I think the main takeaway here is don’t underestimate the value of arm training, even if you’re a “strength” athlete.

@wilaustu

20 күн бұрын

I also think it goes to show that strongman is pretty well rounded as far as strength sports go.

@hevitonttu2251

19 күн бұрын

I was surprised when the first thing he said about triceps was spot on. It's pretty common knowledge, but then again not I guess, that different part of triceps work in overhead movements so basically even if you do 1000 pushdowns it "does nothing" to help you with say circus dumbbell. Even tho you are technically extending your arm in both cases.

@o-neil

18 күн бұрын

Don't skip your accessories!!!!!!!!

@captainobscurity491

17 күн бұрын

Biceps are unironically some of the most "functional" muscles you can develop.

@Jafmanz

17 күн бұрын

@@captainobscurity491can you name the least functional muscles?

It's wild how zen and calm Alan's gotten the past couple years. He's like the antithesis of Mark Rippetoe right now.

@maxmusterdivers9939

20 күн бұрын

Hip driihhhve

@alexvisan7622

20 күн бұрын

Mark is so angry all the time

@flabio7074

19 күн бұрын

Rip is mostly famous for his cultural contribution. People identify with his political views, antiestablishment attitude, and his baller Texas accent. Also his program is legitimately effective for beginners and you always remember the guy who popped your cherry.

@Mudkipz123

19 күн бұрын

@@flabio7074 if a program is effective mainly for beginners, is it really effective or is it just that everything works for beginners?

@ranfan1820

19 күн бұрын

​@@flabio7074"you always remember the guy who popped your cherry" thats one way to put it 😂

Bicep strength is underrated for lots of everyday work type things. Lifting things off the ground, chopping wood, wrenching, etc.

@demoncore5342

17 күн бұрын

I mean both JM and Jimmy Kolb recommended bicep work for benching.

Please make another video with Natural Hypertrophy where you go over your bodybuilding transformation.

The answer to any problem you could ever have is always to get bigger arms, no surprise there.

Lets see that physique after 1 year of BB training. Before after video & pics would do!

@s0undnin

13 күн бұрын

Awesome pics. Great size. Look thick. Solid. Tight. Keep us all posted on your continued progress with any new progress pics or vid clips. Show us what you got man. Wanna see how freakn' huge, solid, thick and tight you can get. Thanks for the motivation.

Very cool to hear about your experience hybrid athlete, combining hypertrophy and strength. Bold move, but it's cool that it's working so well.

As a guy whose done Highland Games for 2 years now, i find that alternating between bodybuilding, strongman workout and still having Highland specific prep (mostly throwing practice) a full month before competition has worked best for me. I'm 5'8", 230 and fairly chubby, but for my size I i think I'm still doing well against these giants. I only compete twice per year so I have a lot of room to adjust.

@aidanmoretz7971

19 күн бұрын

It's so true. Everyone wants to think +100lbs on a lift comes from neurological adaptations but it's so much about having more muscle to lift with. I also love competing at highland games, but a little finer motor skills at the bagpipe comps :)

Is anyone else looking at those swords and light in the background and thinking, "That looks like a big ass fork"?

@NFM1337

19 күн бұрын

It does! And what IS with the swords?

@paddyleather5676

19 күн бұрын

@@NFM1337 My guess is he got them in Japan . Every Marine who has ever been to Okinawa has swords on the wall

The keg landing inside the tyre at around 24:20 was so satisfying.

Perfect to listen to during today’s training session.

More muscle = more opportunity to build more strength Bodybuilding done correctly can also improve your mobility and your muscle activation which can also lead towards better potential strength output

@tonyverras2688

19 күн бұрын

Right, if you increased your muscle mass you will always have gotten stronger. He just didn't practice heavy 1-3 reps and the events enough and become efficient performing them before the comp.

@koleary1798

12 күн бұрын

100%. If you look back to bronze era, for the most part the jacked bodybuilders were all strong, and the strongmen were all jacked. Drugs and marketing in the almost century since then has really distorted things. For naturals, it's as simple as: Bigger = stronger Stronger = bigger The lifts in question might not be the "Big 3", but for anything that doesn't allow for ROM or technique fuckery this will hold true.

