Alpha's Work 3

Training Training Logs
821

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“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” --Julius Caesar

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” --Harvey Fierstein

SUNDAY, 19OCTOBER2014 - Work For Today

CONDITIONING - As Many Rounds As Possible in 10 Minutes
5 Box Jumps (30" Box)
10 Hand Release Push-Ups
12 Overhead Lunges (Each Side)

COMPLEXES
At the top of every 3 Minutes for 5 Rounds
8 Hang Cleans
8 Front Squats
8 Overhead Presses
8 Back Squats
8 Good Mornings
8 Bradford Presses
8 Deadlifts
Weights: 135lbs, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185

STRENGTH
6 Sets of 2 Deadlifts @ 525lbs.
Completed 5 Tire Flips and 1 - 50 Foot Prowler Push Between Rounds

NOTES:

  • I hate Complexes.
  • Deadlifts felt light and easy
822

Hey man, Congrats on the strongman contest. How have you been?

I just finished my second(and last!) academy. How do you recommend training after a layoff(6 months?) I cant handle a lot of volume right now and my strength sucks so I am doing 3 full body work outs a week with 2 sets per muscle group and also one of the big lifts per day (bench,press,squat, deads, cleans) After a month or so of this I will try to increase the volume and then maybe go to an upper/lower split.

Month 1 (4 weeks):

  • lift 3-4 days a week full body, 2 sets per exercise

Month 2:

  • upper/lower split, 2 sets per exercise

Month 3:

  • upper/lower split, 3 sets per exercise

Month 4:

  • upper/lower, 4 sets per exercise

-This is my plan for now. The plan is to slowly build up my work capacity.

Thanks

823

Ahh good old hated complex!

824

Animal Mother: Hey brother! Thank you! Great to hear from you again and congrats on finishing up at the academy!

As far as training after a layoff goes, what you have laid out looks great. I stay stick with that or try something pretty basic to build back up to where you were before the academy. Something like 5/3/1 BBB or 5x5. Your strength will come back quickly and you won’t have to deal with all of the slow paced cardio and forced marches. Let me know how things are going for you man. You planning on training for a contest or anything or just working on getting back your strength?

Regev: I think I hate complexes more than anything else. They are not as bad without a running chaser but they still stand pretty badly on their own if you go heavy enough. Thanks for stopping in man!

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“Honestly, seriously, you don’t know what to do about food? Here is an idea: Eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid’s cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and?don’t act like you don’t know this?eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up.”
― Dan John, Mass Made Simple

“If it is important, do it every day. If it’s not important, don’t do it at all.”
― Dan John

MONDAY, 20OCTOBER2014 - Work For Today

4 ROUNDS
Max Effort Pull-Ups
Max Effort Plyometric Push-Ups
Rest 1 Minute Between Sets

GIANT SETS - 6 Rounds, Adding weight every round
10 Single Arm Dumbbell Rows (Each Side): 150es, 150, 150, 150, 150, 150
1 Paused Bench Press: 365, 385, 405, 425, 455, 475(PR)**
10 Toes to Bar

** Immediately after I hit the 475xAn Ugly 1, I stripped the weight to 225 and did 34 reps (Vid Below)

CONDITIONING - 6 Rounds
Carry Medley - In all sets the implements should be as heavy as possible
50 Foot Atlas Stone Carry
50 Foot Farmer’s Walk
50 Foot Duck Walk

NOTES:

  • Normal Rucking first thing in the morning
  • Bench did not feel very good today. The bar was bent a little bit so it would “flip” a little bit as soon as I unranked it. Still, I managed to hit an ugly single at 475. Then immediately stripped the weights to 225 and went for as many reps as I could. Ended up with 34. Here is the video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lvB5_5ylN0
825

For now I want to spend the next 6-12 months focusing on getting as strong as I can in the big lifts and body weight movements. Then if I am happy with where I am maybe train for a powerlifting meet or possibly strongman since I have some of the equipment.

Right now I need to get my work capacity and strength up. I’ve had some health issues for the past couple years that docs are only figuring out and treating now. This killed my ability to breath and my work capacity. I’m feeling a lot better now but I want to be smart about my training for now and look forward each day to building myself back better than I was. I’ve never had to come back from a layoff like this before so it’s a good learning experience.

