Training Log: Entry 3871

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

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
25, 10

Notes:

• This week is always the "easiest" week, despite being the heaviest. My right knee is being a little pissy, and given I haven't done my PT for about a month, I should probably start doing some again. I was remarking earlier this week how my elbows have been feeling great with the low bar, but today gave me some reminders, so I'll continue to monitor and see how they hold up.

• Very pleased with how strong the press felt. I walked my TM back 5lbs and that seemed to help.

• Trying to focus on specific muscle contractions on the supplemental work.

• Weighed in at 81.1kg, which is the lowest I've been in a while and definitely not what I anticipated after the weekend of feasting. There's a chance my metabolism is ramping up to meet the increased intake, and I do notice that my step count is subconsciously increasing as well. Little further evidence is that I was absoultely drenched in sweat when I woke up this morning, so body cranked up the thermostat. Not going to look the gift horse in the mouth: means I get to eat even more. But it also means that the squats this morning were substantially more than "double bodyweight", and that last weeks numbers were actually closer to that. I'm still mentally adjusting to being as light as I currently am.

• Valkyrie has expressed interest in bringing back ABF into our lives, so we'll see if that shapes up this week. We have our TSD tournament on Sat, so that willimpact things.

Training Log: Entry 3870

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 2, Workout 5

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo bar Squat
4x6x352

Axle strict press from rack
4x6x161

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB incline bench
4x10x65s

DB row
4x10x145

GHR
4x10x25

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
2x15

Notes:

• Motivation continues to be on the low side. I semi-dread these sessions the night before, but honestly the only thing that really sucks is the squats, and even those aren't all that bad. I just need to lean even more into the gaining phase of this. Jamie Lewis talks about that: when you've got a bunch of food in your system, you're more motivated to train because you want to turn it into something.

• This week in general is a nice one in the programs. 6s are better than 8s, while the 3s feel a little too easy.

• Took the press down 5lbs and that was Goldilocks territory.

• I lost the first round of sparring last night against one of the black belts, then went on to win the redemption bracket and beat our senior blackbelt in the final match of the night, so a good night of sparring in general. I'm feeling a little fatigued from it. Outside of sparring, my instructor wants me to address how my shoulders and hands don't seem to move independently of each other. Years of trying to protect my shoulder coming through. More stuff to work on.

• Got in some throws last night before the rain came (it's pouring, with no signs of stopping). Getting slightly better. I need to get something to actually throw OVER so I have some metrics to train against.

• Weighed in at 81.3kg this morning.

Training Log: Entry 3869

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

OPERATIONAL TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL Grey Man, Week 2, Workout 4

"GO RUCK YOURSELF"

14 chins

3 mile weighted vest walk w/20.4lb tac carrier in 49:54

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar mat pullls
8x440+chains

14 chins

Notes:

• The ruck was the focus for today, but I was able to get in that other stuff as well. Wore my running shoes instead of my bearfeet and was really able to motor. We shaved 3 minutes off our previous time.

• Just like last week: substantial improvement in ability on the mat pulls between yesterday and today. This may just be where I land as far as programming goes. I actually managed 3 reps more than last week, with a longer ROM. I paid attention to have the bar a bit further out ahead of me at the start, so I could get into a better position to initiate the first pull. Zero pain on the set, which is a huge plus.

• We actually got in a 3 mile ruck last night after dinner as well. Nice to get in so much activity while the weather is good.

• Weighed 82.1kg this morning. I finally understood the assignment last night with that mound of eggs and cottage cheese.

Training Log: Entry 3868

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

MAIN CLUSTER

Axle bench press
3x6x251
5+1x251

Mat pulls
Nope

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

Lever belt squat
4x10x270

Dips
4x10x62.5

Axle curls
2x10x88
2x7+3x88

ASSISTANCE

Reverse hyper
3x15

Ab triad
2 rounds

Notes:

• Jumping straight to the mat pulls: I felt a small twinge in my right side this morning, and my warm-ups were just heavier than they should have been. Went for 385+chains and though I COULD have broken it off the mats, doing so would take more effort than I should need. I'm going to do a repeat of last week and give this a go tomorrow, which, if that works, this may become a feature instead of a bug. Valkyrie and I are going to go on a ruck in the morning tomorrow, and after that I can give the pulls a go.

• On the topic of a ruck: Valkyrie has talked about doing the 50 mile ruck here in Sep next year. Game on.

• The bench moved decently. It's heavy, but a good challenge to compel me to eat more to overcome. Dips and lever belt were strong.

