Alpha's Work IV

Training Training Logs
461

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“Never surrender your hopes and dreams to the fateful limitations others have placed on their own lives. The vision of your true destiny does not reside within the blinkered outlook of the naysayers and the doom prophets. Judge not by their words, but accept advice based on the evidence of actual results. Do not be surprised should you find a complete absence of anything mystical or miraculous in the manifested reality of those who are so eager to advise you. Friends and family who suffer the lack of abundance, joy, love, fulfillment and prosperity in their own lives really have no business imposing their self-limiting beliefs on your reality experience.” --Anton St. Maarten

FRIDAY, 08MAY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 9/Day 5

STRENGTH
Squats - Worked up to a 605 Single then

SPEED
At the top of Every Minute for 10 Minutes, complete 3 Speed Squats @ 455lbs

ACCESSORY - 5 Rounds, Adding Weight Every Round
5 Paused Squats (3 Second Pauses) @ 365lbs
8 Glute Ham Raises
8 Windshield Wipers (Each Side)
8 Reverse Hypers @ 270lbs

EVENTS - 5 Rounds of the Following Carry Medley
50 Foot Keg Carry @ 225lbs
50 Foot Atlas Stone Carry @ 235lbs
50 Foot Bear Walk

462

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“A Stronger man cannot help a weaker man unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.” --James Allen

SATURDAY, 09MAY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 9/Day 6

CONDITIONING - 8 Rounds
Complexes: Once you pick up the barbell, you do not release it until ALL reps of ALL Exercises are complete. If you have to rest, rest with the bar in your hands.

Pick up Bar - Did this with 135lbs
8 Hang Cleans
8 Front Squats
8 Push-Presses
8 Back Squats
8 Good Mornings
8 Bradford Presses
8 Deadlifts
Place Bar back on the ground
Run 400 Meters
Rested 2 Minutes between rounds

NOTES:

  • i know I have said in the past that Burpee pull-ups superseded with dumbbell mapmakers are my least favorite thing to do…But I may take that back and replace that with complexes…They are definitely no bueno
463

That isn one killer of a complex with 135!

Do you care for the different energy systems, or do you just tire yourself hard.

Tbh, since reading some coaching, Im far more concerned about the difference systems.
Thats why complexes like these make me very conscious. For a grappler/strongman like you it’s the right gear of conditioning. But as more of a striker, I try to shy away from too much this kind of work.

Notheless, awesome work bro!

464

I think you mentioned hating complexes back in your second log. My new found least favorite thing ever is definitely burpee box jumps.

I tried my friends oly shoes a couple days ago and agree that overhead work felt amazing with them. So did front squats, but the back squats felt awkward. It felt like my hamstrings were slack and not working.

465

This complex brings me back to alphas work II when this complex followed by the 400 m chaser was a staple in your “insert” training regiment. To say its tough would be an understatement. It may be time for myself to once again revisit this complex. Inspiring stuff man.

466

Hey Alpha, what was your experience with a half gallon of milk a day? I’m assuming you drink whole milk.

467

Pano: Honestly man, I do not think it matters, so I pay no attention to it.

I think the science of things is cool, but honestly, I don?t think I have ever gotten stronger or better by understanding the science behind the action. I have quite a few training/coaching certifications and do not use one bit of them in my own training or the programming I set up for my athletes. Knowing the studies behind why I choose to do what I do may help me sound smart in front of people who want an explanation or gain me some weird cred with the online community, but honestly, everything that I have used to get better and stronger was built from my own or someone else’s anecdotal experience. You can find a study to back up whatever hypothesis you are trying to support and you would be hard pressed to find articles these days that are not trying to sell you something.

For this reason, and I know this is going to be very unpopular to say, but I do not waste my time reading articles anymore that are not written by an author that I respect and has been there and done that. Rehabbing injures, breaking PRs and correcting form has all been accomplished from reading about or watching videos of how someone else did it. I really feel like 99% of the stuff out there is not worth the time of reading, and when I do, if they have a section about the science behind their theory, I skip over it.

