It seems like your training has its roots in 5x5 methodology (a Push, Pull, and Squat variation each workout)… I remember you outlined your training a while back, but is this about right? I also remember you liked to periodize with different phases like 5x10, 5x5 and 10x3, correct?
Lonnie: Yea man you hit it just about right on the head. Right now however I am jumping around a lot just experimenting with different reps and sets and seeing how my body responds to them. But now instead of doing a full program of 10x3 for multiple weeks, I am jumping around a lot. Mainly because I like to lift heavy things and waiting 3 months to try and see if I have gotten any stronger seems like an eternity these days. If what I am doing does not work out, then I will change it, but as of now I am still making gains and my body doesn’t take the beating it would if I were maxing out on everything for 3-5 weeks straight. i hope that helps out some man! Thanks for asking!
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“Doing the unrealistic is easier than doing the realistic. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre…The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.” --Tim Ferriss
Friday, 14MARCH2014 - Work For Today
I loaded a barbell with 275lbs and added 2 Squats at the top of every every minute for 9 minutes.
Minute 1: 2 Squats
Minute 2: 4 Squats
Minute 3: 6 Squats
Minute 4: 8 Squats
Minute 5: 10 Squats
Minute 6: 12 Squats
Minute 7: 14 Squats
Minute 8: 16 Squats
Minute 9: 18 Squats
Then I did:
3 Minutes of:
20 Squats
20 Lunges
20 Jumping Lunges
20 Jumping Squats
10 Heavybag Get-Ups
Followed by 3 Minutes of Heavybag Get-Ups
I Vacillated between the 2 different 3 minute rounds 9 times for a total of 27 Minutes of work.
NOTES:
-My legs are KILLING me!!! I wanted to get to 10 minutes/20 Squats on the first part of the workout, but I barely got my 18 set done in the given time. If you are short on time and want to try this one out, just throw your bodyweight on a bar and go. If it is too easy, do your bodyweight + 50lbs…I assure you, it will not be too easy.
Thanks for reading everyone!
For what you said to Lonnie about the whole experiencing different rep/set schemes may I suggest you to organize and set up a rotation your sets and reps scheme so you’ll start the cycle with pretty high volume of low sets and high reps and as you progress you’ll lower the volume by lowering the reps but increasing the sets while still, as I said, decreasing the volume.
Something like this:
w1 5X9/w2 6X6/ w3 7X5/w3 8X3/ w4 9X2/ w5 10X1
I know you like kinda high volume stuff and this parameters in particular seems suited for you. I started rotating the set/rep schemes as well but I need lower volume so for me the max volume is 28…
Sir,Your work is admirable!
Of all people, all logs, yours is the one I love to follow the most. Awesome to see you back posting on here brother. Maybe this will motivate me to come back to the nation and log again.
Regev: Thanks so much man, I will definitely try them out! I really appreciate the input and kinds words man!
ebomb: Hey brother! Great to hear from you! Thanks so much for saying what you did man, it means more than you know. you should totally start a log back up! I know I, and many others could learn a lot from seeing your training.
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“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” --George Bernard Shaw
Saturday, 15MARCH2014 - Work For Today
No weights today in the traditional sense. I went to fight team practice and worked a lot of takedowns/wrestling and a lot of rounds of Jiu-Jitsu with fresh guys. Really got my heart pumping.
Then I headed over to my father’s house and helped him split and stack a ton of firewood. His splitting maul is has a 12lb head welded to an 1.5" piece of rebar for a handle. Swung that mother about 10 gazzilion times today along with a lot of wheel barrow runs…Had a great time and love spending time with my parents.
I hope all is well out there, if I get time later, I will log in my meals from yesterday.
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“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” --Mark Twain
Sunday, 16MARCH2014 - Work For Today
0800-1000 I had boxing and grappling practice. Lots of light sparing and rolling.
1000-1100 Teammates and I went outside and did intervals
Partner 1: 10 Sledgehammer Swings (on tire) Flip tire 5 times, 10 Sledgehammer swings, flip tire five times…Continue until the second partner gets back.
Partner 2: Jog, 60 meters to a hill then a perform a 60 Meter hill sprint, walk back to the tire and work until your partner gets back from their sprint. Our only rest was the walk back to the tire.
I’m not really sure how long we did this, but it was long enough. Especially after practice! Nothing was terribly hard in of itself, but the combination of all of the movements definitely made you want to quit… I feel good though now that it is over!
