Alpha's Work II

Training Training Logs
101

Just Rob: Hey, man welcome back! thanks for the great encouragement! And good luck to you on your goals! we will see how mine turn out…And thanks for the great quotes!

Animal Mother: No worries brother, that’s what i’m here for!

=====================================

“Is security a Utopian goal or is it another word for rut?..Where would the world be if all men sought security and had not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance that, if they won, life would be different and richer?..We shall let the reader answer this question for himself: Who is the happiest man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived, or he who stayed on the shore and merely existed?”

-Hunter S. Thompson

=====================================

12April2010: Training

Insert: As fast as Possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Strength: Giant sets, with as little rest as possible between clusters:

1a. Squats: 405/5, 425/5, 455/3, 475/3, 495/2, 525/1
1b. Muscle-ups: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
1c. Weighted Decline situps: 5 Sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb plate behind head

2a. Bent BB Rows: 245/5, 265/5, 275/5, 285/5, 275/5
2b. Flat BB Bench Press: 315/5, 235/5, 365/3, 385/3, 405/2, 425/See Notes below…
2c. Weighted Decline situps: 5 Sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb plate behind head

Extract: As fats as possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Notes:

-So today was a funny day…On the squats, I put on 495 and got my 2 pretty easily, so I figured jump to 525. I get under it, drop back into the hole, but do the stupid thing we all do somethings where the weight psyches you out, so you drop super slow and just keep reaching for the bottom of the hole, but then when you try to reverse it and go eccentric it feels as if a rino somehow jumped onto the bar…

So i dig my way up out of the hole and get to the point in all heavy squats where your back is either going to give and your going to bite it forward, or you and going to grind out the rep…It took me so long to get this rep up I could have read “War and Peace” in Russian and still have time left over…i kid you not in that middle grid out my thoughts jumped like this…

-You dropped too slow man, no way you getting it…
-Shut up, yes you can just keep you chest high and keep pushing…
-Wait what if my back gives and I get hurt…what am i going to do?..
-Shouldn’t you be pushing up with your arms right now also…
-Nah, back feels ok, i think you may pull this one out…

(At this time one of those low guttural noises that you don’t really control starts coming out of my mouth)

-Oh man, now you are making noise–stupid Gym manager is going to come yell at you…
-Will you shut up and get done this rep already?!?

(At this point I had moved approximately 1.5 inches higher…and so it goes…

Needless to say it was a rough rep, but I definitely hit depth and definitely finished it, but i was, without a doubt the longest rep of my life…

-Now the 425 bench…as you all know I don’t work with spotters because i don’t like having the option of help…But on my heavier sets i ask a nearby stranger to keep an eye on me, in case I drop the bar on my throat…as i did for this set…Buuuuuut the douche jumps behind the bench and asks if I need a lift off…I of course say no and tell him not to touch the bar unless I say so in a loud blood curdling little girl scream…i unrack the bar, touch my chest get it half way up and the bar slows. Not STOP just slows, i see him going for the bar and I repeat “Me, Me, ME, ME,MEMEMEMEEEE!!!” And he yanks the bar off of me…i had the lift but he stole it from me…i will find out where he lives…

Overall:

not a bad day, got some baseline numbers to get an idea of where I need to be each week in order to hit my goals…now i just need to do the work…

Oh by the way, per request, i have a new vid up…

It is of some Burpee Pull-ups… Lame i know, but I have been getting lots of PMs asking me what they are, so rather than explain again, i just put up a vid of me jumping around like an idiot…enjoy, and thanks for reading…

102

Respect!

I’ll be the big 3-1 this year :wink: MY goal is look better at 31 than I did at 21…

103

um, not sure…try again? Im so not a technical person!!

I had an experience similar to yours…last year I decided to see what walking out with 225 felt like…also decided to see what squatting it would feel like…I went straight down, haha! Thank goodness for safety bars!

104

[quote]Alpha wrote:
Just Rob: Hey, man welcome back! thanks for the great encouragement! And good luck to you on your goals! we will see how mine turn out…And thanks for the great quotes!

Animal Mother: No worries brother, that’s what i’m here for!

