench in the cage ... so good. As far as i can tell the crowd was like ..... yeah ok thats ... cool. Its actually dissapointing, i showed my gf and she said its for people like her who dont do powerlifting it barely looked like u lifted it, since the range of motion is so short, and using those 'skinny' plates ...... i wonder if someone could craft a longer bar, and powerlifters use oly lifting plates instead. 700lbs looks like 200lbs, so people go, "ive seen a dude in the olympics pick that over his head np". 700lbs in oly plates bench would be the sickest thing anyone will have seen. Anyway, hope u make the World record soon. Good luck with training.

Thanks Brother I appreciate that, Yea I am sure oly plates would look more impressive but to the true fan who knows weight it wouldn't matter. I think people are kinda desensitized to raw benching cause they hear 1000 pounds on shirted lifting and don't know the difference. Once you hear someone benching 1000 than 700 doesn't sound that impressive.

Hey Eric,

I am currently suffering from an R/C tear and am going to physiotherapy and doing exercises to help it heal. Do you think that my shoulder's will ever be 100%? Lifting a jug of milk, or leaning on my elbow the wrong way even hurts right now.

I am not a Doctor and cant tell you for sure. I have seen a couple people who have had R/C tear and make full recovery. Baseball pitchers are masters at it, I would look into some of the techniques they use to speed up the healing process. Good luck and try to stay postive.

[MadMick27]

[QUOTE=bulldogs702;1037180003]Thanks MadMick I think your body can adapt to anything. Closer grip bench obviously feels a lot better on your shoulders so stick with them. The advantage with closer grip is the explosion out the hole plus you are able to keep your elbows nice and tucked. The disadvantage is the range of motion is increased. You can make it a point to work on your flexibility and try to increase your arch to cut the range of motion down a little. Since it is a longer movement you are going to really want to explode out the bottom to carry that momentum threw the top half of the rep. Try to work some paused triple boards they should help. I have no doubt if you want ti bad enough you will get to mid 500's or more.


Thanks for the reply Eric, It is truely appreciated. I have been hitting my tri's hard this year and will continue to do so, it has improved my lifting 100% even just repping 315lbs. I went from 2 reps to 7-8 just in the last 3 months and im sure thats to do with my tricep work.

Again, keep it up, I know alot of people are stoked just top see you posting on this forum let alone being able to bounce questions off you. I for one, cannot wait to see you hit a paused 716 +, will be this year no doubt.

Thanks mate,
Mick.

[venom93]

Its actually dissapointing, i showed my gf and she said its for people like her who dont do powerlifting it barely looked like u lifted it, since the range of motion is so short

I'll never understand this line of thinking-the ROM of 99.99999% of people on the planet (me included) would be zero unless you count the bar crushing their chest. He's pushing human potential just like Usain Bolt is for running, and it's really disappointing that it doesn't get equal respect.

[MadMick27]

I'll never understand this line of thinking-the ROM of 99.99999% of people on the planet (me included) would be zero unless you count the bar crushing their chest. He's pushing human potential just like Usain Bolt is for running, and it's really disappointing that it doesn't get equal respect.

I agree with you Venom. Eric is 1 (or 2 currently) in around 7 billion yet a good portion of the worlds population have no idea and will always have no idea who he is. Insane strength should be universally recognised.

[androstan]

What do you think of floor presses?

What do you think of doing declines with a close grip?

Where exactly do you grip?

[Dominik]

I prefer to do a lot of warm ups compared to most power lifters. I go 135,225,315,405,495,585 at least one set of each sometimes more. Thats all before I do one work set. I rather be overly warmed up and maybe be 1-2% weaker on my top end sets than not warmed up enough and increase the chance of a injury.

I hope more people pay attention to this piece of advice from Eric.

Here's a guy who benches over 700lbs raw yet insists on repping 135 (<20% 1RM) for his first warmup set and adding a plate a side until he hits his heavy sets, doing 6+ warmups before a single work set.

How many guys out there benching less than half that will throw on 135 on for a few reps, then 225, and feel like they're good to go for a max attempt?

[PanzeR-]

I hope more people pay attention to this piece of advice from Eric.

Here's a guy who benches over 700lbs raw yet insists on repping 135 (<20% 1RM) for his first warmup set and adding a plate a side until he hits his heavy sets, doing 6+ warmups before a single work set.

How many guys out there benching less than half that will throw on 135 on for a few reps, then 225, and feel like they're good to go for a max attempt?

Im guilty for this. I'm used to sheiko so i do like bar-50%-60%-70% then work sets lol

BTW Dom, long time no see! really liked your log back in the days!

[bulldogs702]

What do you think of floor presses?

What do you think of doing declines with a close grip?

Where exactly do you grip?

Floor Presses are a great variation to the bench press. They are definitely a movement that should be in everyone's bench training. They really help with the sticking point especially if you pause each rep.

