Alpha, How Do You Train?

Training Bodybuilding
101

[quote]MiJuggernaut wrote:
AlphA-

  1. Thanks for serving our country. That makes you braver than most.
  2. I am an Oncology RN, I have seen the good the bad and the ugly as far as the big “C” goes. Good luck with your health.
  3. I logged on to this thread after the log was gone so I have some basic questions:
    -Is your TBT as low in volume as Waterbury suggests?
    • How do you set up a training week during a cut if you know you’ll have access to food and a gym that week?
      -Would you train on a split if you had more time?
      -How long did it take you to go from “hey that guy looks like he might work out” to “Fuck. Look at that genetic freak in the squat rack, I wonder how much test he does…” ( I feel like I have been stuck at the first one for a while and am trying to make the leap to the second one.[/quote]
  1. bro, cancer is too much of a pussy to take me out, but thanks bro!
    3a. Nope My TBT is way more volume than most people would believe, but then again I don’t think or act like most people.
    3b. I have no real idea how to cut like a BB bro, I am, and always have been an athlete. I can get my BW down to 185 in a month or two for a MMA fight. If I knew more about BB I would give you my best answer man, but I just don’t.
    3c. Absolutely not. IMO TBT works 100% better for my goals. I don’t do this to look good, I do this to be good and challenge myself. It is tough to really push myself on curls and leg extensions…but I digress.
    3d. You know it wasn’t really a time period. it was when i decided that I wanted to get stronger and do the things needed to get there. Once I started trying to get my DL Squat and clean numbers up while trying to keep my BF low, I grew and people started making their assumptions…I will address that question later, the quick answer is NO I don’t do anything like that, never have, but I will say more later…

But thanks for the questions bro. If you really want to know more just check out the link about to my log, you can find your answers there…

Thanks bro

102

[quote]dathibluline wrote:
Yo, are you seriously just 225? You look like you weigh a lot more…[/quote]

indeed.

Man when i first started posting people accused me of weighing a lot less, now people think I weight more…

it is what it is I guess, but i back all of my stuff up with vids and pics.

BTW I have been asked a couple times is I am on anything or if I ever have. The answer is no…I am on hard work and discipline…my results are not unbelievable if you have read my log and know my work ethic.

Just very few individuals have the mental toughness and testicular fortitude to go through what i go through…

with that said, I have nothing against guys who do use…I just haven’t.

Plus I have always been involved in tested athletics so it wasn’t such an easy option for me. And I am honestly in a place right now where I want to get stronger but I’m not really interested in getting too much bigger…

103

Thas wassap my man. I try to do the samething as far as backing up my work with vids and pics. Keep up the good work.

104

Hey Alpha,
Good to see you back bro.

When you gonna get a strongman comp under your belt? Would be a great challenge to keep under 225 and mix with the big boys.

Interesting to see how you would train for that too…

105

I did the complex you listed on the last page this morning, I was cursing you by the 4th go around…

did the bar for a round
65 lbs x 1 rd
95 lbs x 4 rds

My intension was to go up to 105 and 115 lbs, but I realized that the snatches would have gotten pretty ugly if I had done so.

Definitely had to shit talk myself on that last 400.

Keep safe out there.

106

Great thread. Your physique and work ethic is inspiring. I’m an inch taller and have the end goal of being a muscular 220-225. It’s humbling to see the work ethic it takes to get there.

107

[quote]badmf wrote:
Hey Alpha,
Good to see you back bro.

When you gonna get a strongman comp under your belt? Would be a great challenge to keep under 225 and mix with the big boys.

Interesting to see how you would train for that too…[/quote]

Man, i would really LOVE to do a strong man comp. if I could find one around here I would do it tomorrow! Unfortunately There are VERY few comps around where I’m located, and those that are here take place on the weekends (When I am NEVER off) It is what it is brother…Thanks for checking in man!

And thanks to everyone else for the kind words! It really does mean a lot

108

alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)

109

I stumbled across this awesome thread from the “Best of” front page. This thread alone was worth it!

Good luck with your medical issues. My brother was diagnosed with C earlier this year. FUCK CANCER

110

[quote]trextacy wrote:
alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)[/quote]

You’re in luck friend, go back one page and there is a link someone resurrected the thing…Now you can see exactly what i have been doing for the last few months!

