Alpha V

Training Training Logs
887

@RampantBadger Thanks brother, i really appreciate that!

@adambiethman Thanks man, that means a lot!

@furo Thanks man and yea, i am completely humbled by it!

@Roran Thanks brother, I really appreciate that!

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Yesterday I was luck enough to get a 660lb SSB Squat PR! For those of you who have watched my videos for any amount of time, this is the same weight that folded me in half like a month ago…It definitely went better this time around!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP8Grj8lEEV/?taken-by=neversate

And…

My last Collaboration Video with Alan Thrall from my trip to Sacramento! We layout some Partner Challenges that will help you Lose Friends and influence people. Oh yea…and there may or may not be a ridiculous Strongman remake of the “Conan, What s Best in Life” Scene…I hope some of you will laugh as much as we did when we made it!

4 Likes
888

Hi Brian, big fan of your work and whole positive vibe you have on this log and your videos. Thanks for all you do.

Here goes - I have my consistency down (5 times a week, hardly any missed workouts for years) but it was different type of training… I have only this past 12 weeks returned to progressive heavy weight training and the eating to back it up (love these re-newbie gains) I just found your strength routine video with one month at 4x8, etc building to 10x3…

Question is this… I need to ‘thicken’ up after years of running etc - Should I just go straight to a long period of 3 reps and keep eating and pushing for progression down there, or stick with the program from the 4x8’s all the way down and cycle that?

I’m 38, I feel the sands of time slipping through my old fingers haha but I’d like to get after some strength and power all the same.

Thanks man :facepunch:

889

20,000!! :tada:

2 Likes
890

I’ll say! Looked like you were good for a triple…are you sure that was the right video?

891

@gr365 Hahah i hear you man! Well, I would probably start with the 5x5 for 4 weeks and really try to tighten your technique and start building this different kind of work capacity. Then move on to 10x3 for 4-6 weeks depending on how Long you continue progressing. Once you feel you have topped out, drop back to 4x8 for 4 weeks to give your body time to heal a little bit and really work on technique. Then start the cycle back all over again with heavier weights. I hope that helps man!

@RampantBadger Hahah yea man, i am stoked!

@ActivitiesGuy Hahah yea man! The bad part with the SSB is that if you are even 1 inch out of the groove, it will fold you. But on that rep I stayed in there and 660 really isn’t that heavy for me as long as i hit it right…Which always gets interesting!

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“No, some people would rather not see it, but the bull is there for all of us. Some of us choose to pass the cape in front of its horns. To live life is to risk it. And when you feel the rush of air and catch the stink of hot breath in your face, you enter the secret order of those that have seen their own death close up. It make us live that much more intensely. So intense is it for some that it seals their fate; once they’ve tasted it, they just can’t stop. And in their cases, perhaps we have to accept that the light that burns brightest, burns half as long.” --Laurence Gonzales

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WEDNESDAY, 01FEBRUARY2016 - Work For Today

CONDITIONING - 4 Rounds
:30 Seconds Keg Clean & Presses
:30 Seconds Banded Full Contact Twists
:30 Seconds Hollow Rocks
:30 Seconds Rest

STRENGTH…Working up to a 1RM Push Press.
135x some
185x a few
225x1
275x1
315x1
365x1
400 x Nope…Very angry…
Reloaded
400 x 1 (PR! Finally in the 400’s!)

Was hitting toes to bar between my attempts.

VOLUME
Strict Press; 225lbs x 10, 10, 9

ASSISTANCE
Grenade Pull-Ups: 20, 20, 20, 20
Z Presses @ 155lbs: 10 10, 10, 10

NOTES:

  • MASSIVE day for me! I FINALLY broke into the 400’s! Very happy about this one…
  • Now I can finally say that I have hit 4, 5, 6, 7 Plates on the big 4…Even though it is very quickly going to be 4, 5, 7, 7…But it is still cool to hit that because I really never knew if i would.
  • i wanted to do something cool for 20k subscribers on Youtube and though about doing a 20,000 Lbs deadlift workout but that would probably just leave me in a CNS deficit for a long time, so I wanted to hit a PR on OHP. 400 is a 10 lb PR and it definitely feels good to hit this milestone!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP-08iQF3jm/?taken-by=neversate

12 Likes
892

Fantastic work dude! That’s an insane press.

1 Like
893

Okay what the fuck is going on in here.

…400lb overhead? Welp. So good, boom!

894

Hi Alpha, Ive followed your training log and youtube videos, etc for awhile now. I just never post anything on your training log. I noticed in your PR video you didn’t split on your overhead, Didn’t you use too?
Also I’ve never heard you mention any kind of grippers, Captin of Crush, Heavy grips, etc? you ever play around with them, or have a reason not too?

