I remember when I knew that all i needed to do was deadlift and run.
Than i KNEW that i needed more than that-so i added in some more. And More, and more and more. And pretty soon i kind of lost track of my plan, and was just doing something different daily. And that was ok, because i did not understand the value of dedicated goals, and how staying the course opens the gates to super strength.
A few years back, i really was able to refocus my training with Power the to People, a minimalist based program for raw strength. I stuck to it for almost a year-the same three drills day in day out. I made great gains. I believe it set the base for my kettlebell training. KB training became the unstable element again, and than Enter the Kettlebell was released, and it made my training focused again.
I took ETK and ran with it for a long time, and introduced myself to basic steelbending. Over time, i found i liked to train the strongman arts much more that standard training or KB or clubs or anything. I have made gains so far in to this that is simply a part of my daily life-break, rip tear and bend stuff.
BUT-I traded off some things, and now i need to take them back. Here is where the problem starts
- I know so many methods of training, so many possible angles to work back in, i am having trouble figuring out how to make the things work.
I know a lot of really great athletes, and a ton of PL, OL, KB, and other lifters drop in to this page weekly. I am asking for help. Here is an outline of what i need
- I need to be able to sharpen my ripping and tearing abilities- WHich is pinch grip, massive load on the thumb.
- Once a week i need to be able to practice my short unbraced bending, and the day before i do this there can be no shoulder/lat/chest/arm work because the steel i bend takes a lot of effort.
- I need to either Swing or Snatch my KBs several times a week to get my heart and lungs as strong as i can. I know i can slide this in to the end of nearly any workout.
- I need to maintain a strong Deadlift. I am looking for some improvement every few months, but i do not need to dig in and add 10 pounds every month or anything like that.
- I have a lot of specialized training, which makes this mess really messy like my nail driving, stone breaking, neck work, and extra core workouts.
WHAT DO I DO? Turn too much and all you do is move in circles, I feel like i am stuck with too many things, but i know i am not over trained.
So lend your thoughts please
-Adam
{ 5 comments }
I know exactly the position your in Adam. I fell in love with Pling at first but when I started reading up I found great stuff about BW exercises, adding in BBing techniques, then the grip and bending came in, now kettlebells. Your right, it can be a mess. What I do is focus my training as you say. I too want a big DL. In fact, a lifetime goal is a 400kg pull BUT I know when my back needs rest. Whatever I train for I train all-out and I come out very tired and fatigued but not overtrained. I rest and take some time off of that goal and focus on another goal with the same dedication. By the time I go back to the DL, it has either gone up in weight or I am much more comfortable with the weights that I am using which is just as important. Same with any training goal. Goals in DLing and bending can be done at the same time but goals in the bench don’t mix with the bending so when I’m not bending, I bench. The more goals you have the more careful you have to be in preparing for them because it’s very easy to stumble and lose your way or let goals disappear because you don’t have the time for it. Just lending thoughts as you requested,
-Zach
Good luck figuring it out Adam!
Adam,
My 2-cents worth:
Hand work, more so bending big steel, takes a tremendous toll on the whole body. In my opinion it is hard to focus 100% on both. When my hands were at their strongest, I was not even in the realm of body strength that I am in now. Look at guys like Jedd, he had very strong hands when he was doing strongman, but now that he is focusing more on grip and not doing strongman so much his hands are MUCH stronger then before. It is a give take relationship. I can’t think of 1 guy who has huge hand strength and huge body strength except guys like Mark Henry and Tex Henderson, who are mountain men in their own right.
With that said, you can still make great progress, just go basic and balls to the wall. I would just stick to the basics, then add the KB and bending stuff in where you can.
By basics I mean: squat, deadlift, bench press, bent over row, over head press, power clean, dip, pull-over, pull-ups, barbell curl, odd lifts, or any combination of such.
If need be, this can be done in 2 days a week, which opens up 5 other days to do KB work, bending, breaking, etc. You just have to be willing to work your ass off, which you are, and not subscribe to this “overtraining” bullshit that people like to talk about. Remember, you can adapt to ANYTHING.
Day 1 (Monday)
-Power Clean 5×5
-Deadlift 3×5, 2×10, 3×3, 1×20
-pull-ups 4xfailure
-oh press 3×5
-barbell curls 4×5
Day 2 (Friday)
-Squat 3×5, 2×10, 3×3, 1×20
-Bench 4×5
-pull-overs 4×8-12
-rows 4×8-10
-dips 4xfailure
That leaves sat, sun, tue, wed, thur to do everything else you want to do. Bend on Wednesday, middle of the week. Do neck work and core work on Sunday and Wednesday. Or, do neck and core post weight training on Mon-Fri. Nail drive and break on Saturday and Thursday. Run every morning.
You get the idea. One of the hardest things you can do is to attempt to become all around. You never get where you want to be. Once you get your running or kettlebells to an optimum level, you realize your squat and oh press aren’t strong enough. Once you get your power clean and squat up, your running suffers and you can’t bend or tear as well. It is a round and round chasing of your tail, but if it leads to the kind of health, strength, and well being that you are looking for, then you have achieved the goals you started with.
Never become satisfied, and you will grow.
Personall, I am glad I am sticking to one thing right now. Sure, my hands aren’t as strong as they used to be, my over head isnt what it used to be (not that it was ever great!) but I am achieving some powerlifting goals right now that I never thought possible, so I am happy and I am staying the course.
Good luck-
-Rick Walker
Ha, I totally agree and understand Adam. It would be better to know less and do only what you know (and stay focus in this limited amount) than to know a lot and and become more universal but without sharp edge.
, many great drills from gymnastic etc.
I’m there as well – PTP, KB, bodyweight, now bending and tearing (thank you
Again for me the question is – do I want to be limited but focused and sharp or more universal ?
I dunno yet.
Rick’s advice is great (as anyone would expect from him).
DL once/week and SQ once/week and you should have no problem maintaining a strong DL.
KB work 2x/week consisting of snatches and double C&Js (long or short cycle) should be enough for your cardio and to maintain KB strength. I asked Catherine Imes recently about swings and how often she included it in her training. Her answer was that she uses swings a lot to maintain training volume.
I don’t know enough about grip/bending work to give someone like yourself any meaningful advice, but it seems to me that if you had 2 good sessions a week consisting of DL/SQ+KBs (with an extra session or two for KBs if needed), you will have plenty of time for it.
Once a week do you bending stuffand take the day off before you do. Let’s call that day five. The other four give you some stuff to work in. I don’t know anything about training that stuff. But A good pinch grip thing would be to pick up kettlebells that way.
How about this:
Monday: Strength Stuff. DLs, squats, Pull ups, presses, etc. I wouldn’t do too much. I wouldn’t do too much. (As a personal preference, I would take the DL over the squat). End with Tabata swings for four minutes. Heavy swings.
Tuesday: Snatch however you want, after you do your bending etc. specific work.
Wednesday: See Monday. I would do it in the way that best fits you for cycling to improve on these lifts.
Thursday: See Tuesday.
Friday: off
Saturday: Your specific strong man stuff.
Sunday: off.
If you wanna talk more, look for me on the forums (pyotr) or email me (peterdbaker@gmail.com). But I think this one is simple enough for you.
March 30, 2008 8:40 PM