6 months of Life Time Alpha: real-world feedback + DEXA progress
M/41
I’ve seen a few questions here about Alpha, so I figured I’d share my experience after doing Alpha Strength pretty consistently for about 6 months.
For context, I have a strong endurance background, but it’s not recent. My last Ironman was in 2016 and my last marathon was in 2018. I’ve continued doing a mix of running, HIIT, boxing, cycling, etc., but I’d never really had a consistently programmed strength routine like this.
What I’ve liked most about Alpha is the periodization. It doesn’t feel like random workouts where you just show up and get smoked.
We just finished a 4-week ‘power’ phase that progressively built toward heavier, near-max strength work. This week we reset into a new ‘endurance’ block with higher reps, tempo work, deeper ROM and lighter loads. Then it’ll build again from there with ‘resistance’ next.
That structure has worked surprisingly well for me.
I’ve also been doing some Zone 2/stair work and running outside of Alpha, and consistently hitting 10k-20k steps per day. so I’m definitely not claiming Alpha is the only variable, but it has been by far my main strength stimulus. And as of 3 months ago I’ve been hitting 4 alphas strength days per week without fail.
The most interesting part has been the body comp change.
My February DEXA had me at about 21.6% body fat. My latest DEXA this week came back at 16.5%.
Across that period I’ve lost roughly 10 lb of fat while adding about 6 lb of lean tissue, with body weight only changing a few pounds overall.
At the same time, lifts that were initially pretty unfamiliar or heavy for me have moved a lot. Recently I’ve been around:
* Back squat: 300 lb
* Front squat: 225 lb
* Deadlift: 300 lb
* Weighted chin-ups: +60 lb
* Bent-over row: 195 lb
* DB bench: 65s
I’m not saying those are monster numbers, especially compared with people who have been lifting seriously for years. What’s impressed me is the amount of progress while simultaneously leaning out and still keeping quite a bit of conditioning in my week.
The coaching and group format has also been a sweet spot for me. I probably wouldn’t independently program tempo squats, progressive loading blocks, and all the accessory work nearly as consistently on my own.
There are obviously some variables. Classes can differ by coach and location, and if you’re already an advanced lifter you probably don’t need Alpha to tell you how to train. But for someone who likes coached classes and wants actual strength progression instead of just another HIIT workout, I’ve been really happy with it.
Curious what kind of results other long-term Alpha people have seen, especially anyone who has been doing it for a year or more.