Axle Continental and Press away/weighted chin superset
3x3x156
3x3x45
(3) Axle Double Overhand Deficit Deadlift
3x3x246+chains
Standing Ab Wheel
1x10
100lb log carries while wearing 50lb weighted vest
3 trips
2x1 trip
30 minute conditioning circuit
AMRAP of
* 3 24kg KB “throws”
* 2 24kg devil presses
* 1 24kg Armor Building Complex
* 2 KB snatches per arm w/20kg bell
* 3 swings w/40kg bell
EMOM: 3 burpee chins
Got something like 6 or 7 rounds. It was misery: that’s what matters.
Conan Curls
Breakfast
Walk dog
Notes:
* Went to bed exhausted and woke up much the same. Definitely feeling the famine. It ends very soon. Really didn’t have much of a plan beyond the Easy Strength work, and am pretty pleased with what unfolded.
* The log carry was actually a little cheatish. The vest give me an additional locking point to secure the log for carries, so I wasn’t holding much weight in the arms. But it was still fatiguing.
* Really focused on moving the press quickly, since it was so light. Same with quick transitions.
* Tang Soo Do tonight. Need to figure out the way forward after this week ends. Lots of avenues for success: just a matter of taking the time to sit down and think “what now?”
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3034
AM WORKOUT (0405 Wake up via alarm)
**MESS** Workout 30: Easy Strength for Fat Loss w/KB swings
Set the bell down, throw on 50lb vest, go for 1.5 mile walk, come back to gym and knock out 300 squats and 300 push ups
Breakfast
Walk dog
Notes:
* Came in feeling obliterated from yesterday. Having a different order of movements really went a long way. That’s definitely a lesson to employ for future Easy Strength runs. Still kept the press on the light side because I feel like I’ve been going too heavy on it to make it truly “Easy Strength”. Chins haven’t moved much, but since bodyweight is going up it means I’m lifting more weight. Really just didn’t want to be bothered to do carries, so focused on swings/throw practice and allowed that to get my heart rate up before the walk. Had to get to work a little on the early side, so the dog walk was shorter than usual, making this all work out.
* Realized this morning I’ve been short-changing myself on my egg white intake for protein. I made my “famine” and even bigger one. In turn, the impact has been realized: I can see every individual abdominal muscle like a thick carved out knot of wood in my gut, got veins everywhere, etc. Jamie really had this figured out. I’m running 1 more day of it, then back to the feast. Tonight we’re doing a tri tip, so that’s pretty awesome.
* “MESS” really isn’t right at this point, because the MMS portion is done. I feel like 30 workouts of Easy Strength is honestly enough as well: I don’t really see me getting much more out of the next 10 workouts. But, for the sake of completion, I intend to run the full course this time. I DO keep learning more lessons as I go, and that’s what matters. 30 workout runs for the future will slot in well for 6 week training cycles, which seem to be how I like to operate. It fits the diet as well: 2 weeks famine, 4 weeks feast.
Monday, August 14, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3033
AM WORKOUT (0405 wake up via alarm) FASTED (I genuinely think I’m going to stop logging “fasted” at this point, as it’s the default).
**MESS** Workout 29: Mass Made Simple Workout 14 (Final Mass Made Simple Workout)
Complex A (row-clean-front squat-press-squat-good morning) 3x2x145 (1 min rests)
Buffalo Bar Squat 10x102 5x142 3x192 **40+5+5x212** 17 rep PR
9 minutes of assistance work (curls, raises, shrugs, pull aparts, pushdowns, push ups)
Notes:
* With that, the Mass Made Simple portion of this block is done. Though I did not run the “whole program”, I did the parts that by Dan’s own admission actually BUILD the mass, and I will flat out say it rocks, Dan clearly knows what he is doing, I am transformed and I am a big fan of this protocol. I grew in a LOT of ways, and clearly gave that squat my all this morning.
* Regarding the squat: my previous best was 23 reps…so this was absolutely insane. I came in with 30 as the goal, but every time I dug for another it was there. I very well may have had another rep after 40, but I could see the writing on the wall. Something I did with this approach that may have held me back was hitting 75 reps of reverse hyper prior to a big squat set, as I was feeling the load in my lower back moreso than anywhere else, but honestly: who f**king cares. I am so over the moon with this performance. I weighed 171lbs last I checked, so this was 40lbs over bodyweight for 40 reps at the END of a workout, using a high bar, with no belt, etc etc etc.
* The start of the workout was rough. About blacked out on the press. For future Easy Strength runs, it’s going to make more sense to start out with the deadlift and press later in the workout. But once I got a handle on things it moved a little better. I listened to a recent Dan John podcast and he recanted a little on his 3x3 recommendation, talking about how an “advanced trainee” would stall a little earlier on that approach, and I’m seeing how that can be the case. I’m still planning on riding this out, because I have nothing to lose from the experiment, but I’ve got some great lessons learned for moving forward.
