It looks like you got a new CDB there Alpha. I remember you having a shotloaded one before. You end up going with a particular fabricator, or was that a local job?
Great stuff on the press. Looked absolutely solid.
Been a while since I checked in, but great effort on the PRs!
Loving the regular videos. I will tell anyone serious about training to check out your channel.
@Sutebun Good idea with he podcast brother! Mark Bell is one that i haven’t reached out to, but he seems like such a cool guy, I think i will. Great suggestion man!
@T3hPwnisher Yea I did brother, 2 of them actually. One that is 88lbs and one that is 116, both loadable. I picked them up from a company called “Monster Rings and Cages”. I have to say that I am happy with the quality of the Dumbbells but you could tell that they were spray painted like 2 Days before they shipped. They still smelled like new paint and a decent amount of it chipped off around the edges in the shipping. That doesn’t matter to me at all, but if others are in the market and DO care, I just thought I would mention it. But they seem very stable. I am not one to drop the dumbbell from overhead like a lot of guys do, so i couldn’t say how it would hold up doing that. But for normal use, I think they are great. i still have mike Jenkin’s Shot loaded Slater Circus Dumbbell, but most contests don’t use that kind and i wanted to be able to closely relate my training to comps for myself and my athletes.
I am going to get a smaller one custom made for my female athletes and am still getting quotes from different companies.
And thanks for the kind words on the press man. I feel like the technique is getting better but it still has a far way to go. Time will tell.
@Ironwarrior25 Man, thank you so much! I really appreciate you checking in and pushing people towards my channel! You are awesome man!
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“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits one-self, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” --William Hutchison Murray
MONDAY, 15FEBRUARY2016 - Work For Today
CONDITIONING - As Many Rounds As Possible in 15 Minutes
1 Rope Climb
3 Tire Flips
5 Handstand Push-Ups
STRONGMAN - Yoke
270x 50 Feet
360x 50 Feet
450x 50 Feet
540x 50 Feet
630x 50 Feet
720x 50 Feet
720x 50 Feet
720x 50 Feet
720x 50 Feet
720x 50 Feet
NOTES:
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Everything went well today. Conditioning was good and yoke was smooth. My runs at 720 went pretty fast and I only had a few mis-steps.
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On another note a supplement company reached out to me and are sending me some products to review and do a video on. Not sure if this is the first steps to a sponsorship or not, but it is promising. i REALLY wish Biotest wanted to do something like this with me. But from my understanding, they do not do much in the sponsorship department. At least not for guys at my level. Either way, if you want to check out that video, it should be up in a few days but I won’t disrespect T-Nation by linking it here. We will see how it all pans out.
1 Like
Thanks for the info Alpha. Rings and cages looks like they put out some decent equipment for sure. Hope the sponsorship potential plays out well. Biotest should absolutely re-think their position. Being frank, your contributions are pretty much the only thing keeping me here after the site re-design. You’ve given me some huge tips on strongman that have really helped my growth in the sport, and I try to pay it forward as much as I can, but otherwise, it’s really changed around here. I imagine you’ve had that impact on a lot of lifters on this site.
2 Likes
@T3hPwnisher I am going to honest with you as well brother, this new set up has me MUCH less excited about being part of the forums. Guys like yourself are the reason why I am still here.
I really hope Biotest reads what you wrote. I would LOVE to be sponsored by them and truly believe in their products. Heck, I have bought more than $10,000 from them over the years…No other companies are starting to reach out to me, which I am really excited about, but I would MUCH rather rep the Biotest brand…
I really, really appreciate what you say in your post brother, it really does mean more than you know!
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"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?” --Lance Armstrong
TUESDAY, 16FEBRUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 2/Day 2
Weird Day…
STRENGTH - Maximum Effort Lower
Front Squats
225
315
365
405
455
530 PR!!! This will be the last Front Squat PR for a little while…
Dropped back for Volume and hit 3 sets of
5 Front Squats @ 335 Superseded with 10lb Kettlebell Swings.
Then I realized that, in place of pulling my deficit PR from last week, I pulled that 690 regular deadlift in it’s place. I wanted to make it up, so i tried to after my front squats.
