Alpha's Work IV

Training Training Logs
341

adam: No nevers touched brother, just need to be careful with what I say about the work I am in. Just for safety and security reasons. And that is awesome about the rugby. I had a few roommates in college who played and it looked like an absolute blast! If I had more time, that is one sport I think I could definitely get into. And the camaraderie is like no other. I hope you do come train man, it would be good to get in touch with more people from T-Nation.

gvaldes: Well, i can say that i have tried a lot of different supplements and brands and after much time and money spent, I can say that most on the market today are pretty worthless. That said, I HAVE found Biotest to be one of the highest in quality and performance. That is why I am at level 100 on the buying scale they put under our names!

Supplement I take on a normal basis are:
Metabolic Drive. Lots. It is probably my main source of protein. With all of the travel i do, I can’t pack real food as much as I would like.
Flameout: Lots. Usually around 6 Pills a day. It is pricey, but I have never gotten any rancid capsules so I stick with them.
Creatine Malate: Pre-workout. Does it help? Not really sure. I think it does, which may be enough.
Vitamin D3: 2000IUs Every morning. I have never really felt a difference, but I train a doctor who did her entire thesis on the subject and I trust her, so I take it. I have heard that high amounts of vitamin D3 can actually help muscle growth and strength gains. I am not sure if that is true, but I choose to believe it.

I also know that it take time for the levels of D3 to build up in your system, so maybe it was a slow change and I didn’t notice it. I know it can help with bone density, which is a good thing


I am fairly certain that it isn’t going to hurt you and it is pretty cheap, so I say go for it and see what results you get from it. I have no experience at all with supplementing calcium, but I drink a gallon of whole milk a day, so hopefully I am good from that standpoint. I wish I could talk more intelligent on the subject, but that is really all of my experience with he two supplements you mentioned.

pano: Really great points man, this is why I really appreciate people being able to talk these things out without someone getting butt-hurt, calling names and running away. And at 6’8" 250lbs, we need to get you involved in Strongman!

I also agree with your assessment on big guys not getting angry. Thinking about it, all of the really big guys I know are usually some of the nicest, mild mannered individuals. I also appreciate your outlook on fighting. Getting hit in the head is like a credit card
You may not pay today, but eventually the bill will come. I actually have a small amount of brain damage from it. It doesn’t effect much besides my long-term memory at this point, but I know things may get dicey later. Unless you are getting paid to do it, I really don’t think it is worth the price. That is why I try to push submission grappling more than MMA.

I really liked the 2 articles you posted and what they said. There is a lot to be learned there.

And don’t worry, it is impossible to say something wrong in here. Opinions may vary, but like you said, that is how we all learn. Thanks for coming back and responding brother!

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“It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.” --Henry Rollins

SATURDAY, 11APRIL2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 5/Day 6

CONDITIONING - 3 Minutes Work / 1 Minute Rest for 5 Rounds
8 Pull-Ups
3 Squat Cleans
6 Burpee Lateral Jumps
3 Overhead Squats
20 Double Unders

SPEED - At the top of every minute for 8 Minutes
3 Overhead Presses with 275lbs.

NOTES:

  • It was a good day at the gym. It is getting warm here so I opened all of the roll-up doors and we all hit it hard.
  • I was pretty beat up from the squats last night, but felt better as the rounds went on.
  • The elbow pain has pretty much gone away in my bench pressing but is still VERY alive and well on my overhead with a straight bar. I am ready for it to go away


***For those of you interested, I just posted an interview on my site that I did with a fellow strongman competitor of mine. http://www.neversate.com/wrath/2015/4/11/interview-with-dan-caraway Really good guy named Dan Caraway. If you are in the WV area, look him up and train with him. Guy is a beast.

