Training Log: Entry 3556

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 3

MAIN WORK

SSB squat

3x5x325

ALTERNATE w/

Axle strict press from rack

3x5x166+1 push press rep per set

6 chins between sets

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar mat pulls

13+4+4x425

ASSISTANCE

3 round circuit of

* 10x80 db row

* 20x270 reverse hyper

* 10x53 axle curl

* 6 hanging leg raise

Notes:

* My hips were really sore yesterday, which I attribute to DOMS from the heavy SSB squats.  I’m learning that, when things get heavy, I shift weight to my hips, which explains why they tend to be in agony during my heavier training cycles.  They’re most likely where I hold most of my strength, but I can overload them in turn, so it’s something I need to watch out for.  In addition, my Valkyrie kicked me square in the knee last night during sparring and completely dropped me.  It’s the knee with the torn meniscus, and she got me in the most sensitive part of it.  I applauded her for being able to drop a grown man with combat sports experience with one light kick: a testament to the effectiveness of what we’ve been studying, but it also became a psychological factor during the training session today.  Once I warmed up, I was fine, but I still wanted to baby the knee a little.  Previous lessons learned still apply: the slower I squat, the more my hips hurt, so I did my best to move the reps as quick as I could in spite of the heavy weight.

* I think I forgot to do the push press on the second set of presses, but I’m pleased with my ability to own the weight.

* Did sets of 10 chins during the warm up, getting me 76 chins total for today.

* The mat pulls didn’t move as well as they did last week, but last week as an afternoon training session, with this being my first AM session with these weights.  Biggest x-factor is that the bar kept snagging on my knee sleeve.  I’m wearing the sweats to try to prevent that, but I think next time I’m just going to roll them down like I used to and reduce drag.  Still got in some awesome effort.

* More sparring on the docket tonight.  Last night I went up against a junior student and then the Valkyrie before I was eliminated from the tournament.  Tonight tends to be a smaller class, but it may mean more reps once our tournament is done.

 Training Log: Entry 3555

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

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 2

“CHARON’S TRINITY”

* 1 minute of rowing

* 1 minute 24kg KB swings

* 1 minute burpees

* 1 minute rest

5 rounds total

Notes:

* This is originally “Devil’s Trinity”, but I replaced the heavybag rounds with the rowing, hence the name change.  It was a good change.  It’s a little easier for me to dog the heavybag than it is the rower, since the rower has the immediate feedback on screen for my performance level.  I was definitely feeling this when it was over, and the swings, rowing and burpees were a solid full body workout.  Definitely want to keep this in the rotation.

* Left hip is a little pissy from yesterday’s workout.  Can’t let that compound over time.  Deadlifitng tomorrow.

* Tang Soo Do sparring tonight.  Tends to be a solid workout.

 Training Log: Entry 3554

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 1

MAIN WORK

SSB Squat

5x5x325

ALTERNATE w/

Axle Strict press from rack

5x5x166+1 push press rep per set

6 chins between sets

ASSISTANCE WORK

6 round circuit (90 seconds rest between rounds) of

* Press (98lb trap bar, 95lb BtN, 93lb axle) sets of 10 first rotation, 5s for second

* Dips to failure

* 15x10lb lateral raise

* 15 pull aparts

Standing ab wheel

3x10

Notes:

* This was a challenging workout.  I’m glad it fell the morning after I had the carby meal.  The squats actually felt the best on set 4 of all things.  I’m trying not to let my body fishing pole on these, but at this point it’s just a matter of getting the reps in.  SSB makes me stronger in general, while other squats make my legs strong.  This is why I’ll rotate the implements.

* I did sets of 10 for chins during the warm ups, so I managed 100 total reps when the workout was done.

* Got in the 6 rounds for assistance, but cut the reps short on the second run through.  I’ll attempt to build up to a full 10 per.  Controlling what I can for my upcoming competition, I can show up with the strongest shoulders possible and really blow away the press event if I prioritize this.

* Weighed in at 82.3kg this morning, post workout, which is dead on the exact weight I need to be for the competition.  That bodes well.  I’m still going to try to drop a little weight to give myself a buffer, especially with holidays and family visits coming up, as I want to be able to enjoy myself during that time.  But it’s good to see the system working here.  I got a little lighter than I needed before the cruise so I could come back right about where I needed to be.

 Training Log: Entry 3553

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 4

MAIN WORK

SSB Squat

5x5x285

ALTERNATE w/

Axle strict press

5x5x143+1 push press rep per set

ASSISTANCE/CONDITIONING

Crossfit “Cindy” WOD

20 rounds of

* 5 chins

* 10 push ups

* 15 squats

w/20.4lb vest

Time: 23 minutes flat

Notes:

* Cut out any additional assistance work, as the Valkyrie was heading to work early and I wanted to see her before she left.  Truthfully, I was wiped out after Cindy anyway, and all I was really going to manage was some band pull aparts.

* Heat was a big factor.  We’re starting up a heat wave today, and it was beating me down in the garage.  I FLEW through the first 8 or 9 rounds, but started hitting a slump after that.