@drip369

12 күн бұрын

@@koleary1798 not only were they strong, on the bodybuilding stage they actually had to show off the strength meaning the utility of the muscle just like they had to show off the control of the muscle by making their muscles dance. Nowadays they all look like they are ready to die there is no vitality and they do not look healthy which is wild that people still watch the sport

@tonyverras2688

12 күн бұрын

@@koleary1798 Strength isn't as specific as we think it is. If someone can do sets of 8-10 with the 125 lb dumbbells on Bulgarian Split Squats, they will be a strong squatter.

2:11 congrats on 2nd place & a big congratulations to Dr Andrew Mock for taking home 1st 🥇

Congrats Alan! Great video!

It's astonishing how well isolated training pays off for all kinds of sports, even for endurance sports. Thx for sharing your experience!

Shaw classic is having weight classes this year, you should compete.

@chrisbfreelance

20 күн бұрын

Absolutely!

Congratulations! great video too!

Hey man you’re a beast. Keep up with the great content, very motivational and uplifting stuff.

Great video, great to learn from your experience and self reflection

You're hella strong. Keep it up Alan.

For overhead mobility and lockout train behind the neck press.

Great explanation on everything.

I find this video very interesting , seeing the impact of arm training in a strength sport like strongman is something I have never seen before. It would also be good to see before and after pics and the progression stats ( especially on arm training and isolation)

Great video! Loved every minute and can't wait for the other BB/SM video you got for us.

@oaksaint4458

14 күн бұрын

I read that as BDSM video lol

Its got nothing to do with bodybuilding and all to do with that DAD STRENGTH 💪

This was so awesome. I'm 15 months from 40 and while I usually get on the podium I've only won one event. I'm never less than 2nd on press, dead, or stones but I usually get my butt beat in the carreis with what seems like 18 to 22 year old competition. My weight has been stuck at 180lb for a while and my lifts too. I decided to try and hit 200lbs before 40 and come back as a 200lb master. Currently doing sets of 10-15 but will taper that down to 6-10 after 5 months. Continuing 6-10 for 5 months and then start peaking for a show after July next year. I am doing more isolation but also keeping press variations as the main movement on shoulders prioritizing deadlifts over leg exercises of any kind and adding in light but long distance controlled pace carries 3 days a week. I knew exactly where you were going with the conans wheel. I'm a huge CT fan and never neglected my curls and it came in handy in one event where we needed a tie breaker and had to hold a 350lb yoke off the ground in the crook of our elbows and I blew past my competitor to secure second in 2018s Battle of the Marina which is like our northern Nevada strongest man.

Great video. It’s good to remember that you can’t do everything perfectly at the same time.

I think Alan Thrall should try grip sport. I would love to see some saxon bar or captains of crush ladder content. Great carryover to strongman training, but a new training stimulus as well

snatch grip high pulls are great for becoming/maintaining explosiveness and for yoke hypertrophy

Gotta agree on the biceps for the conans, I won the Heavyweight conans at californias and I always do multiple sets of failure for biceps

Brian Alsruhe watching this intently

Honestly with how often strongmen *tear their biceps you’d think it’d be a useful thing to train

@bruuhhhh

20 күн бұрын

I assume you mean tear lol but yeah I agree

@chrisbfreelance

20 күн бұрын

They get trained plenty indirectly with carries and lifts.

@bruuhhhh

20 күн бұрын

@@chrisbfreelance isolation work is fantastic for building tendon strength without the risk of tearing that you would get from lots of heavy carries and lifts. Imo very underutilised in strongman for the biceps especially

@TheComedyButchers

19 күн бұрын

@@chrisbfreelanceone of Thrall’s point in this video was literally that arm training made him better for carries

@MasoNowa

19 күн бұрын

Some people actually say that bicep training makes your arms more susceptible to tears. I'm skeptical of that.

This is really interesting

Would love to hear about your year with NH’s program. Did you take any before and after videos?

Going to do arms now, thanks.

