Velvet's Lifting and Other Fun Stuff Log

11/23/18

Brian Alsruhe Linear Progression - P1/W1/D3

Warmup: 3 rounds
Airdyne 1m
Face pulls x10
Squat stretch x30s
Hang from bar x30s

MAIN GIANT SETS
BB row: 135x8, 145x8, 155x2x8
Bench: 135x8, 145x8, 155x2x8
Band crunch: Black x10

SECOND GIANT SETS
1 arm BB row: 45x4x10
Football bar bench (wide grips): 115x4x10
Band oblique crunch: Red x10

ASSISTANCE SUPERSET
Dips: BWx3x10
Pull aparts: Black x3x12

My forearms took a beating this morning. Felt like I was riding a dirt bike or climbing for a couple hours with the pump I built up. Pretty odd.

Had a little tweak in my neck muscle, probably very upper trap during my second to last MGS work. Made the rest of the workout pretty uncomfortable and it’s probably going to tighten up as the day goes on. Tends to happen with BB rows, probably because I don’t do them often enough.

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11/24/18

Brian Alsruhe Linear Progression - P1/W1/D4

Warmup:
Squat stretch
Walking lunges
Sidestep lunges
Squat stretch

MAIN GIANT SETS
Broad jump: x2
Deadlift: 275x8, 285x8, 295x2x8
Hang crunch: x10

SECOND GIANT SETS
Medball pass: x3
Romanian deadlift: 185x3x10
Plank: x30s

ASSISTANCE SUPERSET
Inverted row: BWx3x10
Sandbag squat: 100x3x5

This workout had me reaching for absolution. After what the squats did to me earlier in the week I was putting this off all day. I’m adding 50lbs to that sandbag tomorrow.

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11/25/18

Climbing

Got three 5.10 pitches in on top rope tonight.

Pretty low volume and I’m definitely not in climbing shape right now. I’m hoping to hit the gym twice a month and get this back into my routine/in lead shape.

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Looks like I’m going to be signing up for my first strongman competition in February. @theonecamko It’s in Malden, Mass. Gonna be there?

Events are:
Axle clean and press
Wagon wheel dead lift
Sandbag toss
Farmers carry
Conans wheel

My current training program will bring me right up to the event, so I’ll cut it one week short on the final block and deload prior to competing.

Just ordered an axle from Titan (sale ftw) and hopefully I can get my hands on some farmers handles a few times between now and then. Perhaps I’ll acquire some of my own but space to train them is limited in my basement.

I found the weights for the novice <220 class on Facebook (sidenote, without a fb account that site is a nightmare to navigate). I have a feeling I’ll zero the press, but I’m going to train my ass off to try and at least get 1 rep. The dead lift is going to be heavy for me, but the extra height should play to my strengths, no word if it’s an axle. The toss and two carries are a total unknown performance wise right now.

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11/26/18

Brian Alsruhe Linear Progression - P1/W2/D1

EMOM Warmup:
Even - Front squats 3x95
Odd - Long lever bird dogs x6
Airdyne between

MAIN GIANT SETS
NG pullups: BWx8
Press: 65x8, 75x8, 85x8, 90x8
Bent knee dragon flags: x10

SECOND GIANT SETS
Overhand pullups: BWx8
Football bar press (outer): 65x4x10
Hollow rocks: x20s

ASSISTANCE GIANT SETS
PJR pullover: 35x4x12
EZ curl: 35x4x12
Football bar front raise (outer): 25x4x12

Felt pretty good today despite the persistent DOMS from last week. Bro science tells me that’s a good thing. The front squats loosened my legs up nicely.

Called an audible and swapped out seated press for standing football press. Was planning on doing some heavier football pressing, but I’m going to spend the next two cycles on the axle so just using this bar for volume stuff. Seems to be a totally different lockout.

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That’s great man!

Thanks man! Should be a good experience.

I’ll be signing up for the same comp, so I’ll see you there dude :smiley:

Also, they will be using a log, not an axle for the comp. Another note, deadlifts will be on a deadlift bar. So no axles at all for this comp. If you go too the Strength Discovery Facebook page and scroll through, the guy hosting the comp posted a video going over the events and their weights for each class.

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Train them outside? On the street/sidewalk?

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I did see the video, but thought that maybe they swapped the log for an axle since the waiver said otherwise. If it is a log that axle I just purchased is going to come in very handy :laughing:

There’s a powerlifting gym down the road from me that definitely has a deadlift bar I can get a few reps on. Log might be trial by fire.

What weight class are you going to be in?

Stellar idea if the comp was in the summer. My neck of the woods is already covered in snow/slush/ice and will most likely remain that way until April or May, well after the comp. Training them outside would probably cause more harm than good right now.

I’ll search around and see if I can get a few practice runs on some around here, or if I wind up with my own set I’ll just take them to the college gym and use them there.

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Really cool news! Let us know if you need any pointers! Also what are the weights?

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Yeah Ill double check, but i think someone asked about it in the comments or somewhere down the line about the log/axle and the deadlifts. So im 95% sure im right. Still, an axle is a good overall purchase.

Im competing in middleweight

Edit: Just scrolled through the FB page again, it will be a Log and the wagon wheel deadlift will be a deadlift bar.

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image

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:joy::joy: oops

Hopefully a gym has them near you. If not you can get farmers handles pretty cheap if you look around

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@Koestrizer Will do man! When it’s time to get into my second and third blocks of this program I’m going to start making the supplemental/assistance work more specific and will probably need a little advice.

@theonecamko Haha yeah, axle has been on my to-buy list for a while so it was only a matter of time. I think I’ll train with the football bar as a log substitute, but carry over will probably be minimal.

@duketheslaya I still haven’t figured out why I’ve yet to leave this paradise :laughing: the summers are pretty excellent here though.

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Thats a good idea, would be your best bet. Just be careful, its easy to knock yourself in the chin with it haha. Other than that, Brian Alsruhe and Alan Thrall both have great videos on how to clean and press a log, just so you mentally know what you need to do. Ill be there on game day to help you out too if you need it, same with everyone else there at the comp. One thing I learned competing is that everyone is willing to help out eachother on comp day.

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I bought a medicine ball last year, and on the very first ‘slam’ during warmup it popped much higher off the ground than I expected and busted my lip open. My girlfriend says I’m too pretty to mess my face up so I’m usually pretty conscious of that kinda thing for her :wink:

That sounds groovy man, we’ll have to get in touch prior to contest day so we know who to keep an eye out for!

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If you have an insta, just slide into my DMs. Its all over my training log.

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Congrats for signing up for your first comp man! That’s awesome. Looks like some fun events.

Looking at the events, the ones I’d want to get some practice in at would be the sandbag toss (just to figure out trajectory, stance, setup, etc) and farmer’s walks. 250lbs per hand on a two inch handle could be pretty tough if you haven’t tried it.

I found learning the log clean and press to be pretty straight forward after watching some videos (like @theonecamko mentioned).

In my opinion, a deadlift bar just makes deadlifting easier, so not much to need to get used to with that event.


How long are your workouts taking on Brian’s program?

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