Deadlifts and Pull-ups are the two most important workouts moves for Spartan Race. Learn how to work them into your training.

Full Transcript

Rich Ryan: [00:00:00] Josh Reed is back in action. Today, we are back in action MC fresh episode coming to you. We are talking about strength training. We were talking about pulling in particular, so that means dead lifts and. Pull ups. And as a lot of us are getting back into it, the it’s important to focus on some of the fundamentals, really dive into the form of the deadlift form for the pull-ups, how to progress them, how to make sure that you’re doing it right. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:00:30] Everything safely, when you should move up, when you should regress back down to other movements, that might be a little bit more beneficial to you. Some gyms seem to be opening across country. We just got an announcement here in Philadelphia that. Well, there are going to be some gyms opening, over in the next week or so, which is great. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:00:46]but it’s important that we are being safe, both from a COVID Stan standpoint and also from a physical standpoint, making sure that we are taking care of the things that we can, which is form and progression. So we do a deep dive on those things. So a lot of cool takeaways. If you liked that kettlebell episode, you will really love it like this one as well.

[00:01:05] But man, it felt good to have my main guy, Josh Reed. Back on the other side with a microphone in his hand. And it was a good one. So let’s get to it.

[00:01:19] So we’re recording and you just had a cool trip. This. Past weekend. Right? Tell us about a little bit what you were doing. It looked, it looked fun. It looked like a lot of good people. Energy come in

[00:01:31] Josh Ried: [00:01:31] super fall, lots positive energy, very tiring. yeah. me and a bunch of homeboys, bunch of mostly just like fit guys running and Monica, Monica came along.

[00:01:39] She was a great,

[00:01:41] Rich Ryan: [00:01:41] I wanted to like. Comment. How did you handle all of that man? That was at, that was like just seven bros. No shirts, nothing going on and just ended is Monica. I was like, wow, good for her.

[00:01:52] Josh Ried: [00:01:52] Yeah. Yeah. She’s too cool, man. She would, she’d like ride her bike or ride her bike next to us on like some of the easier runs like on the rail trail or should just go to do her own thing.

[00:02:01] But, yeah, we had a rock in time. Like day one, we got up there on Tuesday. We ended up spending five days out there. We went and hit Franconia Ridge loop. Oh, this was up in the white mountains in New Hampshire. So Franconia Ridge is a really popular spot. I think it’s one of the more popular hikes, like up in the Northeast.

[00:02:15] And, we, me and this guy, Steve, who really talented athlete, he’s not into OCR yet. We’re trying to get him there. We want it to go. We were like racing each other and we wanted to go for the FKC and we both got it, but he, he obliterated it. I mean, he had such a good day. He was on fire. Yeah. I mean, he was like two minutes faster on the, on the cause there’s segments, you know, there’s like the climb segment, the flat segment and the downhill segment, which is just up, across and down.

[00:02:40] Beautiful really cut to the chase loop. Really cool. Like 4,000 feet of gain eight miles. But yeah, he was like two minutes faster than me on the climb. Two minutes faster across the top and like, and three minutes faster on the downhill. He had a mind, they

[00:02:53] Rich Ryan: [00:02:53] smoked it down. Wow.

[00:02:54] Josh Ried: [00:02:54] Yeah, dude. Yeah. Super impressive.

[00:02:56] I mean, my legs were, my legs were shot the next day. Like my downhill legs. I actually, they went out on a run and I ate shit in front. Everybody were like starting to bomb it downhill and I just didn’t pick my leg up. Okay. I did like a sweet cat roll out of my fall.

[00:03:09] Rich Ryan: [00:03:09] You know how to fall? I don’t know if

[00:03:12] Josh Ried: [00:03:12] that’s a skill.

[00:03:13] I definitely learned how to fall, like from BMX and stuff,

[00:03:16] Rich Ryan: [00:03:16] a hundred percent. I wish I had that. Cause I don’t, I’m not confident in how I would fall going down Hills that makes you more hesitant to do it. but that was one of the main objectives that you wanted to get from this trip. Right? You wants to go after that.

[00:03:28] Josh Ried: [00:03:28] Yeah. That was like, that was my race. Yeah. That was my race. considering none of the actual like OCR races were going on. So yeah, I trained specifically for that. Like I decided four weeks out that was like, okay, let’s do the next four weeks dedicated to this event and like the, the proper tape or going into it.

[00:03:43] And, I feel like I could have gone a little faster, but I had, I had a pretty good day.

[00:03:46] Rich Ryan: [00:03:46] No, no complaints. Yeah. Was it around when you thought you could do

[00:03:51] Josh Ried: [00:03:51] it? You know, it’s like we base ourselves, oftentimes I think off of other they’re athletes, you know, like say you get, just say we’re like a minute ahead of someone else.

[00:03:59] And that’s pretty typical. You’re like, okay. I had a pretty good, pretty good day based on that. So there’s that, that guy, Ben nephew, that I said, he has a lot of prominence in the Northeast. He has like more Katie’s than anyone in the world. And I’m typically like, I seem to be just a few minutes ahead of him.

[00:04:13] Like pretty much for every hour. I’m a couple minutes ahead. So I was pretty much right on par as far as being compared to him. But, but yeah, I think I can shave some time off. I don’t, I don’t think I can touch Steve’s time for a little while. but

[00:04:25] Rich Ryan: [00:04:25] not expecting that. D Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Raceid you, was it a race, did you guys both go at the same time?

[00:04:30] Or does that not count as in FKC then? Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:04:32] Josh Ried: [00:04:32] So we’ll add, as we had in mind, because get fastest known time. If I ran directly with him, it would have been supported. Cause it would have been like a clinical paste or whatever. So we stagger started. So we were all by ourselves.

[00:04:42] Rich Ryan: [00:04:42] Yup. Did everybody go, did everybody do it?

[00:04:45] Josh Ried: [00:04:45] Everyone’s stagger started. Yeah. And we all had great days, man. The whole squad. Yeah. And we all, we all had an awesome day.

[00:04:52] Rich Ryan: [00:04:52] That’s cool. That sounds like really like a real fun time. But yeah, I didn’t realize he was. I thought, like I know him, his name’s Steve Lang. Yeah. He, he has some he’s run at like blue mountain a couple of times.

[00:05:04] So it seemed like he has like fast times. I don’t know. I’m never really mad at him, but, I didn’t know it was gonna smoke. You like that, dude?

[00:05:09] Josh Ried: [00:05:09] Oh, dude. Yeah, he’s moving. Oh yeah. He’s an eccentric go. Wirey, cat. I mean, and the best way. Yeah, he’s an entertaining dude. He’s fast, fast. He brings on some entertainment.

[00:05:18] Yeah, he’s got some, he’s got some pretty good times out there, but. but yeah, I didn’t actually think I was going to beat him. I was just talking shit. So you got to do that from time to time,

[00:05:26] Rich Ryan: [00:05:26] you know, is that retroactively? You can’t like be like, no, but I, I thought I can’t after you didn’t feed him, that’s not how that works.

[00:05:34] Josh Ried: [00:05:34] I, I knew I had a chance. I knew I had a chance, like, based on, yeah. I knew I had a chance, like if I had my best date and he had like an okay day, I think we would have been, I think I would have been him, but, yeah, he’s a, he’s a talented guy and I’ve. Would I love Jason, him just like, I love chasing some of the other faster guys out there in the sport.

[00:05:52] You know, it’s a, I think it’s going to be a little bit ambitious.

[00:05:55] Rich Ryan: [00:05:55] Totally. Of course. Yeah. Why not? Like there’s no reason to not go after it and take it on as a challenge. What I’m so eight miles, 4,000 feet. How long does it take?

[00:06:04]Josh Ried: [00:06:04] it took me one 40 and change. I stopped my watch at one 40, 28 and he went one 32.

[00:06:11] And change. I think it was like one 30 low one 30 twos. And the previous speed record was one 42.

[00:06:19] Rich Ryan: [00:06:19] Oh my God.

[00:06:20] Josh Ried: [00:06:20] Pretty drastic. I was a pretty, pretty strong drop.

[00:06:24] Rich Ryan: [00:06:24] Yeah. He mashed that. And then, so it’s still a pretty long effort, it taking that long. So it was a pretty steep and Rocky.

[00:06:31] Josh Ried: [00:06:31] Yeah. Yeah. It is a steep Rocky and it’s just like so much fun.

[00:06:34] So it goes up, it’s a, maybe three miles to the top, then like a mile and a half across the Ridge with awesome views. Not that you’re really looking, but like, you can see my Washington in the distance. The cool thing about the white mountains is it’s all they’re called the white mountain. Cause there’s like, no, they’re all, a lot of them are about 4,000 feet.

[00:06:47] So there’s not a lot of vegetation it’s above tree line and it gives that light colored like pale appearance. So, and then, yeah, you’ve just got like a three mile downhill. With like some sharp turns. and yeah, you just, just, just blast it. Lots of rock kind of hard on the ankles, but, yeah, it, it rewards the risk takers for sure.

[00:07:07] Rich Ryan: [00:07:07] Nice. So did you, did anyone else come close to you?

[00:07:12] Josh Ried: [00:07:12] I, well, I should say yes, because I guess it is, it all depends on like your scale of what’s close. you know, it’s like, I wouldn’t say I was really close to Steve. He demolished it. You know, he was eight minutes ahead of me, just about, and, let’s see, Frankie was in the one forties.

[00:07:26]Josh furor, I think was also in the one forties. And then, you know, like Javier Escobar was out there. my boy DJ that he coach you, he had a good time in the low two hours. And, which is awesome. Cause he doesn’t really do short, intense stuff. He’s focusing on ultra. So, and then Monica, her goal of a little under three hours.

[00:07:44] So yeah, we all had pretty, pretty darn good time out there.

[00:07:47]Rich Ryan: [00:07:47] but we didn’t get a chance to talk since with the burpee 10, everything we took last week off. Did you win that? No, Mark beat me, Mark. Almost a minute. Yeah. He, he went the next day and just mashed in, he like went pretty much from the start.

[00:08:05] Yeah. I mean, I think I have, I could have pushed a little bit more. Like I never went totally to that. Like. Really dark, nasty place. And so like, like 400 meters. Cause I knew I was done and it was just kind of like maybe two miles I was there. So I was like, I’m not dying, but I don’t know if I’m going to die in like a minute.

[00:08:26] It was like super hot. It was, I’ve never done anything like that. I didn’t know how I was going to like where the, like the death was going to come from. And so I kind of just got into this place where it felt. Like I knew I could hold onto it. And like my time ended up being like solid. It was better than, what we talked about.

[00:08:44] I was doing like five 25 to five 20 threes or something like that in between the runs with my

[00:08:50] Josh Ried: [00:08:50] purpose respectable. So you were doing so that’s, you’re doing two 48

[00:08:54] Rich Ryan: [00:08:54] hundreds. Yeah. Like two 40 to two 45 ish. I think it was where it would kind of be that’s the span from, Yeah. And then like the burpees got a little slow at the NSR taking water at, at the second half of things.

[00:09:06] Like I had a water bottle there and it was really hot, so I just started to sip a little bit. And then when I started running, after the burpees, like my pace was getting better. So I was like, okay, maybe this water is helping, but it’s probably just cause I was taking a little bit longer. I was probably just taking a little bit longer of a break.

[00:09:19] So I never went like deep into like that dark nasty spot that. I could have gone. So maybe if like it was a raise or if I knew what Mark’s time was. cause that’s I told him, I told him like the day after, I mean, I’m not taking any credit for what Mark did, but like, I was just like just running faster than he did.

