* This was supposed to be the final lifting workout for Tactical Barbell. I woke up feeling really good and like it was going to be a good day. When I get under 315 for the squat warm-up, I noticed how heavy it felt during the walkout, and how my lower back was saying “stop” when I started squatting, and I recalled how the deadlifts on Wednesday went and concluded that I’ve simply pushed myself to my limits and it was time to shut it down. One more workout isn’t going to make me any stronger for my competition, but it can certainly mess me up, so the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. At that point, I found myself with an abundance of time, and knowing that Cindy was only going to take around 23 minutes, I decided to do something I’d been wanting to do for a while that would require no external load on my body.
* Yes, the decision to having "Somewhat Damaged" on a loop the entire time was intentional and metaphorical.
* I originally was going to do just 50 minutes, but my schedule was pretty flexible this morning and I was able to push the workout a little longer into a far more satisfying full hour/300 reps. I ended up spraining my right middle finger somewhere in the mid 40s due to a misgrab on the chinning bar. That finger has been injured before, so this is a re-injury. It’s already quite purple and swollen, but should most likely be good by the day of the comp.
* Tang Soo Do went well last night. Kiddo and I knocked out our Hyung and got in a decent workout. We’re going out for Texas Roadhouse tonight, so more steak and eggs on the horizon.
* Incline: 6.0 for the first 2.5 miles, 7.0 for the next 1.5, 8.0 for 1 mile, 15.0 for the final .25 mile
Notes:
* With how brutal training has been, I opted to reduce the vest weight and focus on the incline today. Figured this would be more restorative. That final quarter mile at 15 was a fantastic challenge: at the end, my heart rate on my watch was showing 160, which, given than my RHR is 36, that’s quite a jump.
* Weighed in at 79.6kg post workout. Weight is in a very good place for the competition, and I got 2 ketobricks in the mail, which will most likely be competition fuel, so that bodes well.
* Tang Soo Do was an outstanding workout last night. We would roll a six sided die, and whatever the number was, we’d do that many forms/hyung/kata, and then we’d draw a card from a pack of exercise cards and perform that movement either for 10x the die roll in seconds or 10x the die role in repetitions. We rolled a lot of 5s and 6s, and people were making the smart call and picking seconds instead of reps. It came to me, I rolled a 6, and I drew a card that was effectively half a burpee (start in the push up position, bring your legs to your chest, kick them back out, do a push up, repeat) and I selected repetitions. 60 of those on top of everything else we did was a challenge, and then trying to do hyungs with blown out shoulders was an exercise in overcoming. We’ve got another class tonight, where I’ll be performing a hyung with my kid on my shoulders, so that should be a pretty solid workout as well.
* I’m definitely reaching some levels of burn out here. Did the thing where I woke up and tried to figure out if there was some way I could push this workout off and realized my schedule couldn’t support. That this was my deadlift day and the day I only have to do 3 sets of the main work tends to be enough to motivate met to get going, but it was a no sale. In turn, when it came time to pull the deadlifts, I was fried. The first rep was much harder than it should have been, so I shut it down. I’m 10 days out from comp, and grinding through a set I have no business doing won’t do me any good but will do me harm.
* Reading the tealeaves, this was something to expect. I noted that my output yesterday wasn’t as good as last week, and I had a REALLY good week last week on pulls, which most likely means I went further into my recovery reserves than normal to get that good outcome. Combine that with the oppressive heat we’ve been dealing with, and it just wasn’t the best day for pulling. Deadlifts are a sensitive lift.
* Highlight includes crushing the squat now that I have the correct weight loaded on it. 345 on the SSB was plenty heavy and these were challenging squats, which also most likely contributed to my deadlift, but it was awesome to get through them. Meanwhile, the press felt very light compared to Monday’s misload. I’m thinking I’ll finish the week off going 3-4x2 with the final week loads, to blend weeks 5 and 6 together before the comp. Planning on using next week Monday to do a set of pulls off the floor and from there head into the bridge week for the comp. Body can definitely use the break.
* Weighed in at 80.9kg. Weight is dropping and body is presenting very lean, and this coincides with INCREASING the fat and decreasing the protein. The alchemy explanation from the carnivore community is that a body fed high fat recognizes that we’re in a period of feast rather than famine, so it sheds bodyfat knowing that it no longer needs to store it for energy reserves, whereas when we feed the body lean foods and restrict fat, it stores fat because it thinks we’re in a period of famine. This, of course, directly contradicts the notion of a protein sparing modified fast, but I can’t discount how often this experience has run true for me. I seem to get my leanest when eating the fattiest foods, and Robert Sikes has presented a similar construct. Another less alchemical explanation is that ketones are muscle sparing, and protein requirements are reduced when the body is producing ketones, which is what tends to happen when fats are high and protein is moderate to low in the absence of carbs. All this to say, things are going well, rib fingers are delicious, and I’m really excited to start gaining after this competition.
