Cheers for the detailed reply alpha. . I thought it was just go in everyday and get smoked and repeat. Thanks for the tip on hitting muscle groups/when they are still sore. I will incorporate more of this in my own training. As you said if you gotta wait till stuff doesn’t hurt you will spend a lot of the time not training. I also really like the idea of using movements for your conditioning that will prime the muscle groups that you will use for the strength work later on.Back in your first log when your training looked more conditioning based with longish inserts and extracts were you still using percentages on the lifts?
law8: Thanks brother! and Nope, those workouts were training for something completely different and didn’t have as much science behind them. I am trying to get more efficient with my workouts and I learn more. That is why there are percents now. Thanks for asking brother!
===============================================
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
MONDAY, 05JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 4
CONDITIONING - Get As Far As You Can in 12 Minutes
1 Squat @ 405
1 Bodyweight ManMaker
2 Squats @ 405
2 Bodyweight ManMakers
3 Squats @ 405
3 Bodyweight ManMakers
4 Squats @ 405
4 Bodyweight ManMakers
Continue to add Reps Until you run out of time
STRENGTH - 7 Rounds
2 Flat Bench Presses @ 390lbs
4 Deadlifts @ 475lbs
8 Reverse Hypers
EVENTS - 5 Rounds
8 Tire Flips For Time
NOTES:
- Bench Presses felt easy and smooth today.
- I think i figured out what I was doing wrong on my deadlifts, I was dropping my hips too low on set-up. I raised them and all of my reps flew up.
- For those of you interested, I posted a new article about Setting goals on my site yesterday. I would post the link, but they seem to mysteriously disappear…
- One of my goals this year is to read 100 books. I have finished “The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy so Far. I am most of the way through Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and just started “Jailbird” by Kurt Vonnegut
Alpha Dude! Great article man, I especially liked #6. Keep killin’ that iron man!
Read “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” of Nietzsche, great book! Pretty heavy though but you’ll like it, I’d suggest you to read the book more than once.
I really like Nietzsche and Freud. I read Martin Luther King’s biography a while ago, pretty interesting stuff! I have tons of books to suggest you if you’d like.
100 books that’s no joke, do you know “Summer’s reading” by Bernard Malamud? We learnt it on English Literature class. It’s a short story about a son of immigrant parents who lacks education and motivation to achieve the American dream and in order to achieve his dreams he need to get educated. At the end of the story he’s doing that by reading 100 books. Just a short and not interesting recap, the whole “100 books to read” thing reminded me that.
I like a lot to read but it’s really tough for me to sit down and open a book in the first place.
I’ll read the article later. Let’s smoke 2015!
FarmerOwen: Thanks brother! i really appreciate you heading over to my site to give it a read!
Regev: Thanks for the book suggestions man, I will definitely check them all out. I have done the 100 Books in a year thing a few years ago and I can honestly say that I felt like I learned and grew more as a person that year than just about any other of my life. 2014 Was the most productive year I have ever lived so I am hoping that I can combine the two in 2015.
I have heard a lot of people talk about informal eductions through reading (such as a liberal arts degree through reading the Harvard classics)…I figure it can only help me and my personal growth…
========================================
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any one thing.” --Abraham Lincoln
“All I want to tell young people is that you’re not going to be anything in life unless you learn to commit to a goal. You have to reach deep within yourself to see if you are willing to make the sacrifices.” --Louis Zamperini
TUESDAY, 06JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
CONDITIONING - As Many Rounds As Possible in 25 Minutes
5 Glute Ham Raises
5 Pull-Ups
5 Turkish Get-Ups
5 Barbell Snatches With 60% of your Bodyweight on the Bar
NOTES:
- Just Moving around a little bit to get some of the soreness out
Happy new year man and great article again!
Hope you hit your goals this year and keep posting!
Just wanted to say I’m impressed how you handled Redkrbu’s questions. I saw what he originally asked.
Not sure if you’ve seen this: Welcome to Great Books and Classics - Great Books and Classics
It’s a compilation of a number of the “great books” lists out there. You can sort chronologically, or by author, or filter by his “core” or “major works” lists.
[quote]What do the abbreviations in the Reading Lists index stand for?
