Memoirs of a Strong(er) Beta Tester: Part 2
By
R & K Connelly
As with my last article, my goal is to give you a glimpse into what I did and
how I felt while beta testing
Dave Tate’s Strong(er) Program. Unlike phase one
where things went well for me, phase two turned out to be a lesson on how not
to do things. As I refer back to my notes, there was one major issue that Dave
needed to correct, but there were also many things I did that only exacerbated
the problem. It’s my belief that if I hadn’t had the experience and passion for
training that I do, I most likely would’ve quit. In turn, this leads me to
believe that this is one of the biggest reasons Dave states that this program
isn’t for beginners.
Phase 2
As with phase one, phase two comes with everything laid out for you. There
are three parts to phase two—phase 2.1, transfer to strength; phase 2.2, maximal
strength; and phase 2.3, recovery.
Phase 2.1
This phase introduces max effort and dynamic effort work. This four-day split
reminded me of the basic protocol that I followed when I was utilizing the
methods popularized by Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell. The lower body max
work has a twist and is something I’ve never tried. I don’t want to ruin the
fun, but it definitely takes some willpower to do it with success.
Final notes: This phase turned out to be good for me. I enjoyed getting back
to the 1RM work, and it was a welcome change from phase one. I benched over 1.6
times my body weight on the close grip bench press. This wasn’t my best, but it
was very good considering my elbow problems and weight loss. I used Shelby
Starnes for nutrition through this phase. My lowest weight was 169.6 lbs. That
marks over a 16-lb drop in weight since I started his program in phase one.
This is where I usually add some of the email correspondence Dave and I had
regarding the particular phase. However, after reviewing my emails, I realized
that I had very little contact with him during this time and what I do have
really won’t help.
Phase 2.2 is a completely different story…
Phase 2.2
This is where I believe you’ll appreciate the whole “beta tester” concept.
Not only was I helping test the Strong(er) program and reporting to Dave so that
he could make any necessary changes, I was also doing things that probably
weren’t very bright. Hopefully, I can spare you some problems (unless you’re
like me and need to learn things the hard way).
As I wrote in part one of this series, I’m not a big fan of a writer who pads
his work. I like to get to the meat of the subject. However, there are times
when the topic holds enough importance that it’s necessary to get a little
wordy. This is one of those times.
Let me start by sharing a revelation I had—nutrition is a very important part
of training. While I’m certain this isn’t a whopper of a statement to those of
you who’ve been around for a while—and I’m more certain this’ll be something all
of the “basement gurus” enjoy laughing at—I’ll risk the ridicule by those I
don’t know in hopes that it reaches those who’ve yet to really pay attention to
this concept.
I tend to be a person who gets “locked in” to an idea. This isn’t a bad thing
until I get so locked in that I’m unable to identify when I need a change. Dave
writes about this kind of thing in his book, Raising the Bar. (Do
yourself a favor and read it.)
I stated before that I had hired Shelby Starnes to handle the nutritional
part of my training. This wasn’t required because Dave lays out the basics in
every phase of the training. I simply wanted to go the extra mile. I finished my
time with Shelby at the end of phase 2.1 and decided to hire Landon Evans to
take his place.
Note: After much thought, I’ve decided not to go into detail concerning
the difference between the two. I will say that there is a huge difference
between these two men, and I believe Landon Evans is an untapped talent for
those of you who are looking for a nutritional guide.
Landon was amazing and I think phase 2.2 would’ve been more successful for me
had I listened to him. He wanted to increase my caloric intake to match the
training. I said no. The other problem is that I was still following the cardio
protocol prescribed by Shelby. This in itself wasn’t a bad thing at all. In
fact, I still tend to follow certain ideas he presented to me. The problem was
trying to do that much cardio, including HIIT, while I was working on a maximal
strength phase. Jim Wendler has written that you can’t serve two masters—which
was exactly what I was trying to do.
While Dave prescribed “Cardio: Reduce to three times per week for 20 minutes
at a moderate pace,” I was doing 30 minutes plus and adding in HIIT as well. I
admit that wasn’t the brightest move ever, but I was very locked in. The
combination of my conditioning work, my low caloric intake, and something that
needed to be addressed on Dave’s end created a recipe for disaster.
To be honest, I’m still locked in to conditioning and dieting to get lean.
However, I’m now on phase three, which is the concept of the phase, and so it’s
working quite well. But that’s for the next article. Let’s move on.
RK: I couldn’t hit five reps for two sets again. I got four and three.
Has anyone else on the program struggled with hitting the prescribed reps?
Dave: Reduce the percents by five percent. I’m willing to bet I will
need to do this for everyone.
I have never asked Dave if he dropped the percentages for the final draft of
phase 2.2. However, because his comment eluded to the fact that I was missing
reps due to the percents being too high, I kept right along with my diet and
conditioning. In fact, I was doing quite well even into week five.
