Training Log: Entry 3800

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 2, Workout 5

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press away
3xLog
2x150
1x170
1x190
3x205 (5lb PR from last week)

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

SSB front squat
5x8x220

Stone of Steel to platform
5x5x160

ASSISTANCE (circuit)

SSB front rack hold
3x30 seconds x315

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Band pull aparts
3x25

Notes:

• Training motivation remains in a good spot. This was my ticket to punch to get to Friday.

• That triple on the log felt so good I contemplated going up in weight for another set, but decided to go by Westside rules and shut it down when I hit the PR and end on a good note. Strength is coming in a good way and I'm remembering how to move a log again.

• Front squats don't suck as much as they could. Temps were cooler, which helped.

• I wore a strongman belt on the stones to help keep my shirt in place, which cut down a little on the rub, but I'm still leaving bloodstains on my undershirt. I'll have to build up some calluses. But in general the stone technique is really coming along strong and I'm feeling good with it.

• In general, I'm liking the direction this training phase is moving in. It's just what I need.

• Tang Soo Do last night was great for some experimenting. Our instructor really liked a twist I put on one of our onesteps, ending it with a hell hook from a standing position. Said it was "next level".

• Weighed in at 82.2kg. Got nutrition locked in as well.

 Training Log: Entry 3799

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 2, Workout 4

16 chins
16 dips

"600m resets" on rower

• 600m row max effort

• 5 min rest

• Repeat for a total of 6 rounds

Notes:

• Chaos is the plan. Had the prowler loaded up in my truck last night with the intent to get out this morning and do some prowler sprints. Woke up to thunder storms. Was still willing to risk pushing a hunk of metal outside while lightning was striking, because "struck by lighting while pushing a prowler" gets you a direct ticket to Valhalla, but then, as I was lacing up my shoes, I heard the beginning of what the local weather station referred to as "tennis ball sized hail"

• "The clouds will part and the sky cracks open/
  And God himself will reach his fucking arm through/
  Just to push you down, just to hold you down" yeah, it happens. And in full FULL disclosure, I was STILL willing to go push a prowler in all that nonsense...until I realized that I'd have to DRIVE to my prowler spot, and that was going to subject my TRUCK to the hail. THAT proved to be the bridge too far, so onto the rower I went.

• I cracked open my kindle copy of TBII as I was heading down the basement steps and found 600m resets, and realized I'd always wanted to do this workout but never allocated the proper amount of time to do so, so this was a happy accident. The 5 minutes of rest and 6 rounds of training adds up, but I had a sufficient time budget allocated for the prowler.

• First round was done in 2:22, added a second for the next 2 rounds, then the 4th round was a 2-3 second delta at about 2:27, 5th round I was hurting at 2:33, and I redeemed it slightly in the final round at 2:30. I just googled masters 40+ track athlete 600m times, and for men a competitive time is 1:18-1:35, which means that, in the future, 600m of rowing doesn't map 1 for 1 onto this protocol, but for today it did the job, because I was hurting when those rounds were over. I went full "deep water", leaving nothing behind for the swim back, and just attacked the hell out of the rower from the start and hung on for dear life at the end.

• This honestly made me appreciate TB's own conditioning, compared to what I've chosen to do in prep for strongman. It'll be good to get more TB centric when this competition is done. Although I DID see one in Iowa on 10 Oct that grabbed my attention slightly...

• Tang Soo Do wasn't too intense last night, but for the best, as the Valkyrie and I have received some pointed feedback on techniques and we got to drill those. Still got to use 15 minutes before class to drill some Hyungs, so the extra activity is adding up.

• Weighed in at 83.3kg this morning: .8kg gain from yesterday.

 Training Log: Entry 3798

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 2, Workout 3

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x8x155

SSB front squat
3x8x220

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
17x405+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x8x98

Reverse hyper/hanging leg raise/band pull apart circuit
3x10x270/3x10/3x25

Lateral raise
35x10, 15x5

Notes:

• Training motivation is in a better place. Past 2 lifting workouts I was ready to go. Not excited, but also not negotiating with myself to get through. Despite not being in a building phase, I think the set up of this program has enough novelty in it that I have something to look forward to each day. In general, I really appreciate the little gem that Operator Pro is, and I'm thankful I cracked open the Green Protocol to find it.