=====================================

“Is security a Utopian goal or is it another word for rut?..Where would the world be if all men sought security and had not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance that, if they won, life would be different and richer?..We shall let the reader answer this question for himself: Who is the happiest man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived, or he who stayed on the shore and merely existed?”

-Hunter S. Thompson

=====================================

12April2010: Training

Insert: As fast as Possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Strength: Giant sets, with as little rest as possible between clusters:

1a. Squats: 405/5, 425/5, 455/3, 475/3, 495/2, 525/1
1b. Muscle-ups: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
1c. Weighted Decline situps: 5 Sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb plate behind head

2a. Bent BB Rows: 245/5, 265/5, 275/5, 285/5, 275/5
2b. Flat BB Bench Press: 315/5, 235/5, 365/3, 385/3, 405/2, 425/See Notes below…
2c. Weighted Decline situps: 5 Sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb plate behind head

Extract: As fats as possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Notes:

-So today was a funny day…On the squats, I put on 495 and got my 2 pretty easily, so I figured jump to 525. I get under it, drop back into the hole, but do the stupid thing we all do somethings where the weight psyches you out, so you drop super slow and just keep reaching for the bottom of the hole, but then when you try to reverse it and go eccentric it feels as if a rino somehow jumped onto the bar…

So i dig my way up out of the hole and get to the point in all heavy squats where your back is either going to give and your going to bite it forward, or you and going to grind out the rep…It took me so long to get this rep up I could have read “War and Peace” in Russian and still have time left over…i kid you not in that middle grid out my thoughts jumped like this…

-You dropped too slow man, no way you getting it…
-Shut up, yes you can just keep you chest high and keep pushing…
-Wait what if my back gives and I get hurt…what am i going to do?..
-Shouldn’t you be pushing up with your arms right now also…
-Nah, back feels ok, i think you may pull this one out…

(At this time one of those low guttural noises that you don’t really control starts coming out of my mouth)

-Oh man, now you are making noise–stupid Gym manager is going to come yell at you…
-Will you shut up and get done this rep already?!?

(At this point I had moved approximately 1.5 inches higher…and so it goes…

Needless to say it was a rough rep, but I definitely hit depth and definitely finished it, but i was, without a doubt the longest rep of my life…

-Now the 425 bench…as you all know I don’t work with spotters because i don’t like having the option of help…But on my heavier sets i ask a nearby stranger to keep an eye on me, in case I drop the bar on my throat…as i did for this set…Buuuuuut the douche jumps behind the bench and asks if I need a lift off…I of course say no and tell him not to touch the bar unless I say so in a loud blood curdling little girl scream…i unrack the bar, touch my chest get it half way up and the bar slows. Not STOP just slows, i see him going for the bar and I repeat “Me, Me, ME, ME,MEMEMEMEEEE!!!” And he yanks the bar off of me…i had the lift but he stole it from me…i will find out where he lives…

Overall:

not a bad day, got some baseline numbers to get an idea of where I need to be each week in order to hit my goals…now i just need to do the work…

Oh by the way, per request, i have a new vid up…

It is of some Burpee Pull-ups… Lame i know, but I have been getting lots of PMs asking me what they are, so rather than explain again, i just put up a vid of me jumping around like an idiot…enjoy, and thanks for reading…Man i hope the link works this time!

http://www.youtube.com/user/AlphaTnation?feature=mhw5#p/a/u/0/93-eCDhXKOg

Ok, I’m going to the video I want to put on here…

I am copying the link for that page and pasting it here…

It doesn’t work…that used to work…why am I stupid…

Someone please tell me what i am doing wrong!

[/quote]

Use the embed code off youtube. It can also be viewed here

**copy/paste the link in your browser.

105

ah hah! ^ I would have said that if I knew your youtube name! :slight_smile:

106

just seeing if I had magic powers!

107

Awesome that you’re back. I’d ask what you’re trying to get into that you need to have such strenght endurance conditioning but knowing why your last log was taken down I’ll stick with wondering. I’d rather have the log and the daily quotes than no log at all.

This is LostFish from youtube by the way…I almost yelped at work “holy shit” in disbelief.

108

[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:

just seeing if I had magic powers![/quote]

Confirmed!