[00:09:36] And I told him, I was like, just run fast. You think you should? Cause we were talking about five forties in that group chat that we’re in and just kind of hanging on. And I was like, dude, don’t do that. Like just. Go hard. So he went really hard from the jump. He was 500 fives and I think he ended up grinding a little bit harder on his burpees and I did, but it’s still some sweet, some sweet cash for second place, third and the beer mile too.

[00:09:59] And that was

[00:09:59] Josh Ried: [00:09:59] great.

[00:10:00] Rich Ryan: [00:10:00] Thank you. So like collectively, I made them a six, your bucks, just in those two days, it’s more than a Spartan win and it’s more than last year. Last year I did all the U S national series races. Right. And I got. 10th overall. And, but I only got 10th in two of the races that only got top 10 toys and I got 10 in both of them.

[00:10:24] And so like, you get a hundred bucks for 10th in a national series race. So I got that twice. And then if you get 10th in the national series, you also get a hundred bucks. So a hundred bucks, times three that’s, 300 bucks for all those races. So I made a way better doing beer miles and burpee 10. K’s like.

[00:10:40] No, no real travel. It was that’s the way to go. I think these virtual races are going to be how much I’m trying to place. Yeah. Pro virtual racer.

[00:10:50] Josh Ried: [00:10:50] Just, just remember what the next virtual race that if you’re not first you’re last,

[00:10:54] Rich Ryan: [00:10:54] that’s basically how it works. Yeah. Yeah. So in other words, we’re back in action.

[00:10:59] I mean, we’re kind of kid focused on training. We both had some events cause I was doing the same thing, like how you did with SKT attempt at Franconia, or I was like, I’m gonna taper down. and then after that redirect things and kind of building something back up and now that it seems like racism.

[00:11:14] Like aren’t going to happen in Philadelphia. They just announced no public events until February, February. I was like, when is February? I was like, what does it

[00:11:25] Josh Ried: [00:11:25] now? That’s fathomable.

[00:11:28] Rich Ryan: [00:11:28] Yeah. I was like, Oh my God, it’s cold then.

[00:11:30] Josh Ried: [00:11:30] February, is that a planet or something? Is that

[00:11:33] Rich Ryan: [00:11:33] so like, But there’s so all the races here, like broad street was postponed and that’s going to be canceled.

[00:11:38] And now the marathon weekends canceled. So any organizing event that was going to happen is now not going to happen. and I could imagine that. These races and like, all these races are getting canceled now and didn’t mud run officially got canceled, a barbarian challenge, officially canceled Savage looks like they’re going to still try to do it.

[00:11:55]but I’m guessing most of these races are not going to happen. So it kind of put me in a place where I’m like, Oh, I’m just gonna go back and see some base phase training and just start to put in some aerobic work. But along those lines, when you have a lot of time that you’re not going to be doing specific, race.

[00:12:10]oriented training, you can really kind of layer in some strength training as well. And so we want to take some time, if, if you are able to get back into your gym, or if you found a place where you can get some weights for your garage, and we wanted to go over some of the key movements that, we’ve

[00:12:24] Josh Ried: [00:12:24] found are very helpful for obstacle course racing

[00:12:26] Rich Ryan: [00:12:26] and for running in general.

[00:12:27] So we want to talk about the deadlift and the. Pull up. so Josh deadlifts, let’s talk about deadlifts first. So w what are some of the benefits that you would think the deadlift, gives some, like an obstacle course, race athlete?

[00:12:44] Josh Ried: [00:12:44] Well, a little more fundamentally to start. I mean, the deadlift is probably the most essential movement.

[00:12:51] That a human could have next to like the squat cause the squat, you know, you can kind of sit in it to relaxing position, you know, before we had chairs, but deadlifts, I mean, you’ve got to list stuff off the ground, you know, whether it’s, whether you’re living out in the Bush and you gotta pick up an animal that you just took down and you got to bring it back to the height, you know, or you got to drag it or something, or you just got to pick up your grandkids or carry the groceries.

[00:13:13] Rich Ryan: [00:13:13] I’ve heard people say that actually. When they, when they talk about, squats. So like, I don’t squat anything, I can’t clean, you know? So they can’t, they don’t, they won’t put anything on the rack because that’s just never going to be a position that you will find yourself in. Unless it’s just for competition.

[00:13:28] It’s like, no, I’m the only thing I can, I’m going to squeeze what I pick up off the ground. And if I can’t pick it off the ground and I have no business squatting it. so you’re right from that respect, like the deadlift is something that we’re going to be doing every day, like all the time, probably for as long as you live.

[00:13:42] Josh Ried: [00:13:42] Yeah. A hundred percent man. And I mean, to put it in a more specific yeah. Clickable terms. I mean, other than

[00:13:49] Rich Ryan: [00:13:49] the things that I just stated, like

[00:13:50] Josh Ried: [00:13:50] not picking up your groceries or reaching down to, to grab something or doing like yard work, it’s like, yeah. When you’re in an obstacle course, race, pick up the bucket, pick up the sandbag, you know, or we’ll even when you’re.

[00:14:00] Climbing up Hill and your power hiking. You’re kind of in, in a hunched over state where you’re just kind of engage in the posterior chain and kind of a, well, it’s not, it’s not the same manner as you would be if you were upgrading. So dead lift comes in, kind of helps you out and give you a strong hand pun intended.

[00:14:14] You know, when you’re in these positions,

[00:14:16] Rich Ryan: [00:14:16] Strong bond that work has upon maybe. I think it did it’s okay. So yeah, you’re right. And a lot of others, of course racing, it is a lot of pulling and it’s a lot of posterior things. That’s why we’re not going to talk about the, the bench press. and like the squat itself, like that’s might not be that applicable to this because, again, like there’s never going to be a situation where.

[00:14:38] You going to be to overload things so much that the squat will help. And I think the squat is helpful in terms of mobility and just improving your mechanics and just overall power output. If that’s something that you’re lacking in, but the deadlift to me is just the best bang for your buck. And I find it the most enjoyable in my own training, just because it seems really productive.

[00:14:57]it gets like your entire puzzle of your, like your upper back, mid back, you know, glutes the whole deal. and just gives you a lot of bang bang for your buck.

[00:15:04] Josh Ried: [00:15:04] Yeah, we are a we’re gorillas and I feel like pull ups and deadlifts really help us tune into that. And that might be the reason it feels so good because you feel like a damn Silverback.

[00:15:13] Rich Ryan: [00:15:13] That’s hilarious. Yeah. Because those are the things that they would do in the wild. Right? Like you wouldn’t see them doing a back squat or, So, yeah, so, and the deadlifts there, like you mentioned, the bucket carry or any type of carry anything that’s going to help. With like the core strength and something that you didn’t handle load that way, but there’s also the tire flip.

[00:15:31] Josh Ried: [00:15:31] Oh yeah, you’re right. That’s probably the heaviest and most applicable yeah.

[00:15:37] Rich Ryan: [00:15:37] Apples to apples. Right. Because it essentially is a deadlift. And we’ll talk a little bit about some tire flip, tips and tricks and things like that and how to improve those, that, but if you can’t lift it with your posterior, like, it doesn’t matter, you know, your form won’t matter if you’re not strong enough to, to, to absolutely get it there.

[00:15:52] So, and with the deadlift, it is. A movement that is a little scary, from a coaching perspective, because you can lift a lot of weight with awful form. And if you’re not dialed in with what to do, you will potentially hurt yourself and you have a great chance of wiring patterns incorrectly or creating some sort of compensation.

[00:16:11] It’s just because like, you can just pick something up off the ground and not really have to worry about what it looks like. so I would love to kind of dive in a little bit and talk about. The ins and outs of, of kind of like the setup of the, the deadlift and what that is going to look like and what the expectations are.

[00:16:29] So, when I think about the first piece of this, and we talked about this in the kettlebell episode a little bit too, I still consider the hip hinge as being the main thing. So, when teaching the hip hinge, Josh, what do you, do you have anything specific that you like to do, for that to kind of help cue people along?

[00:16:46] What the proper movement patterns, patterns are?

[00:16:48] Josh Ried: [00:16:48] Well, probably the easiest way is to have one Amir so they can see and make that connection, that visual connection with, I feel so having a mirror next to you, so you can see yourself from the side view is fantastic and put in a box or a medicine ball. I mean, depending on the mobility of the person, a higher platform, maybe to start with someone with a little less mobility, but ultimately you are, you’re trying to keep your torso your back flats, not to be confused with like vertical.

[00:17:11] And start to reach your hips back towards that seat. And they’ll notice a lot of your weight kind of shifts back into the heels. And that’s just a good indicator that you’re loading your posterior chain of good wakes. When you come up onto the toes a little bit, the weight kind of shifts out. You lose that advantageous tension and you start to put a little more stress on your back and that’s simply not ideal.

[00:17:31] So kind of shifting the way back into your heels. Sit the hips back. As far as it’s really, you can go and down as far as they need to go.

[00:17:39] Rich Ryan: [00:17:39] And, and the way that you talked about that loading piece is a really nice indicator of where, like what the patterns are looking like. So if you are hindering your hips correctly, you’ll feel it in your glutes and your hamstrings.

[00:17:51] But if you are. Kind of getting more into like a squat position, that load will shift into your quads and right there, that’s when you know that you’re kind of out of that position. And if you can reach things back a little bit further. So like, would you said with having it to reach your butt back into, onto like a chair or a box or then like that you can even use the wall, you just step out from the wall a little bit and keeping your back completely flat and again, hinges chopping at your hips.

[00:18:15] So you’re. Your chest comes forward and your back stays flat and reaching your butt back to touch it. So you can kind of feel when it’s in the hamstrings or the glutes, whoever use a drill where you can kind of put like a PVC or a dowel and hold it onto your back and, try to maintain contact from your head through like your kind of tailbone all the way across, just to make sure that your back is staying flat the whole time.

[00:18:37] Have you seen that? Totally.

[00:18:39] Josh Ried: [00:18:39] And that, that seems to work really well for people that have, a little too much like flection. And they’re like in their upper spine people that can I get a little bit of a hunchback, whereas people that have good extension and maybe even have a little bit of that, what looks like a little bit of a negative arch and low back, you don’t want to too much of that, but a little bit.

[00:18:55] It’s all right. For those people I found it actually can be a little bit confusing. Because they’re trying, if they’re in a good position and they’re almost putting themselves in a slightly more compromised, but ultimately I think it is a good, it’s a good thing to emulate to you. I mean, looking at it, you’re like this is a straight line I want to try and be as straight as possible.

[00:19:12] And if people somehow can’t make that. That connection, which it happens. I mean, it’s more, sometimes it’s more difficult for people to understand how their body moves and you can tell them something over and over, but they just, they can’t even make the connection, having that physical stimulus there, that thing actually against their back for them to get that immediate feedback.

[00:19:29] Pun intended can help from the house

[00:19:33] Rich Ryan: [00:19:33] dominating puns. But yeah, the tactile feedback is like, what is going to really help drive some people, you know, like they can’t intuitively feel what it’s like to physically feel where they should be, is really helpful for that. so that’s the first thing, right?

[00:19:46] Like, and if you don’t have the hip hinge right away, you’re going to put yourself in a bad position because. If you’re looking at a deadlift, the devil is like, there’s a, w w we’re going to talk about straight bar. When we talk about deadlift is just, you know, the straight Olympic bar. we’ll talk about some variations later, but for the straight bar, it’s just going to be right in front of you.

