Training Log: Entry 3828

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 3

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x165

SSB front squat
3x5x235

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(5) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
Nope

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x106

Notes:

• Lower back is overtaxed. Done this before. I imagine I was trying to work around my IT band and shifted weight onto the lower back to make it happen on the keg loading, and I'm feeling the effects. I'm not injured, but DEEPLY sore: the kind that lives in your soul rather than just your body. I DID attempt to use my Spud Gateway Gear briefs, and they helped me get through the final warm-up, but when I set up for the workset I could tell that, though I COULD get in some reps if my life depended on it, it would also shorten my life to do so.

• Made this an ad hoc light workout in turn, got in some good reps, and stretched out the back best I could.

• Last night's Tang Soo Do sparring went well enough. Got through 2 rounds in the opening bracket, faced off against the Valkyrie, took an L, won the redemption bracket, came back to face her again. Was moving around pretty well: we'll see if tonight can be the same.

• Weighed 80.3kg this morning, which is a significant drop from yesterday and the lightest I've weighed on a Wed all cycle, especially given how not significant this morning's workout was as far as sweat accumulation goes. We're celebrating a birthday this weekend, so I'll still employ some strategic fasting to account for nutrition debauchery, but after this I think I can transition more toward a maintenance mode leading up to my comp/cruise.

Training Log: Entry 3827

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 2

17 chins
17 dips

FOBBITS on rower w/Niahanchi Cho Don

• 2 minutes rowing

• 1 Niahanchi Cho Don

• Repeat for total of 20 minutes

Notes:

• Getting out of bed this morning, my back seized up momentarily. I'm thinking that those keg loads are taking more than they are giving, and I may be reaching the point of leanness where performance is getting impacted. But this can also be some post-travel/competition silliness manifesting. My IT band was far more serviceable, and I was able to move in and out of a sitting position without employing blasphemy, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

• I was moving slower today than usual as far as time on the rower was concerned. I normally get about 14:10 row time, but today finished up sub 13:00, which meant I was spending more time on transitions and on the hyung itself. The latter part checks: I got some feedback to slow down on it and make each move intentional, so it manifested here. Still, when I pushed the rower for that 3100m distance, I got that done in a shorter time than usual, which speaks to me that the intensity on the rower was where I wanted it to be.

• Finally getting a break from our heat wave for the next few days. Will pick back up on the weekend, but it means that walking and Tang Soo Do will be far less miserable. On that note, it's sparring week, with our first class tonight, and the Valkyrie expressed interest on attending Sat as well, so we may get 4 days of sparring this week.

• Weighed 81.1kg this morning, which is the biggest jump I've seen between a Mon and a Tues, but with Mon having a very light carb load and being a post travel day, all sorts of variables are in play here. Still lightest and leannest I've been in a while, and my daily chins/dips are reflecting that, as they're far easier than usual.

 Training Log: Entry 3826

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 2, Workout 1

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

SSB front squat
2xBar
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
2x325

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

Log clean and strict press away
5x5x165

Power keg load to platform
5x5x210

ASSISTANCE giant set

SSB front rack hold
3x30 seconds x 325

Hanging leg raise
3x10

Band pull aparts
3x25

Notes:

• I was genuinely considering not doing this workout at all yesterday, simply because my IT band was in agony from driving for 8 hours on Friday, sitting on a floor all day during a martial arts tournament on Saturday, then driving all day Sunday, but I rolled the holy hell out of it with a LAX ball and found myself able to walk painfree this morning so I got after it. I was able to hold together long enough to get it done, but sitting here at work it aches again. Will have to keep at it.

• Pleased with performance overall. The front squat double stalled on the concentric at about the midpoint, but we made it. Matched last week's effort at lower bodyweight (to follow), and focused on the log clean.

• Played the keg safe by keeping the weight the same as Friday and loading direct from the mats vs the floor, just focusing on the triple extensions. My IT band appreciated that.

• Weighed 80kg on the dot this morning. Explains why I'm looking so lean. That's post travel weight, so nothing is fully set yet, but I did a lot of fasting on this trip and I think it had an impact. Will write up a full AAR at some point.

• It is "kill you dead" hot today: heat index 112. I was sweating as soon as I walked into the garage, so today's session was a big endurance test.

Training Log: Entry 3825

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 5

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and press away

1.5x220 (failed second rep)

SECONDARY MOVEMENTS

SSB Front Squats

5x5x220

Power keg load to platform

5x5x210

ASSISTANCE

SSB Front rack hold

2x30 seconds x 325

Hanging leg raise

2x10

Band pull aparts

2x25

Notes:

• Got this knocked out in the morning on a travel day. Logging on phone, so sparse details.

• Wasted too much energy on the clean. Strength is there for the press.
• 
  
• Keg was a good effort. Mixing up where the reps start.
• 
  
• Weighed 82.5kg. High for a Friday, but leanness persists.

Training Log: Entry 3824

AM WORKOUT (0430 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 4

17 chins17 dips

Prowler sprints

5 rounds total w/high handles, 90lbs loaded on prowler

16 chins16 dips

Notes:

Times broke down to 40, 40, 45, 40 and 50 seconds. Substantial improvement from last week, and as far as averages goes I think that beats my best effort. Really focused on maximal output despite fatigue, which seems to be the most valuable attribute here. Acknowledge that it sucks but keep going.

