What exactly is the address of the compound?
I’ll assume that you are honour bound not to reveal the names of the world class athletes training at the compound when you were there?
Once you get used to it which doesnt take long not even the nomenclature is that different…
All it does is makes nameing things easier…
Nuttall,
To be honest I was a huge skeptic of DBs methods until I used the with GREAT success… I think Ive got a good handle on the basics but would like a bit of quidance on the more technical aspects…
So
A couple of quetions!
1)I understand the principles for training in the offseason, but Im not really sure how to properly incorporate the sport training and the fatigue induced by the sport training into a template… ie what im trying to say is Just say Im an athlete who needs to train for boxing or sprinting or football or whatever… How do I incorporate the team/individual trainings properly, all the conditioning work etc? How would a week be set out?
The closest thing from DB that Ive seen ansering this question is a Q+A where he had a guy running to a 1% drop off most days…
I cant find that at the moment though 
Any ideas on how you incorporate everything including the sports practice/conditioning work into the AREG format?
- Waves
How do you regulate wave loading using AREG?
Just say I go with the 3 step wave load 63, 74, 63 wave how exactly would I do it?
So because it is only 1 hybrid when do I do them?
Just say Im going to do 3 hybrids
Do I go
Rotation 1
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 63% test inital
Hybrid 2 some other exercise test initial
Hybrid 3 some other exercise test intial
Rotation 2
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 74% test inital
Hybrid 2 some other exercise monitor for drop off
Hybrid 3 some other exercise monitor for drop off
Rotation 3
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 63% monitor for drop off
Hybrid 2 some other exercise monitor for drop off
Hybrid 3 some other exercise monitor for drop off
Rotation 4
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 74% monitor dropoff
OR
Do I do this because technically it is the one hybrid???
Rotation 1
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 63% test inital
74% test inital
Hybrid 2 some other exercise test initial
Hybrid 3 some other exercise test intial
Rotation 2
Hybrid 1 RA bench press 63% monitor drop off
74% monitor drop off
Hybrid 2 some other exercise monitor for drop off
Hybrid 3 some other exercise monitor for drop off
or
Rotation 1
Hybrid 1 part 1 RA bench press 63% test inital
Hybrid 2 some other exercise test initial
Hybrid 1 part 2 RA bench press 74% test inital
Hybrid 3 some other exercise test intial
Rotation 2
Hybrid 1 part 1 RA bench press 63% monitor drop off
Hybrid 2 some other exercise monitor drop off
Hybrid 1 part 2 RA bench press 74% monitor drop off
Hybrid 3 some other exercise monitor drop off
ahhhh its all a much of a muchness still keen to get it right though…
I need to email DB one day
- Is there any scope for unloading???
When i was doing my conjugate program inspired by westside I was periodizing the RE work so that it went
Week 1 Hard
Week 2 Medium
Week 3 Very Hard
Week 4 Easy
ie its something similar to what I saw in dreschlers weightlifting encylopedia, and ended up being similar to what CT recomends… especially with the deload week 4 being 50% volume…
Anyway… I really think that periodizing it like this helped heaps… it seems that every session is what I classified before as “Very Hard”…
If there is no real scope or need for unloading what do you use to prevent burnout? changing exercises frequently? using different methods AN-1 work has a different effect to AN-2 which is different to magnitude???
[quote]Nuttall wrote:
I was fortunate enough to train with him for about 6 months at his compound. Even though I saw a lot of freaky stuff (based on “US” training standard) the thing that stands out the most in my mind now is how down to earth and reserved he was. He defines the word humble. If I had the athletes he had at his facility and the coaches and athletes emailing him and calling him for assistance that he had (and probably still has)…I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut! I remember asking him if he had any idea how much money he could make if he came to the States and marketed himself properly. He always replied that I was selling him on my dream, not his…he only cared about helping athletes and coaches become the best they can be. He treated everyone at his compoound the same way- it didn’t matter if you were already at the top of your game or if you had dreams to someday make something of yourself. His thing was not only about helping the athlete but protecting them as well…not selling his athletes names to sell himself. But if you’re going to knock a guy who prefers to stay under the radar yet help every single athlete achieve their true potential then I don’t think you’ll benefit too much from these discussions.
I don’t mean to come off as an asshole…I’m only saying that the reason you haven’t given his stuff a chance (he doesn’t ramble off names) is one of the biggest reasons I respect him. He is literally one of the hardest working yet least money-hungry individuals I have ever met in my life.
I strongly support the previous post; ‘the journey is well worth the effort.’
Peace,
Brad
[/quote]
I am curious as to where his “compound” is, or are you sworn to secrecy? By the way, is he trying to protect the identity of the “consultation members” who write the articles on his web site?
[quote]Chris Aus wrote:
If there is no real scope or need for unloading what do you use to prevent burnout? changing exercises frequently? using different methods AN-1 work has a different effect to AN-2 which is different to magnitude???[/quote]
You forgot include how to improve 400M time! I used to do them in the past but I ALWAYS overdid it while I was also lifting weights as well. I’m trying to figure out how to do both conditioning and weight training but I’m really confused of how to do it using DB’s methods. Using Joe Kenn’s tier system is ALOT easier to implement both.
Wow, there?s a lot of questions waiting for me. I?ll do my best to get to as many of them as I can.
Squattin600,
Even though he never prescribed a program without seeing the athlete perform his sport, he often preached that virtually all athletes are bred from two elements: (1) explosiveness and (2) great work capacity. I?m assuming you?re a powerlifter (?squattin600?) so I don?t know if it applies, but I?ve heard him recommend a basic template to various coaches who were new to his training system that set the stone for both of these attributes to be developed. It consisted of two alternating sessions: (1) speed-endurance and (2) strength-endurance. He liked this setup in a nutshell because it allowed the athletes to prepare their mind and bodies for the work to come. But a lot of his athletes did jump right into the thick of things without much hesitation- there?s no doubt about that. I think it all boiled down to what he thought they needed the most at that particular time. I took a hand held audio recorder with me on this trip and one of the things I remember from listening to it the other day is him saying how he trained each athlete for his/her immediate needs in respect to his/her long term needs. Also, I?m not quite sure where you heard that he neglected posterior chain development because I still hear the ringing in my ears from when he went off on the biomechanics of sprinting and what athletes are missing and how to get it. Actually just the other day he critiqued the men?s 100 meters in an email to me. He said that if Shawn Crawford used a variation of overspeed-reactive glut hams (among other things) that he would have won the men?s 100 meters without losing his gold medal in the 200 meters.
Peteerm533,
He keeps everything very tight-lipped. Everyone he deals with is required to sign a confidentiality agreement. This sheet was basically about protecting the athletes and his intellectual property (at least that?s what I was told?it was in German and I don?t speak a lick of German). And even though he never explicitly told me not to give out his address or drop the names of the athletes he works with or gossip about the coaches he mentors, I would never do anything like that because (1) it?s not something he is about and (2) he has taught me more than any coach I?ve met, consulted with or studied?so I?m not exactly looking to trample on what he has given me. In other words, what I?d lose in giving you this information isn?t worth what you would gain. I hope you can respect that. But if you?re really interested I?d suggest you go to Germany and ask around until you find his compound. He may not be as prominent as the Pope but he definitely wasn?t hiding out in a bunker like Sadaam Hussein when I stumbled across him.
Chris Aus,
The first time I walked in the facility he literally had a guy hanging from a chin-up bar and was beating the guys? midsection with some serious force. He was yelling along with some other athletes?and DB?s face turned so red that I didn?t think he would stop until he had chopped the guy in half or until his own head had popped off! At this point I didn?t even recognize the gym equipment. I felt like I had walked into a ?secret society?, like Fight Club, and I sure as hell didn?t feel welcome. So if anybody can relate to being turned off by his stuff from the get go?believe me, I was that guy!
