benefits to kettlebell training: a beginners lense

Don't listen to me. For real man. If you came here looking for sage advice or to feel justified in making a decision on doing X you're in the wrong place. These brain droppings are so I can remember what I like and what works for me when I inevitably veer away from productivity.

I'm a complete kettlebell novice, but not a lifting novice. Back and neck injuries have kept me on the bench for the past few years and I'm grateful to have the chance to build myself back up. With 0 incentive to revisit lifts or numbers I used to produce without an accompany revisit to physical therapy I've chosen kettlebells as my medium.

Schedule

Squat / press

Off: calisthenics 

Dead / pull

Off: calisthenics 

Weights

Oscillate between medium, heavy, and light pairs of days. Increase the weight when it's too easy. There is no rush to increase weight EVER. The focus is on improving control, coordination, power, and cardio.

Kettlebells will always be submaxinal weight, so make them feel heavy. This means:

- slow negative 

- explosive concentric 

- pause every rep

- squeeze the side that is not being directly worked 

Movements

Choose chaos via python script. It should be rare that the same workout occurs twice, but the same patterns will always repeat. 

Patterns 

- lower / lower alt

- upper

- combination lower and upper

- ab focus 

Nuances

45min on the clock.

As many sets as possible under control.

Rep quality > rep quantity. When in doubt do less but do it better.

1 set is the same sequence repeated on both sides (assuming most patterns are unilateral with 1 bell).

Bilateral movements are repeated on both halves of the set.

Lower / lower alt refers to an alternative movement every other set. Example:

- set 1: rack split squats

- set 2: Cossack squats

Body improvement goals

No measurements, just markers.

This is not an aesthetic physique goal. I essentially want to become a cube. Thin waist be damned.

Shoulders and abs should chunk up. 

Lats should get thicker. 

Spinal erectors should get thick as fuck.

Arms will benefit most from the off day dips/pullups. I don't expect kettlebells to do much in that regard.

Calisthenics: why and how

Dip variation is the name of the game here. I may add in pullups down the road, but my back is getting plenty of work on the reg. Likewise, my shoulders will benefit greatly from all things overhead. That leaves chest and triceps. Even if I'm going hard in the paint on dips, it's unlikely my chest and triceps will ever be a limiting factor for kettlebell work.

On the how, I'm stealing directly from swole at every heights method for implementing high ass frequency on 'off' days.

Build base volume

Week 1: 1 exercise x 1x10

Week 2: 1 exercise x 2x10

...

Week 4: 1 exercise x 4x10

Week 5: 2 exercises x 1x10

...

Week 12: 3 exercises x 4x10

Then add in chaos. Never repeat the same variations in the same order. If this gets too easy in any context, add reps or change the variation. Slow reps and pauses are a first line of adding control.

linear gains : chaotic approach

I've been learning python. Fucking, finally. I've always wanted to be able to program, but I've damn near failed every class I ever took. Good news! The reason isnt that my brain is a dud, it's because taking classes on some things is mind numbingly boring. Unless I can make a connection between an actual problem I'm having and what im learning, it ain't gonna stick. Case and point, sql. Nothing stuck in college, but I'm now considered one of the heavies at my company. 

I've got bigger plans for python, but I started on building a workout generator for sword and shield. With the press of a button, I can get weeks of randomized workouts and weights. There is NOTHING wrong with this approach, but I'm finding my neck still isn't up for dynamic movements. And I'll be damned if kettlebells aren't mostly dynamic.

This means I'm sticking with slower exercises for now, even if the goal is to move the bar as fast as possible. I've always been more comfortable with doing a shitton of times sets instead a few sets to failure to drive progress. This is what I came up with.