3" Deficit Deadlifts
135
225
315
405
500
585
650 By a hilarious up and down miss…You guys will see it on the video.
CONDITIONING: @ the top of every minute for 10 Minutes
5 Grenade Pull-Ups
10 Burpees
15 Kettlebell Swings @ 70lbs
NOTES:
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To be completely honest, as I was doing my warm-up sets on front squats everything felt heavy and horrible. I was thinking that today was not going to be my day. But I ended up getting it! i was shaky and my torso did things that i don’t like it doing, but it went. Then i hit my volume
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I was pretty tired already going into the Deficit deadlifts but everything was moving fairly well. Then I pulled on 650 and it didn’t go anywhere. So i kept pulling and it went up a little bit then stopped, then it shot up to my knees and just kind of shook there for a while. i was definitely not tight enough at the beginning of the pull and the bar path was all over the place. Every time it landed in the groove, the weight would shoot up. Then it would float back out because of my loose lats and it would slow back down. I got it to my knees but I was literally on my toes trying to hang on and just couldn’t get it back.
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So I finished up with conditioning and moved on.
-i should have the full video out tomorrow or Thursday morning, but in the meanwhile here is the 530 front squat from instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BB3LBhXpHfV/?taken-by=neversate
Here is the training video from yesterday where I hit the 530 Front Squat. And for this video I am actually trying to talk to the camera…there are some outtakes…
Hahaha, the shamelessness in the outtakes might be better than the actual front squat PR…not really. 530? wtf! Insane man, great job.
Also, I looked into your channel for some rep work on front squats and couldn’t seem to find any. I was just curious and looking for a decent gauge to compare to my own. Will be good to see some front squat volume work from you at some point.
1 Like
@strongmanvinny21 Hahaha yea man, i figured people would have a bit of fun at my expense…Thanks for watching the video long enough to get to that part!
As far as high rep front squats…I don’t do a lot of them because I feel like the second I unrack the bar, time starts ticking. I have it so slammed up against my neck and on my carotid arteries that if i do more than 5 or so reps, i start going to a bad place. I think I have a video where I hit 405 for 5 or 6 or something like that, but honestly, I am not sure which one it is.
Thanks for the kind words and for stopping in man!
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“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” --Beverly Sills
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” --Langston Hughes
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WEDNESDAY, 17FEBRUARY2016 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 2/Day 3
CONDITIONING - 10 minute Time Cap
3 Burpees
Max Effort Thrusters until you hit 100 Reps
***Every time you have to break the Set (Let go of the Bar) complete 3 Burpees and get right back to your Thrusters. Did this at 95lbs
STRENGTH - Maximum Effort Upper - 5 Rounds
3 Weighted Pull-Ups 45x3, 90x3, 135x3, 160x3, 170x3
1 Axle Strict Press: 135x3, 185x1, 225x1, 245x1, 275x1, 290x1 (PR), 300x No.No.No
10 Hanging Knee to Elbows
VOLUME - 3 Rounds
AMRAP Axle Stricts Presses @ 235lbs - 8.7.6 Reps
8 Windshield Wipers (Each Side)
ASSISTANCE -
Banded Tricep Push-Downs
Max Effort Handstand Push-Ups
NOTES:
- Well, I am really happy that I was able to hit the 290 Strict Press PR but I really thought today was going to be the day I wold get that 300. Next time my friends, next time…
- First time doing weighted pull-ups in a while. Felt good to get some more of those in.
- Thank you to all of you who left comments on my latest video and for the positive response! It really does mean a lot to me
1 Like
I think you’re getting really good and comfortable infront of the camera. It’s good to see you like that after knowing you and following you for so much time man!
