Hey Alpha, you should give the Valeria workout a shot! Although, you would have do curls 
Also, what exercises (if any) besides chinups have helped you get better at doing chinups?
I’m finding it slow going right now on them.
[quote]Alpha wrote:
BTW Buffbills: man i have to apologize! I saw your question and edited that other post like 3 times trying to get an answer to show up but the powers that be just didn’t let it happen…anyway…yea man I switch my grips each pull (warm-up or max doesn’t matter) eavery single time…it just so happened that it fell that way that time…I honestly do not feel more comfortable or stronger either way…but man I am honestly so, so sorry for not getting to you until now…I take people’s questions and comments incredibly seriously, and I was so bummed that it was not showing up! I would NEVER ditch someone with a great question like It appeared I did with you…again i apologize and (as long as me and the mods can help it) it will not happen again! Thanks for asking!
-I am watching my hometown boy Travis Pastrana on ESPN’s 199 Lives right now and am totally inspired by his commitment to breaking the impossible…to those of you whom already know me…this is what I already strive to live my life by every day…the guy is awesome…must be something in our water…
Impossible is nothing…
Die empty [/quote]
No problem, I just appreciate that you took the time to answer my question. It’s interesting that you say you don’t feel stronger or more comfortable when switching between grips, I definitely notice a difference when I switch up my grip. I think I’m gonna do something similar to you and switch up my grip throughout my warm up sets and see if that helps me feel a little more comfortable when alternating grips.
It seems kind of cliche at this point but this log is very inspirational. I"m probably not the only one who feels that this log is one of the best sources for information on the site.
White Flash: Yea man, I wish i could claim that as mine, but it was definitely Stclair20 who coined that phrase!
Heracles: yea man, not sleeping is rough, but honestly I have not slept much my entire life…it is definitely worse now than ever but it is what it is…Thanks for checking in man!
mithious: Thanks man, sleep is for the dead anyway!
The Dude: Thanks! but it didn’t feel awesome! it felt like AIDS and peaches…without the peaches!
Redstar: Man I’ve just been doing it for a little while now! i can adapt to anything…very, very slowly! thanks though man!
kross: I apparently go to the ones who live you very funny flavored lolly pops! Thanks for stopping in man!
Sagat: honestly, the only reason I do it is because it is hard…and it pushes me mentally as well as physically. i don’t really do anything heavy enough to tax me much strength wise (it may have dipped just a little at first) so it is just mainly hard on my heart and mental toughness…I have talked to som other people who have started doing the same thing and it really hasn’t made too big of a dip in their strength stuff either…oh yeah and it makes me hot abz for da summa time bra…I’d say the strength exercise most affected would be my back squats, but they are kind of my worst exercise anyway…You should give it a try though man! thanks for asking though man!
EB: I have never heard of that workout, I’ll look into it and let you know! And about the chin-ups…the only way i have ever seen anyone make any real improvement in these is by doing weighted chins…even if you can only do a 20lb weight for 2 reps, do 10 sets of them…if you can go heavier go heavier…keep increasing the weight just like any other exercise and it turn you will be making your bodyweight feel lighter and lighter…which will, in theory, help you do more…Honestly man it is the only thing I have ever seen work…give it a try for while and see how it works for you! thanks for asking man!
Buffbills: You know i never thought about it, but it may not bother me because i am ambidextrous…I really don’t notice much of a difference between the two. And thanks so much for the nice words man! I really do appreciate them!
Awesome as always…how are the ZMA’s working for sleep…i could use a little myself
Alpha,
I see that sometimes you miss a lift or fail to get the target amount of reps per set(we all have.) Like if you were doing a 5x5 and some sets you only get 3 or 4 reps, not the 5. Do you usually keep the same weights the next workout and try to get the desired reps or do you just end up adding more weight regardless if you get the reps or not. I’m just trying to get a feel for how you progress.
Also, (using 5x5 as the example again) how stressful/difficult do you consider the weight on the first few sets? Is it an easy weight or is it somewhat challenging?
