Training Log: Entry 3635

PM WORKOUT (1330)

BRIDGE WEEK

57 burpee chins in 5 minutes (lifetime PR)

Notes:

• The whole time I was doing this, I thought I was moving SO slow. Around rep 14 I thought to myself “ok, it’s been a while since you’ve done this, and you’re missing a gear here, just focus on not stopping”, and at rep 22 it was “just because you’re recording this doesn’t mean you have to post it, if it’s a sh*t show, you can just delete it”, and at rep 35 I thought “ok, we might get to 50 before time expires”, and then when I hit 50 I wondered “did I forget to set the sound on my alarm?”, only to see that I had 38 seconds left, so I kicked it into gear and got that 7th rep at the end. It’s funny how the way we feel can be completely different from reality, but maybe I always felt like I was going “faster” because I really just felt like I was working HARDER because it WAS harder, and this time it was so easy it felt like I wasn’t putting in much effort.

• That’s a lot of analysis for some burpee chins, but I’m pretty happy that I turn 40 at the end of this month and I’m still hitting some PRs. After this, I was wiped out, went and mowed the lawn for about an hour, and caught my heart rate at 120 a couple of times.

• I really dug how this was a workout I WANTED to do. And no loading.

• I carried a 258.5lb keg yesterday and a 260lb one this evening.

 Training Log: Entry 3634

AM WORKOUT (0515 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)

BRIDGE WEEK

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Finally got smart and treated this bridge week right. Another night of sleeping in and a recovery workout. I absolutely caught myself wanting to get up and hit a Fran WOD instead. I have to interpret these things positively: it means I am recovering and excited to train hard. That’s exactly what a bridge week is supposed to do. The key is to not squander that: use it to perpetuate excellence in the follow-on training cycles, rather than waste it with stupid workouts during the bridge.

• That said, I gave myself permission that, if I’m really itching to train like a maniac again, I’ll do that during a cycle of Operator sometime. Get the strength work done, then follow it with a WOD. Easy Strength style.

• In the other realm of positives, I drove to work without knee pain today. Any prolonged sitting tends to really agitate my knee, and driving was always a surefire way to experience that. This re-affirms my suspicion that it’s something I am doing in training that is causing the issue, rather than this just being a forever issue. I still want to get some imaging, but it’s nice to know that solutions exist.

• Weighed in at 84.3kg this morning, down .7 from Monday.

• Keg carry was 257.5lbs yesterday.

• Tang Soo Do was a solid class last night. Drill some basics hard and got some kudos from the head instructor.

 Training Log: Entry 3633

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

BRIDGE WEEK

“Meat Eater II”

10 rounds of

• 10 KB swings w/24kg bell

• 10 burpees

• 1 min rest between rounds

Notes:

• I have abandoned the plan for the 10k swing challenge. Ultimately, I recognized myself going down those same old self-destructive pathways of the past. Intellectually, I realized that, since Operator is a static workout (same moves done 3x a week for 3 weeks), pairing it with a static assistance protocol ala the 10k swing challenge was going to lock me in and give me zero room for adaptability. Along with that, I remembered that the last time I ran Operator, I only budgeted 20 minutes for assistance, which meant I’d only be able to get away with the 25 swings EMOM protocol to make it fit my time budget. In doing so, swing technique was going to get sacrificed for the sake of time, which really meant not getting the benefit OF the 10k swing challenge in the first place, and I’d ultimately just be doing swings for the sake of accomplishing the challenge. And in doing THAT, I’d be violating the Dan John principle of “The goal is to keep the goal the goal”. I’m not doing Tactical Barbell so that I can do the 10k swing challenge: I’m doing it so that I can get the benefits of Tactical Barbell, specifically with the O-M-S protocol. Dan spoke to how the 10k swing needs to be done on his own, and he’s not wrong: it was going to take more than it gave with this approach.

• I will say, as far as proof of concept testing goes, I know that it CAN get done: just a question of “should”

• On top of all this, I realized my bridge week wasn’t really allowing me to recover with so many swings, also defeating the purpose. I trained hard: I need to recover so I can train hard again. It’s why I elected for another night of sleeping in. Stan Efferding talks about how it’d be better to sleep an extra hour than to wake up an hour early to train, so I went with that.

• Moving forward, I do feel my approach for Operator will be to finish the workouts and then end with a GC workout of my choosing. Operator will be static, conditioning will be dynamic. Should help prep me for grappling as well.

• Long preamble aside, this morning’s workout was solid. MEII is just a classic “no duh” workout. I fell on the first round of swings: just wasn’t balanced.

• Tang Soo Do was relaxed last night. We worked on tournament form presentation. It was the kind of night we needed. One more class tonight. My in-laws come on Friday and will be staying the weekend, so slight schedule changes.

• Keg carry yesterday was 256lbs. I’m feeling it more in my hamstrings these days.

• Weighed 84.5kg this morning. I think I may do daily weigh ins for the 4 week block. That’s a half kilo loss from Monday.

 Training Log: Entry 3632

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

BRIDGE WEEK

SSB front squat
2x5xBar
2x135
1x185
1x205
1x255
2x288

500 KB swings

• 5 rounds of 10-15-25-50

• Rest periods of 30-30-60-120 seconds

• 2-3-5-5 dips between swings

• 24kg bell

Ab wheel/band pull apart superset circuit
3x5/25

Notes:

• The front squat was for max testing for my next cycle of Operator. The double of 288 was slow, controlled and rock bottom. I feel comfortable using a 300lb max. Also had a revelation about bracing, where it’s not just about a big belly full of air pressing against the belt but then also clamping down my abs on top of that. One of those things I understand in my head but would need quite a few more words to describe to someone else.

