Training Log: Entry 3865

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

14 Chins

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x330

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x153
6x153
5+3+2 (rest pause) x 153

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) Incline DB bench
4x12x60s

DB row
4x12x130

GHR
4x12x20

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
2x15

Notes:

• I didn't want to do this session so much that I literally had dreams about skipping it, but then I had a dream that I DID it and it was over and thought "I'm so glad I did that". Then the alarm went off and I made the decision to get it done, and again: I'm glad I did. I imagine the big issue is I've lifted 4 days in a row, due to the travel schedule, and I'm just feeling beat. My nutrition also isn't in place to support that, since I'm still trying to normalize after travel. But today, I knew we were going to eat a little light for dinner, so I came up with a post training breakfast, and that gave me a little motivation to get through. Moving forward with that, I'm going to experiment with a very high protein/lower fat post training breakfast and reverse the macros toward dinner, but for now we're just getting back into the groove of things.

• I felt weaker coming into today vs day 1, but again, being down 6lbs and 3 days of lifting in a row leading up to this makes sense. The squats still moved smoothly, which was the big W.

• We got our 4th stripe in Tang Soo Do last night: we're eligible to test for the next belt. For the Valkyrie and I, this will mean the belt before black belt (in our school, it's "Cho Dan Bo", which is effectively "black belt candidate", a solid blue belt). When I first joined, it was honestly kind of a laugh, but as I'm getting closer, I'm feeling more a sense of pride for this accomplishment. When it's done, I'll technically have a black belt in 2 different Korean martial arts, and given I married into a Korean family, that's honestly pretty nifty.

• Weighed 80.8kg is morning. Based on the past 2 days, it's likely this is where I've stabilized post cruise, which is about a 1.5lb weight gain, and given that I had effectively engaged in a 7 day campaign to undo the efforts of Noah's Ark by EATING 2 of every animal, that's pretty reasonable.

Training Log: Entry 3864

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

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 1, Workout 2.1 (missing portion from yesterday)

14 chins

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
5x440+chains

14 chins

Notes:

• Valkyrie was recovering from some stuff, so I wanted to sleep next to her until she woke up for her day. I had 20 minutes to do something, and my back was feeling better, so I decided to get in the missing pulls from yesterday. Still took it easy on the back as I'm coming back into the training and still in a weird place post-travelwise, so I capped it once I started struggling.

• Warm ups felt MUCH better than yesterday. Still stiff, but much stronger and more confident. That first break off the mats was tough, but not insurmountable. I figure things will pick up over the cycle.

• Weighed 80.6kg this morning. I'm down 2.7kg from Tues, practically 6lbs for the imperial folks, in the span of 2 days. I'm also looking as lean as when I left, so I've shed the vast majority of the water weight/inflammation, and this was AFTER that dinner of ribs and brisket, which is typically a Friday treat. Next week should give me a more accurate baseline to operate off of.

• Tang Soo Do tonight. Wildcard/cardio.

Training Log: Entry 3863

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION: TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL 

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

MAIN MOVEMENT

Axle bench press
3x8x236
7x236

SUPPLEMENTAL MOVEMENTS

Lever belt squat
4x12x250

Dips
4x12x47.5

Axle curls
4x12x85 (rest pause final 2 sets)

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hyper
2x15x90

Ab triad
2 rounds

Notes:

• Lower back is incredibly stiff from travel and lifting. Warmed up on the mat pulls but listened to my body and backed down. Trying to pull was going to put me further behind than ahead, and I got a LONG training cycle ahead of me.

• Aside from that, feeling quite strong, especially given the circumstances. Things moved well today.

• Tang Soo Do was a decent workout last night. It's wildcard/cardio week, so we're staying active.

• Weighed in at 82.1kg this morning. Down 1.2kg from yesterday. Travel weight still stabilizing.

• Got the day off work today: final day of the vacation time.

 Training Log: Entry 3862

AM WORKOUT (0715 wake up via alarm, 0930 workout)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x8x330

Axle strict press from rack
2x8x153
2x6x153 w/2 rest pause

(3) Incline DB bench
4x12x60s

DB row
4x12x130

GHR
4x12x20

GHR sit up
2x15

Notes:

• Despite being incredibly jet lagged and only getting 6ish hours of sleep (which is actually pretty good for me), I decided to take this on. It went much better than I expected. All the eating most likely went well for my strength.

• On that note, weighed in at 83.3kg this morning. Post travel weight, will take a bit to stablize.

Training Log: Entry 3861

AM WORKOUT (0545 wake up via Valkyrie's alarm, 0900 workout)

WILDCARD

Buffalo bar squat
38+12x225 (Dan John's "to 50" approach)

20 minute EMOM of

• 5 chins

• 5 dips

• 10 band pull aparts

Cooldown walk around the block

Notes:

• It's a travel day today, I won't have access to my gym until 15 Sep at the earliest, and I've already tested out my maxes for Grey Man. On top of all that, I've just been wiped out this week and how low enthusiasm, so I decided to break out the Ironmind classic "Squat-dip-chin".