* Tang Soo Do tonight. Last night wasn’t too terrible of a workout. I’ve got a good warmup going though: I’ve been doing my staff form 5-10 times in a row, and it really blows up my shoulders.
* Almost talked myself out of this when I woke up, thinking of opting for just an all rower workout, but was glad I settled on this again. It’s just incredibly effective. Didn’t have as high an output on the rower today as I did last week, but I imagine it’s because the training is much heavier for the weights.
* Was really sleepy yesterday. Got to bed early and got some good rest. Hoping that helps. I imagine the heat is part of that.
* Tang Soo Do tonight. It’s wildcard cardio week, we’re a month out from testing so physical testing requirements show up in class, and in general it should be a pretty solid workout.
* Physique is really looking sharp these days. I’m in a good spot to gain.
* I swapped a 55 and a 45lb plate between the axle and the SSB, unbeknownst to me until I was unloaded the bars and noticed. In turn, I was remarking in my head how my squat was continuing to climb while my press was regressing and wondering what mechanism was at play the entire time I was working through all 5 sets. It ended up turning this week into a hybrid of weeks 5 and 6, which is fitting given I’m skipping week 6 to take a bridge week before my comp. Also awesome is that I initially thought I was pressing 173 and struggling, and instead I was pressing a weight I haven’t pressed in a LONG time and absolutely crushing it. Really boosts confidence for the comp, as I’m now strict pressing MORE than comp weight. As for the squats, I think I’ll bring it up to the correct weight next workout and do the 3x5, and then finish out the week with 5x5. For the press, I might just keep it at 193 for the rest of the week and keep hitting doubles.
* I woke up really stiff this morning, and really throughout the weekend. Not sure what the specific cause is there. Possibly dehydration from the heat. We got some new couches/chairs for our sitting room that are MUCH more comfy than what we had before, so I’m hoping that helps.
* Weighed in at 81.5kg post workout, which is a significant regression from last week. Really just playing the razor’s edge with the bodyweight at this point, but I’m so excited to step away from competition for a bit and be able to just eat and recover.
* Between warm ups and post set chins, I got in 115 today. Had to cut the ab work a little short for the sake of time.
* Very first round was clownshoes, but after that I totally found my groove and hit a PR of 10 sequential doubles. Went for a triple in the final minute and hit the bar on the way up. Really took away a good lesson that the deeper into my hips I got the bag, the higher up I could get it over the bar. Previously, I was just barely getting the bag to my knees and trying to wrestle it over the bar, which was expending a lot of energy. Now, if I get it deep in the hips, it's higher up on my chest.
* I'm training with a grip shirt, but from what I've read in the competition rules we won't be allowed it for the event. Still, I'd prefer to train with the gear so that the training doesn't beat me up, because going without the shirt tends to force me to use my biceps more. I'll save that for show day.
* Getting in a Tang Soo Do class later today, and helping move a sectional into a minivan later as well, so be getting in some general activity.
* We ended up skipping Tang Soo Do last night because we had a tornado watch, baseball sized hail and 70-90mph wind gusts forecasted. In turn, when I went to squat this morning, I felt REALLY good. Much better than I anticipated. I thought for sure I’d need to cut the sets short today, but every rep felt incredible, fast and strong. However, the press was the opposite story: super grindy today, and I cut the last set short because I didn’t see any value in grinding out more reps. Part of it was being gunshy from my neck: it’s still not quite 100%, and I don’t want to keep re-tweaking it.
* Had to get to work a little early today, so I set a limit of 20 minutes for the Cindy WOD. I tried an experiment of performing the circuit EMOM, vs just blitzing through, thinking that taking the extra rest at the end of the round would allow me to finish faster than usual. I found out I was wrong: it still just sucks, and I was on pace to finish the same time as usual if not slower. Next time, I’ll just blitz though, but I’m glad I gave it a try.
* Will have to skip my lunchtime walk today, but I’ve been getting in a lot of steps this week.
* Got in an interesting mini workout yesterday. My kid and I are doing a “creativity open hand form” (hyung) for our dojang’s summer hyung challenge. We named ours “Two dogs in a trenchcoat”, because I put my kid on top of my shoulders like Master Blaster from Mad Max and they do the upper body movements while I do the lower body movements. It ended up being pretty sweaty work.