342

About the big guys being more mild mannered and small guys being high strung. I used to be a scrawny skinny-fat 145 at 5’10". I had to be a bit more assertive, forward, and at times even a little high strung to get respect or keep people from messing with me. Now at what most people might call an athletic looking 190, I have to be careful how I approach people and interact with them. I know that isn’t that big by most people’s standards, but I mostly talk to people in the sciences who usually are never anything beyond healthy and ‘fit’. In fact, they will sometimes look down on someone with any muscle and assume they will aggressive and dumb so I actually have to make an effort to show them the opposite.

343

@alpha Not a real reply here but an edit to my former post: where I said " I hope to make my wife and childeren", there should be written “happy” after it. I guess I can’t create my wife hahaha, but I can work my ass of, not only at my job, to make her happy.

Strongman always attracted me! It seems like the most ‘real world’ of every strength sport, and I like me some reality, boy. Thanks for the encouraging.
Lol. Of course I’m not butthurt because we have different opinions. This is an awesome place to learn, and there will be no learning without letting go of a dogma. Everybody has a perspective on things, why not accept that and learn from eachother.

Btw that just means you don’t get rid of this mofo for a while; )

@fletch yeah looks seem far more important than they are told kids to be. At my university most guys are pretty small and haven’t really fone any manual labor spare some 4 hour a week supermarket chores. Button shirt boys with soft hands.

Now you tell me about being physically intimidating. There are some stories about me I barely remember, yet they impacted others greatly.Just raising my voice and getting a grim face scared alot of kids who didn’t know me well scareless. Today they even told me how I picked up a kid that bullied me. By his hair. With one hand. And carried him over to the teacher. Hahaha it was just such a futile action I couldn’t remember it. I imagined that a 'normal person dragging you by your hair would be a struggle of both. The same thing done by someone who is far stronger just exaggerates things. Just like a snappy comment from a pencil neck wouldnt affect me half the same comment of a athletic guy would. Discrepancy in physicality seems to alter the context greatly.

344

You mentioned using OLY shoes the other day. I remember you doing most things barefoot and was wondering what you think of the shoes?

345

Fletch: I agree man. I have to fight that stigma all of the time. I hate that when people see someone trying to lift heavy things or eat a clean diet then they feel the need to put that individual down rather than seeing it as motivation to get their own act’s together. I can’t tell you how many times I have been written off before someone even meets me because they automatically assume that (because of my build) that I will be arrogant, a jerk and so self absorbed that I will have noting to add to the conversation or anything intelligent to say. It happens a lot. And I have heard the joke from the planet fitness commercial “I pick things up and put them down” way too many times for my liking upon meeting someone completely out of shape.

pano: That story made me laugh!

Roran: Well, I have gone to Matt Gary’s gym a few times to work with him on my main lifts and he is a big advocate of Oly shoes. They are supposed to make hitting depth easier because of the raised heel and reportedly will help you stay more upright during the squat. I have used them only a handful of times for my squat and overhead stuff so I can’t give you a real assessment just yet, but I am not a huge fan. I think they do help you get deeper in the hole but the heel tends to shoot my hips back quicker which in turn throws me forward. The other night 615 felt much harder than it should have. It is probably just because I am so used to being barefoot when I lift, so it probably changed my form a little bit. I’m not sure. I recorded all of my sets but my eye isn’t quite keen enough to notice what I am doing differently.

Only time will tell. Some people swear by them, but for the few times I have used them, I feel a little less stable than I do in bare feet and the hip thing has been happening. I will keep you informed as I progress with them.

346

It sounds like you’re trying to use your barefoot form for your Oly shoe squats. Oly shoes do make it easier to fall forward if you’re not used to them. That’s just the nature of them. I find I can’t sit back as far with oly shoes and I have to focus on staying more upright. They will also recruit the quads more at the expense of the hamstrings. So fwiw, my suggesting is to focus on sittting down more as opposed to back and try to stay more upright.

I don’t think they’ll ever be what I’m most comfortable with or strongest with, but I do like them as a variation for when I need to bring my quads up and need to focus on staying more upright. If those are issues with your squat or deadlift they could help improve those issues and improve your form when you go back to barefoot or flat shoes.