I missed you bro alan!

A great example of my belief that hypertrophy is step 1 in strength. The muscle is a multiplier and the bigger your base is, the higher you'll soar with a strength phase. I wanna make a video about this before it becomes the new consensus.

@jamesbedwell8793

19 күн бұрын

Bromley has been talking about this for years bro, you're late to the party here

@MasoNowa

19 күн бұрын

​@@jamesbedwell8793everyone has been talking about this for decades

@howjackedcaniget

17 күн бұрын

@@jamesbedwell8793 Not true. Bromley's training is mainly low RPE and strength phases. Not to-failure isolation lifts. He has that same mindset of these lifts somehow not being important. I never understood that. I've only been in the game a bit over 4 years, but I never had that mindset. It's an exercise, a set.

@jamesbedwell8793

17 күн бұрын

​@howjackedcaniget you're right that Bromley doesn't go in for much isolation work (although he has talked about it in the past especially for the shoulders), but I don't think it's fair to say he focuses on low RPE, not when plus sets are such a staple of his programming. In any case, the point I was making was about building a base of hypertrophy before focusing on strength, and that had been part of his brand for so long that he has a book and an app named Base Strength.

Jon Meadows was a big fan of front carries. It’s mechanical stress for back, arms, legs, etc. I can see how the isolation work in different areas would be beneficial

You're coming into that "oldman strength "Alan! Thanks for sharing your experience. Very interesting perspective.

Tricep strength went up for sure from arm training.

For overhead mobility, weren't you doing DB pullover or some other type of lat pullover? Those would keep you pretty opened up and mobile. You can also do it at the bottom of a pullup, shove your head forward like an OHP lockout, I find it helps with the stretch 💪

I hope you'll talk about what's changed for this new program

This is very interesting! Maybe a discussion with Dr. Mike from Renaissance Periodization could expand on this. An strongman and hypertrophy approach from the literature could be enlightening! Much more with your training history and recent experiences.

@overtone55

20 күн бұрын

Love Dr Mike but I don't feel like he has much to contribute to the strongman part. He's a 100% hypertrophy guy and he's great at that

@alemholas

20 күн бұрын

@@overtone55 He has a background in strength focused training too! And a very insightful (to me) video about strongman, hybrid programming and mesocycles. I trough maybe the academic approach alongside Alan's experiences could be interesting.

@Ash-os7fc

20 күн бұрын

Dr Mike is a hack, and the only reason noobs love his is because he funny

@bestwesterner

18 күн бұрын

@@Ash-os7fcI dunno man hack ain’t the word. He’s just so locked into hypertrophy that he excludes technique where one would horse cock serious loads with “less than perfect” form. A hack would be Jason Blaha or some crap like that

Allen I'm you are familiar with the way Powerlifters trained in the 70's and 80's. Guys like Kazmairer and Karwoski trained in a PowerBuilding style. They were jacked all over and almost looked like Bodybuilders. In my humble and unfit opinion Bodybuilder style of training can help strongman and Powerlifting in a very major way.

Do you think that its a viable option to train towards two goals (e.g. Strongman and Olympic Lifting) in the same program (no intention of competing) or would you say that its better to focus at one thing at a time?

@Cwillz303

20 күн бұрын

Yes to both. It is viable to train many things at once, especially if you’re not competing in them. But you’ll get better results focusing on one thing at a time Strongman and Weightlifting aren’t too incongruous; lots of overhead strength, squatting as a good base building exercise; front squatting/front rack intensive stuff, not a lot of need to focus on bench which seems to interfere with the mobility weightlifters need sometimes

@thesamu100

20 күн бұрын

viable as long as you dont intend on getting good at any

How much weight was the keg for the leg carry and load?

What are the P knee sleeves?

Was that in Huntington Beach?

Will you be creating your own strongman/bodybuilding program and sharing it with others, Alan?

A lot of strongman actually do bodybuilding style training, e.g. Eddie Hall, Zydrunas Savickas, ..., etc. You want the whole body to be strong anyway.