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3568
AM WOROUT (0355 wake up via alarm, rough night of sleep due to storms)
* Overcoming my instincts here and trying NOT to become the best rucker of all time with this workout. Just letting it be low intensity and restorative. Kept everything the same from last week, minus that final minute at a high incline. Just a final little challenge there.
* Weather has been sweltering, even inside with AC. In turn, I weighed in at 79.8kg post workout, with a lot of it being sweat I’m sure, but it’s why I weigh myself Mondays and Thursdays to get an idea of where I am at my heaviest and lightest. The definition diet is still working, and I’ve been eating a LOT of beef ribs this week, so that’s pretty awesome.
* On that note, walking to a grocery store during my lunch breaks might not be the best thing for me, as 2 days ago I bought that rack of beef ribs, and yesterday I bought 4 corned beefs and 6lbs of rib fingers. The corned beefs were on manager discount: $3.89 a pound. Couldn’t pass up the deal. I’m going to be in a good place when it comes to time to gain, as I’ve now got a freezer full of lamb legs and corned beef to slice into steaks. The rib fingers will be breakfast next week.
* Tang Soo Do wasn’t quite was active yesterday, due to very intense heat in the dojang. Still got in some activity. Will be going again tonight as well. Beforehand, Valkyrie and I got in a 3 mile walk in the VERY hot/humid sun. It’s beating us down pretty good, and my calves are cramping from dehydration.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Training Log: Entry 3567
AM WORKOUT (0355 natural wake up, snoozed until 0400)
(3) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls (12 deep breaths between attempts)
12+5+5x425
ASSISTANCE
4 rounds of
* 10x80lb rows
* 20x270lb reverse hypers
* 10x53lb axle curls
* 6 hanging leg raises
Notes:
* After having about 4.5 days off of work and my knee and back feeling really awesome and then coming back and the pain returning, I think I’ve identified that sitting too much at work is causing me issues. Going to try to work around that.
* Things felt heavy today, so I was glad it was just 3 sets. I’m thinking about making all of next week 3 sets, in preparation for the comp. I could also do 4-3-4, or 4-3-5 or play around in other ways.
* Deadlifts are really just feeling great again. It used to basically be a competition to see how long I could endure the pain of the deadlift, but now it’s just another exercise. Good to be back to that.
* Made it through the full 4 rounds of the assistance work. After those deadlifts, it’s exhausting.
* Weighed 81.6 again: same as Monday. That was after sweating quite a bit, but it also does mean I have a little wiggleroom for making weight. Balancing act of being confident I can make weight without losing so much that I get weak before the comp. Contemplating just brining a ketobrick to the competition and eating it post weigh in, to have one less thing to worry about.
* Tang Soo Do again tonight. One of our black belts is going to test for the next rank, and it requires being able to do 50 push ups, 50 sit ups and 50 jumping jacks at the end of the test, and we’ve been told we’ll be ending all classes with that same requirement until they test, so that we can all get stronger. That said, we completely didn’t do that last class, but maybe we’ll be held to it for the remainder. Be good to get in a little more fitness.
* This continues to be a really awesome conditioning workout. I appreciate how full body it is. Between all 3 movements I’ve got everything covered.
* I made a point to focus on making that 1 minute rest a workout in and of itself. Specifically, the goal was to get my breathing and heart rate back to normal. “Active resting”: instead of just dying for a minute, specifically focused on trying to slow down my breathing and calm myself. It’s a valuable skill in competition.
* On that note, my resting heart rate has returned to 38, according to my watch, and I even had a few days at 36 last week. I’m sure this vacation time was good on my recovery. I’ve been able to sleep in 5 days in a row now, which is pretty awesome.
* Yesterday was physically exhausting. After the workout, I ended up doing lawn work for around 2 hours in the sun during the hottest point of the day. Today we’ll be doing some Tang Soo Do.
* Did some quick calculations today and figured out I shaved off about 500 calories from my breakfast by switching from leg of lamb to piedmontese steak tips. Funny how that works out.
6 rounds on rower (30 seconds max intensity/1 minute rest)
Notes:
* Got the day off work, so slept in and split my workout. Got the pressing done before I had to get the kiddo up for summer program, dropped them and the puppy off at doggy day care, came back home and finished out the workout. Had the garage door open because I was waiting on some landscaping folks to come by and didn't want to miss them in case they showed up.
* My neck isn't 100%, but it's substantially better than it was on Friday. Annoying little tweak.
* Back in business in general. My folks made it back home yesterday and I'm back on the program. 19 days until my competition: I'm feeling good.
* Weighed in at 82.9kg first thing this morning, then 81.6kg post workout/BM. I've had slow digestion through the holiday weekend, and imagine things will even out over the next few days.
