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