General

Linear progression push/pull

6 week mesocycles

Pull current: rdl, sdl, snatch rack pull

Pull reserve: rolling thunder dl, Jefferson dl

Push current: floor press close grip

Push reserve: dips, ring dips, pushups, ring pushups

Schedule 

AM (all days) mobility, sled, or suitcase carry 

Pull: 30min EMOM alternating

- pull current 

- kettlebell clean and press 

- (finisher post EMOM) 3x10-20 cable row

Push: 30min EMOM alternating

- push current 

- ring curl variation or ring row variation 

Off - mobility

Off - hill sprints 

Linear progression

The python randomizer pulls a value out of pull current for ever pull workout. Every time that same movement comes out of the bag, add 10lbs.

Example

Workout 1, rdl, 100lbs

Workout 2, snatch rack pull, 135lbs

Workout 3, rdl, 110lbs

...and so on

The weights start deliberately low and can climb deceptively high in a single cycle should their die roll hit several times in a row. 

Number of reps per set

Unimportant. The goal is to get quality work done without introducing a large amount of fatigue (Dan John's ladders anyone?). Leaving 2-3 reps in reserve is a good baseline. Another way to signal a stop is when speed noticably drops.

Swapping stale movements 

Ideally, movements should be swapped out as needed. This can happen at any point of a 6 week cycle, and serves as a mini deload as the new movement is introduced at it's starting weight. 

Progressive overload

Every full mesocycle completed with a movement increases the floor weight by 2.5-10lbs.

sword and shield variation oct 2022

Ripped this right from bells and bodybuilding. I'm a big fan of a loose program that strives for size and conditioning. As the progenitor puts it - there are bodybuilders who cant move and kettlebellers who look like they don't lift. Why not zoidberg (six: do both).

This program doesn't have scheduled rest days, so intensity and volume have to be pretty heavily monitored and managed. Going too hard on one day could mean sandbagging the next week.

The basics (my variant)

Day1: upper bodybuilding

Press variation 50 reps in 5 sets

Super set

Suspension rows and curls (no goal, just get blood in the body, utilize assisted negatives)

Press variation sets of 8 with 10-30s rest (1/2 main working weight)

Curl 1x100

Neck manual and band resistance x 1 

Day2: AM restore, PM condition 20-60min

Restore - 10min of sled drags or suitcase carries

Condition - alternate movements and loads each session

Explosive hinge : one and two arm swings

Clean and press variations : vary load

Day3: AM restore, PM condition 20-60min

Restore (same as 2)

Condition - (same as 2)

Windmills

Lower : squats, dead variations 

Nuances

I've tried peppering in heavier body building and conditioning days (see: kegs, farmers). I kind of wish I hadn't. These days are definitely possible but they dig a hole you have to eat and sleep out of.

Upper body building days are used both for hypertrophy and for an overall 'rest' for the rest of the body. Specifically, using movements that give your lower back a rest and pose minor danger to your shoulders due to the higher rep ranges.

Overall impression

I don't think I've ever felt better on a program both in terms of how I feel mentally and how well move. It's too soon to evaluate this methodology for strength and size, but I expect time and effort to pack on the meat.

conditioning 10/15

30min circuits

One arm kb swings (20kg x 15)

Windmill 12kg x 5

Keg carry

muscle up promise and peas and carrots

Muscle up promise

I will not watch YouTube or look at reddit until I can do a muscle up. That time is likely months away due to my neck injury and that is a ok with me.

Peas and carrots

The word is in from physical therapy. No more upper body until she clears me to do so. Until I get cleared, this means my days are filled with:

- bw bss (jumping and normal)

- bw one leg rdls

- sled drags from the waist

- nordics

- walking lunges 

- belt squats 

what is serving you

Belt squats yesterday were eye opening. It wasn't that I did an insane amount of reps pain free that was the cool part. No, the cool part was I actually felt squats in my legs. Wild, I know. 

I've been a huge front squats guy for the past decade or so. When my front squat goes up everything goes up. Around 2018 I noticed a sharp turn in how much I felt them in my quads. Soon after this turn, I hurt my knee and it took years to feel my legs working again.