People seem to like you on the PL forum, I bet you could get a decent discussion going there on the subject as there are people who have transitioned both ways and people on both sides of the fence and know more about the biomechanics of this than I do. Just a thought.

347

[quote]Alpha wrote:
justrob: That is a hard question to answer. I will say, that with EVERY occupation, you have your bottom 33% who do absolutely nothing and you will always question why there are in the job they are and how they got there. Then you have your middle 33% who could go either way. They get the job done, but they are not a person you would like to rely on much less trust your life in their hands. Then you have the top 33%. These are they guys that do the real work and pull more then their weight. They are professionals at what they do and work hard to prove themselves every single day and are always pushing for never-ending improvement. Not to sound cocky, but I would put myself in the top 33%. I am better than some of those people at somethings and they are better than me at others. But we work as a team and get the job done to the best of our ability. I work with some absolute monsters in all areas of strength, conditioning and fighting. Guys in that top 33% will do their best at anything they do and will strive for perfection and beyond. It doesn’t matter if it is knitting, strongman or hunting bad guys
They will always be competing to do the best and will never accept that they couldn’t have done a job better


As with many of top performers in their own professions, it is not the lack of will or talent that keeps us from doing our jobs to the best of our ability, it is a lack of leadership and forward-thinking in our supervisory and above levels. If they were to allow us to just cut loose and do what we are trained to do, the world would be a much safer place. But, politics and a lot of other shady things won’t allow it. It is never as simple as, “there is the bad guy, go get him.” There is a paper trail, chain of command and other BS that won’t allow us to engage. I am sure that people in other professions deal with the same stuff just with a different focus. For me personally, no matter what I set out to do, i will fall in the top 33% or work my ass off until I get there. Then I will work even harder every day to prove that I still belong there. If I decide to take up dish washing, I will read, study, practice and compete until I am in the upper echelon. This mindset isn’t innate, it is something that I have to work on every single day, no matter what job I am doing.

So with that said, I am not the best, I am not the worst. But I will continue to work hard at it every single day until I am in the undescribed top 1%. I hope that answers your question, sorry for the pontification


[/quote]

This is one of the best things you have written on here and I agree 100% regarding the “supervisor issue.”

I have worked in 2 of the major LE agencies in this country and the differences in the role and attitudes of supervisors on these jobs is amazing. Needless to say internal politics is ultimately the deciding factor in what gets done and how it gets done.

348

[quote]Alpha wrote:
Roran: Well, I have gone to Matt Gary’s gym a few times to work with him on my main lifts and he is a big advocate of Oly shoes. They are supposed to make hitting depth easier because of the raised heel and reportedly will help you stay more upright during the squat. I have used them only a handful of times for my squat and overhead stuff so I can’t give you a real assessment just yet, but I am not a huge fan. I think they do help you get deeper in the hole but the heel tends to shoot my hips back quicker which in turn throws me forward. The other night 615 felt much harder than it should have. It is probably just because I am so used to being barefoot when I lift, so it probably changed my form a little bit. I’m not sure. I recorded all of my sets but my eye isn’t quite keen enough to notice what I am doing differently.

Only time will tell. Some people swear by them, but for the few times I have used them, I feel a little less stable than I do in bare feet and the hip thing has been happening. I will keep you informed as I progress with them. [/quote]

Re: Oly shoes.
Considering you squat more with your hips and back, this isn’t too surprising. The angles are all wrong.
For you, I’d give them a try with your front squats if you haven’t.

349

Fletch: Yea that is kinda what i am thinking also. If anything maybe they can be used more like an assistance in place of high-bar or a SSB type of thing. And I hope you are right about the people on the PL forum, maybe I will throw something out over there. Tanks for the input man!

Animal Mother: Thanks brother, and I really hope you are in a position now that the supervision s better and not the other way around! I appreciate you putting your experience out there.

MattyG: Yea, I am hugely a hip/hamstring dominant squatter. My quads NEVER get sore. Like ever. I think i will take you advice and give them a try on my front squats tomorrow. Thanks man!