• I'm very pleased with that effort of 38 reps. 40 would have, of course, been more satisfying from a base 10 perspective, but those first 20 reps were cyborg perfection. Even with the grip shirt, the bar was getting too low toward the end, forcing me to hike it up, which put it in a weird spot on my back, causing the chest to collapse on the final few reps and triggering a vomit-like response. 50 is the white whale, I'll catch it one day, but at a bodyweight of 175lbs, this is my best effort on this.

• I was curious how that'd circuit at the end would go, especially after racking the bar and then getting in that other set of 12 to finish. I had ambitions of making the dips sets of 10, but my chest is actually pretty sore from benching, which is a fun novel stimulus. I really like that the EMOM structure in general to build up the volume, but also recognize it's not quite the hypertrophy stimulus that sets closer to failure would get me.

• Did a Dan John "to 50" squat AND a post workout walk. Wasn't 40 minutes, was more of a shuffle/lumber, but got some steps. Happy with that.

• No weigh in. Going into vacation with my lightest bodyweight on my mind so that I can just eat and enjoy.

Training Log: Entry 3860

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via Valkyrie's alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Recon Week, Workout 3

3 mile ruck w/20.4lb tac carrier in 50:45

Crossfit "Cindy" WOD

20 rounds of

• 5 chins

• 10 push ups

• 15 squats

In 19:35

Notes:

• Valkyrie and I didn't want to get up, but we were good accountabilabuddies to each other in that regard. And though this is a harder workout than is prescribed in Mass Protocol, I think the juice is worth the squeeze, especially since I've deprioritized LISS.

• We pushed the pace today. I made a focus to not be the slow one in the pack.

• Cindy afterwards was a gameday audible. I was on the fence, but I had the time when we returned and felt good "enough". Ultimately, I am still sore as hell and feeling underrecovered, but I thought some bodyweight work would serve as a feeder workout. I genuinely may just keep this in the rotation in general. Thibs talked about how staying strong on bodyweight work during a gaining phase is a quick way to ensure body composition is staying honest. DeFranco had that idea too.

• In that regard, I weighed 79.8kg this morning, which is the lightest I have been through the entire training cycle and marks 5.2kg lost since the start of June. I had 2 meals yesterday as well, which historically shows a bump UP in weight, but this was a drop of .4kg, so I had another breakfast this morning, and am thinking a big meal tonight (my beloved ribs and brisket perhaps) and just officially kicking off "vacation mode eating" early, which will also make this my final weigh in.

• We have Tang Soo Do tonight. We also have a heat advisory of 106 degrees. Let's see how that goes. I am thinking of getting in 1 more weight workout tomorrow before the trip as well.

Training Log: Entry 3859

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN Recon Week, Workout 2

15 chins

MAIN LIFTS

Axle bench press
2x8x236
7x236
6x236

Texas Deadlift Bar Deadlifts
12x405

SUPPLEMENTAL LIFTS

Lever belt squat
3x12x250

Dips
3x12x47.5

Axle curls
12x83
2x8x83

ASSISTANCE

Tactical Barbell Ab Triad
2 rounds

Band pull aparts
2x25

15 chins

Notes:

• Still piloting some maxes. Haven't flat benched in probably 6 months now (I could look it up if I really wanted to). I COULD have gotten the full 4x8, but with this being the recon week, it wasn't worth the squeeze. Similar sentiment for the rest of the workout, to include those deadlifts.

• Let's talk those deadlifts: my right glute is STILL incredibly deeply sore, which I'm not sure if it's from the deads, the tractor or the stone, but either way it was barking at me. That said, the weight felt LIGHT today, which is awesome when I'm not even a week away from a strongman comp, but, in turn, with me traveling this week, the last thing I needed was to be in crippling pain from a dumb set of pulls, so I took it until it felt sloppy and set it down. I'm REALLY happy to be in a place where I can weigh 175lbs and crank out a set of 12 reps with 405 in the middle of a workout fasted first thing in the morning.

• Wore my squat shoes on the lever belt squat, which is a sign of both of my knees being in a good way. My elbows are already mad at me, which MAY be from the buffalo bar squats, but could also just be from the strongman comp. I'll monitor. I've cut out the daily dips, because I'm getting in enough horizontal volume now, but sticking with the chins since I don't do any chinning during my normal workouts.

• Tang Soo Do wasn't too terrible aggressive yesterday, which is good, because we're in a high heat warning and it was our first session back in full dobak.

• Weighed 80.1kg this morning. Decided to have breakfast as a result. I ate "tapeworm" levels of food last night and lost .8kg. My body is chewing through nutrients, recovering from the comp AND the new demands of the training. Grey Man style training just plain makes me hungrier than Operator: positive feedback loop for gaining there.