111

[quote]Alpha wrote:
MiJuggernaut wrote:
AlphA-

  1. bro, cancer is too much of a pussy to take me out, but thanks bro!
    3a. Nope My TBT is way more volume than most people would believe, but then again I don’t think or act like most people.
    3b. I have no real idea how to cut like a BB bro, I am, and always have been an athlete. I can get my BW down to 185 in a month or two for a MMA fight. If I knew more about BB I would give you my best answer man, but I just don’t.
    3c. Absolutely not. IMO TBT works 100% better for my goals. I don’t do this to look good, I do this to be good and challenge myself. It is tough to really push myself on curls and leg extensions…but I digress.
    3d. You know it wasn’t really a time period. it was when i decided that I wanted to get stronger and do the things needed to get there. Once I started trying to get my DL Squat and clean numbers up while trying to keep my BF low, I grew and people started making their assumptions…I will address that question later, the quick answer is NO I don’t do anything like that, never have, but I will say more later…

But thanks for the questions bro. If you really want to know more just check out the link about to my log, you can find your answers there…

Thanks bro[/quote]

Thanks for answering man. I know you do not use any roids, I just remember you writing somewhere that people will say that you use roids or are a genetic freak behind your back once you work hard enough to be a 1%er. I have started training with giant sets and that has been awesome. I am not sure how to keep fat burning going. Did you say you do BB complexes after your giant set workouts? Do you still do sprints after your workouts or do you choose one or the other for fat burning? I appreciate your advice man. Your results speak for themselves.

112

alpha.

saw u’re 265 military press. shit.

do you ever use a belt when doing that exercise? i find when i start getting around my BW my lowerback gets really tight if i’m not using a belt

113

[quote]Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)

You’re in luck friend, go back one page and there is a link someone resurrected the thing…Now you can see exactly what i have been doing for the last few months![/quote]

Oh yeah, I got that and printed it out- it only had one page (page 22) of your log and it appears that you were wrapping up a period of 5/3/1 and were moving on to a full-body approach w/ giant sets of 4 exercises (big lower body movement, upper push, upper pull, abs) for 8x3 w/ some assistance afterwards. I was just wondering what sort of routine you used when you built your muscle/strength if it was different than gians sets for full body, etc. In any event, the log that was salvaged from google cache was only 1 page from the log (not the whole thing) so it was great but kind of a tease.

If it would be too time consuming then please don’t worry about putting more up, I was just interested in knowing more since I somehow missed the log before.

Again, congrats on the achievements.

114

[quote]MiJuggernaut wrote:
Alpha wrote:
MiJuggernaut wrote:
AlphA-

  1. bro, cancer is too much of a pussy to take me out, but thanks bro!
    3a. Nope My TBT is way more volume than most people would believe, but then again I don’t think or act like most people.
    3b. I have no real idea how to cut like a BB bro, I am, and always have been an athlete. I can get my BW down to 185 in a month or two for a MMA fight. If I knew more about BB I would give you my best answer man, but I just don’t.
    3c. Absolutely not. IMO TBT works 100% better for my goals. I don’t do this to look good, I do this to be good and challenge myself. It is tough to really push myself on curls and leg extensions…but I digress.
    3d. You know it wasn’t really a time period. it was when i decided that I wanted to get stronger and do the things needed to get there. Once I started trying to get my DL Squat and clean numbers up while trying to keep my BF low, I grew and people started making their assumptions…I will address that question later, the quick answer is NO I don’t do anything like that, never have, but I will say more later…

But thanks for the questions bro. If you really want to know more just check out the link about to my log, you can find your answers there…

Thanks bro

Thanks for answering man. I know you do not use any roids, I just remember you writing somewhere that people will say that you use roids or are a genetic freak behind your back once you work hard enough to be a 1%er. I have started training with giant sets and that has been awesome. I am not sure how to keep fat burning going. Did you say you do BB complexes after your giant set workouts? Do you still do sprints after your workouts or do you choose one or the other for fat burning? I appreciate your advice man. Your results speak for themselves.
[/quote]
I always do my cardio after my lifting, i don’t really have enough time to split them up.

and i cycle it so after day 1 of training i’ll do complexes, the next day i’ll do sprints, the next day i might do jump rope and bag work.

so it all depends. I also do some steady state runs and other random stuff on my off days from lifting. But I break a sweat everyday…it helps me sleep

thanks for asking bro

115

[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
alpha.

saw u’re 265 military press. shit.

do you ever use a belt when doing that exercise? i find when i start getting around my BW my lowerback gets really tight if i’m not using a belt[/quote]

you know i still haven’t gotten around to buying a belt, so that is a definite no. I don’t lean a whole lot when i am doing it, so i have never really felt it in my lower back.

