quick and the dead and gpp: final thoughts

Last post of this year. And what a god damn year.

- most sober year since 2004. This is not insignificant.

- met the woman i was meant to meet. Bought a house. Profit.

- dealt with knee and back injuries.

- recovered from knee and back injuries.

- pushed myself on a different path for training that is both sustainable and fun.

Segway. 

Im not done with squats and deadlifts and cleans and blah blah blah, but i dont need them anymore. Im coming to value aesthetics and absolute strength less than i value avoiding injury and cultivating speed. If im being honest with myself, i spent most of the last 5 years in some level of injury. The times i spent healthy were so wonderful i could scream. Likewise, the amount of time i actually spent happy with my body were minimal at best.

This is not me saying im taking it easy. It's the fuckin opposite. I want to lift every day. As i pointed out in a recent post, greasing the groove is the name of the game. Since i wrote that post, my avg reps per set are up 2-3. They are up 6-7 per set overall with just 3 weeks of practice!

Pillars for 2020:

Power training

- kettlebells, bodyweight

- quick and the dead

- simple and sinister

Grease the groove

- kettlebells, bodyweight

- oly ring work (pullups, muscle ups)

- kettlebell presses and curls

Loaded carries

- kettlebells, sleds

- suitcase carries, sled drags

There's no rubric on when to level up kettlebell weight. The absolute closest thing i have is how long it takes me to save up for one when dumping 20/week into a betterment fund. The heavier kettlebells will naturally take longer to save for.

Quick and the dead 5: 80 rep day

Felt a lot faster and more stable today. Keepin it up.

Reps per exercise: 80 (4 series)
Exercises: Two handed swing and fist pushups
Notes: Swings were fine. Pushups slowed down near the last few sets.

Greasing the Groove, not so fun discovery

This is not a pitfall, but definitely a point of interest.

My daily KB clean+press has a ton of lower back movement. Come my actual quick and the dead workout (snatches) my lower back was NOT OK with volume or power.

Clean+press is now going to be curl+press

Dark times

Greasing the Groove: Slowly accumulate volume

Grease the groove summary:
- Do not lift until failure
- Do not amp yourself up for a set
- Accumulate volume over time without building lactic acid or fatigue

I've only been playing around this with this method for a few weeks, but I'm definitely a fan.Since I quit the gym, my workouts have generally stuck in three(3) categories:
- Quick and the dead | Pavel meets pushups and swings
- Suitcase carries | Walk around the neighborhood with a single kettlebell
- Greasing the groove

The last item deserves some explanation. Searching online leads me to a lot of structured ideas. Every idea has a different idea on frequency (1 set every hour, do a bunch of tiny sets throughout a workout, etc) but they all agree on the same modality: do not lift until failure. Or do a little bit every so often. The way I'm able to do this working from home is by cleaning and pressing the same kettlebell whenever I want a quick break. How many reps I get per arm per set really doesn't matter. How often I actually do this doesn't matter. It's practice. Specifically, practicing with clean, fast reps.

Unlike something like reverse pyramid training, my goal is not to get X reps before I level up in weight. My goal is to be able to easily get X reps on average every time I pick up the bell. Although I focus on speed and form, I'm not amping myself up for any set. I'll gladly stop 1 or several reps short of failure. The weird shit is that it's working, and it's working really well.

Week 1 avg reps Kettlebell OHP: 2-3
Week 2 avg reps Kettlebell OHP: 3-5
Week 3 avg reps Kettlebell OHP: 4-7

This is without straining or counting reps/sets. I'm looking forward do getting sets of 10 to 20. Were the volume comes so easily that it only makes sense to get a heavier bell.

quick and the dead 4: little slow, low volume day

Diet has been crap past few days during the move. Took this morning easy with a low volume day and glad i did.

Workout 

4x5

One arm swing

Palm pushups

2 series, 40 reps total

home gym wish list

Dropped my gym membership a few days back. Since then, ive been doing planned quick and the dead workouts (pavel, kb swings and pushups), kb suitcase carries, and unplannes grease the groove type training while i work.

These past 2 weeks have beem fucking great, and seriously make me doubt i need a ton of equipment for a home gym. 

My wish list:

Ceiling mount for oly rings

Oly rings

Thick rope

Yoga blocks

Thick chains

Kettlebells 

- 25lbs (for ana)

- 45lbs (already got it)

- 65lbs

- 85lbs

- 100lbs

Ive got a running betterment account saving up for the next big thing. We can look at this as i need to master each weight before i earn the $$ to level up. Higher kb weights will take longer to buy, so this is just dandy. Evem 45lbs is useful as fuck.

Morning KB Walk: love this

Great way to start the mother fucking day.

Go for a half mile walk with a single kettlebell. That's it dog. Get outside, get your back, abs, and grip screaming. Switch hands when it becomes difficult.

quick and the dead 3: feeling great

I'm sure that a lot of the good feels here are from decreased overall volume (i.e. less stress) and avoiding failure entirely. I do feel pretty god damn excellent though.

Been greasing the groove with my kettlebell at home and my bands at work. Doing either curls, OHP, one leg RDL, whatever. I'll stop before the speed even slows down. The goal is overall daily volume without introducing a burn.

Quick and the dead workout 3
Swing:
- One armed
- Series = 4x5
- Volume = 80 reps

Pushup style:
- Palms (fists still hurt)
- Series = 2x10
- Volume = 80 reps

quick and the dead 2

5/4 rep scheme

3 series,60 reps total

leangains 231: punch the clock, horizontal

Warmup

Suitcase carry for 6 reps 50lbs

Workout

Inc db bench 75x7, 65x11, 55x15

Inv row 25x11, 10x12, bwx15

Bw tri ext

Curls

Incline bench felt good here. I think upping the level up reps to 10 was a good call because i dont feel like i get that screwed on the new weight. The 7 i got was a solid 7. The 10 i got last week was a hard 10. 

Likewise, moving to inv row was a nice change.

quick and the dead 1

Picked up a book by pavel. Easy to incorporate power training is on the menu boys. First session was super super easy. Im deliberately using a light kettlebell until we can do full volume throwing that thing down.

Workout

40 reps

Kb swing 30, 2x(5x4)

Knuckle pushup, 2x(5x4)

Hardest part was the pain of knuckle pushups. Emphasis is on power and speed.

leangains 230: not good

Partied this weekend. Crap sleep and food. No surprises here.

Workout

Fg Db push press 70x10, 60x8, 50x5

One arm pulldown 2px13, 1p35x10, 1p1qx8

--ya i got weaker as the weight got lighter

Waiters walk 5min 65

Actually really like carries as a way to finish workouts.

leangains 229: punch the clock

Workout
Inc fat grip DB Bench 70x10, 60x13, 50x26
Inc chest supported row 50x8, 30x12, 15x30
Tricep pushdowns x2
Cable curls 30x2x25
Finisher: 5min suitcase carry 50lbs

I don't think I'll return to chest supported rows. Couple of reasons.
- Not as good or as heavy as cable rows.
- Not as good of a squeeze as inverted rows.

something something i love one arm weighted carries

This last year has been a mixed bag of injuries and recoveries. The most recent boon I've explored have been one armed carries. I cannot recommend these enough. They're great for cardio, recovery, and correcting imbalances.

The two(2) I love right now are waiters walks and suitcase carries.

Waiters Walks
What is it: Walk with a kettlebell or dumbbell overhead
Why it's awesome:
- My shoulders feel bulletproof
- Great cardio
- Obliques get worked something fierce

Suitcase Carries
What is it: Walk with a kettlebell or dumbbell next to your body (i.e. a one handed farmers walk)
Why it's awesome:
- This is the best ab workout ever. My back feels bulletproof more so than any other type of recovery method I've used to rehab my back. This is a god damn game changer and I love it.
- Great cardio
- Can go heavier than waiters walks without jeopardizing safety

Benefits to Both
- Injury prevention
- Fat loss
- Grip and ab strength

How to Incorporate
- It's own training day: 20min of as much distance as possible. Go heavy.
- End of a regular training day: 5min of as much distance as possible. Use medium weights (just less than isolated training days).

im embaressed at my lack of creativity (circa 10yrs ago)

I made a post when i first started lifting making fun of a hotel gym. It was a basic bitch hotel gym with a few treadmills and dumbbells. The post was short: this is not a gym.

Im not embaressed about a lot in retrospect, but that post always makes me cringe. Every time ive been forced to get creative with my training (see: getting hurt, having limited options) ive made my largest strides. Lack of equipment is not an excuse to not work out. 

I could have done:

- handstand pushups 

- dumbbell overhead press

- dumbbell snatches

- dumbbell incline rows

- weighted carries a la suitcase or waiters walk

- db hammer curls 

- bodyweight tricep extensions

30min in and out. Easy. Worthwhile. But all i could see is the numbers on the bells. I turned my nose up and said this is not a real gym. Bullshit. I was an entitled trainee married to doing a routine. Heck man, add a couple of bands (which are light, inexpensive, and travel extremely well) and you open yourself up to way more.

The moment i move, i want to explore what else i can do with very little. 

new years resolutions 2020

Do power training for an entire year
Do grease the groove for an entire year while you work from home

Do weighted carries the entire year

These things fuckin work. They feel great. They have the variability of not requiring sticking to a program. Do it.

Your immediate goal is to show up to Bonnaroo injury free and able to dance.
Your long term goal is to be in great shape as a dad.

gpp 9: focus on speed. speed is reliable

Went heavier amd faster. Both decisions were right. This became more of a mental battle than physical as i got winded running the weight back and forth, but my grip was less taxed overall because of less time over tension. I was almost always ready for another round.

Workout

5min treadmill incline

Bss 2x10 bw

Suitcase carry 75lbsx20min

One arm pulldowns 3xamap

Stretch lats and shoulders

leans 228 not bad not bad

Punch the clock session. Some good, some bad.

Workout 

Fg db press 60x10, 50x15, 40x30

Chin 40x6, 20x8, 5x11

Pjr pullover 55x10, 40x11

Ez curl 40x16,30

Rear delts 10x1xamap

Hang

Chinups still not going great. Could be fatigue from earlier this week. Could ve im still too fyatttt. Everything else is fine.

Ez curls for straight weight was a nice change. Enjoying the variation of minor assistance. For lower body ive been doing extremely high frequency bss and pullthroughs at home. Still healing. Still annoyed.

The annoying part is not that i cant lift. It's that my back still feels dodgy when im lifting light stuff. Wtf man. I will recover. 

heavy press 228

Felt like more volume today. No sets taken to failure (except triceps). Rest periods were increased if speed decreased. Definitely the most chaos and painy workout ive done in years.

Workout 38min

Db bench 85x10x2

-- floor db press next time

Fg dips 60x3, 35x6,4,4

Fg dips bwx19,11

Fg Db press 40x5x12

Tri overhead ss tri ext 5x12

gpp 8: adding some leg stuff

Started gpp with leg press. It wasnt bad, and i got a nice pump, but it felt like the set took forever when i did each leg individually.

