For all those of you who don't have their own strongman equipment, would like some, but cannot afford any, a lot of it can be made easily out of wood and a few basic metal pieces. For example to make farmers handles you can buy a cheap but strong 4x4 or a piece of electricity Pole, many times you can get scrap pieces of these materials for free, simply cut them to the desired length. Then, screw a strong metal shower handle that you can buy at any home and hardware store into the centre of the pieces of wood. Then, on either end, screw a metal pole fixture or piece of rebar or metal pipe or whatever you want facing vertically up, like the handle, into the wood. Make sure that the metal piping is the diameter of an Olympic plate inner ring or smaller. Then, you can place weight plates onto the metal poles and they will slide down and be kept safely in place by gravity, even if the fit is not snug. This is very easy and cheap to do, and then you can go as heavy as you want. If you are very strong and don't have many weight plates, you can even add another piece of wood below the main piece to make the implement itself heavier.
That, however, is many times the price. I know two skilled metal workers/welders, one of whom is actually a strongman, but they both needed a lot more money to make handles that were functionally the same as mine, except mine were dirt cheap. Metal is better if you can get it though
Doesn't farmer walk and rack pulls above the knee yield same results to your upper back? They both work your upper back in the same way, heavy weighted stretch.
Ryan Thompson I understand Why he is talking So much about traps. Its really one of the only muscles that Will have a big difference in youre physique and the way you look.
He needs to work more on his lateral deltoids to increase his width. His traps just go down at a steep angle straight into his shoulders, making his shoulders look even narrower.
The best thing i love about farmers walk is the grip strength it gives me. I used to have problems with pull ups because my grip got fatigued really quickly. Farmers walk fixed that.
Alex is the epitome of a good UA-camr. He's information is well researched, his content is informative. He intentionally changes up the scenery to make the video more interesting. He does Q&As on the weekends, when he could be going out having fun. Alex.. good stuff man. You're a good dude.
The weights that he mentions here are ridiculous. Unless you’re a strongman athlete, who is walking around with that much weight. A crucial thing here is not only the weight but the time under tension...how far are you walking with the weight and thus the time. You can build big traps with the dumbbells. Just extend the walk...if you can and increase the distance. And handle the weight you can do, and try to improve on it over time...either through weight or distance/time.
Yeah I got my farmer walk up to 560 lbs and I can see myself hitting 600 lbs in two weeks; I don’t really want to go any heavier than 600 I feel the weight is already too much. Gets kind of ridiculous after a while.
I find it very hard to believe that if you get close to maxing out the famers handles that you’ll not have massive traps And I think the walking side to side will make your traps have to work harder, like most people deadlift way more than their farmers walk yet their both known as a great trap builder
isnt RDL's a far more superior exercise than deadlifts, because you don't stress your CNS that much and has less chance of injury, and it's more posterior chain dominant? also, rdl's can overload more back and traps?
That's a good point Aline. In fact, if one were to mix rack pulls and RDLS, I can't see why muscular imbalances would ever arise. RDL requires maximum tightness, and overloads the glutes and hamstrings to a large extent. Very feasible option right here
Christopher Stoltz good point. But it stretches more the upper back and lats more than the "upper traps". It gives a good weighted stretch to the mid/upper back because when you bend over in the RDL it's stretching your mid to upper back in a way that rackpulls do not.
At goodlife fitness here the bar can hold almost 950 pounds, I have been doing this very heavy until failure(wearing straps ofcourse). Some people probably think its inky for your grip, but I'm here to tell you if you wear straps and lift very heavy for 30 feet, your traps will be sore for a week. Also after the farmers walk quickly go to dumbells shrugs, and hold it at the top for 10 seconds. Then rest 2 minutes and do it all again. You have to go to complete failure remember that
If the stretch is the only thing that counts why not rack pulls below the Tip?? (Serious question) Shorter range of Motion=more weight = more stretch=more gains
Strength MM Ive done that with 95 to 135 in each arm. its hard as fuck to stabalize and will fry you if you do too much but its also fkn fun. Other drawback is that you cant really do it in a busy ass commercial gym because there isnt enough bars to go around.
