Alpha,
I’m currently doing 531 and I read you did it too, so I’m interested in how you applied this program, like, what did you do for assistance/metcon and what would a typical week look like?
I’d actually appreciate T-Nation sponsoring you or doing an interview with you like they did with that caveman dude. Or you could write an article!
Good luck with your birthday goals. I remember benching 100 kg for the first time on my 16th birthday ^^
I was thinking last night about this log. I was thinking about the intensity, the focus, the determination. All those things that are required to perform the way you do in the gym and I venture to say in your work and life in general. The timing of this log coming back and the want that I had to switch up the program and get into better shape could not have been any better. My point is this, so many people just stroll along with little to no determination to do anything with their lives both physically and mentally. We have become a nation of sheeple. Believing that we are entitled to anything and everything that we want without putting forth any effort to acquire these things. We are told that it is OK to be normal and to just flow with the masses. Here is the mind fuck, can you imagine if we all lived our lives with the same determination, focus, and intensity that some of us use in the gym and in our every day lives… Can you imagine such a place?
Mateus: F1rst question: Yes, Second Question: Yes, Third Question: I am going to give the Surge Workout Fuel a go and see if it can up my intensity some more, and hopefully help with my recovery. And for my hardest maxing out weeks, i am going to try some of the Alpha-GPC stuff to see if it can give me that last extra boost that will make or break my lifts. Like I said, I will give a full out-complete honest evaluation of these…now, if only T-Nat would start sending me things to try and evaluate for free!!! Ha! Thanks for checking in man!
StClair! I was wondering when you would come back and post again! Congrats on the PRs man! Dude I know you are a ton stronger than you think you are…You just need enough caffeine to kill a small village of giraffes to show it! Hopefully your heart has not exploded and you will get to read this. You make me proud brother, I’ll see you…well I have no idea when the next time I will see you, but I look forward to it…don’t be such a stranger
MIM: that is true, I could use the Lat pulldown, but that would require me to touch a machine…and I won’t do that, because I am pretty sure machines are where people catch the AIDZ and possibly even the Clap…These are facts…
Oh and I have a brain tumor on my Pituitary gland, which is messing up a bunch of junk in my body…it is on going and we are not sure what to do about it just yet…it is what it is, and at this point we are all just hoping it stays what it is and does not become anything that we don’t want it to…we will see how it goes, but it is nothing that I focus on too much besides when i have to go to the Doc a couple of times a month…Thanks for checking in though!
gebaker: Great job man! Trust me when I say that it gets better as you go along! It is like anything else. At first it seems next to impossible, but in 3 weeks you will look back at what used to seem impossible and laugh at it. Keep it up brother and I look forward to hearing about your next GPP induced puking session!
Burst: great to have you back around man! Umm right around 6’ and 225 devilishly handsome pounds!
Kross: Indeed you were right my friend. Thanks for the help brother!
“Soon there will be war. Millions will burn. Millions will perish in sickness and misery. Why does one death matter against so many? Because there is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise in this.”
-Rorschauch
Training: 5/3/1 - Week 1 - Days 3&4
Warm-up: dynamic
(ATG) Squats: Based off of 560lbs
Bench: Based off of 455
Squats and Bench were Supersetted----BAD IDEA
(ATG) Squats:
65% = 330/5
75% = 385/5
85% = 435/10 Had more in me…
Bench:
65% = 265/5
75% = 315/5
85% = 350/9 Not too bad
Accessory Work:
Giant Set:
Front Squats: 295/8, 295/8, 295/8
DB INC Bench: 130’s/14, 120’s/12, 120’s/10
Plate SIde bends: 7 sets of 8 reps each side
Energy Systems work: Complexes: 105, 110, 115lbs
8 Deads
8 Cleans
8 Front Squats
8 Military Press
8 Back Squats
8 L Leg Lunges
8 Right Leg Lunges
8 Thrusters
Run 400 Meters
Add weight and repeat 3x
-----Puked my living brains out…
Notes:
-For the 5/3/1: I would do my 1st set of squats, straight to my 1st set of bench, rest one minute then do the 2nd sets, rest a minute then did my 3rd sets just to see how my body would hold up…I did pretty well, but this idea would come back to haunt me!
