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Barbell 3 barbell lifts only

bozo

Level 1 Valued Member
Im thinking about doing only 3 exercises:
. Zerched squats- insane midsection contraction. Your abs on the zerched squat , with half of your deadlift max, will experience what its like pulling a max dead. Sources: best squat article and deadlift dynamite.
Power to the people professional says the zercher sauat will skyrocket your squat and deadlift. The best squat article says its the sauat with the biggest carryover to the deadlift. It continued to say its a big deal. Marty gallagher said to get your deadlift up., squat. Said it in an iron company article. Cant remember which. May have had some relation to mark chaillet. Pavel said on tim ferris' podcast that to do a pull up, train abs. Abs are also used a lot in pull ups( no source needed). Pavel says on the strongfirst youtube channel that training your grip and your core will make everything ridiculously stronger.

. Deadlift- (zercher squat already covers the hinge and squat movements since it is said to skyrocket your dead) it will make the missing muscles grow. It will also work the hell out of my grip according to deadlift dynamite. The muscles in the back growing will also help pulling movements despite no working the movement pattern.

. Bench press- the best press article says this is the best press. Takes care of missing press pattern.

Additional points: accoridng to dan john. Barry ross made his sprinters do bench presses (needed upper body strength) and deadlifts ( needed big hinge). Dan john also said do ab work like ab wheel but i got a zercher squat. This means I'll run faster. Also certified instructor and boxer from Q&D book had an article( type in boxer to find it) where she did push ups and swings for preparation which is a hinge and a push which are things i have. She also has strong abs since swings work your abs which i will gain from zerchers. This means I'll punch harder.

Questions:
Is this a good exercise selection to prepare me for life like surviving in the middle of nowhere with a tribe that wake up, go get food (by chopping into trees and climbing them while inside to get honey combs -real thing-, shooting arrows very powerfully at animals, climbing trees from the outside potentially saving my friend from falling off a cliff by pulling him up with one hand, cominf back home, partying) and going sleep and repeatinf the next day
 
Questions:
Is this a good exercise selection to prepare me for life like surviving in the middle of nowhere with a tribe that wake up, go get food (by chopping into trees and climbing them while inside to get honey combs -real thing-, shooting arrows very powerfully at animals, climbing trees from the outside potentially saving my friend from falling off a cliff by pulling him up with one hand, cominf back home, partying) and going sleep and repeatinf the next day

It's only a good exercise selection if the skilled members of the tribe are generous enough to feed an unskilled member who has strength but no actual survival skills.

i.e. you'd be their low status log-carrying and water-carrying servant as long as there was a surplus of food, but if times get tough they'll banish you as being a calorically expensive mouth not worthy of feeding
 
Buy a bow and practice.

Climb trees.

Take your lightest friend and practice dangling him/her from a cliff and pulling him/her up. Better yet, if someone will loan you a toddler or an elementary school kid that’d be a great starting point. Use the conjugate method with heavier and lighter friends. As you get stronger and faster, you can “voluntell” people.

Party your posterior off!!

Practice some more with your bow.
 
My current routine is:
- Daily Dose Deadlifts with a Trap Bar, used as a warm up, and keeping with the 5 days a week in the program.

3 days a week I've been doing Barbell Zercher Squats, and Barbell Military Press, based on the 5TRM Squat program by Fabio Zonin. I start with the Daily Dose Deadlifts to warm up then squats, then presses.

That program calls for Monday Medium NL, Wednesday Low NL, and Friday High NL.
As I'm running two movements, I've been doing.
Monday - Zercher Med NL, Military Press Low NL
Wednesday Zercher Low NL, Military Press High NL
Friday Zercher High NL, Military Press Medium NL

For pulls I've been alternating between KB rows and Pullups, typically after the main movements, but sometimes pullups in a GTG style. So far I've had great results. The 5TRM squat program is pretty easy to follow. And can be used for any squats or press, so I decided to run them both. The volume gets increased over the 8 week program, but the intensity stays the same.

I like the three lift concept. I'll probably switch out the Military Press for Floor Presses if I run it a second time. I don't have a rack or bench, hence the zerchers and military presses.

If I had a rope and could climb I'd probably mix that in with some climbs GTG style and alternating pullups.
 
Im thinking about doing only 3 exercises:
. Zerched squats- insane midsection contraction. Your abs on the zerched squat , with half of your deadlift max, will experience what its like pulling a max dead. Sources: best squat article and deadlift dynamite.
Power to the people professional says the zercher sauat will skyrocket your squat and deadlift. The best squat article says its the sauat with the biggest carryover to the deadlift. It continued to say its a big deal. Marty gallagher said to get your deadlift up., squat. Said it in an iron company article. Cant remember which. May have had some relation to mark chaillet. Pavel said on tim ferris' podcast that to do a pull up, train abs. Abs are also used a lot in pull ups( no source needed). Pavel says on the strongfirst youtube channel that training your grip and your core will make everything ridiculously stronger.

