Training Log: Entry 3766

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 9, Workout 2

“ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BLOAT”

18 chins

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Barely cleared 4100m. I’m, of course, being stupid, and now getting competitive with my recovery row. But still meeting intent: this isn’t laborious, and I feel better after I’ve done it than before. Because each time I have to convince myself to do this vs just skipping the workout.

• In general, body is feeling good. SI joint and knee are playing nicely. Sun is out more, and we got in an evening walk last night. I’m able to get some more sun exposure, and in general it’s getting to be about that time where I’m more active in general. The year long plan seems to be shaping itself out well.

• Weighed 83.2kg this morning. It’s the coffee fasting day, which I find myself really looking forward to these 2 days per week. It gets me re-calibrated, and the mornings without breakfast are faster and lower stress.

• Sparring week for Tang Soo Do this week. Despite it being “non-contact”, I tend to get beat up on this week, so we’ll see how that plays out with the heaviest week of the program.

 Training Log: Entry 3765

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, benadryl coma)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 9, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar squat
4x3x385

Axle strict press from rack
4x3x183

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x8x85s

DB row
4x8x150

GHR
4x8x65

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
30

Notes:

• Did yardwork yesterday for 1.5 hours, and went for a walk in the evening while everyone ELSE was doing yardwork, and was feeling some allergies. Took 2 benadryl before bed and slept all the way through the night. Normally it doesn’t affect me like that, but I’m thinking the stuff we had was expired, as this was a new batch and VERY potent. You sleep long but not necessarily well on meds, and I woke up in a bit of a hangover, but was excited about triples week after eating the family meal last night and got after it.

• This is always my favorite week of the program, predictably because it has the fewest reps. That said, the warm-up of 335 on the squats felt much heavier than I expected, but then the working sets felt light. Funny that.

• First workout where all the presses went without an issue.

• Body is continuing to feel better. Really aggressively trying to get the SI joint to play nice, and it seems to be paying off.

• Opened up with 18 chins this morning. Got 18-18-17 all 7 days last week, now it’s 3x18.

• Weighed 82.2kg this morning. Stupidly light. Had similar GI issues as last weekend, just to a lesser degree, so some of the weight loss is there, but I also think the goal of reverse dieting has paid off and my metabolism is humming along. I ate very well last night: 5 slices of homemade sourdough pizza (larger slices than usual) with lots of meaty toppings and then 4 homemade peanut butter cookies and 1 mini sourdough muffin, all with some raw honey.

 Training Log: Entry 3764

PM WORKOUT (1500)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 6

3 rounds of 1 minute stone of steel loading

• 160lb stone

• 2 minutes rest between rounds

 Training Log: Entry 3763

AM WORKOUT (0359 natural wake up)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x6x360

Axle strict press from rack
4x6x168 (1 rep PR from previous workout)

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
2x10x80s
9x80
9+2x80

DB row
4x10x140

GHR
4x10x60

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
30

Notes:

• Another Friday workout, another Friday where I need the carrot dangled in front of me to get moving. I actually do imagine part of this training ennui is a result of my recomp vs gaining strategy. When the food is high, the compulsion to get out there and make it work is greater, whereas, even though I’m seeing results in the weight room and through my physique, I don’t “feel” like I’m building Psychology is weird. But I got up a minute before my alarm, so that was good.

• The first set of squats I really felt like I was sitting back into the rep vs down, specifically on my way up from the hole. Just better balance in general.

• Was good to get all the sets of strict presses. I imagine there was a downstream effect on the incline bench as a result, but I still matched total reps from the previous week there.

• Tang Soo Do last night was a mixed bag of drills. Not a challenging workout, but with the humidity here it was still plenty sweaty, which may explain my weigh in…

• 81.9kg on the scale. Lightest I’ve been in a while, and I had a giant meal last night. Granted, it was my only meal, which has really just made this whole process sustainable. I enjoy being able to feast like that. But I also imagine I’m seeing the effects of humidity and sweat, because I was also plenty exhausted training in the garage this morning. Once I rotate the buffalo bar out, it will be back to shirtless training, which will save on some laundry.

 Training Log: Entry 3762

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 4

Prowler “sprints”

• 4 rounds of high handle sprints w/90lbs loaded on prowler

Notes:

• Stuck with the plan of actually doing this today. I train in a parking lot closeby my house away from residentials, so that I’m not waking up the world with the sound of metal on asphalt (btw: when it’s dark out, you can actually see the sparks fly off the prowler). I walked the distance I’m pushing, and it’s 110 steps for me (my normal stride, not toe to toe). A fresh “sprint” took about 48 seconds, where I was able to move quick for the first 5/8s of the length or so and then have to resort more to slogging it out at the end. That’s not QUITE the same training effect as an actual traditional sprint, but I feel like it will have some value in prepping for a strongman tractor pull event.

• Rested 4 minutes for the first 3 rounds and 5 minutes for the final. 6 minutes per round would have been more appropriate, employing a 6:1 rest to work ratio, but first time out and wanted to keep honest on time.

• In the future, I intend to use the harness to actually develop the skillset necessary for the event, but for now I’m just trying to rebuild my prowler conditioning in general, because I was definitely feeling the effects of the prowler between rounds, and after the final round I contracted some prowler flu, and when I got back home to put stuff away my legs were like jello.

• The biggest win of this all was meeting intent. I struggled with sprint work in the past because of “opportunity costs”. I couldn’t cope with the idea of spending 30+ minutes of training time to get in 4 minutes of actual training, and I’d always turn these into endurance workouts instead and just miss the point entirely. I kept the weight light enough that I could sprint, despite the blow to my ego only seeing a 45 per side. I kept the rest times long enough that I could recover, instead of trying to force myself to perform while I was gassed. Once again, appreciation to Tactical Barbell here, because every workout has a purpose, instead of every workout trying to be all things at once.

• I will also note that getting to sleep an extra half hour was glorious.

• Tang Soo Do last night was the 90 minute class and a decent enough workout. Since it’s the wildcard week, we went through a wide range of material. Tonight’s class is 60 minutes.

• Weighed 82.6kg this morning. Was looking over my past 8 weeks of weigh ins and this week is trending very similarly to week 1. Been a fascinating experiment.

• This showed up in my facebook feed this morning

• 

• I’ll be attending that brief. I’m trying to not get too excited, but a boxing match has been on my bucket list since I was in high school. If my schedule can support this, that would be awesome, and Tactical Barbell would be easy to make it all work.

 Training Log: Entry 3761

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x6x251

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
15x455

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x10x255

Dips
3x10x80
7+3x80

Axle curls
10x86
2x10x81
8+2x81

ASSISTANCE circuit

Reverse hyper
3x15x360

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Notes:

• SI joint really seems to have resolved itself, and I managed not to aggravate it during the workout, so huge wins all around. Still doing the things that keep it happy, which includes swapping the ab wheel for the hanging leg raises.

• Mat pulls weren’t as successful as last week as far as wardrobe goes: bar kept snagging on my thigh. Need to pull up the knee sleeves a little more. But that makes the 15 reps all the sweeter. Feeling very strong on these compared to last time I handled this weight, and managed 9 reps in the first breath.

• Curl weight is just too heavy. Walked it back to last week’s weight, which was appropriate. Will adjust my max.

• Weighed 82.2kg this morning: a 1.3kg drop from yesterday. Also saw some veins on my abs. This has been a pretty awesome training block as far as outcomes go.

• Tang Soo Do last night was lower activity than usual. There is a tournament this weekend that only a few students are going to, so we focused on prepping them. Got in a little weapons work. Tonight is the 90 minute class, so most likely a little more focus.

 Training Log: Entry 3760

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 2

“ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BLOAT”

18 chins

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Changing things up. In theory, I’m going to hit the sled/prowler on Thurs and do some stone loading on Sat, so my recovery workout slots into today instead. It seems to be a good call as well, as I’m feeling the best I’ve felt since the race. SI joint is not 100%, but it’s in a very good way, and I’m moving fairly painfree. Saw this manifested in the fact that I got over 4000m in the 20 minutes on the rower, whereas last week was slightly over 3700.

