Training Log: Entry 3851

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2 [FINAL WORKOUT OF OPERATION)

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 3, Workout 5

Crossfit's "Cindy" WOD

20 rounds in 19:45 of

• 5 chins

• 10 push ups

• 15 squats

Notes:

• Technically Cindy is max rounds IN 20 minutes and what I've done is got the 100 chins, 200 push ups and 300 squats of Murph done as fast possible, but close enough. The big thing is that this is a pretty solid PR for me, with zero issues knocking out the chins every single round, which speaks to how much my general fitness has improved through this training phase alongside the pay off of my daily chins. Which, because I got 100 chins done during this workout, I owe no more chins for the day.

• This workout itself is a "deviation" from Operator Pro, as I technically was supposed to do the final workout of 2-3rm press, 5x5 front squats and 5 sets of loads, but my competition is on the 29th, I'm not going to get STRONGER from 1 more workout, but I can certainly get more injured and fatigued from it. This is giving my knee maximum time to recover, which, after a forced 2 mile run alongside some sparring yesterday, it will need. Still waking up swollen, but once I start moving it gets better. And I figured the 300 bodyweight squats from this would be "movement" enough. I also opted to prioritize sleep by choosing a shorter workout.

• On that aforementioned run: I was reflecting this morning on just how awesome TB has been for my general fitness, as I had zero cardio issues knocking out that run and could nasal breathe the entire time. The big thing was just keeping a pace so that I didn't feel like my knee was going to fall off the whole time. This is a great physical state to be in.

• Sparring last night went well for me, as I made it to the final round in a VERY close match against our senior black belt, eventually losing in overtime, but with him expressing a sentiment of "That was fun!" which I could only agree with. Very lively, despite my gimpiness, and the journey to the top was eventful as well. However, my penultimate match ended with me soundly defeating our resident "dojang bully" through a combination of a good offense and my own defense which drew fouls on him due to his lack of control, which he then went to the "redemption bracket" and punched the Valkyrie in the face during an exchange. Our rules forbid hand strikes to the head in general, let alone straight to the face. She handled it better than I would have, and it's most likely good that I wasn't sent to the redemption bracket to square off against the dude again, as I would most likely have had to force 12 people to have a serious philosophical discussion on the difference between martial arts training and "assault and battery". In light of that outcome, our head instructor has announced there will be changes to future sparring formats: more to follow.

• My kiddo is joining the cross country team, with practice starting next week. 5 days per week, which is going to shift our Tang Soo Do attendance to Tues/Thurs/Sat, as the connections are too tight otherwise. I semi-joked with my kiddo that, with a tight connection between cross country and Tang Soo Do, I was going to just give them a ketobrick to eat in the car so that they could take down 1000 calories in 2 minutes, but then thought "maybe that ISN'T a joke and I could get the company to sponsor us if I tell them how we're using it". Although I ALSO have a pack of Finibars in the basement that are only a few years expired too...

• Weighed 80.0kg this morning. I certainly didn't restrict myself last night, based on the photo of the meal. I'm at that point where the body has fully bought into "get lean" mode, and just burning everything like a furnace. It's a cool little data point that I'm always 12 weeks away from this state, and just how EASY of a 12 weeks it is to be this way. I feel a lot better than I ever have been operating at this level of bodyfat, as though my body is fragile/more injury prone, my mood/general disposition/level of fatigue are significantly better. I can certainly see these 12 weeks becoming an annual "reset", as this times out starting right after Memorial Day and carries me through the summer.

 Training Log: Entry 3850

AM WORKOUT (0420 Wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 3, Workout 4

18 chins
18 dips

"INDOOR POWER INTERVALS" w/rower

• 5 rounds, 2 minutes of max effort rower w/5 mins rest

18 min walk

18 chins
18 dips

Notes:

• Oh my goodness I had absolutely zero desire to do anything this morning. Only thing that got me up was that the Valkyrie was already going to get in an early morning session, and even then I legit contemplated getting up with her and then going right back to bed once she got on the treadmill. But indoor power intervals is honestly pretty easy to talk myself into: it's only 10 minutes of "work". I went with this over the prowler because I have my fitness test today and decided this would give my knee a fighting chance.

• Once I slow rolled to the rower and got started I found my drive and sent it. This was a good workout and hit the intent. I was breathing hard when it was done. The walk at the end was shorter than last week, because I took longer to get started, but I got in some steps as well. The knee actually feels better after rowing: I imagine it helps get blood flow and alleviate the swelling. I no longer experience clicking or instability, but it's still swollen as hell with limited mobility and pain when I try to push it beyond it's resistance point.

• I made it to the finals in sparring last night, squared off against the Valkyrie, then beat our senior Black Belt in the redemption bracket to face off against the Valkyrie in the final match of the night. She commented on how ruthless I've been against the other students these past few nights, and I informed her how, with the state of my knee, I want the matches to end as quickly as possible to prevent me from doing something stupid with it. I'd feel bad for the other students...were it not for the fact that I'm 40 with a bum knee while they're teenagers approaching their prime and I can still take them to school.

• Weighed in at 80.8kg.

---

Fitness Test

Height: 5'8.5 (I've shrunk half an inch. I blame squats and the yoke)
Weight: 176 (What have I become, my sweetest friend?)
Waist: 32.5" (down 1.5" from getting it measured last month), 20 points
Push ups: 52 in 1 min (max point value), 15 points
Sit ups: 50 in 1 min (max point value), 15 points
2 mile run: 16:54, 43 points (1 second away from 44 points)

Total score: 93.0 points

Considering I ran those 2 miles in a knee brace, I'm over the moon. I haven't run since my last 5k on Disney's Castaway Cay, and I was able to nasal breathe the entire time. I also watched some young bucks fail the test, which is just a sad state of affairs. That waist measurement is pretty nuts: I'm still taping the same as I did in college.

I've got an icebag on my knee (technically a bag of frozen mixed veggies) and popped 2 motrin (a rarity with how I respond to anti-inflammatories): this is how we celebrate at 40. Still planning on hitting Tang Soo Do.

Oh yeah: all of this was coffee fasted, so that's pretty cool.