• Heat index and humidity in full effect: I was drenched. The headband and grip shirt do a good job of keeping it all under wraps, but it's just miserable in that environment. Grip shirt is ALSO helpful in that regard: it's nice not having the equipment slip all over me. Another product I should have bought earlier.

• Log clean is really feeling strong. Discovering just how valuable it is to clean off the stomach.

• Sinking the front squats as deep as they'll go. Feeling the VMO each rep.

• I actually had higher hopes for the mat pulls. My warm-up with 315 felt like an empty bar, but 405 was slow off the blocks. I'm thinking I braced better on the warm-up, so that's something I'll look to. Still, 17 is 1 rep above last week, with greater ROM. Seeing how my hips feel.

• Walked the reps back on the reverse hypers. Ultimately, I want them to be therapeutic. Curls were challenging. Rest of assistance work was effectively filler.

• With it being the summer Hyung challenge, I actually got a solid workout in at Tang Soo Do despite it being one-steps week. I spent 20 minutes before class just blitzing through weapon and open hand hyungs. With the heat, I was pouring sweat at the end. This will be a nice little 3x a week extra activity. Tonight is the 90 minute class.

• Weighed in at 82.5kg this morning. A 1.5kg drop from yesterday, which checks between a fasting day and 2 days post carb up.

 Training Log: Entry 3797

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 2, Workout 2

“FOBBITS: Illegal Barbarian/Monk Multi-class”

16 chins
16 dips

• 2 minutes on rower, then Naihanchi Cho Dan

• Repeat for 20 minutes total

Notes:

• Came up with this last night, and I’m happy with how it shook out. Chance to combine conditioning and martial arts training, and they feed into each other. As the rounds go on, fatigue accumulates, and I have to focus harder to keep my technique sharp on the hyung, and the hyung has enough power and intensity in it that it disrupts the rower.

• Moved faster/harder on the rower than would be typical “recovery” speed, so this was more a legit conditioning workout. However, I feel the rower itself will still have the desired tonic effect by being a concentric only exercise (which, come to think of it, so is the prowler, so I am so much smarter than I realize sometimes). On that note, my body is feeling excellent despite having done 5x8 atlas stones yesterday, so things are boding well.

• Weighed in at 84.0kg this morning. .4 gain from yesterday, which I was seeing in the previous training cycle. This still reflects a 1kg drop from last week Tuesday.

• Tang Soo Do may be happening tonight. Chaos is the plan. It’s one step week, so tends to be low intensity in general.

 Training Log: Entry 3796

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 2, Workout 1

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB Front squat
3xBar
2x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
2x315

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x8x155

Stone of Steel to Platform
5x8x135

ASSISTANCE (circuit)

SSB front rack hold
3x30 seconds x 315

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Band pull aparts
3x25

Notes:

• Training motivation was more solid for this than usual. Novelty of a new day, and I think this is probably the least “miserable” day of the training block. Moving big (ish) weights on the front squat is always a delight, especially when it means not having to do lots of reps.

• Shoulders fell a little forward on the second rep of 315. I’ll see if I can “own” that weight some other time.

• Pressing is feeling better. I’m re-learning how to lean off my stomach instead of my chest. Also have to remember to squeeze my glutes and create a stable base.

• Was able to conquer the stone today. Sprung for some receiver gloves, and they’re an absolute game changer. I’d prefer to use less equipment, but given the circumstances with sweat and humidity, it’d better for me to groove frequent good reps than just grind slop over and over again. The gloves get a good, consistent grab on the stone, especially combined with the shirt. The consequence is that the stone is rubbing parts of my chest completely raw/bleeding from so many reps, so I’m going to develop some very interesting calluses soon.

• Finished off with abs and rear delts. In doing so, it dawned on me the difference between what I do and what I see young trainees do. When given an opportunity to do assistance work, it’s always vanity stuff and, in turn, WAAAY too much of it. For me, it’s “insurance work”: let me do those things that allow me to KEEP training another day. It’s like an oil change for the body, instead of trying to put on a new spoiler.

• Got in all 4 sets of 15 on chins and dips for all 7 days last week. Today started off with 16, and the rest of the sets will be 15s.

• Weighed in at 83.6kg this morning. That’s post family meal, wherein my Valkyrie made the most amazing sourdough rolls that tasted just like the breadsticks from my favorite neighborhood resturant growing up, alongside some sphagetti with meatsauce and 4 peanut butter/recees’ pieces cookies with some raw honey. Note it was 4 instead of 5: I’m dieting after all. This is also a 1.4kg lower weight than last week’s starting weight (which was technically on a Tuesday), but that was also post travel, so baselines are still a bit tough to establish.