Hope your having a good week man, I really enjoy the videos

895

God damn! Massive congratulations man. You really have earned all of the success you have had lately. Really happy for you!

896

If that doesn’t beat all. You are incredible.

897

20.000 subs and 4,5,6,7 that is on the brink on getting two 7s! Well, holy shit!
Super stoked about both your channel as your progress. Keep killing it boss

898

@T3hPwnisher Thanks man! Just trying to get better every day. I know you know exactly how that goes!

@strongmanvinny2 Hahaha thanks man, that means a lot coming from someone with a Press like yours!

@bigmanfootball67 Yea man, it is not that i didn’t intend to, it just worked out that way. As things get heavier my body tends to freak out a little bit and won’t do what I ask of it. Kind of like when you pause before you jump off something really high. I meant to split, it just didn’t really end up that way.

And I am not a fan of grippers man. I think they would give me more arthritis gains than strength gains. Plus i do So much other grip intensive stuff with all of the strongman implements that I think it would hinder my other lifts more than help them. But it is just my opinion and i always try to encourage people to figure out what works best for them! I hope that helps man!

@Koestrizer Thanks you so much man, that really does mean a lot!

@biker Hahah thank man, i appreciate that!

@Panopticum Thanks so much brother!

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So here is my final Collaboration Video from my Sacramento trip where we worked Bench at Supertraining gym. I went for a 510lb Bench press and Give a review of some of the Slingshot products I was fortunate enough to try out! Thanks for all of the support during the collaborations everyone!

1 Like
899

So Finally I put 400 lbs Over my head! Big Overhead Press PR, Some Squat Redemption, Hitting 20,000 Subscribers On Youtube and some Viewer Appreciation! Thanks for everything guys!

7 Likes
900

Hey Brian, what’s the status on your foot? I seem to recall you were considering surgery some time in the future? Any new developments? Oh, and congratulations on the Overhead and SSB-Squat PRs!

1 Like
901

400 lbs! It looked really smooth as well, nice lift!

902

Amazing 400 press! Big Z would be proud!

I had 2 questions regarding your programming:

  1. Why did you shift from upper push-upper pull-lower body to a deadlift, squat, ohp, bench structure (apart from the conjugate method, I can guess why on that point)
  2. You do substantially less (but still a hell lot) of conditioning compared to 2 years ago. Do you notice a drop of cardio?
903

Hey Alpha,just stopped by to say congrats on the 400 press.That’s definitely an impressive weight to put overhead

904

@dicksharpe Yea man, I have some broken ligaments that make my toe decollate and ride up onto of my foot when i do carry events. It won’t heal until it is fixed. But if I get cut then that will mean 6-9 weeks down in a cast. Then PT then trying to build back up where I was this time last year and i need to be even better than i was last year at Nationals. So i just don’t know that I have the time to do it. And i would just skip Nationals this year to get my foot fixed, but I am 36 years old and am not sure how much longer I will be competitive with these young guys…So i am still deciding!

@Roran Thanks so much brother!

@Panopticum I switched because I am doing so much other strongman related lifts so everything with a barbell is secondary right now. They just don’t have as much training priority. And I can’t condition very well on a broken foot, so i don’t do as much of it.

@stronkfak Thanks brother, i really appreciate that!

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WARM-UP
20 Dimel Deadlifts
20 Grenade grip Pull-Ups
20 Dimel Deadlifts
20 Grenade grip Pull-Ups
20 Dimel Deadlifts
20 Grenade grip Pull-Ups

STRENGTH - Tried working up to a 1RM Deadlift
135
225
315
405
500
585
635
675
725 x Nope. Got it to my knees and it was just too far away from me to get that real-estate back… The strength is there, I just need to be less dumber(er)…
10 Knees to Elbows between sets

ASSISTANCE - 3 Rounds
15 Glute Ham Raises
15 Stiff Leg Deadlifts @ 315lbs
10 Knees to Elbows

NOTES:

  • Bad day. No real excuses (good ones at least)…I just didn’t get it done. I need to bring this lift up BADLY if I want to continue in the sport. I am not even in the top 5 of the Strongman competitors in Maryland for the deadlift, much less the Nation…Gotta figure this one out!
905

For those of You Looking for a New Program, in this video I explain how I lay out The Conjugate Method for my own training. Hopefully some of you will find it helpful!

3 Likes
906

Have you ever watched the Supertraining video “Deadlift Like The Mad Scientist Chris Duffin”? Absolutely brilliant.

His cue on wedging the hips under the bar (or something like that) was like a light bulb going on for me personally. (he explains the Ed Coan technique with that also, worth watching for that alone lol)