I feel like the industry as a whole is so landlocked on trying to figure out the latest best way to do things that they are forgetting how simple things truly are. This is why I love Dan John and Jim Wendler. Their training philosophies are basically: Train hard, eat, sleep, do it again tomorrow. Do this for years and you will get to where you want to be. I do not think I am a terrific lifter, but the progress I have made is not by some magical program or by following some scientific method of best practices. It was by going to the gym more often than my body and mind wanted to. While there, I lifted heavier weights than i believed I could, took less rest than I wanted to and did the things that I despised more than anything else. Outside of the gym, I chose not to eat like a child (candy, desert and junk food were not norms) and I tried to recover as best I could. Over the course of many years, I got better. Here I am over a decade later doing the exact same thing. Guys want to know what my secret is, it is consistency of time spent working hard… not knowing which energy system I am using when conditioning. I just constantly run experiments, using myself as the lab rat. If something works, I keep it. If it doesn’t, I discard it.

I think trying to keep up with all of the science is an act of insanity. It seems like every 10 years or so, everything gets flipped on its head and everything we “thought” we knew is now wrong…and 10 years after that, what we knew will be right again. Look at carbs, eggs, HIIT, red meat, milk, butter, running, etc. What we do know is that, the basic stuff works better than anything else, and most likely, always will. Just like Milo with his bull thousands of years ago.

You should do what you want to do man, and if researching stuff like that is your thing then I say, be the best researcher you can be. Just be careful to not get so caught up in the minutia that you stop understanding what is important. I just say this because you seem like a really good guy with a lot of potential and I would not want to see you get stuck. I myself found that I was spending too much time trying to make everything perfect, and it negatively effected my training…Badly. So much that I actually wrote an article a few years back that was titled something like, “If i could forget half of what i know, I could be twice the lifter I am now”.

Anyway man, just my two cents. That was a really long way of saying, “Nope” I do not care what type of energy system I am using during conditioning. And, I would disagree with you, I know a lot of professional fighters, to include boxers, kickboxers and muy thai guys, all of which do the exact same type conditioning as the MMA & Grappling guys. But again, all of my evidence is anecdotal. Maybe there is a better way and there are studies out there that can prove it, but I interact with guys every day that are actually living it that would disagree.

Do what you want man and spend your time as best as you see fit. I am just giving you my opinion on the side of things in the world as I know it. I will happily give you my opinion on different training theories, just know that, since I do not really pay attention to the results of labs, then I may not have any idea what you are talking about. If you want to talk about real-world results, then I will usually have more to say about the subject. Thanks for asking man, wish I had a better answer for you.

Roran: Yea, i have had a long painful relationship with complexes…They are terrible. And you are definitely right on the burped box jumps, they are terrible as well.

I totally agree with you on the Oly shoes and back squatting. They definitely feel a little bit better now that I have been using them for a few weeks, but I definitely feel as if it changes my bar path and not in a good way. The biggest positive that I have noticed with them is that, normally when i squat really heavy in bare feet, my calves get extremely sore from my bad form. Wearing the Oly shoes with the elevated heel definitely helps in that regard. I am not sure which way I will go in the future, but I am going to give the Oly shoes a fair run before making up my mind. Thanks for posting brother!

gvlades: Yea man, I used to keep them light and use them as a great warm-up. Even to this day, the first thing I often do when I get to the gym is grab an empty bar and run through that complex a few times. It gets everything loosened up pretty well and is so non-specific that you can use it on any day. Performing it with 135 starts out family easy for me, but by round 6, I am hating my life. Really, really great way to get your conditioning done though. Thanks for checking in man!