109
110

[quote]Alpha wrote:
-Now the 425 bench…as you all know I don’t work with spotters because i don’t like having the option of help…But on my heavier sets i ask a nearby stranger to keep an eye on me, in case I drop the bar on my throat…as i did for this set…Buuuuuut the douche jumps behind the bench and asks if I need a lift off…I of course say no and tell him not to touch the bar unless I say so in a loud blood curdling little girl scream…i unrack the bar, touch my chest get it half way up and the bar slows. Not STOP just slows, i see him going for the bar and I repeat “Me, Me, ME, ME,MEMEMEMEEEE!!!” And he yanks the bar off of me…i had the lift but he stole it from me…i will find out where he lives…
[/quote]

Oh I’ve had that happen too (tho’ not with 425!) and it has to be one of THE most annoying things in the gym EVER!. I always find myself trying to resist the temptation to shout something like ‘for f**ks sake you’ve just ruined my whole workout you stupid ashole!’ seeing as the guy offered to help me out when I asked lol. I do make a mental note never to ask the same guy again though!

111

MIM and Mateus: The two of you are my hero’s! Thank you both so much for helping me out with the vid stuff! Definitely much appreciated!

Darryl: Hey man great to see you back here! I missed you being around! Thanks for the kind words brother!

Lift and eat: Yeah man i was pretty frustrated with him…idiots…and just like you did, he will be avoided like VD for the rest of his gym career…Thanks for checking in brother!

12April2010: Fuel

Meal 1: Turkey meatballs, tomato sauce, 2 BCAA’s, 1 Flameout, orange, spinach

Meal 2: 1 Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey, 1 Scoop Surge, 15 BCAA’s,

Meal 3: 1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey, 1 Scoop Metabolic Drive, 2 BCAA’s, milk, banana.

Meal 4: Grilled Chicken, peppers, Jalapenos, salsa, onions, Milk, 2 BCAA’s, 2 fish oil caps

Meal 5: 1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey, 1 Scoop Metabolic Drive, 1 Flameout

Meal 6: 1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey, 1 Scoop Metabolic Drive, 2 BCAA’s, 2 Fish oil

Thanks to all of the kind words about the vid…To be honest that was just instructional, I normally rep out a lot more than that! But it was a nice ego stroke anyway! BTW if you are reading this and you commented on Youtube, if you have questions post them here…i really don’t respond on Youtube due to the high level of douchebaggery…But thanks again for all of the kindness!

112

NOW THIS IS A VIDEO THAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE!!
Doing sets of DB swings is hard enough. Doing 4 back to back sets with burpees is insane. The most impressive thing to me is the muscle ups. I have tried these and “EPIC FAIL”! lol.

[quote]Alpha wrote:

12April2010: Training

Insert: As fast as Possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Strength: Giant sets, with as little rest as possible between clusters:

1b. Muscle-ups: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

[/quote]

113

[quote]Mateus wrote:
NOW THIS IS A VIDEO THAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE!!
Doing sets of DB swings is hard enough. Doing 4 back to back sets with burpees is insane. The most impressive thing to me is the muscle ups. I have tried these and “EPIC FAIL”! lol.

[quote]Alpha wrote:

12April2010: Training

Insert: As fast as Possible

13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings
13 Burpee Pull-ups
13 80 lb DB Swings

Strength: Giant sets, with as little rest as possible between clusters:

1b. Muscle-ups: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

[/quote]
[/quote]

me too seeing that whole insert would be great, looks insane

114

Alpha,

Back to my post about starchy carbs…

For as long as I can remember, starches and dairy give me digestive problems and gas. Probably leading to stored body fat.

When I don’t eat those foods, I feel better, my digestion is great and I have more energy. But if I go too long with out staches, I start to feel weak, get headaches and light-headed. Also, eliminating starches limits my food choices and total calories. To help make up for this, I try to eat more healthy fats(olive oil, almonds, etc)

What is your advice for me regarding the headaches and lack of energy without starches(Is this a phase that will pass). What do you think about them causing me digestion problems? Is that my bodies way of telling me not to eat them?

How can I get enough calories with out starches? I weigh 230lbs right now and want to continue to get bigger and stronger.

I’ve also read about low carbs leading to low test levels.