Great to have you back, man.
I have a question for you that is not training related, so I hope you don’t mind me posting here.
I am currently a LEO and carry a Gen 3 Glock 19. In a few weeks, I am likely to be starting a new LE job(and another academy…grrr…lol j/k) and have to switch to the Sig P226 .40 cal.
I was curious to know if you prefer Glocks or Sigs. I personally love my Glock for many reasons but I also know Sigs are great.
P.S- Im glad you are back. This is great timing for me personally because your inspiring words will definitely be useful to me as I go through another academy.
Alpha, would you suggest a teenager who would like to join the army in about 2 years the same way you are? I mean with insert/extract, strength giant sets and the SLDR, sprints and all that? I really like the idea of being strong, fast and kinda lean and big as well although it isn’t the main goal. I shared your ideas with a buddy of mine who wants to join the army as well and he liked too your ideas.
Just sharing and asking although I might try all this things out anyway sometime haha.
I read almost your whole 2nd log… 
Question-you really don’t rest between your exercises on your giant sets? except maybe when writing what you’ve done or taking a sip of water?
Animal Mother: Hey brother, great to see you around here! Ummm as for your question, I am very familiar with both and I have found each to be really reliable. It is tough not to go with the glock though. That said, I think the sig would be a close second, so you are not really losing with either! You will kill it is any academy you go to man, just stay positive! Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with man!
Regev: Yea man, the only thing I would add to the training would be long slow distance runs and rucking with a decent amount of weight on your back to condition your feet. Other than that, I think training the way I do would work pretty well. and as for your other question, yea, I don’t really rest at all during my workouts other than to change the weights and grab a quick sip of water. I start to lose focus if the workout starts to take to long and then it becomes not enjoyable to me anymore. i personally don’t experience any real loss of strength from not taking rest intervals so I just find them unnecessary. Thanks for the questions brother!
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“Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to re-write them.” --Bill Cosby
Monday, 17MARCH2014 - Work For Today
Muy Thai and MMA practice this morning, then I headed to the gym
After warming-up, I put my bodyweight on a bar (235lbs) and did 50 Power Clean & Press in as little time as possible. This almost killed me but I got it done in just under 11 Minutes.
Then I did some giant sets
Barbell Bent Over Rows: 225x5, 245x5, 275x5, 295x5, 315x5, 335x5
Barbell Flat Bench: 275x5, 315x5, 335x5, 365x5, 385x5, 405x5
Barbell Roll-Outs: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Ran 600 Meters as fast as possible between each round.
Need to get some calories, get some rest, and shovel some snow before grappling practice this afternoon…
Thank you for answering man, I’m learning alot!
Few more questions haha, in case you don’t mind of course-how long are you workouts? Because it seems like you can finish it by 15 minutes.
I noticed recently you are doing only one giant set where in the past you have done two giant sets, is it because you are involving much more in martial arts and you are more busy or is it something else?
I have a few more questions but I don’t want to burden you… haha
tnx in advance.
Regev: Well man, most of my workouts last about an hour. That is both the insert and giant sets combined. I try to keep the Inserts to about 15-20 very intense minutes. Then the Giant set stuff makes up the rest. I actually stopped doing the second set of giant sets for a couple of reasons. 1. I was spending too much time in the gym and when I cut it out, I found it didn’t make any real difference in my main lifts. and when I was there too long and workouts became tedious and not fun anymore. I have to keep it interesting or I won’t stick with it. and 2. Because a lot more of my time and energy is taken up with MMA training.
I get paid for MMA and Strongman stuff, so that is obviously where my attention needs to be. I always have trained for the “GO” never the “SHOW” aspects of it, but it is paramount right now. And I have seemed to find a nice middle ground where my body isn’t so beat up from lifting that I am able to progress both with the weights and in my other training venues. Great questions, thanks for asking ad for reading the log man, I really appreciate it!
16MARCH2014 - Fuel From Yesterday
Meal 1: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 2 servings of Superfood, 12oz of Milk, 3 tbs MCT oil, 1 tbs grass fed butter, coffee, 2000 IU’s of Vitamin D3
*****Morning Practice
Meal 2: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, Lots of mixed nuts
*****Conditioning From Yesterday
Meal 3: Venison Steaks, peppers, onions,1 Avocado, 3 tbs MCT Oil
Meal 4: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 1 Serving Superfood, Peanut Butter & Celery
Meal 5: Turkey Meatballs, 1 Flameout
Meal 6: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 20oz of milk, 2000 IU’s of Vitamin D3, kiwis
Thanks it means a lot coming from you brother. But I’m nowhere near what you do for the community around here.