• Tang Soo Do “wildcard cardio” is the theme for this week. Should get in some decent workouts.

• Weighed 83.5kg this morning. Called it before I stepped on the scale. Getting familiar with how weights “feel” and my fluctuations.

 Training Log: Entry 3759

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, very good sleep)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 8, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar squat
4x6x360

Axle strict press from rack
3x6x168
5+1x168

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
3x10x80s
8+2x80

DB row
4x10x140

GHR
4x10x60

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
30

Notes:

• Had really good sleep last night, which made it harder to get up and train because I was enjoying it. I like to take the moments to celebrate this, because at the height of my illness, I was sleep avoidant, absolutely hated sleeping, and would get up to train at 0300 because I just couldn’t stand being in bed any more. Big contributor to today is that it’s become grossly humid, so I had a fan pointed directly at me all night, which the combination of cool breeze and white noise put me right out.

• I was a little naughty on the squats and caught myself putting the bar a bit low on the first set. My superpower is that, since I’ve dislocated my right shoulder 6 times, tore the labrum in it and experienced a few dozen subluxations, I can contort by upper body into bizarre positions to achieve a low bar that’s actually illegal in some federations. Cool for moving max loads, but tends to shift the emphasis away from where I need. It being grossly humid has also made it that I’m pretty excited about moving away from low bar and no longer wearing my grip shirt.

• Pressing strength was pretty solid for today. It’s been a struggle with my bodyweight not climbing up rapidly to meet demands.

• That GHR weight keeps changing not because I keep changing it, but because I keep forgetting how much is actually loaded in the vest. I confirmed that it is for real 60lbs, so we’re going with that.

• Went the full week doing 18-17-17 chins. Now it’s 18-18-17. Opened up the workout with 18. Also been including 10-15 unweighted reverse hypers with each session, to help with my SI joint.

• Weighed 83.0kg this morning. Hard to know if I’m looking at “real weight” at this point. The humidity is making me sweat more, I’m coming down from a high sodium week, and this weekend’s gastrointestinal atrocities are a contributor as well, but I had a wonderful meal last night of 6 slices of homemade sourdough pizza topped with all the pork (bacon, pancetta, and lean ham) along with olives and pineapple, and then 3 sourdough cookies and a sourdough brownie alongside some raw local honey. That meal ALSO helps motivate me to train on Mondays.

• ABF may be in a holding pattern. My kiddo is prepping for a track and field day at school, prioritizing running events and the Valkyrie has her next half marathon coming up in May (she’ll be completing 40 half marathons before turning 40 with this one: huge milestone).

 Training Log: Entry 3758

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 7, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x335

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x158
2x5x158

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
12,11,10,9+3x75s

DB rows
4x12x130

GHRs
4x12x60s

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
30

Notes:

• Motivation was low for this one, but knowing this workout punched my ticket for the weekend was enough to get me moving. I actually felt much better physically than I expected to. SI joint is ameliorating (there is your SAT word) at an appreciable rate, and including some bodyweight reverse hypers seems to be helping.

• My pressing DID improve from Monday, but it was still rough. This is the hardest day of the program in that regard, so I’m going to hold onto the max and see how next week goes. I’m not putting on bodyweight at the rate I typically do when running Grey Man (I’m usually at about 86kg after 6 weeks), so being able to hold onto that rate of progression, especially into uncharted territory of an extra cycle, is not what I’d expect. This is still experimental.

• GHRs felt better than Monday, same with the sit ups, primarily as a result of the SI joint feeling better.

• Weighed in at 83.6. Heavier this week, which, again, some of it is most likely legit, but I’m also dealing with inflammation and a high sodium diet with all the ham I’ve been eating (and finished off this morning). Be curious to see how weight shakes out next week with a little “detox”

• Took the truck in for maintenance this morning. Had the opportunity to walk, but chose to sit, enjoy the free coffee and read more of “Eat like a Human” by Dr. Bill Schindler. I’ve been feeling a little sorry for myself (physically) for a bit here. I’m wanting to get things a little more “in gear” starting next week, but this was a good week to just ease into the next training cycle and recover from the previous weekend’s stupidity.

• Ideally, we’re going to get back on the ABF train tonight as family, assuming we all feel healthy.

• As much as it was a total war to get them, I am a HUGE fan of these knee sleeves from Elitefts. I genuinely did not appreciate how significant compression impacts performance until I was able to wear double ply knee sleeves through a whole training session. My knees feel like I’m 20 again, and I’m able to move squats smoothly and deeply. I’m actually holding the bar higher on my back now as a result. 

 Training Log: Entry 3757

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 7, Workout 4

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20m recover row

18 chins

Notes:

• I woke up feeling better than I have over the past few days, but hips are still super stiff, and sitting on a rower for 20 minutes didn’t do much to help that. But it was good to move in general.

• Tang Soo Do last night had a LOT of breakfalls. They’ve actually been somewhat therapeutic to my SI joint: like a cheap chiropractor. We got to work with one of the senior black belts for one-steps as well, and he’s 20, so he can take the falls a lot better and allow us to ragdoll him.

• Weighed in at 83.8kg. I’m sure eating ham for all my meals yesterday was an excellent approach to sodium loading. And it’s on the menu for the next 2 days as well, because leftovers rock.

 Training Log: Entry 3756

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 7, Workout 3

Open with 18 chins

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x8x236

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
15x455

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x12x240

Dips
3x12x62.5
9+3x62.5

Axle curls
2x12x81
2x8x81

ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT

Reverse hyper
3x15x360

Hanging leg raise
2x10

Notes:

• Didn’t struggle to wake up for this one like I have in the previous weeks.

• My new knee sleeves make it that I don’t need to wear the sweats to prevent the bar from catching on my strongman shorts, and it also means I can have knee sleeves on for the deadlift. That may prove valuable. In general, these pulls feel a million times better than they did last time I attempted this weight, point of fact being that I had to abandon that cycle last time because it eventually became too challenging. I’m in a much stronger place this time around. 15 reps wasn’t my max today, but with my hip/back (I think it’s truthfully my SI joint) being the way it is, this was the right call to shut it down when I did.

• Bench press weight is perfectly challenging. Everything else COULD have been accomplished with a little more rest, but I was rushing. With this being mass protocol, the goal of getting in a solid pump and challenging myself was accomplished.

• Tang Soo Do last night included break/roll falls, which actually helped my back a little. I wake up pretty stiff/achy, but after I move around I’m in a good way. Better than I should feel, if nothing else.

• Weighed in at 83.3. A .9kg drop from yesterday, which is exactly what happened last week. I seem to be trending up half a kilo this week in general, with this recomp/reverse diet phase very slowly trickling the weight up.

• I need to make a habit of bringing back daily reverse hypers. That’s how I resolved this issue the last time. I also intend to sleep in tomorrow as well, but next week would like to bring back sled/prowler training to get a little more athletic and prep for the tractor pull.

 Training Log: Entry 3755

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 7, Workout 2

“VIKING RAID”

15 minutes

• 100m row

• 150lb sandbag carry

• Add 100m to row each round

Notes:

• Opened the day with 18 chins.

• This was like “Viking raid” and more “Viking retreat”, as I was hobbling. The race re-aggravated an old injury in my right hip/lower back that I’ve been rolling out for the past few days. But Chaos is the plan, because I woke up this morning and thought to myself “no way am I picking up a sandbag”, but once I took the dog out (in the sleet, because the weather here is bonkers) and came back inside I felt “good enough”. I moved slow, but I could still feel the conditioning hit from this.

• My forearm/bicep also continues to operate at “good enough” levels, which is a boon this far into low bar squatting. The grip shirt really solved a lot of issues. And I take comfort in the fact that my right knee has completely resolved. Victories where I can.