“Core” - The Core Reading List is of my own design. Any work which appears in three of these four sets of reading lists is included: Great Books Foundation (includes GBF, GBF-50, and GBF-HS); Britannica (includes GBWW and Great Ideas); How to Read a Book (HTR); and Harvard Classics (HC).
“Major” - All works included in any of the four major reading lists, namely the Great Books Foundation Adult Reading Series (GBF), Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World (GBWW), How to Read a Book (HTR), and the Harvard Classics (HC).
“GBF” - The Great Books Foundation’s adult reading and discussion list.
“GBF-50” - The Great Books Foundation’s 50th Anniversary adult reading and discussion list.
“GBF-HS” - The Great Books Foundation’s high school reading and discussion list.
“GBWW” - The contents of Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World collection.
“Great Ideas” - The contents of the 10-volume set of the Great Ideas Program (a supplement to Great Books of the Western World).
“HC” - The contents of the Harvard Classics.
“HTR” - The list from the appendix of Mortimer Adler’s classic text on intelligent reading, How to Read a Book.[/quote]
ironwarrior: Thanks for heading over there and reading it man and Happy New Year to you! I hope 2015 is a great one for you!
LoRez: Yea man, I think he is just a little bit lost. We are all in different stages of our journey in this game and I try to approach questions with that in mind. I did question whether he was a troll or if his questions were real (and him deleting what he wrote does not help his case much) but I try not to judge too much and just try to give out help to those seeking it. Hopefully my advice did help and he is well on his way.
Thanks for the reading list, that is hugely helpful and I had never seen it before. I will definitely be referencing it regularly.
======================================================
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” --Randy Pausch
WEDNESDAY, 07JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 6
CONDITIONING
10 Pull-Ups
10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 225lbs
20 Double Unders
8 Pull-Ups
8 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 225
16 Double Unders
6 Pull-Ups
6 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 225
12 Double Unders
4 Pull-Ups
4 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 225
8 Double Unders
2 Pull-Ups
2 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls @ 225
4 Double Unders
STRENGTH - 7 Rounds, 30 Minute Time Cap
2 Front Squats @ 390lbs
4 Log Clean & Presses @ 225lbs
8 Dragon Flags
EVENTS
Keg Clean & Press
:30 Seconds Work / :30 Seconds Rest for 10 Minutes
NOTES:
- Front Squats Felt pretty good but sometimes I had to re-rack for a second because the bar slipped forward a little bit on my first rep.
- Log Clean and Presses were a joke.
Hey Alpha - Happy New Year. I follow along every day. Thanks for all your time you commit to us all.
I would be thrilled to one day be able to use 225 lbs and conditioning in the same sentence…
Captain Needa: Thanks brother! Happy New Year to you! Man just keep doing what you are doing, you will be throwing 225 around in no time, I have just been at this longer!
=================================================
“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” --Chuck Palahniuk
“Get busy living or get busy dying.” --Stephen King
THURSDAY, 08JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 7
EVENTS
1 Mile Farmer’s Carry As Fast As Possible. 225lbs each hand.
225 each hand? For a mile?! Hell yea, keep the log up man! When I read stuff like this it makes me just want to push the envelope a little more each time. How long did that take you??
gvaldes: Hahaha thanks man! It wasn’t my idea but it was fun. I’m not sure how long it took me, (didn’t look at what time I started) but I know it was more than 1/2 hr and less than an hour. Just guessing but I’d say 40 or so minutes. It started out pretty easy but got exponentially harder as time went on. You also have to figure that rucking with a 50+lb pack on an iclne for 2 miles everyday helps a lot. My body is pretty comfortable moving under weight. Glad it helps motivate you some brother!
======================================================
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something.” --Neil Gaiman
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” --Henry David Thoreau
FRIDAY, 09JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 8
CONDITIONING - Get As Far As You Can in 12 Minutes
1 Burpee Pull-Up
1 Barbell Bent Over Row @ 300lbs
1 Floor Presses @ 300lbs
2 Burpee Pull-Ups
2 Barbell Bent Over Rows @ 300lbs
2 Floor Presses @ 300lbs
3 Burpee Pull-Ups
3 Barbell Bent Over Rows @ 300lbs
3 Floor Presses @ 300lbs
?Made it through round 8 and was in round 9 when I ran out of time
STRENGTH - 7 Rounds
2 Deadlifts @ 545lbs
7 Barbell Ab Roll-outs
The tried doing some double paused deadlifts. (first pause a few inches off the floor and the second right at the knee)
365x2
405x2
455x2
500x2
520x2
550x2
Then, At the Top of Every 2 Minutes for 6 Rounds Completed 4 Squats @ 460lbs
NOTES:
- The first part was pretty rough, had my entire upper body engorged with blood.