Training Log: Entry 3849

AM WORKOUT (0400 Wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 3, Workout 3

18 chins
18 dips

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x175

SSB front squats
3x5x250

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Deadlift
9x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x113

3 giant sets of 15x90 reverse hyper, 10 hanging leg raise, 25 band pull aparts

Notes:

• Again, knee swells up at night from lack of movement, but is feeling good through the training. I'll take it. That's a W for me. I was motivated for this workout because it's so short and I was going to get to pull from the floor.

• I'll talk to that part first: I'm very pleased with how this went. Primarily because I walked away without pain. Knee is fine and SI joint/IT band aren't barking at me. I played it slow and controlled and know I COULD have gotten a 10th rep if that was my goal, but with my fitness test tomorrow and my competition at the end of the month, I wanted to get NOT hurt from deadlifts.

• Log felt a little weaker than I'd care for. SSB squats were pretty smooth. Curls were better than I expected.

• I was the dojang sparring champion last night. 3 matches to get me there. Funny enough, because I was babying my left knee, I was more planted than usual, and got in a lot of strong "jolt punch" jabs straight down the pipe on many competitors. The Valkyrie commented on it when she came up from the redemption bracket to face me (and, of course, win). We have another night of sparring tonight. I feel like it's been good for my recovery.

• Weighed in at 79.9kg again, so these were sub 80kg pulls, and 2.43x bodyweight. I struggle mentally with being this light, but the QoL is fantastic. I also snapped a photo with a pump in some more anabolic lighting to capture lean "enough"

Training Log: Entry 3848

AM WORKOUT (0510 Wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 3, Workout 2

18 chins
18 dips

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Since it's the "hard" week of Operator, it's the easy week of conditioning. Recovery row, and based on distance, I came up 150m short compared to my typical pace, so this is what I needed.

• My knee was achy last night, but after the row it felt pretty solid. I think I injured it "differently" than I did 2 weeks ago, as it's not clicking or losing stability, but just feels swollen, and movement seems to help get fluid out of it. My theory is still that I've re-torn the meniscus, but after my competition I'll see about getting some imaging on it. But, as it stands (puns!) I can still perform with it: I just have pain and swelling.

• Valkyrie and I got in a 2.75 mile walk post dinner last night. She's been wearing her weight vest on these as well. Meanwhile, I'm shirtless trying to get in Vitamin D, so it means she's the hardcore one on our walks.

• Tang Soo Do tonight, and it's sparring week. Be curious to see how the knee wants to play.

• Weighed in at 81.0kg. Matches my lightest Tuesday weigh in on the training cycle. I'm at that point of leanness where I can see changes on the daily.

• Forgot to log it yesterday, but last week was successful with 7 days of 2x18/2x17 chins and dips, so this week is 3x18/1x17. Looking ahead with my cruise happening from 4-15 Sep, I'll most likely just try to hit chin/dip rep goals if applicable.

Training Log: Entry 3847

AM WORKOUT (0400 Wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 3, Workout 1

18 chins
18 dips

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
2xBar
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
1x330

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x175
2x4x175

Loading to platform (1 min on/2 min rest)

• Rounds 1 and 3: 7x135lb stone of steel

• Rounds 2 and 4: 2/3x250lb keg

• Round 3: 3x200lb sandbag

ASSISTANCE

2 Giant sets of 30 seconds SSB front rack hold w/358, 10 hanging leg raises, 25 pull aparts

Notes:

• Absolutely zero motivation to train this morning. This is the final week of Operator Pro and I am totally ready for it. The biggest variable at play is nutrition for sure: I've exhausted whatever excitement there is to be had in getting leaner, and now I just want to build. My weight is freefalling as well, which tends to happen once I get to this level of lean, which most likely means I'm feeling a little more fatigue than usual. ...plus I got in 23k steps yesterday between walking the dog, mowing the lawn, and then the Valkyrie wanting to go on a post dinner walk. Which, in that regard, my hips were a little stiff coming into this.

• Which makes a 330 front squat pretty cool. I'm not calling it a PR because it's a single, and it was hard fought, but it was good to put a little chipshot extra weight on the bar.

• The log was rough on the first set, but after that moved really well on the cleans. No wasted energy. I COULD have fought for those 5th reps, but this close to the comp, there's no benefit.

• I almost had to get some stitches this morning on the load. For the first round of the keg, it slipped on the third rep, and I very slightly conked my eyebrow ridge on the loading platform. I thankfully had the awareness to pull back at the last second vs lean into it. Very grateful it's not worse: just some light bruising.

• Left knee was doing well until the sandbag. Feels like I stretched out whatever is bugging it. But it's not clicking and catching like it has been, so I'm hoping some ice will be enough.

• Weighed in at 79.9kg: lowest Monday/post carb weigh in for the entire cycle. Last night was spaghetti with meat sauce, some homemade sourdough rolls and then 4 of the Valkyrie's pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip butterscotch cookies (she makes them just for me) and a sourdough oatmeal cream pie, all with raw local honey. I've legit got no reason to get any leaner at this point, outside of our cruise coming up. I see myself upping food leading up to the comp.

Training Log: Entry 3846

AM WORKOUT (0400 Wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 2, Workout 5

18 chins
18 dips

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press
2xLog
1x150
1x170
1x200
1x220 (failed attempt at double)

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

SSB front squat
5x5x235

1 min rounds of loading w/2min rest

• Rounds 1 and 3: 6x135lb stone of steel

• Rounds 2 and 4: 3x250lb keg

• Round 5: 3x200lb sandbag

ASSISTANCE

3 giant sets of 30 second SSB front rack hold w/345, 10 hanging leg raises and 25 band pull aparts

Notes:

• Zero desire to do this today, but I knew it was the ticket I needed to punch to have my weekend. My knee feels shot at the end of the day but "normal" at the start, which is progress. I could still find ways to piss it off during the training (specifically trying to pick up the keg standing up vs laying down), so I didn't push totally into the redline, but in general this was a very solid and "normal" training day, and continues to bode well for my healing.

• Though I continue to only push out singles on the log, they are feeling better AND I'm doing this at lighter and lighter bodyweights (more to follow). The clean is getting less wasteful.

• Front squats sunk to the bottom without resistance. The faster I move on them, the less they suck.

