I've been looking for a new program to start on. I was considering DC training, but am not going to do that right now. I'm looking to get back to a very basic program so I'm going to go with the 7/70 again with some modifications.

I just joined up a great new gym that has all the strongman equipment (stones, yokes, tires etc..). I'm going to incorporate some strongman movements into my training, but not quite sure where to put them.

There are some movements that are no brainers likethe log press that I can do for shoulders, but others like the stones, farmers walk and yoke are kind of total body movements.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a split I'm considering

Day 1- Chest/Shoulders 4% solution as listed
Day 2- Legs 4% solution
Day 3- off
Day 4- Back and arms 4% solution
Day 5-off
Day 6- Strongman events

It looks like you’re on the right track Bill. I would incorporate one day of strongman event training like you listed on your split vs. trying to incorporate strongman movements into your specific body part days. You’ll find that the strongman training is too brutal to try and intersperse it with regular training – especially if you do a fair amount of volume like the 7/70 and 4% solution workouts. Trying to do strongman lifts several days a week (on top of regular weightlifting) will have you feeling beat down pretty quickly.

I’m not sure what your specific goals are, but strongman will help you more with strength and power than improving your physique. Yet the extra functional strength you’ll build will certainly help you to build more muscle when you apply that strength and power to more high volume BB types of training. You’ll find there are very few “gym” movements that will increase your strongman strength – but on the flip side, increasing your strength in strongman will definitely increase your strength in the gym, or anything you do for that matter. This is real deal functional strength. Much more than just being able to move a bar along a linear plane. Trust me, everyone you know will be calling you whenever they need something moved or can’t find their car jack, etc.

Most importantly you have to incorporate your routine around your schedule. Here are some guidelines I would recommend:
1. Have a rest day before and after the day you train strongman events.
2. Combine pressing movements together on one day, pulling on another and hips and legs on a third.

The best split I ever used when competing in strongman was as follows:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Pulling (lower and upper back, traps, grip/forearms)
Wednesday: Hips (glutes, hams, quads)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Presses (shoulders, triceps, chest + grip/forearms)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Event Training

If you want to combine a day of Strongman training with the 7/70 program I think the split you outlined is pretty darn good and right in line with what I’d recommend. The strongman lifts will make you stronger on the 7/70 exercises. Mentally, traditional gym lifts will almost seem easy in comparison. The program you outlined would be a good way to make your strength shoot through the roof while still building muscle and improving your physique. If you do get hooked on the strongman stuff and really want to focus on that then you’ll have to adjust the type of gym lifts you are doing. Basically less volume, more rest between sets, lot’s of forearm/grip work, and switching your exercises to the few that will translate well to functional strongman strength. Things like Hang cleans, Zercher Squats, etc. “How much ya bench” is irrelevant in strongman!

I’ve probably rambled more than I needed to in order to confirm that you’re on the right track, but I’m pretty excited for you. I think you’ll have a lot of fun and great results with this workout. And this cross-bred BB/Strongman workout should yield more muscle growth than just strongman training alone. Plus more strength gain than just the BB alone.


Here’s an article I wrote about the nutritional approaches I used when I started training in strongman. I think this would go perfectly with your new hybrid workout:
http://www.bodybuildingworld.com/vol6_4/mrMass.html

Steven,

Thanks for the in depth response. I can already tell that I'm going to get hooked on the strongman lifts, It really is fun.

I've been thinking of different ways to incorporate the strongman lifts into my regular training and here is another idea I had.

Day 1- Chest and shoulders (4%) with log press for the main shoulders movement

Day 2- Goal Spcific legs (Right now I'm trying to get 100 reps with my bodyweight for 1 set ot be posted on Jesse Marunde's website)

Basically a CNS warmup then some warmup squat sets.

Then go to a max effort set with my bodyweight in the squat.

with minimal assistance work (2 working sets of extensions and leg curls as only additional movements to the squats for legs.) Then the Yoke for a strongman movement on this day.

Day 3- off

Day 4- Back 4% solution and super-rest pause for arms( I meant to put SRP in the initial post for arms)
And alternate either stones or farmer's walks on this day for my stongman movements this day.

Day 5- off

Day 6- repeat

If I go with this program I'll really have to keep an eye on my recovery and may add an additional rest day after legs or back and arms.

Any feedback on this split? I wonder if it's too "all over the place", so to speak.

PS

Just to clarify a bit. My goals are mainly bodybuilding goals, but I'm thinking along the lines of what you said about the functional strength helping in building muscle by making me stronger in my bb training.

I'm also thinking that the SM training will increase testostorone much in the same way, if not more than, squats and heavy partial deadlifts do.

PSS

“How much ya bench” LOL, reminds me of the SNL skit with Chris Farley!!

Hi Bill,

I would still recommend doing all your event training on one day and setting aside that day specifically for that. Strong man is OK to train several times a week if you are just doing strongman exercises – this is what many competitors do. But if you try to do a BB workout on top of that you will likely over train pretty quickly. Log Press, Farmer's walk, stone's, etc. will all involve your entire body and therefore will tax your entire neuromuscular system. And this is what leads to overtraining vs. overtraining a specific muscle group. Even Log Press is not really just a shoulder movement like seated military for example. This is a full body burst of power rather than a shoulder movement.

The 4% solutions are pretty progressive methods of training. This plus 100 reps on squats, plus strongman will be too much on any given day. Don’t try to do every method of training on every day. I think the only way you could intersperse the SM through the week on each bodypart day is if you were doing very light weight training on those days and not following a very progressive system like the 7/70. For what you want – increased functional strength from SM + muscle growth and physique improvement – I believe you’ll be much better off splitting them up like I demonstrated in my first post.

Great thanks again.