If the weighted stretch is the most important part of rack pulls, what is the purpose of doing it for reps? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to do 1 rep with a long isometric hold?
Well there's other benefits in doing reps, such as hitting the upper back harder, building dead-stop strength and concentric power, leg drive, etc. It's also more challenging than holding for time, even if the TUT is the same. But you're right though, technically one can do 1 set of 30 seconds and it would definitely build the traps.
maxk880 I can't go heavier than 305 on rackpulls I don't have straps and I can't hold it up for longer than half a second without my back starting to feel pain like I train my forearms and grip strength and my back a lot but I'm having trouble in traps so I'm hoping on rack pulls to do the trick but the weight I'm doing isn't heavy enough for me to be overloading my traps
Rack pulls, I'd say past the 600 mark. Usually, when you hit between 675-725 that's when the straps start becoming very important. For the farmer's walk, I don't really know. I always do them without straps
By rotating SPECIFIC exercises that are similar to the lift you are trying to improve on. Example, doing close grip pause bench instead of regular bench. Or bench press with bands.
Is it a waste of time trying to build my rack pull without using wrist wraps. Obviously my grip strength is going to be the limiting factor. My goal is to get massive. Will the forearms adapt to such a high amount weight?
I need to cancel my membership because I can't afford more months. What can I do now, I can't of rack pulls? Ever since I've started rack pulls, even 50 lb farmer walk is easy for me. My highest dumbbell is 35 at home.
The problem with farmer walks is most gyms do not have the space to do them. I did see they now have a "treadmil" that is plate loaded. It has handles that you grab on and you basically load it up with several plates.
Hey Alex can the trap bar deadlift, sumo deadlift and Romanian Deadlift replace conventional squats and deadlifts? I'm not a power lifter and just don't like those two exercises. Thanks for your time brother.
I weigh 65kg which is abit over 140lbs n I can lift 130kg plus whichi guessin is about 280lbs farmers walks.. And I have only just started Doin farmers walk n started back at gym after 6 years off I wanna get to 500lbs in at least 6 months to a year
I've always seen farmer walks as a great forearm exercise. Put some towels or fat grips on the dumbbell and youre good to go. The shaking from walking also takes more effort to hold the dumbbells.
my gym has led suitcases with long sleeves. They weigh aprox. 245lbs/110kg each without plates. Shame there's not much room to freely walk around with them tho.
I did farmers walks a couple times. Last time was 400 lbs total. If you have seen the Princess Bride, farmers walks are like that life sucking torture machine. 700lb farmer walks would be insane. Even with straps and chalk i had a hard time holding 400
Bench press is not the optimal exercise for chest and shoulder devolopment. If you really wanna load the weight and get the heavy weighted stretching on your chest I would say behind the back rack pulls above the knee are the superior exercise. As a matter of fact if you perform the rack pull every time you go to the gym you don't even need to do any other exercise at all.
I agree with what you are saying, but in strongman competition the farmers walk is actually a test of grip strength/endurance not traps. In the deadlift event you are allowed to use straps but you are NOT in the farmers walk.
I hold for about 5 seconds, 2.5 tensed, 2.5 relaxed so it's really pulling my shoulders down, then re rack. Repeat as may times as you can. I've seen great gains in only a few weeks.
Daniel Minamore I feel burns mostly when I don't work a muscle for too long, so in my case burns indicate that I need more frequency. Anyway, in my opinion you should only concern yourself the most with progressive overload.
Weighted stretch discovery: acceleration. This is why the sg high pull is so effective. Because of the long acceleration of the bar on the way down, your traps have to stabilize/absorb tons of force once at hang. Weighted stretch happens from a heavy force pulling you down. This is probably why bands are effective too. Force = mass * acceleration. Acceleration can be another means to increase weighted stretch.
Yeah man, that's also why power shrugs work so nicely. The fact these explosive exercises pull you down so quickly further amplifies the weighted stretch.
