I really want to try out that incline log press. lol
In my opinion, the best way to improve with moving events is basically learning how to move the damn things. You do that by moving. I think it’s good to do a max load every now and then and to try to move with something really damn heavy.
Hey guys, I’ll get to the other questions and post my workout when I get the time, I just want to try and see if this will work.
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MattyG35: Yea man, I have plenty of videos of my fighting stuff, but the issue is that what usually happens is that one of my training partners will video it on their phone then send it to me. But the files are always fairly large so it gets all pixelated and clunky. I don’t want to clutter up my youtube with low quality stuff, so I don’t post them. I am going to try to attach one here from a grappling tournament from 2013…It is a fairly short vid and you can see me hurt (may have broken) the guys arm at the end. Hope this works.
And like I said, I am not ignoring anyone’s questions or comments, I will get to them and posting this mornings workout as soon as I can.
I am the guy on top in black and white BTW
halcj: Well boss, to be honest I feel it in my entire posterior chain the next day. I know quite a few guys on here train these and I see Ben Rice use them pretty regularly. I think the most important thing is to perform the pauses in the areas where your individual sticking points fall. For me personally, if I can break a weight past 2 inches off the floor, I can finish the lift. For this reason, I try to stall the bar in that area and then add the second pause just above my knees to make the time under tension longer and force the rep to be harder. I can only speak for the short time that have been doing them, but I can say that they have definitely made a positive difference in my deadlift progression. Thank you ver much for the kind words and for posting!
Powerpuff: Firstly, thank you very much for the compliments, they mean more than you know. And secondly, I have actually had someone recommend that book before… if you and your husband both liked it as well, then I will definitely pick up a copy and give it a read. Thanks for stopping in and posting!
Spar4tee: Yea man, I agree. I don?t drop hardly any speed from an empty yoke up to around 550lbs. From 550-700lbs I may drop a second or two but the runs are still really smooth. 750-810lbs my form begins to suffer and I make mistakes. You can see in my Strongman Nationals vid and the Maryland?s Strongest Man vid, (Both @750lbs for time) you can see that I can still move pretty quickly with the weight, it just is too heavy for me to make quick adjustments without a few drops. After the weight gets up above 830+lbs it is all about enduring pain and trying my best not to get hurt.
At those weights I just take shuffle steps and can only focus on one foot at at time until I cover the required distance. At this upcoming show, if you have even one drop, you zero the event, which pretty much means that you are not placing?Hopefully it goes well. Thanks for checking in brother!
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“There’s a lot of mediocrity being celebrated, and a lot of wonderful stuff being ignored or discouraged.” --Sean Penn
WEDNESDAY, 11FEBRUARY2015 - Work For Today Wave 2/Day 3
Early morning workout for me, and I am pretty beat up from all of the PRs over the last 3 days so I just walked up on squats then hit some accessory stuff.
Squats
135x5
225x3
315x3
405x3
455x3
500x1
525x1
550x1
585x1
605x1 This was as easy as any squat over 600lbs get for me…
Then hit 5 sets of Paused Squats Supersetted with Good Mornings @
225x5
275x5
315x5
335x5
335x5
NOTES:
Hopefully the vid matty asked for din’t turn too many people off of me…That wasn’t my intention, but now hopefully many of you know why I choose to not publish them. Violence isn’t pretty or heroic. Men fight, some survive, these are jut facts…
I’m glad you posted it. On the one hand, I’ve done some BJJ in the past (before school got crazy) and it’s cool how you put your insane strength and conditioning to a different task.
On the other hand I think the world needs more men who can both deal out violence to protect those who need protecting and also remain humble, helpful, and understand a balance.
I agree that violence isn’t pretty or heroic but I personally believe we shouldn’t pretend it doesn’t exist because there are bad people out there who don’t pretend either. And there are innocent people who will pay the price.
?I do not love the bright sword for it’s sharpness, nor the arrow for it’s swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend?–J.R.R. Tolkien
On a lighter note, that yoke walk looked absolutely brutal! Nice job! Do you get several attempts for the competition, or do you just pick a weight and run with it?
Roran: I totally agree with you brother and thanks for what you said. Also, as for the yoke walk in the strongman show coming up, I get 3 attempts. It is like a running event where people can jump in for their attempts at any time. There are 50b Jumps each time they add weight. The only problem is that if you drop the yoke even one time, you don’t get a score for the event and you do not get any other attempts.
They are running other events at the contest the same way. A 1RM conventional Deadlift, 50ft yoke walk and a 1RM Log Overhead Press, all being run with he same exact set of rules. Hopefully it goes well.
THURSDAY, 12FEBRUARY2015 - Work For Today
CONDITIONING - 10 Rounds
60 Meter Hill Sprint, Walk back down the hill and complete:
40 Double Unders
10 Burpees
Rest :90 Seconds Between Rounds
NOTES:
Have you done any dedicated grip training over the years? Your 600+ axle deadlifts just require an insane amount of grip strength, so I’m wondering how you got to that point.
Wow that is a heavy contest! Good luck on it. Do you know what numbers you are shooting for on each yet?
Alpha dude! good luck on your future comp. I look forward to the results I know you’ll kill it like a great white kills a seal! But on the fight vid just a small complaint…you made that look to friggin easy! tut tut typical Alpha makes hard things look childishly easy.
LoRez: I have actually never really concentrated on my grip strength separately but I also don’t really ever use straps. The only thing I will ever use them with is on bent over rows with more than 350lbs. I just can’t hold onto the bar double overhead when I am doing reps that heavy. I think grappling has had a lot to do with my grip development and also very heavy Farmer’s Walks. I also grew up working construction with my dad. Swinging a hammer and manual labor from the age of 8-college definitely didn’t hurt my grip either.
I think if you are trying to build up grip strength, nothing beats doing most of your movements with an axle and doing different variations of carries with Farmer’s Handles. I hope that helps brother!
Roran: Yea, it is going to be death. This is what I am looking to hit for each event:
Max Deadlift Event: Hoping to hit 675lbs
Max Yoke Event: I am hoping for at least 900lbs
Max Car Deadlift/hold: At least 1:00 Minute
Max Log Overhead Press: I hoping for 325 or more.
If I hit all of these that day, I would be happy, no matter what place I fall into. They may not be good enough for first, but I’d be happy with my performance.
FarmerOwen: Hahahaha thanks brother, yea, I have spent a lot of time doing fight training as well as the weight lifting stuff. Thanks for stopping in brother!
Good Stuff, have followed the last few logs and over time pretty much doubled the volume and pace of my training as a result, very inspiring.
MODS: for the love of all that is holy get admin/TC to reach out and give this guy some goodies, new supps etc for his upcoming competitions.
Yeah Alpha gets my vote for being sponsored!
Alpha, you should get an Instagram account so you can post cool pics of your gym, food, shorts vids, etc in addition to your log.
[quote]jlutz3 wrote:
Alpha, you should get an Instagram account so you can post cool pics of your gym, food, shorts vids, etc in addition to your log. [/quote]
+1
It would be freaking awesome!!
RampantBadger: Hahahah thanks man! Yea, unfortunately I do not see the sponsorship anytime soon. I would absolutely love it, but the only guy I can remember Biotest sponsoring is Geroges St.Pier with Spike. I remember him having the logo on his shorts before most people even knew what spike was. I appreciate the vote though!
MattyG35: Thanks brother! I wish TC and the guys were as optimistic toward my success as you guys are!
Jlutz: Yea man, I really need to start an instigram page for NEVERsate and a twitter/facebook but my biggest hang-up is time. I work a ton of hours every week for my normal job where I am traveling all over the globe, then spending 25+ Hours a week training at my gym, then at least 1-2 hours a day on writing/publishing/editing my website, answering email questions, online training stuff, then posting here and video editing/misc for youtube…After all of that I just don’t have much time to do anything else. I have the desire, just not the amount of hours in the week as of right now. I am sure it will come sooner than later though. I really appreciate you wanting me to do it though.
Regev: See above man. I really need to hire someone that can just take care of all my online stuff so it can free some time up!