- Deadlifts felt blah. But got the work in
- I really liked the double pause deadlifts. They were really taxing but it was something new. I am pretty happy with hitting 550 on my first attempt at these. Completely ripped a callus off my left hand in the process though. That Texas DL bar is no joke after a bunch of reps.
- Squats felt heavy, but that was expected after all of the deadlifting.
I’m back! My friend wants to do football next year(he’s in hs) and he wants to really try. So he looked at http://www.T-Nation.com/powerful-words/letter-to-young-jim-wendler/
and was motivated. But he can only get in weight room two days a week (tues and thurs) but can do treadmill at home mon, wed, friday. Unless u don’t want him to do treadmill, and suggest hill drills and the like (any suggestions on that? really needs to work on endurance). Thanks!
he would also like the amount of macros he should eat each meal
uh like
carbs, fats, protein, etc.
Redkrbu: Well man, you question is pretty vague and I know absolutely nothing about your friend’s background, lifting history, current diet, football position, goals or anything like that so it is kind of tough to really program out anything for him. But If I were to layout a 2 day a week lifting program, it would be something like:
Day A: 5x5, 10x3 or 8x4 depending on what the goals are
Deadlifts
Pull-Ups
Overhead Press
Power Cleans
Ab Variation
Day B: 5x5, 10x3 or 8x4
Squats
Bent Over Rows
Bench Press
Front Squats
Oblique Variation
On his other days, I would focus on Hill Sprints, Loaded Carries, and jump rope.
As far as macros, i have no idea man. I am not a macros guy. I’d just make sure that he is getting at least 1.3gr of protein per pound of lean body mass, make sure he is eating a ton of good fats (Avocado, EVOO, Coconut Oil, Fish Oil, Almonds, etc…) and then filling the rest with Vegetables. Add in a little bit of fruit and nuts as snacks and see where his body takes him. Without knowing his height/weight/bf % it is not easy to get a feel for where this guy is starting at.
I hope that helps man, but next time you ask a question please make it as detailed as possible with some background info so that i can better answer it. Thanks man.
====================================================
“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” --Edgar Allan Poe
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” --George Bernard Shaw
SUNDAY, 11JANUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 10
CONDITIONING
Minute 1: 1 Front Squat @ 295lbs
Minute 2: 2 Front Squats
Minute 3: 3 Front Squats
Made it through round 11, then moved on
STRENGTH - 7 Rounds
2 Weighted Pull-Ups: Worked up to 195x2
2 Log Clean & Presses @ 260lbs
10 Knees to Elbows
EVENTS
At the Top of Every Minute for 12 Minutes
50 Foot Yoke Walk @ 500lbs
4 Power Cleans @ 265lbs
NOTES:
Sorry, Great Alpha D: Idk his stats so I’mma just let him write=
um height is 1.845 meters , my weight is about 198, age 17,body% 17 position: RB,
me and my buddy just recently switched to lifting so ive only been lifting for about a year
back squat: 285 (parallel)
bench: 180 (pretty weak)
my runs are bad i got like 13 minutes on my mile run and 5.5 on 40 yard dash
i eat primarily chicken and steak, lasagna, pasta, PB&J sandwiches/fruits, salad sometimes,
drinks: water(four 16 fl oz bottles a day atleast or more)/tea, chocolate milk
ik this is a process, and I am looking to use this program for the rest of my life. I want to incorporate some mma/wrestling sparring drills into my other days (non lifting days? tell me if thats a bad idea), but still run. Conditioning starts this tuesday
and is there any problem with doing treadmill hill sprints instead of normal ones?
im starting this tomorrow.
i also have a mass gainer from GNC with 50 grams of protein per 4 scoops. imma eat drink that in morning breakfast, before workout second lunch(i can also eat it at my first lunch if u want me to) and with dinner
thanks!
