Training Log: Entry 3631

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

BRIDGE WEEK

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

Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Training Log: Entry 3630

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

BRIDGE WEEK

EMOM KB swings

• 24kg bell

• 20 swings per round

• 25 rounds total

• Chins between rounds

2 mile treadmill walk

• Speed: 3.5

• Incline: 4

• Time: 34:15

Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

 Training Log: Entry 3629

PM WORKOUT (1400)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO (Final Workout)

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

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

Notes:

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

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

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

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

 Training Log: Entry 3628

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO

Operation MILO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 5 (final lifting workout)

MAIN WORK

Chins (various grips, rest pause as needed)
5x14

DB rows
5x8x150

Axle curls
5x8x88

GHRs
5x8x70

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit ups
3x10

Reverse hyper/band pull aparts superset circuit
3x15x340/3x50

Lateral raise
50x10lb

Notes:

• 1 min rest between chins, rows and GHRs/sit ups, 90 second rest for curls

• I feel like this workout ultimately made lifting 4x a week palatable, since it doesn’t have a big movement in it. Just a chance to get in some bodybuilding and recover from the hard efforts of the week. Meanwhile, it’s the heavier bodybuilding day of the 2, so not having a big movement works, and it means I’m not totally killing myself on the deadlift day.

• DB rows are just stupidly heavy at this weight. Not as good of a mind muscle connection, but sometimes that brute force work is good for me as well.

• Really good pump from the chins.

• Final night of sparring in Tang Soo Do last night. Got in 3 matches, 2 with junior students and one with the Valkyrie. Highlight was my second match, dude had a predictable pattern where, if he was ever down a point, he would charge in first thing the next round to try to score a quick point by surprise. Everyone else always falls for it, and since I knew it was coming, I just shoved out a push kick at the start of the match and he speared himself on it. It ended with my heel crashing right into his knee and completely immobilized him. My instructor also commented on my stance, saying “I know I’m not going to take the boxer out of you, and I don’t think I want to. It works for you, and it has real world application, which I can appreciate”. Was good to hear us on the same wavelength.

• Keg carry last night was 248.5. Today will make 250, which will be 75lbs from the start of the experiment. It’s getting heavy, but I can still make it happen.

 Training Log: Entry 3627

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO

Operation MILO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 4

MAIN WORK

SSB Squat
4x8x325

Lever Belt Squat
4x8x272.5

Axle strict press from rack
3x8x153
1x6+1(failed 8th)x153

(3) DB incline bench
4x8x80s

Dips
2x8x80
1x7x80
1x6+2x80

ASSISTANCE

Ab wheel
1x10+10 second plank

Notes:

• Rest times all over. 1:30, 1:45 and 2:00 for the squats, 90 seconds for the lever belt, 2:00 for the press, 1:30, 1:45 and 2:00 for the incline, and 90 seconds for the dips.

• Much like yesterday, I have no idea how I succeeded here, but I’m glad I did. This is a huge gain in the course of a year, having me add 50lbs to my work set weight with a harder bar AND shorter rest periods. It took a lot out of me, and that bridge week and program shift are going to be well timed.

• Ran into some failures on the pressing, primarily due to a lack of rest time. I was a little behind the 8-ball timewise this morning. Same reason the ab work was reduced.

• Sparring last night had me going up against a senior student and one of our senior black belts, along with some free sparring. Trying out some new strategies and trying to work more combos. Was a good workout. One more of those tonight.

• Yesterday’s Keg carry was 247.5lbs. It felt heavy, but manageable.

• Weighed in at 84.7kg this morning, which will serve as my final weigh in for Mass Protocol and the baseline I’ll measure against during Operator. I don’t have goals for a specific bodyweight, I’m just eating for performance, but I DO need to be under 185lbs for the weigh in on 7 Dec.