* Upper back was quite sore, and lower back was a little stiff.  I’m sure that’s a result of deadlifting for the first time in 3 weeks.  This entire week has been a re-introduction back into training after the hiatus.  “Softening up”, ala John McCallum.

* I could tell my SSB squat was becoming very “Conan approved” ala Jim Wendler.  Which is to say, I’m relying more on my back to carry me through vs my legs.  Given this is my strongman prep cycle, that works totally fine for me, but also cements my idea that I should rotate between SSB front squats, buffalo bar and SSB squats as I rotate through cycles of Tactical Barbell.  I really dig the idea of that approach.  I’m far less married to particular movements these days, and I’m realizing the benefits of the different movements AND the benefits of not staying with one movement for too long.  My last cycle with the buffalo bar demonstrated to me that I still “got” that low bar when I want to use it, and coming back to it every few cycles will help maintain that.

* On a similar note of rotating approaches, this week I’ve gone pure lean meat for breakfast (minus yesterday, where I fasted through breakfast), relying primarily on turkey breasts, with 1 day of canned salmon.  This was primarily in an effort to “dry out” after 2 weeks of travel eating, but I’ll say I’ve enjoyed the experiment.  I definitely don’t have the “dog with kibble” effect as I do when eating fattier meat at breakfast, but I am certainly still satiated.  Possibly even moreso, because you can only eat so much dry turkey breast before you decide “I don’t really want to eat any more of this”.   Walking away from the high fat meal, I was full and happy, whereas walking away from the lean meal I’m full but still “on”: alert and “lighter”.  And I know, from an energy intake perspective, I’m taking in less with the leaner meal vs the fattier, even if portion sizes are equated.  I’m considering re-introducing the “Feast, Famine and Ferocity” approach to coincide with Tactical Barbell’s “OMS” (Operator-Mass-Specialization) model, in that I’d have higher fat breakfasts during Mass and Specialization phases of training and leaner breakfasts during Operator blocks.  And, of course, this is combining with the “Maximum Definition Diet” as well, because I tend to just blend everything together, which would mean 1-2 carb meals a week as well, and I’d include higher fat meals at dinner time so that I’m not running fats stupidly low.  I really just enjoy the constant tinkering and experimenting: it’s fun to discover this stuff.

* Tang Soo Do last night was a decent workout.  Lotta bodyweight works, running and forms/kata/hyungs.

* Got one of the photos from my trip, of me standing on the arena floor of the Roman Colosseum.  Since it was a Disney trip, I actually wore nothing but Hercules shirts the entire time.   It was a BIG hit with the locals: Italy and Greece both loved it, and it was funny who they both “claim” him.  But I’m also posting because I’m flat out happy with how I looked.  This trip was celebrating the year I’m turning 40 (my actual birthday is in October), and I remember how my dad looked at this age and it was NOT like this.  And that I can look this way while eating the way I want to eat and living the way I want to live is ultimately hitting the hat trick of life. 

...especially given that this is a photo of my TORN bicep, haha.

 Training Log: Entry 3552

PM WORKOUT (1230)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 3

MAINWORK

SSB squat
3x5x285

ALTERNATE W/

Axle strict press from rack
3x5x143+1 push press rep per set

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar mat pulls
15+5+5x425

ASSISTANCE

Circuit superset (no rest) of

Axle curls
3x10x53
1x8x53

HLR
2x10
2x8

Band pull aparts
1x70

Notes:

* My 15 year old pug passed (Yoshi) away last night, peacefully in her sleep.  Work was awesome and gave me the day to grieve and get her affairs sorted, but in turn we didn't sleep much after we confirmed she has passed at around 0155, so rather than train at 0400 I slept in and got this done around lunch time.  Kept it to the bare essentials, since the Valkyrie is still home and I want to be near her.  This is pretty much how this day will run in the future anyway, I just intend to include more assistance work, and to perform chins in between sets of main work.  

* I DID get in 40 reps of chins during the warm ups.

* Despite the circumstances, this was actually an awesome feeling workout, most likely because I got to train later in the day when I was more limber.

* Those mat pulls feel better and better each week.  Specifically how I'm starting the pull with a leg press and finishing with a hinge, compared to my old injurious method of hinging from the start.  As much as I hated pulling with the trap bar, I'm certain that helped regroove that pattern.

* Tang Soo Do last night was a decent workout, but we'll be skipping tonight.

* Rest in Peace girl

Pictured with steak and eggs, which I made for her 15th birthday

 Training Log: Entry 3551

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

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 2

“FOBBIT INTERVALS”

Set 20 minute timer

Row for 2 minutes

20 KB swings w/24kg bell

Row for 2 minutes

10 burpees

Continue until 20 minutes ends

Notes:

* Woke up quite sore from yesterday, so settled on Fobbits again. The lower intensity rowing was good for getting some bloodflow, and the workout in general still got my heart rate up, sweat going, and breathing heavy.  Mission accomplished.