Alpha Dude! Great squat article, I found it very insightful and full of good reminders!
[quote]FarmerOwen wrote:
Alpha Dude! Great squat article, I found it very insightful and full of good reminders![/quote]
x2, gonna incorporate into my squat session today!
Hey man,
I know we talked about this at some point a few months ago but you changed a lot in terms of training philosophy (could I call it that way? lol) what would you say is the best accessory/assistance exercises? (not any specific work for the big lifts but for overall strength).
Hopefully I’l be back to the gym soon so I’m already programming.
Redkrbu: Or your friend, rather…Well man, I can tell you for a fact you should NOT do this program for the rest of your life, but I can guarantee that you will perfuming things “like” them for the rest of your life.
Since you can only make the gym twice a week at the moment, try out the layout I provided above. Give it everything you have got every rep and every set. Making sure you get all of your protein in a given day will be huge as well. Cut that crappy junk out of your diet if this is something you really want to pursue.
Drink the GNC junk until it is gone first thing in the morning and post workouts. Once it is depleted, buy some high grade protein power and start with that.
Don’t worry about the treadmill. It is definitely the more wussy way to go about it, but set it on the highest speed and highest incline and hit your sprints on there. You need to drop some body fat so your feet can get faster if you want to be a running back. Jumping rope will help with this as well.
Just do the basic stuff here that I have explained. Eat as clean as possible, lift those basic exercises heavy and hard to near failure every set…Now do this for 6 months without screwing up your meals and don’t miss ANY workouts, no matter what. And you will be shocked at what kind of changes can occur.
Hopes that helps man!
FarmerOwen: Thanks for reading and commenting man, I really appreciate the feedback! I hope it helps!
usmccds: That is great man, thank you! and please let me know how it goes for you! And let me know what you are coming over to the gy to train!
Regev: Well man, i really don’t thin my philosophies have changed much at all actually, but I guess you do. Assistance exercises are there to help out the big lifts. I’m not completely sure what you are looking for here, but I’ll give it a shot:
Goal: Big Bench:
Accessories: Weighted dips, Floor/board Presses. Incline Log Press
Goal Big Squat:
Accessories: Front Squats, Glute ham Raises, Reverse Hypers, good mornings
Goal Big Deadlift:
Accessories: Dimel Deadlifts, Stiff Legged Deadlifts, deficit deads, paused deads , reverse hypers, good mornings, rack Pulls
Goal Big OHP
Accessories: “Z” Presses, Snatches, Overhead Squats, Jerks
GOAL TO GET ALL AROUND STRONG WITHOUT COMPETITION IN A PL COMP
Accessories:
Yoke Walks
Farmer’s Carries
Tire Flips
Keg/ Sandbag Throws & Carries
Prowler Push / Sled Drags
I hope that answers your questions man!
“You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?” --George Bernard Shaw,
“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
MONDAY, 12JANUARY2014 - Work For Today
Wave 3/Day1
STRENGTH
7 Sets of 2 Squats @ 545lbs.
30 Double Unders Between Rounds
2 Log Presses: Started with a few sets of 255x2 then hit single at 275, 285 and 300…
Then 6 Rounds
8 Glute Ham Raises
3 Flat Bench Presses @ 365lbs
8 Windshield Wipers (Each Side)
EVENTS - 4 Rounds
Take 15 Minutes to Find a 1RM Stone Load to a 54? Platform
Then take 70% of that Weight and complete 4 Rounds of the Following.
5 Stones Loads
Rest :45 Seconds
4 Stone Loads
Rest :30 Seconds
3 Stone Loads
Rest :15 Seconds
2 Stone Loads
Rest :10 Seconds
1 Stone Load
NOTES:
- The squats almost killed me today. I wasn’t sure if it was the weight or what but they were a lot of grinders in those 14 reps
- Log felt a little bit off today, but I a sure for a PR here soon, once I start focusing more of my training on it.
**For those of you who are interested in such things, I wrote a step b step guide of how I squat on my page http://www.neversate.com/wrath/ give it a read and click the mile button if you fund it helpful. Thanks!
Took some tips from your squat article today and helped tremendously. Specifically bringing the hands in, letting the bar “settle,” and bringing my stance in closer. Good stuff