Training Log: Entry 3788

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 3

PRIMARY CLUSTER

Axle bench press
2x8x238
6x238
5+3x238

(3) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
9x440+chains

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x12x255

Dips
4x12x50

Axle curls
12,9,8x83

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hyper
2x15x140

Ab triad
1 round

Notes:

• No drama coming into this workout: got up and was excited at the prospect of doing it. This is kinda the "reward" workout of the week, because there's no barbell squat, only 1 set of pulls, and the rest of the supplemental work is pretty gentle. Plus I eat breakfast after, so that's cool.

• My TMs are a bit too heavy for these rep ranges, and I'm just plain not eating enough. But the deadlift is moving in a great direction. I was doubting my ability to pull today, based on the soreness I was experiencing Monday and yesterday, but I was feeling strong and I actually shut it down with a few reps left in the tank, which means I also didn't blow up my hips on the lift. Win there.

• Cut the curls 1 set shy. It was heavy, time was short, and this spares my forearms.

• I need to get back to practicing daily throws. Life has gotten in the way a little.

• Tang Soo Do last night was very low energy. Lotta celebrations for tournament outcomes. Did some weapons defense one-steps.

• Weighed 80.5kg this morning. We're going out to eat tonight, to celebrate kiddo's parent teach conference (we're assuming nothing but good news), so that'll be an opportunity to get in a little more energy. Also doing another ABF family workout tonight.

Training Log: Entry 3787

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

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 2

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

15 chins

20 minute recovery row (4000m covered)

14 chins

Notes:

• This was absolutely what I needed this morning, because I went to bed stiff and work up worse. Once again: spending 5 hours driving and then squatting the next day tends to produce a unique soreness. Thankfully, I'm moving better after getting in the row. But, in turn, my output on this one wasn't as strong as yesterday.

• Which, speaking of yesterday, along with that row and lifting workout, I got in a 50 minute walk outside, and then the family did the first day of ABF and then the Valkyrie and I went on a slightly longer than 2 mile ruck, which before that I went to my kid's last XC meet of the year and walked around a bunch too, so I ended up with over 23k steps for the day. Which sounds, cool, but it's working against my goals, because...

• I weighed 80.3kg this morning. And in no way did I restrict on last night's meal. I didn't leave a single rib behind and had a very generous portion of the shaved beef, and cheese, meat and eggs from the charcuterie, along with the meal of salmon and egg whites, along with my nightcap of skyr and Metabolic Drive. This is the mass building phase, and I'm already one cycle deep. There is still plenty of feasting on the horizon (we're doing a Dan John "Practice Thanksgiving" with the Turkey on Sat, and with it being my birthday month I've got a lot of discounted meals to cash in), but I really need to make sure to keep the goal the goal here.

• Tang Soo Do on the radar for tonight. One-step week, which tends to be low activity.

Training Log: Entry 3786

AM WORKOUT 1 (0510 wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Cycle 2, Week 1, Workout 1

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

15 chins

20 minute recovery row (4084m covered)

14 chins

AM WORKOUT 2 (0800)

14 chins

PRIMARY CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x335

Axle Strict Press from rack
2x8x153
5x153
4+2x153

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x12x65s

DB rows
4x12x140

GHRs
4x12x30

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
20,15

Notes:

• I took the day off work to help recover from travel, tournament, so I slept in until the Valkyrie's alarm went off and then got in the rower while she was in the shower because I figured "why not". I pushed the intensity ever so slightly harder than usual. My right shoulder is still having some nerve issues and it's floating up to my neck. Minor inconvenience.

• Once I got the kiddo dropped off at school, came back and knocked out the workout. The squats are what I hate the most, but they're actually where I'm performing the strongest. The press ran into issues: left shoulder didn't want to lockout. I didn't push it too hard.

• Weighed 80.8kg this morning. No carb up meal last night, so it's an typical Monday weigh in.

Training Log: Entry 3785

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 3, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x3x375

Axle strict press from rack
4x3x173

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x8x70s

DB row
4x8x155

GHR
4x8x30

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
20,15

Notes:

• I dorked up something in my right shoulder yesterday either during throws or hyung practice. Nothing significant, but annoying: feels like nerve pain. Made lockouts on the presses a little sucky. Right knee is also a little pissy on the squats, but again: not significantly so. Depth was solid and strength was good. Right forearm is feeling better: was holding the bar higher on my back. Rest of workout not remarkable: it's what I did on Monday.

