Other/Mixed OS: Super Simple Strength

[3letterslong]

Could you share the source for the Habitual Strength program? I have the book but can’t seem to find it there.

It's chapter 17 in the book. It's very similar to these programs, except with get-ups, crawls-to-stands, isometric rows, push-ups, squats, one-leg deadlifts and frontload carries:

A Soviet-Era Tactic for Big Strength Gains in Little Time

As you probably know by now — either through reading my manly missives here on Medium OR through your own hard-won experience/study —…

medium.com

The “One Lift a Day” Program

The program is simple, the workouts are short, and the results are fantastic. The catch? It’s also brutally hard. Check it out.

www.t-nation.com

 

[Birddog]

This thread was helpful. Im still working towards Timeless Simple but I have found out I actually feel better alternating S&S with other modalities. I am now planning on alternating S&S with Super Simple Strength.

D1 Squat/Push/Carry or Crawl
D2 S&S
D3 Hinge/ Pull/ Carry or Crawl
D4 S&S
D5 Repeat

My main goal is Simple but I feel like I have better S&S sessions after SSS. I am doing all unilateral work for the Squat Push Pull Hinge. May do the same moves each time or vary them. Not sure yet.

Anyone alternate days like this?

 

[TedM]

If you feel it mostly in one place, that doesn't necessarily mean that's the only area working. It likely means that's the area you are waking back up. I think the brain is more sensitive to unfamiliar sensations, and "sleepy" muscles produce those.

A lot of this thread is way over my pay grade, but these three sentences made it all worthwhile.

 

[Training for Life]

Anyone here who has done the Super Simple Program for extended periods of time (eg. many months)? How has it worked out for you?

 

[Ege]

Okay, so this week has been an interesting one for me. I think I've finally found the missing piece in stabilizing my scapula and can switch phases from repairing my body to actually training for strength and hypertrophy. I did an experimental bodyweight workout with heavy movements and found that as long as I kept my hips and shoulders rotated into place the correct musculature would do the work without me needing to cognitively control the tension.

So for the next few months I'm going to do Simplefit.org on Fri/Sun/Tues (with heavy movements; reflexive, relaxed breathing, no tension) and Simple and Sinister on Sat/Mon (high-tension techniques, power breathing).

I'm going to keep doing Original strength resets, hanging and crawling in the mornings because I think this is a huge part of getting my body to work properly again. The other part was a shoulder packing drill that changed everything.

I'll see how my body handles this work load and the two different training styles. I'm hoping I can get the best of all worlds. In a couple of months, if I've progressed on swings and get-up volume to where I want to be, I'll reduce my workouts to only 3 days a week, but alternate calisthenics days with kettlebell days so I can continue training both reflexively and with high-tension techniques.

This thread has been a huge help to me!

Your plan looks reasonable. I wish you best of luck, please let us know about progress.

Ps: I have checked simplefit.org, looks like a straight forward and nice program. Since you are “returning” to strength and hypertrophy, I just want to underline the importance of keeping SF principles even if u are not on a SF program. Eg: Not to train to failure, is one of the most valuable for me.

 

[Training for Life]

Bumping this thread to check up on everyone. How have your thoughts and training evolved regarding both super simple strength and reflexive strength training?

 

[Birddog]

I have been doing SSS for 37 weeks. Granted, its changed and been modified along the way but at the core its the same. Push, pull, squat, hinge, rotate(TGU) loaded carry, and crawl.

For awhile I did it exactly like the blog post and had great results. I felt good, moved well, and got a little stronger. Plus the variety it allows is fun.

Right now I am doing Total Tension Complex but I still add the rest of SSS. TTC is my Squat, Push, Hinge (snatches and swings). On the other days I do my carries and crawls. I do TGUs also when I feel the need. So even tho the layout is changed its fundamentally the same. Its an extremely flexible program that really checks all the boxes for me. I have been toying with the idea of doing a 123 ladder version of SSS as a strength cycle too.

