Alpha V

Have you given pre-exhausting the quads a whirl man?

@TX_iron yes snd no man
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDEH4nvJHdj/?taken-by=neversate

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That certainly looks exhausting, lol.

@Regev19978 Thanks man, those are good suggestions!


@TX_iron Yea man, they were a lot tougher than I had imagined. But honestly they need to be a later assistance exercise because it is such a pain to set it all up! Thanks for stopping in man!

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"Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.

Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance." --Steven Pressfield

FRIDAY, 18MARCH016 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 6/Day 5

CONDITONING - As Many Tire Flips as Possible in 10 Minutes

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 5 Rounds
3 Paused Deadlifts at 500lbs
10 Wide Grip pull-Ups
5 Strict Axle Presses @ 225lbs.


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It’s been a while since we got a video from you Alpha! How are you holding up? Do you upload videos on a set schedule(cause I haven’t actually noticed any sort of pattern)?

@Benanything Yea brother, sorry about that! I have a few in the works, I just haven’t had a lot of time between coaching, online coaching and getting the tax stuff together for the gym…

I haven’t figured out what schedule I’ll be following for uploads. Right now ALL of my videos combined has brought me a whopping $1.73 in revenue…sooooo unfortunately, unless I suddenly get a ton of subscribers, it it not that high on my priority list. I enjoy making them, but I just must not be what most people are looking for. 150-250 views on average per video brings in about $0.10 Cents usually and between taping and editing, each video has about 5-7 Hours of work into it…That is a rough wage to work for. I’ll continue making videos, but I am honestly dumbfounded on how some people get noticed while other’s do not. Live and learn brother, but a new video is coming soon. Thanks for asking.

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“True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” --Mortimer J. Adler

“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.” --Thucydides

SATURDAY, 19MARCH2016 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 6/Day 8

CONDITIONING - 3 Rounds of this Circuit. :40 Seconds of Max Effort Work, Followed by :20 Seconds to Rest and Rotate.

  1. Kettlebell Swings @ 88lbs
  2. Jumping Lunges
  3. Battle Ropes
  4. Glute Ham Raise Sit-Ups
  5. Dips
  6. Medicine Ball Squat Throws @ 50lb Med ball
  7. Knees to Elbows
  8. Burpee Bar Touches
  9. Box Jumps to 30"
  10. Sledgehammer Swings

Rest 1:00 Minute and then begin again at the Top.


NOTES:

  • Just getting some conditioning in. May have a problem with my left foot…Yes, for those of you following, the same one I hurt before Nationals…It has been messed-up since September and i think it may actually be time to get some X-Rays and/or MRis…

I figure, if I need a cast, I can get in it, let it heal and still make the show in May if I act soon, so that is my plan.

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With the vids - you are the new guy at the shop. Startin at the bottom. Putting in the most work and getting the least notice. This isn’t forever…but shorter/longer for some… …

It may …or…may not take off.

A collaborative with an established youtuber could get you thousands in a week…

Easier said than done. But I’ve seen little guys get big this way and are now established themselves .

The youtube thing is unfortunate news because I love the videos personally. It’s all good though. Maybe dial down on the effort going in and keep it simple, but punctual. Keeping it up over time can yield results.

It seems for a youtube fitness channel to be a success nowadays, the broadcaster has to be very expressive, personal, and kind of doing fifty million things during a video to bring in an audience. It’s a shame you can’t just be informative and lift heavy shit at the same time, like how it used to be. However, I do think given time, your channel will rack up better viewership in all honesty.

You’ll forgive me for going off on a rant in your blog Alpha, but it boils down to this. You’re a lifter’s lifter. You work hard, don’t have a lot of drama, are courteous and helpful. However, just like in the gym, serious lifters are the minority. You’re appealing to a loyal but small group of folks.

The people that are making money on youtube are appealing to the basest level of humanity. It’s all memes, soundbites, controversy, drama, and selling the “magic formula”. It’s honestly not something you can get away with and still have any sort of integrity.

Now, there are of course exceptions. Some guys become so big in their sport that their name speaks for themselves. However, for every Jim Wendler or Clint Darden out there just soldiering away, keeping their heads down, staying out of the drama and putting out quality products, there is a Mike Chang or Scooby making exponentially more money off of youtube.

I guess I don’t really have any advice here, haha.

@barbedwired Yea brother, I know you are right, but I have been uploading vids since 2009…I know I have only recently stepped up my game over the past few months, but man, but $1.73 in over 100 videos…That’s a lot. I have done exactly what you said by trying to reach out to numerous guys I follow to see if anyone wants to do a collab, but have heard nothing back. I’ll keep trying and i appreciate the support brother!


@strongmanvinny2 Yea man, I think that is a good idea. It is a tough balance to figure out what gets people to subscribe and yet stay true to yourself. I will keep working at it.


@T3hPwnisher I totally agree with what you said man. I really appreciate the three of you who commented, gave me some good things to think about and for the encouragement. I did some taping of my workout today and we will see what it turns into. Thanks again guys!

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If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then willpower is no longer a problem. It’s raining? That doesn’t matter. I am tired? That’s besides the point. It’s simply that I just have to." --Emil Zatopek

MONDAY, 21MARCH2016 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 1/Day 1

CONDITIONING - 3:00 Minutes Work / 1:00 Minute Rest for 3 Rounds
20 Squats
20 Stepping Lunges
20 Jumping Lunges
20 Jumping Squats

STRENGTH - Deadlifts
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x3
500x3
585x3
635x2

Slow Motion Temp Deadlifts
315x5, 405x3, 500x3
Giant seated these with:
Standing Band Crunches
20 Grenade Pull-Ups


NOTES:

  • It was decent for a first day back after I re-injured my foot. I am not very happy with the 635x2 because i have hit 635x3 in my sleep before. I had the notion to hit 660x3 but it wasn’t in the books.

