@Panopticum Firstly, thank you for the kind words. Secondly, i think you are a little off on how I am personally running conjugate.
So I have 2 Maximum Effort days a week (Monday and Wednesday)
Monday is Lower where I do a Deadlift Variation on Weeks 1, 3 & 5
Wednesday is an Upper Where I do a Bench Variation in Weeks 1, 3 & 5
Then I perform a Dynamic Day on both Friday and Saturday
Friday Being Lower Where is Always hit Banded SSB Box Squats and Banded Deadlifts. The percentages on these increase as the program progresses. This does not change for the entirety of the program.
Saturday is My maximum Effort Upper where I do banded bench presses and strict press. Again, the percentages increase but the exercises stay the same for the entirety of the program.
Then on weeks 2, 4, 6 my maximum effort Lower days are squat Variations.
Weeks 2,4 & 6 for my Upper are Overhead Press Variations.
So you hit heavy dead variations and heavy bench variations on all of the odd weeks, while heavy squat & OHP various are on the even weeks. That means you will not deadlift or squat heavy in the same week, which when you are going for variation PRs every week, seems to help my body heal. Same goes for the bench and overhead. This way you can put full effort into your ME days without the CNS drag and fatigue that would come with hitting them both.
I am never doing the competition stance or variation until I test my big three which will usually happen until I have run a few waves of the program. EXCEPT on my dynamic days. All of these are done with my conception lifts in mind except they are always banded for the added accommodating resistance.
That said, i always use the SSB for my squats because I feel like they have a better carry over to Strongman and it gives my elbows a break from low bar.
I hope that better explains what I am trying to do with this program.
Now you point it out, I see it how you cycle the lifts. Thanks for the explanation.
How do you program the strongman events? Parallel to the ME/DE days?
And you mentioned COMPETITION variation lifts, and mentioned the big three. So…you are entering a powerlifting competition?
@Panopticum Well, the Strongman events are mainly working on the specifics for upcoming contests. If i have one coming up, that is what I will work on. If i don’t then I will work on events that people from my gym have coming up. A lot of times, i will throw them in on tuesdays, or after my DE stuff because those days are usually shorter for me.
As far as a powerlifting competition…I am not saying I am, but I’m not saying that i’m not. But when i was talking about it in the post above, I was just referring to your stance and the traditional way of doing the exercise. Thanks for asking!
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“If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary.” --Jim Rohn
WEDNESDAY, 04MAY2016 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 2/Day 3
MAXIMUM EFFORT UPPER
Barbell Push Press
135
225
275
315
365 Nope…I honestly couldn’t tell you what went wrong here…
Strict Press
225
245
275
ASSISTANCE
Weighted Grenade Pull-Ups
45lbs x 10
100lbs x 8
Then 5 Rounds
10 Z Presses @ 135lbs
Band Tricep Push Downs x 15
Then 3 Rounds of 10 Dumbbell Lateral Raises @ 35lbs
NOTES:
-Well, Today was a total bust. I was expecting good things but I honestly think those banded deadlifts from Monday put me in more of a deficit than I expected. Push Press Didn’t go my way, so i switched to Strict. And that wasn’t great either. So i just hit a bunch of assistance stuff in hopes of redeeming the day. I’m not sure what else to say. I just didn’t get it done. Sometimes these things happen. I’ll come back and get it next time…
I’ve really been enjoying the videos Alpha. The squat videos have been a real help as well. I recently switched to high bar squats and they just didn’t feel right for the first few workouts. After the advice from your videos they now feel a lot smoother. I hope everything is going well up your way!
Thanks for the answer! I hope to see you do a powerlifting comp one day. But I personally feel strongman is far more exciting to do (and see), so I could understand you prefer that.
Just for the fun of it: what exercises would you recommend to someone who wants to get in strongman/built the best foundation for overall athleticism with least exercise? Simply put, how to get the most rounded strength athlete, with the least effort?
I was thinking of OHP’s, benches, deads, squats, carries and bodyweight stuff, but I’m a n00b, and you’re…the fresh prince of T-nation. So I think it matters a tiny bit more what YOU think.
@Roran Thanks brother and things are going really well! The gym has been taking off and so has selling programs online, so I have been super busy, but busy is good! I am glad the squat tips helped man and I really hope stuff is going awesome for you as well!
@Panopticum Well, if I could only choose 5 exercises to do for the rest of my life to stay strong, athletics and well-rounded, I would choose (Random Order)
Atlas Stone Shouldering
Hill Sprints
Some form of loaded carry
Front Squats
Conventional Deadlifts
I think if you were to only do these few things, you could turn into a very hard human to kill. I think doing these would hit virtually everything you need to. Good question man!
@Ironwarrior25 Thanks man, i really appreciate you stopping in to say hi! I hope all is well in your part of the world!
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“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.” --D. H. Lawrence
As far as training goes, I hit my Dynamic Effort Lower on Friday along with a ton of light reps getting footage for the squat series pt 3 that I just loaded.
On Sunday, i hit my Dynamic Effort upper and all of that went fine as well.
Other than that, I Just uploaded Part 3 of the Squat series talking about Assistance exercises and how to use them to Troubleshoot your squat. Check it out if you are interested. I really appreciate all of the support you guys have shown me!