Regarding the body weight training question, silly of me to ask. I was not as specific in asking as I should have been but my question was regarding you doing posterior chain body weight training. I know you said you do plenty of body weight training, I assume martial arts warm is a lot of body weight calisthenics stuff, but I’ve never come across a school where they do partner assisted glute ham raises.
It is just that I come across a lot of athletes who are pretty weak in the posterior chain and that leads to issues down the road with repeating certain movement patterns as that person starts compensating with the surrounding areas than what should actually be used (e.i. weak Posterior Chain + shrimping (with added load) = lower back pain/ knee pain) (kicking/MT/K1; weak PC + high knee = lower back pain/adductor/grion pulls.)
Of course your plenty strong, 650 pull, heavy squat, weighted chins, heavy BB rows, standing presses, and handstands. And not everyone possess your athleticism where they can get paid for stuff. (Not taking anything away from you, complimenting that you have put in the time and effort to be a “golden” standard.)
Oh I also wanted to say thanks for sharing the “fuel” intake that you provide. Made me realize why I don’t have any shakes anymore when back in the day they were half the days intake, and much easier/ less of a hassle, somewhere down the road the eat “whole natural free range grassfed” crowd got to me.
Thanks for everything you do.
Stay strong brother.
young n: Yea man we actualy do GHR with partners and a lot of exercises where they are using their partner for resistance. you can smoke the hell out of yourself with another human body. and about the food, I am also on the grassfed bandwagon, but I just don’t take the time to prep enough food during the day. Also just slamming a shake makes me feel less full, and since there is rarely more than a few hours in a day where I am not exerting myself physically, it tends to work out better for me. Thanks for asking some great questions man.
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“Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work.” --Steven Pressfield
8 Rounds of Complexes with 155lbs on the bar. Completed ALL reps of ALL exercises before placing the bar back on the ground.
8 Deadlifts
8 Power Cleans
8 Front Squats
8 Push-Presses
8 Back Squats
8 Bradford Presses
8 Good Mornings
Sprinted 400 Meters
Then, Giant Sets
- Deficit Stiff Legged Deadlifts: 315x6, 335x6, 365x6, 405x6, 425x6, 365x6
- Weighted pull-Ups: 115x6, 135x6, 155x6, 160x5, 180x2, 160x6
- Strict Military Press: 185x6, 205x6, 225x6, 245x3, 225x6, 225x6
- Standing Cable Crunches: Full Stack, 6 Rounds, 10 reps each round
- Cable ?Neck? Walk outs: Half Stanck, 6 Rounds, 6 Walkouts each round
NOTES:
- Today was the first day that i was able to hit some pretty heavy strict military press because of hurting my arm the other week. Felt like the weights were a little bit out of the groove on the presses but they didn’t feel too heavy considering.
-Weighted pull-Ups felt pretty good. Still a little bit of trouble with my left should but it is getting better with time.
-Stiff Legged deads were light today because I was really working on the stretch in the movement and really pulling with my hamstrings.
17MARCH2014 - Fuel From Yesterday
Meal 1: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 2 servings of Superfood, 12oz of Milk, 3 tbs MCT oil, 1 tbs grass fed butter, coffee, 2000 IU’s of Vitamin D3
*****Bagwork/Sprints
Meal 2: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, Beef Jerky
*****Workout From Yesterday
Meal 3: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 1 Serving Superfood, Peanut Butter & Celery
Meal 4: Grilled Calamari, Bok Choy, Onions, Mushrooms, 1 Flameout
*****MMA Practice
Meal 5: Venison Burgers, peppers, onions,1 Avocado, 3 tbs MCT Oil, Apple
Meal 6: 2-3 Scoops of Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout, 20oz of milk, 2000 IU’s of Vitamin D3, Mango
i remeber a while back you used 5/3/1 for a bit. was wondering if you responded better to that system or if you prefered more work sets such as 5x5? getting back to training heavy following a surgery and debating using 531 again or just using progressivly heavier sets with no formula
Alpha, I’m glad you’re coming back, you’re such an inspiration for so many people. I was worried about what happened to you since it was radio silence for a couple years… I stoped training for a few months, my partner got a back injury, got busy with life etc… all these pathetic excuses!! now I’ve got the urge to push this iron again ! thanks again brother!