• I contemplated not doing the swings at all today, but settled on Dan John’s recommendation for how to approach the workout. Much nicer on my forearms. My grip and hamstrings are what seem to be the most impacted with these swings, which is probably a good sign. I’m still on the fence about doing the full 10k swing challenge over these next 3.5 weeks, but I think I can at least finish out the bridge week at this rate.

• Technically did more dips than recommended, but it didn’t impact my recovery. Dan’s recommendation of rest periods allowed me to have some more explosive swings, and kept my heart rate in a good spot.

• Keg carry was 255lbs yesterday.

• Tang Soo Do was a solid enough workout. The last thing I wanted to do was Bo/staff work, since my grip was fried…and it’s exactly what we did. But, it actually ended up helping get some life back into my forearms. We’ll see what tonight brings.

• Weighed in at 85.0 again today.

 Training Log: Entry 3631

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

BRIDGE WEEK

20 minutes, EMOM 25 KB swings w/24kg bell

Notes:

• This was another proof of concept test, to see if I could still sleep in on Tuesdays and get in a 500 swing workout. It’s viable.

• That said, this absolutely torched my forearms. I am making sure to NOT death grip the bell, but I imagine a big part of it is just the very short rest periods between rounds. I averaged 20 seconds of recovery between each round here, which was barely enough, and it’s why the swings are far less powerful toward the end, because I’m struggling to hold onto the bell.

• It begs the question of intent, but at the end of this my grip is torched, my heart rate is elevated and I’m breathing hard, so there’s A training effect occurring. I do need to ensure that I’m getting quality contractions on the actual posterior chain.

• I’m glad this is a bridge week and that I’m not wearing a weight belt, because last night I spilled a bunch of hot tea all over my stomach. Had a mug in my hand, my phone rang, I was sitting on my recliner, I went to set the mug down to get my phone out of my pocket, and in the juggle just spilled the contents straight onto my stomach. Got a small burn on my right side. Reminded me of Paul Kelso’s story in Powerlifting Basics Texas Style with the hot coffee down his shorts. Good week for recovery.

• Against my better judgement, I’m continuing the keg carry experiment, and carried 253.5lbs yesterday. It’s heavy, and with my grip getting taxed from the swings, I’m curious how far I can go.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. We have a tournament coming up in October, so we’ll most likely be preparing for that.

 Training Log: Entry 3630

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

BRIDGE WEEK

EMOM KB swings

• 24kg bell

• 20 swings per round

• 25 rounds total

• Chins between rounds

2 mile treadmill walk

• Speed: 3.5

• Incline: 4

• Time: 34:15

Notes:

• This was me piloting my idea of including merging the 10k swing challenge with Tactical Barbell Operator. Based off day 1, it’s doable, but iffy. This was far more fatiguing than I anticipated it being, specifically on my grip, but part of that could also be the chins between sets. I started out too ambitious with 3 per round, and realistically should stick with Dan’s recommendation of 1-2-3-repeat, or possibly just straight 2s across. I’m also contemplating altering my approach and stealing from TB II by doing 4 rounds of swings and 1 full round of rest, but this will extend the time even further. 25 minutes is the sweet spot as far as a time commitment goes, because placing that on top of a TB 1 workout should get me to about 50-55 minutes total. Ultimately, I’m not married to the 10k swing, and if I need to abandon this idea I will, but I’ll give it another day or 2 and see if it has wings.

• Weighed in at 85.0 kg this morning, which is my starting weight to base off for the next 4 weeks. Solid gains from Mass Protocol, and I still have a set of abs after 9 weeks of eating my face off. Already started the nutritional shift by going from 20oz of meat to 16 (technically 17.5 for this morning, but the rest of the week will be 16) and switching from ghee on top of my eggs to a thin smear of our homemade tzatziki sauce. Small changes. Plan is to keep reducing the meat week to week by small amounts.

• Went without the weight vest for the treadmill walk just to really reinforce the bridge week aspect of this. I’m appreciating the lack of load. My right knee feels a lot better as well. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I think the lever belt squat beats the hell out of it. Operator will be a good test of that.

• Keg carry was 252.5 yesterday. It’s still feeling heavy.

• Not as much sleep last night as usual. Stayed up late to watch the Cowboys tie. Went to sleep when it went into overtime: glad I didn’t stay up to watch the whole thing.

 Training Log: Entry 3629

PM WORKOUT (1400)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO (Final Workout)

Operation MILO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 6 (final workout)

Stone of Steel over bar
5 rounds of 1 min on/2 mins off
-160lb stone
-50” bar

Notes:

• Added a round each week for Specificity Bravo, and that seemed to work out well. I got 8-9-8-7-6 with this, battling some equipment issues. I’m planning on keeping this Saturday workout in some capacity through all phases of Tactical Barbell.

• Knees are a little sporty, but nothing I couldn’t handle. This final week was a lot on them. Operator with the front squat will give me a decent break.

• Carried a 250lb keg yesterday, and 251 today. I’m so close to failing that I think I’ll just go until it happens, rather than stop artificially. Effectively, the day I can’t make the trip down and back without stopping is the day the experiment will end. The keg DID feel lighter today after the stone work: like an overwarm.

• I’ll be taking a rest day tomorrow, then start my bridge week/10k swing experiment. That will determine if I go through with the full thing