But just like you, and seemingly a lot of other people, once I was able to get past the fact that it is radically different from everything I?ve been accustomed to hearing and doing then I allowed myself to see what my body is really capable of.
Everything must follow AREG guidelines, which means that games and competitions have to worked into this equation. He was very big on psychological as much as physiological restitution after games and training sessions.
With the waves you would actually do the 74% set, then the 63% set, then the other hybrids?then repeat each hybrid as necessary. I?ve seen him take drop-offs from time, peak bar velocity and even force profiles. A 3-5% drop using the time method is generally good for most trainees.
Yes, it is one hybrid.
Something he taught me that I couldn?t find in ?The Sports Book? which I think may help you out is to adopt the philosophy that more hybrids need to be used with lower skilled athletes than with higher skilled athletes. This is because the lower skilled athletes have a greater number of neuromuscular problems so they need to bring up many things at once. Then once their system gets in balance, like the muscles of a bodybuilder, they concentrate their efforts on extremely fine deficiencies whilst preserving everything else. I think back to a program I saw for a school-aged kid and he probably had 10 exercises per session on the sheet?then I look over and watch a guy do nothing but max singles on the bench press with the Synchrode and close to 8 minutes rest in between sets.
There?s no ?deloading? because of AREG?.but there are major face lifts to the training program on occasion. The way he explained it to me is ?rate? work is F=mA and ?duration? work is F=Ma?everything in between is ?magnitude? work. This is important to know because he would often have his strength athletes ?force train? with a rate and mag setup and his speed and power athletes train using a duration setup. Obviously you wouldn?t want to go back to these ?building blocks? right before a meet?which means that you should be able to AREG your workouts right up to a meet without ?deloading? and hit PR?s all the way through. Just look at your past training sessions. If you individualized your AREG plan then I?m sure you saw huge jumps in performance that standout in your mind. Did you ?deload? for these? If course not!
Bobby,
The authors of those articles are ?consultation members?, which means that they probably had to sign the same confidentiality agreement that I did. If that?s the case then using their names would be off limits. Sure would be nice to know who wrote those articles though, huh? I think I know who wrote one of them but I?d still probably ?call a friend? before giving my ?final answer? if I was on ?Millionaire?.
Tungsten,
I find DB?s basic strength template and basic speed-power template as easy to follow as anything out there and they give me better results than anything else I?ve come across (Joe works at ASU, right?). If you aren?t familiar with these basic templates then I?m not going to spoil the surprise (sorry)?I know that after the EMS articles he has coming up that he has a few training template articles he wants to release. Maybe if you email him he?ll give you some insiders?
Peace,
Brad
Brad,
Thanks for the response. I was a powerlifter. now I train for fun and performance (would like to return to MMA). I’m working on speed, power, and speed endurance. I am currently using his speed-strength template, as it addresses all of my weaknesses.
I was inquiring about beginners because I’m not sure how one would begin with the system if they had a very young training age.
I’m not sure where the idea about neglecting the posterior chain had came up, maybe in his sample vertical jump programin the QnA.
One more question:
Could you share one or two real gems that you have learned from DB that haven’t been covered in TSB?
[quote]Nuttall wrote:
(at least that?s what I was told?it was in German and I don?t speak a lick of German[/quote]
I hate to sound like an asshole, but you signed a document whose contents you had no idea of? Last time I did that, I ended up in the Marine Corps for another 6 months.
Reference the mens Olympic 100m and the fact that Shawn Crawford would’ve won if he had used overspeed reactive glute-hams. GET REAL! When DB Hammer tells how many sprinters and which ones he trained we’ll listen to what he has to say about sprinting. Don’t spout the confidentiality crap it is easy to find out who coaches each top sprinter. Except if Charlie Francis is involved, for obvious reasons (Ben Johnson).