Thanks man.
Just checkin in ya…
Hi 
gebaker: The ZMA definitely helps put me in a deeper state of sleep and gives me crazy dreams that i wake up confused and sticky from…the z-12 I have only tried one night. I took 2 Caps and it definitely chilled me out. i was totally relaxed…i didn’t have any trouble falling asleep but after while was back awake and had trouble the rest of the night…But again I have only tried it once. I think it will definitely be helpful though…you should give it a shot. thanks for asking man!
Animal mother: Well right now my workouts seem pretty chaotic simply because I am ramping up to break my maxes, get all new PR and attempt to look beastly when I turn the dirt old age of 30 next month…When you see me miss a lift, i totally had all intentions of getting it, and I’d say 90% of the time, the reason why I didn’t is because I got a bad hit in the hole, rocked out of my natural strength curve (etc)…it is never because I didn’t have the strength to get the weight up…
Take todays workout for example…I squatted 545 with semi-ease, then 525 which flew up, then being stupid I thought I would give 555 a try, dropped in the hole, got a bad hit on the rebound, came part of the way up and put the bar right back down before i did something stupid to myself…I am strong enough to push that easily, the problem is getting my body used to moving around with that much weight again…that’s why you will often see me make great jumps quickly…it’s not because I am a freak it is more like a muscle memory thing…
My body says…you have done the work and this is challenging weight for you…buuuuuttttt i don’t think i want to let you squat it yet…then the next week it will probably say, “Ok i remember we can do this again” and shoot it right up…it is weird…It is almost like each week I am over loading my CNS so that the next week it allows the weight to be pushed…
This is just reaping the benefits form all of the other work I have done before…like you siad, on 5x5 i NEVER do not get my prescribed reps, because when doing that kind of work I NEVER go to failure…i will always have 2 in the hole. And I manipulate the weight each set by how the previous set felt…So if I am benching 5x5 it might look (and feel-since you asked) something like this…
335x5 -felt kind of heavy but not bad…(like on a scale it would be a 6-7 out of 10) move up
365x5 -Most likely felt better than the first set…don;t know why-it just usually does… (8 out of 10)
385x5 -Real heavy…probably had 6 or 7 but stopped at 5 (9 out of 10)
265x5 -feels much lighter now…and i am just getting the reps in now (5 out of 10)
365x5 -I am ready for the next exercise…I am bored with you bench… (4 out of 10)
Of course before that i would have done a few reps with 135, 225, 315 before starting my working sets…but noting more than a few so i do not fatigue myself at all…
i hope this helps man, so for the rambling…if you have follow up questions, as always, just ask! Thanks man
MIM: Hyyyyyahhh!! thanks for checking in!
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“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”
-Andrew Carnegie
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01 May 2010: Training…25 Days left to the dead line…
Insert: 30 Muscle ups as fast as possible (These almost killed me!)
Strength: Giant Sets, 1a, 1b, 1c rest one minute repeat
1a. Squats: 315/5, 405/5, 455/3, 495/2, 545/1, 525/1, 555/Fail
1b. Decline weighted Sit-ups: 7 Sets of 10 Reps
2a. Bent BB Rows: 255/5, 275/5, 295/4, 275/5, 285/5
2b. Flat BB Bench: 315/5, 365/3, 405/2, 435/1, 415/2
2c. Leg Raises: 5 sets of 10
Accessory Work:
Flat DB Presses: 120/10, 130/10, 140/10
Extract:
5 Hill sprints
And a jog with my parent’s dogs through the woods I grew up in.
Notes:
-Muscle ups: these are getting a lot smoother, but i still need to be so explosive to get them done that they wear me out big time!
-Squats…man I hate them, my body and I just fight back and fourth through out the entire movement! But i did score the 545 pretty easily, then the 525 flew up, so being an idiot i threw on the 555 and just hit wrong in the bottom…I bet It will go up next week…i think i have just done a little bit too much before attempting it…
-Rows, these are the ONLY exercise i would ever consider using straps for since my grip is the limiting factor here…wait…nope i am not a little girl…I won’t use straps…what was I thinking!?!