[00:20:02] And if you don’t hinge at your hips and you kind of bend at your knees or your, or use, like kind of squat down toward it, Immediately your back is going to be rounded. And that’s the one thing you want to avoid the most. And that’s going to be the main indicator of, if your debit form, or is that a whack or if the weight is getting too heavy, if that back starts to be rounded.

[00:20:19] So if you approach the bar and bend at your knees and grab the bar, and as soon as you pull your back, your lower back will be rounded right from the job. So that’s why the hip hinge is crucial because the setup is really everything with the deadlift and, and is where you should probably spend the most time.

[00:20:34] So, if you can’t appropriately a hip hinge, that’s where you need to spend your time and doing things like kettlebell swings is a real helpful way to learn, learn that hinge. or just doing things like,

[00:20:43] Josh Ried: [00:20:43] good mornings,

[00:20:44] Rich Ryan: [00:20:44] good mornings. Yeah. RDL is good. Or, and trying to figure out like where you are or, a really good one is, just w w pull through, I think they call it not a pull through.

[00:20:53] Maybe it’s like where you attach like a cable. You have a cable machine or a, a band loaded, anchored against something and you pull the band and, between your legs, like in you’re facing away from the anchor point, and then you’re just hinging back and then squeezing your glutes to move the band back and forth.

[00:21:10]that is a great way. One to activate the glutes and also to use the hip hinge where it’s not really loaded cause the good, good morning yet. You, if you don’t have the hip hinge, you try good morning. Like it’s not going to be great. And same with the RDL, same, same thing. So you want to make sure that like, something like that, that’s not loaded as much can help.

[00:21:27] Yeah.

[00:21:28] Josh Ried: [00:21:28] The pull through, actually, I hadn’t really thought about that, but conceptualizing it it’s that that’s fantastic. Cause yeah, the, that puts the load like directly on the hips. Right. Moving them forward. That’s great.

[00:21:38] Rich Ryan: [00:21:38] Yeah. So you don’t have to worry about loading up your back or anything. Oh like that.

[00:21:42] So, so once you had that hip hinge down and. You want to work from like the ground up when talking about the dead. So we want to talk about this stance a little bit. So when you’re looking down, down at your, your stance, where do you, what do you look at first?

[00:21:57] Josh Ried: [00:21:57] I, I do, I think it’s good to kind of get a little bit of variety and with your dead list, I used to do a lot of Sumo, but let’s be honest.

[00:22:04] I think that was because I was just kinda like my body. Size, you know, torso to like weight ratio, you can pull more weight and Sumo typically, and it makes me feel better.

[00:22:13] Rich Ryan: [00:22:13] Some people, yeah. And that’s a mechanical thing. And Sumo is where your legs are gonna be, a little wider than your shoulders and your arms are going to be inside, right.

[00:22:21] Of, your legs. like, is it, if you were going to. Sumo wrestle

[00:22:28] Josh Ried: [00:22:28] doably but yeah, for the purpose of running and propel, you’re propelling yourself forward. RDL is far more specific to that sort of motion, getting that nice straight extension out of the hip. So the typical stance is going to end up being right about shoulder or about shoulder length.

[00:22:42] Children with rather, you don’t want to go too narrow. Don’t want to go to Y but you have a little bit of wiggle room. So, you know, if it’s a nice, comfortable stance, if you jump up, I think, one of the ways they say to do it, it’s kind of just jump up in the air lately. And however you land, that’s probably your power stance, right?

[00:22:55] That’s probably going to be your power stance. So experiment with that, you know, your feet are relatively straight. You don’t no need to really toe out or anything. You don’t want your ankles collapsing or anything. But shorter way. What do you think?

[00:23:05] Rich Ryan: [00:23:05] I agree. And I like that cue of like jumping and just like, and in wherever that landing position is, is where you’re going to probably feel most stable and it’s most likely going to be hip width, shoulder width.

[00:23:13]it wouldn’t be anything necessarily more narrow because if you land narrow, you’re going to be able to kind of tip over a little bit easier. So having it be like right at hip width is a good, a good place to start. And the bar itself should kind of cross over your feet, like right in the middle of the laces.

[00:23:29]so you don’t want to be all the way up against your shin to start. And definitely not out in front, like near your toe. So kind of like lining it up right where your shoelaces would be like directly across the middle for that, that starting point. And then when we’re there and you need to work on like where your hips are going to be.

[00:23:46] So this kind of goes into the, the load again, and this is another really hard spot for, for people to kind of conceptualize and it takes a lot of work. And I know I had to work on this as well because. When I started doing deadlifts, like I was doing CrossFit and it crossed with the catheter, everything at you at once.

[00:24:04] Right? Cause it’s like, you know, being ready for the unknown and unknowable. So like we’re doing cleans and we’re doing squats and we’re doing that. Right. And the debit, isn’t a key movement, at least it wasn’t in, in, CrossFit back then. So everything started like the clean position. So the clean position, it’s much more quad dominant and your chest is very upright.

[00:24:22] Where in the dev, if you want to lift those hips up a little bit to load those hamstrings again. So it’s kind of a weird position. How would you describe the position where like your hips should be in the deadlift?

[00:24:34] Josh Ried: [00:24:34] I love it. It’s going to be different for everyone because you have different like flexible and, but, but yeah, when you’re grabbing the bar bars over your, over your feet, close to the shins, you know, you’re in that power stance, you’re grabbing it right up.

[00:24:44] That’s also, we didn’t touch on that. The fact that your feet are hip width apart, approximately gives your arms a nice guide to kind of like right outside your knees. They’re not being stuffed out. You don’t have to move your knees or put your arms too wide. so your legs stayed pretty straight. Your arms stayed pretty straight.

[00:25:00] That’s a nice mechanical position, but yeah, from there, I like to, you lean the cues kind of go like this, lean back into your heels a little bit. Start to lift your hips up, find some tension in your hamstrings. And once you find some tension in your hamstrings, okay, you squeeze your glutes, squeeze your core, squeeze your lats, check that your head is neutral, perform the lift.

[00:25:22] What do you want to make sure that all of those things are in a line? So you sit back. Squeeze the glutes squeeze the core, squeeze the lats, the last, the core. Those need to be tight to keep your spine safe and to give you some good, while intra abdominal pressure to keep the spine safe, to execute the lift.

[00:25:37] And, yeah, you squeeze those glutes. You pull them through and the weights off the floor.

[00:25:41] Rich Ryan: [00:25:41] I think the, the squeezing, the glutes is a huge one as well. And keeping the, it’s anterior pelvic tilt, right. You want to keep that your hips underneath?

[00:25:48] Josh Ried: [00:25:48] you’re going to be anterior.

[00:25:50] Rich Ryan: [00:25:50] Yeah. If you, if you turn out and like you get that lower back, kind of like curved is you’re going to kind of lose that connection between your abdominals, like everybody in lower body.

[00:26:00] So you want to be interior. Tilted. And that means, you know, kind of tucking your tail underneath your legs of somewhat yeah. Squeezing your buzz zone. Josh’s squeeze your glutes, just squeeze that butt. And then, then you’re ready to roll because the same thing, if it’s not, if that’s not connected and that’s not really engaged, as soon as you pull.

[00:26:17] And you’re going to lose that, the stability, like you said, the intra abdominal pressure, and you’re going to lose it. And you’re going to start to, it’s going to pull you forward and you’re going to be in a rounded back position, right? From the jump

[00:26:30] Josh Ried: [00:26:30] collapsed. Your spinal will flex.

[00:26:32] Rich Ryan: [00:26:32] And that’s a huge one, especially when people’s are building up is to really keep like, like squeeze your glutes.

[00:26:36] Yes. But also having it tilted under a little bit will really put you in a good position and make it a much more smooth transition, when lifting that, that weight straight up. and one thing that you mentioned that I do want to stress and really kind of focus on and just like kind of drill this thing home is your gaze and like your, your head too often.

[00:26:56] I see people like have like their chin, like kind of. Pointed to the sky and had a huge herb,

[00:27:03] Josh Ried: [00:27:03] I

[00:27:04] Rich Ryan: [00:27:04] guess. I don’t know. I don’t know why that’s like that, but it’s like looking up and trying to lift the weight up. Yes, it is some sort of like you like look to this guy and pull it up, but like your head goes up and you can just think about your spine and just.

[00:27:18] Creates this curve where everything you want to keep neutral. So I always try to tell people to keep a, think about like holding a soft ball between your chin and your chest. And that’s like where it should be. And you should be just like looking straight forward and like your head shouldn’t really move at all because I haven’t assaulted.

[00:27:31] And also the, when people finish, they finish like huge and back and it kind of rock back into the, Deadlift for whatever reason,

[00:27:41] Josh Ried: [00:27:41] it’s easier. It seems he does like a moment of relaxation, but yeah, you want to stand a little backward. Lean is fine, but you want to stand tall, strong, really fricking own that weight.

[00:27:51] Strong core. Maybe take a little breath. And drop it with control.

[00:27:54] Rich Ryan: [00:27:54] Yeah. Yeah. And dropping it back as is also important too, because like, if you drop it straight down, you can know again, kind of put yourself in a compromised position with your, like your lower back, being all out of whack and then a little bit rounded.

[00:28:06] So you just want to do the same thing as you’re up there. You want to hinge your hips back and let that weight slide down your quads until it gets rippled your knees. And then you’re going to bend your knees and bring it down and we have to stop dissolving your knees and collapse down. Make sure that you’re guiding that bar down.

[00:28:20] Which is like, which is something you have to do. Cause you got get in that tactile feedback when using a straight bar, use a trap bar. I see this a lot. When people don’t use a trap bar, there’s kind of dropping it straight down because they don’t have to have that hip hinge to get the, to literally get the bar out of the way of the knees with a trap bar, you can just kind of drop the thing.

[00:28:38] And I found, I found the trap bar to be a really nice tool for beginners. I’m like a trap bar, dead lift and for, and, and a, A kettlebell deadlift, just kind of, it moves the weight more to center and it allows for a little bit more room of air where if the bar bells out in front, like if you’re, if you’re position, it’s going to move away from you and it’s going to kind of screw you up.

[00:28:59] So yeah. the trap bar has been a big. like kind of a buzzword that people really, really liked the trap bar. What are your thoughts on it?

[00:29:07] Josh Ried: [00:29:07] I think the trap bar is rad for certain. if you had that available as a beginner, I would definitely recommend using that. It’s kind of like a beginner and an ender thing.

[00:29:15] So use it with lightweight to start out because you might feel really strongly. Like you can load it up a lot. But you’re not getting that tactile feedback, as you’re saying, to get to force yourself to get into a good position. I think that you’d be better off doing something like the straight bar, or even though it is more complicated, ultimately, because it requires you to be in getting better for them.

[00:29:36] That’s a good thing. That’s a good sort of complex. You will need to learn that pattern. And the kettlebell is awesome for that as well, because it stays right up in between. You, you feel the contact. Of your forearms and the bell with your hips at the top of the position. And it’s just easier. You can see the kettlebell directly underneath you.

[00:29:51] Whereas with the trap bar, the it’s like out to the side visually and physically, I feel like there’s less feedback to tell you whether you’re doing something right or wrong. So I’ll reserve it with rather like lightweight for beginners. That way, if you do do something incorrectly, Or not perfectly, at least that it’s a, it’s fairly low risk.

[00:30:08] And then for people who are very skilled that want to get into more of that conventional deadlift position without scraping their shins, you know, a little bit lower, a little more like that squat position, then you can really load it up because you can be sure that you have pretty good mechanics.