Workout

One leg press

- go up in weight until you cant hit 10reps

- strip sets amap, use negatives

Gpp one arm walk, 50lb kb, 20min

leans 227: cheating for thanksgiving

I wanted to create a lot of metabolic damage so i tried cheating forms of vertical movements. Great great idea.

Workout

Db push press 70x8, 60x11, 50x12

Chin negative 60x11, 40x12, 20x6

Cable curl 30x10, 20x6

Tri bw ext drop set

gpp 7: meh overhead carry

Glad i got a sweat in, but i should have done something unfamiliar today. Neck is feeling a bit squirrely so im off lifting until thanksgiving.

20min

Waiters walk

60lb fat grip

Rear delts

a benefit to general strength

Summary:

General strength training rocks because you are not married to a schedule or progression.

I go to a tiny gym. Most of the time in the morning this isnt a big deal. Some days - like today - all of the shit i want to use is covered, spoken for, or otherwise promise ringed.

In years past, i would have said well fuck. I guess im waiting until it's free. General strength training throws a big fat dump on that notion. Today i knew i wanted to do a horizontal press and horizontal pull. The fact that i couldnt do dips or inverted rows didnt really matter. Finding an alternative - inc db bench and seated cable rows - was as easy as breathing.

The reason general strength training won today is that i was still able to train the muscles i wanted in the plan i wanted in a way that still has a net positive effect over strength and size. I didnt do dips today. Who fucking cares? When i eventually come back to dips ill be fresh and ready to crush them.

leangains 226: punch the clock, horizontal

Lower volume overall today. Not sure if horizontal weights or my conditioning took the piss out of me, but i just didnt have the GRAHHHH today. Not a bad day at all.

Best discovery! I can do handstand pushups again without back pain!!!!

Workout

Warmup

- overhead carry to farmers walk 45lbs

- shoulder presses

(Fg) Inc db bench 70x9, 55x13, 45x26

Cable row 190x9, 170x11, 150x19

Hspux4 > band pux6 > pux8

Band row 1xamap

Hang 35x1min fail

So on my non gym time ive been doing extremely high volume band pullthroughs at home. Very grease the groove per set. No failure. Long intervals in between sets. Pay the toll. Ana is very nonchalant about her SO doing butt stuff while having conversations. Bless her.

leangains 225

Db press 60x5, 50x15,12, 40x21,32

Chin 40x5, 20x12,11, 5x15,9

Pjr 55x8, 40x11

H curl 45x10, 35x11

gpp 6: trap bar carry

Wanted to try trap bar carry post a dan john podcast. Started light but god damn it was still hard. Im so happy. I have a long way to go but this didnt hurt.

My grip and biceps felt this most. We shall see where this impacts tomorrow.

Workout

Trap bar carry 225x12 repsx20min

Chest supported row 40x15, 30x13

Bicep cable curls 3xamap

Hang 25x1min, bwx1min

Comments

Added straps back to hangs. Im getting plenty of grip work from the carry and chins. I need this for the back relief.

gpp session 5: feeling greeeaatttttt

Great session! Came to the gym ready to lift when the chinup doms from yesterday came in. Gpp is fuckin awesome because it's going to aid recovery instead of pushing me deeper in the hole. So gpp it is.

On the programming front, i really enjoyed kb swings in place of squats. As long as ive got a lot of rest in between training (i.e. train, gpp, rest, train) i dont see why i cant be an upper body specialist. Something akin to...

V press 1 6x8

V pull 1 6x8

Kb swings 150 in 3, bis and tris 2x10

H press 1 6x8

H pull 1 6x10

Kb swings 150 in 3, bis and tris 2x10

V press 2 6x8

V pull 2 6x8

Kb swings 150 in 3, bis and tris 2x10

H press 2 6x8

H pull 2 6x10

Kb swings 150 in 3, bis and tris 2x10

6x8 is double reverse pyramid

Top set 2x8

Second tier 2x8+

Third tier 2x8+

Increase weight when the top set meets rep goal

Super set push and pull

Workout

Waiters walk 65x20minx32reps

One arm inv row 2x10

Rear delts 3xamap

leangains 224: unfamiliar movements

Knee is not cleared for squats yet, but it is feeling pretty great. Therapy includes daily extension and protraction band work on each knee (link below on extension, like a band leg extension kinda) and extra glute work like today. No one ever suffered by more glutes, abs, and ass.

Knee band thing

https://www.t-nation.com/training/straightforward-knee-rehab

Warmup

Double overhead carry 30s x 6reps

Farmers walk 30sx6 reps

-- nice compromise between one or the other. Like a mechanical drop set

Workout 

Ring chinup 35x8, 15x9, bwx10 and 1 awful negative

Kb swing 45 x 150 in 3 (goal)

42

41

35

24

22

Hang 2min

Testing out form i read about in 4hr body. Realized i previously had wayyyyy too much hinge. You wouls think that this would provide more power but it does the exact opposite. In this format (shoulders dont go over knees) i felt less in my hams, way more in my glutes, and had a much bigger SNAP via triple extension. Money.

GPP Session 4: Cross walks on the cardio end

I tried to make this more of a cardio session and less of a 'how much weight can i move' session. Turns out this shit is just as hard, but I'm not worried about whether I can get the DB above my head.

Warmup
6min on recumbent bike
Single leg RDL's

Workout
20min cross walk
- 50lb DB fat grip overhead
- 35lbs kettlebell in the walking hand
Very light lat work
Hang

Really could have done without the lat work to be honest. Still sore as fuck from the last RPT session. I ate the house down when I got home. Poor Ana had made a killer breakfast I inhaled. Then went immediately for a second meal.

Reverse Pyramid and Conditioning

Fuckarounditus is my middle name.

This is how things go:
- Use a straightforward routine. Make gains.
- Miss a movement or experiment with a new methodology.
- Continue to tweak until the training system that worked is unrecognizable.
- Try multiple routines. None of them feel right. Or worse. Some of them feel slightly right.
- Revert to old system that was working. Count the months I lost to bullshit.

Remember this asshole. What works for you is reverse pyramid and cardio in the form of GPP. You actually really like it. It's insane that you would ever deviate, but here we are.

REMEMBER STAN. RE-MEM-BER.

Reverse Pyramid Training (right outta leangains)
Trap Bar Dead 2x6
Fat grip dumbbell press 3x8
Tri/Bi 2x10

Fat grip inc DB Bench 3x8
Inv row 3x8
Tri/Bi 2x10

Zercher Squat 3x10
Chinup 3x8
Tri/Bi 2x10

Plateau 1:
- Condition: Reps have not moved up for a week in all tiers (it's ok if set 1 and 2 do not)

- Action: Increase sets on all weights


Plateau 2:
- Condition: Reps have not moved up for 2 weeks
- Action: Change movements


Conditioning
20min of waiters walks, cross walks, or suitcase carries
Minor assistance for back, rear delts, and hamstrings

Don't worry about increasing weight often. Worry about getting more and more reps with the same weight until it becomes easy. This is your cardio motherfucker.

leangains 223: punch the clock

Eating window 330p-8p

Workout

Inc db bench 60x13, 50x21, 40x30

One arm inverted row 35x10, 15x12, bwx15

Pjr pullover 50x12, 40x15

H curl 45x8, 35x9

gpp workout 3: hardest waiters walk

Started trying to 'measure' what im doing here. This was hard. Really really hard.

Warmup

100 yards farmers walk 35lbs

Big 3 abs

Banded leg curls

Workout

20min fat grip waiters walk 

70lbs

20min

26 reps*

Rope j curls

A few sets, no failure

Great actually but i cant feel right lat

Cable rows 

Ditto

Rear delts

2 sets amap

Hang 2min

Comments

Waiters walk was easyish for the first 10min. After that every push press was brutal.

ladder work 222

Need less fatigue. Ladder match. Engage.

Warmup

Farmers walk 100 yards 40lbs

The big 3 abs

Leg curls banded 

Workout 

Fg db ohp 50x3roundsx2,3,5reps

Rdl 135x3roundsx1,2,3 

Chinup 40x3roundsx1,2,3

Db back ext 40x3roundsx2,3,5

Hcurl 40x3roundsx1,2,3

Pullthrough bandedx3roundsx2,3,5

Hang x3 x40lbs

Rdl didnt feel good. May use db rdl next time.

gpp workout 2: one arm farmers walk

Started with a crosswalk, moved to a fat grip farmers, then a one handed fat grip farmers, ended up with one handed farmers.  Im beat the fuck up lol.

Warmup

Band leg curls

Band ohp

Gpp

23min one handed farmers

55lbs

May want to try fat grips here again. Just 55 with a 2in grip fucked me up.

Cooldown

Rear delt raises

Band pullthrough

Stretch shoulders

lift 221: no sleepkmeg workout

Got up at 230 to help a client go live. Couldnt go to sleep after so i went to the gym. Results were expected. I didn't progress but i also didnt regress. 

Ill add in lower body work next week if the knee keeps feeling great. Regardless, i want to switch my upper days so im not doing the same movement over and over.

Workout

Dips 60x6, 40x11, 20x12

Inv row 50x8, 30x11, 10x12

Cable row 57.5x23,23,16

Chest press 25x11,5,3

I like doing chest stuff as assistance on h push day, but i honestly have no idea what to do. Research needed.

band pull throughs

Im born again. How the fuck have i gone through a million different rehab exercises without trying this?? Ive done a billion romanian deads woth barbells dumbbells and bands. Meh. Ive done bodyweight rdls as well with an Ooooooooo that's nice feeling. Ive tried cable band pullthroughs and they always end up being too heavy or too light.

But this. Ohhhhhh baby this.

It's light down below but strong up top where it matters. I get a hammy stretch without a back pump.

It. Is. Perfection.

Im gonna grow such a butt.

GPP Workout 1: Crosswalk

Warmup
Light band overhead press 50-100 reps per arm
Band leg curls 20-50 reps per leg
Band pull through 10-30 reps
Side and front ab bridges

GPP Implements
- 1 fat grip
- 1 dumbbell (waiters walk)
- 1 (Whatever, I used a sandbag. A dumbbell works fine as well)

GPP Workout
20-30min crosswalk
- HAND1: fat grip dumbbell overhead
- HAND2: second implement in farmers position

Increase weight when you walk 1 mile.
Focus on speed.
Do not go to failure (the waiters walk dumbbell will fail first). Switch arms and keep going. Rest when needed but try to keep moving.

Cooldown
Band pull throughs 10-30 reps
Hang from a pullup bar 2-3 sets of 60-120 seconds

condition 220 experimentation and success

Edit: just read what i did (waiters walk + farmers walk) is called a cross walk. Noted.

