3/1/20
Climbing
Sport: 2 routes
Top rope: 2 routes
Still babying the arm but actually putting it to use today, only limitation really is crimping. Felt good to clip some bolts.
Beating myself up over a mistake today though. Used a belay device I was unfamiliar with but trying to get the hang of and it resulted in my climbing partner almost hitting the deck. In a moment of panic I just squeezed the rope, which stopped him, but burned the shit out of my fingers. Learn the hard way I guess.
2/2/20
Brian Alsruhe Next Level Linear - press workout 16
STRENGTH GIANT SETS (chin - press - core - HR)
Weight vest pullups: (various grips)
60x6x1
Axle strict press:
80x1
90x1
100x1
110x1
120x1
130x1
140x0
135x0
Oblique raise:
x8
Airdyne:
x20s
VOLUME SUPER SET (press - chin)
Axle strict press:
105x5
Pullups:
x5
ASSISTANCE SUPER SETS
DB Urlachers:
10x20
15x15
20x10
10x20
Banded dips:
3x10 - light band
1x21 - mini band
And that’s it, skipping three of the last workouts and calling the program here. 130 moved pretty quick for a PR, and 140 went friggin nowhere. 135 after got to about my forehead where I struggled for a second or so, and back down it came. A little disappointed but hey, I’ve got a forearm strain on my right arm and a burned up left hand, so a PR is a PR right? I’ll take it. Full write up in the next post.
Review of Brian Alsruhes Next Level Linear Program
Hey! Do you like making gains? Run this program.
Oh, yeah, I guess I could write more if you want to know why you should.
For starters, if you give it your all, this program is damn hard and there’s no way you won’t improve in some aspect. You’re getting it all; “ME” work, volume prescriptions, ball busting assistance work, conditioning that’ll make you want to puke, and flexibility to make it your own. Catch his video for a full breakdown. Here’s how I did it.
For the ‘strength giant sets’ I stuck to the prescribed rep max number during all my sets. For example, on 8s day, I’d do sets of 8 until I hit my top set. Definitely builds fatigue as you approach the top set, but work capacity is a good thing and I hit rep PRs with a lot more “junk volume” than I have in the past. YMMV.
The volume work, for most of the program, I did as all out sets. Most days I got this done in 1 or 2 sets, until the last few weeks when I was feeling horrific and kept it submax to try and manage my way through it. This is part of the choose your own adventure formatting of the program. Don’t want to get sloppy reps and push till you feel like passing out? Don’t have to! Really depends what your goals are I’d say.
Assistance work was its usual mess for me. I tried to adhere to Brians style of timed or challenge-y assistance work mostly, and it SUCKS. Not that it sucks like it doesn’t work, but trying to find a balance between not sandbagging it and not popping your top on the first round was a challenge. I think my biggest issue though is that I was never consistent with what I did. Too many toys and options and I wanted to try them all. Reps sets or timed sets will both work equally well for me mentally, but I need to stop getting so cute with it. Which I’ve said a million times. User beware.
Conditioning. Hoo-boy that conditioning. I was least disciplined with this aspect of the program. I’d wager that I probably got 60% of the conditioning sessions done. When I complied, and used workouts he puts on his site, I nearly vomited every time. The man is sick. Sometimes I’d slack and just put in time on the Airdyne or jog. When my climbing ramped up I started cutting back on conditioning more, because I hate it the most.
So, speaking of climbing, about halfway through I began ramping up my climbing frequency and volume more and more. What I did not do was up my calories, and that was a mistake. Basically, this led to under recovery for the most part. My strength held on, and improved in some cases, but the amount of little bumps and bruises that happen in these hobbies started becoming pretty frequent and detrimental to progress. I’m looking forward to a complete deload and letting my connective tissues breathe a sigh of relief.
I stuck with the same 4 main movements for each respective day, but if I ever run this program again I’ll definitely take advantage of having the option to rotate movements each day. Think it’d help with burn out and make assistance choices easier.
I’d say this program should be done while in a calorie surplus, as it’s pretty friggin demanding. I hung steady around 185 from beginning to end, but I’ve noticed a little quality mass on my shoulders and lats. I PR’d (reps and singles) all 4 of the main lifts I chose. I ran a ~6 minute mile on a whim mid program, a couple days after a squat workout. It worked.
@littlesleeper @TX_iron @Frank_C @T3hPwnisher @dagill2 @flappinit @kdjohn @mortdk
Tagging some of you dudes who I think would dig this program. If you find yourselves in the right life situation that it’s doable, I highly recommend it.
Nice write-up man. This is definitely something I’ve got a pin in to run at some point in time. Glad you had success with it!
