Training Log: Entry 3646

AM WORKOUT (0520 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm, rough night of sleep)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 2

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20minute recovery row

Notes:

• Kiddo got me up at about 0330, informing me that the puppy wouldn’t go back to sleep. Laid down next to it’s kennel for about an hour, then inch wormed my way out of the room to go sleep off the rest of the night in my own bed. It was honestly a pretty good ab workout, as I’m in no way being hyperbolic about inch worming: if, at any point, my upper torso was not connected to the floor, the dog would wake up and cry. So I had to move only my lower torso to drag me slowly across the floor to create the illusion I was still sleeping next to the dog. Remember when Conan had to do the same thing to escape from the slumbering wolves? Yeah, me neither.

• Semi-related news, but I’ve rediscovered a love for coffee I didn’t know I had. The cold weather brings it out of me. I’m limiting myself to 1 cup a day, in the morning, a few hours after breakfast. I have a tendency to easily become addicted to things.

• I tried to make this workout slightly more intense than usual while still keeping it low intensity. Basically focusing on a smooth transition between phases of the row, rather than anything herky jerky.

• Had my annual physical today, and it was a let down. Wanted to get some imaging on my right knee, but the doc just did a hands on exam, remarked at the incredible shape my knee was in for a 40 year old, and then offered some Vitamin M (iykyk) as a solution. Told him I flat out was NOT going to get on a daily anti-inflammatory protocol, especially after hearing about Nick Best losing his kidney doing that, and when I informed him that alleve makes my bowels bleed, he was at least willing to entertain a physical therapy solution, so I have that in my future.

• Keg carry was 208.5 yesterday. Weighed in at 84.7kg this morning. Tang Soo Do on the schedule tonight.

 Training Log: Entry 3645

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Week 2, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar squat
4x6x330

Axle strict press from rack
4x6x158

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x10x70s

DB row
4x10x125

GHR
4x10x30

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
3x10

Notes:

• Seemed to be running slow this morning: didn’t have time at the end of the workout for any additional assistance.

• Squats felt great. Very strong and smooth. Knee is in a good way. Bar placement was right. Got cold enough to wear a shirt, which meant the bar wasn’t quite as grippy.

• The lower rep sets bode well for pressing. Zero issues completing sets. Rested 2 minutes on the main, 90 seconds on the incline, 1 minute everywhere else.

• Keg carry yesterday was 207.5. I’m moving fast again with the lighter weight, and actually ended up tripping over my feet and tossing the keg to the ground on the return trip. Picked it back up and carried through.

• Called my weight pretty well this morning. Thought I’d be 84kg, was 84.1. Also, my resting heart rate jumped 5 points yesterday, from 39 to 44. Once again, this correlated with the day after I’ve had a large meal (the Brazilian steakhouse), which I feel points to a notion of NEAT increasing in the presence of increased food intake. I’ll get to repeat the experiment, as we booked another reservation on 11 Nov. It’s a great time to be gaining.

• On that note, family meal last night of spaghetti with piedmontese meat sauce, some sourdough fried in ghee, and a dessert bar of some leftover birthday pumpkin cheesecake, a banana bread minimuffin topped with some raw honey, and 2 of the Valkyrie’s peanutbutter Halloween cookies. She took some of the leftover chocolate candies we had, cut them up and threw them in the mix. Wonderfully delicious.

 Training Log: Entry 3644

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, really good night of sleep)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 5

MAIN WORK

Buffalo bar squat
4x8x308

Axle strict press from rack
3x8x148
1x6+2x148

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB Incline bench
3x12x65s
1x11+1x65

DB rows
4x12x115

GHRs
4x12x20

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
3x10

Lateral raises
40x10

Notes:

• Squats felt absolutely incredible. Zero issues finding depth, knee only ached on the very first rep, smooth and strong. I always look at the video and don’t care for the depth, so I spend time during the squat in training ensuring that I’m going as deep as my body will allow. The low bar placement with my bizarre anthropomorphy just makes for ugly squatting. This was also technically less work than Monday, since I screwed up the reps on that workout, but considering I finally recovered from my DOMS, I ‘m good with that.

• Progress all around on the pressing. The GHRs also hit different doing it at the end of the workout vs breaking it up like I did on Monday.

• Tang Soo Do was challenging this week, and helped me identify that I’m dealing with two different issues with my knee, which is helpful. The tendonosis is resolving but the pain in the knee cap itself worsens with jump/snap kicks. Good to know.

• Keg carry was 203.5lbs yesterday. Weighed in at 82.9kg this morning.

• Going to get in some extra steps escorting my kiddo and their friends Trick or Treating today. They’re finally too old to trick or treat with dad, but at least willing to have a off in the corner chaperone while they’re out and about. I fully plan to “go as the Punisher” and don my skullshirt and leather jacket, just to make people think twice about messing around with that particular pack of kiddos.

 Training Log: Entry 3643

AM WORKOUT (0350 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 4

“GO RUCK YOURSELF”

Treadmill walk w/20.4lb tac carrier

Speed: 3.5
Incline: 4.5
Distance: 5.25 miles
Time: 90 minutes

Notes:

• This went really well. I’ve switched from watching television dramas/movies to documentaries, and it’s a gamechanger as far as steady state work goes. Dramas are formulaic in their delivery, which means you have awareness of the passing time as things move from first act to second act to third. Documentaries are a little more free form and, therefore, captivating. Before I knew it, the show was over and I was halfway done with my walk. It’s also nice to have a little lighter mood while I walk. Of course, this was also a lighter weight and lower incline than Operator, but it was a .5 increase in incline compared to last Grey Man cycle. I’m trying hard NOT to become the rucking champion of the world and to just make this a basic workout, but I can still make some small increases.