 

[3letterslong]

Man, reading this thread has been mindblowing. I can't believe how much my body and strength have improved in the last year. Things I've struggled my entire life with are almost completely cleared up and my strength is as high as when I was powerlifting. I think I've found a style of training that I'll use for the rest of my life:

9-Minute-Challenge (OS-based, I load everything very heavily, this is what I credit to my rehab and my strength gains)

sandbag shouldering - brute strength

KB swings - conditioning

push-ups, rows, lunges - light, done purely to practise the skill of strength

 

[3letterslong]

also, since I was posting in this thread a year ago, I've seen several people say they unlocked one-arm push-ups by doing extremely high volumes of crawling. It seems to be a common thing.

 

[bluejeff]

Bumping this thread to check up on everyone. How have your thoughts and training evolved regarding both super simple strength and reflexive strength training?

Regarding the OS-type stuff: I still do rocking and neck nods every single day. I do nods, then rocking on knees, elevated rocking, and single arm rocking (so one hand and one knee on the floor). I finish with pressing up into down dog, and I try to do all of that without rest.

In regards to reflexive strength, I now do almost all of my training with that mindset. It might sound counterintuitive or something, but since I've thrown out almost every cue I used to use, and focus almost entirely on ground contact with my hands/feet and keeping my face and neck relaxed, everything moves better, AND I feel the appropriate muscles working in exercises that used to be problematic for me.

If I had just one short thing to say about "reflexive strength," it would be: relax your face and neck, keep the tongue on the roof of the mouth, and push into the floor. Since stopping all the more "proximal cues" in upper and lower body lifts, and thinking about pushing my feet through the floor during lower bodoy exercises, and my hands/palms through the floor on upper body exercises, everything has improved. I literally just relax and then push into the floor, thinking almost only about my hands/feet, and everything else seems to fall in line.

also, since I was posting in this thread a year ago, I've seen several people say they unlocked one-arm push-ups by doing extremely high volumes of crawling. It seems to be a common thing.

One reason I want to get back to lizard crawling again someday. Right now my upper body focus is almost entirely handstand pushups, but they seem to be helping any other push when I try them out. I would love to get to the point where I can do HPSUs GtG style or low volume daily, AND incorporate some more crawling.

There used to be a guy around on here, @Kiacek (if he's still lurking around anywhere ) who's log was pretty much only kickstand deadlifts and weighted rocking pushups. I think if I wanted to reduce my srength training to a super minimalist routine, that one would cover quite a lot of ground. You get a focused hinge, and the single leg variation (in my experience) helps hip rotation as well. Elevated rocking pushups take the shoulder through a great range of motion AND the way you are oriented works the core and legs (especially weighted). Elevated rocking pushups are another exercise I plan to get back to eventually. When I was doing them a lot a couple years back, I basically got a straddle bent arm planche for free.

Last random comment regarding one arm pushups: try single arm rocking pushups (on your knees). Those feel really cool.

 

[3letterslong]

Regarding the OS-type stuff: I still do rocking and neck nods every single day. I do nods, then rocking on knees, elevated rocking, and single arm rocking (so one hand and one knee on the floor). I finish with pressing up into down dog, and I try to do all of that without rest.

In regards to reflexive strength, I now do almost all of my training with that mindset. It might sound counterintuitive or something, but since I've thrown out almost every cue I used to use, and focus almost entirely on ground contact with my hands/feet and keeping my face and neck relaxed, everything moves better, AND I feel the appropriate muscles working in exercises that used to be problematic for me.

If I had just one short thing to say about "reflexive strength," it would be: relax your face and neck, keep the tongue on the roof of the mouth, and push into the floor. Since stopping all the more "proximal cues" in upper and lower body lifts, and thinking about pushing my feet through the floor during lower bodoy exercises, and my hands/palms through the floor on upper body exercises, everything has improved. I literally just relax and then push into the floor, thinking almost only about my hands/feet, and everything else seems to fall in line.


One reason I want to get back to lizard crawling again someday. Right now my upper body focus is almost entirely handstand pushups, but they seem to be helping any other push when I try them out. I would love to get to the point where I can do HPSUs GtG style or low volume daily, AND incorporate some more crawling.