I used to though a few years ago, and really had to start focusing on tightening my core and taking a big breath right before I started (just as if you were going to squat or DL), thats what helped me…

Anyway great to hear from you bro! and thanks for asking

Your MFF forever,
Alpha

116

[quote]trextacy wrote:
Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)

You’re in luck friend, go back one page and there is a link someone resurrected the thing…Now you can see exactly what i have been doing for the last few months!

Oh yeah, I got that and printed it out- it only had one page (page 22) of your log and it appears that you were wrapping up a period of 5/3/1 and were moving on to a full-body approach w/ giant sets of 4 exercises (big lower body movement, upper push, upper pull, abs) for 8x3 w/ some assistance afterwards. I was just wondering what sort of routine you used when you built your muscle/strength if it was different than gians sets for full body, etc. In any event, the log that was salvaged from google cache was only 1 page from the log (not the whole thing) so it was great but kind of a tease.

If it would be too time consuming then please don’t worry about putting more up, I was just interested in knowing more since I somehow missed the log before.

Again, congrats on the achievements.
[/quote]
Man, I totally thought that was the entire thing! That kind of sucks because I was hoping to pull some of the stuff I wrote back off of there…

Anyway, The giant sets with full body started because it is kind of like crossfit for tough guys…Is so much as it is as challenging for your heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles…And I need all 3. So this stuff is trying to make me have great endurance, great strength, and a hard mindset. thats where those came from…

When I started lifting in HS I had a coach who (Although all I wanted to do was bench) made us squat, DL, and Clean regularly…So they became part of my routine from the beginning. I saw how much they helped me gain strength and size so I always put them into my routines…Once I found this place, the writings, (especially in the beginning)backed up what my coach was always telling us…I guess that’s why I am suck a big pusher of those exercises over others.

And now I use these to help push me to new levels of suck that I have never been to before in hopes of crawling out the other side a better man. I can’t really seem to do that with leg presses…

I hope that kind of explained some things, if not just ask again, hopefully it will get through my thick skull!

Thanks

117

[quote]Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)

You’re in luck friend, go back one page and there is a link someone resurrected the thing…Now you can see exactly what i have been doing for the last few months!

Oh yeah, I got that and printed it out- it only had one page (page 22) of your log and it appears that you were wrapping up a period of 5/3/1 and were moving on to a full-body approach w/ giant sets of 4 exercises (big lower body movement, upper push, upper pull, abs) for 8x3 w/ some assistance afterwards. I was just wondering what sort of routine you used when you built your muscle/strength if it was different than gians sets for full body, etc. In any event, the log that was salvaged from google cache was only 1 page from the log (not the whole thing) so it was great but kind of a tease.

If it would be too time consuming then please don’t worry about putting more up, I was just interested in knowing more since I somehow missed the log before.

Again, congrats on the achievements.

Man, I totally thought that was the entire thing! That kind of sucks because I was hoping to pull some of the stuff I wrote back off of there…

Anyway, The giant sets with full body started because it is kind of like crossfit for tough guys…Is so much as it is as challenging for your heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles…And I need all 3. So this stuff is trying to make me have great endurance, great strength, and a hard mindset. thats where those came from…

When I started lifting in HS I had a coach who (Although all I wanted to do was bench) made us squat, DL, and Clean regularly…So they became part of my routine from the beginning. I saw how much they helped me gain strength and size so I always put them into my routines…Once I found this place, the writings, (especially in the beginning)backed up what my coach was always telling us…I guess that’s why I am suck a big pusher of those exercises over others.

And now I use these to help push me to new levels of suck that I have never been to before in hopes of crawling out the other side a better man. I can’t really seem to do that with leg presses…

I hope that kind of explained some things, if not just ask again, hopefully it will get through my thick skull!

