Tag Archives: rough strength

Some Thoughts on Coaching

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Some Thoughts on Coaching

This blog post will be different from others because instead of exploring strength training methods I will share here my experience in coaching people. I do this for a living, so I guess I have a thing or two to share with you. If you have no interest in this topic, then feel free to skip this article.

In comments section to this article, my long-time reader and good friend Gabri asked to write something on coaching. So, I thought: “Why not?” What you can read here is the result.

Coaching is a very wide theme. You can write a lot on this. Therefore, I asked Gabri for a list of questions that bothered him. As a result, this article will be some sort of improvised interview.

Let’s get to the questions.

1/ How did you start training clients online? Continue reading →

Interview with Max Shank

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Max Shank Rough Strength InterviewAZ: Hey, Max! Tell Rough Strength readers about yourself.

MS: Hi Alex! I own a gym called Ambition Athletics, and I travel around the world as a Master RKC instructor. I enjoy Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu as well as highland games and Ping-Pong.

AZ: How did you get started with strength training? How long have you been doing it?

MS: I got my start when I finished playing soccer around 19 years old. At the time, I couldn’t touch my toes or do even one pull-up. I have been training now for around 6 years.

AZ: Describe your training style. Continue reading →

Bodyweight Reverse Pyramid Training

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Rough Strength Back Lever on RingsSo I have not been releasing new articles for quite some time. You may think: “Ah… He just gets drunk every night and is so hungover that cannot even type”. There is no fucking way for this to be true. I was busy with some useful things, which I will reveal at the end.

And now I would like to kick some ass with an article about the training approach that I consider the one of the most effective out there. Enter the Reverse Pyramid Training.

What Is Reverse Pyramid Training [RPT]?

It all started in my early training days. I experimented a bit with an approach  that everybody called “Reverse Pyramid Training”. There was no information on it, and I had no access to the internet at that time. It was a pure assumption that if you can ramp the weight up every set, you should be able to do it other way around. Due to the lack of expertise and  the moronic race to increase the working weight every session I was not able to get any meaningful results. As a consequence, I dropped the approach and considered it ineffective for some time.

Several years ago I was introduced to a reasonable version of Reverse Pyramid Training by this article. Martin Berkhan claimed it to be “the most successful” for him and his clients. The photos and videos proved his words. After that, I have seen lots of people all over the internet who used this approach with success.

So what is this Reverse Pyramid Training? Continue reading →

Take It Easy

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NOTE: this article is only for people that are dedicated to training. If you make two half-assed training sessions per week comprised of biceps curls and ab work, skip this article. I don’t want to give your lazy ass approval for even less effort,

Take It Easy

The Doors at Rough Strength“Take it easy, baby,

Take it as it comes

Don’t move to fast

If you want your love to last…” (c) The Doors

You know, Jim Morrison was right on this one. As well as on many other things. What I’d like to talk about today is obsessiveness. This topic is quite far from my regular strength stuff but the point I want to make will get clearer really soon. I don’t know how about you, but I’m that kind of person that gets addicted quickly and strongly. When I like something, I can do that all day long for weeks, months, years. Often I get too obsessive about this thing and it can lead to undesirable consequences.

My Mistakes Continue reading →

How to Dominate Sandbag Zercher Squat

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Sandbag Zercher Squat FaceI was a little nervous before the set. Still it was an increase in working weight, unknown ground. Heavy sandbag was lying silently in front of me, challenging to lift it up with all its appearance. Set was going to be filmed, so I had no chance to screw up. I stood above the bag showing my domination and closed my eyes to visualize inevitable victory. I quietly squatted down and grabbed the sides of the enemy. Next thing I deadlifted the bag with rage and jumped explosively to catch it in Zercher position. My goal was at least 3 reps. It’s all probably because of adrenaline running my veins, but when I reached the goal I still felt energy and nailed 2 more. It was really hard to put this bastard down quietly but I made my best and finally got the feeling of euphoria of new PR mixed with faintness. My goal of 90 kg Sandbag Zercher Squat was one step closer.

As you probably noticed, today I’d like to talk a little bit about sandbag strength training, specifically Sandbag Zercher Squat. Above you have read my (pathetic) literature attempt to explain how I was able to nail 85 kg for 5 reps in this exercise. It was filmed and you can watch the video here: Continue reading →