My basic problem is:

eating starches= body fat and digestion problems.
not eating starches= headaches/lack of energy and calories.

What are your thoughts?

115

Mateus and Redstar: i just hesitate to do a vid that long for two reasons, number one, because I think it would get redundant, and watching someone doing the same thing for 10 minutes would get old…Secondly because I think it would be tough to keep my face hidden well the whole time…but we will see. i take some vids of some muscle ups maybe for you guys and tell you how to do them, once you know the trick they really aren’t that hard.
But thanks for checking in fellas!

Animal Mother: Ok I will try to address all of these points:

Lack of energy/headaches: A lot of people talk about lack of energy when dieting, but I am not sure I agree…I think mentally the lack of carbs makes you more fuzzy and less focused which could in turn take some intensity out of your workouts and i think more often than not, that is the case.

I wish i could find it but, not too long ago there was a study done that revealed that people really do not have any negative side effects of lack of efficient calories (and were talking malnutritioned here, not dieting) until something like 2 weeks. i personally have gone 5 days with absolutely NOTHING but water, and honestly, other than the mental fatigue of it all, I suffered no real physical side effects…

As far as headaches, i would look into drinking more water and see if that helps. But i cannot think of any physiological reason why a lack of starch would give you headaches, but then again i am not a Doctor…But I think more water would solve your problem.

Lots of people have digestion problems (of course with dairy and lactose intolerance) but a lot of people are allergic to gluten which is in more processed things than you would imagine…That could definitely be a cause of some digestion issues…

Not Enough calories?: Eat more. Seriously, load up on the food man. If you normally eat 2 chicken breasts with pasta, eat three with a boat load of vegetables, olive oil, almonds, and fruit as desert. you are still getting plenty of carbs from the fruit a vegetables to operate optimally and grow, you just need to eat more of them to hit the same number you were before…and I’ve never seen anyone get fat from eating apples…

You could also carry around a gallon jug of water with a ton of protein power in it all day long and drink that as opposed to any non-calorie drink…so by the end of the day you would know that you hit your protein requirements as well as ate food all day long…if you can’t get enough calories eating clean then you simply are not willing to eat enough.

There is no doubt in my mind you can do this, i have done it for years now with a terrible work schedule, being an insomniac and pushing through when my carb-less brain told me to stop.

If you want it you will get there brother! It just takes more discipline and perseverance, but I say jump in with both feet and see if your up to it.

Hopes this helps man

No training today, I have been sick as a dog all day and when I stood up i felt like yacking–

thanks for reading, I’m starting to feel a little bit better tonight…but I am totally going to try and puke in Stclair20’s car tomorrow! (we are riding to work together)

116

Thanks again Alpha.

I’m going to start planning my food even more than I do now. I just need to use my brain and figure it out.

One thing I thought of regarding the lack of carbs leading to headaches, dizziness etc is that glucose is needed to fuel the nervous system and brain. Glucose comes from carbs.

117

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:
One thing I thought of regarding the lack of carbs leading to headaches, dizziness etc is that glucose is needed to fuel the nervous system and brain. Glucose comes from carbs.[/quote]

Gluco…WHA!!! If you continue to use such big words in my log i will have to claim you are a witch and burn you with fire…

Yea, i understand how it works man, try eating more fruit in the beginning, that should help if you think it’s the glucose.

Give it a try bro

118

You’re a stunningly impressive athlete in many respects and your videos are inspiring as hell, keep it up brother I need guys like you to chase numbers and athletic ability on for the next decade.

119

Alpha, thanks for answering the pm. I am going to continue with 5/3/1 but as far as conditioning goes, I am going to add some insert/extract to the end of my workouts first and then build up as you mentioned. My question is : What would you suggest would be a good starting point as far as incorporating the insert/extract into my workout?

Thank you.

120

[quote]Alpha wrote:
I’ll take some vids of some muscle ups maybe for you guys and tell you how to do them, once you know the trick they really aren’t that hard.

[/quote]

A fairly well-written resource for the muscle-up is http://beastskills.com/MuscleUp.htm
Thought I’d save you some time. I just hope your “trick” isn’t “do pull-ups + 180lbs for reps”…