Salahudin Shazlee ALPS

[Salahudin]

Front Squat
35kg:3,3,3,3,3
Press 1.0
31.5kg:5,5,5
Snatch Grip Deadlift
55kg:5,5,5

[Salahudin]

Hi @KyleSchuant , I was just looking up Victorian easy strength, if you can not use both the regular squat and the conventional deadlift, but could utilise a lighter variation such as cleans. This may sound dumb but would your deadlift 1rm trend up with your squat and lighter variation trending up. Or would you have to go through periods focussing on either deadlift or the squat and how would you organise both to trend up.

The best I can figure is that just squat, press, lighter hip hinge and also last question I promise, would the squat get weaker for 6 weeks if the deadlift was trained instead and the squat was put on hold for a period of time. Thanks Victorian easy strength seems the most appropriate for my long term goals, thank you for sharing and putting your own spin out there

[KyleSchuant]

If you train the squat, the deadlift will tend to come up along with it. Like say you currently squat 120kg and deadlift 140kg, if you just squat for 6 weeks and your squat goes to 130kg, your deadlift won't be just 140kg, it'll edge up. Squat helps the deadlift, it just doesn't help it as much as deadlifting does.

But if you just deadlift then not much happens to your squat either way. We're talking about a 4-6 week cycle. If you just deadlift for 12 months then yes, your squat would drop.

But all that's later. For now you need to discard the straps for pulls and show us a vid of your chinups. The weight's still light for you, you can continue adding weight to the bar without being crushed by the accumulated stress. You've more in your before you have to worry about that.

[Salahudin]

@KyleSchuant thank you for satisfying my morbid curiosity

[KyleSchuant]

As a side note, this is the reasoning that informs ALPS design.

- If you can press it, you can bench it, the reverse is not true. And bench has killed people, press has not. You need safeties or spotters for bench, you don't for press. So press is safer for the person working out on their own.
- If you can front squat it, you can back squat it, the reverse is not true. And back squats have left a lot of people buried under a pile of weight plates, a failed front squat you just lean forward and dump the bar. You need safeties or spotters for back squats (at least low-bar), you don't for front squat. So front squat is safer for the person working out on their own.
- If you can squat it, you can deadlift it, even if you never deadlift; the reverse is not true.

So... just press and front squat? Well, you could do that. And overall this is a lot less load than back squat, bench and deadlift, so the workouts and progression don't take as much out of you. But only deadlifting what you front squat is not that exciting. If you actually do some variation of deadlift, your deadlift will be greater than if you just squat. But heavy deadlifts take a lot out of you, so we look for a lighter variation.

There are cleans, of course, and these are good - but they take a bit of practice and coaching to do well, and going on the Starting Strength experience, most people simply won't do them on their own, and most end up at 40-50% of their conventional deadlift, it's not clear this does much for them, really. But in the gym, when we have a healthy young person with more athletic ambitions, we get them to clean their presses - with coaching and everyone cheering them on they'll happily and safely do it, but we wouldn't expect people to do it on their own. There are things like RDLs, but snatch-grip deadlift also has the aspect of using traps and lats a lot, and those are the muscles that make a person look "swole". As well, newbies do round their back on conventional deadlifts, but hardly anyone does with snatch-grip; they might "squat" the weight down more often with SGDL than conventional, but that's while that's less effective it's pretty safe, they won't hurt themselves. So we choose SGDL.

It's good to do some sort of pulling work for the upper back, that has good carryover to other lifts, for example if you can't hold your upper back tight, you'll lean forward in the squat, and of course a strong back and arms also look good. Plus everyone nowadays has the Keyboard Hunch, strengthening the upper back can only help with that. So we put in chinups for that stuff, or rows for those who can't do chinups.

Our experience is lots of people get lower back pain and minor muscle pulls on Starting Strength, low-bar back squats and deadlifts plus adding 5lbs every time take a lot out of the lower back, and the heavy load doesn't leave much room to mess up the lift and still be safe. Some sort of trunk work (sorry, "core") seems like it might help. But planks are boring and you can't load them up on your own, so we think of a moving plank - the farmer's walks. These have the advantage that you can't pick them up neatly, it'll always be a bit sloppy - so your back gets all those little muscles used that protect against slightly sloppy deadlifts - remember, every farmer's walk begins with a deadlift to pick the things up. And of course farmer's walks strengthen the grip, and do nice things for the traps, shoulders and posture, too. Nobody does the Keyboard Hunch with a big weight in each hand.

Thus:
6 sessions of press, front squat and snatch-grip deadlift,

followed by
alternating that workout with front squat, chinups/rows and farmer's walks.

Does that make sense?

[Salahudin]

Dude I hear you loud and clear, thank you very much

[KyleSchuant]

Cool. I'm a big believer in - every exercise, every set and rep, has to have a reasonable reason for it. And if you understand those reasons, then it's a lot easier to be motivated to do all this stuff if you know why.

And in these discussions, sometimes me as trainer, I go, "well actually you're right, and doing this other thing would make more sense, at least for you." That's the back-and-forth that doesn't get talked about much.

[Salahudin]

Front squat
37.5kg:3,3,3,3,3
Chinups
Target 6
1st set:6
Farmers walks
18.25kg✓
18.25kg✓
18.25kg✓
18.25kg✓
18.25kg✓
Here's footage for chinups for @KyleSchuant

[KyleSchuant]

Those are pretty good, a full range of motion - lots of guys just do the middle part. That's good.

To tune it up, notice that as you come up to the bar you're hunched over it. This is bringing in your pecs. Ideally you'd bring in your upper back more. So rather than thinking of bringing your chin over the bar, think of bringing your chest to the bar. That point on your chest where a pendant would hang - bring that to the bar.

That might cut 1-2 reps off what you can do in one set, but that's alright. Then it's more upper back gainz.

[Salahudin]

@KyleSchuant Ramadan will be here shortly as will my job finally begin this Tuesday.
Ramadan means no food or water from dawn to dusk, so I was thinking 1 lift a day kinda thing like this:

Monday:front squat
Tuesday:press
Wednesday: snatch Grip deadlift
Thursday: front squat
Friday: chinups
Saturday: farmers walk

My idea is to just do a lift every night for all of Ramadan, so frequency will be on point or slightly better than ALPS twice a week and off topic would a snatch Grip deadlift count as a lighter hip hinge which could work with. a squat in easy strength

Thanks

[KyleSchuant]

I don't know your schedule, but if you can go to the gym close after your before-dawn or after-dusk meal, you can continue with things unmodified.

[Salahudin]

85.4kg

[Salahudin]

Front squat
40kg:3,3,3,3,3
Press 1.0
33kg:5,5,5
Snatch Grip Deadlift
57.5kg:5,5,5

[KyleSchuant]

No straps?

[Salahudin]

None my good man

[KyleSchuant]

So I see in the other thread. Well done, keep going.

[Salahudin]

Commencing the Ramadan 1 lift a day protocol
Front Squat
42.5kg:3,3,3,3,3

[Salahudin]

Chinups @KyleSchuant pendant style
Boy these were alot tougher
Target 7
Set 1: 4
Set 2: 3

[KyleSchuant]

Get the quality, and the quantity will come. Dan John talks about this: mastery and grace, words not used a lot to talk about working out, but maybe they should be.

[Salahudin]

Farmers walk 20kg each hand X5 complete