P.S. your new site looks cool, I’ve been checking that out as well.

826

The heavy rep didn’t look that bad, pretty fast though.

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:
For now I want to spend the next 6-12 months focusing on getting as strong as I can in the big lifts and body weight movements. Then if I am happy with where I am maybe train for a powerlifting meet or possibly strongman since I have some of the equipment.

Right now I need to get my work capacity and strength up. I’ve had some health issues for the past couple years that docs are only figuring out and treating now. This killed my ability to breath and my work capacity. I’m feeling a lot better now but I want to be smart about my training for now and look forward each day to building myself back better than I was. I’ve never had to come back from a layoff like this before so it’s a good learning experience.

P.S. your new site looks cool, I’ve been checking that out as well. [/quote]
I don’t know if I’m the best person to answer this but I’m pretty sure that slowly but study progress like 5/3/1’s would be great for you and after the heavy work try to build into a heavy set of a variation and every cycle/few weeks add to the accessory move one more set.
You can do BBB and every cycle add one more working set for the 5X10 work (1st cycle 4X10 gradually progressing to 1X10, next cycle progress through 3X10 toward 2X10 etc.).
That’s what I would do, building everything slowly back up while practicing the main movements.
I hope that helps and sorry for any English mistakes.

827

Dude, I know you’re always looking for quality stuff to read - so here’s a list of the must-read “classic” books for men (classic meaning written pre-1980). Incidentally that’s the year I was born (and coincidentally it’s my birthday tomorrow) - dunno if that qualifies me as classic or not!

828

Animal Mother: Thanks for the compliment about my site man, means a lot. I think as long as you take your time getting back into the swing of things, you will find that you will bounce back fast and may find yourself even stronger than before the layoff. Thanks for checking in man, it is great to have you back around.

Regev: Thanks man! Bench didn’t feel right yesterday so i was glad to have gotten what I did.

justRob: Thanks for the link man! that is a great list. I have read a lot of them but it reminds me of stuff i would like to go back and read again as well as some stuff that I hadn’t considered.

And Happy early Birthday man! I was born in 1980 as well…Don’t like that we are in the “classics” stage of life though!

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“Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one 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.” --Steven Pressfield

“A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” --Steven Pressfield

“It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.” --Steven Pressfield

TUESDAY, 21OCTOBER2014 - Work For Today

CONDITIONING
100 Thrusters with 135lbs on the bar. Every time I dropped the bar, completed 3 Burpee Lateral Jumps as a penalty

STRENGTH
10 - 50 Foot Yoke Walks, adding weight every round.
360
450
540
630
720
750
750
750
750
750
All Carries were under 11 Seconds

Then worked up to a 600lb Simulated Car Deadlift

NOTES:

  • Normal Rucking first thing in the morning
  • Yoke walks get better every time. I am trying to start my pick with my feet staggered as if in mid walk which gets me moving forward faster and I am concentrating on pushing “out & forward” on the yoke which seems to drive me forward at a quicker pace and keeps the yoke from achieving the “bell” effect.
  • Simulated car deadlifts are hard to do. I set this up with 2 barbells running parallel. Empty ends are loaded down with sandbags and the front ends are loaded with 45’s sitting onto of 35lb bumpers. If i perform the lift holding behind the collars on the actual bar, i can work up to right around 600 belt less. If I move forward and grip the fat part of the collar in front of the weights I top out around 630 because my butt gets in the way of the plates.

For those of you who have never performed a car deadlift, it is not a deadlift at all. It is closer to a hack squat. it is a very strange motion and I think I am going to have to get a welder to build me an actual apparatus because simulating them isn’t working out the way I have seen/planned on when the weights get heavy. If i grip the actual bars behind the weight, it is too far out in front which is not like the lift at all, and gripping in front of the weights stops to early for really heavy loads to be lifted…Anyone have any ideas?

829

I know Hammer Strength makes a shrug/deadlift machine that looks like really similar range of motion.

EDIT: skip to 2:17

830

Have you check the Q&A section at elitefts? Someone might have posted something there before. I can’t remember if I’ve seen something or not, I’ll go back and check later.

