Thanks for your response Alpha. I’m a collector of knowledge, so I appreciate you sharing. Wow, front squat is impressive! You did make it look easy. And props to the lead singer of Van Halen dead lifting 500. Jk. Seriously, that’s a great accomplishment at any age.
As far as the left leg leading during jerks because that’s your fighting stance, makes sense. I will say it’s my stance also, and did feel more comfortable that way. In regards to the ambi discussion, you’re right, could go on forever. I see what you’re saying, and concur. Moving along now.
I check into everything, I just forget things because I stuff so much in my head. Point is no one ever told me to move the weight from point a to point b as fast as possible. It’s a no brainier, but escaped me for some reason. I was reading some Mike Tursherer info yesterday, and he said exactly the same thing. He was talking about force and whatnot. Point is, you’re spot on, but you knew that!
We chatted about your programming, and you stated how everyone does it, with weights scaled. My question is, do you feel a raw beginner could do it, or do you feel they should build a base with something else?
I really like how you actually train your clients, there isn’t anything like that, except crossfit, around here. There are personal group training things available, but not like yours. You’ve really created a niche for yourself. It reminds me of Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come.” Keep up the great work, you’re an inspiration for many, and we thank you.
So I wanna share something that happened to me this past weekend. I entered a pump and run. If not familiar, it’s a bodyweight bench press for reps, and a 5k. Either way, I wore the neversate shirt. So a guy asks me about it, and I tell him the man who started that is the future national strongman champion. He just looked at me odd. I then directed him to the website. Couple days later, he thanked me for the tip. Just spreading the news! Btw, I don’t fill out my shirt as well as you. Not that it’s about that, but we wouldn’t be where we are as a civilized people without a little vanity, lol. Anyways, sorry for long post, enjoy your weekend!
Man that was a smooth PR!
Good work buddy.
BetaBill: Funny you should mention Mike Tursherer man. I had never heard of the guy, then someone on here sad something about him of my first session working on my squat with Matt Gary (USAPL Coach on my squat). As it turns out, either Mike Learned some of the same cues I did from Matt or Matt learned them from Mike. Anyway, there are quite a few things that we agree on and was just another example that the world seems to shrink sometimes. Either way, it is a great complement to be mentioned in the same coaching circle as those guys, so thank you!
I hope you are right about creating a niche, it may be the only thing that keeps my business afloat and separates me from other gyms out there. As far as beginners trying it, i honestly have a few new people sign up at my gym every week, many of which are absolute beginners with ZERO lifting experience, even some without any athletic background at all and they handle the training just fine. After a few weeks, most of them have better form and out perform people with many more years of experience. I really believe that they do so well because #1 they don’t have any bad habits to break and thousands of reps to unprogram. and #2 they are not intimidated to try new things. So many times you see guys with great potential stay exactly the same year after year because they cannot let go of some BS dogma that has been spewed to them over the years. i.e. Guys believe they will loose all of their strength and muscle mass if they are well conditioned. Or they think because you are big then things like pull-ups/dips/handstand pull-ups and other gymnastic bodyweight movements are harder for them, so they don’t try them. I am not sure where these ideas came from but they seem more like excuses to be lazy and closed minded than reality…I could go on like this forever. If people just forgot half of what they have learned from articles and studies, and actually ran some real experiments on themselves then they would be shocked. Anyway, i digress.
And that story from your pump and run is awesome man! Thank you so much for representing and telling people about my site. People like yourself doing things like that is humbling to me and really, really means a lot. Thanks you again for doing that and for asking a great question!
Regev: Thank you brother, that means a lot. It was too long in the making and i am still excited that I was able to get it done. Now I just need to keep building from here!
===========================================
"I think you’re magicians because you’re unhappy. A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. Or what did you think that stuff in your chest was? A magician is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength.
Most people carry that pain around inside them their whole lives, until they kill the pain by other means, or until it kills them. But you, my friends, you found another way: a way to use the pain. To burn it as fuel, for light and warmth. You have learned to break the world that has tried to break you." --Lev Grossman, The Magicians
FRIDAY, 18SEPTEMBER2015 - Work For Today
Wave 2/Week 4/Day 5
CONDITIONING -10 Rounds
10 Squat Jumps (As High As Possible)
50 Meter Hill Sprint
10 Walking Lunges
STRENGTH GIANT SET
Deadlift Stance Paused SSB Box Squats: 170x3, 260x3, 340x3, 430x3, 450x3, 500x1 and then a fail.