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“Most power lifters share some common defects, as a whole for whatever reason. We LOVE to punish, beat and torture ourselves beyond the limits of mind and body. It is our spirit that prevails. This defect of intelligence and sensibility pushes us onto the next level
 makes us better and stronger. We all have lifted sick and badly hurt. When this subject comes up with normal people and other meatheads, we all have the prideful smile when we talk about lifting with a 100 degree temperature or a torn groin. Thank God that therapy doesn’t work on us.” --Kirk Karwoski

MONDAY, 13APRIL2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 5/Day 1

CONDITIONING - As Many Rounds As Possible In 12 Minutes
4 Tire Flips
4 Burpee Box Jumps Onto the Tire

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 4 Rounds
Deadlifts @ 500lbs: 6, 6, 6, 10 reps
5 Kettlebell Snatches (Each Side): 70, 70, 88, 88lbs
30 Ring Dips: 1, 1, 1, 1
25 Hollow Rocks: 1, 1, 1, 1

EVENTS - 5 Rounds
As Many Reps as Possible in 60 Seconds of a Ghetto Car Deadlift @ 540lbs
Not sure how many I got each round
My head was swimming from the last set of deadlifts on the Strength work.

NOTES:

  • I was only supposed to go 6, 6, 6, 6 reps on the deadlift but decided to go for 10 on the last set. I definitely pushed a little bit too far into the red though because I ended up dry heaving chia seeds afterwards
Not cool.
  • Everything else went really well, but My lower back was lit and i was kinda dazed up after 28 reps with 500lbs. You know when your ears clog up and you feel kinda under water when you dig really deep. It was kind of like that. All good though, I’m happy with he amount of work I was able to get done.
350

Alpha, I dont know if you’ve ever answered this before, but I was wondering what you consider “strength” work? Anything above a certain percentage of your current max, or do you just go by “that was heavy” kind of feeling?

351

Lonnie: Well, in reality, I consider “strength work” to be anywhere that I am just just focused on getting a certain amount of reps as sets. For the most part, it is more about the intention of the lift and is generally above 75%. Now, sometimes I do 75% for higher reps (like I did yesterday) and sometimes I will even work up into the 75% range for speed work, but that is always for low explosive reps. Like I said, it is really about the intent. I hope that answers your question brother!

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“I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you?re not insane.
People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole. I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.” --Henry Rollins

TUESDAY, 14APRIL2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 6/Day 2

CONDITONING - As little rest as possible
10 Front Squats @ 315lbs
10 Dumbbell Man Makers 50lbs each hand
10 Stiff Legged Deadlifts @ 315lbs
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes

8 Front Squats @ 315
8 Dumbbell Man Makers
8 Stiff Legged Deadlifts @ 315
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes

6 Front Squats @ 315
6 Dumbbell Man Makers
6 Stiff Legged Deadlifts @ 315
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes

4 Front Squats @ 315
4 Dumbbell Man Makers
4 Stiff Legged Deadlifts @ 315
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes

2 Front Squats @ 315
2 Dumbbell Man Makers
2 Stiff Legged Deadlifts @ 315
:30 Seconds Battle Ropes

NOTES:

  • 2 mile inclined ruck with a 50b weight vest on first thing in the morning
  • Did all of my work today with my Oly shoes on. The front squats felt pretty good with them on. I am not sure if they help to keep me more upright or not. Time and more workouts will tell.
  • This was extremely hard. It doesn’t look like a lot of work but it definitely was.
  • My lower back is still perm-pumped from the deadlifts yesterday, and the SLDL did not help that much at all
Nor did the Dumbbell ManMakers.
  • Upper back is also very fried from yesterday, so front squats were a little bit tougher then they probably should have been.
  • Very happy with the day overall. Good amount of work for with where my body is at.
352

Alpha, what kind of weight and speed do you use for the DB man makers? Is it like heavy farmer’s walk but as a man maker? or actually running?