Bent over rows to the mid abdominals pulling the elbows back as high as possible will build good traps too. Don't need tremendous weight focus on contraction and lowering the weight slowly it's all about form and quality of the repetition, contraction, stretch and time under tension eventually the weight must be increased to increase resistance or you can reduce rest between sets there are tons of ways to build traps I do enjoy Farmers walk, it builds forearms alot too
Hey alex is it truth that total workload over the week high frequency high volume is the most important factor for hyperthrophie? if you stay in the rep range between 70 -85 %
What trap exercises could I do with a degenerative disc at L5 S1? I would be grateful if you could get back to me or do a video on it. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
hey alex is there any alternative to band training on naturally enhanced... because i dont have access to bands cause i live in greece and there are no shops with powerlifting equipment.... the only way is to order them from amazon and the shipping to greece costs 70€ for only one band and not a pair of bands... what to do... any solutions...i just cant have bands man.
YO ALPHA do you know any weighted stretch exercises for the lateral deltoid? So far I can only think of a heavy leaning side cable raise with a full ROM
Obviously. However, they all attest to the fact that the farmer walks tend to blow up their traps. Ask any Strongman, they always say the same thing. Traps growth is an indirect side effect as a result of their training
Gabriel Martins I think he prefers to post PRs. Btw, are you brazilian? Most of my friends here in Brazil only watch fake natties and famous channels with outdated information.
AlphaDestiny Yo is this workout sufficient in terms of volume for muscle building Full Body Workout A 4*6-10 Overhead Press 4*6-10 Row 4*6-10 Leg Press 3*8-12 Incline Bench Press 3*8-12 Face Pulls 3*8-12 Triceps 3*8-12 Biceps Full Body Workout B 4*6-10 Leg Press 4*6-10 Bench Press 4*6-10 Pulldowns 3*8-12 Pullovers / Chest Flyes 3*8-12 Side Laterals 3*8-12 Biceps 3*8-12 Triceps Btw been deadlifting for quite a few months and just to get a switch off from in for about 6 weeks I'm doing this Also can't squat due to anterior pelvic tilt , ankle mobility issues , tight hips and all this crap The workout is done three (maybe four ) times a week
Alex, i run your novice program and its going well, i progress quite often. But i have one problem. I got stuck on the close grip bench, i dont know what it is. My OHP grows, my floor pres grows, myack got quite thick, but the close grip bech stalled. I tried decreass the weight and work up from there but the same issue ocured. I dont know what to do, your help is verry apricieted.
Let me change some lives here. I'm not one for creating weird variations of great movements, but the Chaos farmers walk by Joe Defranco is one of my favorite exercises of all time. My forearms,traps, obliques are fucking dying after every set. Okay, here's the set up, fat grips+monster mini band around a weight. 2 25lb weights or 35 is fucking murder. You're holding that position or resisting the urge to tilt during a suitcase carry while those bands fucking yank on your traps and forearms. The faster you walk the more chaotic it gets. Fantastic movement.
Farmer's walk focus shouldn't be trap building, it's for function. Tell me how often you're carrying, groceries for example, that weight over 150lbs?? Cat litter only weighs 40lbs, so I think in the functional world, you should be just fine carrying 150 in each hand for minutes at a time...
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
For all those of you who don't have their own strongman equipment, would like some, but cannot afford any, a lot of it can be made easily out of wood and a few basic metal pieces. For example to make farmers handles you can buy a cheap but strong 4x4 or a piece of electricity Pole, many times you can get scrap pieces of these materials for free, simply cut them to the desired length. Then, screw a strong metal shower handle that you can buy at any home and hardware store into the centre of the pieces of wood. Then, on either end, screw a metal pole fixture or piece of rebar or metal pipe or whatever you want facing vertically up, like the handle, into the wood. Make sure that the metal piping is the diameter of an Olympic plate inner ring or smaller. Then, you can place weight plates onto the metal poles and they will slide down and be kept safely in place by gravity, even if the fit is not snug. This is very easy and cheap to do, and then you can go as heavy as you want. If you are very strong and don't have many weight plates, you can even add another piece of wood below the main piece to make the implement itself heavier.
Thanks for your feedback Nick! Pinning this comment
Nick Kraw or go to an engineering shop and get them to weld so Evans up out of scrap
I welded mine and they fit at least 500lb on each
That, however, is many times the price. I know two skilled metal workers/welders, one of whom is actually a strongman, but they both needed a lot more money to make handles that were functionally the same as mine, except mine were dirt cheap. Metal is better if you can get it though
Read ot to many words but no clear instructions
Good shit man, thanks for sharing
The problem with farmer walks is that they're not rack pulls above the knee
Problem with anything else really.
lol. At first I thought it was a jock. But honestly, Apha has too much love for rack pulls above the knee.
... at the knee, or even below the knee .... rofl 😄
Jeeeeeeeeesus
Doesn't farmer walk and rack pulls above the knee yield same results to your upper back? They both work your upper back in the same way, heavy weighted stretch.
Yeah bro...600-700lbs is way too light. My 10 year old curls that.
he is referring steroid users. lol
vampirexorcist there are plenty of naturals who farmer walk 700lbs.
lol yeah if ur doing 600-700lbs farmer walks with trap bars theres no way ur gonna be small
Ikr, I usually lift half a ton on a warm up myself.😁
it's on an almost isometric exercise tho. traps are pretty hardcore.
Every problem he runs into the gym, he solves it by rack pull above the knee
Hassan Nasser 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Band face pull has entered the chat
🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
“trap bars cannot hold a lot of weight”
*shows trap bar holding 20 plates*
It's 14 plates, 300 kilo, 660lbs....Alex has done over 1000lbs..
Fr wtf😂
The problem with the farmer walks is, you need to be a farmer to do the movement. If you are not, you cannot do that.
I think the grass behind you has done some rackpulls above the knee, look at the yolk of the grass!
rackpulls above the stem
It's regular height grass.
Jim Giant Hahahahaha 5' 7" my asssss
It looks like elephant grass (myscanthus) I'm a farmer myself and we grow it.
yolk
I swear to god if this dude makes another video talking about traps and rack pulls above the knee, I'm going to eat my own traps
Ryan Thompson
I understand Why he is talking So much about traps. Its really one of the only muscles that Will have a big difference in youre physique and the way you look.
He needs to work more on his lateral deltoids to increase his width. His traps just go down at a steep angle straight into his shoulders, making his shoulders look even narrower.
@Francesco G. You must have small traps.
@@Paul-Weston his traps are average for a non weightlifter and awful for someone who actually goes on video talking traps
🤣🤣🤣🤣
That background is almost as natural as Rich Piana
Alex is toying with a wider range of insects other then ants and bees. Might even be snakes in there.
😂😂
R.I.P.
So it's not real?!
Wears sunglasses 😂😂
The best thing i love about farmers walk is the grip strength it gives me. I used to have problems with pull ups because my grip got fatigued really quickly. Farmers walk fixed that.
Just rename your channel to Rack Pulls with Alex :P
Vishal R 😂😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
funniest comment on the entire UA-cam!
Rack pulls above the Alex :D
I was waiting for him to drop those magical words *Rack Pull Above The Knee* 😂😂
I like how you're standing in tall grass and getting bugs in your beard to complement the farmer theme of this video.
Alex is the epitome of a good UA-camr. He's information is well researched, his content is informative. He intentionally changes up the scenery to make the video more interesting. He does Q&As on the weekends, when he could be going out having fun. Alex.. good stuff man. You're a good dude.
Dude...do you watch UA-cam?
>aply fat gripz to db farmers walk and prepare for the greatest forearm/biceps torture imaginable
Yep! That's an insane forearm builder
the smallest one, when it feels like nothing in your hands, buy a bigger one
Or use gloves
What if those heavy weights are not building up your traps, but just gradually pull your shoulders down and create the illusion of traps?
Then my shoulders must be down to my ballsack by now.
Lol but for real bro, it does build serious traps.
I know, it was a joke :-)
lol i was thinking about this too ,its like fake traps :P
AlphaDestiny *GiraffeDestiny*
My solution is just walking for longer distances. Like minutes. It gets hard fast.
3:20 I WAS WAITING FOR IT LOL
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE farmer walks! However, the limitations must be addressed with logic and facts.