Thanks [/quote]

Yeah, i was hoping to see the whole log, but oh well. That is helfpul though. I am still curious about your program though, or what you would recommend for someone. I gather that you are doing an A/B split of sorts (alternating 2 workouts) but is it 3 total workouts per week? So, week 1 you do A/B/A and week 2 you do B/A/B w/ a day or 2 of rest between workouts? Or something else? If you would recommend another setup or used another setup for how you added your mass/strength I’d be interested to see that too. I love the idea of doing an A/B split with sprints/HIIT worked in on non-lifting days but your approach obviously kicks ass so I’m curious about how exactly you recommend doing things.

Again, you da man.

118

when do you your runs, are you trying to hit certain distance/time goals? or just going until it ‘feels enough’

and it’s MMF you selfish sonofab!

unrelated note: the army is starting to issue out the FN SCAR as the primary rifle. i know the 75th reg has already got it, and a few of our group guys are toying around with it. you guys have a chance to play with it yet?

119

This might be helpful. I copied it a while back.

120

[quote]trextacy wrote:
Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
Alpha wrote:
trextacy wrote:
alpha,

can you write up a little bit more about your routines, how you set them up, set/seps, exercise selection, etc.? i’ve looked around but with the log being deleted i haven’t found much.

thanks for your time (and you are a beast)

You’re in luck friend, go back one page and there is a link someone resurrected the thing…Now you can see exactly what i have been doing for the last few months!

Oh yeah, I got that and printed it out- it only had one page (page 22) of your log and it appears that you were wrapping up a period of 5/3/1 and were moving on to a full-body approach w/ giant sets of 4 exercises (big lower body movement, upper push, upper pull, abs) for 8x3 w/ some assistance afterwards. I was just wondering what sort of routine you used when you built your muscle/strength if it was different than gians sets for full body, etc. In any event, the log that was salvaged from google cache was only 1 page from the log (not the whole thing) so it was great but kind of a tease.

If it would be too time consuming then please don’t worry about putting more up, I was just interested in knowing more since I somehow missed the log before.

Again, congrats on the achievements.

Man, I totally thought that was the entire thing! That kind of sucks because I was hoping to pull some of the stuff I wrote back off of there…

Anyway, The giant sets with full body started because it is kind of like crossfit for tough guys…Is so much as it is as challenging for your heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles…And I need all 3. So this stuff is trying to make me have great endurance, great strength, and a hard mindset. thats where those came from…

When I started lifting in HS I had a coach who (Although all I wanted to do was bench) made us squat, DL, and Clean regularly…So they became part of my routine from the beginning. I saw how much they helped me gain strength and size so I always put them into my routines…Once I found this place, the writings, (especially in the beginning)backed up what my coach was always telling us…I guess that’s why I am suck a big pusher of those exercises over others.

And now I use these to help push me to new levels of suck that I have never been to before in hopes of crawling out the other side a better man. I can’t really seem to do that with leg presses…

I hope that kind of explained some things, if not just ask again, hopefully it will get through my thick skull!

Thanks

Yeah, i was hoping to see the whole log, but oh well. That is helfpul though. I am still curious about your program though, or what you would recommend for someone. I gather that you are doing an A/B split of sorts (alternating 2 workouts) but is it 3 total workouts per week? So, week 1 you do A/B/A and week 2 you do B/A/B w/ a day or 2 of rest between workouts? Or something else? If you would recommend another setup or used another setup for how you added your mass/strength I’d be interested to see that too. I love the idea of doing an A/B split with sprints/HIIT worked in on non-lifting days but your approach obviously kicks ass so I’m curious about how exactly you recommend doing things.

Again, you da man.[/quote]

Well I pretty much only follow programs that I make up myself and they are almost always 4-5 days a week full body stuff with cardio at the end.

training days are decided by my work and how often I am out of the country and other craziness, so i don’t really have a set schedule as far as off days and the such, I just work as hard as often as I am able.

As far as recommendations go I really don’t like to tell others how to train because we are all made differently and all respond differently to training. Thats why I never get involved in these lame tbt/split arguments…IMO the are a waste of time…What works for me may not work for anyone else, but i have taken the time to try a TON of different things and now i feel as if I have some idea of what works best for me and my goals…

The Dude abides just posted how I typically cycle programs through the year, and you can be sure the each workout looks virtually like this:

Variation of squat or DL
Another compound lower body movement
Upper body compound pull
Upper body Compound push
Ballistic movement or Olympic lift
Accessory work
Hard cardio

I do variations of this in Giant and superset ways 4-5 days a week. And the days I take off i usually go for a long run outside…

Hopefully this helps more

Thanks for asking