-The accessory work was going so well…I was supposed to get a 4th set done…alas it was not to be…
My last set of the squat/bench superset made the nausea start, each accessory set after that just made it build…and build …and build, until the inevitable…
-It was pretty funny though…some guy at the gym saw me with 435 on the bar and asked if I wanted a spot, I said no, and got 10. then he watched me go straight over to the 350 bench and get 9…the kid was blown away and went around telling like 6 people about my set…I was a minor celebrity among a bunch of weak college kids for the day…why oh why are there no strong people at my gym!?! ._________________________________________________________
That was from June of last year…
You know I actually got approached by some other online mag to do an interview the last time I was doing a log, and asked to be a contributer for another site, but turned both down…this place has been good to me so i feel a certain loyalty to it. Plus it is the best thing around if you ask me, and if I was going to do something like that, I wouldn’t want to be part of any other team…I WOULD love to review supplements for free though!
Thanks for the luck on the Birthday goals, but I am affraid i am going to need a whole lot more than that…continue to read below. Thanks man!
Mateus: I feel that same way man, and it is how I try to live my life…i want to excel at everything I put my hands to…just ask Stclair20…If I don’t perform well up to my standards it is ugly. you will never see someone so furious for not reaching unreasonable goals…
But it all has to start with each person deciding for themselves on how they wanna live. it starts with the small stuff and grows from there… It would be great if everyone tried to do their best at what they put their hand to. The potential is seriously endless…Start today with yourself man, hopefully it catches onto the people around you and you can help push each other to be better in all things, not just bigger, stronger or faster…Good thoughts man, thanks.
So no lifting today. How I said my back was sore…well it started spazing and being stupid in the night. i could barely walk this morning, then just put in a days hard labor with my Dad because he needed my help at his construction company…some day off…anyway My left leg is pretty numb down the outer IT sweep and the idea of pick up something heavy is not a comfortable one…Ice, foam rolling, contrast showers, and advil are my friends tonight…Stupid broken back…can’t just leave a guy alone when he is trying to get strong before his birthday!
I should hit the gym, pain or not, tomorrow…
Thanks to everyone for checking in and asking some good questions…
Alpha, I noticed you’ve been a member since '02…I’m curious as to what you looked like back then (height/weight) and a pic would be cool too if you have one from back then…
Thanks man!
So basically it was 531 with the usual giant sets for assistance and complexes for metcon.
Am I understanding this correctly, was the day you posted just an exception and you did an upper/lower split at that time? Or did you adapt the 531 for total body training? Or was it a push/pull style split? Or did you just do the work whenever you had time and didn’t care too much about splits and stuff?
Sorry for all the questions and thank you for answering!
I’m holding my niece in the pic (i DEFINITELY don’t have any devil spawn of my own!) Anyway I was about 180-190lbs in the pic…So there you go man!
By the way, no real training today…
I went for a long ruck, but the idea of doing any sort of heavy overhead pressing with a seizing back is not a pleasant one…But tomorrow come hell of high water I will be in there killing it again. My back just needs tonight to calm down some more, so i can go screw it up some more tomorrow…ahhhh maybe this is what my Doctors keep talking about when they say i’m an idiot…
Awesome stuff here!
With the back thing do you ever switch to some seated OH lifting?
you have amazing eyes 
ughh, hope your back behaves!! your not an idiot, just stubborn…
[quote]Alpha wrote:
here is a pic of me in 2003 [/quote]
In 2003 you were wearing a lot of makeup. You would look a lot prettier if you use less concealer, it makes you look like a bit of a whore! HaHa (I kid, I kid)
Alpha, this log is the tits. You remind me of Jim Wendler on crack.
^ ‘is the tits,’? huh?
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
^ ‘is the tits,’? huh? [/quote]
Just a saying. Nothing more.
oh, never heard that before! carry on
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
oh, never heard that before! carry on :P[/quote]
Yep. Pulled it outta the archives 
Badass mentality: Nah man, i never do…I’m probably wrong, but I think when you are sitting it doesn’t allow your transverse abdominals and intercostals (Sp) to do their job…but again, i am probably wrong…I just suck it up and get it done anyways man…And thanks for the kind words brother, i really appreciate it!
MIM: You give me WAYYY too much credit! And yea i hear that all of the time about my eyes!!
Kross: Yeah man, but i find it tastefully goes along with my skimpy workout shorts!