Decent sleep last night. Woke in the middle of a dream. Honestly, a "hack" I use for this workout is I load up the prowler and weights in my truck the night before. When the alarm goes off, I think to myself that the truck is already loaded, and no matter what I'm going to have to UNLOAD that damn thing, so I may as well get in the sprint workout too. Absent that, the temptation to roll over and go back to sleep would be pretty high.

I really SHOULD start doing harness drags to prep for my competition. Maybe next week. This still has some solid carryover, and I honestly want to keep it in the rotation in general. As I've noted, it's basically a hill sprint where I can dial a yield.

Tang Soo Do, despite being 90 minutes long, wasn't intensive yesterday. More tournament prep. But we got our physical testing requirements done (for our rank, 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, and 50 jumping jacks) and about 15 minutes of hyung practice done, during which time I accomplished 23 Naihanchi Cho Dons, which was pretty good for the hips and shoulders.

Weighed 82.5kg this morning, which despite my all time low yesterday, this is a pretty high weigh in on a Thurs. All that said, I spent time looking at myself in the mirror last night and I've achieved the desired amount of leanness I am pursuing. I can see the vein on my sternum, which is the telltale indicator of leanness, and I know that if I were to drop 10 more pounds I'd be at "anatomy chart" levels of lean, which, with it, tends to bring kitten levels of strength. I'm going to keep on through the remainder of this week and see how I'm feeling after our tournament.

On the above, yet again I found a way to achieve my goals while "playing the game how I want to play it". No counting or tracking, no being hungry, no being a martyr at the dinner table, still going out to eat with my family, still eating ribs. Biggest interventions were introducing extra intermittent fasting days and transitioning away from whole eggs and leaning more toward egg whites, which, in turn, means that when it's time to reverse course, I can bring back the whole eggs and add a breakfast back into the week. Also pretty awesome to be able to continue getting stronger during this training cycle while only eating 1 meal a day 4 days a week and only 1 meal a week with carbs, despite the internet saying all of that is impossible.

 Training Log: Entry 3823

AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 3

SECONDARY MOVEMENT

Log clean and strict press away
3x5x155

SSB front squat
3x5x220

PRIMARY MOVEMENT

(6) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
8x425+chains

ASSISTANCE

Axle curls
3x5x98

Giant set of bodyweight reverse hypers-hanging leg raise-band pull apart
3x15/10/25

Lateral raise dropset

Notes:

• Alarm woke me out of a sound sleep. Slept well last night.

• Everything moved really well EXCEPT that mat pull. I came into it feeling that best I have in a long time, but it felt like it was welded to the mats when I went to break it off. ROM progression with chains is unique, because the highest starting point is actually the heaviest of the cycle, and then it gets lighter from there as the ROM increases, but in general I imagine I'm in need of a bridge week and some increased food and neither is on the horizon for the immediate future.

• My hip was aching a little early in the set of mat pulls, so I played it conservative. Between that and not pushing the reverse hypers too hard, I think I'll be in a good way.

• Tang Soo Do last night was pretty low intensity as far as a class goes, as we were working primarily on hyung presentation/perfection, but we arrived early and absolutely smashed 20 minutes of hyungs before that, which was a good workout. Valkyrie and I both got a stripe on our belts as well. We're getting closer and closer. 1 more class tonight and then our tournament on Saturday.

• Weighed 81.4kg this morning, which is the lightest of the entire training cycle. Wednesdays seem to be my lightest weigh in days: 3 days after the carb up/family meal and 2 days of intermittent fasting leading into it. Good data point to have. And being this light also explains some deadlifting performances. I noticed my belt fitting looser.

 Training Log: Entry 3822

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

OPERATION CORNHISTERKUR Phase 2

TACTICAL BARBELL OPERATOR PRO Cycle 3, Week 1, Workout 2

17 Chins
17 Dips

"FOBBITS" on rower

• 2 minutes on rower

• 1 Naihanchi Chodon

Repeat until 20 minutes total

Notes:

• Only real motivation struggle with the workout today is that I honestly feel more compelled to just do 20 minutes of pure Hyungs than hop on the rower, but the rower is great for my whole body recovery and general cardio, so I compromise. Tuesdays are my favorite days of the week, just because I get to sleep in and wake up when the Valkyrie does, and this little 20 minute workout gets me in a good way, especially paired with the fasting.

• Continuing to really focus on deep stances and hip work. I've also established a precedent of getting 3100m rowed during the total rowing time, so I try to meet that each week.

• Hips/SI joint are feeling absolutely incredible. Being painfree is such a novelty at this point, so I'm definitely celebrating it. Going to continue to do the things that keep me this way, so I can continue to perform my best.

• Tang Soo Do on the agenda tonight. Only 2 classes this week, with a focus on tournament prep.

• Weighed in at 83.1kg this morning, which is an uptick from yesterday but still lower than I was this time last week. Yesterday was apparently a test of my gallbladder which I failed, but that's the kind of "to failure" that I can get behind.