* Doing everything in my power to NOT push too hard and do something stupid right now. Walks are supposed to be recovery and very slight bit of weight control (more on that in a moment). I'm dealing with what the Valkyrie suspects is plantar fasciitis in that left foot, and a little bit of swelling in the ankle, but walking honestly seems to help alleviate some symptoms. Around the 4 mile mark I was really feeling solid. This competition coming up only has 1 moving event, so I'm not too concerned, but I WOULD like to be healed before that. If the treadmill starts doing more harm than good, I'll switch to bike or rower.
* I weighed in at 81.2kg post walk, which is a .9kg drop from last week. I absolutely ate my face off this weekend recovering from the race, so that's pretty outstanding. Maximum Definition Diet really lives up to it's reputation. I'm gong to play the edge on nutrition leading up to my weigh in and see how much I can get away with. I'm already planning my post weigh in dinner: I've had a 36oz Tomahawk piedmontese ribeye in my freezer for a while now, and I can think of no better occasion to break it out.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3502
AM WORKOUT (0520 wake up via alarm), 0730 workout
**12 LABORS: CAPTURE AND BRING BACK CERBERUS (FINAL WEEK)**
* Got it done this morning. My left foot is a little achy, around the arch, but otherwise no issues. We kept the pace comfortable, able to talk to each other the entire time. My Garmin shows that my heart rate reach a high of 155 at one point during the process. I felt good through it, and had some more miles in me when we were done.
* Right shoulder is still achy from the dog pulling on it during our walks. That should heal during this week.
* I'll keep up the daily sandbag work for now, but think heavy training has concluded. I contemplated getting some stone work in today, but at one week out from my strongman comp I'll do more harm than good with that.
* Fueled up the run with a breakfast of an omelet with 4 whole eggs, 5 whites, 10g of grassfed tallow, and 3oz of sirloin, topped with some grassfed ghee along with 11oz of air fried lamb and a piece of beef liver. The best part was after the race though. It's called "The Early Bird" because it's hosted by a local Brunch Place, and, along with cinnamon rolls and donuts at the end of the race, there was bacon. I've never had that at the end of a race before, and despite my fasting/2 meals a day approach, I couldn't possibly turn that down. It was some of the best bacon I've ever had in my life...or maybe it just always tastes that way after 10 miles. But either way, I got 2 pieces of it, and the Valkyrie gave me her 2 pieces as well. That's love right there.
* I’ve been running this race every year since 2021, and this was the best I’d ever felt doing it. Tactical Barbell did an outstanding job of balancing fatigue and stimulus to the point that I didn’t come into this carrying any fatigue at all: just ready to perform.
* Got in my daily sandbag as well. It keeps getting better.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3501
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
**12 LABORS: CAPTURE AND BRING BACK CERBERUS (FINAL WEEK)**
* Abided by the easy conditioning rules for this week and made this a full up recovery walk. 3.8 is still a brisk pace for me, but no weight vest and a low incline had the desired effect. I finished feeling better than I started. And by following that up with the 3 mile walk with the dog, I had 21k steps before 0800. That's off to a good start for the day.
* Got Tang Soo Do tonight. Last night was a real solid workout. It was a small class, so we just drilled the hell out of basics, with line marching down the floor before we got to a bag to strike, then line marching back for about 40 minutes of non-stop movement, followed by 10 minutes of open hand forms. Drenched with sweat when it was done.
* Piloted running up to the sandbag for yesterday's work. Glad I'm giving that a go: it should carry over well to the comp. The throws felt explosive as well.
* Weighed myself at 81.2kg after my first walk. Almost a full kilo down from yesterday. My plan for the bridgeweek is to do a lot of walking, and I can weigh in as early at 1000 on the day before the comp, so I should have no issues making weight at this rate.
* Breakfast remains unchanged, in terms of composition and deliciousness: 1lb of lamb, omelet of 3 eggs, 5 whites and 1 tablespoon of beef tallow, and a piece of beef liver.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3500
AM WORKOUT (0355 wake up via dog)
**12 LABORS: CAPTURE AND BRING BACK CERBERUS (FINAL WEEK)**
* Got the day off work, but my nearly 15 year old pug woke up this morning at 0355 with some disaster poops, and that was 5 minutes before my alarm, so I used it as an opportunity to get up and get moving. However, I got up once in the middle of the night to take care of them before that moment, and I practically fell out of bed. My balance was way off: felt like I was on a boat. I was feeling similar at 0355, trying not to fall INTO the poop as I was cleaning it. Feeling did not go away during warm-ups, and I'm actually still a little dizzy now, but on the front squats I managed alright. However, log is historically a lift where my blood pressure makes or breaks it, and I was seeing swirls just looking down at the log before the first clean. I got it in place, but pressing it really put me in a bad way, so I shut it down at one rep (still technically within program compliance) and re-evaluated. My head got straight after that and I had some good lifts, but for the heavy cleans I shut it down at one. Best to practice succeeding vs failing.