Right now my legs are so sore I can barely walk. All the while I'm not really fatigued other than locally (i.e. I ain't touching squats for another 4 days). I know I'm actually getting growth and strength out of a movement instead of going through old motions that don't work.

Tldr

If you don't feel a intended muscle working it probably isn't.

brain droppings

Strive to be meek

The weak have no agency in expressing violence

The meek could ruin your day if they wanted to

Build an awful power and choose to be peaceful

kettlebell conditioning : one move. simple

1 bell

Dead stop clean and press 100 reps per arm

Or

Dead stop snatch 100 reps per arm

This should take less than 12min and is a fucking beast. Light weight works as well as heavier weight (taper the reps down if reps are less than 10/arm/round).

kettlebell conditioning : complex

Complex : 1 bell

1 rep of

Row

Deadlift

Dead stop clean and press

Snatch

(Switch hands)

Continue for 10min

Death

mentally batching reps for higher rep sets

Tldr 

Change your mindset with higher rep sets.

This is not a 'i discovered this thing. Noone else has ever done this before hisssssssss.' Nah brah. This is a I discovered this thing for myself that helped me slog through the nightmare that is higher rep squats.

Early on in my lifting life, I almost exclusively did sets of 3, 2, and 1. This wasn't entirely a bad thing either. I got close to the peaks of my strength with this strategy, but I ultimately got stronger (raised my strength floor) by way of medium rep back off sets. At my strongest, I was striving for new PRs in the 10rm range. Could I hit a better 1RM when I specialized in higher reps? Hell no, but I wasn't trying to. The entire idea was to get stronger via slowly increasing strength in medium to higher rep ranges. Not surprisingly, I mistook trying Bulgarian light as a method for moving my top end strength. Foolish. All that was happening was I peaked the strength I had spent years building. But I digress.

Higher reps suck. And they are awful. And they suck. There is a special hell with higher rep squatting because you can technically rest your legs (at the expense of your back stamina) and pump out more reps. The super squats program relies entirely on this fact with the use of breathing squats. What I found is a way to make higher rep squats suck slightly less without cheating the goal.

My rep goal right meow is 15. That looks a lot like 5 triples to me! Triples are easy and I love them. Instead of saying I'm on rep 13 Jesus please save me everything is awful, I can say I'm ony last triple. I can do a triple no problem. 

working from home | a unique avenue for powerbuilding

Ten years ago I said something stupid to my girlfriend on the way to a cruise. 

I'm gonna live like an Olympic athlete the entire time we're here. I'm gonna lift a stupid amount of times, then eat and sleep my fill to recover and it's gonna be awesome. 

As with all times when I talked about lifting (and my wife does now), she smiled and nodded and gave 0 shits but wanted to show how supportive she was of my brain droppings.

Weird enough, I'm in a better situation now that I could have possibly ever imagined in my 20s. I work from home, live in a future that has grocery delivery, and I have a home gym with weights I have to work up to lifting again. And dude, it's not getting better than this.

What makes more sense in my situation? Trying to shove a bunch of intense/volume work early before I work, or taking small breaks throughout the day to get in my sets? I accidentally experimented with this about a year ago through intermittent sets to failure of bodyweight pulls. And all it ever accomplished was the most impressive my upper body ever looked.

If you work from home:

• Your food probably lives with you. Prep ahead of time (my choice is slow cooked stews).
• Get a home gym. If you can't afford it or don't have the room, you have a multitude of options to move the needle without a barbell (kettlebells, rings, and homemade kettlebells for swings...I'm a looking at you baby).  

$$$ conditioning idea: booty gauntlet

What you need

1-3 kettlebells of different weights

The skinny

EMOM different variations of pushups. No set rep ranges.

Hit kettlebell movements in the EMOM rest period post pushups.

The fine print on kettlebells

In order, hit sets of the following. Once you fail to hit a complete set, drop down to the next difficulty tier. Once you hit swings, do 1 all out set per weight per round.

