Max Intensity Upper 1-9-22

 Max Intensity Upper Day

Bench Press- worked up to heavy triples

Press Behind the Neck- worked up to heavy triples

Cable Crossovers for high reps

Press downs for high reps

Band Pull Aparts for high reps

Standing ab pulldowns with bands

Sunday Training

Dynamic Squats/Deadlifts

12 sets of 2 reps box squats with straight weight

Speed Pulls with chains attached to bar 6 x 1 rep

Normally we would focus on our low backs and hamstrings after this but my CNS was fried so I called it a day after the speed pulls. Training 6 days a week plus extra workouts means sometimes when feeling beat up just getting in and hitting the main lifts and calling it day. This should be done sparingly.

Saturday Training at DFBC

Saturdays are our Max Effort Bench Press Day. On our Dynamic bench days we focus heavily on our working our chests and triceps. On Max Effort we really hammer our pressing and shoulders.

But sometimes when the weather is nice we will hit our max effort lift and then head outside and do strongman training. This Saturday the weather was beautiful so that's what we did.

Our max effort lift was bench press with chains. We warmed up with straight weight then added some chains. We then added bar weight and then chains until we got to a certain amount. For 300 lbs and over benches we used 80 lbs of chain and for sub 200 we used 55 lbs of chain.

After we hit 3 singles at >90% we grabbed a strongman log, farmers walk handles, sled, and some plates and went outside. We started with log clean and presses working 3-5 reps up to a max single. After that we did 50 yard farmers walks for several trips working up in weight. We followed that up with some throws using a 10 lbs bumper like a discus. We finished with sled drags starting light doing movements like front raises and reverse flys and finishing with heavy weights. 

All in all it was fun but tough work. 

A Look at our Gym and Current Training Routine

            Our training methods can vary at times but generally follow a pretty set pattern of alternating between a “bodybuilding” phase for three months as a sort of off-season and a powerlifting/strongman phase the rest of the year broken into three cycles of three months each. Our strength/power phase is based around conjugate training as popularized by Westside Barbell. Hands down there is no gym in the world like Westside Barbell and the endless number of world record holders that gym has had speaks for itself. While our training is heavily influenced by the training methods developed by Louie Simmons we do not train “Westside Barbell”. The only people who train Westside are the members of that gym who train there. I (Jason) have never trained at that gym. I have trained with people who were current and former members there and learned a lot from them but I would never claim to train Westside Barbell.

            Instead I call what we do the Gall Method largely because it is based around the past seven years of Missy and I training and experimenting and seeing what has worked and what has not worked. It is also based around the abilities and limitations of our home gym- the Deadlifter’s Fortress Barbell Club.

            Thankfully through Missy and I’s hard work we have built up our gym to the point that our only real main limitation is space verses our equipment. We have a power rack, two flat benches, an FID bench, a pulldown/low row combo, leg press, cable crossover, leg extension/curl, 45 degree back raise, and dragging sled. We also have numerous barbells as well as a safety squat bar, strongman log, and farmers walk handles. We have boxes for box squats and block pulls as well as bands and chains for accommodating resistance. We have steel and bumper plates and dumbbells. We are constantly updating and improving our gym and look to be adding more strongman logs and specialty bars in the future.

            Our current training is 6 days a week with one day of rest. Everything is trained twice a week. Basically there are two push days (chest/shoulders/triceps), two pull days (back/biceps), and two leg/low back days. When the weather is nice and we can go outside the weekends will also have strongman events after our normal training- followed by a nice cookout with pounds of steak, pork, and potatoes.

Sunday- Dynamic Effort Squat/Deadlift then train legs with focus on Hamstrings and low back.

Monday- Back/Biceps with a focus on mid back lower lats

Tuesday- Repetition/Dynamic Bench Press day then train chest/shoulders/triceps with a focus on chest

Wednesday- Max Effort Squat/Deadlift variation then train legs with a focus on quads

Thursday- Back/Biceps with a focus on upper back

Friday- Beer and pizza day

Saturday- Max Effort Bench Press variation and then chest/shoulders/triceps with a focus on shoulders

A sample Sunday might look like-

10 sets of 2 reps Speed Box Squats with a Safety Squat Bar with chains

Block Pulls with the bar below the knee working up to a heavy single but not a max