AlphaDestiny I added fat grips to the trap bar on the walks and that's seemed to really work for me.
AlphaDestiny Yes Alex what is your view on the infamous chest shrug for chest gains?
well, I believe the damage is already done. Farmer walks is triggered.
I was gonna ask about farmer walks, as tbh I like them , so thanks.
Hey alex, can calisthenics skill work be incorporated in Naturally Enhanced?
We need an updated farmers walk video just did them today and I love it
*Alex watch out so the females of the Korowai Tribe with rather large pulling strenght don't pull you into the jungle behind you.*
The weights that he mentions here are ridiculous. Unless you’re a strongman athlete, who is walking around with that much weight. A crucial thing here is not only the weight but the time under tension...how far are you walking with the weight and thus the time. You can build big traps with the dumbbells. Just extend the walk...if you can and increase the distance. And handle the weight you can do, and try to improve on it over time...either through weight or distance/time.
Yeah I got my farmer walk up to 560 lbs and I can see myself hitting 600 lbs in two weeks; I don’t really want to go any heavier than 600 I feel the weight is already too much. Gets kind of ridiculous after a while.
Loaded carries have a better health benefit though, farmer's walks and overhead carries will make your shoulders really stable.
Mercenaries might be lurking in the grass
No they just doing rackpulls
Pulling rack is illegal in my country.. Gr8 exercise for both grip strength and girls
I find it very hard to believe that if you get close to maxing out the famers handles that you’ll not have massive traps
And I think the walking side to side will make your traps have to work harder,
like most people deadlift way more than their farmers walk yet their both known as a great trap builder
What about Farmers Walk combined with shrugs? I have Kettlebell
Farmer walks do wonders for increasing work capacity.
That's so true man, especially if using low rest intervals.
Why walk? Wouldn’t it be better to just stand there and get the weighted stretch if you just wanna work your traps?
The farmers walk actually does wonders for traps. Especially if u elevate ur shoulders , keeping the traps tight while executing the walk.
isnt RDL's a far more superior exercise than deadlifts, because you don't stress your CNS that much and has less chance of injury, and it's more posterior chain dominant? also, rdl's can overload more back and traps?
That's a good point Aline. In fact, if one were to mix rack pulls and RDLS, I can't see why muscular imbalances would ever arise. RDL requires maximum tightness, and overloads the glutes and hamstrings to a large extent.
Very feasible option right here
RDLs on higher reps is awesome, mix with a deadlift from the floor/blocks/pins and you got a great combination IMO. Salve!
Aline Nicolini what does RDL stand for please ?
romanian deadlift
Christopher Stoltz good point. But it stretches more the upper back and lats more than the "upper traps". It gives a good weighted stretch to the mid/upper back because when you bend over in the RDL it's stretching your mid to upper back in a way that rackpulls do not.
Interesting topic Alex. What i did today was prefatiguing the traps with shrugs and then going for a rather long and painful walk.
That's the best way to do it IMO
Should you retract your shoulder blades when doing farmer's walk?
"Reporting LIVE from Vietnam!"
TripintheHead It sure looks like it!😂
Farmer Walks “love you long time”
If weakness is the disease then farmers walk is the cure.
I do farmers walk with 60lb dumbbells, I just walk twice the distance I normally would with 100+
At goodlife fitness here the bar can hold almost 950 pounds, I have been doing this very heavy until failure(wearing straps ofcourse). Some people probably think its inky for your grip, but I'm here to tell you if you wear straps and lift very heavy for 30 feet, your traps will be sore for a week. Also after the farmers walk quickly go to dumbells shrugs, and hold it at the top for 10 seconds. Then rest 2 minutes and do it all again. You have to go to complete failure remember that
So if its the stretch that builds traps, why not just do a heavy static hold instead of a rack pull
A rack pull is a heavy static hold.
If the stretch is the only thing that counts why not rack pulls below the Tip?? (Serious question)
Shorter range of Motion=more weight = more stretch=more gains
Alex, what if i hold two barbells in each arm? Stabilizing is harder but you can go as heavy as you want to
It's a lot harder than you think, like the bar will tip like crazy
AlphaDestiny True. Thanks for replying. I guess i will get some farmers walk implements as i train at home.