Edit2: adding a new tag for conditioning

Great god damn workout. Couple of things to note:

- starting with glute work is money

- band pull throughs are legit amazing

- using an unfamiliar playlist for conditioning is a great way to zone in while zoning out

- adding even 1 new element to conditioning makes it dramatically harder

On this last note. I added a few things today. Instead of just doing my nornal waiters walk, i...

- added a fat grip (not net new, did this sat)

- increased the weight. Not really that bad

- added a sandbag carry. BINGO

The sandbag i carried could not have been more than 40lbs and had an easy handle to grasp. And yet (preggo pause) this made me gas faster and way more unstable.

For comparison, i said fuck it and dropped the sandbag a few rounds in. All of a sudden i started moving way faster (less weight no surprise) and became more stable on the waiters walk (...ok surprise).

Food for thought. All in all this was a great workout. 

Workout

Waiters walk combo sandbag carry

20min, about .7 miles (unclear)

- Waiters db 55lbs, fat grip 

- sandbag ??? Lbs

Band curls for back, hams, glutes, shoulders

Hang

Band pullthrough!!!!!

Again, do band pullthroughs

No waiting for the cable machine. It deloads at the bottom of the movement where shear force is at its max but still stretches hams. The contraction up top is wayyyyy more than a cable would be.

condition 219

Pretty punch the clock kind of workout. Nothing spectacular or bad. Back feels a bit squirrely post hang but thats about it.

In other news, eating mostly vegetarian has been pretty sweet. Meals are cheap, delicious, and arent lacking in protein. In still cooking them in animal fat to the max. This vegetarian thing isn't an ethical decision. Rather i would prefer the meat i eat to be as high quality as possible. That's just not feasible economically if i eat it every meal.

Double aside...

Dried prunes. Poop. It's been great.

Sex drive is doing well.

Workout 

Main triset, 3min rest

Dips 60x6, 40x10, 20x12, 1xneg

Inv row 45x10, 25x15, 5x15

Banded leg curls

Assistance, 3min rest

Cable row 110x22,27,15

Rear delt raise 40x22, 20x50, 10x32

Hangx2 sets bodyweight

condition 218 fat grippppsssss

I added fat grips to waiters walks today 

Insert tim and eric bwahhhhhhhhhh gif. Holy fuck that was a good idea. Grip and shoulders are on fire. My heart is pumping. Next session ill start tracking distance so i can measure when to increase weight.

23min

50lb waiter walk

Fat grips

condition 217

Great session! Kinda liking the upper body day while my knee heals (1 more week before we restart squats).

Banded leg curls are a hidden fucking gem. They kick the ever living fuck out of machine leg curls, and hit the glutes too.

Workout 

--Triset, 3min rest between trisets

Dips 50x9, 35x11, 15x11

Inverted row 40x13, 20x11, bwx11

Banded leg curl amap each set

--350 method (50 reps in 3 sets), 3min rest between super sets 

Rear delt raise 35x22,22,10

Cable row 95x23,22,14

--recover

Bw hangx2 sets

Shoulder stretchx2 sets

Fuck if injury doesnt spark creativity man. I dont feel like im lacking by not doing full body. Things like the leg curls and conditioning outside of lower body days feels awesome 

condition 215 and 216: knee hurt

So the last time i lifted, i hurt my damn knee. This week and the proceeding music festival have been a slow healing process.

215

Dips

50x8

60x5

50x3,3,3,3,3,3

Inverted row

35x9,4,3,3,3,3,3,3

216

Waiters walk

50lbsx20min

skyrim 214: post bachelor and pre hula

Post party weekend is always a little hard. Another weekend of fun next weekend at hula.

Workout

Fs 215x6

Fs hold 315x30s

Oapress 60x6, 50x10

Bw inverted row bwxtons

Rear delts 30x22, 20, 10, 5

Hang 50x45s

Triceps and biceps

skyrim 213: conditioning

So, suitcase walk is maybe not the best thing to do. My back feels all funky from that.

Stretch

Abs

20min suitcase walk 85lbs

Edit: Maybe this is fine? Fast forward a few hours and i feel fine. Back actually feels pretty great. Grip feels strong af.

skyrim 211 and 212

Remembered why i bailed before from NE. 

1. Its too much shit

2. Im too weak to have the volume workouts be worth a damn

Skyrim works great. Dont fuck with it. An aside, i had a conditioning day yesterday and it was a dream.

210 condition

Stretch

Mobility

Kb swings 45lbs, 6rounds of 40/20

Condition

- waiters walk

- 50lb dumbbell used

- walk for 15min

Loved. This.

Skyrim 211

Fs 180x20!!!

Chin

50x5

25x6

Bwx9

Bw pushups x3

Rear delts

Biceps 

Ne 210 heavy

Fg Dips 70x5
Fs 205x10
Fs shrug 205x10
Fg one arm press 55x7,6,6
Inv row 35x9,9,7
Tri push ss rear delt raise 30x29, 25, 15
Ez curl 95 x8,12,12
Landmine l side raise, side raise, front press, push press
-- love this
Hang 25x1.5min

Not sure what to think of this workout. Summary:
- Dips sucked
- front squats were ok
- partial front squats were a big nono
- front squat shrugs were better than regular shrugs
- curls were great

What im taking away from this session is that off days need to be OFF days. This doesnt meant 0 activity. It means my activity cant be work out minis.

Instead of say...500 rows and 200 pushups and 15 front squats and kb swings.

Maybe try:
- ab work
- mobility and dynamic stretches
- kb swings for conditioning
- static stretching

Tonic workout

Front squat 180x5x3
-- meh maybe skip
Kb swings 45lbs 5rounds 40s on, 20s off
Got gassed woof conditioning

Need moar conditioning

Back extensions bro

Im about done with these. It's not that theyre bad. Theyre just not helpful for the same reasons banded good mornings suck.

My back really really doesnt like the compression. That's about it.

If we do something like one leg rdls, i get a back pump, hamstrings are worked, and i dont get tue god damn compression.

Thoughtssss

I regret cardio

Dont get me wrong. Cardio felt great and i want ti do more of it. But when im at a large calorie deficit and little sleep it was dumb.

Dips 40x12,9 30x10 25x8
Fs 175x20 --fantastic
Oap 40x12 35x16,16,16
Bw inverted row 16,16,13,12,9
Tri ext
Db shrug 70x12, 60x12, 50x10
Tri cable ext
Rear delt raise
Cable shrugs, hold for tension
Ez curl 55x16,16,14,9 fat grip
Band leg curls
clamshells
Hang 90lbs

That hang was not good. Wtf. My back doesnt hurt but its hot. Im mainlining tumeric.

Cardio

Easy day today.

Shoulder mobility
Walk on an 11deg incline for 30min, 3.1mph
3 sets of bw hangs

I did some banded good mornings yesterday that did not make my back so happy. Dont do that again.

NE 209

Backing down the frequency so i can recover better and fast more.

Dips 65x7
Fs 195x9 --still not recovered
Oap fg 50 8,8,6
Inv row 25 6,6,6 --feet elevated
Band pushdown 62,20,18
Rear raise 20,20,8
Ez curl 7,6,5
Back ext 10 12,8,7
Leg curl 40x15
Plank 10 1x3
Hang 80x60s
--some cardio, then came back
Band shrugs 1x20
Band leg curls 2x15
Band snatch shrugs

Notes
Replace leg curls with banded leg curls
Abs should always be something rotational
Add fg to curls

Workout took 1hr with stretching

Skyrim 208: still a little worn out

Ok workout overall. Everything else (sleep, food, sex drive, confidence) is great.

Workout
Fs 185x12
Pfs 345x10
Chin 50x6, 25x9
Cable row 2xamap
Hang 85x40s

Skyrim 207: wtf sleep

So when i do one meal a day i feel awesome during the day and fall asleep easily. But!!! Then i wake up st 330/4. Wtf body. Sleep. Sleeeeeeep.

I didn't intend on lifting this morning, but i have the energy and i need to talk to those bank of america hacks.

Ok workout for dips. Great for everything else.

Workout
Fs 170x20
-- nice
Back ext 35x15
Dips 60x6, 30x9
Bw row 1x15, 1x5 kelso
Hang 80x60s
Resr delts hold 5lbs 2min

Skyrim 206: great workout

Came in tired, left elated.

I may want 2 days of rest instead of the 1 ive been doing. Grab some more quality sleep, get in another fully fasted day, and recover better than i have been (ive been sleepy af).

Workout
Fs 175x14, tough
Back ext 25x20, 10, 5, 3
--focus on eccentric and quality reps
Trap high pull 185x10,5,5,4,3,3
-- same, focus on eccentric. Great movement for biceps surprisingly
-- dont increase weight until you hit 15
Hang 75x90s, bwx30s
Ring pushup 1x20ish?

I like adding a small press at the end. Will do the same with light pull (i.e. bw pullups or rows) to round out a day. Isolation isnt bad but doesnt make sense. Can do that shot on my day off.

Skyrim 205: back to reality

Lol the volume was draining me heart and soul. Staying awake was god damn brutal. Caring was brutal. Sleep, not so hot. Back to what is working.

Workout
Db press 60x9!!!,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2
-- stretch after
-- this pr was fire!
-- dunno if next round of pressing i should stick to the same rubric as squats. I.e. day 1 is low rep and rest pause. Day 2 is 1x20 so i know where to restart
Back ext 35x19,10,9,8,6
-- stretch
Db rear delts 40x23, drop sets to 10lbs
Hang 75x60s
Tri push
-- use one arm so you can cheat!! Do the same thing for biceps

Skyrim 204: super squats

This was fun monday and torture today. I know you are supposed to use back squats for the death march, but nahhhhhhhhh.

Everything else is just volume without a top set (more or less assistance).

Workout
Lm press 45 3x12, fuck this movement
Front squat 165x20
-- went like 1x8,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1. No rerack of the bar
Pullover 20 1x20
Rear delts 40x22, drop set to 10
Stretch shoulders
Seated row 95x3x15
-- too easy. Try something else
Back ext 30x1x15, bwx1x20
Single leg rdl 30x1x10
Hang 70x60s

Skyrim 203: Higher intensity. Trying out banded GHR

Front squat
205x5x1
--super easy (gooood)
Partial front squat
315x1x10
Front squat (pause)
136x1x6

Chinup
50x8
--super hard
50x3,3,2,1
30x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

GHR
Bunch of sets. Fucking around
--Adding band assistance is a game changer. Great add!

Leg Curl
Back ext


So game plan here...
One leg RDL really isn't hitting the hams that much. Lot of potential there, but the limitation is balance as opposed to strength.

Thoughts
GHR > Leg Curl > Back Ext is a pretty sweet ham/glute combo. It's really not that hard.
Front squat can go back to the days of old
- day 1 1x3, 1x6, PFS 1x10, Pause FS 1x6
- day 2 4x8

Try this for a week. Always have classic rest pause to come back to

Skyrim 202: sleepy. Bad sleep. Bad.