-Bench: got the 435 that i failed on last week, this makes me happy…i think i will be able to set a new PR on this in the next week or 2…we will see..
New Supps:
I can honestly say that i did feel a little difference from the Surge WF today…it could have been placebo but it did feel like I had more energy…as far as the Alpha GPC i am still not sure…then again i DID feel pretty explosive today…more opinions to come on them…
Overall:
Pretty happy with my training today…those PR’s are looming, and i hope they start to fall soon if I am going to beat my goals for May 26th…
thanks for following!
Hey man, awesome lifts. Sorry to bring up questions about chin ups again, but I tried weighted chins for first time today, but after a couple of sets with just a small weight on the chain I was struggling just to make one. You suggested doing high number of sets earlier if we can only get a few with a light weight, but I was at the point where I could just not complete a rep for any more sets. Would it be an idea for me to go do another exercise after failure on chin ups and then try and come back and do more later in order to improve on them?
Also my squat numbers seem to be lagging behind my deadlift, but I always feel my core goes before my legs. Any suggestions on how to improve this?
Thanks, your advice is greatly appreciated.
Hey Alpha I had the pleasure of reading your old log this morning and it was time well spent.I just wanted to ask you a question on fish oils.You take about 12 or so a day right?I hear some so called experts say 5 or so a day is optimal and going over that isn’t needed.Just wanted to know what you thought on that.Do you take them as a source of healthy fats or more so for your joints?Reason I ask is I like to take a shot of olive oil every few hours as a source of healthy fats and calories but A tub of fish oils would be a ton handier at times.Ha also, off topic but sometimes I pussy out at times during a set of deads or whatever,think ‘what would Alpha do’ and that mans me up enough to continue.
Ha, man crush over keep shredding Alpha you are an inspiration to many!
[quote]Alpha wrote:
Animal mother: Well right now my workouts seem pretty chaotic simply because I am ramping up to break my maxes, get all new PR and attempt to look beastly when I turn the dirt old age of 30 next month…When you see me miss a lift, i totally had all intentions of getting it, and I’d say 90% of the time, the reason why I didn’t is because I got a bad hit in the hole, rocked out of my natural strength curve (etc)…it is never because I didn’t have the strength to get the weight up…
Take todays workout for example…I squatted 545 with semi-ease, then 525 which flew up, then being stupid I thought I would give 555 a try, dropped in the hole, got a bad hit on the rebound, came part of the way up and put the bar right back down before i did something stupid to myself…I am strong enough to push that easily, the problem is getting my body used to moving around with that much weight again…that’s why you will often see me make great jumps quickly…it’s not because I am a freak it is more like a muscle memory thing…
My body says…you have done the work and this is challenging weight for you…buuuuuttttt i don’t think i want to let you squat it yet…then the next week it will probably say, “Ok i remember we can do this again” and shoot it right up…it is weird…It is almost like each week I am over loading my CNS so that the next week it allows the weight to be pushed…
This is just reaping the benefits form all of the other work I have done before…like you siad, on 5x5 i NEVER do not get my prescribed reps, because when doing that kind of work I NEVER go to failure…i will always have 2 in the hole. And I manipulate the weight each set by how the previous set felt…So if I am benching 5x5 it might look (and feel-since you asked) something like this…
335x5 -felt kind of heavy but not bad…(like on a scale it would be a 6-7 out of 10) move up
365x5 -Most likely felt better than the first set…don;t know why-it just usually does… (8 out of 10)
385x5 -Real heavy…probably had 6 or 7 but stopped at 5 (9 out of 10)
265x5 -feels much lighter now…and i am just getting the reps in now (5 out of 10)
365x5 -I am ready for the next exercise…I am bored with you bench… (4 out of 10)
Of course before that i would have done a few reps with 135, 225, 315 before starting my working sets…but noting more than a few so i do not fatigue myself at all…
i hope this helps man, so for the rambling…if you have follow up questions, as always, just ask! Thanks man
[/quote]
Thanks for the answer.