For me the takeaway was SAID PRINCIPAL APPLIES EVERYWHERE

Alan, do farmers carries help grow shoulders if I do them at the end of a shoulder workout?

@unclemoneymoneyuncle8702

20 күн бұрын

I'd say they're more grip, core, and trap developers. Shoulders aka delts aren't going to be doing much. But some people refer to their upper back/traps as "shoulders" so it will help there.

@shane_rm1025

20 күн бұрын

If you pre-exhaust your side delts before hand you will definitely feel them activating as a stabilizer. Not sure it will add much hypertrophy but it could make a difference.

You frequently mention "supporting the weight with the skeleton". What if the skeleton has some disc hernias or lordosis?

My log is significantly easier after doing during overhead tricep work. I’ve hit 2 PRs 2 months in a row after a couple of months of taking overhead triceps seriously.

Shit, Alan has a heron-marked blade.

Circus dumbbell Peking program

💪💪🏋

@paulsohns3930

20 күн бұрын

Lol you are everywhere. See you in Sikastan.

@drip369

20 күн бұрын

@@paulsohns3930 I follow the best of the best haha so yes you will see me on their next news update, or training vlog

Interesting!

Bodybuilding isn't an entity. Your application of bodybuilding helped or hurt your strongman performance ❤

Wassup bro 💯

Think its possible that your beard growing in some gave you overall strength.... plus it makes you look more menacing when say "Train Untamed" .

Welp, the bros got something right, gotta have arm day

I could actually guess the first two benefits before you said it.

Does it even make sense unless you want to put on weight?

Farmer's carry jostling might have been due to your body just being light and having less inertia against the weights.

Wow. Who is this thin man? Unbelievable transformation. Like, what?

@drealexatos3459

20 күн бұрын

KZread started showing me these vids again after years of not. These do everything guys have gotten nowhere.

@dansan9858

20 күн бұрын

@@drealexatos3459 Uhu. Sure. Whatever you say.

@virding232

20 күн бұрын

@@drealexatos3459 He's visibly larger.

@SK-2ill

20 күн бұрын

​@@virding232no chance he's larger...not that it matters. He's still very strong.

@OMAR-vk9pi

20 күн бұрын

@@SK-2illhe is leaner

The question is: Have your bodybuilding workouts given you a bodybuilding physique? Or in other words, do people recognize you as a bodybuilder? Because in bodybuilding, absolute strength doesn't count that much. The optics are important. Nobody asks how much you lift, but rather how big your arm is.

U look way more jacked now

Poor trunk stability? You can fix that with lunges/bulgarian split squat in bodybuilding rep ranges. It's great for overall builder for legs without putting a lot of strains(but very taxing on your cardiovascular-CNS)

@tonyverras2688

19 күн бұрын

Bulgarian split squats are as good(maybe a tiny bit better) as a squat in my opinion.

too* 13:41

I really need a hamburger now

Powerbuilding! How dare you!

Νice spine-ripping contest!Good luck with your joints!

Train untamed!

All about finding your weak links before they find you.

Alan, everyone can tell you did a cycle or two of test in the Marine Corp.

7:15 Thank you for not showing your glutes.

Damn this vudeo format is boring. You gotta spice it up man!

First

Got through the good and stopped watching... just joking got a conference call coming up and I'll finish later :D

A lot of French Presses. Clearly a Natural Hypertrophy program 😂

recap: dont do bodybuilding

Tldw?

@louisemmett1999

20 күн бұрын

Just watch the damn video

@Bianstus

20 күн бұрын

@@louisemmett1999 the answer to a "How" question doesn't take 28 mins. So no.

@9jay10

20 күн бұрын

Read the description

@Bianstus

20 күн бұрын

@@9jay10 Real MVP, thank you sir

@hititwithit

9 күн бұрын

There's literally a recap in the video at 27:43

I miss your old style. Big hair, big beard, and big bulks. The new stuff just ain't as interesting.

@dustykercheif7044

16 күн бұрын

U gotta move on to greener pastures

The sport of Strongman rules. Top tier man sport.

Thanks Alan. Are you going to do a vid on the new program natural hypertrophy has created for you?