SUNDAY, 15FEBRUARY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Day 5
CONDITIONING: Tabata Protocol = :20 Seconds Work / :10 Seconds Rest for 8 Rounds
8 Rounds of Tabata Burpee Broad Jumps
Rest 1 Minute
8 Rounds of Tabata Double Unders
Rest 1 Minute
8 Rounds of Tabata Battle Ropes
Rest 1 Minute
8 Rounds of Tabata Bear Walks
Rest 1 Minute
8 Rounds Tabata Hollow Rocks
STRENGTH GIANT SET
1a. Farmer’s Handle Deadlifts: 410x3, 510x2, 590x1, 690x1, 770x1, 800xNope, but it did break the ground, 770x1
1b. Weighted Pull-Ups: 90x10, 135x3, 160x3, 170x3, 180x3, 180x3, 170x3
1c. Log Clean & Press: 205x3, 245x2, 265x2, 285x1, 300x1, 310xNo, 285x1
1d. 12 Deck Squats: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
NOTES:
Once again Alpha squeezes a week’s worth of volume for me into a couple of hours haha.
Apologies if the answer to this is elsewhere, but do you find there’s a large difference between the weight you can clean with a barbell and what you can do with a log? I’ve read that the lack of rotating collars makes a huge difference, but I was wondering what you thought. I’m still very close to the beginning of the learning curve for a barbell clean, so it’ll be a while before I figure this out for myself.
Where do you get these great quotes from? Sometimes I stumble into your log while surfing the web, I see a quote and what your doing and I just wanna do work or better work if I’m already working whether it be lifting or whatever haha. It would be really cool to know the source of these quotes so I could get the story behind them too.
Oh, and happy lifting and keep up the awsome!
[quote]Regev19978 wrote:
[quote]jlutz3 wrote:
Alpha, you should get an Instagram account so you can post cool pics of your gym, food, shorts vids, etc in addition to your log. [/quote]
+1
It would be freaking awesome!![/quote]
+2
this is a very good idea you’d build a good following
I feel like the worst part of your training is racking all those plates!! Haha but in all seriousness, I began to follow your workout template and I really do like it! Contrary to my original belief, putting conditioning before my main lifts actually doesn’t impede any of my strength. I actually feel warmed by the time I get to my strength sets…tired but warmed up. Anyways just wanted to say thanks for the ideas and good job on the lifting. Inspiring stuff alpha!
TheWolfMan: Thanks brother! and yea, there is a substantial difference between cleaning a barbell, an axle and a log. Like you said it is all about the rotating collars and nature of the movement. A Barbell, you can hook grip it, and kind of “flip” under the weight and keep the bar very close to your midline. I can clean around 405 with a barbell.
With an axle the grip is the limiting factor. Since the collars do not rotate, you can’t “flip” under the weight. You need to get the weight twice as high on the initial pull. And with it being a 2" bar, unless you have huge hands, you cannot just rip it off the ground. It make the motion more of a reverse curl than an actual clean. That is why you see guys using a continental method to get the bar up into position. I max out here in the 285-300b range.
With a log your hands are in a neutral, semi-supinated position. Which really makes it more of a hammer curl motion and is why more than a lot of guys have hurt their biceps getting the bar up to a front rack position. This is why you see guys “lap” the log then try to roll it up their chest rather than lift it in one continuous motion. I haven’t actually found a max on this as my overhead fails on a log before my “clean” does. The log makes the overhead press much harder. To put it in perspective, I have OHPed 365lbs with a barbell, 340 with an axle and 310 with a log. It is not the weight but keeping the implement from getting out in front of you that causes most of the failed reps.
I hope that answers your question brother!
Fletch1986: Thanks man, I am glad that I help encourage you a little bit. To be honest, the quotes come from all over. Sometimes they are from books I have read, but most of the time, I will think of a keyword that purveys my thought and google quotes about it. Then I just spend time reading quotes and picking out ones I like. It is painstakingly slow, but when I get comments like yours, it makes it worth it!
The CB: Thanks man, but I have literally never even looked at 1 instagram post in my entire life. Other than internet popularity, what does a good following get you? I am not trying to be a dick, I just am ignorant to it and would really like to understand. I can see how it might help advertise for my gym, but other than that, are there benefits for the time I would spend away from here and my other focuses to do it?
Again, not trying to sound smug, just not sure what the benefits are.
gvaldes: Hahahah it is funny you mention that man. Just yesterday, after my workout, I was looking at all the weight I needed to re-rack and was thinking, “there has to be a better way!” And I am glad that you have given my training philosophy a try. EVERYONE is surprised when they see that they didn’t loose strength after the conditioning. I would agree that you feel tired when you go into the strength stuff, but then, amazingly, the weights just keep going up even though you feel more fatigued.
Keep at it and keep me posted on your progress brother!