* I am quite sore. I think all the Tang Soo Do “Wildcard Cardio Classes” compounded with the regular training I’m doing and the reduced food intake is starting to show itself. My ability to perform isn’t compromised, but my ability to bounce back appears to be.
* I set the bar low on my back again today. With 300 squats waiting for me after the squat workout, I decided it was the right call for sparing my knee. I went a little higher up on my back for the final set.
* I was FLYING through Cindy at the start. Almost a full round ahead of the EMOM pace. I added about 10 seconds compared to last week, with a 5lb heavier load. I’m pleased with that. Part of me is legit thinking about keeping this even post Murph, because it’s certainly keeping me fit and getting in my volume, but we’ll see. Definitely wouldn’t want to keep scaling up the weight: hold it at 20lbs. But we’ll see: ultimately that cycle is going to be about getting ready for the competition.
* Like last week, once Cindy was done, I was done. All I had in me was some pull aparts and light rower. Second week where I cut out the ab work, and I’m totally fine with that, as we’re doing a ton of that in Tang Soo Do, plus all the push ups with the vest are essentially weighted planks.
* I got in my daily sandbag today, and actually tried it a little different. I started with a bear hug carry, rather than the horizontal carry. I think I might continue to do that, as it spares my elbows, and that position will allow me even longer on the max distance carry.
* Incline: 4.5 for first 2.5 miles, 5.5 for remainder
Notes:
* We’ve experiencing a heat wave right now, and some decent humidity, so this was pretty miserable as far as general suckage goes, but wasn’t taxing to my cardiovascular system or muscles, which is good. I wake up an extra 5 minutes earlier to get in one more quarter mile and be able to get in exactly 90 minutes of rucking. It seems like a worthwhile trade.
* I think I’m going to continue my strategy of NOT doing my daily chins on this day to spare myself for tomorrow’s Cindy workout. I also had to skip the sandbag yesterday due to a very tight timeline, but we got to Tang Soo Do on time and got in 2 full classes. Neither individual class was as tough as the class on Tuesday, but combined they were exhausting. I’ve got another single class tonight, and then we’ll be done for the week.
* Weighed in at 79.8kg, which was post walk/shower, meaning there is a water loss element there, but I’m also just seeing a general downward trend, that is thankfully moving gradually. This is a 1.1kg drop from last week’s Thursday weigh in. I’m appreciating the twice a week data points.
* On the supplements front, I started using a K2 supplement yesterday. It was 200mcg, which is 2x the recommended dosage, so I may go with an every other day protocol. Crazy inexpensive.
* Put the bar low today. Thought process was, with mat pulls in this workout, I wanted to stay fresh, and the low bar is more mechanically advantageous for me. It feels so much better to squat that way, just a matter of taking care of my forearms. Had the x-factor of sweat making the bar slide down today, so even when I tried to make it NOT stupidly low bar, it ended up there. The spot on my traps from Monday where I had the bar is pretty tender, which is a sign that area isn’t conditioned for the load yet. Lots of room to play around, but I kinda like the idea of making Mon and Fri higher bar and Wed lower bar, similar to how I made Wed the lower volume workout on the previous cycle. As always, when you introduce limitations, you introduce creativity.
* The mat pulls felt amazing today. I’m really focusing on breaking off the floor by getting my hips underneath me and leg pressing the weight off, and from there transitioning to a hip hinge, whereas before I was just hip hinging the weight right off the floor and ending the set in agony. The initial break is, of course, slow, but once that’s done it’s a smooth transition between the two and I feel a lot of power. I feel very in control of the weight, which is great for 405lbs. I lost a rep here compared to last week on the final rest pause set, but it’s one of those where I know it was there if I wanted to fight for it, but the cost of that fight wouldn’t’ be worth the reward.
* First workout where I got through all 5 rounds of the assistance work. Debating on if I want to up the weight and go back to 3 rounds or keep trying for 5s.
* I had the time to get in a quick conditioning workout at the end, but decided against it. We’re doubling up on Tang Soo Do tonight, so I should get plenty of additional activity. Last night was a solid workout: 60 minutes of non-stop moving, with a LOT of push ups.
* Kept meaning to log this, but I hit a new PR on the weekend: I sat through the full performance of “Hamilton” at our local theater WITHOUT my right knee being in agony the entire time. This time moving back to low bar with a wider stance has been good for me. It’s good to know that the damage I did to myself wasn’t irreversible.