Shawn Crawford MAY would’ve won IF he hadn’t blasted through all his heats and saved a little for the final. He MAY also would’ve won if he would clean up his erratic form. He’s got more talent oozing out of 1 fingernail than I would venture, to say anyone else on this board. He’s 5’11 180 and benches 365 plus he runs sub 10 100’s and sub 20 200’s.
Brad-
Thanks. I’m really trying to learn DB’s system. Say I wanted ‘overall’ high level of general fitness, no real specific athletic goals-
Day one - Neuro duration/mag (An1) in the weight room.
Day two - general conditioning @75% like tempo running, GPP
day three - neuro rate - sprinting, medicine ball throws?
day four - recovery method
day five - duration/mag (An2)
day six - general conditioning
day seven - neuro rate in weight room.
I’m just brainstorming at the moment. If you have any advices for me, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.
Tungsten
I?ll try to reply to each of you individually in this single post:
Squattin600,
The Power Template would work great for you?it does directly meet all your needs. I?ve found it works a lot better with his specific stim and tens protocols though: HI STIM the day of, Ramped TENS the day after and Restorative TENS every other day(also note that each EMS session begins and ends with restorative tens).
I found his psychological training just as interesting as his physiological training. He would follow up most training sessions with relaxation techniques as the athlete was receiving physical relaxation work done- such as low intensity tens or vibration massage. The combination works tremendous. Then he would use arousal techniques leading into a training session or competition (I found these interesting). I’ll try to explain them to you…They appeared to be nothing more than a mixture of affirmative visualization and mental imagery techniques performed in a state of hypnosis. He talked about how as you go through mental imagery techniques that your muscles are recruited enough to further substantiate your functional gains to the point that your technical aspects of the movement are enhanced. It?s kind of like the old philosophy that if you can see it you can do it. If the athletes could clearly envision it in their minds then they could physically go out and do it. This type of training was recommended for when athletes were unable to physically train- injury and during recovery are two examples. Another thing I found interesting was that a pure power absorption training session is best executed with ice-massage in between working sets. For whatever reason, muscle recruitment actually goes up during the power absorption phase following muscle cooling?.but it goes down during the power production phase (that?s why these ?cooling sessions? should only be done if you have ADA work on your schedule and nothing else). It?s actually restrictive to development and dangerous to use ice-massage in between movements where power is concentrically produced.
Dookie1481,
I don?t know if I should laugh or send you a Hallmark card. Just kidding?thanks for looking out for me but you have nothing to worry about. It was actually my choice to sign the sheet- he gave me the option. Thanks for the laugh!
LR1400,
Why do you suppose SC?s technique is off? Because he?s activating his hips out of proportion with his hamstrings, right?(the body is a kinetic chain/closed electrical circuit…blah blah blah…you remember that, right?) So solving the problem from a hip extension movement isn?t going to cure the problem because his gluts will take over. And the action leading into ground support indicates the need for glut hams. Don?t forget that a muscle contraction is stronger when trained from one joint opposed to both joints simultaneously. And let?s not overlook the fact that his right plantar flexor musculature needs to increase muscle stiffness through neural-driven means. This isn’t even the half of what he shared with me in that email…
Look…I don?t want to fight you with, LR1400, we?re all in this ship together. But it does make you sound like a jerk when you simply claim that his form was off but you don?t say ?why? it was off or ?how? to fix it. I apologize if I didn?t state everything that was shared in that email?and overlooked the fact that the reason he called for certain exercises was because he fixes technical problems through functional re-direction?but, then again, that?s not what this thread is about so I just made a comment because I thought it might be interesting to those reading it?not because I thought it would set you on fire! Sorry if I struck you the wrong way.
Tungsten,
If you stick to his AREG volume management system then your work capacity will go up at the same time your performance numbers go up (not in parallel of course). For instance, you may have your work capacity go up one session and your performance numbers go up significantly the next session?or you may have a streak of performance numbers rising?or a streak of work capacity rising?or a combination of the two going up steadily?.it all varies. The key is to let your system adapt as it needs to at that particular time. This negates the need for ?special GPP? sessions. Recovery work is done through relaxation techniques(psychological) and he is very big on restorative-TENS applications(physiological). Following this pattern will not only keep your supercompensation wave alive?but if you look at things like the cost-to-benefit ratio of affirmative imagery techniques are superior versus ?tempo runs? then you’ll find the balance always leans in favor of how DB arranges work.(it took me a long time to figure this out trust me!)