Front squat 190
9,2,1,1,1
-- lower back felt a liiiiitle squirrely on the last rep

Chin 50
7,1,1,1
-- woof

Ring pushup
16,5,3
-- great sets. Slow negatives with great squeeze up top
-- get a little more volume per set before increasing range of motion

Rear delt machine
4 sets x infinity
-- this was a nice find! Ive tried this before but only with light ass weight
-- works with heavier weight for partials and statics, but you really have to focus on the rear delts doing their job

Hang 60
Lol ok there. This didnt feel great

Rest Pause Training: Side Benefits

Nice little training effect I've noticed from a few weeks of rest pause training. My general conditioning is improving all around. Dancing, running, whatever. I haven't run out of breath yet.

Combine this with losing weight, I'm gonna be a speedy little fucker in a few months.

Weekly Trash Removal

I've been removing 1 bad habit a week. Some of these things need to go away forever. The fact is there's no reason why destructive behaviors I've built over YEARS have any reason to stay. Likewise, looking at willpower in 7 day increments as opposed to forever is not too hard.

Week 2: Youtube in the car
- Even though im not watching, this is inherently dangerous
- if i ever got in an accident, it would be my fault even if it wasn't
- requires constant distraction
- like social media, im not actually absorbing anything

Week 1: Sugar
- When i eat it, it's emotionally driven
- Breaks the 80/20 rule of diet pretty terribly (i.e. some sugar is ok, but it's not a treat if it's 3 days of the god damn week)
- I realized how much sugar i actually ate when abstaining during week 1

Training program rest pause

May as well actually record these methodologies as we go. They keep getting lost to time.

Rest pause, focus on spinal health
- 2-3x a week. More rest isnt a bad thing
- RP = 10 to 15 breaths between sets. Continue until you literally cant, then do a negative (or push press if it applies), then extreme stretch of the body part
- RPlite = 15 breaths between sets. 3 sets total. Push each set to failure and cheating failure. If it applies, use partial range of motion kelso rows after full range is donzeo
- if it's possible, use fat grips (exceptions rdl, deads, and shrugs)
- the goal of all sets is the first set is >=8 reps. If you do not hit 8 reps, increase reps next session. If you do not increase reps next session, change the exercise

Vertical press RP, one arm presses
Single leg (left) RP
Cable row RPlite
Rear delt, run the rack
Weighted hang, decompress spine

Horizontal press RP
Single leg (right) RP
Curl RPlite
Rear delt, run the rack
Weighted hang, decompress spine

Squat RP
Vertical pull RP
Ring press RPlite
Trap har shrug RPlite
Weightes hang, decompress spine

Skyrim 201: punch the clock

Some things went very well, others not so much. Tried some variations of rdls in the confusion, none worked out. Balance is the issue way more than strength here.

Workout
Dips 50 fat grips
11 (close to all time pr!)
3,3,3,2,1,1
--using fat grips took the pressure off my shoulders immediately. This is how we do things from here on out

Rdl (right) 105
5,4,2

Hammer curl 45 fat grip
9,5,3

Rear delt 55, run the rack

Weighted stretch 60x60s

Skyrim 200: NO SLEEP BAD SNEK

So fun side effect of intermiddent fasting. Either my hormones are fucked up or i dont need as much sleep.

Sometimes ill get up at 330 and im wirrrrred. But then i dont feel shitty the rest of the day. So...i either leveled up or my cortisol is having a hayday.

What im trying to say is my workout today was a littlw bit of a miss. Fine in the overall spectrum of things, but this is the first time i missed reps on anything.

Workout
Chin 45
8,2,2,2,1, 1xneg, 3xkelso
--ya i just did them. No shit this wasmt aa good

One leg rdl (left) 105
8,2,3,3,2,2,2,1
--balance was super difficult
Stretch hams

One arm press (fat grip) 60
5,3,2,2,2,2,1, push pressx2 slow neg

Rear delt run the rack 55
Dont level up. Traps dominated
Stretch delts

Hang 60lbsx60s

Skyrim 199: first front squats in a while

Front squat 185
8,2,2,2,2,2,1
Stretch quads

Chin 40
8,2,2,2,2,2,1,kelsox5

Trap shrug 225
13,7,5

Ring pushup bw, feet on ground
15,9,5
Chest stretch

Skyrim 198: moar rest pause

Reading more and more dc training.

Workout
Hammer curl 40
9,5,3
Stretch biceps

Dips 45
8,4,3, 1xnegative
Stretch shoulders

Single leg rdl (r) 100
8,5,4
Stretch hamstrings

Rear delts 30 run the rack
Hang 55lbsx60s

Skyrim 197: shoulders looking gooood

Dumping step ups for now. They are a little tough on my knees, and i have no idea what i would do if i missed a weight (which was already close at 95lbs).

All things high except sex drive atm. Making fasting a daily occurance until im as lean as i want. Its easier than timing meals, i feel great during the day, and it's easy to see results.

Workout
Single leg rdl (left) 100lbs
10,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2

One arm press (fat grip) 55lbs
10,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,1
--i like the fat grip here

High cable row 200lbs
14,7,4, Kelso rowx6

Rear delt 45lbs run the rack
--drop 10lbs per mini set

Pullup hang 55lbs
X60seconds
--was not easy. Retry

Skyrim 196: back a little iffy

Tried zercher bulgarian split squats in hopes of finding something usable. NOPE FEELS AWFUL.

Zercher step up (left)
95x8,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,1
Bwx20

Chin
35x8,2,2,2,2,2,1
Kelso shrug 35x5
Bw 1x30s negative

Hspu
Felt awful, stop

Pushups
Better, do weighted next time

Skyrim lean 195: rest pause is good

Trap dead, heavy black band tension
235x6,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,1

One arm press
50x12,5,6,5,3,2,1

Shrug smith behind back
195x13,20,23
--dont care for this

Rear delt run the rack
50s --> 5s
--skipped 10lbs in sone cases

Hang from pullup bar
45lbsx60s
Bwx60s
--stop using straps. Not needed

11min walk
Stretch

Recovery methods 2: everything hurts

Tl:dr
- movement is lubrication
- go for a brisk walk

A month ago i couldnt move without pain or discomfort. I was still dragging my ass to the gym a few times a week to do something. Literally anything.

I asked my girlfriend if we could go for a long walk since we had been inside all day. Im not gonna say this would have been a cakewalk if i was well, but a few miles through the florida sun had me on deaths door.

2 things happened:
- the next day i felt god damn amazing
- i started to prioritize moving over lifting

How good is your strength if you cant move like a person? Not much dude. Im not saying walking rules and lifting drools. Im still in the gym 3 to 4 times a week. But placing an emphasis on recovery makes the strength youre training for more attainable and more usable.

Mix this together with something anti inflammatory like fasting and baby, you got a stew.

What i mean is:
Sunday
heavy, low to medium volume lifting
16:8 fasting
High protein, medium carb, low fat

Mon
20 to 30 min walk. Preferably multiple
Omad fasting
High protein, low carb, medium fat

Repeat
Take additional walking days as needed

Recovery methods 1: tight hips

My mom forgot the best saying she ever perpetuated.

"It's all in the recovery"

She would say this to me whenever I made a mistake as a kid. If I got a bad grade. If I said something I regretted. If I lost a baseball game. This is a heck of a one-two punch. It told me what I did post fuck up was more important than the fuck up itself. Lets talk about recovery. Cause we're all a little fucked up. And we all could use a little recovery.

TIGHT HIPS
Your hips suck because you sit too much and are quad dominant. Most of the time when my knees hurt it's because I haven't stretched in friggin forever. Back in the days of innocence - 2014 - I thought I needed knee surgery because of how hard it was for me to walk after getting out of a car. I literally had to shuffle everywhere I went. Surely I broke my knees doing front squats.

Bitch please. This will change your God damn world in 30 seconds a day.

Hip Flexor Stretch on a Bench
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdMk68JDT1U

Cossack Squat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Ilhz2q4m4

With these 2 moves your quads and groin will feel loose as pie. I usually do both after lifting.

HF 195: moar rest pause

Dips 50x8, RP x7
Dips 25x7, RPx11
Zercher step up 65x8, RPx14
Zercher step up 45x10, RPx14
Rear delts 40lbs run the rack
Stretch

Skyrim lean 194

Each set of everything was done rest pause until i couldnt eek out more reps with good form. This resulted in a fuckton of doubles and singles after the main set. Each rest pause set started after 5 or so deep breathes (except ohp, i just switched hands and pressed go).

Trap dead added blue tension
225x14, rp 8, 5min rest
185x16, rp 6, 3min rest

One arm db ohp
45x16, rp 12, 4min rest
35x27, rp 13, 2mim rest

Smith shrug behind back
185x20, rp 12, 2min rest
165x22, rp 10, no rest

Rear delt, run the rack
40lbs --> 5lbs

Hf 193: super squuuuats

Workout
Zercher lunge (both legs) 135x20, use bfr
Inc db bench 80x5
Db bench 80x7
Seal row 55x11, 45x16
Rear delts run the rack 35-->5
Bfr walking and hammies
Stretch

HF 193: punch the clock

Workout
Zercher lunge (left leg): 195x2
Inc db bench 75x9
db bench 75x6
Tricep pushdown (BFR)
Incline walk 7min (BFR)

Forgot to stretch and do rear delts. Shame.

Hf 192 Wisconsin: meat is back on the menu boys

After a year of fucking around, i came back to where i started at my injury last august. Im not even mad.

Confidence: super high
Mood: excellent
Sex drive: pretty damn good
Injury level: hard to tell. Im so full of tumeric

Workout
Zercher lunge left leg 185x2
--off pins instead of freestanding
Seal row 45x15, 35x18
-- slight incline. Dunno how i like this
Hammer curl 3sets with bgr bands
Treadmill with bfr bands x6min
Spinal decompression hang x1
Stretch

Hf 191: wisconsin, fucked around a little

Workout
Zercher lunge 225x1 (left leg)
Inc db bench 75x5
Db bench 75x11
Rear delts, run the rack
Tri pushdowns

Hf 190: knees went from shitty to great...y

I dont get it man. Last couple of days have been max singles with the right leg so i switched to the left. Honestly though, i could have done the right again no problem.

Warmup
Rotate all joints
Rear delts
Reverse hyper
Single leg rdl

Workout
Zercher lunge (l) 145x12, 105x21
Inc db bench 70x11
Flat 70x12
Decline 70x9
-- may axe the last set. Seems to be more awkward than useful
Standing one arm row
125x12
95x16
Seated l raise RAN THE GOD DAMN RACK FROM 25 TO 2.5 HOLY SHIT THIS IS GOOD. SAFE, HAS POTENTIAL TO BE LOADED DOOOO ITTTTTT

Warmdown
Reverse hyper bw
Treadmill 12min

Hf 189: actual hf

Zercher reverse lunge (r)
225x1, easy
235x1, sloppy

HF 189

workout
zercher lunge (right) 195x1, 135x8
incline db bench 65x11
db bench 65 x18
decline db bench 65 x 11
wide row 95x1x100
Leg curl 1x50x100

Dunno how i feel about switching legs or doing top singles.

