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Other/Mixed Alan Thrall: Why I Started Bodybuilding

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
onlyisometrics said:
One of his reasons for this seems to be for longevity / feeling beat up from the big 3 when you're dealing with higher weights. I like my workouts leaving me feeling better so a lot of his messaging was appealing to me.
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Interestingly Dan John also does this with a lot of his programming. He will use disadvantaged leverage positions to increase difficulty with lighter weights.

Eg instead of doing a strict military press, he will have people do a kneeling press because it requires more stability and less weight.
 
Anna C said:
"We all lift weights to get bigger muscles than what we would have if we didn't lift at all"... I think there's no denying this.
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Sorry but I deny this, too. I don’t chose lifts based on anything other than that they are skills I want to have. It’s tough, IMHO, to look at me, I think, and say I’ve put on much muscle. I started doing ring work because I knew that the Skin the Cat would be good for my severely arthritic (doctor’s words, not mine) shoulders and, indeed, it has been. I mention rings because I know I have more chest muscle due to ring work, but that wasn’t the point. I weigh what I weighed when I graduated high school. I wasn’t fat then and I’m not fat now, so we can’t say that my weight is the same but I’ve traded fat for muscle. My focus is is skill, and since age 63 or so, the maintenance of muscle but not the addition of it.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
Sorry but I deny this, too. I don’t chose lifts based on anything other than that they are skills I want to have. It’s tough, IMHO, to look at me, I think, and say I’ve put on much muscle. I started doing ring work because I knew that the Skin the Cat would be good for my severely arthritic (doctor’s words, not mine) shoulders and, indeed, it has been. I mention rings because I know I have more chest muscle due to ring work, but that wasn’t the point. I weigh what I weighed when I graduated high school. I wasn’t fat then and I’m not fat now, so we can’t say that my weight is the same but I’ve traded fat for muscle. My focus is is skill, and since age 63 or so, the maintenance of muscle but not the addition of it.

-S-
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OK, I'll accept your denial :)

You do make a good point, and you are indeed exemplary!
 
onlyisometrics said:
Cause of this thread I started watching some of Basement Bodybuildings videos. The bodybuilding routines are too long / require too much equipment for me and I'm happy with isos and kb at moment, but it was really interesting to hear his perspective. Especially regarding bodybuilding and the 3 big lifts - he basically critiques the hyper-focus on the big 3 barbell lifts for hypertrophy (in the general online community) and advises some alternatives - RDL, lat pulldowns and seated military press (without back support). One of his reasons for this seems to be for longevity / feeling beat up from the big 3 when you're dealing with higher weights. I like my workouts leaving me feeling better so a lot of his messaging was appealing to me.

If anyone's interested: https://www.youtube.com/@BasementBodybuilding
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Thank you for introducing his channel to me.

So far, I like his content.

After a few videos, I can't say I've really learned anything new yet, but his outlook and approach align pretty well with what I've found, anecdotally.
 
Halfakneecap said:
Individual differences come into play as well.

I have a friend who just can’t get past 85kg. Super disciplined at nutrition ( 3000cals plus daily ) and way stronger than I am ( double body weight deadlift comfortably etc ), just can’t grow.

But, he’s crazy lean. 8 pack lean in his late 30’s



Azz hole haha
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Is he actively trying to put on weight? Has he tried 3100 calories a day? If that doesn’t work then 3200, 3300…
 
Halfakneecap said:
I have a friend who just can’t get past 85kg. Super disciplined at nutrition ( 3000cals plus daily ) and way stronger than I am ( double body weight deadlift comfortably etc ), just can’t grow.
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The immortal words of JM Blakely:
I am reminded of the time I was complaining to a friend about how hard I was trying to get my weight up to 300 pounds and how tough it was for me to eat so much, and boo-hoo-hoo. The friend looked at me, clearly fed up with my whining, and remarked "I see several people over 300 lbs at work (he was a physical therapist) and they really don't seem to be trying all that hard! They weigh 300 and they don't try!"
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BJJ Shawn said:
Pavel has explained in the past that the reason for 5 reps instead of only singles is because it’s a compromise of strength and hypertrophy. If you are after ONLY strength, then he says singles are best but because there’s no hypertrophy element you will max out rather quickly.
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I'm not sure I agree with that.

DDD, Justa's Singles, Hepburn's routine and some variations of Easy Strength are pretty sustainable long-term.
 
watchnerd said:
Alan made a follow-up where he gets into labels and identity:

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He does pose an interesting question. Why is doing accessories not considered GPP?

The traditional American approach has been big lift followed by weakpoint targeting compounds followed by isolation. Seems like a great way to generally bring up strength and hypertrophy.
The SF GPP approach is often presented as “skip the big lift, do a variety lift, skip the isolation”. Which works… but also if you have a spare 30 minutes why not add the rest?

to be fair, there are plenty of SF plans that don’t fit that criteria. I’m more thinking of the one and two lift highly specific programs that are treated as GPP. (Not talking about the person that supports other training with S&S)
 
watchnerd said:
Are they not?

I guess I usually think of them as such and that's mostly how I program them.
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I guess I'm more thinking about people saying S&S (for example) is a GPP program while using to to get to simple/sinister specifically.
It seems SPP-ish.

Or what (I believe) Thrall was alluding to, the Starting Strength approach that is essentially SBD. Which is a similar thing. People call it a GPP program, but every lift is highly specific with little to no variation on the movements.

It is also entirely possible that I just don't understand the terms GPP and SPP.
 
Alan Mackey said:
I'm not sure I agree with that.

DDD, Justa's Singles, Hepburn's routine and some variations of Easy Strength are pretty sustainable long-term.
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I can't recall which book it was in, but I don't think I'm imagining it. Does anyone remember where he Pavel stated that is why he prefers sets of 5?
 
Love these videos, I feel so vindicated in my stance on BBers lol. It even happens in this forum where people refer to bodybuilding when they’re actually talking about brolifting. I do disagree with his take on pro bodybuilders however. I have grappled with two pro card BBers, their strength was plenty functional.
 
BJJ Shawn said:
Does anyone remember where he Pavel stated that is why he prefers sets of 5
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I don't have Beyond Bodybuilding nearby to verify, but I believe he made a case for it there. Maybe also PTTP.

But also context matters. Both of those books are targeted towards the people doing mens health bodybuilding routines.
At this point it is pretty established that for long term strength gains one should be working a variety of rep ranges.
 
BJJ Shawn said:
I can't recall which book it was in, but I don't think I'm imagining it. Does anyone remember where he Pavel stated that is why he prefers sets of 5?
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I’m not saying he didn’t write it.

I’m merely stating that while I, too, prefer fives for just about everything, singles, if carefully planned, may be sustainable for a long time (using fives is much forgiving and provide adequate volume).
 
silveraw said:
I guess I'm more thinking about people saying S&S (for example) is a GPP program while using to to get to simple/sinister specifically.
It seems SPP-ish.

Or what (I believe) Thrall was alluding to, the Starting Strength approach that is essentially SBD. Which is a similar thing
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silveraw said:
. People call it a GPP program, but every lift is highly specific with little to no variation on the movements.

It is also entirely possible that I just don't understand the terms GPP and SPP.
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I guess I'm used to the weightlifting world where the "accessories" divide into two big camps:

Partials & drills -- sub-segments of the competition lifts (e.g. snatch pulls), which are SPP

Isolation -- bodybuilding type pre-hab exercises commonly used by weightlifters to stay healthy and build up structures and tissues (e.g. good mornings, reverse hypers, bicep curls, ab work, Lu raises, etc), which are GPP
 
Hrungnir said:
Love these videos, I feel so vindicated in my stance on BBers lol. It even happens in this forum where people refer to bodybuilding when they’re actually talking about brolifting. I do disagree with his take on pro bodybuilders however. I have grappled with two pro card BBers, their strength was plenty functional.
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What are the hallmarks of brolifting?
 
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