Training Log: Entry 3703

PM WORKOUT (1230)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 6

“Axle Grace”

Time: 3:37 (20 second PR from last week)

Notes:

• Biggest win, aside from the time, is ZERO pain in the right knee during any of the presses. First time I’ve felt that way in a LONG time. Allowed me to really push the pace: my lungs were absolutely broken after this.

• Belt also fit much better. Really seeing the benefits of the nutrition.

 Training Log: Entry 3702

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 5 (for real)

“GO RUCK YOURSELF”

Treadmill walk w/20.4lb tac carrier

Speed: 3.5mph
Incline: 4.0
Distance: 4.25 miles
Time: 1:12:50

Notes:

• This is the easy week of conditioning, and I took liberties with that by cutting the ruck shorter than usual. But what’s funny is that I actually felt really good about it and could have gone longer: I just didn’t have the time in the morning to do so. But that’s a good sign: recovery is on point.

• Also used my new shoes, and that helped with the foot pain I’d been dealing with. Which is good, because I have a 10 mile race in Apr I need to be ready for. My plan is to only run the distance between sandbags in training, and otherwise just condition myself through rucking.

• Weighed in at 83.8kg this morning. First time seeing 83 for a while. There’s a sweat element here, having done this after the walk. But on the note of sweating, it’s -30 with windchill today, so I won’t be getting in my lunchtime walk like normal.

• Got in a 1 min hold last night. Was scrambling for time, so not a great set-up.

• Sparring was ok last night. Got robbed due to angles of judges in my match against one of the other students, but got in good reps outside of the tournament. I’m feeling fatigue from being more active in the matches.

 Training Log: Entry 3701

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 5

MAIN WORK

SSB Front Squats
4x2x280

ALTERNATE w/

Axle strict press from rack
4x2x193+1 push press rep per set

Chins between sets

CONDITIONING

3 rounds of 150lb sandbag medley

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit ups
3x10

Lateral raise dropset
35x10, 35x5, 35x2.5, 35xEmpty Hands

Band pull aparts
35

Band pushdowns
30

Notes:

• Back was stiff coming into this, and I’ve lost enough abdominal circumference that my belt isn’t as tight as it was at the peak of my gaining, so I don’t have as strong of a brace. Unique problems to have. 2 days in a row of coffee fasting most likely also gave me a little less gas in the tank, but by around set 3 I was feeling pretty solid.

• Push presses felt better, and this was another “good knee day” for me, as I didn’t feel any discomfort on the squats and just a minor amount on the push presses. My left hip feels healed as well.

• Was struggling on the pick for the sandbag. I actually had my best ones on the final round, when I was most fatigued.

• I don’t log it, but from Dan John’s “The warmup is the workout” approach, I also get in a fair amount of chins during the warm up. Opened up with a set of 18, and then did 3 sets of 5 throughout my warm-up sets of squats and press (5 before the squat, 5 after the squat, 5 after the press, load plates and go again). Been a way to sneak in more work. As my bodyweight drops, the chins get easier.

• On the topic of bodyweight, was 84.3 this morning, and confirmed I was 84.4 yesterday. Good to see a little consistency there. I’m seeing a bit more abdominal definition.

• Got in a 1:18 hold yesterday.

• Sparring class was really awesome last night. Wednesday has become a 90 minute class, whereas Tues and Thurs are 60, so we got to spend more time drilling techniques, combos, and free-sparring before actually getting into the school tournament. I’m trying out new tricks, and in particular finding ways to make my sidekick more viable. Squared off against the Valkyrie in the first round of the tournament and took us 2-2 before losing to her in a long overtime round. She went on to win the tournament. After the tournament was over, I pitched an idea to have one person in the center spar a 30 second round against a fresh opponent with the remainder of the class (5 opponents total, so 2:30 sparring for the center person). My kiddo went first and displayed some really impressive cardio. Our resident dojo bully went in the center. I call him the bully because he’s about 6’6 and built like Dhalsim from Street Fighter and knows how to take advantage of that in a “no-contact” event. So I bullied the bully by dashing in first thing and throwing nothing but body punches while chasing him into the corner of the arena, never letting him have an opportunity to employ his long limbs. It was satisfying.

 Training Log: Entry 3700

AM WORKOUT (0510 Wake up via Valkyrie’s Alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout…4?

“SPEED/ENDURANCE LADDERS” w/rower

• 400m row

• 40 sec rest

• 300m

• 30 sec

• 200m

• 20 sec

• 100m

• 10 sec

Then back up again until 400m row after 40 sec rest

Notes:

• I REALLY like this workout. The rest times aren’t long enough to fully recover, so this isn’t a real deal “sprint” workout, but the attributes it trains are valuable for the activities I want to get good at, and it’s speedy. Something I can get done on these short mornings.

• The “advanced” version has you work the ladders multiple times, and I can certainly see myself giving that a go in the future. This is supposed to be the “easy” week of conditioning since it’s the hard week of lifting, and in the easy version of this workout you actually rest 2 minutes after the first 100m before resuming. And, of course, this is originally meant to be a foot race rather than a rower, but nuts to that.