Hf 188: reverse zercher lunge

This felt so god damn good. Ive tried a host of weightes lunges and ALL of them felt awful. This one, however, felt A+. Easy 225 max set on my first try. Had to do dips instead of db press because all the benches were gonezo.

Workout
Reverse zercher lunge 225x1, left leg
Dips 50x7, 25x13
One arm pulldown x2

Hf 187: continue on wisconsin variation

Taking 2 days off feels pretty sweet. If im not recovered after 48hrs (i.e. cant add more reps or weight) then its time to move on to a new movement. Today was the first time i needed to swap a movement out, and it felt soooooo good.

Workout
Reverse hyper, bodyweight
Abs, add weight to side planks
Sdl 225x11
Mat1 sdl 225x14
Mat2 sdl 225x17
Inc db bench 55x13
Db bench 55x16
Decline db bench 55x18
-- use a pink band for all sets
H curl 55x7
Cheat h curl 55x6
Band curl 1xamap
Bw rdl 3x10

Looks like a lot but took about 30min.

Not Wisconsin but kind of

This week has been fucking stellar. This takes the concept of hammering a movement until it cant be milked any more but playing with a few variables:
- lower frequency (1-2 rest days)
- higher exercise selection
- higher rep ranges

Each subsequent set of an exercise uses the same weight but an easier version. Swap exercises when you fail to increase reps or weight.

All sets are amap. Stay away from failure most of the time on lower body movements.

Lower body 3x6
Press 3x8
Accessory 2x10
(Tonic) Light rdl super set rear delts

Lower body
Front squat
Z squat
Snatch dead

Press
One arm press
Db bench
Floor press
Dips

Accessory
Hammer curl
One arm row
Wide row
Seal row
Chinup

HF 187: Less hurt. Wisconsin

Workout
Snatch DL 225x6
pin 1 225x10
pin 2 225x16
(pink band) one arm press 50x8
one arm press 50x11
one arm push press 50x12
H curl 50x11
Cheating h curl 50x8
DB romanian deadlift 30x3x30
Rear delts 20x3x10

Interesting enough, the best level ups were to the hammer curls. Overall, I'm very pleased with this session. I like the snatch grip better than sumo or conventional. Go figure.

Hf 186: still hurt. Specialized version of wisconsin

Too much shit. Im doing too much shit. And too often. Remember why wisconsin was fun. Remember stan. Rememmmmbahhhhhhh.

Minimal movements. Work until you can't, then replace it. Theres no reason why ive gotta so singles man. And no reason why ive gotta work every day.

The focus is restoring strength and normal function to my body while losing weight. Looking at the 3 programs ive written in the last 2 weeks makes me sick.

Simplify.

Workout
Sdl 225x6
Sdl pin 1 245x10
Sdl pin 2 275x8
-- way more difficult than it should be. This is ok. No pain or discomfort during or after
(Pink) One arm press 50x7
One arm press 55x7
One arm push press 60x5
-- slow negative on push press
H curl 50x6
Cheating h curl 50x8
-- slow negative on cheating

If you cant do normal moves, your special moves suck

Had an eye opening experience this weekend. The gf and i went on a walk for about an hour. What should have been an easy amount of exercise:
- wrecked my back
- was difficult cardio wise

I dont give a shit that the florida sun was baring down on us. This is kid stuff. Im dropping my conditioning days immediately. They are not helping my back heal, and they are not doing what i want them to (which is allow me to retain normal cardio health).

What is replacing them are walks a few times a week. Not sure on weighted vests or sandbag carries yet.

Hf 185: feeling better

Back is getting progressively better. Initially tried heavier kb swings in this session with disastrous results.

Workout
Kb 25lbs: 5 rounds 40s on, 20s off
Overhead shrug
95x14
65x20
-- starting super light
Neck
Front 25x16
Back 25x17
-- adding 2 second pause on each rep

Hf 184: injured. One winged angel shiz

Looks like one legged training is back on the menu boys. Tired and hurt. Bkah bkah blah blah.

Workout
Bss (left leg):
50x19
40x24
30x20
Db press
40x11
30x14
20x19
Row
3xamap with kelso shrugs
H curl
45x8
35x10
Rear delt
1x32

Hf 183ish? Whatever im hurt fuck you

Going on vacation derailed a ton. Daily fasting feels great but is now a god damn struggle. I did 2 things on Thursday i regret a ton. Ive also been slacking on my ab work.

So, im hurt again and it sucks and it was preventable. Who are the possible culprits?

1. zercher squats
These didnt really feel that bad, but also not really that great

2. Power cleans
Just started these this week. Episode 1 felt...ok. a little weird in the mid back. Episode 2 has me with a numb foot.

3. Timed banded jumps
Did 50 banded jumps in 3min. I was feeling great until these. Hard to know if the power cleans started this mess and the jumps finished it or whatever.

Heres the new plan:
1. Warmup
Abs
Shoulder swings

2. Lift (assume rpt sets)
Bss 3x10
Dips/btnpp 3x8
(Banded) One leg press 3x10
French press 2x10
Neck

Chin 3x8
Rdl/trap bar dead
(Banded) Row
H curl 2x10
Neck

3. Condition
Farmers walk
Kettlebell swings

Supplements on the menu

Morning
- digestive enzyme (i like super enzymes)
- unflavored bcaa
- vitamin d3

Work
- unflavored bcaa

Before bed
- digestive enzyme
- nac
- magnesium

Crazy enough, this is less than ive taken in years. This is cheap, sustainable, and has a noticeable impact. Thats all i can ask for.

The idea is to keep digestion runninf even when fasting. Keep a supply of bcaa protein (no calories) post workout. Things to aid digestion after my big meals at night.

Hf 180: condition. Now with baaaands

Kettlebell swings
20lbs with blue band, 400 reps

So tired. Been purging things all night. Feels good man.

Hf 179: regular rpt

Sdl with short blue bands
235x9
195x15
-- good sets. Bands are a pain to set up but worth it. Bad thing, i have no idea how much tension is at top
One arm press with pink band
45x9
-- HARD
35x15
25x17
-- Interesting hiw god damn hard this is
- changed to seated and banded. Less cheating and more band tension
Kb swings, monster mini band

Hf 178: first failure under rpt

Today was the first training session where i failed to get all of the reps i shot for. Fun fact, this session was still incredibly productive despite not progressing. Usually when i fail with some upwards mobility, it's pretty god damn catastrophic. Today, i missed by 2 reps. Whateva. May take me a week. May take a month. Dooooesnt really matter does it?

Overall, noticing better health markers across the board. Fasting daily feels fantastic. Socially its difficult. Mon-fri is easy peezy though.

By health markers i mean:
- conditioning
- injury
- strength
- sleep quality
- sex drive (also, daily morning boners are back on the menu)

Confidence and well being are mehhhhhh but not bad. Mostly i just miss private space sometimes. Will be a convo topic in the near future.

Workout
Orange banded z squats
195x8
165x12
135x17
-- i swear to christ the bands add 100 pounds. 195 is definitely not heavy.
Chinup
32.5x8
17.5x12
7.5x14
Band assisted x ????
-- really enjoyed the band assist lol. Did it as a joke and it ended up being a nicr way to finish out sets. Gives you a great lat contraction without using the graviwhatever machine

Hf 177: frrreeennch contrast training

Tried french contrast training out and looooved it. Cardio days can now be a mix of timed conditioning, kettlebell swings, and frreench contrast training.

It goes like:
Complex of 4 to 5 sets
20s between exercises
3 to 5 min between sets
Reps per set are argued on the interwebs. Fuckem.
Quality acceleration reps only. No fatigued or shitty practice

Movements
- main
- bodyweight
- weighted plyo
- assisted

I stole this shit right off of mountain dog
5 sets of 4 reps per exercise
Goblet squat x70lbs, explode
Bw jump
Band resisted jump
-- attach 2 light bands from kettlebell to shoulders
Light Band resisted kettlebell swing

Adding bands to lifting

Im a fan provided they dont take forever to set up and do not prevent the lift from actually happening.

Resistance bands come in all sizes and strengths, but ive found the most utility with rogues blue and orange bands. They dont add or detract a ton of weight, but they contribute enough to drastically change the lift. Black bands are great for reverse versions of a lift if you so choose.

Favorite band benefit
Train a full range of motion using partial range weights
If you want to train a rack pull, the bar is set X inches off the ground. This is great when you are using a supra maximal weight, but in and of itself there is not a huge carryover to full range of motion unless you are peppering in full range movements as well.

Adding bands, my deadlift may be 225 on the ground, but 315 up top. For someone returning from an injury, this is fantastic. Without having to add weight to the most diffocult range of motion, i still can feel 315 where im the strongest.

I dont see a reason why i would stop using these. They make every movement harder without making them more dangerous. Im not peaking or doing singles. As far as im concerned, lifting without bamds in the future will be more akin to HO HO HO YOU HAVE NOT SEEN MY FINAL FORM.

Movements im using this on right meow:
- deadlifts
- squats
- db bench
- db press

Hf 176: diet sucked yesterday

Yesterday was a day of sudden stress sugar, late night eating, and jackin it. Wtf happened...none of that felt good.

Today is a new day.

Workout
Banded sdl
225x11
185x13
-- double mini blue bands
-- first time really doing nornal deads in a while
One arm press
60x4
50x13
40x18
-- fat grip
Acc pulldown
50x12
40x14

Hf 175: conditioning

Kettlebell swings and jump lunges. Big fan of the jump lunges in particular. Looking for more options that allow me to translate strength into speed and power. Bonus if it helps to rehab my back.

If i end up doing m/w/f lifting, then i can use heavier kettlebells in our side gym.

HF 175

Workout
Abs
(banded) Zsquat
- 185x10
- 155x12
- 124x14
Chin
- 30x8
- 15x9
- 5x10
Biceps, cable curl
- 95x10
- 80x12

Reverse pyramid. High intensity and low volume to match my diet. Easy to remember and keep to. Using bands in order to ratchet up the intensity without increasing the weight.

Hf 173 and 174

This week has been nuts. Training has slowed to a crawl. Got my teeth worked on yesterday. Big sandbox today. Fasting daily until dinner (actually loooooooove this).

Ok, fasting. Not really sticking to a guideline at the moment. 1 to 2 meals from 6p-10p. Focus on protein and fat. Loosen up on the weekend to carbs (but keep them separate from fat).

Reverse pyramiding to maintain muscle on this cut. I expect to gain a small amount of strength because ive been out of the game for so long. More accurate to say im going to regain strength i had before. Adding bands where i can cause why the fuck not.