One question though - how much did you leave in the tank? Like there’s no way I could bank on exactly 9 reps or whatever if I’m pushing hard enough on certain lifts
I really really wanna run this now, mostly because I’m bored with my program but also because i love super and giant sets. Thanks for the write up!
@TX_iron I didn’t ever plan to leave much in the tank going in, but it happened every now and then just as things flowed. The set prior to the top one usually gave me an idea what I had for the day. If I got my reps with more in the tank, it was usually only 1 maybe 2 I’d be able to eek out, and I definitely wouldn’t have another set in me. I missed a top set rep count 3 times I think.
@flappinit When you’re ready go for it man! Would love to see what kind of nonsense you get yourself into.
I’ve been meaning to run something of Brian’s for a while now. Their brutality seems right up my alley.
No doubt, the more strict you adhere to his prescriptions the harder it’ll push you.
Nice work!
I tried to run the Power Building program. I can’t remember why I stopped. It might’ve been an equipment and time problem on work days…or my shoulder.
Great write up @mr.v3lv3t, might as well tag the man himself in case he pops on @Alpha. Great compliment to him for offering up this free program.
I’ve run a little Neversate programming, and man o man does it kick your a$$. Good job seeing it through!
Great write up man.
I love Brians work I did the powerbuilding program and it left me totally beaten up. I remember I had to take a deload week in the middle, that was a tough program.
I actually looked at the Next linear program video the other day.
After my next 6 month or so 531 journey I might give that one a go.
But just thinking about last time I did his stuff makes me a bit worried. Again great write up
Nice write up! I love Brian’s stuff although I am sometimes a little skeptical of some of his programming. I suppose it might not really suit me personally.
@Frank_C Powerbuilder was a good one! Definitely need the right setup and health levels for his stuff though. It can be a bear to work it up around limitations.
@littlesleeper I think I remember seeing that in your log for a minute or two haha. Thanks for tagging Brian, I thought about emailing him that as a thanks, but I don’t want to spam him.
@mortdk I had to deload in the middle of this one myself. I thought this was a bit more rough than the Powerbuilder program, just something to keep in mind.
@Koestrizer Yeah man I totally get that. I think his stuff that’s based around percentages could be run in perpetuity, but some of his programs seem more like stand alone challenges.
Appreciate the feedback everyone!
Spending the rest of this week deloading with a trip to Vegas. Going to indulge in as much food as possible and my only “training” will be a lot of walking around and maybe some mobility stuff if I’m not too lazy to do it (I need to get into the habit for climbing more so than lifting).
That should leave me fresh and ready to start training again Monday. Thing is, I have no clue what I want to do. It dawned on me towards the end of the my most recent program that I probably need to make a choice in regards to training - do I want to be a climber that lifts, or a lifter that climbs? I think the two hobbies compliment each other to a point, but eventually those paths diverge and one needs to be prioritized. For me, that’s going to be climbing. I want to continue getting bigger and stronger, as I appreciate the results of the work, but I need (and am willing) to accept slower gains in that realm so I can push climbing harder. I still have an interest in strongman, but I’m good bit away from being able to compete in the open classes at my height/weight/preferred leanness combo.
I’m planning on climbing two-four times a week, depending on my schedule. My right arm still needs to heal up, so I can only push it so hard until it’s back to normal. Lifting wise, I have a couple options I’m playing around with.
First idea is another Brian Alsruhe program. It’s basically his version of the Cube method. The sets/reps/intensity breakdown for the main work is:
Heavy: 1-3 reps at 80-90% for 12-15 total reps
Medium: 8-12 res at 70-80% for 25-30 total reps
Light: 3-5 reps at 60-70% for 30 total reps
From there, assistance and strongman work is up to the user, though it does follow the undulating pattern with the main work.
@MarkKO Do you have any advice on how to approach undulating the intensity of assistance work? I’m thinking either sticking with the same exercises done at different weights that correlate to the day (ie: heavy/medium/light DB presses), or, choosing a movement that aligns itself with that days intensity (ie: floor press/db press/pushups). I hope that was clear. I’ve seen some good advice from you in this regard so if you want to talk shop I’m all ears. I’m thinking 3-4 lifts with 2-3 hard sets each.
As far as the strongman work goes, I think I’d approach it for conditioning or skill more often than not.
I’ve also been toying around with the idea of making the power clean a main movement over the deadlift, and getting my deadlifts in with the strongman work if I go this route.