Hook us up with some more vids man! Glad to see your log back up and running!
Hi man, nice work as allways!
Would you upload some videos? we haven’t seen this in a while.
Which grip you like the most for weighted pull-up and which you find yourselves the strongest? I remember you pulling shit load of plates with semi-supinated! I started those too and I really like it.
Bignmean: Well man, to be honest, I seem to respond my best with a 10x3 set up. My next favorite would be 5x5. i did 5/3/1 and it did seem to help me out and I truly believe it works, but I found myself getting bored because I didn’t feel as if I was doing enough. I’m a little bit psycho when it comes to workout volume. I want to feel annihilated when I walk out of the gym. If I were coming off surgery, I’d probably do the 5x5 with moderate loads. Maybe even higher rep (like in the 4x8 range) just to make sure everything stays in place and build from there. Thanks for the question and for reading man!
Vorstef: Great to see you ready to get back at it man! The hardest part is just showing up brother! Once you walk through those doors, I am sure that it will reignite the fires for you! Thanks for stopping in and posting man! Let me know if I can help in any way!
USMCCDS: Hey! Thanks brother! I will work on the video thing. The toughest part is that I am not sure how much trouble I will get into if I video anything in my gym. It is located in one of the areas I work. That being the case, it couldn’t have anyone’s faces, or any work related info in them. That may be tough to pull off. That said, here is an older one that you will remember, and I will see what I can do about getting some new ones up ASAP. Thanks for stopping in man!
Gotta love the random guys that I didn’t even know spotting me on a 500lb bench…I’m an idiot sometimes.
regev: Thanks man! as for the videos, take a quick glance at what I told usmccds above. as for the Pull-Up grip, I like the semi-supinated the best as that is where I am the strongest and my shoulders feel the best. My standard pronated grip ones are not far behind though! I’ll try to get some videos up as soon as I can, until then, here is the one I think you were talking about:
Thanks for stopping by man!
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“Don’t just be yourself. Be all of yourself. Don’t just live. Be that other thing connected to death. Be life.” --Joss Whedon
Wednesday, 19March2014 -Work For Today
INSERT:
I did the Deck of Cards Workout (Complete the corresponding number of reps with the number on the card. Face Cards = 10 Reps, Aces = 11…)
Hearts: Sumo Deadlift High Pull With 205lbs
Spades: Double Unders x3 (Jack of Hearts = 30 DU?s, 7 of Hearts = 21 DU?s)
Diamonds: Floor Presses With 205lbs
Clubs: Sprawl Heavybag Flips
Joker 1: 4 Minute Plank
Joker 2: 8 Rounds of Tabata Deficit Push-Ups
STRENGTH TRAINING: Giant Sets
Squats: 315x5, 365x5, 405x5, 455x5, 500x3, 550x2
Windshield Wipers: 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
Bent Over Barbell Rows: 245x5, 275x5, 295x5, 315x5, 315x3, 335x3
Flat Barbell Bench Press: 275x5, 295x5, 315x5, 335x5, 365x4, 405x3, 455x1
Dragon Flags: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Get a drink of water, change the weights and go again…
Then, 5 Sets of Speed Squats with 300lbs. 15 Seconds of Rest between Sets.
Then, 5 Sets of Speed Bench Presses with 250lbs. 15 Seconds of Rest between Sets.
NOTES:
-Ran a little long today because the deck of cards usually takes me between 30-40 minutes to get through, then the strength stuff took me another 30-40 Minutes.
-The squats felt pretty good…Great actually, until I walked out with the 550 and it felt HEAVY. First one was a grind in the bottom, then second was a grind the entire way. My core was definitely getting tired. The speed squats later felt good, but the bar started slowing down on sets 4 &5.
-Bench. Again, felt great until the 455. I unracked it and it didn’t sink into my shoulders right. completed the rep, but it just felt out of the groove. The speed sets were a little bit too easy, I’ll add a medium band or more weight next time.
**Did 2 Miles on a 15% incline with a 50lb vest early in the morning.
**Sparring and grappling practice in the afternoon.
Hope all is well out there in the T-Nat world!
Great to see you back posting Alpha! A quote you posted in one of your previous blogs “do not pray for easy lives…” is tacked up on my wall and is daily motivation.