• My left hip is feeling better. Not 100%, but I’m recovering faster and faster from the damage the deadlifts do to it each week. Weird “in my 40s” victories.

• On that note, sparring last night went really well even with the hip pain. I’m trying a “near year, new me” as it relates to my sparring, being lighter on my feet, trying new techniques, working angles, being less predictable. I got paired up against our Senior Black Belt last night, and I could tell it was throwing them off, and we went into overtime after tying 2-2. Lost it in the end, but gave a good fight. Cardio isn’t where I’d like it to be, but still more time to work on that.

• Got in a 1:18 hold last night.

• Weighed 84.7kg (or 84.4, I’ll have to look at my phone when I get the chance) this morning. Seeing significant trending downward. The coffee fasting is working. I’m doing it again today, which is a first time for back to back fasting days, but it’s just because my schedule has been wacky with the holidays. That said, yesterday ALSO helped me recalibrate my hunger/satiety cues. Eating out for 2 meals on a non-fasting day had my body a bit confused, whereas yesterday’s fast and feast got it knocked back into alignment. I’m still marveling over the impact of those beef cheeks. I think not trimming any of it went a long way. I DO realize I’m coming in a little light on protein with these 2 days in a row, but there’s a chance I’m barely hitting goals since I still include that yogurt and Metabolic Drive pre-bed meal.

 Training Log: Entry 3699

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 2

AM WORKOUT (0510 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)

SSB Front Squats
3x2x280

ALTERNATE w/

Axle strict press from rack
3x2x192+1 push press per set

PM WORKOUT (1330)

(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
19x425

ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT

Reverse hyper/standing ab wheel/band pull aparts
3x15x360/3x10/3x33

Notes:

• Had the day off work, so slid this into today’s training slot and also broke it into 2 workouts. In between AM and PM, I repaired my fence, that was damaged during a recent storm, so still some decent activity.

• I normally spend a little more time in the AM allowing my body to limber up, but I time crunched it this morning knowing that, if I hurried, I could get in half the lifting before needing to get my kid ready for school. Squats were a little stiff and press was a little weak on the first set as a result, but I found my groove.

• Those mat pulls felt incredible. Really feeling my old self on them. My left hip felt great going in, and then I felt where it twinges around rep 12. This whole cycle, I’ve been forced to cut those follow on sets off and, in turn, have been doing really awesome week after week, so I may treat this as a feature rather than a bug. I failed on an attempt at 20, but that was more because I knew fighting for it was going to do more harm than good.

• Off schedule, so coffee fasted today even with the weight training. With how stupidly cold it is right now, it’s been nice to have the hot beverage.

• Weighed in at 85.4kg. 2 days post carb up, and with eating out for both meals yesterday, I’m really in a good way as far as leaning out goes. This week will be a little screwy with nutritional schedule, but I’ll figure it out as I go.

• Tang Soo Do sparring tonight. Want to try some new stuff this year, with my knee in a better way.

 Training Log: Entry 3698

PM WORKOUT (1200)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 1, Part 2

3 rounds of 150lb sandbag carries

• Pick bag, carry there and bag, run there and back, repeat for a total of 3 times

Notes:

• Day off for the holiday, no weigh in, and a leisurely morning. Put away the Christmas decorations, went up and down the stairs a bunch of times, and then got this knocked out during some downtime.

• Coming in fresh allowed me to really get in some good picks and runs. Trying to focus more on moving the feet quickly under the load now.

• Got in a 1:30 hold tonight. Taking a break tends to allow for better results.

 Training Log: Entry 3697

PM WORKOUT (1730)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR Week 3, Workout 1, Part 1

SSB front squats
4x2x280

ALTERANTE w/

Axle strict press from rack
4x2x193

Chins between sets

Notes:

• Chaos is the plan. I have Mon and Tues off work, and I realized that, if I got in my lifting today, I could lift on Tuesday and stretch it out to be able to deadlift later in the day vs speeding through it in the morning. I’m splitting this workout in 2, doing the lifting on Sunday and the carries on Monday. Then will squat and press in a workout and deadlift on another on Tues. Then play around with conditioning and lifting for the rest of the week.

• This went well. Squats felt great, knee is happy, hip is doing well, chins were strong. Bodyweight dropping helps. Belt is fitting better.

• Got in a 3 mile walk with a weight vest this morning as well, taking the puppy around. I’m able to move faster with my knee healthier.

• Been bad about getting in my daily hangs: need to bring that back.

• Tonight was the family meal. “American Goulash”, and then a small slice of the Valkyrie’s peppermint cheesecake and 2 of her cookies with some raw honey. Also, I’ve picked up some full fat skyr to continue my experiments with, and some “No Salt” potassium powder, per the recommendation of Jon Heck. …Jon Heck, Jon Anderson, John Meadows, Dan John…what is the “Jon/John” connection here with awesome advice.