Arch Back Good Mornings 4 x 5-8 reps

Leg Press 4 x 10 -15 reps

Leg Curls 4 x 10

45 Degree back raises 3 x 10

Monday might look like-

Close grip underhand pulldowns 5 x 8-15

Dumbbell Rows 4 x 5-10

Tbar Rows 4 x 5-10

Face Pulls 4 x 12 reps

Straight arm pulldowns 4 x 12

Dumbbell Curls 4 x 10

Cable curls 4 x 15

Tuesday might look like-

Bench Press working up to heavy 8 reps

Speed Bench Press 5 sets of 5 reps with chains

Incline Dumbbell Presses 4 sets of 10 reps

Cable side lateral raises 4 x 15 reps

Dumbell side laterals 4 x 10 reps

Dumbbell Extensions

Vbar pressdowns

Wednesday might be-

Olympic style squat working up to 3 singles over 90%

Romanian Deadlifts

Leg Presses

Leg Extensions

Leg Curls

Lunges

Thursday Might look like-

Wide Grip Pulldowns

Seated Rows

Bent Over Barbell Rows with a snatch grip

Bent over reverse flys

Shrugs

Barbell Curls

Incline Dumbbell Cable Curls

Friday Might look like-

Several bottles of Peroni Beer and several slices Romeo’s Pizza Supreme to get our bloat on for Saturday

A Saturday might look like-

Floor Press working up to three singles at over 90%

Seated shoulder press 4 sets working up to heavy set of 8-10

Log clean and press 3-4 sets of 5 reps

Cable Crossovers 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Supersetted with

Dumbbell lateral raises 4 sets of 8-15 reps

Front Raises with a plate 4 sets of 10 reps

Skullcrushers 4 x 10 reps

Triceps pressdowns with rope 4 x 15 reps

*note we train our rear delts on back day

Nothing earth shattering for those who are familiar with conjugate training- our main difference is the back and biceps are trained on their own days sort of like a glorified extra workout and on our dynamic bench day we do heavy reps before that. Since we mainly use bench press variations during max effort day the heavy bench press reps on speed day help hone in good technique as well as added hypertrophy for the chest.

My Training Plan

This is the training program I have designed to get me ready for my first competition. Unlike many strength based training programs I incorporate many bodybuilding principles into my training protocol. A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle. I not only train the four big lifts (bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press) and events (farmers walk, axel clean and press, medleys, etc) but also each body part. Here is how it breaks down.

Sunday Or Monday
Main Lift- Bench Press
Bodyparts- Chest/Triceps

Example
Bench Press- Work up to a 5 rep max.
Bench Press- Drop set, as many reps with 225 then 205, and finally 185.
Close Grip Bench Press- 4 x 5-8 reps
Dumbbell Flys- 4 x 8 reps
Triceps Extensions with Dumbbells- 4 x 8 reps
Triceps Pressdowns with Rope- 4 x 8 reps with last set being a 5 x drop set.

Monday or Tuesday
Main Lift- Deadlift
Bodyparts- Back/Biceps

Example
Deadlift- Ramping up in weight until finally doing as many reps as possible with 495
Bent Over Barbell Rows- 3 x 8 reps
Wide Grip Pulldowns- 3 x 8 reps
Close Grip Underhand Pulldowns- 3 x 8 with last set being a triple drop set
Seated Rows- 3 x 8 reps
45 Degree Back Raises- 3 x 8 reps
Dumbbell Curls- 4 x 8 reps
Barbell Curls- 4 x 8 reps done in an explosive fashion

Tuesday (if I trained Sunday and Monday)
Light Leg Day
Leg Press 5 x 8 reps
Hack Squat 3 x 8 reps with last set being a triple drop set
Leg Extensions 4 x 12 reps
Leg Curls 4 x 8 reps

Wednesday- Off Day

Thurdays
Main Lift- Overhead Press
Body Parts- Shoulders and Upper Back

Example
Strict Press- 4 x 8 reps
Push Press- Work up to a 3 rep max
Behind the Neck Press- 3 x 8 reps
Lateral Raises- 3 x 8 reps
Wide Grip Upright Rows- 3 x 8 reps
Bent Lateral Raises- 3 x 8 reps
Thumbless Shrugs- 4 x 8 reps
Farmers Walk Handle Shrugs- 4 x 8 reps

Friday or Saturday
Main Lift- Squats
Bodyparts- :Legs and Calves
Squats- work up to a max single
Squats- back off sets of 12 reps (number of sets varies)
Leg Press- work up to 1000 pounds and hit as many reps as I can.
Lunges- 3 x 8 reps
Calf Raises Standing- 3 x 12
Seated Calf Raises- 3 x 12

Later in the Day
Events Training
Farmers Walk
Axel Clean and Press
Viking Press using my hack squat machine
Medley
Stone lifting
Keg Carries

I will also be doing 45-60 minutes of cardio  x 3 days a week first thing in the morning. I may also do some conditioning work in the evening if I need more work using lighter strongman events like sled drags or farmers walk.

Keep in mind my example training sessions are subject to change. I may only do the main lift for that day or I might drop the main lift altogether and just do the bodybuilding training if I need a light day. It all depends on where I am at and what I need work on.