353

[quote]Alpha wrote:
“The pain of discipline is nothing like the pain of disappointment.” --Justin Langer
[/quote]

Cool that you had a quote from the great JL, Alpha. You being from the US, I’m guessing you may not know that he played cricket for Australia and is now a cricket coach. He had a bit of talent, but above anything else, he was a very, very tough individual who had to fight hard for everything he achieved. He was heavily into martial arts and brought that mentality onto the cricket field. I have his book which is good read, and I loved the following quote from him that I thought you may enjoy also - it certainly is appropriate in this log:

“You have to get up and do it for yourself. Get strong; get powerful. Be bold. Back yourself to the limit. Keep it simple. Be humble but proud. Throw away the handcuffs of fear and limitation. Be tenacious. Accept things for what they are by trusting perspective. Don’t fall for selective hearing. Be brutally honest. Eliminate the grey areas; real honesty is black or white. Be loyal; you are either loyal or you’re not loyal, there is no middle ground with loyalty. Be creative. Don’t hesitate. Be prepared; don’t leave things to chance. Trust the instincts of your heart and stomach. Smile in the face of pressure. Be courageous. Show respect; and earn it. Enjoy tranquility, peace and silence. Don’t make excuses. Welcome adversity and learn from its lessons. Look after your mind, body and soul. Be kind, helpful, loving and honest. Enjoy other’s successes. Never waver from your values and principles. Don’t let your ego ruin you. Be single-minded and determined but never selfish or arrogant. Don’t complain or whinge. Be positive and optimistic. Laugh. Don’t be scared to show your emotions. Never get bored; there is no bigger insult you can give yourself. Cherish your friendships. Ask lots of questions. Be willing to listen. Never give up. Walk with your head high and your chest out. Tell people you love them; don’t leave it until it is too late. Talk to yourself like the best coach would talk to you. Be inspired. Be happy. Don’t worry; worry gets you nowhere. Aim high. Never look down. Control the controllables. Learn from the best. See the sunrise. Do right, not wrong. Don’t be afraid. Be disciplined. Take your opportunities. Aim for a tight mind and a loose body. Go forward.”

354

Hey Alpha, you have some phenomenal strength and conditioning. Most impressive person I’ve come across in terms of simply being a badass and it has become my personal goal to build up to your training style.

Anyway, I have a few questions about how you made it to where you are now. Sorry if these questions have been asked before but I couldn’t find them.

What age did you start training and how did you train initially? How did this progress into where you are? You don’t need to go into much detail if it is a hassle.
How would you have changed your training if you could go back and do it over?

355

[quote]The-German wrote:
Anyway, I have a few questions about how you made it to where you are now. Sorry if these questions have been asked before but I couldn’t find them.
[/quote]
Check out page 3 and 4 of this log. There’s a fair amount of detail on some of your questions there. Not everything you asked is answered though.

356

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]The-German wrote:
Anyway, I have a few questions about how you made it to where you are now. Sorry if these questions have been asked before but I couldn’t find them.
[/quote]
Check out page 3 and 4 of this log. There’s a fair amount of detail on some of your questions there. Not everything you asked is answered though.[/quote]

I believe there was some stuff in the first three pages of “Alpha’s Log 3” as well if you’re interested.

357

Just wanted to stop in and say thanks alpha. Since I started checking out your log I’ve really been able to see how far people can push themselves, and it’s amped up my training intensity tremendously.

358

MattyG35: Well ma, what weight I use totally depends on what rep range I am doing. For the conditioning session that i logged in I was using 50b dumbbells in each hand. A man maker is: Start with the dumbbells in your hands in a standing position. Drop (keeping the DB’s in your hand the entire time) and complete one push-up, one row on the left side. Then one push-up and one right right side. Then stand and clean the db’s to front rack and perform an overhead press. Tat is one rep. They are death. I hope that helps man!

justrob: Thanks for the insight brother! I definitely did not know that, and I love the quote. I am going to use it for tomorrow’s workout on my site! Thanks man!