* Got in the sandbag yesterday. With how the schedule is shaping up today, not too sure if it will happen, but I’m doing it often enough that I can miss a day here and there.
* Last week I did the basic version, and this week I did the full. For the first round of snatches, I tried out single arm clean and press instead, and found it not as effective. For the second round, I did alternating hands each time. On the final round, I stuck with the same hand for 10, then switched, and found that ultimately the best way forward for the future. In total, I got through 3 rounds of swings and 3 rounds of snatches in the 20 minutes time.
* I like this choice because it allows me to get in the rows and the swings, which are both high value. It has a decent enough conditioning impact, and I like that I’m active for the full 20 minutes. However, this isn’t a lung breaker like Oxygen debt 101 or Power Intervals, so I need to ensure I don’t ALWAYS pick this one. That said, I got in some intervals yesterday as well, and I have enough time at the end of other lifting workouts to get in short interval work, so there are lots of avenues for success.
* Elbows held up well enough. I have to start the snatches with my left arm: my right seems to bear most the brunt of the pain. That I was able to work in a set of chins afterwards is a great sign. Razor’s edge still.
* I’m continuing my tradition of sleeping in until my wife’s alarm on Tuesdays. I pick shorter conditioning workouts and manage to still get my morning done, and this way I get a day of extra sleep and get to wake up next to my wife one extra day a week, which we both appreciate.
* Got in the daily sandbag and some more walking last night. Tonight we have Tang Soo Do, and it’s “Wildcard Cardio” week, so we may get in a decent workout. We’ll be doubling up class tomorrow as well, to give us some freedom on Saturday.
* I put the bar at practically high bar height today, just to see how it felt. It was a little tougher than my stupidly low bar height, but still within my abilities, which I think might be a solid way forward on the lightest week of the cycle. Spares my forearms some pain, gets me stronger, gives me room to grow. Really focusing on sinking the depth. The video is unsatisfying, but I know I’m out of ROM at the bottom.
* Went with sets of 6 for chins on the warm-up, which got me to 30 total. They’re feeling better and better, which is the goal of Planet Mongo. I went without the chins yesterday, but did get in the sandbag. I’m feeling better about managing the balancing act here.
* Press felt solid enough.
* My chins felt better on the assistance circuit, but still fell apart a bit at the end. I used the underhand grip more, which helped. Meanwhile, dips continue to climb, and this week I got 180 in the 20 minutes, which is 40 more than what I started with. It dawned on me how this day pretty much is BtM day 1: 3x5 squats, 3x5 press, and all the same assistance work. Just slightly different percentages.
* I really liked the interval I came up with on the rower. 1:2 work to rest ratio really seems to be pretty gold as far as power output goes. Saw my heart rate get into the 130s.
* Weighed in at 81.1kg. That’s a 1kg drop from last week. These continue to be post carb-up weigh ins, for the sake of consistency, and I’ll throw in a Thursday weigh in as well when I’m fairly depleted to keep that standard tracked, but things continue to trend in the leaning out direction with the Maximum Definition Diet. Last night was spaghetti with 93% lean grassfed piedmontese meat sauce, some breadsticks, and a dessert of 2 cookies and 2 brownies from the Valkyrie with some honey and a mug of fairlife skim. Upon reflection, this actually was a pretty light weekend for food. We went out more than we usually do, for the Mother’s Day weekend, and aside from my full rack of ribs on Friday, I was eating lighter portions from a combination of 1: being so goddamn full from those ribs and 2: going out to eat and not wanting to buy 2 entrees worth of food. We’re pretty good at family style these days, and so I split my rice and mac salad at the Hawaiian BBQ place between the kiddo and the Valkyrie and they gave me some extra helpings of BBQ chicken and kalbi ribs, and at First Watch I gave the Valkyrie and kiddo my fruit and toast in exchange for their breakfast sausage, sunny side up eggs and butter, but even still, it’s lighter fare than usual. I say it not to complain (I still love how little food I need to be satiated for a LONG time), but more to document in case I see a bump up next week.
* Heck, while I’m talking about food, lemme just say that this week started week 3 of chuck roast for breakfast, and like a dog with kibble, I am SO excited for my breakfast every morning. It’s legit what motivates me to get out of bed and train: knowing that I have that waiting for me at the end of the workout. I genuinely don’t know if there’s ever any going back from this Maximum Definition Diet approach.
