Alpha's Work IV

Training Training Logs
641

gvaldes: Thanks man! Fortunately…or unfortunately, i have experienced a plethora of different pains and injuries. I can relate to what you are talking about. I actually hurt it during a box squat. Things that helped me were bringing my stance in a little bit and playing with my foot position. For a while it was so rough that I actually vacillated between wrapping a voodoo band or a knee wrap around the area when squatting. You can see it on my squat videos from about a year ago. For me, it was worse on my first few sets, but then got progressively better as I continued the workout. I wish I could tell you some good corrective exercises that i did to strengthen it, but I didn’t do any. I just kept squatting and tried to keep it as warm as possible with the wraps when doing so. Eventually it got better. is it strained or torn or just feeling weak? There are a lot of things that could be going on here. Let me know more exactly what is going on and hopefully I can give you some better ideas. Thanks for asking man, sorry i couldn’t be more help at this time.

FarmerOwen: Thanks brother and absolutely! I am actually thinking about making my first “how to” video and doing it with atlas stones. I will definitely get on it man!

Pano: Thanks brother, I’m glad it helped give you some more things to think about! And wow! The hospital experience sounds intense! I really hope the healing process goes quickly! And yea, Matty is right, Carroll was my high school. The paper just did an article about me because I was a local guy that was seeing a tiny bit of success in strongman. I hope you feel better soon brother!

Mattyg: You are definitely right my friend!

LoRez: Thanks man, and what you said about the grip being closer to your palm makes a lot of sense. More bone structure = more power into the press. I think i kind of do that naturally because I don’t have the wrist/shoulder flexibility to let the bar fall into my fingers if I am squeezing it. It is a completely different story on a push press though. On that it is just kind of floating in my hands, then I “catch” it as it leaves my shoulders.

As far as grip, i find that my bench grip (which is pretty wide) doesn’t work for me on overhead. I WANT to do it, because I feel like i would be strong, but the results show differently. I think i figured out the grip thing by looking at where my elbows are in front rack. If they are flared inward, i am too wide and don’t have as much power. I try to set up so that my elbows are pointing straight ahead but in a straight line out from my hands. That is where I seem to have the most support and the most power. I am sure it is different for different people, but it seems to work for me. I hope that helps you out some man! I have seen that You have been making progress with the new changes to your press, so i would get that nailed down and get all the gains out of it you can. Once they stop, then try changing things up a little bit. When i try to change too many things at once, I can’t replicate it and never know what it was that helped.

Vinny: Thanks man, it means a lot! And I totally agree with you on the strict log press. Hopefully it translates over to the other implements. And I can say (almost) without a doubt that the bamboo thing has helped. ALL of my overhead stuff seems to be increasing and that is the only thing I have changed. Definitely give it a try and let me know if it works for you!

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“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless.” --Herophiles

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” – Edward Stanley

TUESDAY, 30JUNE2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 7/Day 2

STRENGTH - At the Top of Every 2 Minutes, complete 1 log Clean & Press. Add Weight until you are no longer able.
155x1
175x1
205x1
225x1
245x1
275x1
295x1
300x1
320xNo…I’m an idiot.

Rested 4 Minutes and hit 205x10 reps

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 5 Rounds
8 Paused Bench Presses @ 365
10 Ab Ring Layouts
5 Log Clean & Presses @ 175lbs (Cleaned Every Rep)

CONDITIONING
CONDITIONING - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Reps of
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Ups
Keg Shouldering
Handstand Push-Ups

NOTES:

  • I am happy because I wasn’t even sure if I could even do a log clean and press because of my back and leg…but it just kept going up without pain, so i kept adding weight. I’m not sure what i tried the 320. I cleaned it, then pressed it about 1/2 way up, then dropped it. Pushed it too far away from me…Just like I said not to do in my article. Do what i say, not what i do! Hahaha
  • Everything else went well. Really working on my log clean form. It seems to be getting a little bit better.

Here is the 275, 295, 300 Log Clean & Presses

642

Great article on pressing, I had never heard of pressing your hands up in a “Y”. Is that something you heard somewhere or figured out over the years? I’ll definitely be reading it all again and trying it out next Monday. Keep up the work!

643

Thanks Matty and Alpha,

Well, school systems vary alot in US and here. I googled Carroll and a college popped up.
Haha still don’t get quite the difference between univerrsity and college…

644

Roran: Thanks man! The pressing in the form of a “Y” was a little of both. A long time ago I had read where people talked about “ripping the bar apart” on the bench press to help encurage better shoulder stabilization or something like that. I figured a press is a press, so I started doing it on my overheads. Then at my first Strongman contest, I heard a guy encouraging a teammate my yelling that cue during the overhead event. I asked him about it and he pointed me to an article by zydrunas savickas, where he talked about it. Thanks for checking in man, I hope you can make it out to my gym again before the end of summer!

Pano: Yea man, i can understand the confusion. No worries. Here is the US the terms “university” and “college” are used pretty synonymously.

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“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” --Dean Karnazes

WEDNESDAY, 01JULY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 7/Day 3

SPEED - Tabata (:20 Seconds Work / :10 Second Rest for 8 Rounds)
Tabata Floor Presses @ 335lbs

STRENGTH - Was still testing out my back. i didn’t feel like it was healed enough for front or back squats so i chose to choose Overhead squats and kept it light.
Overhead squats
95x5, 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5

EVENTS - Kept jumping in with the classes I coached tonight so I did a lot of Stone Loads and Tire Flips

NOTES:

  • My back and leg are getting better by the day. i am really, really, REALLY happy that it seems like I may have dodged another bullet. Only time will tell, but hopefully I will be back to 100% soon.
  • The next piece of equipment I am thinking about purchasing for my gym is a SSB. I have been reading reviews about the Rogue and EliteFTS versions and Elite seems to be the winner. And after taxes ad shipping it looks like I may be able to get the Elite SSB for like $50 cheaper. When you read people’s reviews about using the SSB, everyone says that it will help both your squat and your deadlift go up substantially, but I am skeptical by nature.

Anyone out there have any experience with an SSB? and can tell me how much it added to their regular squat? I know Pwnisher uses one pretty regularly so I am hoping he chimes in on this. Anyone else out there a fan of it?

Thanks in advance guys!

645

I’ve used a SSB a bit recently, and it really teaches you to drive your hips (like during a deadlift lockout) and seems to strengthen the back pretty well too. It’s great for squats from pins to really work on activating the glutes and quadriceps properly, which can be ignored slightly on low bar squats and deadlifts (but shouldn’t be, of course!). So yeah, great for activation and movement pattern training, and ideal for anyone with injuries prohibiting a standard squat.

646

Alpha, what are your thoughts on chin ups after every set of bench/ohp in terms of stabilising push/pull? Would you think that will continue to keep my rotator cuff/shoulders healthy? I haven’t had any pain or problems yet, and I wouldn’t call myself ‘Imbalanced’ …if anything my chest and anterior delts are small. Just figured I’d get the opinion of a Lion

647

halcj: Thanks man! I am leaning toward getting it. Can you say that there was definitely a correlation between using it and gaining pounds on your squat?

Hound: First off, thanks for the compliment man! As far as pulling in the opposite plane to balance out your pressing, I am a huge advocate of that! I think it is the number one thing to keep your shoulders healthy and balanced. The only thing that i would say is that I think it is better to perform the pulling motion BEFORE the pressing. I think your shoulders are in a less compromised position when pulling and getting some synovial fluid in the joint prior to pressing is always an added benefit for health, performance and pain reduction. Give it a shot man, and let me know what you think! Thanks for asking!

648

To be honest, no I can’t. I’ve never used it without standard squats in the same week, so it’s hard to say, but it has helped me to recover for my next squat session and still train the movement. The biggest advantage is definitely the ability to train the hip drive in a way that’s not possible with high bar squats (the closest alternative).
I can imagine a half SSB squat from pins would be great for training stability for the yoke, especially if you can really load it up and start from the bottom position on each rep; pin squats are definitely my favourite use for the bar.

Just to add to the subject of pulling / pushing movement combinations, I’ve found stretching the biceps for a couple of sets of 30+ seconds (while contracting the pecs) after pulling movements and directly before pressing has really helped me to avoid reducing my pressing strength whenever I row etc. first. The antagonistic tension built up can inhibit strength if you move straight in to presses without a break (or superset them), so I generally have a short break and stretch the main antagonists (esp. biceps) before my main pressing sets. It generally works quite well, and my pressing isn’t really reduced at all.