[00:30:22] Rich Ryan: [00:30:22] Yeah.

[00:30:22] And the trap artists, if you’re listening and trying to picture it, it’s like the hexagon bar that you stand in between hexagon, right. His

[00:30:27] Josh Ried: [00:30:27] name inside of it. And you are trapped.

[00:30:29] Rich Ryan: [00:30:29] You’re trapped is that I w I would look this up one time. I was like, is it cause you’re trapped in there or does it work?

[00:30:34] You’re. Traps more or what, how did you do in geometry or are you a good geometry student?

[00:30:41]Josh Ried: [00:30:41] I, my school didn’t have geometry, bro.

[00:30:44] Rich Ryan: [00:30:44] You just didn’t take geometry. They were like, no, you’re held back. You’re going into it. You’re you’re now you’re in algebra one again. yeah, cause I was gonna throw gems you term out there and hope that you would correct me, but that’s not going to be the case.

[00:30:56] Josh Ried: [00:30:56] It is a hexagon. In equal sidelines.

[00:31:00] Rich Ryan: [00:31:00] Hmm. All right. Let’s move on from math. That is the math section for today. That’s all we can really cover on it, but, the trap art is cool. And I think that this was popularized by, the guy at Nike Ryan Flaherty, GC, like he D he was the one who, who’d have people do

[00:31:16] Josh Ried: [00:31:16] trap

[00:31:16] Rich Ryan: [00:31:16] bar.

[00:31:17] And then do plyometrics directly after it. And he found that there was like a direct correlation in, in like sprint speed. And like, he worked with a lot of people who were, working as, like

[00:31:27] Josh Ried: [00:31:27] NFL prospects.

[00:31:29] Rich Ryan: [00:31:29] So like it improved, people’s like 40 yard dash, like crazy. and that was something like, and now people caught them like, Oh, the chat bar is good, but they weren’t sure why they it’s like supposed to be so much better.

[00:31:40]And they just want to use it and use it and use it. And because of this guy who popularized it and these pro athletes who use it, but for an endurance athlete, I don’t know how, how much benefit that would be to improve your 40 sprint time. And it is kind of

[00:31:54] Josh Ried: [00:31:54] scary. You could argue that there’s a correlation between, I mean, if you have good endurance and you have a high power output, there’s kind of a marriage of those two.

[00:32:01] Right? So I. So, yeah, I would think that that would be quite advantageous. My curiosity is where, why did they do a hex over, over straight bar? What was the main reason? You know, I can, I can see that the hex bar allows you to get into a little bit more of that squat jump. So that would make sense for certain track sports, but for running for sprinting, I would think intuitively that straight bar.

[00:32:22] Would it be, would be better, more applicable.

[00:32:25] Rich Ryan: [00:32:25] I think when he went through and did it, he he’s, he’s more of a gym guy he’s like you or I, and he’s not like someone that’s going to break down the mechanics and the why behind it. I think this was just kind of trial and error. He just like did it and saw it, correlated that way.

[00:32:38] So he’s just like, well, I’m just going to do this, everybody and just saw really good results. and maybe it is just because of power, like being able to load it up a little bit more. Cause typically you’ll be able to. Lift more with a trap bar than a straight bar. I think it’s fair to say almost across the board, right?

[00:32:55] Yes. So maybe that was more like just being able to load it up a little bit heavier. and that, and that Josh, what’s your one rep max.

[00:33:02]Josh Ried: [00:33:02] I don’t know what it is right now, but when I, because I’ve kind of moved on from deadlifts one, cause I was kinda moved out of the gym scene and I’ve started to get a little bit more into kettlebell.

[00:33:10] So I think that I have a higher overall power output, but my max strength is probably decreased quite a bit as far in the deadlift realm. But when I left the gym, I was able to do four 35 with a bell and I was able to do four Oh five with, for two, for two, without a belt, no straps straight

[00:33:27] Rich Ryan: [00:33:27] ball. Nice man.

[00:33:29] That’s strong, dude. That’s really true. I mean, and that’s the thing with the, with the deadlift it’s like, you need to, you only need to get so strong for us for obstacle course racing. Right? Like having a 400 pound deadlift is sweet, just because that’s four plates, four Oh five, right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:48] Josh Ried: [00:33:48] There’s a lot of noise when it hits the floor.

[00:33:50] Rich Ryan: [00:33:50] Yeah, totally. But like, yeah, like the required strength in an obstacle course, race, like you don’t need to be doing that much. I’m like,

[00:33:58] Josh Ried: [00:33:58] yeah. Modeling. That’s why I let go of it because of the demand on like central nervous system with the fatigue that it puts and the hamstrings it’s it’s of not worth it.

[00:34:07] Rich Ryan: [00:34:07] And that’s where, when you get up to that strong, it can be detrimental. It takes a long time to build up to that. It takes a long time to recover from that, from the nervous system, like you’re recruiting so much and because you’re capable of doing that, that’s gonna kind of whack you eventually and just really kind of put you back.

[00:34:25]and that’s like, last time I wrote a test, I think I did. I pulled three 70 for double, and this was a couple of years ago. And that’s, and that’s so you figure, you know, one or maybe three 90, and like, I feel like I don’t need it to be much more, than like, like I would be, I would probably start doing it more if like three Oh five became an issue.

[00:34:46]But luckily it has not. So what do you think like a good spot would be for people, to have the required strength when it comes to deadlifts for, for obstacle course racing?

[00:34:56] Josh Ried: [00:34:56] I think that, I think that a standard for, for a gentleman should be like, you should be able to do two 25. For a minimum of a few good reps.

[00:35:04] I think two 25 per five would mean that you’re not going to have a problem with the tire. granted you’re not totally spent when you get to the tire. so if you can do, if you can do two 25 consistently, I think that’s a pretty good place to be.

[00:35:15] Rich Ryan: [00:35:15] I think that’s a really good recommendation. That’s what I was thinking like, cause two 25 is heavy enough that you need to have the proper form and be able to recruit enough and it won’t completely.

[00:35:23] Destroy you. And we just actually kinda nice about not being that strong is that you can do deadlifts a little bit more often and not like be completely wrecked. And doesn’t take that much time to get up to two plates. and where does it, what do you think that puts that for the women? Like one 85.

[00:35:36] Josh Ried: [00:35:36] What is our, I mean, I think that is doing one 85, especially for like, for five reps. That’s, that’s very respectable. And I think that’s going to put you at top of field, honestly. I would say though, that just based on the weight of most of the women that I have driven the field, some of those smaller women that are in like the one.

[00:35:54] You know, a one 2130 pound range. I mean, if they can do, they can do like one 55 for five reps. I think that more than covers what they would have to do when I look at their, their demands, as far as the weight of their tire, the, there are buckets, the only exception would be where being a little stronger might come into play.

[00:36:10] It would be something like OCR, champs, where they have to do the same sandbag as the mat.

[00:36:16] Rich Ryan: [00:36:16] Right, right. Because that is the thing, they’re their tire. And this is the time where I will. put in deadlifts pretty frequently for the athletes that coach I’ll just do it in the off season, leading in. it’s just like, okay, let’s just make sure we’re good.

[00:36:29] We’re strong. We’re covering our bases or if someone has consistent issues with the tire and the tire is interesting because. I can almost, I almost consider it like a grid obstacle at this point, because it is more of, I find that the hands and that being the limiter, but there are athletes who do, or the limiter is they’re there they’re back there, posterior strength, or just like their form in general.

[00:36:50]well, for the women’s weight, for some reason, it’s just, it’s not the same. It’s like they’ve undershot or undershot the women or overshot the men when it came to the way equivalencies in this because women never miss a tire. And guys do miss the tire for an OCR, for sure. I’m actually not sure what either the tire weights are.

[00:37:07] Josh Ried: [00:37:07] I heard or heard through the buy in that the men’s tire, somewhere in the ballpark of a is for something. I think the women in the high tooth, maybe two 75, this it’s on kilter, you know, you’re only lifting maybe 50% of that.

[00:37:19] Rich Ryan: [00:37:19] Right, right, right. Totally. Yeah.

[00:37:20] Josh Ried: [00:37:20] you better, I’d be able to tell you max.

[00:37:22] Rich Ryan: [00:37:22] Exactly. And the, Right. Like, so that’s not like, I don’t even know what that, what a heavy tire really is or what, like one rep max tire flip or what a four Oh five deadlift what that should mean for a tire, you know, because it ends up being just like the elements are screwing it up. Like it’s just wet and you just can’t get under it.

[00:37:38] Have you been in many races with the tire? I mean, you’ve done West Virginia.

[00:37:42] Josh Ried: [00:37:42] I have a, I did West Virginia. I did Tahoe and I think I’ve only ended up killing tin. I think those are the only locations that I, I encountered the tire. And the, you said it was an issue for me. I mean, I was exhausted at the end of Tahoe, but, but I was able to get, you know, like it was against the pavement, which made it difficult to get the fingers underneath it.

[00:37:58] But like you said, like once you’re, it’s a more of a grip thing. Get like getting your fingers underneath it, but once you have it combined, like up to the knees with a piece of cake and then West Virginia, it was very muddy. Again, it was a grip thing more than an actual posterior chain

[00:38:11] Rich Ryan: [00:38:11] ability. Totally.

[00:38:12] Yeah. For ever. And I didn’t know when to give up on it. So I just like stood there and got passed by so many people just like waiting to, it’s trying to dig under it, actually dug a hole to get just wasting time picking grass out of it. So I could flip it

[00:38:28] Josh Ried: [00:38:28] over. Letting your nails grow up for two weeks prior to the event, like seriously.

[00:38:32] Rich Ryan: [00:38:32] Yeah. yeah, so that was, that was a big screw up on my end. Yeah. Tahoe is interesting because like, I just think all obstacles just easier out West or in the mountains that just dryer. So they could actually do that pinch grip we’ve ever seen people do that, where they pinch it with one arm and kind of come across the other way and, and kind of pinch, yeah.

[00:38:48] And they can just kind of lift it, which is straight up grip strength. And when it’s dry, it just pops right up. but in places like West Virginia, that might not be, always the case like you saw. I think Kent was having a great race at West Virginia this past year. And you just couldn’t get that.

[00:39:02] Penny’s that pinch. That was a bummer dude. how long do you think is long enough? Like, is this something that I’ve never really thought about? Because I was just stubborn and like kept digging at it. Like, do you think you should do a tire flip before? You’re just like the burpees are gonna serve me better.

[00:39:19] Josh Ried: [00:39:19] Oh, gosh, no thyself. How long does it take you to do burpees? How tired are you? How, you know, what are the obstacles that are coming up afterwards? Is it like more grip, intensive stuff? I mean, studying the map, if you like, if you know it’s going to tax your grip and like you have to do some rigs and the her case after, and you concerned about your grip.

[00:39:36] Maybe do the burpees. but shit, I probably, I probably spent a good 30 seconds, but at 30 seconds is an eternity in a race,

[00:39:43] Rich Ryan: [00:39:43] you know, 30 seconds, 30 seconds I think would, would feel. Shorter when you’re, when you’re struggling with a tire than you would think. Like I probably spent two minutes on the tire of that, that day just cause I was like, and then I flipped at once and struggled to flip it over the second time.

[00:39:57] And I was Walmart and half way I’m already here. Cause it was hard to know when you’re going to fail the tire. So I think that having this strategy of like looking at your watch or I’ll just like being like, if this thing is not done in 30 seconds, I need to go do burpees. Yeah. I think that’s fair because I mean, burpees are going to take.