• My right knee feels the best it’s felt in a long time, so my experiment with the belt squat was a success. However, I’m noticing it has 2 different kinds of pain, and one seems like patellar tendonosis and the other seems like lacking cartilage, the latter triggered by the jumps we do in Tang Soo Do (which I did last night). I do something like a “Hatfield Jump” a s part of my warm-up on squat days, but maybe I should bring back just some basic jumps like I used to do in 5/3/1 and see if I can get myself reconditioned.

• On that note, Tang Soo Do was actually a decent workout last night. Had a different instructor than usual and he ran us through a solid lesson. Got to work some board breaks at the end too.

• Keg carry was 202.5 yesterday, and bodyweight was 82.9kg this morning. We’re going out to a new Brazilian Steakhouse for brunch on Saturday to extend my birthday (since celebrating on a Tuesday is hard), so I’m excited and so happy it’s gaining season. Also cashing in some birthday freebies on Friday: a sidekick of ribs at Texas Roadhouse and 6 free wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. Sign up for these places: they give out cool stuff.

• With the cold weather, I’ve rediscovered a love for black coffee. I am also still incredibly sore from Monday’s training. Dr. Chaffee would say those two things relate: curious to see.

 Training Log: Entry 3642

AM WORKOUT (0415 wake up via backup alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 3

MAIN WORK

Axle bench press
5x8x216

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
10+4+4x470

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squats
4x12x180

Dips/axle curl superset
3x12x55, 1x8+3+1x55
2x12x68, 1x9+3x68

Notes:

• Had set my first alarm incorrectly. I need to set my back up alarm earlier, because I ended up shaving off some stuff out of this workout due to time constraints. Still hit the majority of the important stuff, but instead of 5 sets in the supplemental cluster, I went with 4. For a first week break in, I’ll take it.

• Weight is perfectly dialed in on everything.

• Once again, performing miracles with those mat pulls. The warm ups felt stupidly heavy, and I was feeling the DOMS, but when I went for that first pull it broke much easier than I anticipated it would. Kept the reps reasonable for a first week back.

• I had 2 minutes rest on the bench and 1 minute on the squats. Went too short on rests with the dips/curls, just for time.

• The belt squat felt a million times better switching from lifters to flat soled shoes. I also made an effort to avoid lockout at the top and keep tension in the quads. I used to do that all the time with my muscle building work: good to remember that.

• This workout was fueled by 2 slices of the Valkyrie’s pumpkin cheesecake last night. Could not ask for a better birthday cake, or better training fuel. Tang Soo Do was actually pretty low energy, but another class tonight.

• Keg carry yesterday was 201lbs. Weighed 84.0 this morning.

 Training Log: Entry 3641

AM WORKOUT (0520 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 2

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Holy DOMS. It’s amazing how such seemingly small changes in programming can still create that novel stimulus, although I suppose along with a change in reps and sets I also changed from front squats to squats. I’m really digging this program/movement rotation I’ve come up with. However, it also meant that the recovery row was the absolute right move this morning. Anything more intense would have just been a detractor. Now I should be in a good way to train tomorrow.

• Carried a 200lb keg yesterday. Was tempted to refer to this as Operation MILO ago, but honestly logging that way was getting tedious. With winter coming soon, we’ll see how viable this remains.

• Woke up at 83.3kg this morning. Weight is still all over. Schedule is finally back to normal: had breakfast this morning rather than fast though the day.

• Tang Soo Do on the schedule tonight. They’ll most likely incorporate my birthday into it, so we’ll be doing 40 of things. A decent workout. We’re also doing a pumpkin cheesecake tonight and breakfast for dinner, because my wife is incredible.

• I'm 40 years old today.  I started this log when I was 19.  That's just wild to think.

 Training Log: Entry 3640

AM WORKOUT (0520 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 1

MAIN WORK

Buffalo bar squat
12x308
3x8x308

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x148
7x148
5x148
4x148

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
2x12x65s
2x11x65s w/2 rep rest pause on final rep

DB rows
4x12x115

ASSISTANCE

5 chins between sets of main work

Notes:

• We had late reporting for work to compensate for all the 12s, so I slept in, but Valkyrie apparently had her alarm set 10 minutes later than usual, so my schedule was still a little off. I cut out the GHRs and ab work for now, but we’re working a short day today, so I’ll knock them out when I get home before I mow the lawn.

• The reps are all screwy this workout, so I’ll explain. I mixed up specificity and grey man in my head on the very first set, so did a set of 12 on squats. It’s pretty cool I can do that though. Noticed my feet were really wide, so brought them in a bit closer for the final 3 sets. For the press, it’s most likely too heavy, but I just used the trick of taking as many sets as necessary to get the reps (Jim Wendler refers to it as the “Malcolm X method”). For the incline DB bench, I did something similar with a rest pause at the end. I’m not going to lower the weights: I’m going to force growth and eat big enough to make change happen.

• 2 minutes of rest on the big lifts, 90 seconds on the DB bench, 1 minute on the DB row.

• Once I do the GHRs, I’ll splice the video together and upload. I’m also resuming my keg carry experiment, starting over at 200lbs.