• Haven't been logging rest times, but it's been consistently 2 min on the main cluster and 1 min on the supplemental.

• Got feedback to bring the relaxation from my open hand hyungs into my weapons hyungs last night, but also told to keep a tight closed fist during open hand hyungs, so it's getting to be perplexing. The class itself was moderate activity.

• Weighed in at 81.8kg this morning. Traveling later tonight for the tournament (5 hour drive), so nutrition is going to be a little different. Packing my keto bricks and carnivore bars, along with biltong, but also open to getting some burgers on the road.

Training Log: Entry 3874

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

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 3, Workout 4

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

14 chins

20 minute recover row for 4025m

15 chins
14 chins

Notes:

• This was supposed to be a ruck day with the Valkyrie, but we got flash flood warnings at 2300 and through out the night it sounded like our house was going through a car wash as we got pelted with rain, so we decided to just sleep in. Settled on the row to start my day. Still a leisurely/recovery pace. Chins as part of the daily total.

• Body is feeling pretty good. Got in some knee PT yesterday and that already seemed to reset me back to a good baseline.

• Tang Soo Do on the books for tonight. Should just be more hyung walkthroughs.

• Hoping things dry out enough to get in some more throws work.

• Weighed 82.6kg last night. That's what we wanna see. I actually made a point to wear my "Lift Weighs/Eat Steaks" shirt while making dinner last night to continue to lean into this gaining phase. As silly as it seems, I do find there's value in "living" the phase of training that you're in. When it's time to gain, I become "that guy", and it's all I care to read and think about (thanks for the inspo Bruce Randall!) When it's time to become more athletic/lean out, that's who I become.

Training Log: Entry 3873

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 3, Workout 3

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
4x3x268

(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
9x440+chains

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squats
4x8x295

Dips
3x8x85
7+1x85

Axle curls
2x8x98
6+2x98

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hyper
2x15x140

Ab triad
2 rounds

Notes:

• First Wed of the cycle where I could get in the mat pulls vs having to put it off until Thurs. The warm up with 335 was shaky, so I finally just sent it with 385 and that moved much better. I think I need be less ginger, as it creates a negative feedback loop wherein my body won't produce the necessary strength because I'm not committing fully. In turn, got in a 1rep PR with a longer ROM than last week and STILL didn't blow up my hip. I'm being a bit more intentional on the lockout.

• Bench is perfectly dialed in weight wise. Curls are heavy: going to repeat them next cycle. Right knee is telling me it's time to do PT again, and right forearm is letting me know it thinks low bar squatting is stupid.

• At Tang Soo Do last night, we identified I was turning over the wrong shoulder in the weapons hyung. Big game changer, especially right before the tournament. Otherwise, got some major props from my head instructor regarding my efforts to relax and flow in the open hands hyung. In general, I don't care about either one, but I want to represent the Dojang well. Which, on that note, Valkyrie and I both passed our written test, so we're all set to test for our next belts in Mid Nov, which will be the final belt before black. Wild to think. Class itself was pretty low energy: just walking through hyungs for the tournament.

• Weighed 81.7kg. Surprised given how much food I put away last night, but still trending in a good way.

Training Log: Entry 3872

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

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 3, Workout 2

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

14 chins

6000m row in 30:42

15 chins
14 chins

Notes:

• My kiddo has another XC meet today, so we got up a little earlier so the Valkyrie could get to work early and leave early, giving me a little extra time on the rower. Still kept the intensity low and in recovery mode. In full disclosure, my time was a little worse compared to last week because I stopped rowing a few times to skip an add on the youtube video I was watching.

• My forearms are presenting the pain typically associated with low bar squatting. I imagine the heaviest week put the greatest tax on them. I'll continue to monitor. This is exactly why I have 2 COAs for this Operation.

• Weighed in at 82.0kg this morning. That's more what we wanna see.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. Focus is most likely going to be on tournament prep for this weekend.