Roran: Actually i still drink at least a half gallon every day. Usually closer to a gallon. Since I am not lactose intolerant, it is a good way for me to get extra protein in a cheap way. I get the milk delivered to my house from a local farm (cows that graze) that pasteurizes it at a much lower temperature. I keep trying to get a hold of raw milk but I have not convinced a farmer to sell me it. It works out great for me, but I mainly do it just because I love milk! I am not sure if it helps with my strength or not. I’m not willing to give it up to find out! Other than water, milk makes up the other half of all liquids that I take in everyday.

468

Alpha, thanks. Keep honest, because sweet talk ain’t gonna help anybody.
keeping it real and working hard beats theory of course, I should have known that.

The basics are the best. I completely agree! I love dan john, max shank and jim wendler for that.
I have a new idea: KISS-style.
I read this stuff about energy systems. Simplified: make sure it’s fast over, or make it last well over a few minutes. And get your hearth beating harder than your muscles burn.

No overcomplicated shit: 15 minutes of breathing fire but don’t let your limbs get on fire too much.
Im just gonna work my ass of with that, and see how it works out.

Probably gonna do a hybrid between yours and Maxs workouts.
15 min warmup/conditioning/explosve stuff
15 min strength giant set/superset
15 minutes another strength giant/superset
15 min conditioning

easy and fast. Need some experimenting too work it out, but gonna do it a bit wendler/easy strength by dan john style.
So starting light and progress a little each week. Leaving alot of room for progress.

Btw: Im also thrifting away from science: it’s something for in a cabinet with the china, not in a trainingsprogram.

469

Awesome write up on the energy systems.

I know next to nothing about strength training and am playing catch up now for the years I wasted not taking it more seriously because ‘boxers don’t need to lift weights’ etc’, but I have figured out a thing or two about conditioning over a life time in competition. I couldn’t agree more with what you’re saying, Alpha - hard work is hard work and that’s where you see your progress made. From my own anecdotal experience:

  1. The fitter you get, the less effective LISS/distance running is for conditioning. Not to say it can’t have other values if your goals are appropriate, but for conditioning it’s mostly worthless in my view (as someone who did it first thing in the morning 3-5 times a week for 10 years).

  2. In my opinion, conditioning improvements only really happen, once you’re already fit, when you hit that point where you’re thinking ‘shit this is hard’. Everything you can push yourself to do after that is adding to your base of conditioning.

  3. Because of that, the most effective conditioning work you can do is that which gets you to the state of ‘oh shit this is hard’ as quickly as possible.

  4. For conditioning particularly, training hard is more important than training smart, whereas there is a much greater role for being smart with weight training. For conditioning, measuring progress is all about how much hard work you can perform in a given time period, or how far back you can push the point where you’re sucking wind.

  5. Because of all of the above, for conditioning effect only, I think the greater the elements of randomness and chaos you can introduce to your training, the quicker you can impact your level of conditioning. I don’t think energy systems matter all that much - hard work always feels like hard work, and I don’t think the exhaustion of running fast for medium distance is different from the exhaustion of a 10 minute non-stop thrashing with a variety of exercises/sprints/carries etc. In my own anecdotal experience, the more work I’ve been able to fit into a 10-15 minute balls to the wall session, the faster and easier I’ve been able to run distance without even trying.

470

Strong work on the Deadlifts and Squats recently!

Don’t know if I have missed it, but do you still do any fighting or train martial arts at all?

471

Great write up, I love the mindset of simple hard work. It’s one of the biggest appeals of lifting to me.

472

Pano: I think I hear what you are talking about with the cardio. Often times I will push so hard on the conditioning that it will not actually feel that bad until I stop. Like if it is 7 minutes flat out, I can kill it for the entire time, but then like 3-4 minutes after I am done, certain parts of my body will start screaming at me. Often times my forearms for some reason and my heart rate will suddenly shoot higher and I will start breathing even harder. I think this is what you are talking about. And if it is, then i say it is a good plan, because that only happens when I am really pushing it.