So I was making gains and setting PRs. If you look at the volume of what is
prescribed and compare it to what it was in week one, you’ll see that it’s less
than half. This made me feel like I should work harder, so I kept pushing the
HIIT. The problem was that I wasn’t seeing the signs and I was still posting
gains.
Here are a few of my notes from the following training sessions:
· Elbow is killing me. Haven’t had this problem in a while.
· Feeling very slow today.
· Too heavy and elbow is hurting again.
· Really rounded back on squats. Weight felt like a ton.
· Stiff, sore, and tired.
So I asked Dave…
RK: I’m 1.5 weeks out from finishing phase 2.2. I’m brain dead and
ready for a change. Yesterday was DE bench only, and it wore me out like I did
an entire training session. Despite feeling lethargic and unmotivated, I’m still
posting gains every time I do a ME day. I just hit a 20-lb PR on front squats
today.
Dave: You should feel like crap, beat up, and mentally drained at the
end of this phase. But you should be at your all-time strongest. This is where
we want you to be going into the next phase.
So I kept pushing things. I thought I was doing great because Dave said I
should feel like I did. The problem was that Dave didn’t know how hard I was
pushing the cardio.
There’s a wall that one tends to hit when one goes full steam for too long.
Some of you might have come across it before. It’s the wall that stops you from
doing the simple things and gives no hope of making any gains. Mine was so big
that I started going backward. I was supposed to be at my “all-time strongest,”
and the day after that email, I was literally at my all-time weakest. I have
never felt so beat up in my entire training experience. Everything fell
apart.
RK: The last couple of weeks have sucked. I’m to the point where I
don’t want to finish this phase. I’m not usually a quitter, but I only have DE
days and ME bench left and I’m at the breaking point.
Phase 2.1 was great for me. Phase 2.2 started well minus the percentage issue.
There were eight weeks in phase 2.2. I set it up to take a ME attempt on the
regular squat, the trap bar deadlift, the safety squat bar squat, and the front
squat. The plan was to beat what I did in the first four weeks during the second
four weeks.
These are the results.
· Trap bar dead increased 35 pounds.
· Safety squat bar squat increased 15 pounds.
· Front squat increased 20 pounds.
· Regular squat decreased 25 pounds.
· My bench increased 5 pounds per lift until last week when I decreased
10 pounds on a 2-board press. I’m supposed to do a ME regular bench in the next
couple of days, but I don’t think I even want to try it.
RK: I’m depressed, angry, frustrated, and done with this phase. I
need a 10-day to two-week deload. I don’t know what happened, but here are some
random thoughts.
· Four days per week is too much for me.
· This phase is two weeks too long for me.
· I’ve been dieting since November and weighed 168 today. Possibly
too long on the diet?
Any suggestions?
Dave: Ride it out, but the diet for this phase will make it very hard
to do. This is why there are no diet guidelines at all. The expectation is that
people will gain some weight (calorie surplus) to help aid in strength recovery.
There is little cardio as well to help aid in recovery. I’m seeing this as the
biggest reason, but if you eat for a week (to restore glycogen) and rest
before you max, you may be surprised. After phase two (without diet), you should
be carrying an extra two to three percent body fat, be beat up mentally and
physically, and be deconditioned and ready for a deload.
I strongly feel this is needed for a few reasons:
1. The diet break is needed if you follow phase one through three and four.
2. Strength is your base for everything so we sacrifice body fat
and conditioning to bring it up.
3. This allows you to go into a diet phase bigger and stronger than ever.
We may need to drift off in something like extended tension training with four
high carb days per week for four weeks before hitting phase three. Let’s see how
you feel after this week and what your final maxes are.
I can’t tell you what I lifted for my final days. I remember it being so bad
that I refused to log it and that my log book took several “flights” around the
gym. Looking back on my notes, problems started to arise after the first week of
this phase. That first week was extremely hard due to the percentage being too
high—which Dave had us correct. While I can’t speak for what happened to the
other beta testers, I believe this was the beginning of my downfall. This wasn’t
because of a couple of bad training days, but because I wasn’t giving myself the
proper calories and rest needed to be successful in this phase. The signs were
there, and I was even prompted by Landon to increase my calories, but I chose to
ignore everything and steamroll ahead.
I don’t know if someone else would have had the same problems. I can only
relate my experience and invite you to pay attention to what is going on. It may
sound trivial, but it’s important to remember that Dave designed this program
around four training protocols, and this one is for strength. (I write that more
for myself than I do for you.)
Final thoughts
Recovery took a lot longer than I expected. In fact, it took almost all of
phase 3.1 to feel normal again. (This will be discussed in part three of this
series.) I did have a few medical issues that needed to be addressed, which may
have hindered things, but (in my eyes) they weren’t the main issues. The main
issues were pushing too hard and not fueling my body correctly.
The thing I’m most happy with is that I didn’t quit. I’ve seen many of those
around me quit when things got tough or didn’t go their way. I refuse to be
beaten. I pushed forward and did what needed to be done to get back on track.
And that, I believe, is what “extraordinary resolve” is all about.
Are you strong(er)?
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