@Regev19978 Thanks brother, i appreciate you saying that! And yea man, hopefully it leads to a broader audience and more views on the videos, who knows what will make it take off…
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“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” --Edward Everett Hale
“The thing about a hero, is even when it doesn’t look like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, he’s going to keep digging, he’s going to keep trying to do right and make up for what’s gone before, just because that’s who he is.” --Joss Whedon
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FRIDAY, 19FEBRUARY2016 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 2/Day 5
STRONGMAN - Mayhem Medley
4 Rounds
50 Foot Tire Flips
100 Foot Farmer’s Carry (each hand)
50 Foot Backward Explosive Sled drag/Row
50 Foot Reverse Sled drag (small steps)
NOTES:
- I thought I would be able to do m Dynamic Effort Lower day after this, but it killed me. My buddy Billy, Nick Jenkins (Mike’s Brother) and i all went though a few rounds of this and it destroyed all of us.
By the time you got to the second sled drag, your quads literally stopped working. It was absolutely brutal and left up all dry heaving and in piles on the floor…
i will hopefully have the training video from this week up tomorrow afternoon or so. It was a good week, albeit a really tough one.
I’m with you guys on this. I hate the new forum setup, but I’ve got over a year’s worth of logs accumulated, and I learn so much reading your posts, and Pwnisher, strongmanvinny, farmerowen and a few others, either technique and form pointers, program and exercise ideas or just sheer motivation, that it keeps me coming back. Specific to you, all the form pointers and cues in your videos have helped me on pretty much every exercise, and your quotes always give me something to think about. I’m subscribed to your youtube channel now, but it would be a loss if you stopped posting here…
@OTHSteve Well, brother, those are not my plans. I am hoping to submit my next article to T-Nation and do my best to make this the best site I can be part of…However, The forums really have seemed to have dropped in participation. Maybe people have less to say, but I will see the same threads at the top of posts without being read for days and it definitely concerns me.
The is a place that i have always gone if I have a question or just read about what is going on in the lifting world. I hope it picks back up and we are not part of a dying trend…
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For those of you interested, here is my latest training video, in it I give some tips on the weighted pull-up and Strict press. It also shows me, my friend Billy, and Mike Jenkin’s Bother, Nick hating life during a medley we were doing.
Oh yea and that 290 Strict Axle Press PR
1 Like
Hey Alpha, not sure if this question has been covered before but how heavy are the tires over at your gym and how much emphasis do you think should be placed on tire flips when it comes to training for strongman? At where I train, we have 4 tires(180kgs, 270kgs, 350kgs and 450kgs) and for the most part I’m only using the 180kgs, do you have any thoughts on that?
Really cool seeing you still want to be part of the site. You are pretty much the only thing I check out any more. It’s a shame, since the forums actually work better, if you figured out how they work.
I’m really pumped about seeing you do more work in front of the lens. It feels pretty weird tho, I always figured you had blue eyes for some reason. But I think I can handle it;)
I enjoyed the last video. It may have been the angle that made me finally realize but your grip on overhead press is very wide compared to mine. Obviously your shoulders are wider than mine to but relatively speaking your grip is much wider. I’ve always taken a much narrower grip, which makes my shoulders a little pinchy/cramped at the top but allows me to keep my lats and upper back tight. I moved my grip out yesterday to about your width and my shoulders felt great and smooth but I felt like I was loosing my tightness at the bottom. Do you have any suggestions or is it as simple as more focus.
I will also echo everyone here and say that if you left TNation, I would check this site maybe weekly at best. I used to really enjoy Wendlers’s Q&A and still do sometimes but its usually the same questions over and over about the program. You two are my biggest inspirations.
EDIT:
Will you be in town on March 12th? I may be able to stop by at your gym if thats ok.
Hey Brian , looking for some of your insight on the conjugate method.
Im Currently gathering info on it to run this summer. I understand the basics of it 2 ME days/2DE sessions a week. Rotate variations of the lift on ME days week to week. Do back off work something like 3x5 @80% of that days max.Stick with same DE days for a few weeks , then change it up. Ect ect…
Mine will be based on my home gym. So just straight barbells , a Safety squat bar, no bands and minimal chains for bench variations only.
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On ME days how many variations minimally should you go through before back at the main lift? I know there’s no set number per say but at some point your gonna be quite far away from the main movement either variation wise or time wise…what would be fair to still meet the idea of the method.
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For DE days - I see you some times do them or plan to - on ME days. Would you recommend doing the DE work first or after the ME ? And o.c it would be the opposite of the ME. I.e upper ME/lower DE. I ask because at least once a week this will be necessary for me.
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For lower ME day there’s only one a week yett two movements the need to be trained squat/dead variation. How do you rotate this w.o detraining one of them. I know some ideology is that one can increase the other. But in my case I highbar or SSB squat/ conventional deadlift…so they are farther than closer really. I can see doing every other week… the downfall would be that if each had 4 variations it would take a long time to get through all 8 before back at the main movement- seems far out time wise? Or is that desirable? The other thing I could see is picking one for a short block, say 3 weeks, run it through the ME variations - and just do lots of speed work on the other - then reverse that for the next block. .
Anyways thanks ahead and I look forward to your opinion.
Been following along for a while. Appreciate all your efforts on the logs and now the edited youtube vids. Trained using conjugate for several years for powerlifting. You seem to have nailed the mental aspect, especially as you train alone most of the time. Just to add, as some of the others have, keeping up with this log is the only reason I regularly visit the site now. Keep up the good fight.
@Benanything Well, we keep 2 of them inside during the winter so that snow and mud doesn’t interfere when training with them. They happen to be 2 of our lightest ones. The smaller of the 2 is just under 500lbs and the larger is around 650. But I think it is important to note that we actually WEIGHED our tires. If you go by the specs online the 650 should be more like 720 and the 500 is supposed to be around 600. Personally, i know i was shocked when i actually saw the weights because I was going by what i had read. When people say they are flipping an 800-1,000lb tire they are kidding themselves. The tire may have weighed that much when it was brand new, but even wearing 1/2 and inch off the tread can change the weight by hundreds of pounds. So when you sign up for a show that says you will be flipping a 600lb tire, most likely it is more in the 450-500lb weight range. We have much bigger ones outside, even one that i cannot break from the ground, but we haven’t weighed them yet, so i could really say for sure how much they actually are.
I think tire flips are still really important to train for strongman even if you don’t see them in contests very often anymore. You cannot beat them for a full-body conditioning tool.
Some tips I can give are that, you should start the tire flip with as much air as you would a max effort deadlift or squat. you should also never be deadlifting the tire at the start. Begin with your feet 15-24 inches away from the tire and drive your shoulders into it like a power squat. NEVER try to support the tire with your arms, eve during the “clean” or you will eventually rupture a bicep. I hope that helps brother.
@Panopticum i agree that the forums actually DO work better now, no doubt. But i think a lot of people must have bailed when the switchover happened.
And thanks for the support with the videos brother, and strange fact about me, my eyes actually change shade a little bit with what shirt I wear. So sometimes they look more blue, other times more grey and sometimes more green. Weir, i know…
@Roran Man, you saying that means a lot to me, thank you for doing so! As far as grip on the OHP. I think i get more out of the bottom if my hands are a little wider but lose a little bit at the lockout. And i totally get what you are saying about the lats. I try to solve this by #1 building my upper back size. (Obviously), #2 Spreading my lats as wide as possible before unracking the bar. #3 Flexing my butt and squeezing the bar when in front rack. #4 Not only getting air into my belly, but trying to fill my entire torso all of the way around. Getting air into my obliques, even into where my lats tie into my torso.
And yea man, we don’t have any contests that day, so i should be good to go if you want to make the trip up to my gym that day. I look forward to seeing you!
@barbedwired Ok man, I know VERY little about the conjugate method other than what i am currently doing, so if someone who reads this can give better insight, please chime in!
[quote=“barbedwired, post:197, topic:212840”]
I understand the basics of it 2 ME days/2DE sessions a week. Rotate variations of the lift on ME days week to week. Do back off work something like 3x5 @80% of that days max.
[/quote] Yes, I would agree with that.
[quote=“barbedwired, post:197, topic:212840”]
Stick with same DE days for a few weeks , then change it up. Ect ect…
[/quote] If you do not have bands or chains then your DE day should be practicing perfect form on your competition lifts and increasing speed. Your percentages should be changing each week.