Strength MM Ive done that with 95 to 135 in each arm. its hard as fuck to stabalize and will fry you if you do too much but its also fkn fun. Other drawback is that you cant really do it in a busy ass commercial gym because there isnt enough bars to go around.
Adding chains to the trap bar and adding weight plates to the chains will help with a little more weight.
If the weighted stretch is the most important part of rack pulls, what is the purpose of doing it for reps? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to do 1 rep with a long isometric hold?
Well there's other benefits in doing reps, such as hitting the upper back harder, building dead-stop strength and concentric power, leg drive, etc. It's also more challenging than holding for time, even if the TUT is the same.
But you're right though, technically one can do 1 set of 30 seconds and it would definitely build the traps.
Alex how do we increase our rackpull above the knee strength
Same as your increase your strength for every exercise: Keep doing it and keep user higher weights every training
maxk880 I can't go heavier than 305 on rackpulls I don't have straps and I can't hold it up for longer than half a second without my back starting to feel pain like I train my forearms and grip strength and my back a lot but I'm having trouble in traps so I'm hoping on rack pulls to do the trick but the weight I'm doing isn't heavy enough for me to be overloading my traps
@@abdallahhatab874 get straps
What's the difference between rack pulls above the knee and block pulls above the knee?
Block pulls are more difficult, and the weight is dispersed on the die. You get less pop off the floor. Also the bar bends less on block pulls
Please answer this question, would behind the back rack pulls build the traps like the normal version with just a little more lower trap emphasize?
Yes. It does the exact same thing, maybe just a little bit more lower traps
Okey thanks man
Alex I just got my neck harness in the mail to train neck. Can you give some trap advice for a noob doing SL 5x5. Thanks.
Yeah man check out my yoke playlist I have tons of resources for you
Trap bar vs dumbbell handles which do you prefer for Farmers walks
Trap bar. It rolls less and you can go heavier
when should you use straps when doing rackpulls and farmerswalk?
Rack pulls, I'd say past the 600 mark. Usually, when you hit between 675-725 that's when the straps start becoming very important. For the farmer's walk, I don't really know. I always do them without straps
So you said that concurrent periodization is mainly about rotating exercises. But how do you getting stronger on a specific exercise?
By rotating SPECIFIC exercises that are similar to the lift you are trying to improve on. Example, doing close grip pause bench instead of regular bench. Or bench press with bands.
Jeff from the athlean X channel says that below the knee is better. Is he right?
Has anyone gotten blisters from farmer carries using the trap bar?
Is it a waste of time trying to build my rack pull without using wrist wraps. Obviously my grip strength is going to be the limiting factor. My goal is to get massive. Will the forearms adapt to such a high amount weight?
Jacob Hafer Yes they will, just do some forearm isolation as well.
I need to cancel my membership because I can't afford more months. What can I do now, I can't of rack pulls? Ever since I've started rack pulls, even 50 lb farmer walk is easy for me. My highest dumbbell is 35 at home.
Roryyy Mercury make more money
My gym has a short football bar great for 1 arm carries with around 300-350 lbs loading potential.Is this amazing or what?
they make compact farmers handles that you can pretty easily take to the gym with you for loading regular plates
Can you supplement heavier weights with longer durations?
The problem with farmer walks is most gyms do not have the space to do them. I did see they now have a "treadmil" that is plate loaded. It has handles that you grab on and you basically load it up with several plates.
With farmers walk
Are you supposed to "shrug" as you walk
Or hold shoulders in a shrug as you walk?
No need to shrug
Saw this
Thought you might like it
forums.t-nation.com/t/diy-no-drill-farmers-walk-handles/214010/4
Hey Alex can the trap bar deadlift, sumo deadlift and Romanian Deadlift replace conventional squats and deadlifts? I'm not a power lifter and just don't like those two exercises. Thanks for your time brother.
Absolutely. Those 3 exercises are an excellent combination for building the legs, should cover you quite nicely.