[00:40:13] I mean, they’re going to take that to those same two to three minute, three minutes probably right. In a race two and a half.

[00:40:21] Josh Ried: [00:40:21] Yeah.

[00:40:21] Rich Ryan: [00:40:21] Yeah. So that’s fairly good. And getting that, that three minutes in that, is a good place to, to really kind of call it a quit I’ve after 30 seconds or so. So, have you ever seen like a Jefferson girl.

[00:40:36] Josh Ried: [00:40:36] That rings a bell, but I don’t actually, I can’t get an image to that. Describe

[00:40:40] Rich Ryan: [00:40:40] it to me. So all of them deadlift variations and all of those things that we kind of talked about,

[00:40:44] Josh Ried: [00:40:44] it’s Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:40:45] Rich Ryan: [00:40:45] all about keeping your back flat and straight, and never really let allowing it to, fold forward, the Jefferson curl is just folding forward.

[00:40:54] So you kind of stand on a platform. So it’s just a kind of way to, lik Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Racee train the flection of things. And like, so you stand on a platform, you roll your shoulders forward and like vertebrae by vertebrae, just slowly start rounding your back until your legs are straight until you are clear, folded, and your legs are straight.

[00:41:09] So you get an awesome hamstring stretch. And then when you bring it back up, you up your abdominals. And, and, and start to stack your, vertebrae on top of each other until you reach the top. So it’s done with like really, really lightweight, but it is an awesome, awesome exercise. If like you have some upper back mobility stuff or something like that, back backs the strengthening thing.

[00:41:27] So

[00:41:27] Josh Ried: [00:41:27] that’s why I had never heard the term Jefferson curl, but I have done that a hundred times in yoga class.

[00:41:31] Rich Ryan: [00:41:31] Yeah, no, totally. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:41:33] Josh Ried: [00:41:33] I mean, yeah, it feels great.

[00:41:34] Rich Ryan: [00:41:34] No, that’s what they’ll tell you sometimes to stack your, your brand top of each other and come to a sovereign visual, the blades. Back, but yet you can elevate your feet if you have good flexibility and then kind of round all the way down and get that, which is pretty a pretty sweet one. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:41:48] So if you are constantly hitting these like flat back movements, you might want to try to switch it up and do some Jefferson curls with that Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[00:41:55] Josh Ried: [00:41:55] and not a bad idea. So I tell you what, man, we were talking about how you should hit. It’s like, sir, wait, if you want to be able to lift the tire, blah, blah, blah, but you don’t want to do too much dead left new cause it might fatigue, but now’s a good time.

[00:42:07] Probably because of races aren’t happening, right. To get into some dead lifts. So yeah. What do you think is a good, is a good place to, to hit these deadlifts? As far as volume goes, where’s a good place where it’s not gonna take you out of your running game. It might, you might be tired on your run the next day.

[00:42:24] You might feel a little fatiguing, the hamstrings, but overall, it’s gonna be a good balance between starting to build strength and still be able to build on your running.

[00:42:30] Rich Ryan: [00:42:30] So in terms of volume, it’s like sets and reps and things like that. I think working to a heavy set of. Five or even trying to get to three, if you’re really working on the strength building phase is a good place to start.

[00:42:43] And with something like deadlifts, that can be like, we mentioned that you can kind of throw you out of form fairly easily. I wouldn’t go really high on the reps. I don’t think I would ever program anything with eight or even 12, 12 or eight or so. so I think keeping it in that like power, power, lifting.

[00:43:03] Rep range of like that fi like three to six or so it would be a good spot. What do you think in terms of like progression and then where to start in volume?

[00:43:11] Josh Ried: [00:43:11] I totally agree, man on, so I made it for a lot of us. We haven’t been to the gym. Maybe you haven’t had access to an Olympic bar, so that that’s a specific movement that you might think that you have in the bag, but I would, I would take it easy getting back at it.

[00:43:23] And I’ll just make sure you got the mechanics down because at the end of the day, you can be that guy that lets a crap load of weight, but people are gonna look at you. Yeah. I feel like it’s foreign. It’s

[00:43:30] Rich Ryan: [00:43:30] just

[00:43:31] Josh Ried: [00:43:31] gross. Perfect. That form look beautiful. Doing your list and then start to work the weight up.

[00:43:36] So getting back at things, just go back and do like 40 or 50% of what you knew that you could do that. I would say do 10 reps. Cause it. You’re spending enough time with the bar in hand, going through the motion. You can really feel yourself going through the motions and kind of rebuild those patterns that might have diminished a little bit over the past few months.

[00:43:53] And then, you know, the next week hit 60%, same thing, maybe eight reps, 10 reps, and then a week three, you can start getting up into more of those strength ranges. Get to 70%. Now you’re doing five reps. Week for 75% max doing three to five reps. What I like to do with my clients is start to hit. It don’t be so, so rigid.

[00:44:15] If you’re, you know, you don’t want to have a program that says you’re doing your, your standard five by five, very popular because it works right. You might be on that fifth set and reps for November four, you’re struggling. And it’s looking ugly. I say, I say, put it down. So I say aim for five and diminish the reps as you go along need be.

[00:44:30] So you can perform with. Quality because not only are you going to start to build poor habits, you start working out with bad form, but you’re also going to really tax your central nervous system. And that’s going to end up being, you’re going to get diminished returns. So. Less is a little bit more when it comes to doing heavy deadlifts.

[00:44:48] Rich Ryan: [00:44:48] Totally. And what does that feel like to you when, because it is something and w always talks about at the time, it’s like, you can do deadlifts with terrible form. Right. And you get it done. And you’re like, cool. I did that. What does it feel like when you’re in over your head a little bit, or when like the, the form starts to kind of throw off without being like injured?

[00:45:10] Like how would you know, when, when it’s like, what does it feel like to you.

[00:45:14] Josh Ried: [00:45:14] I feel like it’s going to be, you might feel like you’re muscling it. Like you’re not in, I mean, you should get to the point of doing dead lifts, where you put down a rep or you put down a set, you know, whatever three reps and you’ll walk away from it and stand back.

[00:45:27] And you think to yourself, like that felt so good, that felt clean and crisp. I was in control the entire way. And if you have any doubt about the amount of control that you had, that might mean that you’re starting to fatigue. Hmm. And you should probably either call it a day or, you know, just do one more set of one or whatever, just to check back in on yourself and try and really focus on it.

[00:45:44] But yeah, for me, it’s more of a mental thing. physically, physically, you might be sore on a weird way, but I think that if you did something really bad muscularly, you’re really gonna know. Yeah.

[00:45:53] Rich Ryan: [00:45:53] That and that. Yeah. And that’s a good way to put it. It’s kind of like what I mentioned not going into like that dark place during the burpee 10 K like, you shouldn’t want to go there in a deadlift, right?

[00:46:02] You shouldn’t be on the fourth rep of a deadlift. If you’re like, I’m going to go for it. This is just needs to be everything. If you’re like in power lifting mode, like smelling like sniffing salts or whatever, trying to get that weight up, like that’s too much. That is too much. So like, yeah. And if you get to the point where you put it down, you’re not sure.

[00:46:20]just let it, let it go. Take that one. Okay. how you, and then where would you take it? They get up to, would you take it up to three? Or how, how many, like where, where do you draw the line in terms of. What is enough from like a percentage base?

[00:46:38] Josh Ried: [00:46:38] Yeah, I think, I think that I would take it up to 85%.

[00:46:41] So yeah, week one, getting back out of guys and gals 50% of your one RM, and by the way, estimating your one rep max, either you knew what it was coming out and you can kind of get a guest, maybe take off, you know, 15, 25 pounds going back in. or you can just kind of retest it out. if you do a one rep max.

[00:46:57] Conversion, you can do, say you get 10 reps of one 35 there’s conversion charts online, but that’ll tell you that your one rep max is probably around 180 pounds. or if you’re doing two 25 for 10 reps, your one rep max is probably close to 300 pounds. So you can test yourself out that way. it’s a little less stressful than just jumping right in and trying to find your one rep max, because let’s be honest.

[00:47:17] Once you actually get in the game. there’s no reason to do your one rep max. It’s like super duper stressful. It’s yeah. I, you know, I did it back in the day, but that’s when I just wanted to like, lift as much weight as possible and I’ll lift the next guy, you know, it was more of an ego thing, be the biggest gorilla.

[00:47:32] So, so it’s fun and all, but for performance and our game and OCR and running, it’s unnecessary.

[00:47:37] Rich Ryan: [00:47:37] Totally. Yeah. It’s just something like you said that you would want to know. but it doesn’t matter. Like yeah, like less you are in the sport of powerlifting, then maybe, but that’s even then they probably just save it for competition.

[00:47:52] Josh Ried: [00:47:52] Yeah. So, so week one go out there hit 50% do 10 reps of that. and this is gonna be like three to five sets of everything. You know, don’t be one of those people that’s thinking I’m gonna do a hundred reps of deadlift today. Again. It’s unnecessary. It’s unnecessary. You’re better just stimulating your posterior chain and then going for a run.

[00:48:06] After you do a few sets a week to hit 60% of their water max week three 70% week four 75% week five. You can go up to 80%. Do five sets and start out with five reps. And if you have to diminish, maybe you get to your third set, you get to rep number three, and you think that was hard. That’s fine. On your next set.

[00:48:26] Go for two or three on your next set. Finish it off with one or two quality reps. So maybe you’re only doing 15 or 20 reps, you know, of this, of this heavy weight, which isn’t a lot, but it is a good stimulus. It’s a very strong stimulus,

[00:48:38] Rich Ryan: [00:48:38] definitely. And I feel like this is a good, that’s a good spot. And that’s where.

[00:48:42] Like, you’re going to get the best bang for your buck in terms of the performance that you’re going to see on the course. But, a lot of OCR athletes, they supplement their trades where they’ve come from the background of CrossFit, kind of like myself. But, I had more running background first. Okay.

[00:48:56] But like you do in CrossFit, or if you go to a gym that is more based around like Metcons or whatever, like you’ll see dead lifts in, Metabolic conditioning classes. What do you, what’s your stance on that? Like w like doing deadlifts four reps of like 45 and plus

[00:49:14] Josh Ried: [00:49:14] no, that’s that’s sports that is sport specific to more of CrossFit.

[00:49:18] That’s what their competition is. Look like high reps of heavyweight. That is not what our sport looks like. So it’s, again, it’s, it’s unnecessary for our sport.

[00:49:25] Rich Ryan: [00:49:25] I totally agree. And like, if you’re programming, something like that, and you are a, a coach or you are like, and you coach OTRs leads or you, or a gym owner of some sort in your programming.

[00:49:38] 50 dead lists like that, going to serve the people well, and like, because it’s a fun workout, like doing Diana or whatever, which is 2115 nine, a deadlift 25 and handstand pushups. Like, yeah, that would be something that would help. Maybe your aerobic ability, but like not

[00:49:56] Josh Ried: [00:49:56] for our sport. Yeah. I could see that playing a role for maybe the stadiums.

[00:50:01] Yeah. I don’t really know, why, what DECA fit looks like in the realm of like lifting? I don’t know if you have to do like sand bags over the shoulder or something. Maybe with the short course stuff. You’re getting away with that once in a while, if you’re really addicted to CrossFit, but, but yeah, it’s not going to help you in a very much in a super,

[00:50:16] Rich Ryan: [00:50:16] in a short course, if you’re proficient at that kind of way.