. Deadlift- (zercher squat already covers the hinge and squat movements since it is said to skyrocket your dead) it will make the missing muscles grow. It will also work the hell out of my grip according to deadlift dynamite. The muscles in the back growing will also help pulling movements despite no working the movement pattern.

. Bench press- the best press article says this is the best press. Takes care of missing press pattern.

Additional points: accoridng to dan john. Barry ross made his sprinters do bench presses (needed upper body strength) and deadlifts ( needed big hinge). Dan john also said do ab work like ab wheel but i got a zercher squat. This means I'll run faster. Also certified instructor and boxer from Q&D book had an article( type in boxer to find it) where she did push ups and swings for preparation which is a hinge and a push which are things i have. She also has strong abs since swings work your abs which i will gain from zerchers. This means I'll punch harder.

Questions:
Is this a good exercise selection to prepare me for life like surviving in the middle of nowhere with a tribe that wake up, go get food (by chopping into trees and climbing them while inside to get honey combs -real thing-, shooting arrows very powerfully at animals, climbing trees from the outside potentially saving my friend from falling off a cliff by pulling him up with one hand, cominf back home, partying) and going sleep and repeatinf the next day
I don’t know, but zerchers and bench pressing won’t make you a better runner and puncher if you don’t run and punch. General physical preparedness enhances your special physical preparedness. Do some strength exercises you enjoy and try to improve the skills you want to improve. Seems like your examples adds the need of running and pulling so I would probably add that. But again, the lifts themselves won’t improve skills you don’t already possess.
 
I’d swap bench press for overhead press & slip in some pushups between workouts
 
My current routine is:
- Daily Dose Deadlifts with a Trap Bar, used as a warm up, and keeping with the 5 days a week in the program.

3 days a week I've been doing Barbell Zercher Squats, and Barbell Military Press, based on the 5TRM Squat program by Fabio Zonin. I start with the Daily Dose Deadlifts to warm up then squats, then presses.

That program calls for Monday Medium NL, Wednesday Low NL, and Friday High NL.
As I'm running two movements, I've been doing.
Monday - Zercher Med NL, Military Press Low NL
Wednesday Zercher Low NL, Military Press High NL
Friday Zercher High NL, Military Press Medium NL

For pulls I've been alternating between KB rows and Pullups, typically after the main movements, but sometimes pullups in a GTG style. So far I've had great results. The 5TRM squat program is pretty easy to follow. And can be used for any squats or press, so I decided to run them both. The volume gets increased over the 8 week program, but the intensity stays the same.

I like the three lift concept. I'll probably switch out the Military Press for Floor Presses if I run it a second time. I don't have a rack or bench, hence the zerchers and military presses.

If I had a rope and could climb I'd probably mix that in with some climbs GTG style and alternating pullups.
A few years back I ran a program that was pretty close to yours. I did back squats and presses. For my back movement I would do a set of pull ups between all my squat and press sets, worked great and gave me something to do while I waited on my next set.
 
I'm running Faleev 5x5 with these excerciese. Started easy and making steady gains, currently at week 23. No insight on whether this would make you a good tribesman, but I'm extremely pleased with the results so far.

Caveat: worked with an SFG who prescribed me additional drills for my weaknesses, so strictly speaking it's not only those three lifts. Without this, I would not get where I am at the program and feel this great.
 
Are you going to live with a tribe who eat honey and shoot bows, alongside a clumsy friend prone to being in vicinity of cliffs? The situation you’re preparing for is weirdly specific and (hopefully) fantastical in equal measure. I am worried about the imminent dystopian future you’ve identified.

I recommend pull ups. Pull ups are good for climbing and pulling people/bows I reckon. You appear to have little upper body pulling for a series of tasks that are basically pulling…
 
This reminds me of the first long distance hiking trip I ever did.
A kid showed up who had never put on his pack before, didn’t know how to setup his tent, bag, use his filter, rehydrate food, and his boots were spotless from not ever hiking.
He thought he would be fine because he wrestled and “that is the best conditioning there is”.

He wasn’t.

To quote Dan John, “runners run, sprinters sprint, rowers row”. I’d imagine that archers shoot bows, climbers climb, and hikers hike would fit.
 
Hi, the one who started the forum here.

If the selection doesnt have a pull then would this work instead:
. Good morning- barbell 301 description says this will up your squat and deadlift and will work your entire posterior chain. the best hinge exercise article supports this with bruce randall (may have been a special case) getting benefits.
. Bench press
. Hollow position pull up- article called the best upper body pull. No other contenders in the article. The article called a discussion of rows says the hollow position one arm dumbell row is an effective alternative

Problems:
Good morning may miss some muscles like quads or calves(power to the people mentions a physique of only deadlifts and says the man had enormous calves). Not sure about this though.

Alternatives:
Other exercises seem to work multiple movement patterns like the log press (which involves hinging, squatting and pressing), clean and press, some complexes like cleaning and squatting and pressing etc but it may have less of an effect due to not focussing on one movement.
 
Personally I’m not a fan of bench press. Unless you’re a power lifter I don’t think it’s worth doing. Overhead presses or some kind of push up variation is going to carry over much better to the kind of things you describe which doesn’t include lying on your back pushing things up.
 
In my (newbie) opinion you really need four lifts: push, pull, hinge and squat, to not leave out any main muscle groups. In your first example you miss a direct pull, in your second example you miss a squat.

Unless you count movements that involve multiple movements into one as just one exercise - like Clean and Press, TGU, muscle up etc. then if you limit yourself to three movements you’re missing something.

Or you could do something like Hinge and Push every workout and rotate in/out the Squat/Pull every session or something.
 
With the first program of zercher squat, deadlift and bench press, I would replace the deadlift with a barbell row.

The second program looks great as it is.
 
Personally I’m not a fan of bench press. Unless you’re a power lifter I don’t think it’s worth doing. Overhead presses or some kind of push up variation is going to carry over much better to the kind of things you describe which doesn’t include lying on your back pushing things up.
According to the best press article the bench press is the best press. It has big carryover. It may seem like you'll only get good at horizontally pushing while laying but it will carryover well when pushing in general
 
According to the best press article the bench press is the best press. It has big carryover. It may seem like you'll only get good at horizontally pushing while laying but it will carryover well when pushing in general
best for what? You can press the most weight in a bench press sure, so is it best for absolute strength? Maybe. But I think the carryover is limited for any kind of normal activities humans do which involves scapular moment and much larger ranges of motion. It's not very 'functional' to use that overused fitness catch phrase. a press up variation or overhead pressing motion will work the core and stabilisers far harder which are what are needed for real world strength.

Worth noting proper powerlifters generate an awful lot of full body tension in the bench press, its wrong to say a proper bench doesn't work the core. But for the average lifter, its easy not to activate the core due to lying down.

Its just my opinion, but I think the bench press is the most overrated lift out there.
 
best for what? You can press the most weight in a bench press sure, so is it best for absolute strength? Maybe. But I think the carryover is limited for any kind of normal activities humans do which involves scapular moment and much larger ranges of motion. It's not very 'functional' to use that overused fitness catch phrase. a press up variation or overhead pressing motion will work the core and stabilisers far harder which are what are needed for real world strength.

Worth noting proper powerlifters generate an awful lot of full body tension in the bench press, its wrong to say a proper bench doesn't work the core. But for the average lifter, its easy not to activate the core due to lying down.

Its just my opinion, but I think the bench press is the most overrated lift out there.

The bench press is very, very common in about any kind of sport where upper body strength is needed.
 
best for what? You can press the most weight in a bench press sure, so is it best for absolute strength? Maybe. But I think the carryover is limited for any kind of normal activities humans do which involves scapular moment and much larger ranges of motion. It's not very 'functional' to use that overused fitness catch phrase. a press up variation or overhead pressing motion will work the core and stabilisers far harder which are what are needed for real world strength.

Worth noting proper powerlifters generate an awful lot of full body tension in the bench press, its wrong to say a proper bench doesn't work the core. But for the average lifter, its easy not to activate the core due to lying down.

Its just my opinion, but I think the bench press is the most overrated lift out there.
I disagree. Training to get strong in bench has significantly improved my sport performance (kayaking), which is a core, leg drive and pull activity if boiled right down. Bench is considered compound for a reason
 
The bench press is very, very common in about any kind of sport where upper body strength is needed.
It’s the widespread use of the bench press that i consider the basis of my claim that it’s over rated. You to go any commercial gym and you see tons of guys benching too much weight with bad form. There’s an obsession with “how much do you bench”. Yet many of these guys have messed up shoulders and poor posture. The number one problem with the bench is that it requires you to immobilise your scapular. People then end up carrying this into other lifts and give themselves shoulder impingement. Strong, stable, mobile scapular are the foundation of shoulder strength and health. The bench doesn’t deliver this IMHO.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for it. There is. But I still think it’s over rated and often poorly performed with too much ego on the bar.
I disagree. Training to get strong in bench has significantly improved my sport performance (kayaking), which is a core, leg drive and pull activity if boiled right down. Bench is considered compound for a reason
That’s fantastic and I’m pleased for you. There is a place for it, don’t get me wrong but it wouldn’t be my go to upper body lift. Compound simply means it’s multi joint as opposed to something like a fly that’s one joint, it has nothing to do with its value.

Going back to the original question. For the goals you have i don’t think the barbell is the best training modality. I think a mixture of calisthenics, kettlebells and walking/rucking/running would be a better fit.

If you’re set on barbell training, the big three are squat, bench, deadlift - the powelifts. But a typical beginner barbell strength program will typically include the overhead press and a row/powerclean. Why? For shoulder balance and health as per earlier comments. Benching only for upper body will likely f up your shoulders.

So if you are set on three barbell lifts only. I would choose the front squat, overhead press and deadlift. And heavily recommend adding something rows/pull ups/face pulls.
But really If you want to train strength with the barbell just do something like starting strength, 5 lifts tried and tested.
 
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