649

Halcj: Thank so much for your input about the SSB man, I am really intrigued about it. I may just pull the trigger on it.

I have never really experienced any weakness in my pressing when I do a pulling motion first, but what you said makes a lot of sense and I may have to give that stretching a try to see what kind of effect it has. Thanks for the input man!

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“If we treat people the as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” --Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

FRIDAY, 03JULY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 7/Day 5

EVENTS - Yoke. All Runs were 50 Feet
180lbs, 270, 360, 450, 540, 630, 630, 630, 630

STRENGTH GIANT SET - 5 Rounds
5 Pause Squats: 225, 315, 365, 405, 455…Still Keeping it very light on my back
10 Reverse Hypers: 180, 230, 270, 270, 270
10 Glute Ham Raises
10 Knees to Elbows
100 Foot Keg Carry

CONDITIONING - 10 Rounds
100 Foot Prowler Relay Races

NOTES:

  • Walked in hoping to test my back out on squats and ended up doing a bunch of junk. Today was the first day that i was starting to feel like my old self again.
  • Yokes: Pretty dicey. I kept it light and took my time. Made sure I kept my feet under me every step and had no forward lean at all. Slow and boring, but i got through them with out re-hurting myself so i was stoked.
  • Squats: Well, I belted up on every single set. The good news was that i didn’t feel any back pain and all of the sets felt extremely light. I stayed strict and tight enough that I have zero hip drive in the squats, but since I kept them so light they were no problem at all.
  • Reverse Hyper: Last week when I did these, at the bottom of every single rep I was getting pretty ugly never pain running down my back and leg. This week it was no existent. i think i am healing.
  • The prowler relay races sucked. No pain in my calf or knee. We were going in teams of 3. I would start and sprint with he prowler for 100 feet then tun it, the next guy would take off then the last guy would bring it back. By the end my legs literally wouldn’t fire anymore and it was getting ugly for everyone. For our last race we stuck the lightest guy on the sled (plus the normal weight) standing on it with his foot up like George Washington crossing the Delaware river while we had the other two guys on each handle. It was brutal. I don’t know if it was just that heavy or the fact that we couldn’t stop laughing but it was a hard and great way to end.

Fun day of training. I am SOOOOO Glad to be feeling a little bit better

650

Hope everything works out for you man!

Bit of a weird question, but…how many bars do you use during a workout?
I wanna start building my home gym when I have money(gonna take some time), and was hoping to simulate your workouts for a bit.

I don’t really have powerlifting/weight lifting aspirations, so I thought a decent multi-purpose bar would do the trick.

I think I would buy a dead-squat bar when I can (back squats aren’t my thing by far, far to tall) But I saw cool stuff like neutral grip pressing and more with those bars. Even farmer walks.

And your recommendation on yoke was spot on: cheap rack and yoke combined.

Some rings and maybe kegs/girl friend for carries and I should be quite somewhere.

651

[quote]Alpha wrote:
Anyone out there have any experience with an SSB? and can tell me how much it added to their regular squat? I know Pwnisher uses one pretty regularly so I am hoping he chimes in on this. Anyone else out there a fan of it?

Thanks in advance guys! [/quote]

Hey man,

Truthfully, the SSB didn’t contribute anything to my barbell squat. It did a good job maintaining my strength on it, but never really added. It did a fantastic job with my deadlift though, and has been one of the greatest contributors toward it’s success.

That said, I believe implementation is the factor there. The SSB allows one a great degree of form deviation from a regular squat, because the bar won’t move at all. So if you start falling forward with the SSB, instead of the bar rolling off your back and dumping in front of you, you can just muscle the weight up and still achieve a lockout. Doing this is great for developing some raw brute strength, but won’t have a lot of carryover to your squat unless you had a weakness where you kept falling forward in the squat.

I know a lot of folks have gotten a lot out of the bar for their squat, but it just never did much for mine.

