all posts post new thread

Barbell To Bear or not to Bear...

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Brian Johnston

Brian Johnston

Level 7 Valued Member
Elite Certified Instructor
I recently read PTP and was intrigued by the Russian Bear program. I'm tossing around the idea of working it in the future and had a few questions about its implementation.
- Could it be run like ROP? Three days working the program with two "variety days"?
- Could/Should those variety days include squat work?
- Working three days a week, could you alternate between two presses and still meet the program as written?

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts.
 
Can you add in variety days?
Yes.
Can you include squats?
Yes
Can you do more than just one type of press?
Yes
Is it still the Bear program?
No, it is now something different. Having said that, does it matter if you follow the program as written? I think it really depends on your goals. Do you really want to put the effort into designing your own program or would it be more beneficial to just hop on a program that is more aligned with your goals? Lots of people make changes to programs and they make them work, but many people don't have the knowledge and experience to design a program.
People smarter than me might say something like run the program as written and then decide if it is meeting your goals or you need to make changes.
 
So that is my ultimate question, I guess. At what point does it become a monster of my own creation and not the Russian Bear? I've got time before I complete my current program, so this is hypothetical and I'm likely still months from being able to run the program and adjust fire as necessary.

I will concede that after review, variety days and squats don't fall within the program.
But as prescribed, the program excludes very little; deadlifts and a press every training day. The press portion is even mentioned as something of an incidental, "a cherry on the deadlift sundae." Would alternating the incidental pressing movements be outside the program? Or even alternating between conventional and sumo DL?
 
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why not?
Change prime mover muscle groups and minimize fatigue? Encourage hypertrophy in other muscle group? Stay mentally fresh for each workout? Keep a client or yourself engaged?
 
I've been meaning to ask this - isn't the latest guidance from Pavel regarding the Bear to hit the BP twice a week and the DL once a week? I believe someone said this was put out at a seminar and also on a podcast, but I can't find those threads. Can someone confirm? The book is rather vague on frequency, IIRC.

Given you are supposed to be hitting a lot of back off sets, I'd be concern with recovery if I added squats and other variety.
 
I feel like it is a main dish vs spices issue. If I squatted your numbers I also wouldn't want to lose that during a dead lift routine. I think the bear is a minimalist program and you would have to adjust by adding in some easy strength principals to keep your other lifts up. But now we have pushed past my knowledge base.
 
Years ago on the old forum, if I remember right, I believe Pavel said it would be ok to alternate deads and squats or side press and bench press.
 
@Tirofijo I did see another forum post planning that way, though I thought it was a digression from the program outlined in PTP. If, as @the hansenator also suggests, Pavel has shared some refined guidance, then maybe I need to spend a little more time finding the most recent gospel.

@Ivan Merl Past your base or not I appreciate the thoughts. Working to expand my own here and conflicting points of view can only help.
 
I found Pavel's answer to my question from about 9 years ago, I copied it for posterity. I hope it's ok to repost it here. Come to think of it, I wonder if any of the thinking has changed since then?

Comrade Chris, you can MP on one day and BP on the other. If we were talking radically different drills from the standpoint of motor abilities (e.gMP vs. Jerk), then you’d be better off rotating.


If you are a bodybuilder with a lot of time you have many options, even doing two exercises per bodypart a day for 10x5 once a week, e.g.


Mon. -BP and incline BP,


Tue -pullups and DL,


Wed. -C&P, side press,


Thur.-SQ, hack SQ,


Fri. -Janda situp, Full Contact Twist,


Saturday -barbell curl, hammer curl.


The cycling approach: push harder on some days; every fourth week cut the volume in half down to 5x5
Click to expand...
 
Bear the Bench, Deadlift, and Military Press one Lift hard each day, three days a week. If you are working the program you will need the recovery days. If you do variety days go very light. Russian Bear is taxing. 20-25 sets of 5 is tough. It’s a lot of work in 30-40 minutes. I Deadlifted over 30,000 lbs in about 40min.
 
Last edited:
@the hansenator thanks for doing some digging! It makes it sound like The Bear is just meant as the 100,90,80,80... scheme with no limit to how it’s applied.

@Geoff Chafe is that the new party line for the Russian Bear or a routine you’ve had success with?
30,000 tons in 40min some Superman stuff and makes me think that I should just quit lifting ;)
What I think you meant is still friggin awesome.
 
@Geoff Chafe I read through that thread before starting this one. It didn’t quite scratch my itch and I thought since most of the suggested programming didn’t match The Russian Bear as written in PTP it wasn’t what I was looking for. If the new Rx is bench, DL, bench every week then I’m just behind the times.
 
I do know that trying to Bear a Press and Deadlift in the same session is more work than most people could handle.

I can’t recall the exact wording from the book, but I do remember it is very short and vague.

Yes, Press, Deadlift, Press is the recommend protocol by Pavel, from @Pavel Macek.
 
I agree with everything above. Bear 2x/week will be enough for some people, particularly if only used for the deadlift.

-S-
 
Hi. I'm a 15 yo male lifter. I weigh 178, and can deadlift 315 x 3. I'm looking to build some size. Would you guys advise I run the Bear on Presses and Deadlifts 2x a week? Or should I go with Pavel's "Easy Strength" program to build some more strength relative to my BW first?
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom