I found out that my Shaw Strength Stone Sleeves won't ship out until October 1st. Balls. Good thing I don't need them right away.
Walking - 31 minutes
Band Face Pulls
IW#1'sx100
Band Press Downs
IW#1'sx100
Band Straight Arm Lat Pulls
IW#1'sx100
Comments: Pretty nice and cool outside. Made for a nice walk.
The Grip - Fred Pastel (1935)
3 days ago
Craig,
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in your training particularly because I'm also a very tall guy (6'6"), and I would like to get stronger. I'm not aiming for strongman competition per se, but I have been spending time in the gym for a while now and really enjoy the sense of getting bigger and stronger.
I don't have the time to devote to workouts as complex as what you do and don't have much of the equipment (bands and such), but am curious about lessons that you may have learned while training, especially with your height. Are there any exercises that you've found particularly valuable? Also, I'm curious how much food (and protein) you eat per day. Right now I'm about 240, but I don't want to get fat as I gain strength.
Thanks for taking the time to read my log and I apologize for not replying sooner. My work schedule changed recently.
ReplyDeleteA lot of what I do is trial and error and I have to try things out for myself to see how my body reacts to it. As far as lessons I’ve have learned while training, the biggest ones would have to be relating to recovery. I can’t go hog wild on every exercise and every set and every rep every workout, just leads to frustration, stagnation and eventually injury and regression. Height can certainly be a factor but it also comes down to leverages and proportions. I know that most gym lifts for me are going to be weaker than other people I compete against but I continue to push those exercises. Deadlifts, squats and pressing are where it is at but assistance lifts like upper back work and the occasional machine lift (leg press) are good. I will say that using a little body language to get rows and curls moving doesn’t hurt for us long limb fellows. Long limbs allow for building a lot of elastic rebound in lifts so used that to your advantage.
I’m not sure exactly how much I eat. I get about 2000 calories and 180 grams of protein from weight gain shakes. I have waffles with coffee most mornings (I miss in weight gainer in the waffle mix), then 2lbs of yogurt a few hours later. Dinner varies but usually it is lots of meat and vegetables. Sometimes I eat raw almonds if it is a recovery day or I’m working late. I am attempting to eat more calories.
I hope that answers your questions. Feel free o ask for clarification on anything. Thanks.
Thanks for replying!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that rebound effect that you mention, as well. It seems to be part of the reason that I'm pretty good at rows, pullups etc. Short-limbed guys seem to get that benefit on the bench.
2000 calories from shakes w/2 lbs yogurt is quite a lot! I don't eat nearly that much. I do focus on meat and veggies, though.
How much emphasis do you place on isolation work? EG triceps extensions, calf work, etc? Some guys have told me that I shouldn't worry about that stuff at this point, but I don't see why adding a few sets would hurt. Right now my schedule goes something like this:
Days 1,4=Squat, Bench, leg press & flyes
Days 2,5=BB Rows, Romanian deadlifts, pullups
Days 3,6=Curls, Skullcrushers, Abs, delt raises, calves (kind of my lighter days)
Day 7 is rest. Does this look reasonably balanced to you? I'm still making progress in poundages, so I guess that's what counts, but I don't want to end up with strength imbalances or injuries. The back to back low back work on days 1,2 and 4,5 seems a little questionable to me, but I've not noticed any problems yet and feel very strong in my lumbar region.
I see that your division of training involves dynamic days, max-effort days etc. I've never really tried including anything like that because I'm not that advanced yet, but do you feel that doing splits this way has accelerated your strength gains, or is it more simply specific to strongman training?
I don't do many isolation exercises. If I do them, it usually for high reps on my recovery days or extra workouts. I like to put as much effort as I can in the big exercises, the ones that will give me the most bang for my buck if you will. A few extra sets wouldn't hurt but it isn't really necessary to go hard on them.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, your numbers are continuing to improve on your routine so no reason to screw with it at the moment. Just continue to monitor how your body reacts to the stress, especially the lower back, and adjust accordingly. Is it the same thing every workout on those days (exercises, reps, intensity)? Also, you don't have to stick to a seven day week cycle, you can make it longer if you need more rest days.
Even if I wasn't training for strongman, I'd still be doing the ME/DE split if I was pursuing strength gains. I definitely feel it has help accelerate my strength gains. There was a time before I did this split where it would take me months (and in one instance 3 years) to add 5lbs to a lift. Now that is considered an off day for me. As I've said though, it has been a lot of trial and error and my training routine is very adaptive, changing to suit my needs. It won't work for everybody. For not as advanced training, just think of it as a heavy day and a light day.