I just wanted to compare your style with what I do.
See, I’ve never really followed a 5x5 or 3-4x10-12, or 8x4 or 10x3 or any other combination you can think of. The only time I followed a pre-set plan was when I was doing 5/3/1.
I ramp up in weight, but never follow any real rules.
Here’s an example if I wanted to squat 315:
Barx10
135x8
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x (all out as many as I can do. I usually increase the weight when I can get about 12 reps with that top weight.) I keep the reps low(around 5) on my ramp ups to save energy for the all out set.
-Then I usually do a back off set. This can be another set of 10-12 with a different weight, a really heavy weight for 5-8 reps or a high rep set of 15-10. It just depends how I feel that day.
If I do bodyweight stuff like chins, the first set is as many as I can do with bodyweight. The next sets are heavy weighted ones, usually for less reps. I agree with you that doing heavy weighted chins is the best way to get your bodyweight chins to increase.
I know different methods work for different people, but do you see any problems with the way I do my sets? I like keeping the volume low and the intensity high and hit that last set with everything I have.
I have also started adopting some of your training methods:
Full body workouts
Over 90% of my lifts are big compounds moves with free weights.
Hard conditioning- BB complexes, bodyweight complexes, Hill sprints, jump rope.
I also do strongman training once a week as I have a lot of equipment: tractor tires, farmers walk handles, prowler, dragging sled, sledgehammer, sandbags, kegs, etc.
-I think your style of training will really benefit me because I work in law enforcement and my goals are to be big and strong with great conditioning. I need as many useful physical qualities as I can get.
I am also adding things to increase the difficulty of the training and improve mental toughness. I do all my conditioning with my mouth piece in(so it’s harder to breathe, therefore increase my conditioning.) Super setting exercises with little rest(I rotated squats and chins yesterday and I loved it.)
I also like doing things like 20 rep squats with “heavy” weight. These really kick your ass and make you tougher than you were when you walked in the gym. I always think to myself, “What can I do to make this workout even harder than I planned?” Training is just so much more satisfying when you push yourself to a level you’ve never been to.
Thanks man.
Yeah off to the gym!
Just adding a quote as you seem to like them
“Dream as you may live forever. Live as you will die today”. - James Dean
IronWarrior: You could take time doing other exercises then come back to the pull ups, or you could just keep the weight on you and continue to do negatives at that weight…as in climb up to the finish position of the Pull-up and lower yourself very slowly…Either way, stick with it and see what kind of results you can get in the next 2 weeks or so…
As far as the squatting, I’m honestly not sure, i am going through the same thing right now…I am dong heavy weighted ab stuff, good mornings, SLDL’s and DB Swings to try and help mine…I really wish i could be more help there…If it works for me though, you will definitely know!
Thanks for asking and keep up the great work man!
law8: Thanks for the kind words man!
You know man, I do it for both reasons…but i swear it does help my joints a good bit…and when you are living off of protein shakes for days straight often, it never hurts as a healthy fat choice as well…
I honestly do not put much faith in any but a few “experts” since all of their opinions vary so much with what they are selling…But they guys I listen to wouldn’t be against what I practice at all…I’d honestly say it varies from individual to individual, If you can get by with only taking 5 a day I’d say go for it! But experience has shown me that i need a little bit more than that.
Thanks for asking man, and thanks for stopping in!
Animal Mother: Man, i see absolutely nothing wrong with what you are doing!..as long as you are progressing stick with it! I typically have to switch my stuff up about every 6 weeks…around that length of time I start stalling out, and more importantly start getting bored…And once I get bored with something, I just want no parts of it at all.
But yea, man, it looks good! Keep working hard!
Whitecrow: thanks for the quote man, I like it! And I hope you had a great lift man!
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“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
-William Faulkner
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02 MAY 2010: Training
Insert: Done as fast as possible
21 95lb BB Overhead Squats
21 95lb BB Snatches
15 95lb BB Overhead Squats
15 95lb BB Snatches
09 95lb BB Overhead Squats
09 95lb BB Snatches
Strength: Giant Sets
1a. Weighted Semi-Supinated Pull Ups: 100/3, 115/3, 135/3, 160/3, 190/2, 180/2, 160/3
1b. Standing BB Military Press: 185/4, 215/3, 225/3, 240/2, 250/1, 245/1, 235/2
1c. Hanging toes to Bar: 7 Sets of 7
Extract: Done as fast as possible
21 95lb BB Overhead Squats
21 95lb BB Snatches
15 95lb BB Overhead Squats
15 95lb BB Snatches
09 95lb BB Overhead Squats
09 95lb BB Snatches
Notes:
I was no wear near rested enough for today’s workout…My CNS just feels run down…i still couldn’t sleep even on prescription sleeping meds last night, and just didn’t have the time to recover…i just don’t have a ton of time this week to lift so i wanted to hit it, but once I started i knew it wasn’t going to be a strong day…
Was happy to hit 250 on Military, but it was slow work getting it locked out!
and the pulls just felt heavier than normal…I didn’t have the explosiveness that I needed…so i just did a few things and got out…
My back keeps seizing and I have a PT test for work, tomorrow…we will see how that goes…Anyway I am off to rest…i need an ice bath and a hot whirlpool next to each other so i can recover faster…
Hope all of you are doing well!
Thanks for all of the encouraging words and for reading!
The PT tests must be a joke for you. Must be fun acing them though. Good luck!
Hopefully the meds will kick in and give you some rest. I wonder about the effect those kind of meds have on your system?
Keep up the good work man.
I think its time for some new picks! Lets see what the Alpha body is looking like these days (man that sounded really gay!). These inserts, metcons, and extracts have got to be making you even leaner that what you were…
Mithious: Yeah man, most of the PT test is a complete joke…besides the run…Today when i was going the spasms in my lower back were absolutely killing me…Definitely didn’t max that one today!
Mateus: I will probably after I am done maxing out…to be completely honest the pic in my avatar and on my hub are pretty much exactly what i look like right now…this is like my “Maxing out” body, where i kind of swell up…I’ll take some once all of this heavy stuff is done with where I will appear leaner…However, it really won’t matter…with my complexion I could be .000079% body fat, and would still not look like it! Good suggestion though Brother
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Ok so a question i get PM’ed fairly regularly is, “What is your mindset/set up before doing your Dead Lifts?”
So rather than keep repeating it, I thought I would just put it down here for any of you who care…
-
After the plates are loaded, i have chalked my hands and my shoes are off—i am walking around the gym kind of psyching myself up…I do this by visualizing the lift (with complete honesty, with the complete struggle and all…Not the “this is easy weight” kind of junk)
-
Once I have completed the lift successfully in my head, I start repeating “Bar straight up”, “Squeeze the bar”, and “Push the ground away from you”…I continually repeat this over and over again.
-
once i feel as if I am “ready” to lift, I say a prayer that i won’t snap my back in half and that God would keep me safe…and I approach the bar..
-
i set up in a Hybrid kind of sumo stance where my shins are just inside the rings on the bar with my feet slightly pointed out…
-
I raise my arms above my head to get a strong negative arch in my spine, and tell myself, “Do a good job”, “Do a good Job!”
-
I take the biggest belly breath I can and hold it.
-
I reach down and grab the bar, and squeeze it as hard as I can…
-
i pull the slack out of the bar, and think to myself, “Push the world away from you” and “Bar straight up”
-
At this point, if all is going well, the plates have left the floor and I am at that midway point of the lift. Here I am just concentrating on keeping the bar from drifting forward and just attempt to keep the bar right against my body. Also, usually at this point weird noises emanate from me, and my eyes feel like they are about to pop out of my head…
-
Once it hits mid thighs i am just thinking, “Hump the bar!”, “hump the bar!” this helps me with the lockout and slightly turns me on…Which i figure boosts my test levels…
-
then it is all about getting my shoulders back and completing the lift…This usually happens when i drop the bar…grow two inches taller again, and thank God that i am not laying in two pieces on the floor…
Anyway, for those of you who were wondering…That’s what my setup/mindset is for pulling heavy…if you never wanted to know any of this than carry on…
Oh and today is just some Ruck-covery for me…i will probably get somewhere between 5-10 miles with a 50lb ruck on…
As always, thanks for reading!