Workouts
Zs 165x10, 135x12, 105x15
Chin 25x8, 10x10, bwx14

(Pink band) zs 175x10, 145x12, 115x14
One arm press 55x8, 45x12, 35x18

Sticking with one arm presses until left shoulder stops being an asshole

Hf 171 and 172

Not sure where my post from yesterday went. Noooooooooooooo

Feeling great overall energy wise. Sex drive is up and down like a yoyo. Removing supplements has been a good change overall.

Workout
171
Abs
Trap hp 215x10x3
-- still not hard but aggravates my lower back some, take a break
Trap row 4xamap
Leg curls

172
Abs
Chin 10x5x8
Kb swings
Shoulder acc

HF 171: High pulls snarf snarf

Really angry right now. I got friend dumped and I don't agree with it at all. I want to shake him and scream chill the fuck outtttttttttttt.

Ana has been awesome in helping me mitigate anger at this situation. She's a mother fucking peach.

Workout
Abs
Trap high pull 215x10x3
Leg curls
Trap bar row

Hf 170: conditioning

I need to find something else other than kb swings. Theyre great, but im used to them. The point of conditioning workouts is bulletproofing and staying in shape.

On staying in shape, i actually feel pretty god damn good. Diet is of course a factor (24hr fasts ftw) but i feel solid and in control. The fasting side has been super nice. 20+ hour fasts are kind of easier than 16. The hunger comes and goes in tiny waves. Im going to fucking feast later, so who cares (i ate the entire world last night).

Workout
Abs
Kb swings ss
- Lat pulldowns
- tri band pushdowns
- cable rows
- rear delts
- band bi curls
Neck side 1x50 7.5lbs

Focus on the squeeze for all super set stuff (especially back). This is not for strength, this is for getting blood in the muscles and tendons. Goal is both hypertrophy and bulletproofing. Doing 20 quick reps is not the goal here.

Hf 169: lifting tuesday

Feeling much better post the weekend. Good sleep. Fasting until dinner as often as i can to undo some of the damage ive done.

Workout
Abs
Trap bar high pull 205x10x3
- forgot to do 195, whatevs
- remember to pull with back and traps first. This is a surprisingly good bicep builder (allegedly, i just feel it a ton) but they arent the main drivers
- 1min rest
Prowler pushes x4
Ss
Trap bar row 135x3xamap

Hf 168: conditioning day Monday

Sex drive is shitty. A lot of that is self induced.
- weekend sugar
- weekend drinking
- fucked up with porn

This last was is frustrating af. It was a few weeks since my last relapse. The combo between carb free and porn free was leaving me horny af. Why did i relapse? Boredom? Tired? Depressed? Bleh.

Workout
Abs
Shoulder rehab
22min conditioning ss
- bw pullups
- band pushdowns
- cable rows
- rear delt raises
Neck curls 20lbs 1x50
Band rdls

Wisconsin ish musings

When things go nuts, simplify. Sets, reps, exercise choice. The reason i liked wisconsin so much was because it dispensed with variety on strength days. Strength was strength. Conditioning was conditioning. Power was power.

The reason i stopped was due to injury. Abs and conditioning are a mainstay from now on, but strength work can be more than just singles.

Strength day
Abs
30-50 reps strength or power movement
Optional assistance

**movements
Trap bar deadlift
Trap bar high pull
Trap bar press
Db clean and press
Front squat
Chinup
Zercher squat
Floor press
Snatch high pull

Conditioning day
Abs
Condition ss bodybuilding work (multiple movements, 10 to 20 reps/set)
Leg curl
Neck 1x50

Hf 167: WISCONS8NNNN BITCCHHH

Ok, maybe not, but close.

My 405 single yesterday scared the fuck out of me. Let's maybe not do that again eh? Instead, lets keep the focal point on a single exercise at a time, but increase the volume.

Found out that my gym is only really cool with me using the trap bar (PRAISED BE HIS NAME) on tuesdays and Thursday. The dude running the side gym yestersay was just being super nice. My bad dude.

Workout
Abs
Trap high pull 185x10x3
--1min rest
-- felt ok. Will focus more on recovery on condition days
-- focus on aggression
Light kettlebell swings
Ss
Pulldowns
Ss
Rear delts

Hf 166: more like wisconsin

Today was awesome. Finally back to deadlifting 405. Neat. Im not doing that again. The royal THAT refers to an all out single.

Back to wisconsin adaptation time baby! Simplification defined.

2-3x/week strength
3-4x/week conditioning and light bodybuilding

Strength:
Abs
Strength lift
- trap press
- db press
- trap dead
- trap hp
- zombie fs
- chinup

-- each lift has it's own rules on sets v reps scheme, but get >=30 reps
-- post stall, switch to an easier variation

Easier variations
1. Banded trap dl
2. Trap dl
3. Banded trap rack pull
4. Trap rack pull

1. Trap hp
2. Trap shrug

1. Db press
2. Db pp

Conditioning
Abs
Condition ss bodybuilding
-- kettlebells, sandbags, whatever
-- light hip extension
Leg curl
Neck

Condition
-- set rep scheme (10,15,25,50) or
-- timed (20-30min)

Bodybuilding
1. Banded rows
2. Curls
3. Tri pushdowns
4. Rear delt raise (every other set)
5. Pulldown
6. Pushup

Hf 165: c&p strength

Trap bar push press the bar 10x3
Chinup 10x3
Trap bar dl and hp 185x10x8

High pulls felt kinda weird. Switched to reguler deads halfway through. Workout completed in 30ish or so minutes which was pretty fun.

HF 166: Conditioning Day 5/24/19

I'm almost at the end of my 20 workout stint for kettlebell swings.

Next step:
- order loadable kettlebell for future iterations
- figure out other types of safe conditioning

The NE work I'm doing will continue. It's feeling great to lift 2x a week and bulletproof/conditioning 2-3x a week.

Workout
500 swings ss 3/4/5 BW rows
Neck side curls 5lbs x 50
Leg curls

HF Day 165: 5/23/19 Hypertrophy day

Getting a massage Saturday. Shoulder still hurts. Annoying af.

Workout
Right arm DB OHP 35x4x20
Right arm DB Bench 50x4x20
Band pull aparts xlots
Tricep pushdown 6x20
Reverse tri pushdowns 4x20
Trap bar deads 205x5x8
--still pretty easy. loooovin these
Shrugs 225x4x20
DB High Pull 30x4x10
BW row 3x10
Leg ext x50

How many recoveries you got?

My friend keenan is going to deadlift 600 before he turns 40. That's not to say 40yr olds cant gain strength or deadlift 600. Quite the opposite. We've been collectively hurt a lot over the last 12 years. Deadlifting 600 is crossing into territory where we are putting our bodies on the line for an arbitrary goal. The number is arbitrary because we are not powerlifters. No one will or should give a shit besides us. The push to get this record in now is because an injury along this path probably still will not come equipped with long term injuries.

My first disc was a reality check. It took me 3 months to move normally. 2 years to lift heavy again. 4 years before i was pain free. Thats a tall fucking order.

Although my latest and greatest lasted a fraction of the time, im still recovering from something major. Im still vulnerable. Im still mitigating what is long term and what is just painful now.

You can always bounce back. Normal movement is likely in your grasp. But like being brought back bt the lord of light. What gets chipped away in the process?

Hf 164: 5/21/19 conditioning is getting better

Strength and conditioning is helping each other synergistically. Gooooooood.

Back is feeling great, shoulder just ok. Just as i did for my back, im taking a more active role in healing said shoulder. Lots and lots and lots of rear delt work daily until blood solves this problem.

Workout
500 swings ss 3,4,5 bw pullups (great!!!!!)
-- rest periods dropping to 1min for longer sets
-- bw pullups is the way to go. Easy to recover from. Great for the joints. If and when i can start doing larger volune (8,9,10 or 135 reps) ill start adding weight
Rear delts and side delts
-- partials and full swings
Front neck 17.5x22
Back neck 17.5x50

HF 166: heavy day

Abs
One arm push press 75x3 (right arm only)
Snatch negative 50x3x5 (right arm), 25x3x5 (left arm)
Trap bar dead 315x3
Power shrugs 315x2x5 (doesn't feel good)
Cable row 170x2x20
Z curl 30x5x5
H Curl 50x3x5
Leg curl x lots

High frequency 163: 5/18/19

Been lazy in recording. Noticed a couple of things recently.
- reducing my supplement load has greatly increased my sex drive. Imagine that
- using bw only movements on bulletproof days to compliment conditioning is a better move than low rep strength. Leave strength to strength and hypertrophy days
- kb swings by themselves are not a great equalizer in the lean out game. They are, however, great for building my hips, hams, and lower back. This shit is invaluable

Once i finish this round of swings, i want to incorporate other gpp movements as well into the mix. However, swings are going to be in weekly rotation.

Strength and hypertrophy wise. Turning back to 2x a week naturally enhanced. It's fun, easy, and emphasizes the muscles i like. I can still train every other day of the week on bulletproofing.

Bulletproof workout
Kb swings x500 ss bw chins 2,3,4
-- slow increase volume on the chins and banded pushups. Will have to figure out when to add more weight/tension. That being said, volume and recovery is the key here.
Light band press 4x60 (left shoulder only)
Light band face pulls 4x20
Neck curls (side) 1x50 per side
Stretch

High frequency 160: 5/8/19

Trying to get in the swing of working out when i visit the lady. This is really the first time ive tried during the week in lakeland. Their gym, way better than mine.
- 3 power racks
- 1 oly platform
- ghr
- buffalo bar
- kettlebells
- its empty af

Other than that, sex drive is pretty meh. It's been frustrating. I need to bring it up with ana before it becomes a thing.

Kb swings have been crazy helpful for my back rehab, but im looking forward to trying snatch high pulls again (beyond the light ones i do now). Swings will always be in rotation though. Theyre great for conditioning and bulletproofing.

Workout
500 swings
Db row 50 (2,3,5) chest supported
Snatch hp 100x5min in 3rep clusters
--do from pins!!
Neck
-- front 12.5x50
-- back 15x42

High frequency 159: 5/5/19

Rando leg day 2. My butt, is getting so big from these kettlebell swings.

Also, my back is fucking sore from weighted chinup negatives. I like these a fuckton more than lighter full rom. Next week:
- lighter higher rep chins (2-5 reps)
- heavy negatives
- chest supported rows

Shoulder stuff is gonna take a back seat until i feel better. Snatch high pulls hit the mid and rear delt in the interim.

Workout
Bss 140x1
-- too heavy
Bss 80x7,3
Bss bwx20
Clustered French press
- 45lbs
- 30lbs
- 20lbs

High frequency 158: dan john 11 5/4/19

Dragging ass today.

Workout
500 swings
Parallel chin negatives 75lbs
Snatch high pull clusters
- 5min, 3reps/set, 15s rest
- 95lbs

The clusters were a nice way to get in extra volume. Left shoulder hurt when i didnt pull back into triple extension, but great form was rewarded with a great pump.