 Training Log: Entry 3795

AM WORKOUT (0358 natural wake up)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 1, Workout 4 (off cycle due to travel)

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and push press away
3xLog
2x150
1x170
1x190
3x200

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

SSB front squat
5x10x205

Stone of Steel to platform
10x135
4x5x135

ASSISTANCE

SSB front rack hold
3x30 secondsx315lb

Band pull aparts
3x25

Notes:

• All I wanted to do was sleep more. A good sign compared to my sleep avoiding days, but I had no latitude in the schedule to pull that off, so I got up and did this. First morning where I found myself wanting breakfast, so my appetite has returned.

• The log is feel really strong. The shirt helps. 200 is a good place to work from. If I add 5lbs each week, that’s 60lbs by the time the competition rolls around, which shows that this ISN’T going to happen, so I can blunt my expectations there. The exact wrong thing to do is plan out progression on a daily max, but I know where I can build from here. That 3rd rep was a grinder, so I can try to get 200 smoother next week or go for a heavier double.

• 5x10 front squats weren’t quite as awful as I would have expected. Battling the humidity is the hardest part. I was dying in that grip shirt, and it came to show harder on the stones.

• Original plan was 5x10 on the stones. That MAY have been possible if there wasn’t a sweat factor to contend with. The tacky towel was failing, and I started slipping on the stone, which is exactly what led to my left bicep tear. Capped it at 5, which, due to the circumstances, was still a very solid workout.

• I really like how the weeks shake out with this protocol. The front squat builds through the week, starting with a 2-3rm, then 3x10, then 5x10. The press does the opposite: starting out with 5x10, then 3x10, and then peaking with the 2-3rm. I’m thinking the stone of steel can go 3xHypertrophy reps on Monday and 5x5 on Friday, with the deadlift in the middle.

• Tang Soo Do was challenging last night. We spent a good majority of class in the horse riding stance. My right knee is a little tender as a result.

• Weighed 83.2kg this morning, another .2kg drop from yesterday, resulting in a total of 1.8kg (very close to 4lbs) lost since Tuesday. Good data points all around there. I was able to painlessly fast 3 days in a row, which isn’t what I would prefer to do for the following weeks, but it’s good info to have.

 Training Log: Entry 3794

AM WORKOUT (0359 natural wake up, snoozed until 0425, also natural wake up)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 1, Workout 3 (off cycle due to travel)

“Prowler Sprints”

• 4 rounds w/90lbs loaded on high handles

Notes:

• Since this was an AM workout, this was on the longer course, so each sprint took between 48-55 seconds.

• Opened with 15 chins and dips as well. Took 5 minutes between rounds, walking the course. Focused on transitioning to nose breathing as soon as I was able to, really trying to master recovery between rounds.

• Prioritized never stopping during the sprint: just keep on pushing. And I keep writing “sprint”, but it’s most just “all out effort”, as after the first 12 seconds I know I’m slowing down.

• 4 rounds remains the right time to shut it down. Really making a point to emphasize “perfect practice” on this workout and not grooving garbage. By the time it was done, by quads were jelly and I was hands on knees after the final round. And I do believe it was this work that resulted in my improved conditioning for the 5k I did, and my continued improved general conditioning on display in my rower workouts.

• I opted for this workout today instead of the weekend because we’re getting a projection for thunderstorms this weekend, alongside the fact I need to mow my lawn sometime BEFORE that happens, which will also eat into weekend time. In turn, I’m glad to see the flexibility that exists in my schedule. On the micro level, I slept in an extra 30 minutes, which means I can also NOT do that sometimes and use that time for walking, rucking or hyungs. Opportunities abound.

• Weighed 83.4kg this morning. .2kg drop from yesterday. Fasting again today: still don’t have that morning appetite, but I can feel it coming close. I imagine I can resume a more normal schedule next week, but I’m also considering shortening the eating window and bringing lunch to work instead, eating a meal there and an evening meal. It’s fun to continue playing around with this.

• Tang Soo Do was a solid workout last night. 90 minute class with a lot of time spent doing hyung: open hand and weapon. Tonight is the final class for the week.