[00:50:19] And you could do handstand pushups, well, like then maybe you’ll kind of get a similar feeling that what it is in the back half of a, a stadium, but probably not.

[00:50:29] Josh Ried: [00:50:29] Right. Just in regards to like the suck

[00:50:30] Rich Ryan: [00:50:30] yeah. In regards to this stuff, but you’re probably not, probably not that good at either those movements.

[00:50:35] You probably can’t push it. Yeah. Hard as you can. and so you’re better off doing something like, even a kettlebell swings that, you know, you’ll get the same type of benefit or you get the same type of, response from the deadlifts that you would get. And it will just be less wear and tear and probably even a little bit more practical, get some grip gains in there.

[00:50:53] Josh Ried: [00:50:53] Clarify, when you were saying like we’d parked like heavy deadlift, we’re talking about 20 reps, a heavy deadlift, you know, if you would do a warmup set of like 30, 40, 50% of your one rep max 10 reps, that, that doesn’t count that your warmup, you’re just kind of tuning up your nervous system. you know, if you’re, maybe you’re doing some accessory work, warming up with doing some single leg.

[00:51:11] Stuff like a slow pace. That’s not very taxing on your central nervous system. You’re just kind of warming things up. So we’re talking about like 20 reps of the heavy stuff.

[00:51:20] Rich Ryan: [00:51:20] Yeah, totally. So that, and that, that there’s no place for that. Like, it might be fun, but it’s not going to help you. And that’s where you need to kind of figure out your goals.

[00:51:29] This is a conversation that I go back to often, if you’re wanting to go to classes and you’re wanting to do these things, it’s like, okay, then you don’t want to get. As good as possible at OCR. Like then you want to participate in classes and you want to do CrossFit workouts that are like standardized.

[00:51:44]so yeah, when it comes to deadlifts, like you want to be in that, work yourself in step, power lifting rep range and just get the most, strength gains with doing the least amount of damage possible.

[00:51:56] Josh Ried: [00:51:56] Totally. So check this out, going back to what you were saying, about this, this Nike gent who had had his clients, his athletes doing deadlift followed by plyometrics rate.

[00:52:06] I actually, I did that a lot, but I had my clients do that. I don’t have them really doing it right now for two reasons. One, because we think maybe there’s an event that might be coming up and I really want them to focus on some other stuff. And two, we’re working a little bit more with kettlebells, which is more working on power.

[00:52:19]you can kind of hold on to max strength a little bit with that, but where we want to work on the explosiveness, we’re doing kettlebell work. however, I did have everybody doing dead lifts and what I would have them do is I’d have them do it and kind of an email on fashion. But every three minutes on the third minutes you have five, you have five sets, listen up, everybody.

[00:52:33] I’m giving you some free stuff here. All right? Every, every, every three minutes you do your set of deadlifts. Maybe you start out with five reps. Maybe it goes down over the next few sets. We do your fiber as a dead lift. You walk away from the bar. You walk over to your plyo box and you do two, three explosive jumps.

[00:52:50] Hi, like get that box pretty much. Yeah. Hi. As, as you can handle. So you can, you really want your brain to be like, okay man, we got a Trump freaking high right now. Your posterior Chan’s already lit up from the dead list. Now you’re going to get super explosive. You’re gonna jump up on those boxes. And then you’ll mosey over to the bar, the pull up bar, and you’re just going to do it too strict total bars.

[00:53:10] And my theory laugh. The reason I like to incorporate these things is. The plyometrics, obviously you’re just recruiting your fibers that you just got recruited with the deadlifts. You’re recruiting them in a faster manner. And then you get to go over to the pull up bar. And you’re going to kind of balance things out from the deadlift where you get to use the front, the abdominals a little bit more than the back.

[00:53:31] So you’re kind of keeping your core engaged, kind of getting some balance core work through that. And you’re also engaging your lats enormously and the lats do play a huge role in this deadlift. So you’re just kind of reminding the body, Hey. Here’s here’s some of the other muscles that we, that we are focusing on, that we need to use on that deadlift when we get back to the bar in a minute.

[00:53:48] Rich Ryan: [00:53:48] And how many, like how long is that then? Is that like a 15 minute or 15 minute? Cool. Yeah, I like that a lot. And that’s a good way to kind of incorporate a bunch of things on a time crunch. One of the previous guests, Matt lip tack had had a lot of really cool things along those lines as well. Like figuring out like.

[00:54:02] The best way is to work in a bunch of, sports specific workouts. And this would, and again, this isn’t doing 20 box jumps to exhaust yourself, right? Like that’s not the point,

[00:54:14] Josh Ried: [00:54:14] tiny stimulus, tiny potent stimulus. You’re doing a few reps of like max effort, vertical jobs, right.

[00:54:20] Rich Ryan: [00:54:20] Just a couple. And that’s, that’s another thing that like, you know, this high intensity type of attitude really has.

[00:54:27] Driven into people’s like, well, if I’m doing box jumps, I’m doing 20 until I’m exhausted. And yes, it is a good way to kind of increase your like cardio and really get your heart rate up. But not in terms of power.

[00:54:38] Josh Ried: [00:54:38] Totally. If you want to do some hybrid box jumps at the end of this workout, because you have, cause you’re training for stadium.

[00:54:45] That makes sense. So you’ll do that at the end of the workout is your metabolic finisher

[00:54:48] Rich Ryan: [00:54:48] right there. That should be something that is more and more sports specific for, what your goals are going into. I like that that’s a really cool work. And I think that makes a ton of sense in ways to kind of work it all in.

[00:55:00]yeah, man. So we were going to talk about pull-ups. I don’t know if we have time to talk about pull-ups because we just talk. We

[00:55:06] Josh Ried: [00:55:06] do, but I think we, I can think we can fit this in it. I think people should have hang on for another 15 minutes. We should dive into pull ups real quick.

[00:55:12] Rich Ryan: [00:55:12] Talk about pull-ups then.

[00:55:14] Josh Ried: [00:55:14] Screw me, man. There’s so many types. It’s again, it’s one of those fundamental movements where we come from this background of being, of being chimpanzees, right? Why? At one point in time and another, we were probably swinging from trees and lifting stuff off the ground. We got the dead list down from lifting things off the ground, lifting up rocks, looking for insects, you know, Grabbing animals, whatever.

[00:55:33] Now we’ve got to pull up

[00:55:34] Rich Ryan: [00:55:34] and the pull ups are one thing that’s for obstacle course racing is going to be really huge for a lot of people. I mean the overhead, overhead hanging obstacles are the one thing that really stand out and make obstacle course racing. Different. And a lot of times it boils down to grip strength, but a lot of pulling strength is something that is going to be helpful for both your grip.

[00:55:57] And just for your ability to kind of get through these obstacles, like ring, rigs rings, monkey bars. so being able to really build and work on your pull up is, is huge. I think it’s what, probably one of the, the key movements here. So where do you start when you’re, like for, for your pull up for your pull up mechanics?

[00:56:18] Josh Ried: [00:56:18] You know, it’s a polo to focus on the mechanics of a pull up. You have to be able to do the pull up. So for anyone listening, who can’t currently lift their body weight to the bar, On their own. Couldn’t recommend enough getting a pack of resistance bands. You can hang them from your car. You can loop your knee or your foot into it, and it’ll help help you go against gravity a little bit.

[00:56:40]I have a green band that full stretch. It lifts 135 pounds. So it’s, you know, if I put that thing on, I can do a freaking a hundred reps. Yeah. So get yourself one of those. Okay. It’s better to be able to do several reps assisted. Then struggled to even do one on assisted cause you’re probably not going to do it very well on assisted.

[00:56:59] So give yourself a pack of resistance bands. I use a pack. I don’t know if they have them in stock off Amazon, but I use a one called I N T E Y N T. They’re actually really durable. I have no affiliation with the company, but I’m just really impressed by their durability and their cost. I got a pack of four.

[00:57:15]what different resistances for the price you would spend for like one road?

[00:57:18] Rich Ryan: [00:57:18] Really? It was like 40, 50 bucks.

[00:57:20] Josh Ried: [00:57:20] Yeah, I think it was 30. I think it was 35 or 38 or something like that. It probably went up because everything’s going up right now, now in the fitness world. So, but yeah, I N T E Y. NT good resistance bands working for me right now.

[00:57:32]I recommend them to people. So if you’re just starting out, throw that up on, on the bar, try and get yourself a couple of assisted pull-ups. And if you can, if you can’t even pull yourself up with that, you can kind of use your other leg or put a chair next to you. Jump yourself up to the bar, resist yourself, coming down.

[00:57:49] Doing negatives. Those are

[00:57:51] Rich Ryan: [00:57:51] awesome.

[00:57:52] Josh Ried: [00:57:52] Yeah. Negatives will help

[00:57:53] Rich Ryan: [00:57:53] be great. You sensor probe is huge. Like if you ever got, I’ve done that, like scan your chin over the bar and lowering yourself down as slow as possible, like five to 10 seconds, your lads get low lit dude, you will be so, so impressive. The one thing with the resistance bands.

[00:58:12] And that I’ve seen with these is that they they’re great for getting in that, getting into volume and getting in the practice, working on the mechanics, we can figure out body position, but you don’t get any help getting out of the dead. the dead hang, like that’s where all the resistant resistance is, is when your arms are fully extended in the band, right.

[00:58:29] Full stretch. So it kind of pulls you out of that itself. So I would also recommend that you do just spend time practicing, even just trying to pull yourself, even if you can’t get yourself out of that hole, just working to engage as much as possible. Didn’t try to pull yourself like an inch, just so you are getting a little bit of that stimulus because that’s the thing that can happen with bands that you just miss a whole part of the, the, The movement.

[00:58:51] So you, or, and so if, if you’re not strong getting you’re stronger working from halfway and up, like, that’s great, but if you can’t get it to halfway, you’re going to need to work on that. So I would kind of loop that in with that as well. And just kind of doing a second set of just three by. Two seconds polls as hard as possible.

[00:59:10] So maybe you’re going to go like an inch or two, but just resting. And then again, just trying to engage as much as possible. I’m trying to pull as hard as you can to, to help you get out of that, that hand position.

[00:59:20] Josh Ried: [00:59:20] Good addition. Yeah. I, I’m glad you said it. I agree. Yeah. If you can hang from the bar.

[00:59:26] And try and get yourself into a strong banana, you know, a strong hollow hold. You are going to be really impressed with how your, your abdominals feel. You’re going to create a and how much your lats actually have to be engaged to assist in that. So it’s kind of cool. You might be seeing a, a pattern with this, how your, like your last and your core.

[00:59:45] Often work together to help move your arms and your legs limbs. So that’s a strong point. Yeah. Learning how to do a strongholds, get a nice strong hollow hold while hanging from the bar.

[00:59:58] Rich Ryan: [00:59:58] And you can practice hollow holds and hollow rocks is another exercise that I really like is on the ground and just putting yourself in that hollow position laying on ground.

[01:00:06] So your lower back is going to keep contact with the ground at all times. And your shoulders are gonna come up. Like four to six inches and your feet come up that way as well. And just going to kind of balance on your lower back, you’ll feel it in your course so hard. And if you try to rock back and forth, like a boat, I guess, like you’re like a Seesaw then your it’s a, it’s an incredible deep core word.

[01:00:27] Josh Ried: [01:00:27] It’s like,

[01:00:28] Rich Ryan: [01:00:28] it’s really tough. I it’s, and, and. Most likely when you start doing that, we’ve done it before your lower back is going to start to arch and it’s going to come off of the ground. So that’s the case, pull your knee into your chest to make sure that that lower back remains on the grounds. Like that’s how I do them.