I Don't like decline personally, I feel the amount of weight I need to use to get what I want out of the movement makes it a little dangerous. That doesn't mean its not a great exercise for you. I use to do close grip decline pushing towards your feet back in the day and remembered it gave my triceps a monster pump, so I can see why you like it.

I prefer my ring finger on the smooth. I experimented with middle finger, but wasn't getting the same explosion off my chest. You might notice you can get more reps with a slightly wider grip than normal, but for 1-3 max effort reps your usually a little stronger closer.

[Wolfex]

Eric, what are the pros and cons of a wide and narrow grip?

Also, for someone with longer arms relative to the rest of their body, where is the best place to grip the bar?

[Asakra]

Hi Eric i am big fan of yours from Russia. cant wait to see you in one meet with Kirill. i have 2 outside gym questions for you.

1. Please tell your daily diet plan i mean what you eat through day from waking until going to sleep. Whats your favorites meals?
2. What music do you like? also i am very interesting what you listening when you workout. and what you were listening before you bench that amazing 700 at the BOAD.

[androstan]

Love you Spoto no homo.

Wrt floor presses, would you generally do them with a bench grip to get more carry over or a close grip to hit the triceps more?

[5.0stang]

Before a meet I try and rest,relax,eat and stay well hydrated. The nerves before a meet can kill your appetite especially the day before and the day of the meet. You just gotta try and force feed and get some good sleep.

I have trained with Devon a couple times. He is a absolute specimen his videos don't do him justice. He is a legit 6'5" strong as hell and has the best endurance I have ever seen. Last time we trained I was able to give him some trouble first 15 minutes of practice inside in a hook. In the set matches we had, he got the better of me. His outside pulling combined with his arm height makes me feel real uncomfortable. Whats crazy is 2 hours into practice he felt stronger than when he first got there. I have video footage of the practice somewhere.

Thank you for the response! It would be great too see that footage of you and Devon.

[Claymore1]

Thank you for the response! It would be great too see that footage of you and Devon.

It'll never happen, Devon and a few others asked Eric not to post the videos and he agreed.

[SeanVHA60013]

Thanks Sean, Now I am not sure if your asking as just a Bench only guy or a full power guy. If your a full power guy than Dead lift will of course be a major part in your program, if your a bench only guy it should be a part of your routine but I don't think its the most important. To increase your bench you want to simulate the bench press to the T your exact body position as you would bench the only difference is you pull instead of push. My favorite movement is chest supported Hammer Strength row. I am able to get in my exact bench position and get a similar grip to my close grip. While I do each rep I try to simulate the negative on the bench. A t bar row with a wide grip bar can work pretty good too but I have had best results with the Hammer. You can throw in some pull ups and maybe some single dumbbell rows that should be enough angles to fry your back.

I think you need good row/pull strength to maximize your bench press potential but as far as dead lifts I see very little carry over to the bench. I mean look at some of the best benchers in the world. Scot,Gene,Ryan,Wilkerson,Al Davis none of them are known as great dead lifters and all are pressing machines. It will help overall strength but it is such a sap on your CNS that if your training bench twice a week it is going to effect at least one of your workouts.

Eric, thank you for your reply! I really appreciate it. I am mostly a bench only guy, so I will try to shoot for rows that imitate a good negative of my bench position as you describe above.

A follow up question: I have read that you bench twice a week. What does your week look like overall? For example, if you bench on Monday and Thursday, what body parts and movements do you do the other days of the typical training week, and how many/which days are rest days that you would normally try to work in?

[maxpull]

hey Eric Im a big fan of you I love watching your videos on youtube gets me all fired up!!!! I have been training with all sets and rep schemes for along time now and im plateaued 5x5, 3x3, 5x2, working up to singles or a max set of 3-5. It wont budge!! I was thinking of just doing flat bench 3-4 sets in the 3-6 rep range with bands (the pink mini monsters i think they are 40lb resistance) as my first movement, then doing 3 board press 3-4 sets of 3-5 reps, and doing this for one month then deload on week 5, and on week 6 go for new raw 3RM. Of course I would throw skullcrushers and some front plate raises or standing military (i think you said they are best done standing). BTW Im 5'9'' around 210 lb and I have been stuck at a 300lb single for almost 2 years my goal for now is to get 300 for a double or triple. So what do you think? I'm tapped out here I dont know what else to come up with. Thank you and hope your training goes well, you'll smash the WR no problem!!! thanks bro!

[bulldogs702]

Eric, what are the pros and cons of a wide and narrow grip?

Also, for someone with longer arms relative to the rest of their body, where is the best place to grip the bar?