  • I tried the slow motion deadlifts recently mentioned by mark Bell and i really liked them. Only worked up to 500x3, but it was a cool exercise to try out.

  • I posted the 635x2 on my instagram and oneset if any of you are interested.

If you’ll be in Cali you can always give Mark Bell a call and I’m sure he’ll welcome you with an open arms to supertraining.
If you’ll keep publishing a quality content as you’re doing the subscribers will come eventually.

A supertraining/neversate collab. Hell, I’d pay to see that.

I don’t know where you live but Brandon Campbell has featured lesser known channels in the past and he seems like a cool guy, lives in Rhode Island as far as I know.

Although I don’t know if he would agree it might be worth a try to reach out to Johnnie Candito, has a great channel, lives in Texas probably.

Other than that Alan Thrall has a great channel and is a strongman himself, so that would be a good match, no idea where he lives.

I hope you don’t give up on the youtube channel. I have been subscriped since I have a youtube account and was even excited to see your videos when you didn’t put any effort in them and just showed a PR or something. So I was extremely happy when you began to put effort into your channel and gave out helpful information, especially because I am a total beginner in strongman and most youtube channels focus either on aesthetics or powerlifting.

I have a slightly different view on this: as I see it, you’re actually VERY marketable, not just a “lifter’s lifter” - you have significant experience in combining gym work with combat style training and conditioning, you’re not fat (unlike many strongmen, who might lose out on the fitness crowd), and, importantly, your training style has enough of a “Crossfit-esque” element to it to allow you to interest Crossfitters (massive potential audience).

Think how many people watch Klokov’s videos, most of whom would never have been interested in weightlifting as a sport otherwise.

Have you considered videos for things like handstand push-ups (I think I remember you doing them) or muscle-ups, combined with your lifting? I remember you saying once about the looks you got doing a set of muscle-ups then running across the gym to bench 400… There HAS to be some market for that on YouTube! Also water-in-mouth intervals, rucking before squats… Add in a bit of excitement with stuff like that and you might just get someone to stay long enough to appreciate the lifting.

Anyway, I hope it works out, the videos are great!

Btw, protein coffee was definitely a good idea

3 Likes

Bryan lives in Maryland, Baltimore if I’m not mistaken.

@Regev19978 Yea man, I have actually reached out to him and haven’t heard back. I am sure he is inundated with requests like this.


@Benanything I would love to do it man, maybe it will happen some day.


@Koestrizer I am not planning on giving up on making videos man, I am just saying that they don’t take priority over some other things involved with my basis at this time. And as far as collaborations, I have actually reached out to every one of the guys you mentioned (along with many others) and have not received any replies back. I am sure they get asked to do things like this all of the time and probably just ignore them. No big deal though. I really appreciate the kind words brother!


@halcj Yea man, I really do think the videos will catch on, they just need to get in front of people. I have included quite a bit of the bodyweight stuff, like muscle-ups, handstand walks, High rep dips, grenade pull-ups, windshield wipers, etc in my vids but they don’t seem to be doing and better or any worse than the others. I honestly just think it is about getting in front of people…But I am sure that will come with time just like everyone said. And thank you for the kind words man!


@Regev19978 Not Baltimore, but you are correct. I am located in Maryland.

“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.” --Lou Holtz

WEDNESDAY, 23MARCH2016 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 1/Day 3

CONDITONING - 5 Rounds (10 Minutes)
1:00 Minute Max Effort Kettlebell Swings
1:00 Max Effort Bear Walks

STRENGTH - Triples
Axle Bench Press
135x3
225x3
315x3
365x3
405x3
430x3 (Could be a PR withs he axle but I am not totally sure)

ASSISTANCE
Max Reps Pull-Ups - 28
Max Reps Dips - 60 (Definitely a PR here)


NOTES:

  • Felt better today doing movements that didn’t effect my foot so much. 430 on the Axle Bench Press felt good. First two reps were fine but I hit the J-Cup on the way up on the second. There me offline a little bit for the third but I fought through it.
  • I will start editing my next video tomorrow that will include my deadlifts from Monday and today’s bench stuff. Definitely trowing in the set of 60 Unbroken dips. That is absolutely the most I have ever done at one time.
  • Getting and X-Ray and if needed, an MRI on my foot tomorrow. I will explain more on my video, but it has been hurt since Nationals (like 6 Months ago, so hopefully I will get some answers. IfI have the time I will upload the vid tomorrow, but in the meantime here is the Axle Bench 430x3 From today

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDTqw1hJHSx/?taken-by=neversate

and the 635 Deadlift for a double from Monday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDOmKJQpHbG/?taken-by=neversate

1 Like

Latest Training video with the 60 Unbroken dip set, 430x3 Axle Bench and the 635x2 Deadlift. Thanks for the support everyone!

3 Likes

Let me know if some YouTubers are getting in contact with you or calling out for you, I’m trying to reach some of them and just trying to get your name out a bit more.
Let me know if it’s working and I hope you’ll get better so you can kick some asses soon! :facepunch:t2:

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Awesome video.

I enjoyed the comment regarding “gym math” as I can relate to that! I hope your foot gets better and you only get good news with the xrays, etc.

Also, couldn’t see your feet through the dips so I’m going to go ahead and say that you were standing on a stool…:troll: of course, just kidding…