And I like your set-up man, I think you will make good progress with your plan. Definitely keep me posted on how it is going after you iron out some of the kinks. Thanks for posting brother!

LondonBoxer: I totally agree with what you wrote. When you become efficient at a particular exercise, unless you really drive into it, it looses much of its conditioning benefit. I remember when i first started doing double unders, I was not very good at them and a set of 20 would kill me. Now, i have become pretty proficient and efficient in that movement, so i have actually taken it out of a lot of my conditioning because I have to do so many reps to get the same desired training effect. Not necessary because I am in better shape, but because i just learned how to do the movement more correctly and efficiently.

I also agree where you said train harder instead of smarter when it comes to conditioning and train smarter rather than harder for strength work. I could not agree more.

Really good post with a lot of good information in there. Thanks for contributing man!

IronWarrior: Thanks brother! I have really been pushing them lately.

To be honest, I may be making an MMA class 1-2 times a month, but that is about it. With work, I am currently out of town more than I am home. And on the little bit of time I actually AM home, I am constantly working to try and build my business at my gym, so i am always there. If I had an hour to spare out of my day, I would be there, but currently, I don’t. I miss it like crazy, but sometimes you have to take a step back and focus on other things for certain periods of time, you know? Unfortunately right now there just are not enough hours in a day to focus on it. I will be going back as soon as I am able though. Thanks for asking brother!

Roran: Thanks man, I totally agree with you. The primal nature of it is what keeps me coming back and always trying to push harder. I look forward to you coming back to the gym soon. And hopefully it will be a day when you and BJack both can make it. It will be like a “T-Nat forum workout”!

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“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.” – John F. Kennedy

MONDAY, 11MAY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 10/Day 1

EVENTS - At the top of every minute for 12 Minutes
100 Foot Keg Carry (225lb Keg)

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 8 Rounds
Bent Over Rows: 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 335x3, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3, 430x3 (PR)
Bench Press: 335x3, 365x3, 385x3, 405x2, 425x1, 455x1, 475x1, 500xNope
Ab Ring Layouts: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Double Unders: 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40

ACCESSORY - At the top of every minute for 10 Minutes
3 Close Grip Bench Presses @ 315lbs

NOTES:
-This was a decent day. I am happy with the barbell row PR. I think if I actually take the time to work on my bench press, I would actually be pretty strong at it. It is just boring to me and does nothing for me other than giving me a bigger bench. I know that will help during a powerlifting competition, but I just cannot seem to get motivated to work on it. But, I will for the rest of this 6 week period in hopes to get my bench back over 500lbs.

-Today, I unracked the 500 and it felt pretty heavy. I brought it down, touched my chest and got it about 3/8s of the way up (that is where my sticking point is) and just stayed there for about 2 seconds. The weight never came back down, but it was not slowly moving up either. So I ditched the effort in hopes for a better showing next time… The only issue was that I was alone at my gym and had safety pins set in the rack. I THOUGHT I had the pins at the right height, but as I quickly realized, they were not. They were one hole too low. So I brought the bar back down to my chest, i figured it would depress my pecs a little bit, hit the pins and I would be free.

but they didn’t.

What REALLY happened was, I brought it down on my chest, realized I had messed up, had a quick moment of panic and just sat there with 500lbs on my chest trying to think logically about what to do about it. I figured I would roll it down my body and when it got past my rib cage, the pins would take it. It got pretty dicey rolling that down over my last few ribs and I was just waiting for a loud “pop” and some broken ribs, but they, thankfully held out despite my stupidity.

I got the bar to my belly and was “for real” stapled to the bench. It took a good 10-15 painful seconds of wiggling sideways while 500lbs moved my insides around…but I finally got out and just sat there shaking my head. I am an idiot a lot of times. Just glad I made it out of this one without any thing other than bruising.

Anyway, I should be back up to a 500lb bench within a few weeks, so that should be cool.

Much love and respect out there. Hope you are all doing well and working hard.