Note that you don't rest unless you have to. The snatchesx5 tier means you do that pet arm until it's time for more pushups or you run out of gas.

Example of difficulty tiers (reps per arm)

20kg snatchesx5 

20kg snatchesx3 

20kg cleansx5

20kg cleansx3

16kg snatchesx5

...

16kg cleansx3

20kg two handed swings 1xamap

16kg two handed swings 1xamap

more conditioning ideas

This entire endurance thing is new for me. Each implement tends to have its own benefit and place in my life. 

Kettlebells so far have been a fun comprimise between strength, hypertrophy, and cardio. Noticable changes to my back and shoulders started cropping up after a few weeks of continued use. 

Dragging sleds don't feel like they have a huge cardio impact, but literally every old injury feels better once I'm done. There's a side benefit of making my butt gigantic.

Kegs are fantastic but a little goes a long way. I've enjoyed both longer timed carries (20min) and shorter carries (5min) post workout, but the fact for me remains that 1x weekly is plenty.

Chaotic ideas that have worked for me

1. (Kb) Xmin non-stop

So many opportunities here. 

Single moves (half snatch, clean and press) work great for the sake of being able to 'rest' in the rack or extended position - switching arms when needed. 

Monster sets work even better from a cardio perspective. It's as simple as adding in reverse lunges or squats between switching hands.

Carries before switching hands is easier on cardio, but great for back health. My obliques have thickened up to meet the demands of this route.

2. (Kb) descending rep ladders

Same dealeo as #1 in terms of how many movements you want to employ. The major difference is work is split into individual sets complete with resting after a ladder is completed.

Increase the top rung number of reps to ramp up the difficulty without increasing weight.

Example single movement

Left hand half snatch 5 reps

Right hand half snatch 5 reps

Left hand half snatch 4 reps

...

Right hand half snatch 1 rep

Rest. Repeat 1-3x

Example monster sets

Left hand clean and press 5 reps

Left rack squat 5 reps

Right hand clean and press 5 reps

Etc

3. (Kb) escalating density 

Similar to #1. You set a clock for 15 to 20min. The difference is each set is not 'as many as possible.' 

Each set is 5 reps per arm. Do as many sets as possible in the time block. Rest as needed. Let reps drop as needed.

4. (Sled) EMOM

EMOM = every minute on the minute

Pick a predetermined path and drag the sled one way at the top of every minute. Try to time the distance and load so your rest works out to 20-30 seconds.

5. (Sled) Xmin until death

This is reserved either for: everything hurts or I have no motivation. Keep the load light, set a clock, and drag until you can't. The speed should be slightly slower than walking, and the pump in your legs will be unreal. 

all things hamstrings

Hamstrings are my favorite muscle to train. A good portion of this is I feel my age when Im not giving them the love they deserve. That being said there is no magic bullet for hamstring training that gives me everything I'm looking for. Different moves for different reasons. I'll incorporate everything on this list in any given week.

Best for hypertrophy

Nordic hamstring curls

My wife has made repeated comments at the size of my legs and ass at a time when I hadn't been squatting in over 3 years. I credit nordics for the lions share of that booty.

Best for bulletproofing

Monkey feet leg curls

Fit any leg curl in here. At a time when my back was completely fucked, the method I used to ease some of the pain was daily band leg curls. 

Best for feeling athletic

Power cleans, single leg supported rdl

Power cleans are my classic favorite. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them, but they aren't something that are in my rotation (replaced with kettlebell cleans which are not remotely the same). Single leg rdls tap into a deep stretch for very little cost up front. Supporting yourself with one hand (power rack, pole, whatever) allows you to lean into the stretch without balance being the limiting factor. This can be easily loaded by holding a dumbbell in your free hand.