* Still not going to my absolute limit on the mat pulls, which is for the best, especially this close to the competition. Happy with what I can put out in those circumstances. Haven't skipped a beat despite the long period of time without straight bar pulling.
* My left arch is still in pain. I'm going to employ some manner of compression, given I have to run 10 miles on it on Saturday.
* Took the dog for a long walk this morning since they won't have day care. Wanted to tire them out.
* Tang Soo Do turned out to be basics week instead of one-steps, so we got a decent workout last night, along with me getting in a 3 mile walk beforehand. Should be able to attend tonight as well. I experimented with the sandbag yesterday and started with it standing up vs on it's side, and I think that's a smarter way forward. It holds it's shape better when I do that. I also think I need to start drilling running UP to the sandbag and picking it up for the future, since that's the context I'll be executing under.
* Weighed myself this morning to get a better idea of daily fluctuations leading up to the comp. 82.1kg, same as Monday, and exactly on point for my weight class. Good place to be.
* Breakfast remains the same through the week, and I look forward to it every time.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3499
AM WORKOUT (0510 wake up via Valkyrie’s alarm)
**12 LABORS: CAPTURE AND BRING BACK CERBERUS (FINAL WEEK)**
200m sprint-30 second rest-200m sprint-30 second rest-200m sprint
3 min rest
6 minutes on rower
Notes:
* Heavy week of training, so basic week of conditioning. Worked out well, because my legs felt like lead today. Did my best to really focus on pushing off midfoot vs heal and getting the legs up high on the rebound strike, and I had at least 1 solid sprint per round and felt my lungs burning, but output wasn’t what I was used to.
* Still just playing around on the rower when I get some downtime. Not pushing hard enough to impact recovery, but trying to figure out what I’m doing with it. And it’s honestly just enjoyable. Having good equipment matters, because I never cared to use that cheap rower I bought.
* Got in a good walk after dinner last night, and the sandbags just keep getting more and more natural as I go. The Milo of Croton meets Easy Strength approach here has really panned out well for me. I think I want to keep this up after this training cycle. 1 carry a day doesn’t take much time away from me.
* I’ve got Tang Soo Do tonight. It’s one-steps week, which tends to be pretty low activity. I also am most likely working a half day today, so I may be able to get in another leisure walk.
* With my travel coming up, I started re-thinking my training strategy leading up to my next cruise, and since I’ll have 7 weeks between my return from my trip and the start of my cruise, I think I’m just going to restart my ROM progression cycle and get in one full one leading up to the cruise vs trying to rush this current cycle to completion and do a partial one leading up. I’m in no rush at this point: I’ve got nothing but time.
Monday, March 31, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3498
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
**12 LABORS: CAPTURE AND BRING BACK CERBERUS (FINAL WEEK)**
4x2x190+1 push press rep per set (missed second set)
NG weighted chins
4x2x55
ASSISTANCE
5 round circuit, 30 seconds per movement of
24kg KB swings
365lb SSB front rack hold
Dips
Standing ab wheel
Push ups
BPA
1x50, 2x25
4 minutes on rower
Notes:
* Hard to believe it’s the final week of the 12 labors, but it’s really been an outstanding development. This is the best contest prep phase I’ve had in quite some time, primarily because my mind and body lined up on this one and I actually wanted to do the training that best suited the goal. Funny that. Today, in particular, felt very strong, with only some small issues. I felt myself leaning to the left on the third set of the squats, and I lost the weight going forward on the second set of the presses, using energy to correct it and running out of gas for a push press. But the fact I had the strength to catch and correct that errant press really bodes well for my getting, as Jon Andersen puts it “cock strong”. I was also feeling MUCH better for the assistance circuit today than I was on Friday.
* Since the volume is reduced this week, I have a little more training time afforded to me, so I hopped onto the rower just to continue grooving some reps. I set the resistance to 5, whereas before it was at 1, and tried to focus on technique. It’s a nice way to get in some full body moving without an eccentric load.