95lbs was the right weight to start with. Gonna use this technique with other finishers as well (bi, tri, and traps).

High frequency 157: 5/2/19 little break

Marking today as a non conditioning day. I got pretty down yesterday because of the shit i cant do right now. Cant oly lift or squat cause of my back. Cant do 2 handed presses because of my left shoulder. Annoyed.

Ive gotta say this shit over and over and over, but the fact that I can't do X is an opportunity to focus on the things ive still got control over.

This means i can become an expert with:
- all the chinups
- one arm presses
- bulgarian split squats
- neck curls
- basic bro arm shit
- cable rows
- conditioning

REMEMBER THIS TIME

Workout
Bss left leg
- 140x2
- 100x4,4,2
- 40x16
Sternum chinup (bunches)
Cable curls
Snatch upright row

High frequency 156: dan john 10 5/1/19

Workout
500 swings
One arm bench 5x (2,3,5)

High frequency 152: dan john 7 4/27/19

Catching the keto bug again. Fat is just so damn tasty bruh.

Workout
500 swings
Chinup 40 x 30reps

High frequency 151: dan john 6 but i am le tired

So tired. The woman will be the death of me. Mustnt stop. LOOKS LIKE YOU NEED A MED KIT SOLDIER LET ME WRAP YOU UP.

Workout
500 swings
50 btnp at 65lbs
Neck curls

Shoulder still hurts, but motion is lotion. I tried btnpp (nope), floor press (nooooope), then settled on light presses behind the neck with a wide grip.

High frequency 150: dan john 5 4/23/19

Worked out yesterday as well, but left leg started to feel hot and i quit the session. Finished up the volume this morning.

Relapsed hard into pornogg sunday. Ill tell ya man, it felt like shit. I had things to do and a day to do them. Nope. Instead i did nothing. Monday likewise was awful.

All in the recovery, but it's so weird how addiction raises its head. It tells you it's ok. That this is fun. That this wont hurt anything. Short term, addiction is right. In 2 days ill be right back where i want to be. But long term goals are collections of short term goals. Axe too many of these goals amd the long terms are fucked.

Workout (over 2 days)
Kettlebell swings 500 reps
Parallel chin 60lbs x 30reps
--do not increase weight yet. This wasnt hard but also not easy

High frequency 149: 4/20/19 dan john 4

Today was the easiest yet. Weird considering i was out late drinking. Then, immediately came home and ate a billion garbage carbs. Fat. You fat son.

Bloated af. Gross.

Last night out was actually amazing. Couple of things. Saw an old flame who had recently moved back into the country. Seeing her out an about a few years back would have been painful af. Last night when i found out she was married to the dude she had been seeing after me, i hugged tue fuck out of both of them. I was surprised how genuinely happy i was for them. This is great, so so great. Im in an amazing place right now and i love it.

Also last night, an older woman (def in my age range cause cmon) was macking super hard. I admire the direct approach, but even if i was interested and not involved already, im dogshit at responding to it.

Workout
Kettlebell swings 500 reps
--5x(10,15,25,50)
Rear delts 150 reps
--5x(5,10,15)

I wanted to do hspu, but my left shoulder has beem feeling shitty. Going to stick with pulls and rear delts until it feels better.

High frequency 148: dan john 3 4/19/19

Couple of notes...
- still tired af
- sex drive is, fine. There when i need it
- back feels amazing!!!!!

This is still really hard.

Workout
Kb swings x 500 in 5x(10,15,25,50)
Chinup 30x30 in 5x(1,2,3)
Stretches
Some rear delt work

Next press will be a hspu. Loading will be difficult given my setup, so i can try for more reps instead of weight or rom.

Try1: 1,2,3
Try2: 2,3,4
Try3: 2,3,5

High frequency 147: 4/17/19 dan john 2

Holy fuck today was hard. I had to take longer and longer rest periods near the last clusters.

The good news is i can see some long term potential with this as a mesocycle. Do one month for fat loss and conditioning, then 1 to 2 weeks of strength. Repeat the fat loss with a slightly higher weight. Or...fuck the strength entirely. I can get a pretty damn great workout with my rings, a rig, weights, and an adjustable kettlebell.

In either case, im excited to see what i accomplish after 20 workouts.

Im still coughing shit up. At this point, it's literally dried mucus stuck trying to get out. Im coughing it up in chunks instead of wet sacks. 2 things drives this: sex and conditioning. I literally coughed out 5 giant chunks that must have been queued up.

Workout
Kb swings x 5 rounds of 45lbs
10, 15, 25, 50
Dips 2, 3, 5 reps

High frequency 146: 4/16/19 danjohndanjohn

Seeing myself dive back into the annuals of my programming being too complicated. Each training session has chased strength, hypertrophy, conditioning, and fat loss. Everything is getting slightly better or slightly worse, sp lets max one goal instead of 4.

The next 20 workouts will be dan johns 10,000 kettlebell workout. The goal is fat loss. Go.

https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/10000-swing-kettlebell-workout

Workout 1
Abs
Kettlebell swings 10,15,25,50 x 5 rounds
Ring chinup 50lbs x1,2,3 x 5 rounds interspaced with kb swings
Stretch

Kb 500 rep
Chin 30 reps

High frequency 146 and 147: 4/11 and 4/12

STATS (getting back into this)
Sex drive: Low walking around. When Ana is here high af. Bless you girl.
Confidence: Medium
Energy: Medium/low

Interesting change to be honest. I may still be kind of drained from 3 things:
- being sick
- not switching exercises enough
- using higher reps for presses

I like the idea of linear progression, but if it has a longer term effect on everything else I may scrap it (for presses only). That aside, there is something so so much fun about hitting a max single press. Conversely, there are a number of presses where a max single doesn't really lend itself well (see: dumbbell pressing).

Workout 146
Chinup 45x7
--way worse than i was expecting
HSPU
--terrible, but im still sore af

Workout 147
Abs
Push press 165x3
--hahahahha are you kidding me???
Wide BW Chinups
BSS Leg Leg 90x13,8,5
Triceps
Rear Delta

High frequency: 4/10/19

Punch the clock day. Nothing great or bad.

Workout
Db push press 60x9
Bw chin x lots
Bss right 80x9,5,4
--wayyy easier  with dumbbells.in hands
Tri ext
Rear delt

High frequency 144: 4/9/19

I dunno how i feel at the moment. I generally felt better a few months back when i did less volume on my daily lifts. Max daily singles were fun and easy to regulate. They also left me feeling energized at the end of a session. Buttttttt, i also gained less overall muscle and strength (even if my expression of strength was still a+).

I used my assistance to fill in volume. Legs are new altogether.

This may be a good time to decrease volume or cycle exercises (leaning towards the latter, hellllooooo push presses).

Also also, i like the idea of returning to opposite assistance on the mains day. This means pull assist on push days and vice versa.

Alsox3, abs come first dumbass. Doing them last means no energy.

Alsox4, dance practice at night. My gas tank is low and it shows.

Workout
Parallel chin 65x4
--terrible
Bss left 80x15,8,7
Bw chins 10,8,6

High frequency 143: a joke, not great

Shoulders are still super sore from the weekend. Not a great session.

Workout
Ohp 155x1
Good morning 45x20,13,7
-- fine i guess. We shall see how i feel tomorrow
Hspu x4 lolol
Triceps
Start to do abs but my back felt shitty

Bruh you got fat again.

High frequency 142: less sick

Workout
Chin 55x8
--not bad considering the sick
Bss right leg 70x13,8,7
Cable Row 3 sets of whatever
-- i like doing these in the same day as chins. Possibly alternate assistance with light pulldowns or pushdowns, or pullovers
Cable curls
Rear deltz
Stretch

High frequency 141: 4/6/19

Been sick past few days. Thanks miami and chet. Been rethinking how to position both rest pause and legs training. Full body is my jam, and rest pause on upper body movements has been burning me the fuck out. We shall see.

Workout
Ohp 120x9
--terrible, but ive been sick so whatever
Bss left leg 70x17,9,8
Hspux12 > pu x23 > decline pu x20
Rear delts
Tricep pushdown
Stretch

Rest pause and linear progression

Beem digging deep into the body cavity of rest pause these last few weeks, and im enjoying what ive found.

Pros
- increased strength and hypertrophy
- allows me to milk a single exercise longer

Con
- recovery is seriously impacted. Since im training daily, push/pull is no longer an option

Previous to rest pause, ive been using straight linear progression. Increasing the weight every session while shooting for the same or greater reps (knowing that eventually theyre going to drop).

This too has been working well, but ive seen a rapid dropoff on reps a little too soon. Also, working with higher reps means i never really burn out or get that heavy until i hit a wall.

Rest pause grants me more volume per main exercise without breaking the bank.

What im using
- Hit a set at your working weight with as many reps as possible. Stop when a rep loses most of its speed or form breaks down
- 15 deep breaths
- repeat a set with the same weight
- 15 deep breaths
- repeat this cycle until youve done enough reps between sets 2-??? to equal the reps from set 1

Example session 1
Ohp 135lbs x 12
15 deep breaths
Ohp 135 x 4
15 deep breaths
Ohp 135 x 3
15 deep breaths
Ohp 135 x 3
15 deep breaths
Ohp 135 x 2

Example session 2
Ohp 140lbs x 11
15 deep breaths
Ohp 140 x 5
15 deep breaths
Ohp 140 x 2
15 deep breaths
Ohp 140 x 2
15 deep breaths
Ohp 140 x 1
15 deep breaths
Ohp 140 x 1

Change exercises when you are unable to increase weight on the bar

Routine
Day1 Vertical press
Day2 vertical pull
Day3 legs
Day4 horizontal press
Day5 horizontal pull
Day6 legs
Repeat

All days start with abs and end with conditioning
Press days:
- follow main press with triceps
- follow triceps with light rear delts
Pull days
- follow main pull with biceps
- follow biceps with hspu drop set (hspu > pu > decline pu)
- follow hspu with light rear delts
Legs
- follow main legs with hamstrings or glutes

High frequency 140: 4/1/19

Back from miami music week. Feeling worn down but not too terrible.

New strat for festivals is:
- meat salads
- propel
- airborne

Instead of backloading these events, i need to work on building the house of cards first.

Workout
Abs
-- so hard today
Bss goblet 65lbs, rest pause
- right leg x14,9,5
- left leg x15,8,7
-- makes more sense to do both legs together. Cutting out other assistance so i have time
Rowing 5 rounds 40/10
--rough

High frequency 139: 3/26/19

So sore. So incredibly sore. Rest pause feels great, but im already seeing a couple of things:
- i need more protein
- i need to not be so fat lol. These past few weeks have not been healthy
- i need to manage recovery in a major way

Point1 is easy. Eat more god damn protein dude.
Point2 is simple but not easy. Get back on the fasting and keto train during the day.
Point3 is in the air. Methodology:
- running a 3 way split. Literally push/pull/squat
- Condition daily, rear delts daily, abs 1-2x daily
- get to sleep earlier
- take a day off when i feel like ass upon waking

Bright side that needs to be mentioned is my back feels great again! I have some pain management (not nsaids) for when i fuck up, but i think im good for the most part.