[quote=“barbedwired, post:197, topic:212840”]
On ME days how many variations minimally should you go through before back at the main lift? I know there’s no set number per say but at some point your gonna be quite far away from the main movement either variation wise or time wise…what would be fair to still meet the idea of the method.
[/quote] I’ve been running 5 weeks cycles before i go back to the first variation. That way i can run a 10 week cycle then test out my old maxes or peak for a competition.
[quote=“barbedwired, post:197, topic:212840”]
For DE days - I see you some times do them or plan to - on ME days. Would you recommend doing the DE work first or after the ME ? And o.c it would be the opposite of the ME. I.e upper ME/lower DE. I ask because at least once a week this will be necessary for me.
[/quote] I’m not sure where you saw me say this, but I never plan on doing and DE work on a ME day. ALWAYS run your ME stuff early in the week and follow it up with your DE effort work later in the week. For me, monday is ME Lower, Wednesday is ME Upper, Friday is DE Lower and Saturday is ME upper
[quote=“barbedwired, post:197, topic:212840”]
For lower ME day there’s only one a week yett two movements the need to be trained squat/dead variation. How do you rotate this w.o detraining one of them. I know some ideology is that one can increase the other. But in my case I highbar or SSB squat/ conventional deadlift…so they are farther than closer really
[/quote] I deadlift in week 1, squat week 2, deadlift week 3, squat week 4. If you are going for a true 1RM it is going to take you more than a week to be ready for another max attempt for one or the other. So for instance, if I hit a 1RM deficit deadlift, I would be in no shape to hit a 1RM rack pull 7 days later. That is what i replace it with a squat variation. Then back to the dead variation the next week. You will not get untrained in that amount of time because you are running BOTH squats AND deads for your DE work every week.
The way I set my wave looks like this:
Wave 1/Week 1
Maximum Effort Lower - SSB Squats:
Maximum Effort Upper - Close Grip Bench Press:
Dynamic Effort Lower - SSB Box Squats with blue + red Mini bands Doubled. & Banded Deadlifts
Dynamic Effort Upper - Bench Press with Doubled Blue Mini bands
Wave 1/Week 2
Maximum Effort Lower - Banded Deadlifts (doubled average bands):
Maximum Effort Upper - Axle Split Jerks:
Dynamic Effort Lower - SSB Box Squats with blue + red Mini bands Doubled. & Banded Deadlifts
Dynamic Effort Upper - Log Press with Doubled Red Mini bands
Wave 1/Week 3
Maximum Effort Lower - Front Squats:
Maximum Effort Upper - Banded Bench Press (Doubled blue mini’s)
Dynamic Effort Lower - SSB Box Squats with blue + red Mini bands Doubled. & Banded Deadlifts
Dynamic Effort Upper - Bench Press with Doubled Blue Mini bands
Wave 1/Week 4
Maximum Effort Lower - 3 Second Pause Squats:
Maximum Effort Upper - Log Press:
Dynamic Effort Lower - SSB Box Squats with blue + red Mini bands Doubled.& Banded Deadlifts
Dynamic Effort Upper - Axle Press with Doubled Red Mini bands
Wave 1/Week 5
Maximum Effort Lower - Deficit Deadlifts (3" Deficit):
Maximum Effort Upper - Floor Press
Dynamic Effort Lower - SSB Box Squats with blue + red Mini bands Doubled.
Dynamic Effort Upper - Bench Press with Doubled Red Mini bands
Then I start back up at the top. Once I am done all 10 weeks, i test my maxes.
I hope this clears some things up for you man, if not, definitely ask more and I will try to answer the best i can!
@Big_Ol Thanks so much for saying that man! Yea, i plan on keep the log going for as long as people are interested. If I did anything, i would end up moving it over to my personal site, but I don’t force that happening any time soon. Thanks for checking in man!
Excellent response with example included!
Looking back - you mentioned wanting to do DE but it was after your latest sled drag/push session. My bad.*
Thanks again. This covers a huge chunk of info.
Thanks for the detailed write up Alpha! Really appreciate it.