Thanks for that Alpha. I hadn’t realised that was why people raised their arms before heavy pulls.
you fell of the first page and I was worried.
sorry to hear the meds aren’t working for sleep…I’m wondering though, do you give yourself enough down time before getting in bed?
Quick question for you… I am just curious what you would recommend if someone wanted to drop body fat as quick as possible (lets say over a month or two just for a time frame) w/o sacrificing muscle?
By the way looking strong man and good luck on your goals.
Thanks man!
htargett: Hey man thanks for stopping in! Hopefully that will help some people with their deads…I dunno??
MIM: I know! Relegated to the 2nd page so easily! and he said he would call!!! Downtime…what’s downtime??? Read ahead and you will see what i am talking about!! Thanks so much for bumping me back to the first page!
Johndylan: You know I would honestly say do a really hard insert and exert and use 5x5 with very little rest between sets, but go as heavy as you possibly can…But as always, different things work for different people…i would also keep my BCAA’s high (for me it seems to help hold muscle mass when cutting) and of course eat totally clean.
And thanks do much for the encouragement brother!
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“If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know.”
-Tom Wolfe
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05 May 2010: Training…
Caveat: I am, for the most part a nice guy…I respect others, try to be honorable all of those sorts of things…I love my country and think i serve it fairly well…Many have written me and asked how to get into a profession such as mine…to those people, after today i would say DO NOT DO IT!!! You know how with a boat, it is cool to have a friend with one, but you should never own one yourself??? Yeah it’s the same way with my job…
I left my house at 0400 this morning for work, got home at 8 PM, had to go straight to the gym which was going to close at 9 PM…All kind of lame junk went on today, but i decided I was still going to go for a PR on my deads…the following happened…
No time for insert of extract…or for anything else essentially, so this was my training today…
Deads: 135/3, 225/3, 315/3, 405/2, 495/1, 545/1, 585/1, 635/FA-^(%%($(&%)%$^%&%%&)()(&T%-IL, 585/Fail…
-So I was only going to work up for a max set being that i was very limited on time…i got to the 635 pulled it right off the ground, got part of the way up, looked like I had Parkinsons disease i was shaking so much, felt a pop in my left trap/shoulder and dropped the weight…the slew of profanity that came out of my mouth for missing that weight was ridiculous…i was livid…
For those who do not know, I am a terrible loser…like the worst loser you will ever see in your life…I had thought about getting that weight all day…no matter how bad it got, i just kept saying…“NO, today will be good because you will PR your Deads!” when it didn’t happen, I wanted to punch a baker’s dozen babies in the throat…I am still pissed about it…but the shoulder seems strangely fine…
BB Incline Bench: 135/3, 225/3, 275/3, 315/2, 335/2, 365/2, 385/1
…Was pretty happy with this actually…could see a PR in a week or two maybe…only time will tell…
Weighted Dips: BW, 135/5, 180/5, 225/3, 270/3 Vid
…again, was pretty happy about this, and the vid is below…i just still cannot believe I missed that 635!!
i apologize for such a short entry but I need to be gone from my house for another few days in a few hours…FML…
Thanks for reading and the comments!
Great post on your deadlift mindset. I appreciated it. If anything this post made me feel a bit more sane, because I do a similar routine. I still visualize my old coach yelling at me to keep my upper back tight and lean back farther.
I’m sure if your day hadn’t been so draining you would have nailed that lift for sure. Looking forward to seeing you pull that in the near future.
Rest and recovery bro!