The first thing I?d do is determine what you want to train for so you can pick which modalities and brackets to include in your workouts. Then after you determine you personal weaknesses you need to raise up to meet your objectives then you can determine which methods and movements to use. After all that is set in stone then you would go back and map out the process: determine how you are going to arrange your needs and manage your capacity of work principles and toleration principles.
That?s really all you have to do. I?ll admit it?s a lot more difficult then reading a workout program off a sheet of paper?but after you do it once or twice it really becomes second nature. And just like somebody posted earlier?the results are well worth the effort.
Something else I want to say?I had this problem at the beginning and I know a lot of newbies to his system make the same mistake I did (and sometimes still do) so I should probably mention it here. Don?t mix parts of somebody else?s system or training program with DB?s system. Take CF?s tempo running(since it was just mentioned in Tungsten’s post)?CF needs that in his program because of the way he sets everything up?DB?s system doesn?t. So even though it may work great on CF?s program it will hold you back on DB?s system. I went to his compound about 4 years ago and since then I have literally drilled him with questions on a daily basis. To this day I have yet to find a hole in his system. Like I would read about GPP and SPP and ask him how he fits this in his routine?.but it?s already covered. I read about accomodating resistance or proprioceptive work or whatever else I could think of…but everything was always covered! If you perform your workouts by starting with a restorative-warmup and then lead into a specific warmup followed by your ?fundamentals?(the workout itself)?then follow this up with more restorative-warmup work (think of it as a ?cool down? period) before performing your relaxation techniques and so forth?and so forth…IF you follow his program as he lays it out in basically an hour by hour schedule then you will cover everything.
I hope my responses helped you guys out.
Peace,
Brad
Thanks for the help Brad.
I’d have to agree with you on finding holes in his system. Everytime I ask DB a question he’ll say something kind of like “if you think your question through and run it through the system then 1+2=3” Then I think to myself… “Duh”. In otherwords, the answers are usually right in front of my face and logically relates to his system.
Why am I NOT surprised that Nuttall is unable to disclose the location of the secret training facility in Germany?
If anyone here honestly believes that such a facility exists in Germany they need their head examined.
Nuttall must have had trouble keeping his face straight when he suggested that I go to Germany and see if I could stumble across it. I guess that I might also run into Elvis at the same time.
It has been quite impossible to verify the bona fides of Dietrich Buchenholz and what information has been given such as his being a leading hammer thrower has not stood up to any eaxmination of historical records.
The coaches of leading performers are well known. If Buchenholz had produced anyone of note it is absurd to suggest that he would keep quiet about it while dispensing advice and selling his wares on the internet.
If Nuttall provides any information which would verify the existence of the facility in Germany I will have it checked out at my own expense. Send me a PM if necessary and I undertake not to disclose the information other than to report back on my findings.
I may be wrong but I suspect that piece of paper Nuttall signed is going to tie his hands on this one.I wait to be proven wrong.
Yes, I agree. It appears that his methods are very good but it IS odd that, with the Olympics just over, we wouldn’t have heard about him in some form or fashion. Even if he did not want any pub at all, we would see Germany coming out with more medals than they did. The East German women won a ton of medals 30 years ago, of course with the help of steroids. I would think, that with this superior training, that their teams would do well. But the Germans didn’t do well in Athens.
Why do WE (americans) always blame eastern block success on steroids. I thought members of T-Nation knew “Americans are the kings of doping” I forget which article that came from, but it’s on this site.