• Happy with how loading went. I really like rotating the movement WITHIN the workout. I think that has some real legs to it.

• Tang Soo Do last night was pretty low energy, but we got some major kudos from our head instructor over a synchronized hyung we pulled off. The dynamic movements in class definitely test my connective tissue. My knee is good moving in a straight line, but all the lateral stuff is stressing it.

• Weighed in at 79.6kg this morning. Well bleep. Goal wasn't to see a 7 as the first number, but I'm certainly not starving myself and my strength is still holding on well. I'm going to be in an excellent position for gaining after my cruise. This is something Jamie Lewis talked about: as you get leaner, you can get away with MORE nutritional debauchery, and the body just seems to perpetuate more and more leanness.

Training Log: Entry 3845

AM WORKOUT (0420 Wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 2, Workout 4

18 chins
18 dips

"INDOOR POWER INTERVALS"

• 2 min "max effort" on rower

• 5 min rest

• Repeat for 5 rounds total

30 min walk

18 chins
18 dips

Notes:

• This is typically my prowler day, but woke up to the storm of the century. Raining sheets and arc lighting in the sky. Thankfully this workout is a total barn burner and does exactly what I need it to do, to the point that, outside of competition, I can definitely see this being a regular feature.

• Called it at 5 rounds because that's when quality was significantly dropping off. Got an outstanding conditioning effect, and then used some of the downtime to get in some steps. Walked up and down my basement stairs during part of that as well, to help build/test my knee. It's feeling more and more normal with each day. Gives me hope for my fitness test and comp at the end of the month.

• The "via Valkyrie's alarm" is because she's been getting up early to get in training these days as well. Been nice to not be the only one up and about at stupid early hours.

• Weighed in at 81.0kg. Looking leaner by the day.

• I kinda REALLY want this weight vest, but I'm curious if I want it for $190

• 

Training Log: Entry 3844

AM WORKOUT (0400 Wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 2, Workout 3

18 Chins
18 Dips

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x165

SSB front squat
3x5x135

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(2) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
10x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x106

3 round giant set of 10 hanging leg raises and 25 band pull aparts

Lateral raise dropset

AM WORKOUT II (0830)

3.5 mile trail walk

Notes:

• It's been 1 week since I borked my knee, and I actually woke up feeling really good this morning. There's still some swelling and minor bits of pain, but definitely not "holy crap I tore my meniscus/ACL" dysfunction. I took my war up slow and steady and came in with a policy of "do what you can, don't do what you can't". Log and squat both felt strong.

• The mat pulls was the most controlled set of pulls I've had in months and, consequently, the strongest I've felt. I had more reps in me, but shut it down at 10 because it was the right and safe call, and as a result my knee AND my SI joint/IT band all feel awesome. First time in months I can say that. Lotta lessons to learn there.

• Curls were solid as well. Just a strong day in general.

• Got the day off work for the kiddo's first day of school, so after we dropped them off the Valkyrie and I got in a walk. Still coffee fasted at that point.

• Tang Soo Do was semi-active last night. "Cardio hyungs". Biggest thing is I'm doing exactly what my instructor says and taking them gently: no power in them. Tai Chi style. He came up to me in class and told me he noticed my efforts, and the big thing he gave me was "With your stature, even when you DON'T put power into the technique, it's powerful enough to have the desired effect". That was the feedback I needed. Ok: game on. He also gave me a compliment, demonstrating an elbow strike technique to the abdomen and saying "The intent here is to soften up the target with the strike", he then struck my abdomen and commented "Probably isn't going to work on you, but on OTHER people..."

• Weighed 80.3kg this morning. Roulette diet keeps working magic.

Training Log: Entry 3843

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 2, Workout 2

18 chins
18 dips

"FOBBITS" on rower w/Naihanchi Cho Don

• 2 minutes on rower

• 1 Naihanchi Cho Don

• 20 minutes total

Notes:

• This didn't feel terrible on my knee. A few clicks here and there, but I was able to put out the effort I needed to match/exceed previous weeks' work. I had more issues during the hyung portion, but even then it was survivable. I'm thinking I may have re-torn the meniscus rather than the ACL graft based on how quickly I'm recovering and how much the knee is clicking/catching. Swelling is pretty much gone, and I'm spending as much time OUT of a brace/sleeve as possible to promote blood flow to recover.

• This was still just a good conditioning effort in general. After 20 minutes, I'm feeling pretty taxed. Pulled up my garmin data and my RHR is back to 41 from 44, so things are moving in a good way, and that tends to correlate with how changes in bodyweight go.

• We have Tang Soo Do tonight. It's wildcard/cardio, but we're outside of physical testing requirements, so no more extensive push ups/sit ups. I'm also taking my hyungs slow in class, per my instructor's guidance, so not too much of a cardio hit. We're taking the day off work tomorrow for my kid's first day of school and getting lunch at our favorite BBQ spot, so schedule will be a little different. Still intend to get up early to train though.

• Weighed 81.7kg this morning. Been taking down a lot of fluids/electrolytes recently, as I can't get ahead of the cramping. Another issue I tend to experience as I get leaner.

 Training Log: Entry 3842

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 2, Workout 1

18 Chins
18 Dips

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
2xBar
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
4x275

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x5x165

Stone of Steel to Platform
5 rounds, 1 min each, 2 min rest, w/135lb stone

ASSISTANCE

2 giant sets of 30 second SSB front rack hold w/365, 10 hanging leg raises, 25 band pull aparts

Notes:

• Per the norm, I put on "Book of bad decisions" for this workout and sent it. I feel like Old Man Logan, as my knee is continuing to heal, just not as fast as I would like. That said, on Wed, it was legit clicking with every single step I took, which was also a limp and a lot of pain with no stability. Today, it clicked 3 times heading downstairs and then snapped back into place, and it felt fine during the squats. I still played it safe and kept it at a weight I can manage and didn't chase reps deep to failure. I'm a few hours post training and it legit feels like a regular knee again, so I'm thinking I made the right call.

• The log is feeling more explosive on the clean. Really trying to get it on the belly and then snap it into place. If I can save energy on the clean, I can put it into the press, and it tends to put me in a better ack position.

• Kept the weight light on the loading and focused on technique. I can tell I rely on my connective tissues to bear some load on these movements, and that's not smart right now.