Red Banded Glute Ham Raises: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
Kettlebell Ab exercise that George Leeman Showed on Mark Bell’s Supertraining Youtube vid: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
STRONGMAN EVENTS - 3 Rounds
As Many Rounds As Possible in :60 Seconds of
3 150lb Keg Clean & Presses
3 Axle Deadlifts @ 500lbs
I Completed 2 Rounds each :60 Second Round. I couldn’t fit one more rep in anywhere! Finished right on time all 3 tries…
NOTES:
- Hill sprints are horrible. They are still one of the best things I do for conditioning. So simple yet so vomit inducing…
- This was the first time I’ve ever tried Deadlift Stance Paused SSB Box Squats. I think it went pretty well considering the PR on Wednesday. They made keeping the SSB Bar back darn near impossible… The 450x3 set went really well so i thought I would make the jump to 500. As it turns out, I am a weak little baby at times. I hit the first 500 rep and considered racking it, then i said screw it and dropped in again. I paused on the box and when I did, i let my breath out. I tried to regain it, but it was not to be. Stapled.
- The strongman medley was fun, the keg stuff was too light, but with nationals so close I didn’t want to dig too deep and all of the 500lb reps with he axle were clean and pretty fast.
-I got vids of the SSB stuff, Strongman medleys and even some GHR’s, but i think I will get some more training footage before making a video.
-
I am also almost done the sponsorship application for EliteFTS, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I really wish I could land a T-Nation sponsorship since I buy so much protein from them all the time! Hint, hint!!
-
Anyway guys, I am about to put up some pictures of the past few day’s coaching sessions on my twitter page if you want to check them out. I really appreciate all of your guy’s help and support in all of this!
[quote]Alpha wrote:
absolute beginners with ZERO lifting experience, even some without any athletic background at all and they handle the training just fine. After a few weeks, most of them have better form and out perform people with many more years of experience. I really believe that they do so well because #1 they don’t have any bad habits to break and thousands of reps to unprogram. and #2 they are not intimidated to try new things. So many times you see guys with great potential stay exactly the same year after year because they cannot let go of some BS dogma that has been spewed to them over the years. i.e. Guys believe they will loose all of their strength and muscle mass if they are well conditioned. Or they think because you are big then things like pull-ups/dips/handstand pull-ups and other gymnastic bodyweight movements are harder for them, so they don’t try them. I am not sure where these ideas came from but they seem more like excuses to be lazy and closed minded than reality…I could go on like this forever. If people just forgot half of what they have learned from articles and studies, and actually ran some real experiments on themselves then they would be shocked. Anyway, i digress.[/quote]
Completely agree with this.
Keep up the strong work.
Alpha dude! Man you destroyed that 500lb front squat, no grind just down and up lol. Also I’m diggin’ the twitter feed dude I made an acc. just to follow along. Stay hungry my friend!
Alpha,
Thanks for the explanation mate. It’s good to hear that even now you still have room to improve your technique and that things sometimes slip during lifts. Helps put things in perspective and get me working on them now, putting my ego aside, rather than just ignoring them until they become a barrier to progress. I’ve actually been thinking that sometimes on my conditioning days I might throw in some technique work for the lifts I’m doing where my technique isn’t so good, with weights that won’t interfere with my recovery. Probably just 15 minutes or so before I do my conditioning, just focusing on getting better rather than on getting stronger.
I’m with you on the stand up stance. I have no time for switch hitters, and in my experience there’s none of them who are half as good as they think they are. If you can’t outfight someone in your strongest stance, what makes you think you can suddenly switch stances to your less good stance and hand them a beating?
It might work on inexperienced fighters, but not on anyone with any mileage. I used to love fighting guys who switched stance, because they’d start losing in their strong stance, and then switch to southy when they were getting beaten. That always seemed to me to be the moment they announced to the audience that they’d run out of ideas.
They’re usually flatter footed in the weaker stance too, so in my experience you can get a lot of cheap knockdowns against them by timing their switches, as there’s a brief moment where they are square on and don’t take much knocking over. Like you, I have way too many thoughts on approaching standup, and I don’t want to take up your log with them.
I’ve been going back and watching a lot of your videos to try and get some technique tips, which will be pretty helpful I think. I’m going to create a Youtube account so I can start ‘liking’ the videos too!
[quote]Alpha wrote:
Kettlebell Ab exercise that George Leeman Showed on Mark Bell’s Supertraining Youtube vid: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10[/quote]
Hahaha I laughed when I read how specific yet how vague that movement was labeled.
Good Training Man, got my new shirt in and I got to say it’s my favorite!
Your blog keeps on inspiring! Keep in the fray my friend.
@Alpha I saw the ab excercise a day before the post after some random youtube searching. What are your experiences so far.
London, I totally get your stance (no pun intended) on the subject. It is slippery ground indeed. I still believe it can have it’s benefits, especially in matchups where kicks are allowed. It has potential, like most things, but switching stances in a fight without a thoughtful set-up, or even adequate experience and skill in both stance, is a recipe for disaster.
I know almost no occasion where it worked as a last resort (it can help alleviate some low kicks I found out after getting my left leg butchered haha). If you can be bothered, maybe make a treat in the “combat”, I’m really intrested in some of your insights as a veteran in the sport!
lift206: Thanks man, it is good to know I am not totally insane!
FarmerOwen: Thanks so much brother! And thanks for following on twitter! I have been trying to put different stuff up over there than I add in here, so hopefully it becomes successful.
LondonBoxer: Yea man, strength is 100% a skill that needs to be learned. The more technique you can apply in a lift, the better and safer you are going to be. I think working 15 or so minutes on technique alone is a terrific idea. You can also set it up to hit 3 reps every minute on the minute and get some conditioning in while you are trying to perfect your reps as well. Also, I would video all of your sets and then go back over them immediately after to try and critique your technique before your next set. The way things feel and our perception are often very different than reality!
gvaldes: Hahaha yea man, I honestly have NO idea what it is called! So I figured people who had watched the super training video would know what I was talking about! And that is awesome news abut the shirt brother, I really appreciate you supporting me and representing the NEVERsate brand!
Pano: Well, i have only tried them the one workout so far, but I am not sure that i would call them an ab exercise, but more like a great cueing device for breathing and bracing. It is a perfect way to teach someone how to use a belt properly. They are definitely worth the effort, but I think you will still need to perform the other core exercises as well. Which is exactly what he said to do anyway. Thanks for asking man!
=============================================
No training for me today, but I did upload a video of the Strongman Push-Pull Medley from friday if you guys are interested.
[quote]gvaldes wrote:
[quote]Alpha wrote:
Kettlebell Ab exercise that George Leeman Showed on Mark Bell’s Supertraining Youtube vid: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10[/quote]
Hahaha I laughed when I read how specific yet how vague that movement was labeled.
Good Training Man, got my new shirt in and I got to say it’s my favorite!
Your blog keeps on inspiring! Keep in the fray my friend.[/quote]
Would this be the fella? About 25:50 for anyone else who immediately went to Youtube to look it up.
Alpha, thanks for your reply. I’ll give the videoing thing a go like you suggest, and I’ll give the ~3 reps a minute conditioning a go too, I’d been eyeing it in your log thinking it might be a good thing to give a try. Best of luck getting the Elitefts sponsorship. I have every confidence that in time your own brand will be every bit as successful (if it isn’t already - I have no idea about the strength business, in case that wasn’t already painfully obvious!).
Dagill: Yep, that’s George Leeman, the guy is an absolute monster! That entire video has some really good accessory ideas for upping your deadlift. You are awesome for posting that for me man, i really appreciate it!
LondonBoxer: Yea boss, definitely give both of those a shot. I think it will help you out a lot. And I appreciate your vote of confidence, but we do very different things. They would be something like “Everlast” is to boxing. I would love to associated with their brand and would like to think that I would represent them well. But it is out of my hands, i put in the application, all I can do now is wait and hope while continuing to attempt to get better every day.
========================================
“We will attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” --Jim Harbaugh
MONDAY, 21SEPTEMBER2015 - Work For Today
Wave 3/Week 1/Day 1
CONDITIONING - At the Top of every minute for 12 Minutes, Completed:
3 Pull-Ups
3 Burpee Lateral Jumps
2 Curtis P’s*
- 1 Curtis P = Clean the Barbell From the Floor to Front Rack Position. Perform a Barbell Lunge with your Right Leg, then Lunge once with your Left Leg and finish the movement with an Overhead Press before returning the bar to the floor.
STRENGTH - Worked my way up on Block Pulls
135x3
225x3
315x1
405x1
500x1
585x1
675x1
725x1
765x1 (PR vid below) - This is 8 Plates each side on the bar. It looked pretty cool…
STRONGMAN & ACCESSORY GIANT SET
50 Foot Farmer’s Walk: 450lbs, 550lbs, 600lbs, 630 / 315 Each hand (vid)
Reverse Hyper: 180x10, 270x10, 360x10, 360x10
Hollow Rocks: 20, 20, 20, 20
NOTES:
- So today was my last heavy day before Nationals. After conditioning (Curtis P’s suck) I worked up to a new 1RM on the 18" deadlift which is an event for my upcoming Maryland’s Strongest Man Show in November. I hot 765lbs which was 8 Plates each side. It was pretty brutal and I jerked way more than I usually do. I didn’t even realize it until I wanted the video after, but it is VERY apparent.
- Also worked up to the competition weight on the Farmer’s Walk. It is the first time I have done Farmer’s in months, but I wanted to test out my foot before giving it the rest of the time before Nationals to heal. The weight didn’t feel too bad and I felt relatively fast considering being gimped up right now.
- I officially turned in My EliteFTS sponsorship app today, we will see what happens. Hopefully i will hear one way or the other before I jump on a plane for Nationals, but i really have no idea how any of this works, so i am just along for the ride I suppose.
-Mentally i feel pretty good about the weight cut and my never haven’t been too bad either. I feel prepared and know that if I run my events clean then I will hopefully do pretty well. I am just ready for it to be here! Thank you to everyone fore the support, I really appreciate it!
Here is the video from today’s training
Alpha, you are so right about perception, and people’s views. Seems we are our own worst enemy at times. I used to feel that anything was possible. I’ve had some trials in my life that led me to feel different. I’m coming back to that way of thinking. In our relentless search for meaning, it is what we learn about ourselves, a reclaiming of our power, and our ability to claw back some stability in our world that has devastated us. I love how you continue to emphasize being better today then yesterday. You really seem to have things dialed in for these Nationals, great things are about to happen. I know you’re going to bring it, and I wish the best.
That’s what I’m going to do if you don’t get your EliteFTS sponsorship! Also, those 8 plates per side did look really cool,lol, you killed that 765er dude!
Best of luck with the sponsorship. Being associated with Dave Tate is a hell of an accomplishment in the strength world! You definetely fit in their niche on the market: thoughtful yet grungy. Tate is a smart, but he knows when to get in the zone and just have a blast at it.
Great work on the weights, I’m sure you will do great in the Nationals. Do it for us, do it for you, do it for the sake of the sport. Just do it!
BetaBill: I can totally understand where you are coming from man. I have to constantly remind myself that impossible things happen every day. It has to be someone that breaks into that realm, so why not you? I mean, if you told people that they would be able to see each other’s faces in real time while talking on a phone from different countries even 15 years ago, they would have thought it was from a science fiction story. The 4 Minute mile was once thought of as impossible, much like squatting over 1,000lbs or climbing to the top of Everest in nothing but a pair of shorts…But all of them have been done. I think much of what what holds us back is our own self talk and belief systems. Maybe i am too dumb to know better, or maybe I just choose not to believe what the “majority” says, but I think we have only begin to scratch the surface of what our true potential actually is. I do not think age, genetics or our upbringings matter that much in doing the impossible…I think will does. Even if you went through a rough patch in your life, you are not dead. It sounds like you have turned the corner and are headed in the right direction.
I truly believe that Today can be the best day of your life. If you set out in the morning trying to make that your reality, even if you fall short, i bet you will go to bed that night feeling like more things are possible than you thought. Taking control of your thoughts and forcing them to stay positive is the first step. If things go wrong, don’t look at them as set backs. Look at them as “dare to be great” situations. Do these things consistently enough and you will not even recognize your old self or life. Just like your physical body, it doesn’t change over night. It takes time to change, But consistency is the key to uncommon results.
One way I personally do this is every time I step inside my gym, when I open up the garage doors, I say to myself, “You have the best job in the world! You are going to change someone’s life today!” Even if i don’t feel that way or am uninspired, saying that changes my mindset. Just like smiling when you answer the phone changes your voice. You can “trick” your mind and body into feeling the way you want it to. Just from your posts I can tell you are a good guy who wants to get better every day. It takes courage to say what you said and courage is enough. Sorry to get off on a tangent there, but I wrote an article similar to this topic today and there is a lot still rolling around in my mind.
Thank you for your encouragement about Nationals! I am definitely a dark horse coming in, but someone has to come in first…I don’t see why that someone cannot be me.
FarmerOwen: Hahaha thanks man, I definitely wish i had you as my spokesperson sitting in with them when they make the decision!
Pano: Thanks man! You know I am going to go in there and give my all! I feel much better prepared and experienced this year than i did last year…I am just ready for it to come! This last week or so has me itching to go do what i ave been trained to do!
===================================================
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” --Frank Herbert, Dune
TUESDAY, 22SEPTEMBER2015 - Work For Today
Wave 3/Week 1/Day 2
SKILL - Worked on my Viper Log Press today, I worked up to a triple with 275lbs
CONDITONING - At the Top of Every Minute for 7 Minutes
2 Log Viper Presses @ 245lbs
STRENGTH GIANT SET
Barbell Bent Over Rows: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x3, 425x3
Bench Press: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3, 425x3
Toes To Bar: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
SCREWING AROUND
225 Bench Combine Test: 35 Unbroken Reps
ACCESSORY - No Rest
20 Pull-Ups
20 Dips
15 Pull-Ups
15 Dips
10 Pull-Ups
10 Dips
NOTES:
- So I was thinking about the Log clean and press event and how one of my best overhead movements is with kegs. I perform those with one motion, so i thought I would try to mimic that will the Viper press. It actually worked out really well and makes me less winded than a traditional Log C&P. It also takes me about half as much time…This has my brain spinning about strategy for Nationals. I really won’t know which oe I am going to compete with until warm-ups when I actually get my hands on the log we will be using…All good though, i feel better about this than i did when i walked into he gym today.
- Going EMOM with 245 viper presses for conditioning made me want to die. The first 2 minutes weren’t bad, but by minute 5, those :60 seconds seemed much shorter!
- Strength stuff was pretty standard. Happy with where I got up to. Didn’t dig too deep since I am now pretty much supposed to be deloading.
- Finishing off with that non stop accessory work made my arms feel like they were going to pop!
***Other than that, i posted another article about some random thoughts on my site today. If you guys are interested, http://www.neversate.com/wrath/2015/9/22/7-random-thoughts-1 …I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read my stuff. It means a lot.
"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists… it is real… it is possible…? --Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
WEDNESDAY, 23SEPTEMBER2015 - Work For Today
Wave 3/Week 1/Day 3
CONDITIONING - Completed As Many Rounds As Possible in 12 Minutes
5 Power Cleans @ 185lbs
5 Kettlebell Snatches (Each Side) 53lb Kettlebell
30 Double Unders
STRONGMAN EVENTS
50 Tire flips with our second heaviest tire.
NOTES:
- Just moving around to cut the weight and keep my mind in the game as I go into this reload for Nationals…All good things
Hey Alpha, What length of chain do you use for weighted pullups and dips? I’m gonna go into the hardware store in a few days time and not sure how much I need.
Scary front squat that is there. Bet that felt good to hit so close to competition!
law8: I usually buy them around 6 Foot Long and a real (weight bearing) Carabiner. That is works for me, but I am sure you could go a little bit shorter if you wanted, but 6 Foot works perfect for my waist size and the amount of plates I use. Thanks for asking brother!
Vinny: Thanks brother! Yea it definitely helps my confidence going into next week. I am beyond ready for it to get here!