Sweet vid. I little mistake is that you say ‘assistance 9’, while the text says ‘assistance 8’. But over-all, the quality is at a all-time high, and soaring.
That definitely is a strong list of exercises! I was browsing NEVERsate today, and found this:
NEVERsate: If you could only perform 5 exercises for the rest of your life, what would they be?
BILLY: Snatch, Front Squat, Pull-Up, Dip, Farmer’s Carry.
BRIAN: Deads, Prowler Sprints, Front Squat, Pull-Up, Dip.
Cool to see how you got older and changed your opinion. Well, to counter what I just said, the question is slightly different.
Great video as usual Alpha! I would hate to be that guy that tries to make a big fuss over high bar squats and low bar squats but what are you views on them? Personally, I view high bar squats as an accessory lift/off season lift to work on whereas low bar squats are the “serious” ones. I’ve discovered from the past year of lifting or so that trying to break parallel without going any deeper on the low bar squat tend to put a lot of stress on my hip flexors to the point of almost messing it up. What I tend to do now is reserve my low bar/ barely breaking parallel squats when I go above 85%-90% and spend most of the time doing high bar ass to grass squats. Thanks!
@Panopticum - Yea man, it is crazy how some things change over time. You ask me again in a few years and maybe it will change again!
@Benanything I would tend to agree with the way you see them. I think high bar in inferior expect for the few individuals who are really great at them. I can honestly go either way and it doesn’t really affect my numbers too much, but I stay very upright even in my low bar. It may just be my leavers, but that is how I do it. I look ay it kind of like the sumo deadlift. Most people can lift more with it, my sumo is miles back from my conventional. Different things work better for different people. I say use what works best for you
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“People think I’m crazy to put myself through such torture, though I would argue otherwise. Somewhere along the line we seem to have confused comfort with happiness. Dostoyevsky had it right: ‘Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.’ Never are my senses more engaged than when the pain sets in. There is a magic in misery.” --Dean Karnazes
MONDAY, 09MAY2016 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 3/Day 1
MAXIMUM EFFORT LOWER
Front Squats
135xa few
225xa few
315
405 (felt heavy)
455 (felt better)
500 decent
535 PR!
ASSISTANCE - 3 Rounds
5 Sprawl MMA Get-Ups
10 Blast Strap Layouts
12 SSB Good Mornings to pins set at deadlift height @ 260lbs
NOTES:
Was a really good day. I get anxiety on Front Squat days. The lift means a lot to me and has a high chance of passing out for a career ending injury. Luckily, I made it thought just fine.
After my PR I talked to the camera and went into a little motivational rant…It just might make it into the video.
Re training:Just out of curiosity any reason you havent picked any sort of supramaximal/overload variations for presssing (ME sessions) like reverse bands /1 or 2 board, slingshot even? Most westside gurus seem to recommend a little bit even for raw lifting.
@stronkfak Yea man, i am planning on doing a video about nutrition, but I am waiting because a certain supplement company has decided to give me free stuff in exchange for 1 video a month. So i am waiting for a care package in the mail, then I’ll be putting it up.
But in the meantime, definitely check out the articles on my site. I cover a lot of the basics there. A lot of people didn’t know that I write articles. I even have one published here at T-Nation. 4 Things You Can Learn from Strongmen
I just haven’t picked any of the super maximal stuff because the other things are still working so well for me. I throw in floor presses but that is about as close as I have gotten. I am sure the day will come when i will need to use them, but if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, you know? We will see.
@Panopticum I appreciate that brother, and thanks for guiding people. It definitely helps a lot!
@biker Yea man. I had one time when I was all alone and I passed out under 500lbs. It could have gotten real ugly. It is a mix of performance anxiety and trying not to hurt myself…So it goes.
@Benanything Yea man, I actually have one almost complete, but my gym/online training business has basically doubled in the past month, (which is a great problem to have) but doesn’t leave me much time for writing. I am sure things will slow down for me soon and when they do, I will put another one out. Thanks for asking!
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“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” --Dean Karnazes
WEDNESDAY, 11MAY2016 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 2/Day 3
MAXIMUM EFFORT UPPER - Banded Bench Press
135 + 90lbs of Band Tension
225 + 90lbs of Band Tension
315 + 90lbs of Band Tension
365 + 90lbs of Band Tension
405 + 90lbs of Band Tension
435 + 90lbs of Band Tension (NOPE) Got it half way up and couldn’t get through my sticking point with the bands on there.
VOLUME - 3 Rounds
Banded Bench Press @ 315 lbs + 90lbs of Band Tension x5
Standing banded Crunches
ASSISTANCE - 3 Rounds of the following giant set
5 Bent Over Rows
7 Muscle Ups
10 Handstand Push-Ups
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes
I was frustrated that i didn’t get the 435 banded bench. That would have been 525 at the top of lockout…Is what it is. Something is definitely going on with my pressing though, this has been 2 bad weeks in a row, which usually doesn’t happen. I will get it figured out soon enough.
Latest Training Video: Bands are Frustrating…495 Banded Bench Press and an 810 Banded Deadlift…Pluse some Muscle-Ups, Handstand Push-Ups and Battle Ropes. Everyone loves to watch battle ropes!