[01:00:42] Cause they’re so freaking hard and you know, I’m so fit right, bro. So I need to pull them into my chest and rock back and forth and it, it, it really does pay off like you’ll get done and you’ll do 10 of them and be like, Oh my God. And that’s a good way to practice that because, one thing that will happen with these with pull ups and how you’ll see basically everybody do them as that kind of flail, like they’ll, they’ll use their knees and their feet to kind of get them up and just help hoping that they get up, however, which way they can.

[01:01:11] So being able to hold that proper hollow position is good. They get way harder to make a way harder, but that’s why the bands are going to be important for you to start.

[01:01:17] Josh Ried: [01:01:17] Rich. What do you think is the, are there benefits to both strict and too, like the kipping rocking motion?

[01:01:24] Rich Ryan: [01:01:24] The, the, the kipping pull-ups are interesting.

[01:01:27] I mean, it’s like, are you talking like full on CrossFit kipping ones, or just being able to kinda like, can up and get, get a little bit more out of it.

[01:01:35] Josh Ried: [01:01:35] Well, I guess there is a difference between the two. So let’s consider there to be three styles of pull-ups like actual learning the kipping motion kind of just, and then, then there’s strict.

[01:01:44] And then there’s the in between where you’re like, kind of just like wiggling yourself up to get up.

[01:01:48] Rich Ryan: [01:01:48] Yeah. Yeah. So again, it can kind of come down to sports specifics, but if you’ve ever done actual kipping pull up, it gives a really good, like increased range of motion and you will be sore in different places than that than what you were in a regular pull-up you that’ll kind of be in your chest a little bit more.

[01:02:03] If you’re doing butterfly, it’ll be in your bicep a lot more. I do think you should have a required amount of strength before you are relying on these. And that’s where, that’s where there’s so much hate on kipping pull-ups and I can’t, I mean like, people are still doing this. I’m like you two are like, Instagram.

[01:02:18] They’ll be like seeing CrossFitters do no, there was no pull up. There’s no pull up, bro. It’s like, Yeah, no, but they’re doing like a sport. Like they’re trying to do it as fast as possible. so I do think there’s a benefit in terms of the sports and an obstacle course racing things are not always going to be strict.

[01:02:35] You’re going to be able to, you’re going to need to be able to move yourself through space and have a little bit of coordination. And the Kevin calls do that. Like you can’t just go into a gym and just do it, giving, pull up with it without ever practicing. Like it takes time to learn these patterns and figure out how to move your body through space.

[01:02:50] So, so yes, I do think that there is a place for them. How about yourself? Nice.

[01:02:54] Josh Ried: [01:02:54] Yeah, that was a low hanging fruit. Totally. You got to learn that. Do, do them strict. And once you can do like a bunch strict and you know, you have strong, good form, you understand like what? Yeah. A sturdy core feels like what it’s like to use your lats.

[01:03:05] Properly then you can start doing more of these swinging motions. You can feel how you have to wiggle your body to move laterally across monkey bars or something like that. That’s where like swinging your body about become super duper valuable. So absolutely learn how to do them strict first and foremost, and then start to wiggle yourself around to.

[01:03:24] Help improve you stay on the bar longer and do more reps. Cause ultimately when it comes to monkey bars, you just got to get across. Right. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:03:29] Rich Ryan: [01:03:29] And sometimes that takes long. It takes long, longer for some people than others. So if you can hang there and be able to use your momentum to keep moving forward and, and, and to break out of like, you know, mishaps. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:03:40] It’s only going to benefit you. Like then that’s exercises that I’ll I’ll have. Sometimes he was just like, have people hang and have them like do hit, circles with their hips and going the other way around. And you know, you don’t necessarily even need to be that strong at a pull up to get through, monkey bars.

[01:03:54] Some people like don’t even have a strict pull up and can get through them.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:03:57] Josh Ried: [01:03:57] and like the awareness, they know how to swing their body. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:04:00] Rich Ryan: [01:04:00] Totally. Absolutely. And like, it, it’s a whole different myriad of, of like body types that will do that as well. You figure yeah. Oh, grip strength and like hand size is going to be important.

[01:04:11] But if you can move your body through a certain way, like, you know, just using the classic example of like Nicole miracle, right? Like she’s not big. I’m sure she is strong. I’m sure she could do a bunch of strict pulls. I don’t know. But once you don’t goes through obstacles, it’s just smooth. Like she just knows how to use the momentum and there’s no muscling of the. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:04:27] Of the obstacle itself. So being able to have that body awareness to get through it is really big.

[01:04:32] Josh Ried: [01:04:32] That’s one of the arts that you learn from, from lots of rock climbing. Yeah. She spent a lot of time on the wall and the essence of that is we have to spend a lot of time up here. We have to be as efficient with our energy as possible, you know? Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:04:44] And you’re like, you make a, maybe you make a big move and it takes a lot of energy, but then you get a little bit of rest. You saw. I think it was, I think it was a Tahoe at the world championships. She actually was resting while hanging from the twist. Yeah. Right. It’s like the grip. You’re not over gripping.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:01] And I think that she would probably understand this better than most people, you know, like your hands are cold. You can’t really feel when you’re just gripping as hard as you can fatigue in your grip. But she knew like, this is how hard I have to hold on here. I’m just gonna shake out. My other hand, I’m brought the body’s relaxed breathing and so. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:15] Yeah. There’s different factors to, to being super energy efficient and getting your way across these, Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:22] Rich Ryan: [01:05:22] these obstacles. You’ll probably get through that. Not like sometimes I’ll just try to muscle things so hard that the next day, like my hand hands and fingers are sore from like three obstacles that weren’t even that long. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:32] And I was just like, so tense that had to get through. Like, she probably doesn’t even get sourced, but like fine. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:38] Josh Ried: [01:05:38] And I didDeadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:05:39] Rich Ryan: [01:05:39] get sore from like obstacle, like in your hands and forums from a race. Not really, my fingers will get sore.

[01:05:48] Josh Ried: [01:05:48] I’ll tell you what, I’m really excited to see how, picking up more. So I’m kind of doing a self experiment.

[01:05:55] I am. I’m going to see how fit I can get just. By using a kettlebell and running and a bullet bar, I’m not going to touch any other implements. I’m going to work specifically with the kettlebell on the one thing that, cause I already used that, but I’m kind of okay. Breaking it up and being a little more regimented with it.

[01:06:11]and the one thing that I’m noticing right now is it is actually more demanding on my form and my grip than any other part

[01:06:16] Rich Ryan: [01:06:16] I’m interested in

[01:06:18] Josh Ried: [01:06:18] as I pick up the volume with it. Yeah. So it’d be cool to see how that plays a role in further mitigating, like graffitied on obstacles,

[01:06:24] Rich Ryan: [01:06:24] but like. You’re pulling strength is already like, Top 1% in this sport, right?

[01:06:32] Like

[01:06:33] Josh Ried: [01:06:33] four 30, five, four 35.

[01:06:34] Rich Ryan: [01:06:34] What’s that? No, that’s not even a debit. Like you could do a one arm pull up, you can do lots of bar, muscle ups. Like you have all the required strength like that. Like you basically are in the same place that you are for your deadlift, with your pullups. Right? So you’re like, there’s no way that I’m going to ever need the strength.

[01:06:50] Or I’m going to lose all this strength that getting through these grip ops was going to be

[01:06:54] Josh Ried: [01:06:54] I’m too throwing, dude. I’m too

[01:06:55] Rich Ryan: [01:06:55] strong to seriously. You can like, and that’s where there’s that, that difference here. And a lot of times with us who are in that elite category, we can really simplify things down much more and be like, I’m just gonna get awesome at running.

[01:07:08] Like I’m just gonna spend time on the trails because all the other stuff I know how to do and I can get through, but there’s, there is a. Point where it’s like, okay, we, every people need to get through like the required things and just to get even the raise their ability to that level where it’s like, yeah, running’s going to make the most, give you the most bang for your buck.

[01:07:24] But like, if you can’t flip the tire or if you are feeling obstacles, like we need to get you to a certain point of like, What is acceptable to do that. You know what I mean? So I’ll tell you,

[01:07:35] Josh Ried: [01:07:35] I’ll tell you what we’re about. About 15 minutes ago. I said, we’re going to wrap up pull ups and about 15 minutes, right?

[01:07:41] So let’s, let’s spit out a little routine, a little progression for people to help them get to at least the bare minimum strength to help them complete all of these overheads

[01:07:51] Rich Ryan: [01:07:51] and yeah. Where do you think that is? Where do you think? So we did, we gave a number for deadlifts and what. What do you think would be required?

[01:07:58] What do you think would be, be a fair number of pull-ups someone should be able to do.

[01:08:05] Josh Ried: [01:08:05] Well, you know, I would gauge this in two ways. There’s if, when it comes to just straight up pull-ups I think that if you can do then really clean, strict pull-ups, you’re probably strong enough to get across most rigs.

[01:08:18] Maybe if they’re they’re wet, that might be a little bit more of an issue. but that’s where we’re spending more time actually hanging on the bar comes into play. And that’s why I really, and also walk-off strength and that’s where I really enjoy. Frenchies. Everyone that I work with. Does Frenchies. And for those of you that don’t know what a Frenchie pull up is, it is a, it’s a progression of pull-ups with isometric holds within it.

[01:08:38] So you’ll do a pull up and you will hold yourself at the top of this pole, up your chin, above the bar, and you’re gonna hold it for five seconds, five long seconds, one Mississippi, two Mississippi. Then you’re going to go down all the way down, straight arms. You’re going to go back up, chin above the bar.

[01:08:52] This time you’re going to lower yourself. So your arms are at 90 degrees and you’re going to hold that one, Mississippi. To Mississippi, then you’ll drive yourself back down to the bottom all the way back up again. Last rep coming back down, your arms are going to be about 120 degrees. So they’re not 90.

[01:09:07] They’re not totally straight, but they’re they’re flexed. And these are three key positions lock off positions to hold yourself. So when you can think of yourself going through a rig, and if you have a straight arm, you’re not going to be able to reach the next ring or reach the next room. So by having a, being able to hold a bent arm is going to give you ultimately a better reach and more control as you move across.

[01:09:28] Rich Ryan: [01:09:28] And that’s a really awesome exercise to help you gain those that, that type of strength. And I was actually doing some rig work this morning, and I had like a ball. I had a. A nunchuck and it had a handle and each one of those required a different position to get through. Right? Like the wall,

[01:09:44]

[01:09:44] she has the force five, the ball.

[01:09:45] I created myself a drill, but the ball I needed to lock out a lot, a lot more. Right. Just my hand strength wouldn’t do it. So that was like that chin over bar position. Whereas the nunchuck was kind of like 90 ish, maybe a little bit just, like more of Tucson 90 and where the, the, the ring I could just.

[01:10:03] Geometry again, this is the geometry episode and where the rain, it could be a little bit, I could be at that one 20 spot. So like knowing to be strong in those patients. And then you’ve got to have to know when to use those positions is also is really helpful. But first it is like being able to do them so that you’re not just like to go shit.

[01:10:21] When I get something like this, I just have 90. I just have to go 90. And that’s the only way I can get through them. And if I can’t go 90, then I’m going to fail. So that’s where a French is. Awesome to get you through all those positions. So like, I think Frenchies are probably a better bet than like a strict pull-up.

