Barbell Russian Bear, Hockey and Hinge Lift

[Rink]

Hey guys,

First time post, I was looking for an absolute strength program that would allow some room for some hypertrophy. I have decided to use the Russian Bear program instead of German High Volume training. I have no intention of being incapacitated for days after my squats and based on my experiences with the army I have noticed that training to failure has not always helped me. I have also experienced some of my own "what the hell" effects from strange things which has led me to go on Pavel's path of strength. But I won't get into that now, maybe at a later date.

A few questions on the bear program:

1. Can I substitute the deadlift for the hingelift? (It is a modified deadlift that activates the hamstrings)
2. This one also depends on how the body feels. Could I add a short but intense bodyweight circuit per week, without getting CNS fatigue? (I already play hockey twice per week)
- I play hockey on Monday and Wednesday, I would do the circuit on friday. This would make for two workouts per day 3x week. But still allow for the two full recovery days on weekends and a day in-between each workout. The reason I would like to keep the bodyweight circuit is because I will be going in special forces selection pretty much 1 year to date.

3. After 6 weeks of the bear complex which kettle bell program be a good program to follow-up with? I was looking at the Total Tension Kettlebell Complex or possibly simple and sinister.

* I have tried a few iterations of the Russian bear, it is surprisingly taxing and leaves me hungry for days lol

I look forward to trying the strong first way of doing things for awhile to build up a strong foundation. I plan on following it for the next 6 or so months but switching to some selection specific programs 4-6 months out from selection.

Thanks in advance

 

[Steve Freides]

@Rink, welcome to StrongFirst.

-S

 

[Snowman]

I haven't done the bear program myself, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but here's my two cents:

1) PTTP gives multiple variations for the "hip hinge" movement, I'm sure there's no reason you can't use your own. My question would be, since the deadlift already uses the hamstrings so much, can you explain why you want to focus on them even more? If you're after strength and hypertrophy, the goal is to get in a lot of volume. Keep in mind, you can only go as far as your weakest link. If you want to maximize volume, you generally want to choose movements that are efficient and allow each muscle group to fatigue at a similar rate. You might be shorting yourself a couple thousand pounds of volume each session if you have to stop early because your hammies are fried before everything else.

2) I think Pavel specifically warns against doing much else while on the Bear. Maybe you can handle it, maybe you can't. My advice would be to do the Bear for a three or four weeks while doing as little else as possible, and then start adding things in and seeing how you feel. I definitely wouldn't do it all right away. You run the risk of under-recovering, not gaining weight, and also still losing conditioning because you're over taxed and the excessive stress causes issues with your body using the right fueling systems. In other words, if you try to "focus" on multiple things at once, you run the risk of not doing anything well and getting nowhere. Pick one goal. Reach that goal. Pick another goal.

3) Don't worry about it. Back to the "pick one goal" thing. There are a ton of great kettlebell programs out there, but there's no reason to be thinking about them until you're about two weeks out from the end of your current program.

Personal question: Why are you trying to gain weight before you head to selection? Are you under weight? I mean, it might be good to go in with 5-10 extra pounds since you'll probably lose a little (though certainly not as much as Ranger school), but every extra pound is another pound to carry all day. It might just be better to take a "back seat" approach to mass gaining, so you gain a pound or two a month while you focus on other, higher, priorities. As a side note, how's your rucking? You might want to ping Al Ciampa about his opinion, but unless you're an aerobic stud already, it might be good to start some gradual aerobic development right now, even though you're "only" a year out.

 

[Rink]

Thanks, great reply. I'll definitely be taking it into consideration and will only play hockey as I am already committed.

1. I have a poor quad to hamstring strength ratio and I do not believe that squats work the hamstrings as much as personal trainers say. In general my posterior chain could probably use some work.

2. Unfortunately I think you are 100% correct. Right now is the best time for such a program as selection is so far out, so I will forget about the other stuff for now.

3. Agreed, I just wanted to practice the movements with some light kettle bells. This would enable me to make the most of the next program by hitting it hard. I have limited experience with them, as I only ever used them when I was on the battalion crossfit team. And we usually did limited kettlebell swings during circuits.

4. I have a very large frame that could stand to use some extra muscle on it (6'4" 230lbs). I noticed that when I am more muscular my body handles impacts a lot better, most specifically on the landing zones (I was a paratrooper for a few years). I've never really had a problem with rucksack marches and even competed in 50km ruck runs with canoe portages. Side note: (I got injured while training, which caused me to take a back seat in training 6 weeks out. I figure this actually allowed me to do far better than I would have if I had completed all the workouts with the team. Most of those guys were just absolutely fried and or injured at the competition.) This is part of what has led me to agree with Pavel's approach to training. Getting back on track, obviously selection will be a different ball game, but I live in Canada and pretty soon the temperatures will be hitting low with a few feet of snow. I feel this would negate any rucksack marches I complete now, as I will be unable to practice rucksack marches December-March. Possibly even April. I also damaged my ankle on exercise 8 months ago, physio has helped a lot, but I re-injured it multiple times on a following exercise where I always ended up carrying the mark 19 (automatic grenade launcher). I believe my selection will be very much running, swimming and calisthenic based as well. Though the unit I am applying for keeps their cards pretty close to their chest.

 

[Snowman]

. I have a very large frame that could stand to use some extra muscle on it (6'4" 230lbs). I noticed that when I am more muscular my body handles impacts a lot better, most specifically on the landing zones (I was a paratrooper for a few years). I've never really had a problem with rucksack marches and even competed in 50km ruck runs with canoe portages. Side note: (I got injured while training, which caused me to take a back seat in training 6 weeks out. I figure this actually allowed me to do far better than I would have if I had completed all the workouts with the team. Most of those guys were just absolutely fried and or injured at the competition.) This is part of what has led me to agree with Pavel's approach to training. Getting back on track, obviously selection will be a different ball game, but I live in Canada and pretty soon the temperatures will be hitting low with a few feet of snow. I feel this would negate any rucksack marches I complete now, as I will be unable to practice rucksack marches December-March. Possibly even April. I also damaged my ankle on exercise 8 months ago, physio has helped a lot, but I re-injured it multiple times on a following exercise where I always ended up carrying the mark 19 (automatic grenade launcher). I believe my selection will be very much running, swimming and calisthenic based as well. Though the unit I am applying for keeps their cards pretty close to their chest.

That all makes sense. Selection prep is hell of a task to take on, but it sounds like you have a good foundation to work off of. A few things I would toss in are:

1) Have a goal weight, do the Bear until you hit that weight, and then keep an eye on it to make sure you're staying at that weight. I would be less worried about picking a specific time. As long as you're just getting back to a weight you've been before, it shouldn't take too long.

2) For rucking indoors, you can use stairs or (my personal favorite) get a 4-8 inch platform and do step ups. Not too exciting, but it does the trick. I use it for loaded carries, but it works fine for rucking.

3) If your exposure to kettlebells has been limited so far, you first want to make sure you're doing the basics correctly. Swing and get-up first. Then clean, press, and snatch. Crossfit uses more of a kettlebell-sport style swing, which is pretty different when compared to the hardstyle swing. Not bad, just different techniques for different goals.

4) I would still suggest shooting @aciampa a message, if you haven't already. He has a background of prepping people for SF selection, ranger, SEAL, etc. Granted, he's more familiar with the US military than Canada's, but you'll still get a lot farther by listening to his advice than mine haha

 

[Rink]

A goal weight is a good idea as well, but I will also put a limit of 6 weeks on this program as it is going to fatigue the body. Plus, it's nice to switch it up every once in awhile.

I'll probably have to resort to the step ups... I have done them in the past, but only for a few reps with weight on an 18"-24" box. I'll definitely have to reduce the height. Interestingly enough I read an article about Russian teams improving their squat with weighted step-ups and that's what first turned me on to the idea of trying them out. I have also done them for high-reps after runs, thanks to military athlete.

Haha, I thought there might be something else to those kettle bell swings. I wasn't too sure how they were so beneficial. I could crush them without getting too fatigued, even at heavy weights. The turkish get is something I have been wanting to learn, but I never wanted to learn it from an amateur. The shoulders look pretty exposed.

I'll shoot him a message a little closer to the end of this bear program. I'll also post up a review of the bear. I should have got a DEXA body scan prior to starting it, and attempted 1 rep-max on all the lifts. Or at least 3rm, as I am not a fan of 1rm. Perhaps, I'll get the scan done prior to a kettle bell program, though I don't believe the purpose of the kettle bell programs are too change body composition so much as boost performance through neural pathway training.