* Had a great carb-up meal yesterday. Mrs made lobster ravioli and cheese tortellini in a Bolognese sauce, alongside some classic Pillsbury crescent rolls, and dessert was 4 chocolate chip and M&Ms cookies with a mug of skim milk. I brought out some local creamed pumpkin honey to put on the cookies as well, and that was just absolutely amazing. I woke up this morning looking grainy. It’s crazy what happens when I trust the process on this one.
* In that regard, I’ve got 2 more days of the Famine before I roll back into the feast. This was an interesting experiment in “flexible famine”. I’ve had to ration my Metabolic Drive, so in the interim I leaned more heavily on egg whites and VERY lean cuts of meat (piedmontese grassfed sirloin, chicken breasts/tenderloins, tuna, etc) and have still managed to achieve a similar outcome as before. Which, of course, makes sense: it’s simply supposed to be a protein sparing modified fast for 2 weeks to reset/prime the system, but it’s always good to get a confirmation through experience. If I ever needed to rock this approach fully carnivore, I can make it happen.
Got in a 3.5 mile walk in the PM with the wife and kiddo
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3032
Got up at 0515 this morning. It's the 2 year anniversary of the passing of our pug, Kirby, and the Mrs wanted to get in a 14 mile memorial run to celebrate his 14 years of living. I had plans to carry my keg 14 laps around the neighborhood for a similar purpose, but we got rained and lightning'd out, so I came up with this
**KIRBY Memorial WOD**
* 141 burpee chins w/15lb vest
* EMOM, do 1 keg clean w/100lb keg
Done inside of 35 rounds.
141 to celebrate 14 years and 1 month. 15lb vest was the closest I could get to 14. 100lb keg...was just plain absolutely the right call. Trying to clean a keg while wearing a vest is a challenge. It puts the keg out in front of you, so you really need to wrangle it.
This is flat out a Kalsu level workout. I wanted to quit stupid early into it. If it weren't a memorial workout for my buddy, I would have. I'm glad he could push me this morning. I hit this fasted and know that I absolutely earned my warrior's breakfast that my Valkyrie is going to whip up after she crushes her own workout...because she IS the better half, haha.
Family is going to take in a play later today, and this might be all the training I do...and it's MORE than enough.
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3031
Quick sum so far: slept until 0700, 150 squats and push ups, amazing breakfast, saw the Ninja Turtles movie with the kiddo (it rocked @TrainForPain), Costco run, then came up with the brilliant idea of doing this workout while some pork ribs cooked in the air fryer
15 minute random loading medley w/150+lb keg, 100lb keg, 40kg bell, 20kg bell and 2 24kg bells. Just mix it up as much as I can.
That was amazing, because as soon as it was done I grabbed the ribs out of the fryer, chowed down and went on a 3 mile walk outside with the kiddo. Absolutely primal to come straight in from carrying stuff to eating ribs to walking out in the sun. Loving it.
Friday, August 11, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3030
AM WORKOUT (0405 wake up via alarm) FASTED
**MESS (Mass-Easy, Strength Simple** Workout 28: Mass Made Simple Workout 13
Complex A (row-clean-front squat-press-squat-good morning) 5x2x145 (1 min rest)
Buffalo Bar Squat 10x102 5x142 3x192 10x212 *58+2x192* (3 rep PR in single set)
9 minutes of assistance work (Conan curls, pull aparts, kelso shrugs, shrugs, pushdowns, dips, lateral raises)
BREAKFAST
Walk w/dog
Notes:
*
* Fatigue is still hitting hard. My nutrition has trended toward lean proteins vs fats as I’m making this a semi-famine. I figured I could ride that into the home stretch of MMS, and I’m still seeing growth, which is awesome, but it’s definitely hard work. I DID eat well yesterday, which helped.
* Playing around with exercise order on the Easy Strength, basically running things backwards. It’s mostly out of laziness: the bars are loaded from the previous workout, so I run it in the previous order. But I also remember an idea Pavel wrote about in “Beyond Bodybuilding” wherein you specifically take the same workout but change the order of the exercises as a means of progression. NOT pressing first thing is pretty nice, because I don’t run as much of a risk of blacking out.
* That squat was absolutely bonkers. It’s wild when getting to 50 is when the work STARTS. And I weighed in at 171.2 this morning, so I’m hitting 20lbs over bodyweight for 8 reps beyond the goal of finishing the program: that’s pretty goddamn outstanding. And that also shows about a 5lb bodyweight growth, so that’s cool.
* Getting all the complexes was a win. I do feel like I’m leaving some weight on the platform just because my technique is so poor. I foresee MMS being a go-to supplemental protocol, and when I run it again I may try different implements to make it work.
* Got Tang Soo Do tonight, wherein I should be granted my new belt, so that’s cool.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Training Log: Entry 3029
2 days worth of workouts
WED
Crazy day, training happened, got Easy Strength done in 10 minutes with a 3 mile walk and all my push ups and sit ups
2 meals today, fasted the rest, going to keep that going. Just relying on hunger signals.
75 "American-ish" KB swings w/24kg bell in under 5 minutes
Notes:
* Schedule is still pretty nutty, so I'm making things quick and getting it in where I can. May be a bit before I can post more indepth. All good things: my off-line life is so full of love and joy that my online life needs to be on the backburner. That's a good thing for sure.
