Training Log: Entry 3802

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 3, Workout 2

16 chins
16 dips

Rower Fobbits for 20 minutes

• 2 minutes on rower

• One Naihanchi Chodan

• Repeat until done

Notes:

• I continue to really like this, and I may include it even in mass gaining phases. I push harder during the 2 minutes on the rower, because I have the intervals to break it up, and I perform the Hyung under further and further states of fatigue. However, getting up off the rower every 2 minutes also keeps my hips from binding up, which is really the one thing I don't care for about the rower, so it obviates that. It's great getting in the reps on the hyung as well.

• My body feels really good all things considered. Muscles are sore but joints and connective tissues are happy, which is exactly where you want to land.

• It's a given that before every workout, I do the chins and dips, but when I DO remember to log it, I will.

• Weighed in at 82.6kg this morning: first time I've had a repeat weight, whereas typically I gain slightly on Tuesdays when I eat 2 meals, so another good data point. Also noted indications of increased leanness this morning: abdominals are tightening up and I'm getting more of that "shrink wrapped" effect. The big thing is for me to make sure I'm still pushing the weights hard. During previous leaning out phases, my training wasn't prioritizing maximal strength, and I'd end up stringy by the end of it. I'm also at peace with the notion that just because I HAVE 13 weeks to lean out doesn't mean I need to use them: if I meet the goal, I can transition to a maintenance approach and just focus on competition prep. Thankfully, "Red Meat and Black Coffee" makes this incredibly simple: go from 2 breakfasts in a work week to 3.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. It's "Wildcard/Cardio" week, so should be decent activity.

 Training Log: Entry 3801

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Week 3, Workout 1

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB Front squat
2xBar
2x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
2x315 (matches last week)

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x6x170

Stone of Steel to platform
5x6x160

ASSISTANCE (circuit)

SSB front rack hold
3x30 seconds x 315

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Band pull apart
3x25

Notes:

• Another solid training motivation day. I feel it's worth observing that my motivation to TRAIN is high while my motivation to learn about training/nutrition is exhausted. I typically listen to podcasts when I drive, and for the past 2 weeks I've listened to music when I drive, with the only exception being on Thursdays when Dan John's podcast is released. This may actually be something to look into: I wonder if I become oversaturated with stimulus.

• I was feeling quite stiff today, and honestly most of the weekend as well. The front squat was a struggle, with the second rep being a fight, bar falling forward, having to carry the weight in my arms. Harder than last week. Part of that is being lower weight (to be discussed), but I feel the stiffness is attributable to sitting in some awful wooden chairs for an hour on Friday at a Verizon store getting a new phone for the kiddo, and then we spent 2 hours sitting in some awful folding chairs on Saturday to get some judging certifications for Tang Soo Do. "Sitting is the new smoking", and it's like a hotboxed a carton ala Bobby Hill this weekend.

• Log keeps feeling stronger. Biffed the clean on the third set: snagged it on the belt vs the shirt.

• The stone keeps improving. More touches mean more learning opportunities. Understood the value of really getting under it and hugging it into my lap vs trying to row it today. The hot spot on my chest is continuing to harden up, and in a few weeks I imagine I'll stop bleeding when I do this.

• Got trough 1x16 and 3x15 chins last week. This week starts 2x16/2x15

• Yesterday was a high activity day, but no training. Walked the dogs for 3 miles and did a little over an hour of yard work. Also had our family meal: 6 slices of homemade sourdough pizza and 4 of the Valkyrie's peanutbutter butterscotch cookies with raw local honey. We carpet bombed these pizzas with meat toppings: it was wonderful. Weekends keep highlighting to me how well the healing continues: I have no anxiety regarding "having" to train, and, instead, think to myself "I trained enough this week: I need to rest and recover so I can do it again next week".

• Weighed in at 82.6kg this morning: down a full kilo from last week. The plan is working incredibly well and absolutely painlessly, as demonstrated above, and with proof of concept being that I'm fasting today because I didn't feel hungry post training. Works out well with it being Father's day/Juneteenth weekend, as we'll be going out on Friday and I'll be making a brisket on Sunday.

 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.