AlphaDestiny Awesome man! Keep up these great videos. Love how you roasted the Fake Merc too :)
I weigh 65kg which is abit over 140lbs n I can lift 130kg plus whichi guessin is about 280lbs farmers walks.. And I have only just started Doin farmers walk n started back at gym after 6 years off I wanna get to 500lbs in at least 6 months to a year
I've always seen farmer walks as a great forearm exercise. Put some towels or fat grips on the dumbbell and youre good to go. The shaking from walking also takes more effort to hold the dumbbells.
Agreed 100%, especially with the usage of fat gripz
my gym has led suitcases with long sleeves. They weigh aprox. 245lbs/110kg each without plates. Shame there's not much room to freely walk around with them tho.
Alex what’s your best deadlift PR?
No trap bar at my gym and dumbbells only go up to 100lbs
For me personally rack pulls above the knee have helped my traps a lot BUT honestly they grew so much more when I did clean and jerks 3 days a week.
BTN push press is the best, as it also targets the middle and lower traps more
This is why I purchased farmer carrie implements online, one of the best purchases I have made for my home gym.
I did farmers walks a couple times. Last time was 400 lbs total. If you have seen the Princess Bride, farmers walks are like that life sucking torture machine. 700lb farmer walks would be insane. Even with straps and chalk i had a hard time holding 400
Bench press is not the optimal exercise for chest and shoulder devolopment. If you really wanna load the weight and get the heavy weighted stretching on your chest I would say behind the back rack pulls above the knee are the superior exercise. As a matter of fact if you perform the rack pull every time you go to the gym you don't even need to do any other exercise at all.
Also what is the long term affects on the squishy stuff between the disks in your spinal area? when doing crazy heavy weights
Can I add rack pulls above the knee to your novice program
No
AlphaDestiny why
I agree with what you are saying, but in strongman competition the farmers walk is actually a test of grip strength/endurance not traps. In the deadlift event you are allowed to use straps but you are NOT in the farmers walk.
I know, I'm just saying that it tends to build huge traps a nice side effect. Strongman competitors all say the same thing, farmer walks blow them up
What is the minimum time you should hold a rack pull above the knee for to see gains in the traps ?
I hold for about 5 seconds, 2.5 tensed, 2.5 relaxed so it's really pulling my shoulders down, then re rack. Repeat as may times as you can. I've seen great gains in only a few weeks.
@alphadestiny is it better to chase the pump or the burn. Which one stimulates more???
Daniel Minamore I feel burns mostly when I don't work a muscle for too long, so in my case burns indicate that I need more frequency. Anyway, in my opinion you should only concern yourself the most with progressive overload.
Can snatch grip deadlifts still get you big traps?
Yes
Weighted stretch discovery: acceleration. This is why the sg high pull is so effective. Because of the long acceleration of the bar on the way down, your traps have to stabilize/absorb tons of force once at hang. Weighted stretch happens from a heavy force pulling you down. This is probably why bands are effective too. Force = mass * acceleration. Acceleration can be another means to increase weighted stretch.
Yeah man, that's also why power shrugs work so nicely. The fact these explosive exercises pull you down so quickly further amplifies the weighted stretch.
Bent over rows to the mid abdominals pulling the elbows back as high as possible will build good traps too. Don't need tremendous weight focus on contraction and lowering the weight slowly it's all about form and quality of the repetition, contraction, stretch and time under tension eventually the weight must be increased to increase resistance or you can reduce rest between sets there are tons of ways to build traps I do enjoy Farmers walk, it builds forearms alot too
5:38 Why wouldn't i hold it for 30-60 seconds?
You certainly can. However, there are other benefits of doing reps as I pointed out in another comment
guys dont you get headaches from neck work ? im having this issue..any suggestions ?
Hey alex is it truth that total workload over the week high frequency high volume is the most important factor for hyperthrophie? if you stay in the rep range between 70 -85 %
What trap exercises could I do with a degenerative disc at L5 S1? I would be grateful if you could get back to me or do a video on it. Thanks and keep up the great videos.
Can I add rack pulls above the knee to your novice program?
hey alex is there any alternative to band training on naturally enhanced... because i dont have access to bands cause i live in greece and there are no shops with powerlifting equipment.... the only way is to order them from amazon and the shipping to greece costs 70€ for only one band and not a pair of bands... what to do... any solutions...i just cant have bands man.