* I’m thinking VERY far into the future and thinking about my mass gaining phase after my second round of Operator before my competition on 26 Jul. I came up with the idea of taking Grey Man and making it Building the Monolith-esque. Instead of A/B/A, B/A/B, just stick with A/B/A on repeat each week. This would have me squatting twice a week and deadlifting once a week, and that deadlift workout would be a ROM progression mat pull cycle. I’d pair a press with the squat workout, because I’m prioritizing that lift, and then a bench press with the deadlift workout. This makes the assistance pretty simple to figure out as well: I’d put GHRs on the squat days and lever squats on the deadlift day, so I’m still training posterior and anterior chain 3x a week. I’m thinking either incline bench or dips on the press days, and behind the neck press on the bench days. For that “either incline or dips” discussion, I could legit do 1 on 1 day and 1 on the other, but I’d be straying a bit far from the frequency principle at that point. I’d want some back work, although there’s a fair chance I’ll keep the chins between sets of everything as that’s been good to bring back. So perhaps make chins a “free movement” and then have a row on the press days: either DB rows or a landmine row. What’s left is not programmed assistance: abs, reverse hyper, pull aparts, and possibly some shrugs. I learned from my last go-round that I don’t want to program weight/loads for those things. And there’s a fair chance I’ll keep in the daily sandbags, and perhaps be naughty on the weekends and still do some sort of strongman loading work, taking full accountability of the impact it will have on my recovery. I’ve run the Mass Protocol in earnest at least one time: I get to play around with it now and take full responsibility for my actions.
* My kid is done with music theater for the season, so we get our Monday nights back. I’ll still most likely get in some sort of walk today after dinner, but it’ll be good to breathe.
200lb+ sandbag over 50" bar for 1 min, rest for 2, 5 rounds total
Notes:
* Got triples every round, with a fourth threatened. I have the bag better set up as far as slack goes, and practicing reps. Technique is coming along. Still playing it tender with the forearms. No issues with cardio.
* Also got in my push ups, squats, and a bunch of walking and yard work today.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3529
**OPERATION PLANET MONGO**
AM WORKOUT (0445 natural wake up, 45 seconds before alarm, late night, slept in)
* Got to bed late last night, so decided to get in 45 extra minutes of sleep and just really dial in the training today. Normally, I meander a little bit in the morning, take the warm ups a little slow and ease into things. Instead, got out of bed right away, booked it downstairs, hit the majority of my warm-up sets but with no rest between and kept VERY strict on the 2 minute rest intervals. Managed to get in the most important parts of the workout: just cut out the abs, pull aparts, swings and low intensity rower time. And this is exactly why I settled on Tactical Barbell: it’s adaptable that I can add to it as needed, but when I need to just get the job done, the base is enough.
* Still playing the razor’s edge with my elbows/forearms, and I feel like I’m winning. I cut out the daily chins yesterday, and today, after the first set of squats, I focused on putting the bar higher on my back. Pain doesn’t present DURING the squat, but when I rack the bar, most likely as I suddenly shift the weight off my back and directly onto the arms. Having it higher up on the back limits that, and ultimately makes the squat harder anyway, so that’s a win. I also think cutting the chins on Thursday makes sense given that on Friday I do Cindy. That may just be a way forward for the future.
* I am thinking that for my next training cycle I'll rotate in SSB squats in order to give the arms a break. It may be a forever way forward with TB: Alternate between SSB front squats, buffalo bar squats and SSB squats with training cycles.
* Press felt very strong today.
* I was crushing Cindy at the start. My conditioning is very solid there. Around round 9 I start regretting my life choices, and then I hold on until it’s over. I tied last week’s performance with 5 more pounds in the vest, so that’s pretty clutch. I REALLY get toasty doing this workout, as along with the vest I throw on a shirt because the webbing of the vest will chew up my torso during push ups and chins otherwise. Also worth noting that I do the push ups on patio pavers, because otherwise the vest will run into the floor before I get a full ROM, so I’m doing my best to really get the most out of this. Consequently, my pecs are always sore after this workout, which is pretty cool.
* Tang Soo Do was pretty fun last night. Got to do some improvisation on grab self-defense, and some breakfalls. Also got in a decent 2+ mile walk after dinner last night, and my daily sandbag. Ended up with about 22k steps overall.