There used to be a guy around on here, @Kiacek (if he's still lurking around anywhere ) who's log was pretty much only kickstand deadlifts and weighted rocking pushups. I think if I wanted to reduce my srength training to a super minimalist routine, that one would cover quite a lot of ground. You get a focused hinge, and the single leg variation (in my experience) helps hip rotation as well. Elevated rocking pushups take the shoulder through a great range of motion AND the way you are oriented works the core and legs (especially weighted). Elevated rocking pushups are another exercise I plan to get back to eventually. When I was doing them a lot a couple years back, I basically got a straddle bent arm planche for free.

Last random comment regarding one arm pushups: try single arm rocking pushups (on your knees). Those feel really cool.

lol I'd never heard of elevated rocking push-ups before, but I just looked them up and am putting them in my toolbox.

 

[bluejeff]

lol I'd never heard of elevated rocking push-ups before, but I just looked them up and am putting them in my toolbox.

They're awesome. Once you get used to them, try them on a declined surface like a hill. Even more awesome imo

 

[3letterslong]

They're awesome. Once you get used to them, try them on a declined surface like a hill. Even more awesome imo

Lol it sounds like you're trying to get me to roll downhill facefirst.

Hey, you might be the perfect person to ask this. The only complaint I have about OS is it only trains the back indirectly. Are you aware of any movement or movement system that does for the back what crawling does for the rest of the body? I don't even know what that would look like, but I'm hoping someone somewhere came up with some kind of wild floor that will let me get the benefits of rowing or mountain climbing without a boat or a mountain. Crab walking is okay, but I'm hoping for something better. I've been playing around with a crab rock / row motion on my suspension trainer and it's the best I've come up with, but it definitely doesn't feel natural like OS.

 

[Christoph W.]

Lol it sounds like you're trying to get me to roll downhill facefirst.

Hey, you might be the perfect person to ask this. The only complaint I have about OS is it only trains the back indirectly. Are you aware of any movement or movement system that does for the back what crawling does for the rest of the body? I don't even know what that would look like, but I'm hoping someone somewhere came up with some kind of wild floor that will let me get the benefits of rowing or mountain climbing without a boat or a mountain. Crab walking is okay, but I'm hoping for something better. I've been playing around with a crab rock / row motion on my suspension trainer and it's the best I've come up with, but it definitely doesn't feel natural like OS.

KB Swings.
They are a perfect match to the OS stuff.
Tim already said plenty about the usefulness of swings and when you take the test to qualify as an OS instructor there's even a question whether kb swings can be a reset and the answer is yes.

 

[Training for Life]

Lol it sounds like you're trying to get me to roll downhill facefirst.

Hey, you might be the perfect person to ask this. The only complaint I have about OS is it only trains the back indirectly. Are you aware of any movement or movement system that does for the back what crawling does for the rest of the body? I don't even know what that would look like, but I'm hoping someone somewhere came up with some kind of wild floor that will let me get the benefits of rowing or mountain climbing without a boat or a mountain. Crab walking is okay, but I'm hoping for something better. I've been playing around with a crab rock / row motion on my suspension trainer and it's the best I've come up with, but it definitely doesn't feel natural like OS.

Not bluejeff, but thought of chipping in anyway.

Brachiating comes to mind in the sense of it being a type of locomotion like crawling.

Also what about bridge-type of work a la Ido Portal? It looks a lot like elevated rolling:



There’s a bunch of variations and progressions if you search Youtube for ”ido portal bridge”.

 

[bluejeff]

Lol it sounds like you're trying to get me to roll downhill facefirst.

Hey, you might be the perfect person to ask this. The only complaint I have about OS is it only trains the back indirectly. Are you aware of any movement or movement system that does for the back what crawling does for the rest of the body? I don't even know what that would look like, but I'm hoping someone somewhere came up with some kind of wild floor that will let me get the benefits of rowing or mountain climbing without a boat or a mountain. Crab walking is okay, but I'm hoping for something better. I've been playing around with a crab rock / row motion on my suspension trainer and it's the best I've come up with, but it definitely doesn't feel natural like OS.

