SOUTH AFRICAN POWERLIFTING FEDERATION

Yes, you did call, anonymously (nothing wrong with that), hurled abuse and hung up. That's not quite the conversation I had in mind when I asked you to call me because we achieved nothing. Please try again. I really don't mind being a sounding board for your frustrations as long as we can get somewhere. No, I have never doped in my life, have never even been tempted to. I am over 40 and battle with injury and slow recovery, work stress and disturbed sleep. I am a prime candidate for a little synthetic help but it's out of the question; I am not interested. I am quite willing, as I have even said to Robert Wilks at World Bench Champs when I confronted him for targetting South Africans, to submit myself for urine and blood tests to prove that I am clean and to publish these publically, provided that he he publishes his apology in the same public forum. Robert declined but I will see him at World Games in Taipei later this year and we will have a chat. Picking up on your thread of running training courses on the amazing new concept of drug-free lifting (sort of an "Anabolics Anonymous" or the Betty Ford Powerlifting Clinic for reformed addicts), this is exactly the sort of constructive and proactive development which the IPF so badly wants to see RSA implementing locally. Robert would be thrilled and I would be proud to be the bearer of such news, provided that Alan and Neville don't beat me to it. Call me again and let's try to keep it clean (no pun intended).

To answer your question directly, none. But, to be fair to our cash-strapped federation, I have not heard of any powerlifting federation in any country giving such workshops. Surely though, all lifters should be lifting drug free anyway, should know nothing of drug-assisted lifting and those who would need the workshops on "how to lift clean" are those who are accustomed to lifting "on juice"?
Go to the IPF website and see how many IC and OC drug tests were carried out in the USA last year, bearing in mind that the USA is the single largest member country in the IPF. Compare this to the number of tests carried out on all European countries. Why is there such a disproportionately low number of OC tests done in the USA? It's obvious isn't it? IC tests count for nothing in my book because anybody with half a brain can test clean on the day.
I have scores of training programmes written by the Russian, American and various East European national coaches for their top lifters and I cannot stick to a single one. The common denominator to all these programmes is a ridiculously short recovery interval between heavy workouts. Ridiculous if you're clean, achievable if you're on juice.
Sorry pal, but the sad truth of it is that the top coaches are certainly not giving instruction on how to lift clean. They expect synthetic assistance for their lifters, they design programmes on that basis and they do their damndest to keep the drug squad away from their lifters between competitions.
Now that's quite a bold statement to make and rather sticking one's neck out by putting it down in writing on the internet but all you have to do to realise that the vast majority of elite lifters are filthy is to coach somebody at World Champs and see the other lifters with their shirts off. You can see a user a mile off even if he would test clean on the day.

Mr A Still no name?  If you want to make allegations be specific.
I'm one of Rodneys boys and believe that you are seriously mistaken if you think we dope. Also I got three out of three at the SA bench press and lifted my best bench in competition to qualify for the world masters so your commenst about Rodney are unfounded (both the dopiing alegations and the bombing allegations). At Rodney's we often have conversation on how to stop doping in sport.  I am not aware of any of Rodneys guys who are doping.  It is a strict policy in the gym that we do not allow people who we know are doping to train.If you have something specific on Rodney then lets hear it.
 
That aside, I agree that the doping in powerlifting is problomatic as is the testing procedure.  I was tested before last years Nationals in Durban a targeted test. I barely qualified, it did seem a bit much to target me for an out of competition test, since we get only so many tests targetd a year.  There was no come back it shows that I was clean and continue to be clean.
 
Knowlege on a topic does not proove complicity.  Drug free South Africa has knocwlege on the topic of drugs.  In fact that Mark has knowlege is because he is a bright boy as are a number of the people who have trained with Rodney (Doctors, professors, engineers and the like), you can read just about any website e.g. T-Nation and find out stuff on the topic of drugs. Know your enemy? Apaprt form the bright boys you don't have to be that bright to read extensivley just literate? Does that make you complicit.  I read the book Speed trap by Charlie Francis (Ben Johnsons coach) and watched a movie called bigger faster stronger: The side effects of livingin America.  In both of these the topic of drugs in sport is discussed, does that imply that I take drugs or am interetsed in sport?  No it means that I read extensivly on training topics and experiment with training methods. Having a coach like Rodney who has been around the block is a good thing as he may have had experience in similar training techniques before and can direct the ideas you read into concrete programmes.
 
Knowlege of training methods with out doping are intersting an dmany programmes have to be adapted especially Sheiko's programmes.  Reading books like Supertraining by Mel Siff and other scientifc journals on training can lead one to much knowlwege of theory and practice.  Recovery is the issue as well as selecting the correct weight to base the percenatges off.  I have been usinga routine I found on the internet attributed to Prof Verkoshansky (father of plyometrics).  When I using teh peaking programme which is six weeks long, I always use my current 1RM that I test.  The programme requires two dasa week on the same lift.  A shorter day that primes the body anda longer day which hits the peak for that week and then does volume back down ets. The percenatge of 1RM max start low andyou do bigger volume, increasing to week 4 with descending volume. Week one you are doing multiple sets of 6 and 5 week four sets of 3s and 2s week five is a back off week to allow recovery and week six is the retest 1RM day. Great protocol.  Drug free you have to back off on other non selected lifts and trainthose in hold mode.  As you age you also have to allow more recovery time an  train much further form the limits to remain injury free.   Rodney's favourite saying is "the best steroid is sleep" "the hours before midnight count double" etc.  Rest and recovery and slightly undertrain the athletes.  He often cuts workouts if people are flat.  There are anumber of books on recovery techniques that are worth reading.