[01:10:35]and actually I think, I think this is the ANSI one that I, that I use sometimes as like the attend the call, he calls it a ten one, and I definitely use this for a lot of athletes that coach where it’s like a 10, second dead hang and then a one, one pull up and then 10 seconds dead hang for max time.

[01:10:49] So then you can use your pulling strength under grip fatigue, which is a pretty cool, way to kind of build up some, Endurance.

[01:10:59] Josh Ried: [01:10:59] That is a good one. All right. So now we have, now we have like three metrics. It’s like, okay. Regular strict pull-ups you should be able to do 10 clean, full extension pull ups.

[01:11:07] I think you should be able to do one good clean Reggie pull up because ultimately you’re gonna be spending like 30 seconds on the bar, close to a, with that Frenchie pull up. And for that ten one, how many reps do you think of those? You think you should be able to do to feel confident going across

[01:11:21] Rich Ryan: [01:11:21] anyway, man.

[01:11:21] So for, for guys, probably. Six or seven, just a little over a minute. and for females three to four, what do you think? W what are you saying? What’s that.

[01:11:36] Josh Ried: [01:11:36] No. I was wondering if it would end up being different for women because they’re a lighter, but that would still be an expression of their like power to weight ratio or strength to weight ratio,

[01:11:44] Rich Ryan: [01:11:44] women for pull-ups.

[01:11:46] It is always just gonna, it’s just gonna be harder. Like just the way that, like the gravity antibodies, the way things are constructed, like it is just always harder. So are you saying 10 strict for women to wear you saying that as the same.

[01:12:00] Josh Ried: [01:12:00] Yeah. I mean, I didn’t really differentiate when it came to a, to gender, but I, I think that 10 across the board is again confident.

[01:12:08] You’re not going to have any issues.

[01:12:09] Rich Ryan: [01:12:09] I think 10 strict pull-ups for a female would be elite that will put you in like an elite category of upper body strength. I would think five is enough to get people

[01:12:18] Josh Ried: [01:12:18] through the schools. You know, I would agree under the circumstance that, that individual cause like, there’s almost, there’s like different aspects that go into helping you move across these rigs and move throughout these courses.

[01:12:29] And if you don’t have the strength that can be made up for, with really good body awareness and having a very fluid swing. So you’re not, you know, all of that, that, that pendulum, that, that, centrifical force swinging you down, smoother, that’s less taxing on your grip. Et cetera.

[01:12:45] Rich Ryan: [01:12:45] Totally. and yeah, and that, that is ultimately the Trump card for everything.

[01:12:50]but I, I would differentiate between male and female and the actual poles themselves and like one Frenchie pull up. I think it would be difficult for sure. I think that 90 degree position is really hard for females. A lot that that bicep strength ends up being the limiter. A lot of times they can get a lockout or they can get it to the a one 20, but that 90 is really tough from what I’ve found.

[01:13:11] Josh Ried: [01:13:11] Word word. Fair enough. Fair enough. So let’s drop off. Let’s just drop one last progression for these podiums, right? If you got, if you aren’t doing any pull-ups right now, get those. Or if you can’t find the bands that you can’t get them, put a chair next to your, pull up bar and bring your chin up to the bar and then drop your foot off the, off the chair. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:13:30] And just try to slow yourself going down. You might. I end up letting yourself down, essentially leave very quickly. Well, that’s all right. Do that 10 more times and see, yeah, you feel the next day and a, and pull that off a couple of times a week, three times a week, at least the next step to that would be doing like three, five sets of five reps of strong assisted pull-ups powerful assistant pull ups. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:13:51] So maybe you have that band. Well to help you go up to the bar or you can jump off the ground to help speed yourself up. Cause there’s this cool thing that happens. It’s a, it’s similar to doing a, say an Olympic movement with lightweight. It’s a power movement. And the idea is to really just move the thing quickly.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:14:09] So you might not be able to lift your full body weight. However, if you are putting your arms and your last under tension, and then you jump up. While you’re pulling yourself up. You’re going to be, it’s going to be very stimulating because you’re moving those muscles at a high rate of speed. And, and again, you can resist yourself on the negative and that’s going to be great. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:14:25] The next step after that, maybe, you know, maybe you’re a month, right. And you’re able to start doing some really good pull-ups. You can get rid of that band. You don’t need to do an assistant anymore. Now you can get a few reps on assisted and then when you’re done with those reps, Do somebody symmetric holes, just try 10 seconds holding yourself at that 90 degree position. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:14:43] See if you can pull that off, give yourself decent rest between these, by the way, you know, give yourself a minimum of a minute, two minutes, throw in some pushups in between. You’re going to be a well rounded person. And the next step after this, you’re going to want to do those unassisted. And if you could do like 10 pull ups at this point, and you’re starting to get some more, that elite level. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:15:01] Don’t do 10, right? We don’t want to build too much muscle. We want to stay in a low rep range. Do your reps explosively. So if you can do a bunch of reps, do less, do them explosively and then move into somebody symmetrical. And that’s gonna give you a lot of strength, bang for the buck without you. It’s gonna, and it’s gonna minimize you putting on mass. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:15:19] Alright. And if you can, not yet, have you, you can do a bunch of reps, do them explosively, and then start doing those isometric holds. And at this point in time, you’re going to start getting into more Frenchies the French pull up again is doing a pull up hold of yourself all the way at the top. I symmetrical chin above the bar.

[01:15:33] Five seconds. Let yourself down go all the way back up. Come down halfway 92nd. Hold. Or a 92nd old 90 degree hold. You can hold that for 90 seconds. True dose. You probably don’t need to do anything else for awhile. You’re strong. I go run all the way back down all the way back up, bring yourself back down 120 degrees. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:15:51] Hold that profile five seconds. And you’re going to do two reps of that. You’re at a really high level. you can start throwing on a weight best 10%, 15% of your body weight. I mean, for most of us, it’s probably going to be somewhere around that 20 pounds, typical weight best and, and really just cycle back through doing explosive reps, doing Frenchies with that. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:16:09] Cause again, you don’t, we don’t really want to get big and we just want to get really powerful. We want to get really, really strong. We don’t need to be doing super high volume stuff cause we’re not, you know, it’s brought doing CrossFit workouts where we need to do 50 pull ups. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:16:24] Rich Ryan: [01:16:24] Totally. And I like that.

[01:16:25] Yeah. I like that. You brought it back to adding weight to it as well, doing explosive. And then once you get through everything, add weight to yourself and then do that whole progression back over again because you’re right. You just want to keep it in that rep range. It doesn’t need, you don’t need it to be doing reps of 20 or reps of 50, like you said.

[01:16:40] So. Totally agree, man. I love that progression. I think that’d be super helpful.

[01:16:45] Josh Ried: [01:16:45] Alright, peace. So go lift heavy shit and lift yourself up to the bar and

[01:16:51] Rich Ryan: [01:16:51] have fun with it. Yes, sir. What do you got going on this week? Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:16:56] Josh Ried: [01:16:56] Yeah, man. So I’ll be here as we’ve got the, the lawnmower is you’re outside. Cutting that grass, that grass gotta get cut. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:02] Gotta cut that grass and make that bread. So this weekend, I’m actually going to be hanging out with him. The Steven Frankie. Again, we’re going to go run a trail, a 23, 24 miles, 6,000 feet of gain. We’re going to do it pretty fast. We’re doing, we’re just like having fun, doing some hardship. And and then Sunday, we’re going to go bike like 60 miles. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:20] We’re going to risk outing out. A a, a thing that we want to do in the Catskills. We’re gonna try and connect all of the fire towers via bike. So that’ll end up being, there’s actually a, I haven’t talked to him yet, but that’s kind of inspired by, Ryan Kempson and, Aaron Newell, because they did, I think in Vermont, they connected the 4,000 foot peaks in Vermont would be obliged. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:38] And I thought that was pretty rad. And there’s a challenge around here where you. Well, Meyer towers. Everyone drives from once the other lines of lane, it was like a month to the other Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:46] Rich Ryan: [01:17:46] there’s bike. It ought to be like Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:47] Josh Ried: [01:17:47] it. Yeah. We’re just going to scout it out, you know, train up for that, something to do because who knows when we’re going to be racing. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:52] So it’s something to help motivate and give direction to the training, you know? Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:17:57] Rich Ryan: [01:17:57] I know. Yeah. I think I was telling you there’s that? Yeah, it, this one F K T here in Philadelphia, it’s like at the Wissahickon park. Yeah. It’s like a 21 miler. It’s like, they call it four corners or whatever, you know, I think I’m just gonna build my volume up and if nothing else, we’ll just go after. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:18:11] I want to be, I want to get involved. Cause I got, now I’ve got to go scan, but like I said, a little bit sweet baby, Carl. He likes to hike, so I’ll take them out there to scout a little bit. There’ll be my, my, my training partner. And I think that’s what I might, I might do. I might just start running a lot of miles. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:18:26] I want to try to just put in a bunch and just. There’s a lot of time. So my, it takes a long time to build a robot. So might as well just try to build and build. And if there’s races, we can just sharpen up. But, I’m not counting on there. I hear ya. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:18:41] Josh Ried: [01:18:41] You know, you should do for, to like help build volume is, get some rollerblades and go out with Carl and rollerblades.

[01:18:47] Just like have a nice fancy nation dress up real nice. And

[01:18:52] Rich Ryan: [01:18:52] I’d have to, I’d have to carry on. Bleeding and carrying a Dachsund.

[01:18:58] Josh Ried: [01:18:58] That’d be nice. I just pictured him. I just pictured him like dragging you, but that’s probably impossible. Cause he was, he weighed like five pounds.

[01:19:06] Rich Ryan: [01:19:06] He’s very small. He’s like maybe nine now.

[01:19:08] He wouldn’t, it w I would be going really slow if baby Carl was dragging me so

[01:19:13] Josh Ried: [01:19:13] real low too. Cause like holding the leash up high, you’re like pulling them off the ground needs to get down low. So it can really like dig those paws into the turf.

[01:19:20] Rich Ryan: [01:19:20] He’s got a tough little pause there. Dig for Berlin. So yeah, maybe we’ll get some old blades of I’ll carry them.

[01:19:26] Maybe I’ll carry them out to the chest. So I can scat that was a hick and 21, four corners miles situation. Cause it didn’t seem bad. It’s only like 900 feet elevation for 21 miles or something

[01:19:36] Josh Ried: [01:19:36] like that. It’s not a, it’s a technical. Have you seen Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:19:39] Rich Ryan: [01:19:39] any of it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everyone was just super rocking.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:19:42] It’s really, it’s really Rocky. that’d be fun.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:19:44] Josh Ried: [01:19:44] That’d be exciting. Of course I’m saying that. Cause I was like, totally. Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:19:47] Rich Ryan: [01:19:47] That’s what you want to do, right? Yeah, because at this point is okay, well, like, I don’t know, like I’m not going to be doing any short races. It doesn’t seem like, I don’t know. What to do.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:19:59] So I just wanna run a bunch of miles. That’d be fun.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:20:01] Josh Ried: [01:20:01] Yeah. It’s fun.Deadlifts and Pull-ups for Spartan Race

[01:20:03] Rich Ryan: [01:20:03] Do it. That’s that’s what we’re gonna leave you on. Take that life advice. If it’s fun, do it for everything all the time. Always. Alright. Sweet dude. Well, thanks for joining. That was great to hope you got some good takeaways from that hit.

[01:20:17] The gym gets strong. We will talk to you guys later.

Deadlifts and Pull-ups are the two most important workouts moves for Spartan Race. Learn how to work them into your training.

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