The other idea I’m kicking the bucket on is WS4SB with more of a strongman focus. I’ve seen @T3hPwnisher give some ideas on how to make that work (unfortunately the posts are gone). That would take a portion of the thinking away. @TX_iron You’ve done versions of this in the past right? Care to weigh in?
Lastly there’s always 5/3/1. There’s not much to say about that that hasn’t been said haha.
Open to opinions from anyone else that happens to pop in and read this. Got a few long travel days to think about it and chit chat.
I think you’d really appreciate WS4SB 2. It’s got most of what it sounds you’re looking for. It’s made with the assumption that training is GPP for the athlete, has plenty of room for variety (which is what keeps me running away from 531) and a strongman Conditioning day.
You don’t have to deadlift if you don’t want to. Almost all my ME work was a squat variation, and hinge was for reps. With a little creativity, it’s very giant-settable as well. Also, it’s easy to interject strongman stuff in the exercise rotations in the regular days.
It’s probably my favorite program ever - just doesn’t fit into my own schedule or goals at the moment.
Look, a lot of it is going to depend on how much assistance you can work in without detracting from your ability to hit the main lift. If anything, I would set my assistance up so my overall workload is similar each session in terms of fatigue generated. So when your main lift is heavy, assistance is lighter and vice versa. There isn’t really any need to worry too much about undulating the assistance work so long as it is set up in a way that does not impede recovery.
It isn’t like you’re doing assistance work to get better at assistance, so there is much less need to periodise it beyond managing fatigue.
I think a good rule of thumb is that when your main lift is more taxing to your CNS (so in that 85 per cent bracket and upwards), your assistance volume and intensity is lower AND you pick assistance exercises that in themselves are less taxing. For example, lat pulldowns instead of barbell rows, lunges instead of leg press, etc. It is when your main lift intensity is lower that you can hit the assistance harder.
This is why I’m not a fan of picking a set of assistance exercises and working on them in any kind of periodised way. You end up looking at assistance work as another lift to progress. Instead, I find it more beneficial to look at assistance in terms of body part relevant to the main lift. Then your session is structured so that your assistance is done based on the body parts the main lift requires, while the assistance volume and intensity is determined by the volume and intensity of the main lift.
Another thing to add is that you want to focus on climbing so lifting should build your climbing. The issue a lot of athletes run into is that they run these programs that don’t necessarily correlate with their sport.
With that being said, leg training should take the least amount of priority in your training imo. If you’re progressing in main lifts (squat, deadlifts, etc) I see little need for a ton of assistance. Things like your back, shoulders and arms/hands need to take priority at the current moment since they are the muscles necessary for strength in climbing. If you look at pro climbers, their “lifting” routines are building what they need. You don’t use your legs much and you house a lot of weight there when you build them so most shy away from it.
Obviously you don’t want to become gym bro and never train your lower body, but training more like an athlete with focus on main movements and plyometric or bodyweight style assistance work would probably work best for your focuses at the current moment.
As a fellow climber, I’d argue that pistol squats have better carry-over to the sport than squatting and deadlifting.
I haven’t planned this out in any detail, so I apologise for how uncohesive this is. But, if I decided to prioritise climbing here’s how I would reason with regards to leg-training:
I wouldn’t train arms for hypertrophy, I’d include high-rep band work to keep the elbows happy.
The only hand-training I’d do in the gym would be heavy finger rolls, but primarily I’d opt for hangboarding.
The rest of the training I’d use to balance out the imbalances caused by climbing, and improving your ability to maintain a tight core.
I’d limit your pursuit of vertical pulling strength to not further encourage muscular imbalances: That means that once your vertical pulling ability becomes doing a chin-up with 0.5x BW attached, then attain the same capability with a pull-up. Then maintain this ability.
Other than that, pulling should emphasise the other muscles other than the lats. Your lats are already being worked tremendously if you climb four times a week.
With regards to the core, working towards the front lever will help you on crazy overhangs.
Don’t skimp on rear delt work. Train your antagonist gripping musculature (“Forearm Antagonist Muscle Training for Climbers”). Periodize your climbing to reduce injury risk (volume/intensity).
For pushing strength, ring dips and practice mantling moves will arguably have better carry-over than bench pressing and overhead pressing.
And stretch your calves and underside of your feet!
I really like this exercise for climbers:
Get belay glasses
And strengthen your wrists!
Soooo either the media has given me a false image of “trips to Vegas” ooooor your doing it wrong buddy!
I can’t provide much more information apart from borderline funny humor because I don’t know the first thing about climbing. To a noob like me it looks like it boils down to grip strength, pull up strength, core stability and a low bodyweight.
Based on that limited insight and without knowledge of your schedule, here’s what my recommendation would look like: