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Old Forum Russian Bear

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Tyler Chism

Tyler Chism

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My friend is starting the Russian Bear. I told him to just do squat and bench, or deadlift and bench but he's wanting to do squat bench and deadlift. Is this too much volume? he'll be goin  monday wednesday friday. His goals are to increase these lifts and to increase size
 
Nice.

I have the same goal(s) as Tyler's friend but i am going to do it  with squat and barbell overhead press.

if i can do 10 total sets of press (1x100%, 1x90%, 8x80%) twice a week, it will be 100 reps a week.
 

 
 
I started Russian Bear, workout every three days, on the X'Mas eve (Press and squat) and already stalled on workout #6

My best Barbell Overhead Psess is  42.5kg for two reps (@83kg bodyweight... really weak) during 40  days workout .  I know I might enter the Bear  too weak but this is the only time of the year I can do it (Will be really busy for the rest of the year from March)

Should I cycle it back to, say 32.5KG or stick with the weight until I can do 10 sets of 5 with the 80% working poundage?

I would cycle back if I am doing straight PTTP. I would only do 16 work outs of bear all together. Do I treat it differently? I went back to read the cycling section of  Power To The People but don't know how to apply it in a Bear situation.

 

workout 1  32.5 KG x5 x3 x2  26.0 KG 10x5

workout 2 32.5 KG x5 x3 x2 26.0 KG 11x5

workout 3 35.0 KG x5 x3 x2  27.5 KG 4x5 1x4 (3mins later) 1x5

workout 4 35.0 KG x5 x3 x2 27.5 KG 8x5

workout 5 37.5KG x5 x3 x2 30.0KG 5x5 1x4

workout 6 37.5KG x5 x3 x2 30.0KG 3x5 (2mins later) 1x3
 
I will start it with 35 again and add weight when i can do 10 sets of 5 with 80% working weight (12 or 13 sets total for press) two times in a row.

My friend told me in the PTTP video (which I don't have), Pavel talk about waving the load after the 1st two sets. Is that right?

 
 
Toby….there is really no reason for you to be doing bear if you haven’t built up a solid strength base first. You will gain muscle just from getting stronger and eating enough.

If I were you I’d just stick with regular PTTP, 5/3/1, Easy Strength or some other such basic strength building routine until you can reach some basic numbers. Just keep at it consistently week after week and month after month without being distracted by all the programs that you want to try to do.

Remember that the press is only “the cherry on top of the sunday” when it comes to PTTP and the bear. What is your pulling like?

A general consensus in the past has been around a minimum of 2x bw deadlift before doing something like the bear. I know that it seems sexy and exciting to take on “the bear” but it most likely is not the most efficient route for you to take as, based on your pressing numbers, you aren’t lifting enough.

Just my opinion and of course you know you can do whatever you want.
 
Hi Kai,

Thank you for taking time to reply.

I have the feeling that I am taking on the bear too weak too.

I haven't test my DL max for many years.  Last time it was 120KG, double overhand (I didn't know how to DL with mixed grip back then) .  More recently I did 105KG 2 set of 5 on a 40 day workout.  So, there is a 46KG gap to fill for a double BW Deadlift.

 

 

 
 
Toby, please consider a few things - you could post a video here and/or seek out an experienced overhead barbell presser to advise you in person.  It's quite possible that your technique isn't good in some way that you haven't noticed.  Fixing this alone could make you instantly stronger.

Consider also, if you haven't spent a lot of time pressing a kettlebell, giving the barbell a rest for a few months while you work on your standing single kettlebell press.  Many people find the mix of kettlebell and barbell better than either alone.

-S-
Steve Freides, StrongFirst Team Leader
http://www.kbnj.com
http://RideChickens.blogspot.com
http://StrongFirst.com
 
Thank you, Steve!  I have been wanting to improve my press. There are not much learning resources around. I ordered the Starring Strength DVD but the technique is very different/opposite of Hard style school try to follow (shoulder packing...etc). I showed some of my strong friends how I overhead press but they couldn't figure out what's wrong. They can press a lot overhead without thinking about techniques. It is not their main lift but the assistance drill for bench press, they are powerlifters.


The technique has improved after following the technique breakdown from Power To The People Professional, but still need lots of work/improvement.

i will try to get a video of tomorrow workout and post it here.

I have done ROP with 16KG (still beginner level). I can press a 20KG (comp style bell with thinner handle) for 4 reps. Will try to do ROP with it when the time is right too.

Best regards,
Toby
 
Toby, do post that video.  At your bodyweight, you will be stronger once your technique flaws have been diagnosed and corrected, I'm sure.  If you have the chance, please post a kettlebell press and a barbell press.

-S-
Steve Freides, StrongFirst Team Leader
http://www.kbnj.com
http://RideChickens.blogspot.com
http://StrongFirst.com
 
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