* Cut the conditioning on the rower once my power started to fade. Doing my best to make all training intentional. Be strong on the strength workouts, struggle on the hypertrophy workouts, be powerful on the power workouts.
* Fasted through breakfast and treated myself to a fantastic post training lunch of 2 piedmontese grassfed beef chuck bone-in short ribs alongside 3 pastured eggs, 5 whites and some beef liver
* Also finally hung up the flag I got from the renaissance faire.
* To keep it at basic level, I wore the lighter vest and kept the incline at 1. It was hard to fight my instincts to push harder on this, but I’m sticking with the protocol of easy conditioning to support the hard lifting. Helpful for recovery from that deadlift work.
* My right knee has been a little achy this morning: maybe it’s from Tang Soo Do.
* Schedule is going to be a little off the next few days with family and holidays. Fasted through breakfast this morning because I’m going to eat at a work BBQ for lunch. Still preferring 2 meals a day.
(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls (12 deep breaths between sets)
13+5+4x425
ASSISTANCE
4 round circuit of
* 10x80lb DB row
* 20x270 reverse hyper (skipped 4th round)
* 10x53 axle curl
* 6 hanging leg raise
Notes:
* Another morning where training just didn’t sound like an awesome idea, and it was just the notion of breakfast and not being able to fit this in anywhere else today that got me out of bed. The prospect of deadlifting excited me, and knowing it was the day of the week where I do only 3 sets made it a bit easier to negotiate. Was just feeling beat and blah though, and actually ended up figuring out a way to get MORE chin ups in during the warm ups BECAUSE I didn’t want to do them: instead of just a set of 10 before squats, I did a set of 5 before squats, a set of 5 AFTER squats and a set of 5 after chins, getting in 15 reps per warm-up round vs 10. Still cut it at 50 before the main work started, but this can help me accumulate some more reps in the future. Total of 80 for the workout.
* Trying to focus more on sitting back in the squat. I see myself on the video reverting to old habits of just sitting straight down and not loading the hamstrings. I’m doing this because my back is sore from the SSB squat, but in doing so I’m putting more pressure on my hips and knees. This, once again, speaks to the value of rotating the bar between cycles.
* The mat pulls moved incredibly well. I slid my knee sleeves down over my shins, and it made a significant difference in not snagging the bar on the concentric portion. Things just moved smooth, and none of the sets were taken to my absolute limit. Hip is feeling awesome on these as well: figuring out the starting position and pull has really gone a long way for my longevity.
* I cut that final round of reverse hypers on the circuit, primarily for the interest of time. I figured my lower back had seen enough work for the day.
* Another Tang Soo Do class tonight, and then we’re done for the week. My parents come into town tomorrow to celebrate the holiday, so schedule will be a little off. Also, we got our essay assignments for our belt test in August: “What is mental discipline, describe a time in your life when you have exercised it, and describe a time in your life where you failed to employ it and what you learned.” I am bummed we only have 1 page to cover the topic.
* 25 years ago today I made the decision to "turn the ship around". I was 14 years old, and had been a fat kid my whole life. Years later, I learned I was set up for failure, having been born at a low birth weight, resulting in my bottle formula augmented with cereal to bring my weight up, but I was also a product of poor decisions, like having Koolaid as my primary hydration choice and a lifestyle of processed/fast food. But on 2 Jul of 2000, I decided I didn't want to be that way any more, and set out only with effort and some stories from my dad as my North Star. I cut my food intake to a third of what it used to be, switched to water and diet coke, and used the money I had saved up to buy a standard weight bench with a preacher curl/leg extension/leg curl station and 2 spinlock dumbbells with 130lbs of weights and set about changing myself. I lost 20lbs that summer and came back to school radically transformed and learned that my physical fat was within my control, which was one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned.
* Hard week of lifting means basic week of conditioning. For the trinity, it means 3 rounds vs 5, but it certainly doesn’t mean that those 3 rounds don’t absolutely suck. Coming into this post carb up meal, I was definitely itching to go full throttle, and I was gassed at the end of that third round.
* I remain a fan of this modification to the original Devil’s Trinity as I feel like the rower helps answer a lot of the questions left from the swings and the burpees. This is very full body, and the order of the exercises also lends itself well to the rhythm of the conditioning.
* Tang Soo Do is on the schedule for tonight. It’s basics/forms week, which tends to be a pretty good workout.
* I’ll post my meals later, but I’m keeping up on those venison burgers for breakfast, and it’s honestly amazing how simple it is to make them. Take a pound of ground venison, break it in half, smash it flat into patties, cover with salt, put in the air fryer at 450 for 9 minutes, flip at halfway point. No real meal prep needed. I can see myself making use of this strategy for the future.