Here is a vid of the 475bench set and the 430x3 rows

473

You were damn lucky with the 500! We couldn’t miss you, so watch out!

Thanks for the encouraging words. I was more pointing at the duration of excercises in the conditioning. Like don’t do 20 pushups until your chest starts burning, but do 4 times 5 pushups. More focussing on driving the hearth rate high and not making you cramp up. Like energy system for dummies; )

But I know the feeling of digging deep and having an aftermath. At MA class, most people (including me) get black for their eyes and nausea when the warming up is over and we get instructions.

474

Thanks mate, I felt pretty cheeky posting like that to be honest, once I’d hit submit I nearly deleted it because I felt it was presumptuous to come in here and wax on about something without directly having a question to ask you. I had 495 in my hands for the first time ever, as a block pull, the other day. It blows my mind to think you are benching that, and is seriously motivating as to how much room for getting stronger I have. The stability alone to support that weight is incredible. One day!

475

@londonboxer giving good advice you learned through experience is hard to be cheeky:)

476

That would be awesome! I’ve got quite a lot of things changing in my life at the moment but I’d love to make it up in the next few weeks.

And good luck on the next few weeks of 1RM testing!

477

Pano: Right on, I understand now, thanks!

LondonBoxer: I really liked what you said man! And congrats on the 500! Yea, I think we are all on different points on our paths when it comes to lifting. The same way you look at me benching 500, I look at other guy’s accomplishments. The journey never ends. Hopefully we both end up where we want to be soon than we think! Thanks for checking in boss!

Roran: That would be great man, just let me know when you want to come up, you are welcome anytime! And thanks for the good luck, I hope it goes well too!

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“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” --Mario Andretti

TUESDAY, 12MAY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 10/Day 2 - Test Week

CONDITIONING - At the top of Every Minute for 12 Minutes
1 Barbell Snatch with 185lbs on the bar
1 Barbell Squat Clean with 185lbs on the bar
4 Burpee Lateral Jumps Over the Bar

STRENGTH
Deadlifts
500x5
500x5
500x5
500x10

Sumo Deadlifts
Pulled 585lbs for 10 Singles

Strict Axle Press
225x10
225x8
225x6
225x4
225x2

NOTES:

  • Was not feeling it today. My lower back is still pretty fried. Started on my warm-ups and 500 felt much, much heavier than it should have. So i decided to stay there and get a bunch of rep work done at that weight.
  • Then I moved onto sumo deadlifts to work on my form and just hit 10 singles.
  • The axle press was an afterthought, but I knew I had to get some good reps in so I just pyramided down.
478

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“Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” --Vince Lombardi

“Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.” --Unknown

THURSDAY, 14MAY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 10/Day 4- Test Week

CONDITIONING - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Reps of
Dumbbell Man Makers
Burpee Pull-Ups
***Ran 400 Meters after every ODD Round

479

Alpha, you just ran, probably sprinted, 2 kilometers…between man makers…and pull ups…and burpees…I almost spilled my breakfast reading it!

You can apologize for making my tummy feel bad by explaining me this:

When I asked you how you program, your anwser was (apart from all strongman training and dying conditioning) you ran the Cube method, than the DUP and then ramping.
However, Cube and DUP work with just benches, squats and deads, while you train horizontal and vertical upper body pull and push.
I’m getting quite dense here, but how do you do it?

For example, you are running DUP. Do you just plug in bench and row (upper body push and pull) instead of just the bench?
And a big thingy about DUP is doing the same excercises 3 days a week. Do you customize it and plug in verical push and pull one day a week?

Oh, and before I forget, good luck with test week!

480

Really shit the bed on maxes and training in general this week. Work has been insane, near-riot conditions; actually slept there last night so there would be extra male staff. Any advice on when/where to pick back up? Probably won’t be able to train til Friday or Saturday, definitely not feeling in shape for hitting new 1rms.