[quote]Scipio wrote:
Yes, I agree. It appears that his methods are very good but it IS odd that, with the Olympics just over, we wouldn’t have heard about him in some form or fashion. Even if he did not want any pub at all, we would see Germany coming out with more medals than they did. The East German women won a ton of medals 30 years ago, of course with the help of steroids. I would think, that with this superior training, that their teams would do well. But the Germans didn’t do well in Athens.[/quote]
Scipio,
Germany was 5th in the medal count behind the United States, China, Russia and Australia (respectively). Since Germany has about 1/4 the population of America and ended up with about 1/2 as many medals, I personally wouldn’t call this a bomb-out, would you?
I don’t know if Dietrich had an athlete medal or not, but I do know that it’s always better to be able to pick from 300 million guys than 80 million guys.
Anyone know the populations of China, Russia and Australia?
Peace,
Brad
Well Australia’s population is only around 20 million - which is why the entire nation goes nuts when our athletes win so many medals 
I think T-nation should do an interview with DB Hammer.
Nuttal, Im thinking of something like this…
Day 1 2-3% Fatigue Weight training in gym
Day 2 Off
Day 3 2-3% fatigue sport type training
Day 4 Off
Day 5 2-3% Fatigue Weight training in gym
Day 6 Off
Day 7 2-3% Fatigue sport type training
Day 8 Off
The weight training would be whole body and focus on magnitude or duration work (probably not in the same session). Maybe something like Squat glute ham raise, bench, row, for a duration session…
The sports training would be boxing, strongman, or track type training, would hit the whole body and focus on rate and magnitude stuff…
It kinda was inspired by a post by DB where he mentioned using companion sessions of focus and supportative sessions…
I know atleast one person criticized this saying that the rate and the duration work probably shouldnt be done in the same week…
How far seperate do you think rate and duration should be?
What would be a good method of determining the fatigue induced from the sports trainings?
What would be a method for determining the fatigue induced from an actual competition? would testing vertical before and after the session be sufficient?
Would EMS be a good option? To replace the duration stuff while I foccussed on Mag for the gym trainings?
Nuttal,
I wasn’t on fire, I guess sometimes e-mail comes across that way.
I do, however, question DB Hammer’s expertise and any criticisms he offers with regard to any Olympic athlete’s form, technique, etc. when he does not even mention that he has coached anyone of noteworthy. Not even a hint. AGAIN IT IS EASY TO FIND OUT WHO COACHES ALL TOP SPRINTER’S
And DB Hammer is syaing SC should include more glute hams.
His problems could be any number of things.
One is that up until ~6 mos before the Olympic Trials he did not have a coach. Now that he does probably his form will tighten. By tightening up his form I am referring to his start which many say displays poor mechanics. But his form at max velocity is also goofy according to some. But whne you run consistent sub 10’s does it really matter what you look like?
Second he could lack general strength (doubtful) of which glute hams could be one of many modalities, schematics, potocols, whatever he could use.
Third, he may just need to relax more as max velocity and efficiency of movement are impaired when tight, i.e. nervous, too jacked up, not focused on running his race. Guess what tightness will show in the face and shoulders which will restrict the rotation of the hip, which will cause the sprinter to run slower.
Fourth, AGAIN he just may have a funky gait as does Justin Gatlin according to some he won the gold medal. And when your running consistent sub 10 100’s you don’t go messing around with a guy’s natural tendencies
“right plantar flexor musculature needs to increase muscle stiffness through neural-driven means.”
- It doesn’t get more neural driven than sprinting at that level. I have never heard of a sprinter wanting muscle stiffness anywhere, spells injury to me. Maybe he meant a more elastic muscle tendon complex
“the reason he called for certain exercises was because he fixes technical problems through functional re-direction”
This is just more DB Hammer bullshit “pseudo-science” talk. What you refer to above is what sprinter’s do all the time in the form of general strength training, hurdle mobility, therapy, etc. They correct functional problems through different excercise and protocols.
When DB starts using accepted terms instead of modalities, schematics verbal masturbation maybe more people will take him serious.