 Training Log: Entry 3626

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO

Operation MILO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 3

MAIN WORK

(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
11+5+4x455

DB rows
5x8x140

Axle curls
5x8x83

GHRs
5x8x60

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit ups
3x10

Reverse hyper/band pull apart superset circuits
3x15x340/3x50

Notes:

• 1 min of rest on rows, GHRs and GHR sit ups, 90 seconds on curls.

• I legitimately do NOT know how I managed those mat pulls. I wasn’t feeling particular weak or beat up today, but those pulls were just plain heavy, and I approached it with a goal of just getting 10 on the first pull and figuring it out from there. Breaking it off the mats the very time felt ridiculous, but somehow I found myself with plenty of strength to get through the reps. Very light taps on the mats. I’m rediscovering that “other gear” in me that, as long as I can get the bar a millimeter off the mats, I can move it to lockout. It’s great to feel strong again.

• Wore the strongman belt for most of the workout after that, because having my back warm and compressed felt good.

• No chins between sets. This morning, I found that my right elbow was showing some of those warning signs of getting beat up, and chins tend to be something that accelerate that. I’ve got Friday to really get these in. Part of me imagines it’s the keg carry that is doing this.

• On that note, 246lbs moved VERY well yesterday compared to the past 3 carries.

• Tang Soo Do sparring was a bit of a mixed bag. I got to go up against one of our adult black belts who has been out due to wrist surgery for a few months. It’s rare I get to spar someone larger than me. He has no cardio at all, and I pushed the pace to make him uncomfortable, but ended up fouling out. I got in a very nice hook kick to the head that made too much contact, and then caused him to panic twice, which resulted in him spinning out while I had launched a strike, getting me called on 2 strikes to the back, giving me 3 fouls. Not a way I want to lose a match, but I was pleased with how I was able to control the pace of the match.

• On that note, I signed up for another grappling competition on 7 Dec. Since I’ll have turned 40 by then, I’m no longer a Masters athlete, but instead in the “Directors” division. Here’s hoping a few more old dudes sign up.

 Training Log: Entry 3625

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

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL SPECIFICITY BRAVO

Operation MILO Cycle 3, Week 3, Workout 2

“ROWER RESET 20s”

5 rounds on the rower of

• 20 seconds max effort

• 2 minutes rest

8 minute recovery row

Notes:

• Final one of these for the cycle. Output was solid and recovery was on point in the 2 minutes. Used up the remainder of the time for a recovery row to meet the objective of “no more than 20 minutes of training”.

• This still felt restorative on my body, despite being a hard effort. My right knee, in particular, is feeling much better than yesterday. I’m having a “good knee day”. Ultimately, I believe I have some form of quadricep tendinosis based off some self-diagnosis. My annual physical is coming up soon and I’m hoping to get some imaging done.

• Keg carry was 245lbs yesterday. It’s definitely getting heavy. I’m glad I’m wearing the SHD knee sleeves, as I can feel this is beating up my knees a bit.

• Tang Soo Do tonight, and it’s sparring. Always a treat.

• This is the final week of gaining, and then I’ll go into 4 weeks of leaning out before back on the cycle. This has probably been my most successful concentrated gaining block ever, as far as body composition goes. I’ve gained 7lbs in 9 weeks, and though my abs have filled out, I haven’t gained the love handles I typically get nor the lower belly paunch. My weight belt still fits well, and pretty much all my typical indicators of getting “overfat” haven’t triggered like they typically would around this point. I feel like I’ve stumbled across something solid turning the maximum definition diet into a gaining diet. As far as training goes, with Wed Squat day I’ll be squatting 325 with a SSB for sets of 8, whereas when I started Tactical Barbell a year ago I was squatting 275 with a buffalo bar for the same reps, so that’s a 50lb gain with a harder bar. Helps put things in perspective. Sure, I haven’t actually hit the squat yet, but it’s there waiting for me. And even without that, I got 305 with 1 minute rests vs 275 with 2 minute rests, so STILL some solid growth.