Don't start on a steep hill

Regarding back training and something akin to crawling: Kind of like @Training for Life said, given only a floor, your options are pretty much going to only be bridging. That said, thinking of bodyweight training, there were anecdotes about Coach Sommer's gymnastic athletes pulling heavy deadlifts:

From 2004 (hard to believe this is nearly 20 years old already!)

All Muscle, No Iron

Big arms, wide shoulders, strong abs, amazing athleticism. What can we learn from gymnasts about training? Find out here.

www.t-nation.com

It's hard what to attribute those anecdotes to, however. If I had to wager a guess it would be a combination of strength training in lever positions (core, lats, and to some extent planche for lower back and glutes), and all the jumping and plyometric work. Sommer states so in that interview.

If you don't mind just using regular back training implements: If you have kettlebells I would just use them. I have a barbell and do deadlifts a couple days a week at my own meager pace....

Training the back without iron weights:
-you could do carries and jumping. The combination of hip flexion/extension in jumping and lunging, etc, plus carrying a sandbag or something, ought to be good for the back.

Pretty much everything else coming to mind is going to be outside the realm of OS-style movements: arch ups, arch rocks, side lever work, reverse hypers...

 

[3letterslong]

KB Swings.
They are a perfect match to the OS stuff.
Tim already said plenty about the usefulness of swings and when you take the test to qualify as an OS instructor there's even a question whether kb swings can be a reset and the answer is yes.

Swings are a staple for sure, but I'm hoping for something more back-centric.

 

[3letterslong]

Not bluejeff, but thought of chipping in anyway.

Brachiating comes to mind in the sense of it being a type of locomotion like crawling.

Also what about bridge-type of work a la Ido Portal? It looks a lot like elevated rolling:



There’s a bunch of variations and progressions if you search Youtube for ”ido portal bridge”.

Brachiating is interesting as an option. I do a lot of hanging, I wonder if I could mimic brachiating on my rings. I'm going to play with that later. I'm also going to try some of that Ido Portal stuff, but I suspect it's not quite what I'm looking for.

 

[3letterslong]

Don't start on a steep hill

Regarding back training and something akin to crawling: Kind of like @Training for Life said, given only a floor, your options are pretty much going to only be bridging. That said, thinking of bodyweight training, there were anecdotes about Coach Sommer's gymnastic athletes pulling heavy deadlifts:

From 2004 (hard to believe this is nearly 20 years old already!)

All Muscle, No Iron

Big arms, wide shoulders, strong abs, amazing athleticism. What can we learn from gymnasts about training? Find out here.

www.t-nation.com

It's hard what to attribute those anecdotes to, however. If I had to wager a guess it would be a combination of strength training in lever positions (core, lats, and to some extent planche for lower back and glutes), and all the jumping and plyometric work. Sommer states so in that interview.

If you don't mind just using regular back training implements: If you have kettlebells I would just use them. I have a barbell and do deadlifts a couple days a week at my own meager pace....

Training the back without iron weights:
-you could do carries and jumping. The combination of hip flexion/extension in jumping and lunging, etc, plus carrying a sandbag or something, ought to be good for the back.

Pretty much everything else coming to mind is going to be outside the realm of OS-style movements: arch ups, arch rocks, side lever work, reverse hypers...

I'm specifically wondering about some type of movement like the OS resets that specifically targets all the muscles around the scapula (like rowing probably would). You've got me wondering if I can do some kind of straight-arm lever motion... I just dropped down to the floor and was rocking back and forth in a crab-walk position, trying to hold a lever as i moved away from my hands and it felt really promising!

 

[Alan Mackey]

Brachiating is interesting as an option. I do a lot of hanging, I wonder if I could mimic brachiating on my rings. I'm going to play with that later. I'm also going to try some of that Ido Portal stuff, but I suspect it's not quite what I'm looking for.

I would suggest something... different.



Climbing around tables (or chairs, if you are up for it) is the specular image of crawling.