====================================
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”
-Sun Tzu
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22April2010: Training
Insert: As fast as possible
21 Power Cleans with 185lbs
21 Burpees
15 Power Cleans with 185lbs
15 Burpees
09 Power Cleans with 185lbs
09 Burpees
Strength: Giant sets
1a. Weighted Semi-Supinated Pull-ups: 125/3, 135/3, 160/3, 160/3, 190/2 (PR), 180/2, 160/3
1b. Standing BB Military Press: 185/5, 205/5, 225/3, 245/1, 235/2, 245/Fail, 225/3
1c. Hanging Leg Raises: 7 Sets of 8 Reps
2a. Good mornings: 185/8, 205/8, 225/8, 245/8
2b. Weighted Dips: 135/5, 180/5, 205/5, 235/5 (Video below)
2c. hanging Leg raises: 4 Sets of 8 Reps
Accessory: Read notes Below…
DB Lat Raises: 45/8, 50/6, 45/6
Alt DB Curls: 60/6, 50/6, 50/6
Extract: again,As fast as possible (but it was definitely slower than the first time through!)
21 Power Cleans with 185lbs
21 Burpees
15 Power Cleans with 185lbs
15 Burpees
09 Power Cleans with 185lbs
09 Burpees
Notes:
-My back is Very, Very angry at me right now…
-Set a new PR on Pull ups, BW+190lbs for 2…but they were an ugly 2! i got a vid, but will wait until I make it look easier before I post it…
-It was good to get 245 back on the bar for military. Super strict, but I about blew a vein in my head locking this out!
-Good Mornings were again just light to try and help my back…unfortunately i think it just served to piss it off!
-Dips: Not a bad weight and I included a video…it is worth watching just to see me waddle around with all those plates between my legs and them dump them all over the place…
-DB Curls!!! i know, I know, what you all are thinking, and No, i am not going over to that side of things! It is just that I am weakest at the top of my pull-ups right now and with that goal of 200+BW x3 I am going to need that little extra boost from my biceps at the top…that is the ONLY reason why I am doing these at all! But flame away as you will…
Sorry Modi, I had to keep my pants on for this Vid…I think it was the EliteFTS Shirt I had on that made me strong…
Overall: Glad to see that the Pull-up goal is within reach, but the military is going to be slow going! i am not sure why I suck at these so bad! i think i will be bale to get the dip goal (hopefully) and if my back would stop being such a jerk, I am pretty sure the 650 deadlift is doable…But my back is FAR from good and i am just hoping the next few days spent in uglier parts of the world away from the gym will give it some time to rest…
-Also, i just typed up my latest rant this morning and will be posting it before I leave today so check back in this afternoon and you should have a new novela to read…this one is a letter to myself just talking about life, lifting and my favorite color underwear…thanks in advance for taking the time to read it!
Be safe and have a good one, i’ll see you all in a few
Alpha, check your PM’s. Might have something for you, bub.
Nah, the Wendler thing was a compliment. F***er is damned near certifiable…
You need to have your gym manager order you some 100lbs plates! Pretty soon you won’t have enough room to strap all those 45’s on! Nice vid.
poophead: Thanks man.
Mateus: Man, that guy is looking for every reason in the world to get rid of me! He has thrown out 90% of the serious lifters in the gym for dropping weights, grunting and using chalk…at this point when we see each other we both just turn the other way…Another confrontation is coming…But until then i will continue to hone my ninja chalk skills…Thanks for the kind words bro
A Letter to Me:
Dear Alpha,
As your BFF, I figure someone has to say something...it may as well be me.
Youâ??re screwing up. I know you think you are doing ok, but ok is simply not good enough. Ok is for normal people, ok is for the masses, ok is for followers. It is NOT good enough for you. You have always strove for higher ideals, and now is no time to sit back and relaxâ?¦So in case you have forgotten, you are not a victim of your circumstances and you need to wake up and listen to what I have to say… That is, if you still desire to be more.
You always have a choice…No matter what the situation is, you ALWAYS have a choice. You can take the High road or the Low road—the hard part is making the correct decisions time after time even when those decisions hurt you or those you love. To do this will take great character and discipline, but if done correctly, you will never have to be ashamed of anything you have accomplished in your life…Here are a few things to keep your mind busy as you let this work through that thick skull of yours.
Start With the Small Stuff:
Being disciplined and living your life by a certain code is just like being lazy…the more you practice it, the more it becomes ingrained in you. It becomes part of you. If you are not making the correct small decisions, such as what you put in your mouth, how you react to annoying people, or how you choose to spend your money; than how could you ever expect to be trusted to take the higher road when really tough decisions stand in your way?
Your reactions to the daily, small, everyday occurrences are building a character inside of you. It is up to you every hour of every day to decide whether you will feed the weak, lazy, detrimental side of yourself and make it stronger; or if you will constantly strive to be better and challenge yourself, sacrificing so that tomorrow you will be better than you were today.
Either way, you will become the collective mass of these decisions, and whichever side you are feeding is sure to begin to raise it’s head everyday actions.
However, if you continually choose the correct path time and time again with the little things, when a big challenging monster comes along, you wonâ??t have to think twice… You will already know what kind of person you are and what you stand for.
For a person with character, the decision has already been made.
Discipline, perseverance, and valor come from a hard earned place.
Always Choose the Challenge:
Step back and take a good hard look at your life. Where are your weaknesses? What are you afraid of? What things do you hate to do most of all?
You need to identify these wraiths and choose to face them regularly. That may mean going to a cookout where your favorite foods are all over the place, but you choose to overcome and eat what you are supposed to. Or maybe you need to let a spider crawl all over you. Maybe it’s letting a loved one go…
The noun itself doesnâ??t even matter. Once you have beaten one of these, a new one will pop up. It is inevitable, there will always be something… The important thing is to look at whatever it is dead in the eyes and say, “Not today…today I own you.” And take your power back!
For whatever reason, you have given these things a complete irrational control over you. It is just like in middle school when someone made fun of you…the words can only have the power that you allow them to have.
By quitting, being scared, or just giving in, you give power away from yourself and give it right to the thing you dread most. Nothing can hurt you, nothing can scare you, and nothing can make you quit…except for yourself…
Alpha, you need to immunize yourself again such things. There may be things to be afraid of in this world, but puking during your last set of squats isn’t one of them! Rise above!
If you hate running stairs, run a whole stadium. If you can’t stand spinach, eat all that you have, go out to the store and buy more. If you are afraid of snakes, learn about them, hold one…don’t over react like a fool.
Make the positive aspects of these things greatly outweigh the irrational negative reactions you have to them.
Discipline for disciplineâ??s sake is never a bad thing, and it is the only way you are going to be able to excel in this world.
Learn to be comfortably uncomfortable…great people thrive in these situations.
Decide, Commit, Practice, and Prideâ?¦
Decide:
Your word needs to be your bond! And your actions should not conflict with the mass of junk that pours out of your mouth!
Do not waste your precious time and energy on negative people or things that hold no value…Take your time making your decisions. Heck, take time before you open your mouth! God gave you two eyes, two ears, and one mouth for a reason!
Weight out what is in front of you against your character and who/where you want to be. If these things do not align, don’t do it. Get educated on all aspects of the decision. If you don’t have that kind of time, get as much hasty information on it as you can. Even if it is asking the guy next to you.
Way too often anymore you are making decisions for the sake of someone else’s feelings or your own popularity… Don’t do that! In doing that you have agreed to do things that you never had any intention of following through on. Life is not a popularity contest.
If you have built a character of choosing the high road on the small things, than you know the right thing to do and how it should be done. When you decide, your “yes” should be yes and your “no” should be no. There should be no questioning it, not from you or anyone else. Everyone who knows you should understand that when you make a decision it was made with a great amount of thought and consideration.
Alpha, Just remember that once you have said it, you can’t take those words back…They are out there forever…
Commit:
If you have decided to do something…even if you have only made a deal with yourself…than you better follow through! Making your decision was the easy part, being committed and seeing it through to the end is the hard
part.
This means no whining, no complaining, no excuses…
If you agreed to help a friend move into his apartment—on the sixth floor—and all of the elevators are broken—Then it is time to strap that extra large fold-out couch onto your back and get to work. You both know it sucks, opening your mouth to cry about it doesn’t make it any easier and just makes you look pathetic.
Possibly more important is a commitment you have made to yourself. If from the cozy confines of your bed you told yourself, “I’m going to run 15 hill sprints today.” But you are now looking at the contents of your lunch spewed across the asphalt after number 12…well now you have just created a puddle of a hurdle to jump over as you finish your last three…
For some reason we believe that a commitment to ourselves is ok to break because it wasn’t voiced aloud and no one will know about it…That is BS and you know it. The word you keep to yourself is all about how much you respect yourself, and more importantly, what were your motivations for either quitting or pushing through…If you quit and don’t hold your bond to a set of sprints because they made you feel sick, how are you ever going to be faithful to your family, country, or anything else you commit to?
If you feel the urge to give up slowly rising inside of you, face it with the question, “What is going to make me better today? Quitting right now, or tempering myself through this fire?”…What you choose is who you will become.
You are building a whole lot more than muscle in the gym…you need to understand this.
If it was easy everyone would do it.
Practice:
Very, very few people are born good at anything. Some may have been blessed with some natural physical attributes, but even these people became proficient through sacrifice, discipline and practice.
Once you have made a decision and committed to accomplish any goal in your life, the only way to get there is through hard work and quality reps…
The best bagpipe player in the world chose practicing scales on his instrument rather than hanging out with his buddies. He chose cleaning and attending to that thing over playing pick-up rugby games in the park. He has taken countless lessons, reads every issue of â??Bagpipeâ??s Monthlyâ??, and sleeps with that thing tucked snuggly under his arm while dreams of playing in the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh Castle, dance through his head…
The point is to have a single minded focus on the things you want. And sacrificing the time and effort involved is the only way you will get there. Besides, if you are going to do something, you might as well be the best at it.
The activity itself doesn’t really matter, whether deadlifting 1000 lbs or baking your Mother a birthday cake… The more PERFECT reps you get in of something, the better result you are going to achieve. That Bagpipe guy has spent more time blowing air into that crazy instrument than you have spent years on this earth.
Also, be patient! No one becomes good overnight. If you want results faster, use your time more wisely. Work on your recovery, read about your activity, and plan better ways to achieve your goals…
In regards to weightlifting, it may not behoove you to do MORE per se, but you can always strive to make every rep perfect, push further each workout to beat your logbook every time, and spend your downtime refueling with the proper foods and spending time foam rolling and doing mobility work…there are always more ways to improve the things you are focused on.
Alpha, you have been spending too much time being lazy and procrastinating that could be spent getting better.
You were made for more than you are showing…Act like it!
Pride:
Once you have made your decision, committed your hard earned time and attention to it, have been disciplined in practicing and using your time wisely to achieve your goals, then it is time to start taking pride in all that your hands touch.
This does not mean strutting around bragging about how awesome you are. It means that NO MATTER WHAT you commit to doing, you do it with 100% of everything you have.
If you despise your job—quit… If you are too much of a baby to quit and you are coming up with fifty lame excuse of why you can’t, then I offer you this…Be the best at it…
Do you hate squats? Do them three times a week for the next six weeks. See what happens.
Instead of wishing every second you could be somewhere else or doing something else, embrace whatever is in front of you and fully give your all to doing the absolute best you can possible do. Apply this to all aspect of your life.
If your hate of washing dishes is compounded by your missing of your favorite re-runs of Spongebob SquarePants. Make a decision and choose to be right in the present moment with those dishes. Wash every single one to the best of your ability. Don’t rush through it. Take pride in what you are doing; strive to wash dishes better than you ever have before. I can guarantee you will enjoy the job more, and you can at least look back and know that you took the high road and can hold your head high, not being ashamed of something you were entrusted with.
You know how many paraplegics would kill for the opportunity to do that last set of squats? Or how many starving kids would do anything just for the scraps you are washing off those dishes? Wake up man! See what is in front of you and take advantage of it!
From the moment you awake until the moment you fall asleep you are bombarded with choices. Some will be simple, others will seem impossible. The sheer fact that we get so many decisions to make is, in itself, staggering. Look at it as a blessing and stop feeling so sorry for yourself.
Destinations are great, but the journey is where you will forge your character and become who you want to show up as.
Donâ??t neglect the small things everyday that can make you better.
Face your fears and dreads. Take back the power they have stolen from you.
Let your word be your bond, and once you have committed donâ??t waiver.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right, and everything you put your hand to should be autographed with the excellence and discipline of your character.
If you can live your life like this, not a moment of it will be wasted.
Now go do that last set of squats, tell your loved once how you feel about them before it is too late, finish your puke puddle hurdling sprints, and dry those dishes. With any luck and you still may be able to catch the end of SpnogeBob…
Your Loving BFF,
Alpha
Serious stuff right here buddy. You ever think about doing some coaching or personal training, you obviously know what you are doing gym wise, you seem to enjoy helping people out and you have the mindset to push people beyond their self imposed limits.
Great stuff. Thanks, Alpha. Wanted to add a quote which, in my opinion, goes really well with your “letter”.
Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do. â?? Voltaire