831

http ://asp. elitefts. net/qa/default. asp? qid= 212877 &tid=116

I don’t know if that worked, but you could try setting up a contraption similar to that.
You might be able to get more weight on it if you used 2 inch steel pipes instead of barbells. That way, there is no collar to block the weights, or you could just put a collar wherever you wanted.
Just brain storming…

832

Alpha just curious, do big spikes in air pressure have any effect on you? I could be fine for months then a big fluctuation in pressure in a few hour window brings back some old injuries and has me needing to take some anti-inflams lol.

833

BJack: Thanks man, I will need to get to a commercial gym and try one of those out. Definitely look intriguing. Thanks for the idea!

Roran: Thanks for the link brother! I couldn’t get it to work, but you set me off in the right direction. I really appreciate it!

law8: With a big change in barometric pressure, yes. The knee I destroyed years ago definitely will give me some weird aches and where my back has been broken will definitely start to bother me when a quick weather change happens. I hope that answers your question brother!

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“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” --Thomas A. Edison

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison

WEDNESDAY, 22OCTOBER2014 - Work For Today

STRENGTH
Took 15 Minutes to try and beat my 6 Second Paused Front Squats PR from last week.
225
275
315
365
385
405 (PR Vid below)

Then did 4 Sets of 8 Back Squats @ 465.

EVENTS
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Reps of
Atlas Stone Over a 54" Bar
Double Unders x5 (10 = 50 DU’s, 9 = 45 DU’s)

NOTES:

**BTW I posted a new rant over at my site in the articles section for those of you who are interested.

834

Sorry about the link, it will take you the Q&A section of elitist. Under the strongman tab there was a question about simulating car deadlifts and a video about making a contraption out of bars.

I loved the rant on the site. I also love reading the insanely hard workouts even though I’ve been following 5/3/1 recently. I read them sometimes to remind myself that when I think my life is difficult, there are always people out there in worse situations, doing more, and complaining less then I am. It’s good to have a solid gut check now and again. Keep up the work, and thank you!

835

Video from that link:

836

Thank’s for the reply man. Neck bridges of all things help keep my back/hips loose when the pressure changes. Great new article on your site btw. I know lifting weights has given me the self discipline to hit other small goals for myself.

837

Roran: Thanks for the kind words about the article and the site man! I hope you make it out here one day to get some workouts in with us. They are hard, but well worth it.

LoRez: Thanks brother! That is very similar to what i am already doing, I just have too many plates on the front so I am unable to do reps. I’ll figure something out.

law8: Thanks man! I really appreciate the feed back!

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” --Mae West

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” --Apple Inc.

THURSDAY, 23OCTOBER2014 - Work For Today

STRENGTH - 10 Rounds
15 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups
7 Overhead Presses with 235lbs on the Bar
2 - 15 Foot Rope Climbs
100 Foot Sled Drag

EVENTS
At the top of every minute for 12 Minutes, Complete 4 Keg Clean & Presses (230lb Keg)

NOTES:

  • Normal rucking frost thing in the morning
  • Definitely having some bicep trouble again. Just some serious inflammation and pain in my elbows. Hopefully that starts to reduce some.
  • Overheads didn’t feel great today. The keg was good but a barbell just feels bad in my hands right now. and Axle feels much better.
838

Maybe you should strengthen your bicep with some curls, it might help.
Train the brachialis with some hammer curls, it’s a huge stabilizer.
Even though your arms work hard with all the pulling (especially while rope climbing) I suggest you to think about some high rep curling, a lot of pro strongman athletes curl and have huge biceps.

By the way, since the bicep’s origin is the shoulder, a tight shoulder may cause an elbow problems. This also a good explanation for your barbell overhead press discomfort.
Try this stretch-press your palm with supination and external rotation of the arm and rotate your torso against a wall. It’s hard for me to explain t well…

839

I hope I can to, I am fully expecting to die haha! I would love to try out the strongman equipment as I’d like to compete one day.

840

Hey just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading the new rant over at the website am I’m glad your sticking to your guns as long as how you want to operate your gym. Hope all goes well, I wish to one day train in the same setting as you all there.
On a different note. That paused front squat is crazy! Have you ever considered o-lifting?