• Weighed in at 84.2kg. Highest of the cycle so far. I’m sure there’s still a lot of inflammation at play, but I’m also probably finally fully glycogen loaded, as I’ve noticed the past 2 days how much deeper my abs have looked. Which is also the funny thing, as I looked at myself in the mirror before the weigh in and thought “this is a good level of ‘walk around leanness’.”, and then stepped on the scale and saw the highest weigh in for the cycle. A sign of how the scale really only tells a small part of the story.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. It’s one-step week, which is typically low activity, but break falls will be interesting. Our instructor knows that we ran the race, and he’s a recent spinal-fusion recipient, so he may show us a little mercy.

 Training Log: Entry 3754

AM WORKOUT (0340 natural wake up, snoozed until 0400 alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 7, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x335

Axle strict press from rack
3x6x158
5x158

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
2x12x75s
9x75
8+3x75

DB rows
4x12x130

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit ups
20,15

Notes:

• As you can see, I decided to do another cycle of Grey Man.

• Had to cut out the GHRs due to time constraints. I’ll knock them out later today.

• I felt much better than I should have felt after that 10 mile race on Saturday and decided to see what I could do this morning. I was absolutely delighted with how the squats went, and not surprised with how the pressing went. I didn’t push myself stupidly hard there, and just went with what I was capable of today. I actually kept the training max the same this cycle on the axle, rather than increase it, and will just get better quality reps. I’ll see how Friday’s workout goes.

• Rest paused on the DB incline bench to make up some reps, but not all the ones I missed

• Got some new knee sleeves from Elitefts, and they are total game changers. I noticed that my Mark Bell sleeves had split on the left sleeve and were no longer providing any actual support: just warmth. These sleeves are double ply, yet stretchy enough to not cut off my circulation so that I can wear them all session. And what I discovered is that, when my knees have compression, my joints feel stable (shocker) and my body has more confidence in movement, so the squat eccentric moves MUCH smoother than before. Previously, the first rep especially, it was like I was lowering a rope in a well trying to find the bottom: just gingerly and slowly lowering myself until I could find depth and then get back up. Now, I feel more confident just sinking to the bottom. I’m excited to see how this benefits my training. It was a BIG “to do” to get these damn things, because Elitefts Customer service SUCKS and their sizing chart is absolutely bonkers. It had me as a 3XL, which was also an 11” knee diameter (which is the kind of diameter you expect to see on a child). I wrote an e-mail asking about it, which went unanswered, and I called their service number and they basically just read the chart to me. I had to literally DM Dave Tate directly on facebook to finally figure out I should be a medium. It’s amazing how it’s STILL like this when it comes to lifting equipment. Nothing has changed since Inzer in the 80s.

• Got in a full 7 days of 3x17 chins. Today, I opened up with 18.

• Weighed in at 83.7kg. Heaviest so far. I absolutely earned it. I’d be hesitant to call yesterday a “cheat day”, because it wasn’t cheating, it wasn’t binging, it was just enjoying Easter and being with the family, but it’s the first time in maybe a decade where I spent the whole day running on carbs rather than just 1 meal. The Valkyrie has been exploring more sourdough options and made sourdough cinnamon rolls with icing from scratch, of which I had 2. She made sourdough biscuits to go with our 1 big meal of the day, which was bone-in ham along with a corn casserole, baked beans, deviled eggs, and olives. I had 2 of those biscuits with some local honey and butter, and then the absolute fattiest pieces of ham I could find. And then she made sourdough brownies completely from scratch, which I did 2 of those as well, and topped 1 with some raw honey. It felt great to eat these, physically and otherwise. Everything being made in the home from scratch with quality ingredients just hits right. I’m satiated when it’s done, rather than craving even more, and it’s incredibly enjoyable. I don’t feel sluggish afterwards. And I honestly couldn’t do it any better than to completely deplete any glycogen I ever had with that run and then replenish it all the next day. And then I trained and ate a meal of eggs and kalua pork, which is such an awesome “back on the diet” meal.

 Training Log: Entry 3753

AM WORKOUT (0510 wake up via alarm, 0730 start time)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 5

10 mile race

Notes:

• For anyone that has been following along, I did absolutely zero prep for this. I did 1 4 mile run about 7 weeks ago, and have otherwise been doing the rower for my cardio, and even then, it’s been 20 minute workouts. I’ve cut out my rucking and have leaned full into the Mass Protocol.

• That’s not a smart way to train for a 10 mile race.

• I also ran this completely fasted, on 8oz of water and some electrolytes. And I drank no water during the race.

• Bad decisions make good stories.

• I managed to run it all without stopping, which is always my goal. My fascia in my foot held up, and my right knee feels ok. My right hip is pissed off at me, but it’s been that way for a few weeks, and setting a deadlift PR on Wed didn’t help (another bad decision). I certainly wasn’t having a fun time for a lot of it, but it was something I could endure. It was really the first half mile that sucked the most, because I was basically re-teaching myself how to run WHILE dealing with all those little niggling injuries.

• Also, there was freezing rain and snow at the start, which made things less than awesome. But at the end there was bacon, which is THE best post running food I’ve ever had. Bananas are for chumps: bacon has more potassium. This race is put on by a local Brunch spot, so they bring out the A-game, and the Valkyrie even let me have her bacon. Getting the bacon into my mouth was also the fastest I moved that whole race.

• 

• Ninja mode at the start

• 

• This photo taken with a slow motion camera similar to what was used on the set of “The Green Hornet” since Bruce Lee kicked too fast.

• No rest for the wicked: I had to immediately drive the Valkyrie back to our home so I could drop her off to take the dog to doggie day care while I took the kiddo to music theater, which meant riding in a truck for 40 minutes after having JUST run 10 miles without training. Once I dropped the kid off, I peeled myself out of my truck and then walked to the nearest rest room like I was in a Wild West movie.

• I am not aging gracefully. I’m 40 years old and kicking sand in the reapers face like a Charles Atlas ad.

 Training Log: Entry 3752

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x3x377

Axle strict press from rack
4x3x181

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x8x80s

DB rows
4x8x145

GHR
4x8x65

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
20, 15

Notes:

• Though I had the day off work, I still got up early to get this knocked out so I could have full time with my family. And, truthfully, I just plain hate working out so much that I don’t want to put it off any longer than I have to. Sleeping in is cool, but sleeping in and THEN having to work out kinda sucks.

• Yet another “I feel undeservedly strong” workout, which is such a contrast to last cycle’s “strength miracles” workouts. My right forearm/bicep was extremely pissy yesterday and I thought I’d reached the end of my limit on low bar squatting, but today there were zero issues. Lower back was a little sore, primarily from Tang Soo Do. This new form is really challenging the core.

• My right hip still flares up a little on the overhead press. This is what was bothering me 18 months ago when I first started Tactical Barbell, and it’s not as severe, but I may need to take more proactive measures soon to resolve it.

• Tang Soo Do last night wasn’t extremely exhausting, but moderate activity. Highlight was doing a partner self-defense drill where both individuals tried to grab the other while defending against the grab. Was paired off against the Valkyrie, and like a venus flytrap I waited for her to grab me, and then spun around and picked her up from behind in a psuedo-suplex. Of course, didn’t slam her, but lifting her a bunch of times was fun.

• Weighed in at 82.5kg. Repeat of yesterday’s weight. I honestly haven’t been looking at myself in the mirror much through this process, but today I noticed a degree of leanness I haven’t seen in quite a while. This recomp approach has really been successful. Going easier on the conditioning has put me in a lower cortisol state and seems to be allowing for more fat burning/loss. With how I’ve been able to eat through this process, I’m pretty jazzed about that.

• 10 mile race tomorrow. Bad decisions make good stories.

 Training Log: Entry 3751

AM WORKOUT (0510 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm, best night of sleep in a long time)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 4

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20m recovery row

Notes:

• Every week, this is what I need when I need it. Alarm went off, I went to stretch, and every single muscle cramped. Got out of bed like the Tin Man, stumbled onto the rower, and went for no records whatsoever: just moved my body through space for 20 minutes and got some blood flowing. It’s one of those workouts where you consider skipping it because “what’s the point”, but it’s so much better to do it than to not.

• Opened up the workout with 17 chins.

• Weighed 82.5kg. Big contributor was last night’s Tang Soo Do class, which, as a 90 minute class, was an excellent workout. We spent the first half drilling techniques in increasing complex combinations that had us pouring sweat, and finished up with forms. Consequently, the “water weight shenanigans” I spoke of earlier are most likely still at play, explaining the weight drop despite the big meals yesterday, due to just how much we sweat. One more class tonight.

• I took the day off work tomorrow so the kiddo and I can catch the Mario movie. I’ve already got lunch in the sous vide (beef rib and beef shank), as we have our 10 mile race on Saturday and I’ll need to properly fuel. Still semi-undecided on the most immediate follow-on training phase, but part of that will be seeing how I feel after that race.

 Training Log: Entry 3750

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle Bench Press
4x3x266

Texas Deadlift Bar Deadlifts
12x440

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x8x275

Dips
3x8x85
7+1x85

Axle curls
4x8x91

ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT

Reverse hyper/Hanging leg raise
3x15x360/3x10

Notes:

• Sleep was good, so I didn’t wanna get up when the alarm went off, but I’ve been excited about this training day enough that I told myself, if I really wanted to, I could just walk away after the deadlift.

• On that note: I’m quite pleased with the deadlift. I noticed I was low backing it today, which seems to be me trying to save my hips, but even with that, the weight felt SO much lighter than my previous attempt at this weight. I’ve grown significantly stronger, and this was a 2 rep PR. I also saw places where I can chill out on the hips a little during the concentric. 12 reps was my goal and I met it. Grinded out a bit more than I should have, but so far no worse for wear. And the moonwalk afterwards was legit, as was seeing all the blown out blood vessels in my shoulders after my shower. I’m coming back to what I was.

• Benching was ok. Little bit of elbow pain to deal with. Felt it on the dips as well, and really showed itself on the hanging leg raise when I’d get off the bar. Felt more specifically in the bicep, similar to how my left felt before I tore it. Something to keep an eye on.

• Happy with how the belt squat is feeling these days. Far more viable movement when I don’t have knee pain.

• Tang Soo Do last night was a good traditional class of basics and forms. I’m really trying to get my stances deeper, now that my knees play nicer. Tonight is the 90 minute class.

• Weighed in at 82.8kg this morning: a full kilo drop from yesterday, despite eating like an absolute champ. Definitely some water weight shenanigans going on.

• On the topic of weight, this training phase has made me think I’ve got a decent year-round protocol going so far. Gain Oct-Dec, lean out first 6 weeks of new year, Recomp/reverse diet to June, lean out/be active outside for the summer, repeat. I’ve naturally fallen into the pattern and it’s really working well for me.

Training Log: Entry 3749

AM WORKOUT (0500 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 2

“VIKING RAID”

15 minutes

• 100m row

• 150lb sandbag carry

• Add 100m each round

Notes:

• Got all the way through the 6th round before the timer hit. Second best performance of the training cycle. Really tried to make it up in the rowing portion, as I was being a bit ginger on the carries.

• Opened up the workout with 17 chins.

• My hip has turned a corner thankfully in time for a deadlift PR attempt tomorrow. I was on the fence with doing this workout in order to spare the hip for said attempt, but this didn’t seem to bother it too much. Tang Soo Do may be another story. Right elbow/forearm is still a little pissy with this workout in general, but far better than it usually is this deep into Grey Man.

• Yes: I specifically wear my shirt that says “Viking” for this workout.

• Weighed 83.8kg this morning. Highest so far in the training block. With it being a gaining block, that’s not a bad thing, but I’ve also been living off the most sodium laden foods for the past several days, between kalua pig, corned beef and that Hawaiian BBQ spread last night. Consequently, thirst levels have been elevated as well.

 Training Log: Entry 3748

AM WORKOUT (0359 natural wake up)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 6, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x3x377

Axle strict press from rack
4x3x181

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x8x80s

DB rows
4x8x145

GHRs
4x8x65

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
20, 15

Notes:

• I was already dreading this workout before I went to bed last night, although “dread” is hyperbolic. It was more just plain not wanting to wake up early to go lift weights. But, as the natural wake up shows, my body was ready to go when it was time, and I actually felt much more physically restored. The Valkyrie gave me a massage last night around my SI joint, and that seemed to do the trick. Much more effective than rolling out on the LAX ball. Gives me hope for Wed’s deadlift workout.

• The week of triples suits me well. Still a wannabe-powerlifter. I felt strong on the squats and undeservably strong on the press. Geting into the squat position torqued my forearm a little, but I’m still MUCH healthier come week 6 than I typically am. And the press didn’t bother my hip like it did last workout.

• I’m actually challenging myself on the ab work at the end. Feel a decent cramp.

• Got in a full 7 days of 17-17-16 chins. Going for triple 17s this week.

• Weighed in at 83.3kg. I earned that, because I ate like a champ this weekend, with a capstone last night of 5 slices of sourdough crust pizza (2 slices with that guanciale…it was glorious) and 2 and a quarter large sourdough cookies with some raw local honey. Once again: I am such a fan of how I get to eat.

To give perspective, when I say “large cookies”, the ones in the photo are the “small ones”. The large ones didn’t make it into the shot, but they resembled Mrs. Field’s cookies in terms of thickness and size. Just wonderful.

 Training Log: Entry 3747

AM WORKOUT (0358 natural wakeup)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 5, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar Squat
4x6x352

Axle strict press from rack
3x6x168
5+1x168

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x10x75s

DB row
4x10x135

GHRs
4x10x60

GHR sit ups
20
15

Notes:

• I came into this feeling absolutely destroyed. My hips are a wreck from 3 nights of sparring (more on that), but knowing it was Friday and I had breakfast waiting for me compelled me through. Surprisingly, it was the press that was the biggest X-factor, rather than the squats. I DID note that I wasn’t standing fully locked out at the top of the squats, with some forward lean to take some pressure off the hips, but the first set of press sent some electricity down my back/hip, and I lost the second rep forward and had to fight for it as a result. Had to really make a point to keep my glutes locked down. I took a full 3 minutes of rest before the final set to help out there. In general, it was a workout I was happy to come out the other side on.

• I giggled to myself while filming my GHRs realizing that my youtube channel is effectively the world’s slowest snuff film.

• I at least earned my hip pain. I was the Dojang champion last night, sparring through 1 junior student, 1 senior student, and our senior black belt that is always the biggest challenge. In the case of the latter, I threw him off my starting off in the bladed stance that they always tell us to start off in that I refuse to adopt. Much like Inigo Montoya in Princess Bride, it dawned on them that, suddenly “I am not left handed”. But after that, I couldn’t stand to fight like that, so went back to my original stance. It had the intended effect though: suddenly I was unpredictable. This also included sending a rear like side kick to his head, which, for reference, he’s 6’3-6’4 and I am 5’9. It worked because NO ONE expected me to be able to do that. And all it cost me was my hips. A real pyrhric victory: the best kind. Got to watch the Valkyrie take on the entire dojang one after the other in the redemption bracket and work her way back up to me. We had an awesome match, getting into overtime at 2-2, with her scoring a beautiful head crescent kick on me at the end. Good night for the family.

• All THIS said, each sparring week I come out of it pretty wrecked. Even though this is “no-contact” point sparring (or maybe ESPECIALLY because of that), it requires a fair degree of athleticism and agility regularly practiced, and I keep getting older while these kids keep growing more and more into their primes. Our schedules force us to go 3 nights in a row, rather than having a break in between, and by Thurs the Valkyrie and I are totaled. In light of all this, I’m considering pivoting my training and making the sparring week a week where I adopt one of the “Fighter” programs from Tactical Barbell. Basically cut the lifting from 3x week to 2x week. Simplest solution would be cut out the middle day and make it JUST the deadlift workout.

• Weighed in at 82.5kg. Weight continues to remain pretty stable.

• My coffee consumption has increased. I just plain enjoy it, and people at my work are enablers by asking if someone else will have a cup if they make another pot.

 Training Log: Entry 3746

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 5, Workout 4

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• This was just what the doctor ordered (I suppose that would be Dr. Shawn Baker, as he’s super into rowing). I was exhausted at the end of the day yesterday and just passed out, and woke up “broken, bruised, forgotten, sore”. Immediately post row I felt worse, but after going through the rest of my morning, I feel restored and able.

• This continues to be the most “all-in” this block of Mass Protocol has been as far as priorities go. I’ve picked sleep over rucking, and have used the rower as a recovery tool, and the outcomes continues to demonstrate that this is the right call. I make peace with the reality that, when it comes time to emphasize conditioning, that’s what Operator is for.

• Weighed in at 83.2kg. Between a diet rich in salty corned beef and housing a ton of water and electrolytes before bed, that checks.

• Sparring night wasn’t quite as intense last night, but it was a full 90 minute class. We had a lot more junior students, and I was paired off with my kiddo in the first round, so I only got to spar that one round of our tournament. Post tournament we did some rounds of free sparring, and I couldn’t get any of the junior students to come play with me, so I did matches with my hands behind my back to make it a challenge.

 Training Log: Entry 3745

AM WORKOUT (0359 natural wake up)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 5, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x6x246

(2) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
14x440

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x10x250

Dips
3x10x75
8+2x75 (weight swung too much)

Axle curls
4x10x83

ASSISTANCE (performed in an unbroken circuit)

Reverse hyper
3x15x360

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Notes:

• Was not quite as motivated to tackle this today. Relied on the reality that I simply don’t have an option to delay this workout, since Wed is our busiest day of the week, and I had breakfast waiting for me when I was done.

• Felt very strong on the bench. As I was doing it, thought to myself “I feel like a 300lb bencher again”. It’s been an interesting journey trying to come back to where I was with a healthier approach. For you turbo nerds, this is like Final Fantasy IV, where you start out with Cecil as a dark knight, and he’s powerful, but his attacks take away from his hit points and are ultimately self-destructive, and then you start over as a level 1 paladin, you’re weaker, but you now can heal, and you can eventually grow to surpass your previous self.

• Holy f*ck at those mat pulls. If you’re observant, I missed the grab for the power rack and ended up just falling to the reverse hyper to rest. Definitely blew out some blood vessels, but feeling stronger than I expected. MUCH better than where I was last training cycle at this weight.

• Lever belt squats are really feeling good on the legs. Knee is healthy enough that I can focus on that. Dips were good: final set the weight just got a little too wild on me. Curls are feeling good. I’ve actually noticed my arms have grown, specifically because I normally roll up my sleeves at work, and I noticed I can’t drink my coffee anymore when I do that, because the sleeves compress my arms too much to comfortably raise the mug to my mouth. That’s a real “non-scale victory”

• Which, speaking of the scale, I weighed in at 81.9kg this morning. Part of that was sweating a bunch at Tang Soo Do (more on that in a minute), but I still afforded myself to throw an extra slice of corned beef on my plate as a result. I’m leaning into this recomp/reverse diet phase, since it seems to be working, but, in turn, I’m going to course correct when I see things going a little off kilter. With me eating only 1 meal yesterday, I recognize it was a little on the small side.

• Tang Soo Do sparring night went really well. We had 14 students in attendance, so it was a large bracket. I sparred 3 black belts, with a match with the Valkyrie in between the first and the second one. By all accounts, I won every match, but the final match against our senior black belt went into overtime and I scored a beautiful jump roundhouse to his ribcage…and the judges ruled that he scored a bodypunch on me. We both stared at each other in disbelief, and the black belt even pointed at me and went “Uh, no, he got the point”, but it’s baseball rules. I took satisfaction in us both recognizing it. Our dojang also implemented double elimination that night, so after that was done, I got to spar 3 more matches (2 against senior students, 1 against the Valkyrie), wherein I won the first two and lost a hardfought match the the Valkyrie at the end. It was an excellent test of endurance and I had to stay light on my feet. My matches against the black belts required me to come up with some individual strategies to address their unique tendencies (kinda like playing “Punch Out” back in the day) while I’m still trying to wreck everyone’s game by sparring Tang Soo Do using Bas Rutten’s fighting stance. Knees and hips have been happy enough to be able to pull that off, but we’ll see how tonight goes with 90 minutes of sparring.

 Training Log: Entry 3744

AM WORKOUT (0510 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm, very good night of sleep)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 5, Workout 2

“Viking Raid”

15 minutes

• 100m row

• 150lb sandbag carry

• Add 100m each round

Notes:

• Was in the middle of the carry on the 6th round when the timer went off. Still can’t beat week 1’s performance, which speaks to the impact of systemic fatigue. But I was definitely putting in effort and feeling the conditioning effect here.

• Body felt better than last week. Elbows and hips played nicer, but part of that was I was a bit less ballistic in the pick up to be a little more gentle on the connective tissues. Once again: it feels good to feel good.

• We did 22 rounds of ABCs last night as part of ABF, and it’s still functioning as an awesome tonic workout for me. However, I’ve noticed that my physique seems to have turned a corner and has returned to being a bit more shapely/bulbous, and it dawned on me that I AM doing a supplemental “bodybuliding” program with my family outside of my own training alongside my (now) 50 chins a day. I’m thinking the little bit of additional submaximal work is paying off.

• Woke up at 83.1kg this morning, which seems to be where I waver. Scale keeps weighing me 6kg less on the first attempt, which means it’s time for new batteries, but is a great “oh sh*t” sorta moment.

• When I have a little more bandwidth, I’m going to try to spitball some ideas for training leading up to the next competition. It’s a ways off, but I’m excited about it, and I’m excited that I’m excited about it. I already ordered my kilt yesterday.

With a name like that, I couldn’t pass it up.

 Training Log: Entry 3743

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 5, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar Squats
4x6x352

Axle strict press from rack
3x6x168
5+1x168

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x10x75s

DB row
4x10x135

GHRs
4x10x60

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
15, 10

Notes:

• All the pain issues I was dealing with this weekend resolved in time for this workout. I do believe a part of that is having a set rhythm that my body is used to. It knows that, come Monday morning, it’s time to perform. I, once again, felt much stronger than I had any right to this morning, which is a pleasant change from the last cycle, where every workout felt like a miracle.

• I recognized today that all the work I’ve put into making low bar squats viable have paid off, but they are still not enough to make low bar a forever movement. I can still trigger that pain in my forearm just from getting into position: irrespective of if the barbell slips down my back. Ultimately this is a positive thing: I’ve come up with an approach to make this training phase even more viable, but it also means that it’s just that: a training phase. Bar/movement rotation will continue indefinitely.

• Very pleased with pressing performance. The middle week is the most satisfying. Rested 2 minutes for all but the final set of axle: went 2:30. Went 90-90-120 on the incline.

• Got through all 7 days of 16-16-17 chins last week, and opened up with 17 this morning, planning on doing 17-16-17. Kinda Doug Hepburn-esque.

• Weighed in at 82.9kg, and that’s post carb up. We did another sourdough pizza last night. I had 5 slices: 3 from the sheet pan pizza, 2 from the traditional pie pan, alongside 5 sourdough cookies (new recipe) with some raw local honey. The Valkyrie is really getting into the homemade sourdough and I’m absolutely loving it. Being able to fuel up with the cleanest carbs made from home is absolutely incredible, and the results are showing that my body is responding well to it. This has become less a gaining phase and more a reverse diet phase, as I’ve been slowing upping the food and seeing the scale stay the same. As long as the weights in the gym keep going up, I’m good with that.

• Rather than 10 minute walks post meal, yesterday I adopted the strategy of 10 minute hyung/martial arts open hand forms. It was honestly pretty enjoyable. Less anti-social than sulking off for a solo walk or time on the rower, getting to improve my martial arts and work on that hip pain I was dealing with. I may make this a “thing”. I truthfully miss being “all-in” with martial arts.

• Got a big ABC workout tonight with the family for ABF. Also an experiment with beef shanks in the sous vide. We have leftover pizza on standby if it’s a disaster.

 Training Log: Entry 3742

AM WORKOUT (1115)

Tang Soo Do class

Notes:

• This was a semi-decent workout. We did open hand forms/hyungs the whole time, which gave me a moment to have a revelation. I’ve been complaining about my hips hurting all week, and thought I had jacked it up in training somehow. But I realize that this is the new form that we’re learning

• 
  

  
  

• Look, specifically, at his feet. They’re supposed to always be pointing forward, and all movement is done via the hips. When you factor in that we spent 90 minutes of Wednesday just drilling this form, and that we’ve used every spare minute we have training this form so we can memorize it, it makes sense that my hips are a little achy. I’m hoping there will be an adaptation phase, and maybe it will even develop some stronger hips.

• Otherwise, just an active day. Lotta running around and getting stuff done. Because my hips have been so achy, I’ve held off on adding in more intense training. With it being Mass Protocol, this works out well.

 Training Log: Entry 3741

AM WORKOUT (0630 natural wake up, snooze until 0700)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 4, Workout …5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x330

Axle strict press from rack
8x158
2x5x158
6x158

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x12x70s

DB row
4x12x125

PM WORKOUT (1500)

GHRs
4x12x55

GHR sit ups
1x25

Notes:

• Day off work, so slept in and got the majority of the workout knocked out while the rest of the family was waking up. Cut out the “out of garage” part for later.

• Felt like the gravity was turned up today. Was just getting beat to hell by the training. Didn’t push the axle too hard, but got a PR on the DB press as a result, so I’ll take it.

• While doing my knee rehab stretches, I felt a small pop in my hamstring. Immediately stopped the stretch, and just feel a little tightness in the hamstring, but otherwise nothing too worrisome. I’ll see how it feels tomorrow.

• Been very active with family in town. Easy way to get in steps. Eating a little more as well, which is good for a gaining phase.\

• Valkyrie and kiddo still chugging away on the ABF, and I’ve been joining them at their weights as well, making it a tonic/recovery workout for myself. I feel like all the time pressing with lighter weights has been great for grooving my technique.

 Training Log: Entry 3740

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 4, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x8x231

(3) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
14x440

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x12x230

Dips
3x12x60
9+3x60

Axle curls
2x12x76
9x76
9+6x76

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hypers
3x15x360

Various ab work

Notes:

• Sleep continues to be less than awesome due to minor inconveniences. This was pretty funny though. At night, the kiddo knocks on our door and gives us the pug puppy when he starts acting up (the pup starts off the night in the kids room). I’m usually the one that wakes up to receive the pug. When my kid gave it to me, we didn’t exchange any words, just the dog, and I thought “the nightly pug deal”, and then I laughed to myself “hah! Pug deal. Like drug deal” And that amount of thinking unfortunately shifted my brain into “awake mode” for the next hour or so.

• This training day requires little motivation to get me to do it. I appreciate how little there is to it, yet how much at the same time. Anchoring off that set of deads is awesome. On that note, though I was 1 rep shy compared to last week, it was a moment of discretion being the better part of valor, because I was in no degree of pain but could feel my body giving me some warning shots there. Shut it down, walked away, felt great.

• And then I did a set of ab wheel and immediately triggered that familiar pain in my hips and forearm. So I’m going to just plain stop doing the ab wheel for the rest of this training cycle: juice isn’t worth the squeeze. I don’t feel any pain during my daily chins, minimal during squats, TONS during this movement, and there are like a jillion other ways to train abs.

• Breaking the weight off the mats for the deads was challenging but not miraculous. I think I have at least one more cycle in me.

• Weighed 82.7kg this morning. Despite only 1 meal yesterday, that’s a bump up in weight, but that one meal was a VERY sodium heavy meal of corned beef, so that tracks.

• Tang Soo Do was a moderate workout yesterday. Today is the 90 minute class. And I’m taking the next 2 days off work, so schedule is going to be a little off.

• I signed up for another charity strongman competition. It’s 8 Aug, and I’m currently signed up as a Masters LW of 220-. This event has 2 things I’ve always wanted to do: a caber toss and Dritvik Stones. What I love the most is that I’m excited about this competition. I had fallen out of love with strongman for a while, and these charity comps for fun are really bringing me back. It’s sorta like combat sports, how I’m having fun just showing up to competitions without actually training: I just want a pick up game. I’m already thinking about my training cycle for this, and picking up some new toys (to include a kilt). Details below.

 Training Log: Entry 3739

AM WORKOUT (0529 natural wake up, slept in)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 4, Workout 2

“VIKING RAID”

15 minutes

• 100m row

• 150lb sandbag carry

• Add 100m to the row each round

Notes:

• Finished the 600m row when the timer ran out. Finished the carry still. I had some lapping issues on the 3rd round, which ate into my time. Right elbow was being a little pissy, so I was moving slower. In general, my time is getting worse each week, and I imagine it’s navigating around the pain that’s a part of that, as the first week I was able to rip the bag off the floor. But this is why I cycle low bar squats, rather than keep them year round.

• Forgot to hit record. Oops.

• This is still a solid conditioning hit. I was thinking about it on the ride to work as well. I’m doing a solid job of leaning into this mass gaining phase, even if I’m not chasing scale weight. I’m staying conditioned “enough” without going stupidly deep into it, and prioritizing sleep seems to be benefiting my physique and strength. I’m not as fat as I anticipated being at this point in the training block. It’s really been more of a recomp phase at this point.

• Which, on that note, I weighed in at 82.4, which is the lowest I’ve been on a Tuesday/post carb up weigh in for this training cycle. Wild considering I had over 1000 calories in burger patties alone for dinner last night. I think that’s been my favorite part of this experiment: discovering maintenance, and just how much wiggle room it has. Especially as I’m fasting through today on my way to 12lbs of corned beef I have in my sous vide.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. It’s “Wildcard/Cardio” week, and we’ll be attending a Saturday class as well, so lots of activity this week.

 Training Log: Entry 3738

AM WORKOUT (0345 wake up via dog, snoozed until 0400, but honestly a terrible night of sleep with windstorms)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 4, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x330

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x158
7x158
5x158

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
2x12x70s
2x10x70s w/4 rep rest pause on final set

DB rows
4x12x125

GHRs
4x12x55

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
20

Notes:

• It’s absolutely bonkers weather right now. Wind gusts up to 50mph, tore the fascia off my neighbors house and heard it scrapping all night, made it hard to sleep. Still having really vivid dreams as well, so it’s honestly like a mixed blessing to not be able to sleep much.

• As much as sets of 8 suck, I continue to feel unjustifiably strong on the squat. I think my right knee was just holding me back for longer than I realized. It’s awesome feeling healthy again, and figuring out to use my grip shirt has gone a long way to make the low bar squat more viable. I feel really locked in.

• For rest periods, it was 2 minutes on the squat, 1-2-2 on the incline press, 1s on the rows and GHRs. For the press, I went 2-3-2, seeing if resting 3 minutes would let me get in all 8 reps on the third set. Since it didn’t, didn’t seem worth repeating. Next workout, I’ll rest pause to get all the reps if I need to, similar to what I did with the incline bench. I was running a little short on time due to some morning logistics.

• Elbows are feeling good enough. I have awareness of them, but no agony. I got through all 7 days doing 3x16 chins. I may only go 2x16/1x17 for this week. These past few goes, I’ve been focusing on moving my body by contracting the lats, rather than pulling with my hands, and it seems to help move through pain. I’m also noticing better body awareness on the rows as a result. My hips are doing decent as well.

• Weighed 83.2kg this morning. Teetering between these weights. Wonderful family meal last night: another go with sourdough crust pizza, topped with pancetta, bacon, leftover kalua pork, pineapple and black olives. We had it cafeteria style on a baking sheet. I had something like 5 or 6 slices, and then 5 cookies with some raw honey. It’s awesome to have sourdough in the house: the Valkyrie is experimenting will all sorts of recipes. In turn, I’ve been considering how to work a cyclical or targeting ketogenic diet approach. I also used a 10 minute rower workout post meal ala the 10 minute walk, and that felt pretty nice.

 Training Log: Entry 3737

PM WORKOUT (1400)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 6

“Fran” Crossfit WOD w/no-kip chins

Time: 7:35

Notes:

• I had already gotten in 2x16 chins earlier in the day, and figured I’d get in the rest and then some with a classic.

• Been a LONG time since I’ve done this one. Haven’t felt healthy enough for it in a while. My right elbow/forearm is still kinda pissy over it, but I think it will adapt.

• Used to get this done around 4 minutes. Used to weigh 20lbs more as well.

• Along with this, I got in a 3 mile walk with the puppy while I wore the 20.4lb tac carrier earlier in the day. Good day of activity.

 Training Log: Entry 3736

AM WORKOUT (0320 wake up via windstorm, snooze until 0400 alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar squats
4x3x367

Axle strict press from rack
4x3x176

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x8x75s

DB rows
4x8x145

GHRs
4x8x55

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
2x15

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

Band pull aparts
20

Notes:

• I felt really strong coming into today. Knee came ready to play, weights felt right, no significant sources of pain to contend with. I also skipped TSD last night: do wonder if there is a correlation there. But I’ve also been skipping that Thursday ruck to get in more sleep. I think I’ve just been making a lot of good choices.

• Elbow pain has resolved. I’m using a little more variety in my chin grip selection, which I think is helping. I’ve kept up 3x16 this week without interruption. I’m enjoying it, rather than feeling obligated to do so.

• Changed up the ab work to get the same rep total in fewer sets. Also had enough extra time at the end for a little more assistance work.

• Weighed in at 82.4kg this morning. I believe I have discovered maintenance. This FEELS really sustainable as well.

 Training Log: Entry 3735

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 4

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• 3rd week in a row I’ve picked this over getting in a ruck, and I think this is just going to be a way forward during Mass Protocol. This makes a lot of sense. Train the muscles hard, do work to help recover from workouts, get in some daily activity, save the rucking for Operator. Before, the ruck was something of a means to control nutrient partitioning and keep control over the intake, but given that I fast on these mornings now, that seems more effective. My physique and gym performance is reflecting as such as well. I think the extra sleep is also giving me more benefits than the ruck would. If I had something more significant to train for, things may be different. I DO have a 10 mile race in a month that is most likely going to hit like a freight train, but I can deal with that.

• My hips are a little achy from deadlifts, but not cripplingly so. The row was definitely just going through the motions and getting some flood flowing.

• Weighed in at 83.0. Housing a bunch of corned beef is probably a great way to up sodium.

• Tang Soo Do was active for 90 minutes but not terribly intense. Breakfalls/rollfalls for the first 45 minutes and 1 step self defense for the rest. New belts are nice, because we get new material. I was also recruited to help test a choke defense the black belts were working on. It was the typical “psycho strangle” choke, where you straddle the person and wrap your hands around their neck. They were effectively supposed to chop my elbows at the joint to break the grab, but noted that my arms were so large that all it did was make the choke tighter around their neck. So, basically, the defense only works if you’re being attacked by someone smaller and weaker than you. Back to the drawing board.

• We’re skipping TSD tonight, as my puppy is getting neutered and we’re going to hang out with him and make sure he’s doing ok.

 Training Log: Entry 3734

AM WORKOUT (0352 natural wake up, snooze until 0400 alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x3x256

(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
15x440

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x8x250

Dips
3x8x80
7+1x80

Axle curl
4x8x88

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hyper
3x15x360

Ab wheel
2x10

Band pull aparts
75

Notes:

• Been having some wild/vivid dreams these past few nights. Jon Heck and I were trying to get out of an escape room. Can’t make that stuff up.

• Was excited to train. This is definitely my favorite lifting day of the program. My right hip was a little buggy in Tang Soo Do last night, but it showed up to play today. Funny enough, it was the ab wheel at the end that gave it a little trouble.

• Pleased to get through the benches without my pec acting up, and I actually had some more reps in me on the mat pulls, but I’ve been appreciating being able to progress week to week WITHOUT being in agony by pushing too far. “Enough”, per Dan John. The break off the mats is getting harder, but it’s not “strength miracle” levels yet like it was last training cycle.

• Belt squats are feeling better each week. Getting my knee in a good way has gone far.

• Weighed in at 82.3kg this morning. Down half a kilo after eating an entire chuck roast. I think I could sell this diet.

• 
  

 Training Log: Entry 3733

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 2

“VIKING RAID”

15 minutes

• 100m row

• 150lb sandbag carry

• Add 100m each round, max rounds in 15 minutes

Notes:

• Finished the 6th round this time and was starting the second when time expired. Further than last week, not as far as the first week.

• My elbows are a little achy: a telltale sign I’m pushing the daily chins too hard. I am notoriously stupid for always upping my chin volume at the same time that I reintroduce low bar squats into the equation. It made the bag picks a little more tender than usual.

• I came up with an idea to make this even MORE “viking raid-y”: I could incorporate some heavy bag/Body Action System work into the workout. Row, get off the rower and hit the bag, then do the carry. It would fit the story of rowing to the shore, fighting the locals, and stealing their stuff. I’d have to come up with a specific combo or something like that, since I don’t have a round timer going, but it could be a fun way to work even more variety into this, and I have all this gear in my basement. Another approach would be to include a bag over shoulder first, to simulate throwing an opponent.

• Tang Soo Do is tonight. It’s one-step week, which is low activity, but we should get the results of our belt test back.

• I think Stan Efferding and others have been on point regarding the value of sleeping vs training, as these shorter training days will more sleep seem to be doing me some positives. I also just plain like this training day in general because it includes the coffee fast post workout. This has been one of my better nutritional experiments. The every other day intermittent fasting gives my guts a rest from the food, the mornings that I coffee fast are excellent “high speed/low drag” mornings where I don’t have to do a bunch of dishes before I go to work, whereas the mornings that I DO have breakfast are mornings where I just plain look forward to getting to have breakfast. With it being every other day, I look forward to each day due to the unique reward it brings. On my fasting days I go to bed thinking “Oh good: I get breakfast tomorrow”, and on my fed days I go to bed thinking “Oh good, I have an easy morning tomorrow”.

• On the above, woke up at 82.8kg again this morning. I am thinking to just let this training cycle play out a bit more naturally and see where I fall.

• 
  

Training Log: Entry 3732

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 3, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x3x367

Axle strict press
4x3x176

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x8x75s

DB rows
4x8x145

GHRs
4x8x55

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
3x10

Notes:

• Got a little less sleep than usual, since the in-laws are in town and we stayed up a little later, but it was deeper sleep. Felt energized and ready. My right elbow is a little tender from getting it cranked in belt testing, and my right knuckle is the same from the board break

  

• As it was a backfist, and my instructor’s words were “They’re YOUR knuckles”. I said that, thankfully, I don’t have piano lessons any more.

• Boy I love this week. Triples are such a treat after 8s and 6s. Workouts go faster too. Felt strong, took the squats deep, knee is feeling solid. Managed to tweak something in my right trap putting the plates away overhead, so there’s a reason why you shouldn’t clean up after yourself.

• Incline DB benching felt the best yet.

• Weighed 82.8kg this morning, which means all those squats were over double bodyweight. That’s pretty cool. It’s been difficult for me to calibrate sub 400 to have any sort of significance, but those little reminders help.