As I progress thru the off season I will likely add at least one event training lift to each session.

Right now my focus is on fixing my weaknesses. I have identified the following areas I need work on.

Pressing Strength- I have never had strong shoulders. While they have gotten stronger I still need a lot of work in this area. I also need to work on my core to keep better stabilized with the weight overhead.

Grip Strength- I have never really had to train my grip before. Specifically I need to work on grip endurance. Farmers walks, dumbbell pinch holds, thumb-shrugs, and axel bar work will be my plan of attack to improve my grip.

My weight- I will not be able to outdo some of the other competitors with limit strength (in the press and squat) so I need to focus on being faster. I am not a fast person but I am fast under a heavy load (no snickers please). Medleys (along with deadlifts) have proven to be one of my strongest events. Being lighter will allow me to move faster and not get winded as quick.

Power Out of the Hole on Squats- I need to build explosive power out of the bottom of the squat. Paused hack sqauts and deep Olympic style squats will help to improve this area. Box jumps will also be utilized to help in this area.

Getting used to the events- I have little experience training the strongman events. That is probably my biggest weakness at the moment. As I progress I will be doing more and more event training.

The Education of a Strongman

Well I went and did it again. I set my deep-set eyes on a lofty goal and this time nothing will stand in my way. I am going to make a run at Strongman competition. You may not be intimately familiar with the sport but you have almost certainly seen it on television. The big scary guys who flip over giant tires, press logs overhead, and deadlift cars. What many people do not know is that strongman competition is a world wide sport that has hundreds if not thousands of competitions a year from local amateurs all the way up to the professionals. While you only see the hulking behemoths on television, there are actually weight divisions for smaller competitors as well as women, teens, and masters (people over the age of 50 I believe).

This will not be my first foray into strength athletics. I began training (seriously) in 2008. My main focus was on powerlifting at the time. I will be the first to tell anyone that despite being a big man I was not a natural at the sport. I struggled for quite a bit of time to work up to respectable weights. Finally in 2010 I competed in two powerlifting competitions. Aside from the people there and Missy, I have not told anyone about that before. I kept it a secret because I was honestly not sure how well I would do and didn't want the added pressure of my friends and family knowing. I didn't do great but I didn't do horrible either. My first competition my nerves got to me and I bombed out on the squats by cutting them too high. My second competition I hit depth but lacked the confidence to use bigger weights to really make a good showing. I had really just winged things going into the competition. I was training on my own and no longer with the powerlifting team I had been training with.

I vowed to reorganize my training and take things seriously and hit a meet in 2011 and really make a top showing. An injury and two surgeries forced me to sideline those plans, among other things. While I returned to training full time in late 2011 I never really looked to compete again. I briefly tossed around the notion that I could try for Olympic Lifting but it quickly fizzled out. While I have all the respect in the world for Olympic lifters I just couldn't continue training with the light loads required to master the lifts. I love being strong. I love lifting heavy ass things. I love the strain. I like looking strong.

Starting in the summer of 2012 I wanted to do something in the field of strength athletics. My first idea was to organize a strength competition among my circle of friends. Many of them are hardcore lifters and I thought it would be a fantastic thing. Unfortunately getting a level of commitment from people proved impossible. Everyone talks a good game but when it comes down to it most people fizzle out really fast.

My 34th birthday is in exactly five days. I know that I don't have an eternity to try and make a mark. I really feel though that I am entering into my prime. I am stronger now than ever before. In the past week I have hit personal records (PR) in the big three lifts, bench press, squat, and deadlift. Hopefully today I will hit a pr in the overhead press. My endurance is getting better and better and I am sticking with and following through with all my plans regarding cardio/conditioning.

The iron is hot and I plan to strike. The strongman season unofficially goes from May to October. There are still some competitions in between but the main ones are during those months. That gives me an off-season of 5 months to prepare for my first competition (possible longer depending on the schedule of events). In January there is an event an hour or so away that I plan on attending. It will give me a good idea of the competition I can expect to face locally and it will let me see what events I might do well in and what I might struggle in. Then I can work on fixing my weaknesses and perfecting my strengths.

I will make another entry to detail my actual training program I plan on using and how I plan to address my obvious weaknesses.

Legs 10-14-13

Leg Extensions 3 x 12 reps
Leg Presses 4 x 8-10 reps
Hack Squats 4 x 8 reps*
Leg Curls 4 x 8 reps

*This was a triple drop set.

45 minutes of cardio

No squats or stiff leg deadlifts today. It is vacation week and just trying to get in and get in some quality training.

10-15-13

Did some bench pressing just to get in the gym and move around a bit. Hitting more chest work tomorrow with my back training. No cardio today. Going to hit an hour tomorrow.