I read the interview with The evil Russian the other day and was wondering how could you make a workout like that. If anyone has a workout or any ideas it would be grateful.
In Pavel’s book “Power to the People” he talks about using the Deadlift and One-arm press or Floor press as the two main exercises to gain overall strength. He recommends working out 3-5 times a week on those two lifts doing two working sets of five reps. The first working set is 90% of your 5RM for each lift. The second set is 80% of your 5RM. He says that you do this to build super strength, and by training the lifts often, you will get stronger. And each week you add weight so that you hit a new 5RM after a few weeks. I doubt many people will do just those two lifts three-to-five days a week. Most of us want some size to go with the strength and want to work more than the two main lifts.
And I've read other articles of his that make more sense. He recently had a good one about SWAT training in the March 2001 issue of MILO. Basically, Pavel uses the 3-5 Method. Which means you should do 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps using 3-5 exercises (they don't all have to be on the same day), resting 3-5 minutes between sets and working out 3-5 days a week. He focuses on basic exercises. In this article, he recommended pull-ups, one-legged squats and hanging leg raises. And he gave specific requirements for different levels on the police force. This can also be applied to other basic lifts: deadlifts, squats, dips, bench presses, overhead presses, curls, etc. In fact, I'm going to be using some of his ideas in my next workout program. The one thing you must remember is to NEVER train to failure! He stresses that repeatedly. If you can only do five reps with a certain weight, start out doing three reps. This way you can complete the number of sets and reps required each work and continue to gain. Hope that helps. If you need some more info, just let me know.
I’ve been using a modified PTP program lately. I call it a modified program, because I use most of Pavel’s ideas but have added exercises and changed things a bit. On Monday, I’ll do 2 sets of 5 reps of Bench Presses (instead of the side presses) supersetted with 2 sets of 5 reps of very close-grip chinups. Wednesday is the same 2 sets of 5 for Deadlifts and Clean-and-Push-Presses. Friday I superset pullups with dips. I switched to this plan because I am also doing Combat Conditioning exercises almost daily and I’m on an MRP diet. Although I’ve already lost 10+ pounds, my strength is improving and my recovery is great!
I like to switch to a more neural weight training program when I diet, and I’ve found Pavel Tsatsouline’s Power to the People to be great for that. I am going to bump the caloric intake up a bit though. No, I’m not losing any noticeable lean mass, but my activity level is going up. For those of you who remember me posting about wanting to find some kind of wrestling instruction, well I have. I found a local mixed martial art school that has a great Submission Wrestling program. I had my first class last night, and it was great. I look forward to learning the ground game. By the way, “Monkeyboy Eric”, you always end your post with “tap out, it’ll feel better…” Are you a grappler?
i trained in frank shamrocks gym in San Jose for a few months then on and off for a while in San Jose. where are u training?
Nate Dogg, would you describe the 1-arm press and floor press? Thanks!
Nate Dogg??? Listen there honey…do i know you or something…??? and when exactly did you bench press me???
J-Dawg, the one-arm press is actually the side press. That’s the one that Pavel talks about. It’s the side press that the oldtimers used to do in their acts way back in the day. It’s really hard to describe the technique, and since I’ve never done it, I don’t want to explain it. The floor press is actually something that Louie Simmons, Dave Tate and Charles Poliquin have talked about. It’s basically a bench press done while laying on the floor. Have someone hand you the barbell as if you were on a bench. Then lower until your elbows are flat on the floor. Then press back up. Pavel recommended this press over a regular bench press for a reason…but can’t remember off the top of my head. And the Westside gang use this press as one of their pressing movements to increase their bench. Since they don’t usually do heavy benches during their workout sessions, they use a variety of other presses to increase strength (floor presses, JM presses, close-grip presses, etc.).
T-Vixen Jenn, you don't remember me? Awww, c'mon Jenn. I'm the man in your dreams! ;)
J-Dawg Nelms
J-Dawg Nelms - the 1-arm press is holding a BARBELL on on side over your shoulder and pressing it. pavel believes that due to the balancing of the bar it recruites more stabilizing muscles.
The floor press is similar to that discussed by L. Simmons in that you lay flat on the floor and bench a bar. This would be in the manner of a partial rep though.
Boxcar, I’m training at the International Academy of Martial Arts in Endicott, New York. (Near Binghamton, NY). I’d really love to train with either of the Shamrocks. That must have been an awesome experience. How much instruction did you get from Frank himself? I can’t post the website of the school but the schools abbreviation is IAMA-NY and they have a COMmercial site.
Thanks for your help guys after reading the second half of the interview and talking to u guys i think ive figured out a routine.
Thaks