• Weighed 80.1kg this morning. Lightest post-carb weigh in for the cycle, and I'm looking very lean at this point. This has been a great experiment in leaning out and supporting training. In Sep, I hit 2 years on Tactical Barbell, and I feel like I've got a solid handle on how "seasons" work for training now. I'm champing at the bit to start gaining again.

Training Log: Entry 3841

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 1, Workout 5

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO (Strength): 50 Rounds of 5 burpees, 3 dips, 3 chins (Work Capacity/SE)| New Window

“PAULIE CICERO”

50 rounds EMOM

• 5 burpees
• 3 chins
• 3 dips

Notes:

• Named this workout after the Goodfellas character, with the famous quote “F–k you: pay me”, because that’s ultimately how every EMOM workout works. Doesn’t matter how tired you are, if you’re hurt, if you’re slipping on sweat on the mats, timer goes off “F–k you: pay me”
• This workout itself is an audible. I woke up and my knee was feeling BETTER, but not 100% healed. I COULD have pushed it through a training session, but I recognized that the damage (not risk) to reward ratio was unfavorable as it related to being able to compete at the end of the month (which I now have a 3rd person in my division, counting me, so that’s cool). So made this a SE/WC workout instead.
• I haven’t performed this kind of training in a LONG time, but I’m not skipping a beat on it. That’s an excellent sign of how overall fitness is holding up. Reviewing the video, I’m also quite lean while my arms have kept their size, so I’m firing on some cylinders that were previously rusted. Really getting things figured out.
• Knee held out well through this. Just enough stimulus to remind it. And now I’m 250 burpees, 150 chins and 150 dips into my day.
• Tang Soo Do last night was low energy, but still got the physical testing requirements, and we’ve been given the task of incorporating Sais into our hyung for Oct, so we’re going to spend some months channeling our inner Raphaels.
• Weighed 80.3kg. Lightest I’ve been on a Friday all cycle, and that’s with a Wed lunch at a Brazilian steakhouse. Go Roulette diet.

Training Log: Entry 3840

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 1, Workout 4

18 Chins
18 Dips

4 prowler sprints w/90lbs on high handles

17 chins
17 dips

Notes:

• Sleep was a little rough last night. Was still quite full from my midday meal, and body turned up the thermostat to start burning off the excess energy. I was curious how today was going to go with my knee. It's still swollen, lateral movement is a bad idea, but prowler is perfectly suited for these sorts of situations.

• That said, performance wasn't awesome, but I attribute a bit of that to the weather. We're getting rain and high humidity, which I imagine is part of the reason my knee is swelling, but it also meant increased friction today while pushing. These were slogs, rather than sprints, with some over 60 second times. It's why I cut it at 4 reps: I was feeling prowler flu pretty heavy. That, along with the meat hangover.

• With that, I still weighed in at 81.9kg, which matches the lightest weigh in I've had on a Thurs this entire training cycle, and given the nutritional debauchery I engaged in yesterday, that's an incredible sign. I'm going to see how a 2 mile run goes today during my fitness test, and I'm going to avoid doing stupid stuff in Tang Soo Do.

• UPDATE: I have decided to be less stupid and rescheduled my fitness test to 2 weeks from today, to see if time is all I need for healing. I also realized HOW I hurt my knee. It wasn't deadlifts: after training that morning, I met my kid on the stairs, having discovered that one of the dogs needed out NOW. Unfortunately, the OTHER dog likes to chew on toes of people who are on stairs, and he engaged in that as I was trying to sprint down the stairs to let the other dog out. I have hurt my knee on these stairs before, and trying to navigate that situation most likely resulted in the same outcome. The adrenaline of the moment most likely had me unaware.

 Training Log: Entry 3839

AM WORKOUT (0200 wake up via dog, then 0300 by thunder, then 0400 by alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 1, Workout 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO (Strength): Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 2| New Window

18 chins
18 dips
30x90 reverse hypers

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x155

SSB Front Squat
3x5x220

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(3) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
10x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x98

3 Giant set of 15x90 reverse hyper, 10 hanging leg raises and 25 band pull aparts

Lateral raise dropset

Notes:

• Day off work, but got up early anyway, with a pretty rough night of sleep to start. Heavy thunderstorms, crazy lightning flashes, real Ragnarok kinda stuff. Great setting for deads.

• Felt great coming into this workout despite all that. Back and hips have been in a good way. Now that the workout is done, my left hip is pissed at me, but no worse than usual post deads. I actually focused on bending my knees a little on the deadlift, which seemed to help. I’ll have to be more open to that in the future.

• Presses felt strong, and been focusing on cleaning from the stomach instead of the chest, which seems to be helping.

• This was a 1 rep improvement from last week on the pulls, which in itself was a 1 rep improvement from the week before. I think getting healthier is helping manifest strength.

• Weighed in at 81.0kg: same as yesterday. Been 3 consistent days in a row here. Tang Soo Do last night was pretty low energy last night, but still had physical testing requirements, so I’m getting in extra push ups and sit ups these days.

 Training Log: Entry 3838

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 1, Workout 2

18 Chins
18 Dips

"FOBBITS" on rower w/Niahanchi Cho Don

• 2 minutes on rower

• 1 Hyung

• Repeat for 20 minutes total time

Notes:

• Despite the tournament being over, I'm sticking with this workout for the sake of consistency through the cycle. Still just a solid 20 minutes of conditioning on a day where I get to sleep in and prep me for deads the next day. Which, on that note, I've made sure that, on the days I get more sleep, I take LONGER to get out of bed, given the past few times I ended up slipping a disk moving too quickly. In turn, my back is feeling awesome these days: would hardly believe how crippled I was last week.

• I was being more deliberate during the Hyungs, trying to take some feedback from my instructor and implement it. In turn, I had 1 minute less on the rower than usual as far as total time goes, but still made up the distance by increasing the intensity of the rowing.

• Been meaning to comment about this: this is the longest I've ever run daily chins AND strongman loading work without having my elbows feel like they're going to explode. Now, I'm not doing any squats with a bar on my back, which helps, but I think I've finally figured out the combo I need by increasing reps by just 1 per week, along with the fact I'm switching my grips on the chins. And I've achieved the goal I've been looking for of returning back to an "everyday" ability to hit 20 chins. Success there.