• I picked today’s soundtrack because yesterday was the 32nd Anniversary of “The Downward Spiral”…and also the 33rd Anniversary of “Bevis and Butthead”

• Last week, I went all 7 days getting in 3x15 chins. I opened up today with a set of 16. We’ll see where this goes.

 Training Log: Entry 3731

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, rough night of sleep due to thunderstorms)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar squat
4x6x342

Axle strict press
4x6x166

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x10x70s

DB row
4x10x135

GHRs
4x10x45

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit ups
3x10

Notes:

• Crazy storms last night, woke me out of a sound sleep and woke up drenched in sweat from the high humidity. Less than ideal for training. It’s funny how I have weekly motivators to get me going. On Monday, it’s because it’s our 1 night of the week we get to relax, so I don’t want to put off training there. On Wed, it’s the deadlift day, and there’s no opportunity to slide the training to the evening. On Friday, I know getting this workout in on the morning punches my ticket to start the weekend when I get home. Whatever it takes.

• Progress all around. Got through all the sets of strict press. 2 mins rest on the main cluster, 1 min on DB row and GHRs/sit ups, 60-90-120 on the DB bench.

• Knee continues to be in a good way, to the point that I forget it was hurt. I’m just feeling very “normal” again.

• Weighed 82.7kg this morning. Upped my breakfast intake a little by including some cheese and sour cream, but also just was thinking on my way to work that I’m not really training for anything in particular at the moment. I like where my physique is at, I’m getting stronger, I like fasting through 2 breakfasts per week, and I’m not hungry for more food. I may just let this training phase play out intuitively and see what happens. Room to manuever, if nothing else.

 Training Log: Entry 3730

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 4

“ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT”

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• This is traditionally my ruck day, but with our Tang Soo Do belt test on Saturday, I know I’m going to have a 2 hour workout ahead of me, and didn’t feel the need to stack up on that. And being in a recovery state from the flu, this seemed prudent as well. I have a 10 mile race coming up next month, so it’d be good to get in some manner of mileage, but I may also just join the Valkyrie for some long runs here and there.

• Body is feeling much better compared to last week.

• Weighed 82.9kg this morning.

• In-laws coming in today for the weekend, so a little more chaos than usual.

• Still keeping up with the daily chins and no elbow pain. Really kicking myself for not figuring out this grip shirt thing earlier.

• After observing a 2.8kg loss over the span of 9 years, I think we can safely rule out the “Vending machine chicken samosa diet”

 Training Log: Entry 3729

AM WORKOUT (0335 natural wake up, snoozed until 0400 alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x6x241 (smashed j-hook on 4th rep of first set)

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
15x440

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x10x225

Dips
4x10x65

Axle curls
4x10x81

ASSISTANCE circuit

Reverse hyper/standing ab wheel
3x15x360/2x10

Notes:

• Despite the early wake up, I got good sleep last night. We’ve been getting to bed earlier these past few nights, as the family has been recovering from illness, and last night the kiddo came down with what we all had. So still netted about the same amount of total rest, and woke up feeling ready and recharged. I’m also over the flu, from what I can tell.

• Smashed the hell out of the j-hook on the first set, which is indicative of being out of practice with the bench. But also a great sign that the pec has healed, because that kind of chaos would have really torn it up otherwise.

• Those mat pulls were unique. The first rep felt rougher than last week: more a pull than a squeeze off the mats. And as that happened, I thought to myself “ok (tap), this is going to be (tap) a rough set (tap), so I’m just (tap) going to see (tap) how it goes (tap) but the big (tap) thing is that (tap) I need to not hurt my hip (tap) holy crap that’s 9 reps and I haven’t breathed yet (EXHALE tap), wtf is going on?(tap)” And suddenly I was 12 reps deep and matching last week’s 15 came relatively easy. As the set ended, I was at a crossroads, as I DIDN’T blow up my hip and I COULD have gone for another set…but decided discretion was the better part of valor, especially with our belt test at the end of this week.

• The curls continue to prove delightfully challenging. Despite my torn bicep, I may still have some room to grow here.

• We skipped TSD last night and are going to waive off the rest of the week unti lthe test at this point.

• Weighed 82.6kg this morning. I’m the second week in to the mass protocol:

  

  Threw in a tin of sardines onto my planned breakfast this morning.

Training Log: Entry 3728

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 2

“VIKING RAID”

15 minutes

100m row
Carry 150lb sandbag
Add 100m each round

Notes:

• Slower than last week: was carrying the bag after the 600m row when time ran out. Given I’m bouncing back from the flu, I’m ok with that.

• I threw myself a little pity party this morning when I woke up, telling myself I was going to just wait until the evening to do this, then I realized I felt just fine and got to it. Yesterday was ROUGH comparatively. That night, I took a night time Mucinex and, though I slept through the night, I woke up with a bad drug hangover and spent the day feeling sleepy. Last night I went without the meds, didn’t sleep as deep, but woke up feeling restored. But it could also just be that I’m on a healing timeline.

• My back felt much better this week compared to last, most likely because I’m further away from that strongman competition.

• In general, I’m a big fan of this. I like that I’m getting in the rowing and the carrying in a single workout. I may honestly move some more gear down into the basement to add some variety. It’s just nice to include carries as a regular thing, vs something I only do for competition prep.

• Weighed 83.0kg this morning. I’m still in a weird place between illness, but I think I’ll need to start intentionally upping the food intake to match the training demands.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. We’re skipping Thursday, since we’re testing for a new belt on Saturday. We’ll see how much the family can do tonight as it is, as the Valkyrie is still in a bad way with this flu.

 Training Log: Entry 3727

AM WORKOUT (0359 natural wake up)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 2, Workout 1

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x6x342

Axle strict press from rack
3x6x166
5x6x166 (failed the 6th)

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x10x70s

DB row
4x10x135

GHRs
4x10x45

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
3x10

Notes:

• As I was doing the squats, I thought to myself “I have no right to feel this strong”. I spent the weekend healing like it was my job, FORCING myself to be inactive as much as possible despite really great weather and a strong desire to get in a walk or some manner of general exercise. It was the right call, for even though I currently sound terrible and am producing a log of phlegm, I’m feeling significantly better. I also took a night time Mucinex product that totally knocked me out, and I got up a minute before the alarm feeling quite refreshed.

• The squats felt strong, the presses didn’t feel bad, but I overextended on the 5th rep of the final set and didn’t put myself in a good position. I spent the weekend with headspins, so didn’t want to push too much harder for that final rep.

• Everything else was solid, especially given the circumstances. I tried calculating my weights for this workout yesterday, and woke up this morning discovering that they were all kinds of jacked up. Don’t mix math and over the counter flu medicine kids. Which, on that note, my guts were a little messed up this weekend for using a medicine that had sorbitol in it as an artificial sweetener, so lesson learned there.

• Weighed 83.2kg this morning, and had a wonderful family dinner last night of spaghetti, a banana bread muffing and 3 of the Valkyrie’s cookies with some raw honey. I’ve also been hammering electrolytes and hot fluids to help my recovery.

 Training Log: Entry 3726

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Week 1, Workout 5

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x322

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x156
2x5x156

(3) Incline DB bench
3x12x65s
11+1x65

DB rows
4x12x125

GHRs
4x12x35

GHR sit up
10

Notes:

• Yeah, I definitely have the flu. I was exhausted and sore coming into this (you can see how often I put my head on the bar), those presses were too damn heavy, and once I got to work I just immediately turn around and came home. My resting heart rate is also pretty jacked up. I’m going to rest like it’s my job and recover.

• I weighed in at 82.2kg and was the leanest I’ve been in months. Completely not the goal, but that’s usually what happens in the first 2 weeks of reversing course on the diet.

• Got to spar against the senior student and one of our black belts last night. Should have won the final match, but a point was missed by all 3 judges. Kicked the guy in the throat. We both acknowledged that it happened, as we stopped sparring and looked at each other waiting for the point to be called. Then we just shrugged and went back at it.

• I remember having more I wanted to log, but can’t remember what it was. Most likely a sign of fatigue.