652

Pano: Honestly man, I would say that i usually use 2 bars per workout. Sometimes only one that I will interchange like when doing rows and bench. i think a yoke would be a good cheap addition and it is very versatile. I think with home gyms you really need to look at your bang for your buck. Speciality bars are awesome, but you may not be able to use them for too much stuff so you have to weight if it is worth it or not. Some things are super expensive and can only be used for 1 or 2 lifts. I think a neutral grip bar you could get more out of than say a deadlift specific bar, it is all about your goals. I am excited for this step for you man! Getting out of a commercial gym was the best thing for my own lifting and I am sure you will be the same.

Pwnisher: Thanks for the solid and honest review brother! If it makes my deadlift go up, then that would be worth it alone to me. I find that if my squat goes up, then my deadlift follows suit. I cannot say that same in reverse though. I think i am going to go for it. If nothing else it will give me something new to play with. Thanks again man!

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“For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” --Arnold Schwarzenegger

MONDAY, 06JULY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 8/Day 1

CONDITIONING
12 Minutes of Tire Flipping

SPEED
Minute 1: 1 Deadlift @ 365lbs
Minute 2: 2 Deadlifts
Minute 3: 3 Deadlifts
Minute 4: 4 Deadlifts
Continued this pattern up until 11 Minutes/Reps

STRENGTH GIANT SET
Pull-Ups: 25, 20, 15, 12, 10, 10
Sumo Deadlifts: 405x1, 455x1, 500x1, 550x1, 585x1, 615x1
Incline log Bench Press: 245x1, 300x1, 335x1, 355x1, 385x1, 355x1
Reverse Hypers: 180x10, 230x10, 270x10, 320x10, 320x10, 320x10

NOTES:

  • Well back was feeling a good bit better coming into this. I honestly didn’t even expect to hit 500 on deads, so 615 was a pleasant surprise.
  • My sumo form is still really suspect and having a hurt back made most of my lockouts kind of dicey. I almost fell backward on the 585 so i dropped it before I did. Then at the very last inch or so on the 615 pull i felt a little twinge where it has ben hurting, but i think i got away with out doing too much more damage. Time will tell.
  • Still chasing a 400b log incline bench press. I have done it before, but it was such a mess of a rep, i don’t even really consider it a PR. I think 385 ties my current one.

Here is a vid of a bunch of junk from today.

653

462×640 113 KB

Hope your backs okay Alpha, can really see the “Oh shit” look on your face during that deadlift.

654

Matty: Hahaha yea man, I was worried!

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“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” --Winston S. Churchill

TUESDAY, 07JULY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 8/Day 2

CONDITIONING
30 Squat Cleans @ 135lbs
Every time I broke my set, completed 3 - 15 Foot Rope Ascents as a Penalty

Then :30 Seconds Work / :30 Seconds Rest for 12 Minutes of Max Effort Kettlebell (53lb) Snatches
Switched Hands every other round

NOTES:

  • My back was a little bit more angry at me today, but i still feel as if it is on the road to recovery.
655

[quote]Alpha wrote:
CONDITIONING
30 Squat Cleans @ 135lbs
Every time I broke my set, completed 3 - 15 Foot Rope Ascents as a Penalty

Then :30 Seconds Work / :30 Seconds Rest for 12 Minutes of Max Effort Kettlebell (53lb) Snatches
Switched Hands every other round
[/quote]

Not that you need any advice from me, but a conditioning “discovery” for me of late (something I’ve dabbled with before, but now plan to keep permanently as a regular >1 time per week staple) has been an entire workout of Dan John’s “Waiter Walk” - taking a kettlebell outside and walking a full lap around my block (0.53 miles) with the KB extended overhead. Clean and press to start, walk as far as possible…and when your arm gives out, put the thing down (with minimal rest), clean and press with the other hand, and keep going.

Just thought that might interest you.

656

Thanks for the advice!

I mentioned the dead-squat (oversized trap bar) because it can be used for alot of things. It can be a surrogate for the back squat (damn giraffe legs), but also seems to function as a allround neutral grip bar, like your awesome incline log bench press. Also I’ve seem things like rows, RDL’s, OHP’s with them, which maled me thinks it’s a great purchase.

I really do want 2 regular bars, but finances can be a bitch.