• On the topic of success: weighed 81.0kg this morning. I anticipated a slight increase, as last night's meal of very salty pork was a wonderful way to get some sodium and water in my body. On that note, my vascularity absolutely exploded at the end of the night with a combination of the carbs on Sunday and the sodium load for Monday. Looking over my notes, I started this training cycle at 85.0kg, and I'm in the 10th week now, so 4kg dropped over 9.5 weeks, no counting/tracking cals/macros, eating ribs, cookies and pizza on weekends, never being hungry and still getting stronger. Definitely found what works for me.

• Valkyrie and I got in a 3 mile walk last night after dinner, and tonight is Tang Soo Do. It's 1-step week, which tends to be lower energy, but we're still doing physical testing requirements. I also am taking tomorrow off, so I'll still get in my morning workout, but then the kiddo and I are doing our favorite Brazilian steakhouse for lunch, and then the next day is my penultimate fitness test.

 Training Log: Entry 3837

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 4, Week 1, Workout 1

19 chins (1 too many)
18 dips
20x90 reverse hypers

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB Front Squat
2xBar
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
2x325

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x5x155

Loads to platform: 1 min on/2 min rest

• Rounds 1 and 3: 7/8x135 Stone of Steel

• Rounds 2 and 4: 3x250lb Power Keg

• Round 5: 2x200lb sandbag

ASSISTANCE Giant Set

3 rounds of 30 second SSB front rack hold w/325lb, 10 hanging leg raises and 25 band pull aparts

Notes:

• Knowing I had a great family meal to fuel me through this was the sort of motivation I needed to get up and train this morning, as otherwise I was pretty ambivalent. I DID have a goal to finally get that third rep on the front squat, but on rep 2 I felt the world stop and heard my music skipping despite being an MP3, so I knew I was on borrowed consciousness and racked it. I'm STILL setting PRs because my bodyweight keeps dropped (more to follow on that).

• Log felt crisp today.

• I'm really digging what I've come up with for the loading event. Making the most of my garage set up. This definitely needs to get carried into the future.

• Body is feeling pretty solid. Get some twinges up and down the back here and there, but no longer in the "maybe I need to retire from the sport" zone.

• Weighed 80.7kg this morning. I am going to call this the lightest Monday weigh in, because though I DID weigh 80.0 2 weeks ago, that was post travel day weight. This was post family meal weigh in, which was spaghetti with meat sauce, 1.5 sourdough rolls, and 3 cookies/1 sourdough oatmeal cream pie, all with raw local honey. I'm going to do a more fleshed out write-up of the Roulette Diet, but I'm realizing that these green/0s days are honestly a crucial part of it.

• I am feeling that urge to "build" again. This time with fasting and leaning out has been good for that. The idea of eating well and recovering from hard training so I can grow is very appealing.

• Got all 7 days of 4x17 chins/dips last week.  This is the start of 18/3x17

Training Log: Entry 3836

AM WORKOUT (0620 natural wake up, 0930 workout)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 5

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press
2xLog
1x150
1x170
1x200
1x220

SECONDARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
5x5x250

ASSISTANCE

2 Giant sets of 30 seconds 355 SSB front rack, 10 hanging leg raises and 25 band pull aparts

LUNCHTIME WORKOUT

1 hour Tang Soo Do Class

PM WORKOUT

5 rounds of 1 minute loads to platform

• Rounds 1 and 3: 7x135lb Stone of Steel

• Rounds 2 and 4: 3x245lb keg

• Round 5: 3x200lb sandbag

Notes:

• Full day today. I pushed my workout to Sat due to this week's schedule and decided to make it "progressive" by doing some of it in the AM and some in the PM. In between we had a make up TSD class which was a fairly solid workout.

• I'm not progressing on that log clean and press, but I AM maintaining on it, and with my bodyweight continuing to drop, that's a positive. The SSB front squats are feeling strong still.

• I REALLY like what I came up with for the loading, and think that can be a more permanent fixture. I get less beat up by varying the implement. OF course, it's also dependent on the garage not being too hot so that I CAN use the stone and not worry about it slipping, but at least I know the sandbag is viable as well. And I have a 150lber in my basement I can bring up sometime to really get in some variety.

• Being a masters athlete is waking up on Wed and thinking you may have to retire from the sport because your back hurts so much and then feeling awesome on Saturday. Can't explain it, but I'll take it. Pain is gone.

• No weigh in, since it's the weekend.

Training Log: Entry 3835

AM WORKOUT (0450 wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 4

17 chins
17 dips
30x90 reverse hyper

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

20 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Leaning into the "easy conditioning week" finally, in no small part to that back tweak. Was able to sleep in WITHOUT crippling myself, so that's a big win. Still making sure to slowly exit the bed and just take my time when I get up. On that note, I felt a little electric jolt in my back once during the row and a few times just walking around the house, so I'm still not fully Humpty Dumptied together again, but in better shape than before.

• Got 4150m done in the 20 minutes, which is a good showing on this day.

• I'm still getting those daily chins and dips. The chins aren't really getting easier as I'd hoped, but I'm still able to do them, and the accumulation of volume is paying off. If I were to stop now at 4x17 daily, that is 68 per day, 476 per week, and 24,752 per year. But, since I'm increasing by 1 weekly, that number changes in a way that I'm sure there IS a method to calculate it, but I took stats rather than calculus in my undergrad, and I'm glad I did.

• Weighed 81.9kg this morning, which is stupid light for a Friday weigh in without a big workout. And given that all the coffee I am drinking this morning is rushing out of me, it looks like any weight I DID "gain" yesterday is water looking to exit. My kiddo is in their last week of summer next week and I took of Wed to take them out to Toy Story 5 followed by lunch at our favorite Brazilian steakhouse, so I've got some big eating in my future. And the next day I take a physical fitness test...so I'll have some good fuel for that too.

• Valkyrie and I were commenting on how physically exhausted we felt at Tang Soo Do last night. 3 nights in a row of slamming hyungs and physical testing requirements is starting to manifest. However, we also got our second stripe on our belt for our weapons form, we we're delighted for that.

Training Log: Entry 3834

AM WORKOUT (0300 Wake Up Via dog, then 0400 wake up via Alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 2

17 chins
17 dips
30x90 reverse hyper

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x175

SSB front squat
3x5x250

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
9x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x116

Reverse hyper
15x90

Hanging leg raise
1x10

Band pull apart
1x25

Notes:

• Kiddo knocked on the door at 0300 because the puppy was having a bad night. I got up EXTREMELY slowly and purposefully to answer the door, and then did the same thing when my alarm went off this morning. Moved slowly through the morning, spent some extra time rolling out my glutes/lower back, and a slow war up (this is still my favorite thing to write. I think I'm going to make a blog post about it). At the start of the morning, I still wasn't excited about bending at the trunk, but by the end of the workout I was moving and feeling pain free again. It's like I knocked the disk back into place and compressed it to where it needed to be. Sometimes rest is the answer, and sometimes it's Steve Pulcinella's "Paleo rehab".

• Very first set of presses felt like Bambi on ice, but after that I was feeling secure and able to give it some output. Front squats are heavy enough to suck, but I can get through them.

• The mat pulls were the real W for today. Last week, I was so thrashed I had to pscyhe myself up for the war up with 335, and I ended up scrapping the topset. Today, I came in with no expectations: didn't even know if I COULD pull. All my sets leading up to the topset felt great, and when I got to the topset, it was my LEFT hip that was upset vs my right side, which in itself is a victory. I also got 1 rep more than I did at the start of the cycle, and absolutely COULD have done more: it just would have been really stupid given how I almost couldn't walk yesterday Took the reps, took the W, shut it down and moved on.

• The curls are high school levels of cheating. It's good to do that every once in a while.

• Tang Soo Do last night was a good workout. We got there early and drilled hyungs for about 20 solid minutes, did the physical testing requirements of 50 push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks, then drilled hyungs for the 90 minutes of class. Lots of movement.

• Which is probably why I weighed 80.3kg this morning. Won't lie: the scale flashed "79" before it settled at 80kg and I had a slight panic moment. In turn, the original plan was to fast again today, but decided I'm light and lean enough that I should have some breakfast after deadlifts.

Training Log: Entry 3833

AM WORKOUT (0510 Wake Up Via Valkyrie's Alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 2

17 chins
17 dips

Various reverse hypers, and work, twists and turns

17 chins
17 dips

Notes:

• This was SUPPOSED to be a 20 minute recovery row. I woke up, got out of bed, went to go pick up my socks off the floor, felt a slight twinge in my back, and then it was like someone shot me with a tranq dart, because I fell back on the bed in agony and couldn't figure up how to get back up. Once again: getting out of bed is a hazard. I'm actually noticing it's the days I sleep in that this keeps happening.

• Thankfully, one of the "nice" things about recurring injuries is you get good at figuring out how to treat them. This is a nerve issue: something is slipping out of place and pressing on it. So I hung from a chinning bar a lot and did a lot of twists and turns to knock whatever it is back into place, and once I was able to load the reverse hyper with some weight, that traction helped get things back into alignment as well. I went from thinking I needed to go to a hospital this morning to now just getting a little wincing pain if I bend over wrong: I'll take it. Sucks I missed out on rowing, but I decided this was going to be a light conditioning week AND that I was going to slide my schedule to the right, so I think Friday will be a rower workout.

• Another contributing factor: weighed in at 81.1kg this morning. Down a kilo from yesterday, second lightest Wed weigh in of the training block, and that's WITHOUT an hour workout ahead of time to generate more sweat. All of my worse injuries have happened when I was my leannest (ruptured ACL, torn bicep, and whatever the hell this is). It makes sense: less fluff to keep the body safe. I need to have some awareness here.

• Tang Soo Do was a decent workout last night. Got in some good hyung practice, and my back was able to move fine then. We have the 90 minute class tonight: I'll see how things go.

Training Log: Entry 3832

AM WORKOUT (0400 natural wake up)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 1

17 chins
17 dips
25x90 reverse hyper

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB Front Squat
2x325

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
2x5x175
3x4x175

Keg load to platform
1x210
1x215
1x225
1x235
1x240 (attempted a second rep, did not finish)

ASSISTANCE (giant sets)

SSB front rack hold
2x30 seconds x 325

Hanging leg raise
2x10

Band pull apart
2x25

Notes:

• By the end of day yesterday, I was moving painfree and easy. I woke up this morning feeling better but still stiff, and had a few nerve twinges (which, yesterday, the toes in my left foot kept going numb, so something is definitely pinching a nerve). Had a few COAs in mind, with one being just to do a SE circuit and call it good if I couldn't load any weight on my body. Took a long and slow "war up", to ape from simo74 and honestly felt solid on the front squats and "good enough" on the press, so I went for it.

• The front squat matches the past few weeks as far as reps go, but I'm really appreciating the notion of EASE of reps as far as progression goes. Each week this double is getting easier, and if I wasn't in a spot where grinding would put me in a bad way, I may have gone for the triple. It's in my future, and this is what sustainable and slow progression looks like.

• In a similar way, I cut the reps short on the log because I wasn't willing to commit my body in a manner that would secure those 5 reps. Get in the work I can with what I got.

• Switched to singles for the keg load, and just kept adding weight. I think there IS a time for higher rep loading work, but I could tell it was beating the hell out of me, and this close to comp I'll get more out of heavier singles. The rep work will be magic when it's time to gain.

• I'm now about 4 hours removed from the training and I don't feel awesome, but I also don't feel the pain I was in yesterday. I'm sliding my training schedule to the right 1 day this week, to account for yesterday, and it's "easy conditioning week", so I should have even more time to recover.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. Basics and hyungs. Can be a decent workout. I'm going to stay within my abilities.

• Weighed in at 82.1kg. I'm honestly pretty surprised: that's the second lowest Tuesday weigh in I've had this whole cycle, with the lightest being last week. This is after the family meal on Sunday and birthday cake/eating out yesterday. In turn, I'm actually expecting a weight spike tomorrow, despite this being a single meal day, but if nothing else things will be chaotic.

 Training Log: Entry 3831

AM WORKOUT (0700 natural wake up)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 6

1 hour of martial arts training (self-directed, hyungs)

Notes:

• Accomplished from 1000-1100, as we are trying to win the hyung challenge and had an opportunity to accomplish some extra ones. Really trying to focus on technique, deep stances and power generation. Felt awesome: like back in the old days training martial arts.

• I don't typically train on Saturdays or consider them training days, but this was intense enough that I'm willing to count it. Otherwise, still got in my 10k steps, chins and dips

 Training Log: Entry 3830

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 5

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press
2xLog
1x150
1x170
1x200
1x220

SECONDARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
5x5x235

Stone of steel load to platform
5x1 minute max reps w/135 (3x7, 1x6, 1x7)

ASSISTANCE Giant Set (rack, abs, BPA)

SSB front rack hold
2x30 seconds x 345

Hanging leg raise
2x10

Band pull aparts
2x25

Notes:

• My back/hips continue to recover, but are still not 100%, and that came into effect on the log. I struggled to get into a strong position to press from, which made the rep of 220 even more significant to me, but I definitely would have preferred a stronger showing. That said, my bodyweight is rock bottom (more to follow), and it dawned on me I'm pressing at least 40lbs more than that over my head...so that's pretty cool.

• Front squats took some doing before they felt good, but after that the depth was bottomed out.

• Went with speed/technique work on the stone, and it was the right call. It's thankfully been cool enough that I could use the stone and not worry about slippage. Supposed to get back over 100 tomorrow though.

• Great night of sparring last night. I shut out one blackbelt twice: 3-0 both times. By the time class rolled around, my hips and back felt ok. First thing in the morning is rough: still quite stiff.

• Weighed 80.9kg this morning. Dropped a full kilo off of yesterday and this is the lightest I've been on a Friday the entire training cycle. I'm at the point where goal is achieved as far as leanness and lightness goes and I've proven whatever I need to prove to myself. This weekend is a celebratory weekend, so I'll enjoy the food, dry out a little afterwards, self-assess, and then start considering maintenance until the comp/cruise before I start building again.

Training Log: Entry 3829

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 4

17 chins
17 dips

4 Prowler sprints, high handle, 90lb load

17 chins
17 dips

Notes:

• Times were 45, 45, 52 and 72 seconds. Caught prowler flu on the 4th sprint, so shut it down at that point. This is slower than last week, but I expected that with how overtaxed and underweight I am. I was more just delighted to be able to sprint at all, and to get the conditioning effect I was after.

• I am certainly doing BETTER as time goes on, but it's amazing just how much I beat myself to hell to get to this point. 7 hours of driving, then a martial arts tournament with lots of sitting on the floor, then 7 hours of driving, then straight into heavy keg loading: bonehead play. I'm planning on doing speed/technique work for my loading tomorrow to help out there. But I'm pleased that things are recovering and my IT band is no longer forcing me to consider elective surgery to have it removed.

• Sparring went well last night. Got to spar against 3 black belts, defeating 2 (going 3 and 0 against one) and going 2:3 against our most senior one. Lotta matches in general, big bracket, and was still able to move well despite myself. The martial arts are actually helpful in opening the movement patterns back up: gets me limbered up and fluid. Got another class tonight, and we're looking toward Saturday as well.

• Weighed 81.9kg this morning. Big jump, but with 2 meals and a heavy focus on getting my hydration sorted, that's expected. This is the longest I've gone without seeing 82kg on the scale, making this week my lowest weigh in week. I am excited at the prospect of reversing course soon enough and getting back on the gain train. Gotta lot of meat in the freezer to get through. All that said, I find I enjoy my fasting days more than my multiple meal days at this point. I feel like I'm "doing" more when I fast, and it's just been nice on my digestion. The large/unrestricted meal at the end of the day feels rewarding as well. But breakfast is also a nice incentive to get through a training session, so pros all around

Training Log: Entry 3828

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 3

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x165

SSB front squat
3x5x235

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
Nope

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x106

Notes:

• Lower back is overtaxed. Done this before. I imagine I was trying to work around my IT band and shifted weight onto the lower back to make it happen on the keg loading, and I'm feeling the effects. I'm not injured, but DEEPLY sore: the kind that lives in your soul rather than just your body. I DID attempt to use my Spud Gateway Gear briefs, and they helped me get through the final warm-up, but when I set up for the workset I could tell that, though I COULD get in some reps if my life depended on it, it would also shorten my life to do so.

• Made this an ad hoc light workout in turn, got in some good reps, and stretched out the back best I could.

• Last night's Tang Soo Do sparring went well enough. Got through 2 rounds in the opening bracket, faced off against the Valkyrie, took an L, won the redemption bracket, came back to face her again. Was moving around pretty well: we'll see if tonight can be the same.

• Weighed 80.3kg this morning, which is a significant drop from yesterday and the lightest I've weighed on a Wed all cycle, especially given how not significant this morning's workout was as far as sweat accumulation goes. We're celebrating a birthday this weekend, so I'll still employ some strategic fasting to account for nutrition debauchery, but after this I think I can transition more toward a maintenance mode leading up to my comp/cruise.

Training Log: Entry 3827

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 2

17 chins
17 dips

FOBBITS on rower w/Niahanchi Cho Don

• 2 minutes rowing

• 1 Niahanchi Cho Don

• Repeat for total of 20 minutes

Notes:

• Getting out of bed this morning, my back seized up momentarily. I'm thinking that those keg loads are taking more than they are giving, and I may be reaching the point of leanness where performance is getting impacted. But this can also be some post-travel/competition silliness manifesting. My IT band was far more serviceable, and I was able to move in and out of a sitting position without employing blasphemy, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

• I was moving slower today than usual as far as time on the rower was concerned. I normally get about 14:10 row time, but today finished up sub 13:00, which meant I was spending more time on transitions and on the hyung itself. The latter part checks: I got some feedback to slow down on it and make each move intentional, so it manifested here. Still, when I pushed the rower for that 3100m distance, I got that done in a shorter time than usual, which speaks to me that the intensity on the rower was where I wanted it to be.

• Finally getting a break from our heat wave for the next few days. Will pick back up on the weekend, but it means that walking and Tang Soo Do will be far less miserable. On that note, it's sparring week, with our first class tonight, and the Valkyrie expressed interest on attending Sat as well, so we may get 4 days of sparring this week.

• Weighed 81.1kg this morning, which is the biggest jump I've seen between a Mon and a Tues, but with Mon having a very light carb load and being a post travel day, all sorts of variables are in play here. Still lightest and leannest I've been in a while, and my daily chins/dips are reflecting that, as they're far easier than usual.

 Training Log: Entry 3826

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 1

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
2xBar
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
2x325

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x5x165

Power keg load to platform
5x5x210

ASSISTANCE giant set

SSB front rack hold
3x30 seconds x 325

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Band pull aparts
3x25

Notes:

• I was genuinely considering not doing this workout at all yesterday, simply because my IT band was in agony from driving for 8 hours on Friday, sitting on a floor all day during a martial arts tournament on Saturday, then driving all day Sunday, but I rolled the holy hell out of it with a LAX ball and found myself able to walk painfree this morning so I got after it. I was able to hold together long enough to get it done, but sitting here at work it aches again. Will have to keep at it.

• Pleased with performance overall. The front squat double stalled on the concentric at about the midpoint, but we made it. Matched last week's effort at lower bodyweight (to follow), and focused on the log clean.

• Played the keg safe by keeping the weight the same as Friday and loading direct from the mats vs the floor, just focusing on the triple extensions. My IT band appreciated that.

• Weighed 80kg on the dot this morning. Explains why I'm looking so lean. That's post travel weight, so nothing is fully set yet, but I did a lot of fasting on this trip and I think it had an impact. Will write up a full AAR at some point.

• It is "kill you dead" hot today: heat index 112. I was sweating as soon as I walked into the garage, so today's session was a big endurance test.

Training Log: Entry 3825

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 5

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press away

1.5x220 (failed second rep)

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

SSB Front Squats

5x5x220

Power keg load to platform

5x5x210

ASSISTANCE

SSB Front rack hold

2x30 seconds x 325

Hanging leg raise

2x10

Band pull aparts

2x25

Notes:

• Got this knocked out in the morning on a travel day. Logging on phone, so sparse details.

• Wasted too much energy on the clean. Strength is there for the press.
• 
  
• Keg was a good effort. Mixing up where the reps start.
• 
  
• Weighed 82.5kg. High for a Friday, but leanness persists.

Training Log: Entry 3824

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 4

17 chins17 dips

Prowler sprints

5 rounds total w/high handles, 90lbs loaded on prowler

16 chins16 dips

Notes:

Times broke down to 40, 40, 45, 40 and 50 seconds. Substantial improvement from last week, and as far as averages goes I think that beats my best effort. Really focused on maximal output despite fatigue, which seems to be the most valuable attribute here. Acknowledge that it sucks but keep going.

Decent sleep last night. Woke in the middle of a dream. Honestly, a "hack" I use for this workout is I load up the prowler and weights in my truck the night before. When the alarm goes off, I think to myself that the truck is already loaded, and no matter what I'm going to have to UNLOAD that damn thing, so I may as well get in the sprint workout too. Absent that, the temptation to roll over and go back to sleep would be pretty high.

I really SHOULD start doing harness drags to prep for my competition. Maybe next week. This still has some solid carryover, and I honestly want to keep it in the rotation in general. As I've noted, it's basically a hill sprint where I can dial a yield.

Tang Soo Do, despite being 90 minutes long, wasn't intensive yesterday. More tournament prep. But we got our physical testing requirements done (for our rank, 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, and 50 jumping jacks) and about 15 minutes of hyung practice done, during which time I accomplished 23 Naihanchi Cho Dons, which was pretty good for the hips and shoulders.

Weighed 82.5kg this morning, which despite my all time low yesterday, this is a pretty high weigh in on a Thurs. All that said, I spent time looking at myself in the mirror last night and I've achieved the desired amount of leanness I am pursuing. I can see the vein on my sternum, which is the telltale indicator of leanness, and I know that if I were to drop 10 more pounds I'd be at "anatomy chart" levels of lean, which, with it, tends to bring kitten levels of strength. I'm going to keep on through the remainder of this week and see how I'm feeling after our tournament.

On the above, yet again I found a way to achieve my goals while "playing the game how I want to play it". No counting or tracking, no being hungry, no being a martyr at the dinner table, still going out to eat with my family, still eating ribs. Biggest interventions were introducing extra intermittent fasting days and transitioning away from whole eggs and leaning more toward egg whites, which, in turn, means that when it's time to reverse course, I can bring back the whole eggs and add a breakfast back into the week. Also pretty awesome to be able to continue getting stronger during this training cycle while only eating 1 meal a day 4 days a week and only 1 meal a week with carbs, despite the internet saying all of that is impossible.

 Training Log: Entry 3823

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 3

SECONDARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x155

SSB front squat
3x5x220

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
8x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x98

Giant set of bodyweight reverse hypers-hanging leg raise-band pull apart
3x15/10/25

Lateral raise dropset

Notes:

• Alarm woke me out of a sound sleep. Slept well last night.

• Everything moved really well EXCEPT that mat pull. I came into it feeling that best I have in a long time, but it felt like it was welded to the mats when I went to break it off. ROM progression with chains is unique, because the highest starting point is actually the heaviest of the cycle, and then it gets lighter from there as the ROM increases, but in general I imagine I'm in need of a bridge week and some increased food and neither is on the horizon for the immediate future.

• My hip was aching a little early in the set of mat pulls, so I played it conservative. Between that and not pushing the reverse hypers too hard, I think I'll be in a good way.

• Tang Soo Do last night was pretty low intensity as far as a class goes, as we were working primarily on hyung presentation/perfection, but we arrived early and absolutely smashed 20 minutes of hyungs before that, which was a good workout. Valkyrie and I both got a stripe on our belts as well. We're getting closer and closer. 1 more class tonight and then our tournament on Saturday.

• Weighed 81.4kg this morning, which is the lightest of the entire training cycle. Wednesdays seem to be my lightest weigh in days: 3 days after the carb up/family meal and 2 days of intermittent fasting leading into it. Good data point to have. And being this light also explains some deadlifting performances. I noticed my belt fitting looser.