* Went with burpees in place of the snatches, as the latter just beat me up pretty fierce.  Burpees answered the mail completely.  Getting up and down from the ground is always a solid choice.

* Tang Soo Do tonight. First class in 2 weeks, and it’s “Wildcard Cardio” week, so I’m sure to get in a good workout.

* Keeping my protocol of sleeping in on Tuesday to go with these shorter HIC workouts.  I have the day off on Thursday for Juneteenth, so I’ll be skipping my ruck this week, but will most likely still get in a good walk.

 Training Log: Entry 3550

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 1

MAIN WORK

SSB squats

5x5x285

ALTERNATE w/

Axle strict press from rack

5x5x143+1 push press rep per set

6 chins between sets (92 total for the workout)

ASSISTANCE

3 round circuit of

* 10 reps of press (98lb trap bar/95lb btn barbell/103lb axle)

* Dips to failure

* 20lb lateral raise (1x10, 2x8)

* Band pull aparts

4x6 standing ab wheel

CONDITIONING

5 rounds of 30 seconds on/60 seconds off rower (max intensity)

2 minute cooldown

Notes:

* I woke up in Rome at 0515 on Sunday, flew for a total of about 11 hours, arrived home on Sunday at 1730 (because of timezone changes) and got to sleep around 2130, which was about 23 hours of being awake, and then got up and did this workout.  Honestly, I slept really well and felt pretty normal, which is awesome.  I think years of shift work gave me this super power.  I DID have my first cup of coffee in about a year on one of those flights: it just sounded good.  I ended up having more: 2 decafs and one full strength.

* After 2 weeks away from training, I still felt strong coming back.  I was specifically curious how the SSB squats would feel, since I haven’t trained that particular movement in quite a while and they tend to eat my lunch, but they actually felt VERY strong today.  I upped my training max from last cycle, despite being a different movement, and it’s feeling solid.  Depth was awesome as well, which once again points to bar placement having such an impact on that.

* It was very hot in the garage, and my headbands were all in the laundry from travel, so that sucked.

* This is no longer Planet Mongo, so the back is not the priority.  I’m still keeping parts of it that were awesome (like chins during my warm ups and between work sets), but I’m shifting focus toward competition prep for 26 Jul.  I brought back my “ultimate shoulder circuit”, because my press got stupidly strong when I did that.  I only went through 3 rounds of it, because it was feeling tough at that point and having come back from 2 weeks off I didn’t want to push too stupidly hard.  I need to drop the weight on the lateral raises next time.

* Rower afterwards is still a good way to get the whole body tuned up and get in some more back work.  On my vacation, I really saw how the prioritization paid off, because I’m looking much wider than I was when I was at the same bodyweight. Filled out well.

* Got in a good walk during my lunch break as well.  Still prioritizing activity.

* Going to give myself a week to bounce back from travel before I weigh myself.  Don’t want to make stupid decisions based off bad data.

 Training Log: Entry 3549

**OPERATION PLANET MONGO**

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

*Tactical Barbell Operator* Cycle 1, Week 6, Workout 5 [Final lifting workout]

MAIN WORK

Buffalo Bar squat

3x2x375

Alternate w/

Axle Strict Press from rack

3x2x183+1 push press rep per set

Sets of 6 chins between sets (86 total)

Buffalo bar squat

32+8+10x225 (12 deep breath rest pause)

ASSISTANCE

Standing ab wheel/BPA supetset circuit

3x10/33

Alternating arm KB curls

35x22.5

CONDITIONING

5 minutes LISS rower

Notes:

* Got in sets of 10 chins during the warm ups, getting 50 before the main work.

* Last lifting workout of the cycle, so I played around, as I’ve already achieved all my goals. That said, I REALLY wanted 50 in one shot on that set of 225, but equipment issues plagued me. Bar was sliding down my back a bunch on the main sets alone, and the longer the workout went, the more I sweat, so the more slippery the bar got. 

* I actually almost fell forward on the very first rep, as I tried putting the bar a little higher to prevent the slippage, but then it just slid right down. It made the first 20 reps REAL easy, having the bar so low on my back, but then I wasted a lot of energy trying to hise shrug the bar back into place between breaks. It did create a pretty interesting training effect, as it was effectively one squat set with a variety of different squats, ranging from high to low bar. And it was certainly exhausting.

* This is making me think that, for the next training cycle, I should implement SSB squats. They have a good carryover into strongman, the bar will stay in place, and my elbows will really be spared, meaning I can invest more energy into my pressing and sandbag work.  

* My right knee was feeling kinda crummy leading into this, so the really low bar squatting was actually pretty nice on that. Everything else selected was just light work but also stuff I won’t have access to for the next few weeks. 

* I leave for my cruise tomorrow. I’m going to get in a conditioning workout in the morning, and I’m actually intending on getting in some training time over this vacation, just because it’s 2 weeks away vs 1 and I have a competition coming up.

* Weighed in at 81.1 kg, which will be the final weigh in for this cycle.