Workout
Abs
One arm cable row 140x12,3,3,2,2,2
H curl 30x10,4,4,2
Rear delt 10x24/32
-- rest pause up to the reps for each arm
Condition 40/10, 7 rounds

High frequency 138: 3/25/19 bday workout

34 bitches. Didnt sleep enough. Weekend nutrition was bad. Really really bad.

Workout
Abs
Dips 75x8,2,2,2,2
-- thats about right for mah fat ass. Time to cut boys
Triceps
Rear delts
Bss left leg 55x20
Rowing 40/10x4 rounds

High frequency 136 and 137

Workout 136
Abs
Ohp 115x12
Rest pause 115x2,2,2,2,1,1,1,1
--15 seconds rest between rp sets
-- for workout 137 and on, use 15 deep breathes
Bw chin x 8,3
-- since using rp, remove pull from push days
Bss left leg 50x20
Conditioning!!!!!
-- row machine is safe on my back!
-- 4 rounds 40/20

Workout 137
Abs
Parallel chin 35x9
Rest pause 35x3,3,2,1
Rope cable curl 65x12
Rest pause 65x4,4,4
Condition 40/20x6 rounds
Bss right left 55x11
-- do this before conditioning dum dum
Traps thick band x12
Rest pause 4,4,4

High frequency 135: 3/19/19

Tale as old as time

Arms weak as they can be
Shoulders still looking jacked
Then my ass gets repeatedly smacked
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small progression in the least
Assistance now to fail
Face is turning pale

Beauty and the beast

Workout
Abs
Parallel chin 75x5
Hspu > pu > decline pu
-- to failure again. This was helping to add more volume
Cable curl
Rear delts
Band traps
Bss left leg 45lbsx20
-- getting way easier

High frequency 134: kinda in discomfort

I cant win man. Weeks of ab exercises have helped to heal my back, but now im growing some inflammation around my adonis. Fuuuuuuck me.

Sex hurts less than it did a few weeks back. I think most of the pain comes from twisty positions and less from physical activity.

Workout
Abs
Dips 65x16
Pullups parallel 3x10
Band pushdowns
Rear delts

High frequency 133: 3/14/19 took a break

Holy fuck ive been tired. Every god damn year, plant jizz just wrecks me. AHHHHHH.

I restarted oly lifting today starting crazy light. It was still super hard. Both a little scary for my back, and it unveiled how bad my conditioning has gotten. Although my upper body is looking pretty damn good, the lack of lower body work has left my quads and glutes soft. It's all perspective, but i hate my legs and ass at the moment. I need them strong and fast to match my upper body.

Workout
Abs
Snatch high pull 135x10x3
Hspu > pu > dec pu
Curls
Rear delts
Neck

High frequenccyyy so tirredddddcccxjsnsnsmkm

No fate but what we make

Workout
Parallel chin 65x7
--good
Hspu complex

High frequency 132: 3/5/19 back to some horizontal stuff

Returning to horizontal work reminded me a few things:
- this is a nice mental break
- horizontal presses and pulls can be done heavier and are easier
- my strength on horizontal goes up automatically the more i do vertical

Workout
Floor press 185x13,6,1
--best set ive ever done by 1 rep. Still not terrific, but a nice barometer of things to come
Cable row (1 arm) 140x19, 115x20, 115xpartialsx7

High frequency 131: amazing weekend. Thank you i feel terrible

I feel like a tank ran over me. My diet, sleep, training, and health have all retro graded weeks. I wouldnt trade this weekend for the entire world. Ive had vacations that were not this great. Every time i think about leaving st pete, weekends like this drag me kicking and screaming back into the fold.

Lets recount the events:
- ana left for nashville. Sad i didnt get to see her, but we texted/talked all weekend. It feels great to miss and be missed
- fri night ichicoro dance night. Friends all bailed by 11. I was having such a great time that i stayed for hours solo
- sat afternoon beach day, competitive volleyball, and acro yoga
- dinner party i was way too intoxicated to be at
- hot tub pt1 at dinner party
- hot tub pt2 at post dinner party dj party
- rough breakfast
- return to alexs pool. Set up a wook shantytown

Workout
So bad
Abs
Ohp 140x4. Barely
Wide pullups

High frequency 130: 3/2/19

Not hung over, but not totally ok either. Strangely horny af. Herro peen. We are in public so stop ok? PEEN. BAD PEEN. BAD PEEEN.
...this everything feels nice

Workout
Abs
-- leveled up to more volume after 2 weeks!!! Sets are now 5/3/2 reps instead of 4/3/2. Shooting to hit 6/3/2 in the upcoming weeks
Wide chinup 30x6
-- still wayyyyy weaker than other variations. Im gonna keep doing them for the difficulty factor
Hspu > dips > decline pu
Cable curls
Banded trap work
Rear delts
Banded neck extension (mehhhh)

The 'i just want to be better' commercials

Article summary: (stealing this statement)
An ounce of prevention worth a pound of recovery.

If i wasnt a slave to marketing before, i sure as heck am paying attention now. Commercials are not selling a product. They are selling an idea, a lifestyle, a paradigm shift. If only i had X, i could make progress, I wouldnt be in pain, she may fuck me, etc etc etc.

The commercials im thinking of specifically are medications geared towards the elderly and the odd 5hr energy commercial.

Elderly something something hurts
These are always somewhat similar. There are less talking heads than in commercials targeting a younger audience (Its a gamechanger, change your life, i cant live without it, who goes on a commercial to be a talking head CRAZY PEOPLE THATS WHO). More so, you will see the actor or actress doing something completely normal.
- Walking with their family
- eating at a restaurant
- pointing at things with grandkids. Lookie here...sonny?

When you are injured, and hurt, and depressed from said hurt, these normal things consume you. All i can think about is how good life will be when i can move and dance and fuck without pain. These normal things are worth everything.

To repeat: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of recovery.

Im doing now what i should have been doing for years.
- abdominal exercises. Daily
- forearm exercises. Daily
- stretching. Daily
- rear delt work. Daily
- neck strengtheners....not daily but a few times a week

Im about to become a mother fucking bullet proof expert, because ive seen both ends of the pool. The shallow end seems boring until you are drowning.

When do you get hurt? When you get complacent with your training. When you ignore you prehab. Most of all, when you think you can't.

Do your prehab. Do it often. It's not sexy, and it wont directly make you jacked and tan, but it is the key to long term health and stability. If you are hurt, you cant do normal activities or special moves

High frequency 127: 2/27/19

Feeling stronggggggg

That being said, my back was great going into the weekend, but now feels kinda just alright. This is ok, progress wont always be linear. I stoppes doing my exercises 2x a day, and that's just not an option.

MAIN QUEST: HEAL BITCH HEAL

Im going to restart doing bodyweight squats on the reg with bfr bands. My butt and legs are depressingly small and weak. Even stan efferding didnt stop leg training when he was healing his back. He shifted his training to movements he could do pain free. What's a few sets of bw squats per night?

Workout
Abs
Parallel chin 55x7, 30x10, 10x10
Hspu > pu > dec pu
-- not going to failure here
Bicep cable curls
Band traps dropset
Rear delt raises 5lbs

High frequency 126: 2/26/19

Slightly better today, but my back feels off. LAME.

Workout
Abs
-- almost threw up. Not cool
Ohp 135x9
--lost a rep, but this is still the best set at this weight ive ever done
Parallel bw chins x3
-- it's better if i finish one exercise before moving to the next
Tricep pushdowns, bands
Rear delt raises
Quad stretches

Traps and herniated discs

If you want to skip the article...tl : dr
- overhead pressing (dumbbell, barbell, klokov press)
- handstand pushups
- resistance band shrug dropsets
- neck curls

If youve seen the litany of hot complaints ive been dropping for the past few months, you will notice the common theme BUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MUH TRAPS.

Man i fucking love traps. Most movements i use to build them are complimented by performance enhancing, boulder shouldering, and glute growing add ons. They are stronger than you think and more resiliant than you know. But god damn, do they look cool or what?

Ive accepted the fact that my glutes will have to catch up to the rest of my body in a few months. Although they are still getting worked, their progress pales in comparison to the rest of my body. I have not accepted the fact that my traps will lag while my back recovers. Thankfully, i dont really have to.

Make no mistake, olympic lifts and front squats are mega awesome trap builders. I miss them and want them back. But in the face of injury, the options below are money.

Overhead pressing
- dumbbells, one or two arm, with or without light bands
- barbell
- klokov pressing
- push pressing (NOTE: be careful here. Ive had mixed responses from my back when catching the bar)
- handstand pushups

All pressing overhead is going to engage your traps. Ive found that horizontal standing or kneeling presses are easier on my back than horizontal (the leg drive on bench press hurts).

Handstand pushups are another avenue for the same result.

Resistance band shrug dropsets
This is what i came here to talk about. The problem with barbell shrugs and a fucked up back is the equal tension on all parts of the movement. Even reverting back to 225 or 315 hurt. My usual power shrugs are not options at the moment.

However, replace the barbell with SEVERAL resistance bands. Baby, you got a stew. The tension at the top of the movement is still hundreds of pounds (depending on the amount and type of bands youre holding) but has minimal impact on compressing your discs.

Your set will go something like:

Holding 2 to 3 bands
- as many reps as possible with a hold at the top and a slow eccentric
- when you cant do holds anymore, do as many quick shrugs as you can
- drop one band, repeat the process until you run out of bands

As the band tension gets lighter, extend the range of motion (i.e. try to do essentially a high pull with a hold) to add in some delt work as well.

Neck curls
This has been a pleasant find. My neck has been injured a ton. It sucks and im tired of it happening.

Much like ab work to fix my lower and mid back. Neck work is done as much to protect my neck as it is to build my neck and traps.

In this state, lighter work feels better. As ive stated in previous blogs, im a big fan of 10x10 with 10s rest between sets. Credit to alpha destiny.

Dan john and (A+B+C = D)

A+B+C = D
Or
A = Upper body presses/pulls
B = lower body a la knee extension and hip hinge movements
C = abdominal
D = total fitness and performance

Dan john brings this formula (sic: it's just a visual aid to tell a complicated tale) into vogue to illustrate why and what he focusses his atheletes on.

Increasing:
A = small effect on D
B = noticable effect on D
C = not a direct effect on D, but without it A and B fall apart

Im learning this lesson way too late, and not for the first time. 2015 was my most bulletproof year. Neck, shoulders, hips, whatever. I could lift the world and be fine.  The difference was that every training session focussed on weighted and unweighted ab wheel rollouts.

The injuries i have are annoying, but it's ridiculous how quickly my pain and discomfort have gone away with the addition of corrective exercise.