Would you use straps on the farmers walk if grip is a limiting factor?
What if you can't do farmers walk with 120on each arm ?
YO ALPHA do you know any weighted stretch exercises for the lateral deltoid?
So far I can only think of a heavy leaning side cable raise with a full ROM
Really heavy dumbbells, try and hold them out only a little, so the stretch is at the bottom of the movement.
i have adjustable dumbles where i can load up plates so that does for me
Won't be heavy enough
Does anybody know the difference between cardio exercises and gpp exercises?
Farmer Walks are a strongman competition lift where you are not allowed to use straps. Weighted stretch on the traps is the least of their concerns.
Obviously. However, they all attest to the fact that the farmer walks tend to blow up their traps. Ask any Strongman, they always say the same thing. Traps growth is an indirect side effect as a result of their training
gym pics and short videos but no full workout goddamn
Gabriel Martins I think he prefers to post PRs. Btw, are you brazilian? Most of my friends here in Brazil only watch fake natties and famous channels with outdated information.
Batalha dalhe nóis huehuehue
Matt. Estamos por toda parte kkkk
Sim, inclusive nesse canal aqui comecei a falar de fitness nessa pegada mais séria. Se quiserem dar uma olhada, agradeceria hahaaa
Gabriel Martins Legal cara, assisti alguns dos seus videos. Seria bom se mais brasileiros se informassem sobre alguns desses assuntos.
I only do cheat shrugs and my traps and neck (18 inch) are great
Alex, how can I train my lower lats. I can't find a non-broscience source. No one talks about it in the fitness industry validly.
AlphaDestiny Yo is this workout sufficient in terms of volume for muscle building
Full Body Workout A
4*6-10 Overhead Press
4*6-10 Row
4*6-10 Leg Press
3*8-12 Incline Bench Press
3*8-12 Face Pulls
3*8-12 Triceps
3*8-12 Biceps
Full Body Workout B
4*6-10 Leg Press
4*6-10 Bench Press
4*6-10 Pulldowns
3*8-12 Pullovers / Chest Flyes
3*8-12 Side Laterals
3*8-12 Biceps
3*8-12 Triceps
Btw been deadlifting for quite a few months and just to get a switch off from in for about 6 weeks I'm doing this
Also can't squat due to anterior pelvic tilt , ankle mobility issues , tight hips and all this crap
The workout is done three (maybe four ) times a week
Cant squat, wont squat, should squat ;)
what are your thoughts on weighted carries/holds in the clean position?
Alex, i run your novice program and its going well, i progress quite often. But i have one problem. I got stuck on the close grip bench, i dont know what it is. My OHP grows, my floor pres grows, myack got quite thick, but the close grip bech stalled. I tried decreass the weight and work up from there but the same issue ocured. I dont know what to do, your help is verry apricieted.
whats your view on Yohimbine. do you think its another type of steroid that people are calling a "supplement" like sarms
No idea bro
Let me change some lives here. I'm not one for creating weird variations of great movements, but the Chaos farmers walk by Joe Defranco is one of my favorite exercises of all time. My forearms,traps, obliques are fucking dying after every set. Okay, here's the set up, fat grips+monster mini band around a weight. 2 25lb weights or 35 is fucking murder. You're holding that position or resisting the urge to tilt during a suitcase carry while those bands fucking yank on your traps and forearms. The faster you walk the more chaotic it gets. Fantastic movement.
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing
you should compete in strongman competitions. you have good deadlift and overhead press and grip and traps. most important in strongman
Thank you for this explanation!
How many times a week can we do it?
I'm pretty sure that you can get some development from less than 800 - 1000 lbs in the trap bar farmers walk.
Lmao yeah his talking about the extreme side... I'm still going to look great
Farmer's walk focus shouldn't be trap building, it's for function. Tell me how often you're carrying, groceries for example, that weight over 150lbs?? Cat litter only weighs 40lbs, so I think in the functional world, you should be just fine carrying 150 in each hand for minutes at a time...