What plates do you use? Bumper or steel, both, which weights?
I don’t really know how to be as efficient as possible.

657

ActivitiesGuy: I LOVE it man, I am going to program that in as soon as I can! Keep coming with any ideas, I can learn a ton from people such as yourself! And I love getting new ideas. My head hurts always having to come up with new challenging conditioning session for myself and the people I program for! Thanks man

Pano: The squat/dead bar seems like a really good choice then man. you can almost use those things in place of a frame carry. I am not sure if you will be able to do any pressing with it, but who knows!? I’ve never had the chance to play with one before.

As far as plates…I decided to go with rogue HG bumpers for 45’s, 25’s and 10’s but that it because I have a wide variety of clients and athletes to train. I also have a lot of steel plates in all different increments. But, If it were just me starting out I would get a pair of bumper 45’s so that it will save your floor and then I would go on craig’s list, eBay or something like that and try to get the rest in steel. Gyms are closing every day and there are a lot of people who bought weight sets that quickly lost interest. If you can get used plates you will save yourself a lot of money and you are going to beat them up anyway so i would save the cash up front if you have the option. You also may be able to get them to throw in a cheap beater bar that you could use.

Like I said before, it is a lot about your goals. You can build am amazing physique and reach big numbers with a very minimalist set up. A nice bar is a good investment, but honestly if you are not trying to compete at a high level, it is kind of pointless. A guy who can deadlift 500lbs with a Texas deadlift bar can get there with a normal gym bar if he wants to. And you can always make an axle, farmer’s handles, stones and get kegs for next to nothing. Really, when i think about it, I use an axle for the majority of my barbell lifts and you can make one for less than $50.

I hope that helps you out a little bit man, I am interested to see what you come up with!

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“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” --Calvin Coolidge

WEDNESDAY, 08JULY2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 8/Day 3

CONDITIONING - 12 Rounds
At the Top of Every :90 Seconds Complete
5 Burpees
5 Squats
5 Push-Ups
20 Mountain Climbers (Single Count)
20 Jumping Jacks

STRENGTH GIANT SET
Strict Press: 185x3, 205x3, 225x3, 275x1, 245x3, 245x3, 255x2, 245x4, 255x1
6 Second Pause Front Squat: 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 335x1, 365x1, 385x1, 365x1, 335x1, 335x1
Glute Ham Raises: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Hollow Rocks: 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20

EVENTS:
Did a ton of stone shouldering with the classes I coached tonight

NOTES:

  • Feeling better and better each day. Conditioning was easy at the start and got extremely hard after a while
  • Strict press went fairly well, i was just trying to get a good number of heavy reps in today.
  • That was a lot of Glute Ham raises. I am going to be hurting tomorrow.
  • About half way through book 62 out of 100. I’m getting there…
658

How do you like the log for bench pressing? I picked up a swiss bar today, and I’m thinking about using that for benching and just the straight bar for overhead work.

659

Another conditioning idea - sprint up hill, bear crawl down. Repeat until you collapse. This isn’t all that innovative or complicated, but I find it particularly effective (read: brutal) because there’s something about having your arms above your head that makes it impossible for you to catch your air properly after the sprint.

If you want the back story, one day I got to my usual hill and realised that I’d built up to the point where I could do 12 sprints in a session without resting longer than it took me to walk down. Since I was too lazy to find a bigger hill, I had to think of another way to make it harder. In hindsight I should have just added a few pushups after each run.

660

The axle is a great idea! Stupid me, it didn’t even cross my mind.
I still would buy a normal bar probabely because I would like to do some oly lifting, and have a less punishing bar in general, but a cheap axle is great for supersets.

Also great advice for plates, I hope craigslist/ebay also delivers in europe. We have our own ebay rip-off, but I have never seen any respectable training gear there.

Ben Bruno gave inspiration for the trap bar Unconventional Trap Bar Exercises .

I guess my grandpa would help build some blocks, and I should be on my way.
Yoke can be sled/rack, trap bar can be carry implement, regular bar/axle does everything, rings can be trx, kettlebells can be everything. Add blocks and lifetime of equipment is there.

Btw. Have you ever tried zercher squat/deadlift? Seems to do wonders for upper back and core.