The-German: Thanks so much for the kind words brother! Like LoRez and Roran said, You can find the long, long, long version through all of my past logs and even a little bit here, but I will give you a short cliff notes answer to your questions:

I started training with weights around age 15 and it was in school as a class. The teacher let us lift whatever we wanted, but fist thing each day, we had to squat, bench and power clean. I would hit those because I had to, then I would train like a bodybuilder because that is all anyone knew around me. Lots of 3x10, 4x8, 5x6 all sets ramping, just trying to get stronger every workout. But I was a VERY active kid in both sports and just in general. I also had to work manual labor with my dad in construction from a very young age.

I lifted very hard in high school every. single day. Then again every day when I got home, then was doing kickboxing 4x a week on top of it all. I got relatively strong for my weight upon graduating (probably around 170-175lbs) and then was off and on with it throughout college. I never took it seriously and was focused on MMA more than anything. Once I got out of college, I jumped in with both feet. In reality, I didn’t even really start deadlifting or really training seriously until I was probably around 22 years of age. I am 34 years old now. I have always written my own programs but have taken some random times where I followed someone else’s stuff. But for some reason, I always fall back to my own programming, just because nothing else really fits my goals. Most guys aren’t an idiot like me and will focus on one thing. I have a very physically demanding occupation, compete in Strongman, MAA, Jui-Jitsu, and am probably going to do my first powerlifting meet this year
There isn’t a program out there that covers all of that, so I write my own.

What would I tell myself if I could do it all again? Philosophically: do something every day that scares you. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable because that is the only place you grow. Do this every day until all of the fear bleeds out.

Physically: I would have focused on my main lifts more. If I did this, I might be among some of the top guys out there right now. I am not saying that I can’t still do this, because I believe I can. But it would have been easier if i would have been going for it earlier in life. I could have also started competing in Strongman and Powerlifting a lot earlier. I would also probably train MMA but not fight. You can’t get the head shots back and I know I will be paying for them in time.

That is a pretty quick down and dirty man, but like I said, if you read through the old logs, you will get the full story. I hope that helps man!

LoRez: Thans for looking that up man, that definitely saved me some time!

Roran: Thanks brother! You guys are awesome!

TX Iron: Thanks so much man! That means a lot and posts like that make keeping this log going well worth it!

============================================
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable
 Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” --Martin Luther King, Jr.

WEDNESDAY, 15APRIL2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 6/Day 3

STRENGTH: I wanted to test out my elbow to see how it felt so i started walking up weight on Axle Push Presses. It felt goos, so i just kept going


Axle Push-Press
135x5
225x4
245x3
275x2
300x1(in Vid)
315x1 (in Vid)
340x1 (In Vid)
350xNot today..Had it almost to lockout but my elbow didn’t have the same plan that my mind did.

Axle “Z” Presses
135x10
185x5
225x3
245x2
250x1 (PR in Vid)

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 8 Rounds
5 Barbell Rows @ 335lbs: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
2 Paused Bench Presses @ 405lbs: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
10 Pull-Ups: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

NOTES:

  • 2 Mile incline ruck with a 50b weight vest first thing in the morning.
  • Today was the first day without bad elbow pain with the overhead press (with a straight bar and not a log) so I just wanted to see how it would go. I was very happy to hit the 340 which may be a PR for the axle. I’ve hit 365 with a barbell, but the axle is a little bit of a different animal. I didn’t even try any continental cleans though as even regular cleans make my elbow very angry at me. Just took my reps out of the rack.
  • Then i moved onto “Z” presses for assistance. Hit some reps stuff, then thought I would try to beat my PR just because i was excited about being able to overhead again. the 250 was a grind and I almost fell over a few times, but I’m counting it. Especially after the heavy push-press.
  • Everything else went well in the giant set but I could definitely tell I did some work before those heavy benches


Happy with today. Here is the vid. It is the 300, 315 and 340 Axle Push-Presses and the 250 Z press.

359

Nice job on the Axle push press! Glad that elbow is slowly getting better.

360

Nice push press! All three looked really smooth