* Tried a little trick on the BPAs of pointing my wrists outward, and it seemed to get me a little more stimulus. Cute little tricks picked up along the way.
* Should be getting in about an hour of walking tonight, with the Valkyrie and the puppy.
* Weighed in at 82.1kg this morning, post workout. That’s exactly the weight limit, and technically a .4kg gain from last week, but given that there was a 2.9kg drop between that week and the week before it, my body is still stabilizing. I intentionally ate like an a-hole while within the confines of the Maximum Definition diet this weekend because I have a tendency to let my bodyweight drop down too far right before competitions due to fear of missing weight (Thanks for the PTSD high school wrestling!), and I’m trying my best to hold on to this higher weight as best as I can to allow me to perform at my best. I’m at a level of weight/leanness where I can feel that difference a few pounds makes, with today feeling so strong being a great example. Getting on top of my electrolytes has been helpful as well: I’m really needing to go hard on them now that I’ve effectively carb free. Before, between the gum and the trace amounts in the Metabolic Drive, I was still probably getting in about 20g of carbs a day, but now it’s nothing.
* I’ve officially completed 1 full calendar week of the Maximum Definition diet, and about 10 days total (I started in the middle of last week, leading into it with 2 days of the Velocity Diet). It’s living up to it’s name: I’m seeing granularity in my midsection again, and my waist is shrunk in based on how my lifting belt is fitting, along with the rest of my clothes. I hit 80.0kg in the middle of the week last week, and I imagine seeing something similar after I come down from the bloat of our family meal tonight (details to follow there). I’m still sticking with only 2 meals a day, vs Vince’s recommendation of 3, and I’m not hitting the same supplement layout he recommends, instead relying on the good folks at BioTest along with my daily beef liver in place of the beef liver tablets. However, there’s room to argue that my middle of the night protein shake can count as a third meal, if I want to get precise. I also push the carb meal to once every 7 days vs every 3-5. In general: BIG fan of this approach. I love the food, I’m never hungry, I FEEL very well and strong, digestion is awesome, and, upon getting electrolytes sorted, my performance is going very well in training. I can see this being a regular thing now. While I am absent of Metabolic Drive, it’s definitely going to be my way forward for the foreseeable future, but upon it’s return, I may revert back to Feast, Famine Ferocity and have 2 week stretches of Velocity Diet and then 4 week stretches of Maximum Definition Diet. About the only thing I “miss” is sour cream. It’s one of my favorite condiments, but isn’t permitted by Vince. But I’m not hurting for delicious food or satiety.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3497
AM WORKOUT (1000
**12 LABORS: STEALING THREE OF THE GOLDEN APPLES OF HESPERIDES**
* I originally started this workout as an EMOM with 205 loaded, but I had the load uncentered and the stone was WILD. I got 2 successful reps in 4 minutes (going for singles), and it took away a LOT of energy. I called my losses, unloaded and reloaded it and went for 2 minutes. At that point, I was already pretty exhausted, but I'm happy I got in some reps.
* Part of the issue was that this was a rushed workout, because today was a packed day with lots of activity. I got up and got in my 50 squats and push ups, had breakfast (details to follow), took the puppy for a 3 mile walk and then immediately knocked out this workout before changing and going to Tang Soo Do. Today was another decent TSD workout: basics and open hand forms, and we moved for the entire class. After that, we came home, Valkyrie and Kiddo had a very quick lunch and then we headed downtown to take in a musical ("Some like it hot": great comedy) before grabbing dinner on the way home (details to follow), after which point I took the puppy for a 25 minute walk and then immediately knocked out my daily sandbag carry/throw. And now I'm done, 17.6k steps in, with a few more to go.
* On the sandbag and throws: today was the best day out of the entire cycle. I actually went out in my jeans: didn't bother changing, and made the pick up super casual. I'm at the point where I can throw the bag into my lap, versus barely squeaking it by. From there, I was able to pick it up high on my torso and carry it fast, and then the regrab for the bearhug was quick and feet moved quick as well. Throws were also explosive.
* I noticed the light headedness on my last workout, and I felt it on the stones as well. I'm working to keep my electrolytes back up, but given my weight dropping and how lean I looked this morning, I've allowed myself to really push the limits on Vince's "no limit" instructions on eating meat and eggs.