• The reverse hypers seem to help my back. May need to bring them back into the warm-ups. I imagine the low bar squatting is beating it up.

• Tang Soo Do sparring has changed to now have male and female brackets, so I walked away the champion of the male bracket last night. 4 matches total. We have a new student with a boxing background, and we got paired together during drills. It brought me back.

• Weighed 81.1kg this morning. I am VERY surprised to observe a drop after eating that Costco pulled pork, because that is a total sodium bomb. More food is needed, which, on that note, I employed my experiment of a very high protein/low fat post workout meal this morning. 10 egg whites, 1 whole egg, and a can of salmon, broke down to 90g of protein and 9g of fat, and roughly 440 calories. At 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, that's half my needs in one meal: I'm still blown away that people struggle in that regard. We're going out for a "Chef's Night Out" at an Italian place that boasts a huge salad bar, so my plan is to go full Gaston mode on the hardboiled eggs, cheese, and other toppings.

Training Log: Entry 3867

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

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

"ROW ROW ROW YOUR BLOAT"

14 chins
30:22 recovery row (6000m total)
5 min walk
14 chins

Notes:

• Schedule a little weird. It's my kid's first cross country meet today, so the Valkyrie got to work early so she could leave early and make it there on time. Meant I had a little extra time to play around this morning. Plan was originally just 30 min on the rower, but I was close enough to 6000m that I just closed it out. Which, 6000m in 30 minutes is like "timed with an hourglass" speed, but given this is a recovery row, it worked.

• Which, on that note, I go to bed with ambitions and wake up with reality. I felt like I could do more until that alarm went off and then I realized that a slow, easy recovery row was just what the doctor ordered. Again: Grey Man hits different, and I have to meet it where it's at. I do love how much I want to "be everything", as it means the fire hasn't died, but I still have to be smart with how I go about approaching it.

• It's sparring week in Tang Soo Do this week. Our instructor is going to play with a new bracket format, which should mean no more mixed gender sparring matches. Curious how it will play out.

• Got in some throws last night. They actually felt pretty solid. That "scoop" technique helps. From now until Feb at least gives me a LOT of practice time.

• Weighed 81.4kg this morning: .1kg drop from yesterday. I keep having Nicky Snatoro's voice in Casino going through my head on the weigh ins: "We're supposed to be robbing this place". Keep the goal the goal.

Training Log: Entry 3866

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION TACTICAL SLEIGHBELL

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

MAIN CLUSTER

Buffalo Bar Squat
4x6x352

Axle strict press from rack
2x6x166
6x156
5+1x156

SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER

(3) DB Incline Bench
4x10x65s

DB row
4x10x145

GHR
4x10x25

ASSISTANCE

GHR sit up
15, 10

Notes:

• In a poll of 1 American, 0% of the population wanted to do this workout this morning. But knowing I had a bunch of awesome fuel to burn through from last night gave me a little motivation. Which, on that note, my guts actually woke me up in the middle of the night with an urgent message, and I spent a lot of the night overheating, so I'm wondering if I may have eaten something a bit too ambitious for me at some point.

• How I felt about the squats (a panel from my favorite comic)

  

• Which is to say, despite coming into this not excited to train, I was "inhumanly strong". I dig the 6s week for just that. Depth never looks solid on the video, but I remind myself in the middle of the workout that I legit can't go any lower. If I wanted to make it DEEPER, I'd have to get my shins more vertical, but as far as ROM goes, I'm doing what I need.

• Presses are most likely just too damn heavy for the TM. I'm going to be a little stubborn about it for now and see if I can Bruce Randall my way through.

• Despite my frequent sweating and profanity on the video, I'm feeling slid though through this. Grey Man just plain hits different than Operator, which is why it's a hypertrophy program. I've actually considered being cute about Tactical Sleighbell and having phases of the operation, with this one leading up to Halloween being "Jacked-O-Lantern", since it's most likely going to time out that 2 cycles of Grey Man end there and then I could move onto "Gainsgiving" and "I'll Be Jacked For Christmas". I still might. It's a lot to write.

• Weighed in at 81.5kg this morning. This will be my first Monday baseline for the Operation, as last week started on Tues with a post travel day.

• I officially signed up for the comp in Feb. Currently as a Masters 220. Also the only one signed up. Events are a lever deadlift (first ever for me), max axle press, sandbag throw over bar, Heracles hold, and some sort of carry medley to end (still not fully fleshed out). I'll be able to spend some time training my throws, my grip, and working on my loading. I realized that I've been trying to pick up sandbags like deadlifts, which has been hamstringing me. I need to pick them up like stones.

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.