Narrow Grip you tend to get more pop off your chest but the range of motion increases. Wide grip has a shorter range of motion but its tougher off your chest. The advantage with long arms is you are able to touch lower, a lot of long arm guys prefer a narrower grip so they can keep there elbows tucked and touch as low as possible. Everyone has there own sweet spot I would say 90% of lifters are in between ring finger and pinky on the rings. I have seen people with pec problems go a little closer. Your best bet is to experiment with different grips till you find the one that suits your style best.

Hi Eric i am big fan of yours from Russia. cant wait to see you in one meet with Kirill. i have 2 outside gym questions for you.

1. Please tell your daily diet plan i mean what you eat through day from waking until going to sleep. Whats your favorites meals?
2. What music do you like? also i am very interesting what you listening when you workout. and what you were listening before you bench that amazing 700 at the BOAD.

Thanks Asakra,

Normal day would be steak and chicken. Some type of potatoes and or rice some fruit. I try to eat vegetables as much as possible. My favorite meals Chinese food,Pizza and Greek food.

I like 90's east coast rap and rock, I think I was listening to Stupify by Disturbed

Love you Spoto no homo.

Wrt floor presses, would you generally do them with a bench grip to get more carry over or a close grip to hit the triceps more?

Thanks Androstan no homo

I always mix up my grips on every pressing movement. Floor presses I might take a slightly narrower grip than standard but you want to make sure when your at the bottom your arms are at least a 90 degree angle.

Thank you for the response! It would be great too see that footage of you and Devon.

Devon actually didn't say anything about not posting the footage, it was two other arm wrestlers who didn't want training footage posted. It was filmed on mini DV so I am not sure how to get on internet but I am sure I can figure it out.

Eric, thank you for your reply! I really appreciate it. I am mostly a bench only guy, so I will try to shoot for rows that imitate a good negative of my bench position as you describe above.

A follow up question: I have read that you bench twice a week. What does your week look like overall? For example, if you bench on Monday and Thursday, what body parts and movements do you do the other days of the typical training week, and how many/which days are rest days that you would normally try to work in?

No Problem Sean,

Monday Heavy Bench and triceps, Tuesday Heavy Back, Wednesday is legs if not training for a meet, I take Wednesday off in a training cycle leading up to a meet. Thursday Speed bench or rep Bench and Shoulders. Friday Recovery movements light back, traps Rotator cuff if I didn't do them Thursday. Saturday and Sunday off.

hey Eric Im a big fan of you I love watching your videos on youtube gets me all fired up!!!! I have been training with all sets and rep schemes for along time now and im plateaued 5x5, 3x3, 5x2, working up to singles or a max set of 3-5. It wont budge!! I was thinking of just doing flat bench 3-4 sets in the 3-6 rep range with bands (the pink mini monsters i think they are 40lb resistance) as my first movement, then doing 3 board press 3-4 sets of 3-5 reps, and doing this for one month then deload on week 5, and on week 6 go for new raw 3RM. Of course I would throw skullcrushers and some front plate raises or standing military (i think you said they are best done standing). BTW Im 5'9'' around 210 lb and I have been stuck at a 300lb single for almost 2 years my goal for now is to get 300 for a double or triple. So what do you think? I'm tapped out here I dont know what else to come up with. Thank you and hope your training goes well, you'll smash the WR no problem!!! thanks bro!

There are so many factors to look out on why someone has plateaued. Are you getting enough quality calories throughout the day. Nothing will stop progress like lack of sleep or nutrition. This is going to sound a little unconventional but when you do nothing but power lifting reps and schemes your body will adapt sometimes and you need to shock it. I would switch to a bodybuilding type programs for a couple months or at least implement some bodybuilding days into your current routine. Bodybuilding routine with higher reps more exercises,sets and faster pace should shock your muscles. Than when you switch back to power lifting you have more muscle mass to get stronger.

[maxpull]

There are so many factors to look out on why someone has plateaued. Are you getting enough quality calories throughout the day. Nothing will stop progress like lack of sleep or nutrition. This is going to sound a little unconventional but when you do nothing but power lifting reps and schemes your body will adapt sometimes and you need to shock it. I would switch to a bodybuilding type programs for a couple months or at least implement some bodybuilding days into your current routine. Bodybuilding routine with higher reps more exercises,sets and faster pace should shock your muscles. Than when you switch back to power lifting you have more muscle mass to get stronger.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the reply I appreciate the help. IM getting in about 3000 calories on average and I have been going heavy for way to long, starting next workout I will do sets of 8-15 I haven't done that rep range in ages. Should I still throw in some band sets with the high reps? Thanks again bro

[Heisman2]

Eric, have you ever tried to rep out with 225 (like the NFL combine)? If so, how many do you think you could get?

[Claymore1]

Eric, have you ever tried to rep out with 225 (like the NFL combine)? If so, how many do you think you could get?

He's done 500 for 22
405 for 36
315 for 60