Bonus: bodyweight leg curls

An old Ben Bruno move. This is a great alternative to nordics, and can be loaded much quicker. Extra bonus is they are incredibly safe to perform, and single leg eccentric work can be emphasized almost immediately.

get fucked : kettlebell (snatch, press, clean) + carry

I'm sitting in the airport wondering why my lats are telling me to get fucked. Oh. Oh ya. That thing I did that I loved that kept my back under constant tension for 15min.

General template

One arm movement 1-10 reps

One arm suitcase carry

Switch arms

Repeat until time runs out (10-20min)

For me this looked like

5 reps snatch left arm

Walk my lawn suitcase carry

Switch arms

5 reps snatch right arm

Walk my lawn suitcase carry

Switch arms

Repeat for 15min

If it's too easy, add reps, distance, time, or weight. This satisfies exactly what I want out of kettlebell training. My back feels amazing (as it usually does after any sort of abdominal challenge), my cardio was challenged, and I feel like I can still do it again in a day despite my lats anger.

instant recovery : suitcase carry after pressing

Post dips, pressing, whatever, I want to make sure my shoulders are taken care of. Static stretching definitely helps, but I've found suitcase carries to be a more useful option.

I discovered this on accident a few years ago when my left shoulder was giving me issues. All of the tightness I felt immediately dropped away after a light set of cleans. Because I'm a dumbass, I didn't give this two thoughts other than thanking the gods for my sudden great fortune. Suitcase carries are an easier touch method of getting to the same result.as a bonus, they add some basic GPP and promote back health (via building up obliques). 

5-10min post workout is plenty. Walk preset distances and switch hands, or just switch hands when your grip tires out. Weight doesn't matter as much as you would think, but 35+ pounds is a good minimum to start with. If harder conditioning/strength/hypertrophy is the goal instead of recovery, feel free to jack up the weight.

advantages and disadvantages to high frequency

Reflections from the last few months. I've taken exactly 0 rest days for physical activity.

Advantages

- anything 'counts.' physical activity doesn't always mean resistance training.

- hard training can happen less often. The systematic stress is pretty heavy, and It's rare I'm not sore. You can hit muscles with difficult training 2-3x a week and know you're still more than covered.

- smaller warning signs can be heeded immediately. If you need to cut a training session short, who gives a shit. You'll be back at it tomorrow. Nothing is lost.

Disadvantages

- as previously mentioned, constant soreness is a given. Get used to it.

- a high emphasis needs to be placed on recovery. This isn't a bad thing (you should pay attents regardless of whether you're lifting daily), but not having your sleep and diet dialed in will be brutal.

Example schedule: this shifts as needed

Monday: AM full body, heavy. PM Neck

Tuesday: AM sled drags. PM leaded carries

Wednesday: AM kettlebell swings and cleans

Thursday: repeat Monday

Friday: repeat Tuesday

Saturday: heavy conditioning. Sandbag clean and presses, kegs, kettlebells, whatever.

Sunday: walk, sled, whatever.

Within all of these days, I try to get a few fast paced walks during the day or in the evening with my wife. The most obvious change I've noticed is my sleep and axiety has been superb. 

working from home | no excuses to succeed

The fun and not as fun reality of working from home is there is literally no way to hide from the fact that the variables overlording your physical and mental health are mostly under your control. That's a lot to take in. When I couldn't get in shape in the past, I could convince myself it was because I couldn't stop to eat, sleep, or train as often as I wanted. There was always something that filled the gap of 'well if only X I'd be a monster.' Granted these statements were bullshit before I worked from home, let's take a peek at some common variables.

Sleep: I've got no time to sleep!

False. You have no commute. This means you can sleep more at the beginning and end of your day. The wildcard for mid day naps also exists. Who is gonna stop you?

Cardio: I've got no time for cardio!

Falssssse. Multiple short walks a day or hard cardio via conditioning can and should be sprinkled throughout the day. Need to find time? How many times do you dick around on your phone or streaming services? There's time.

Diet; it's too hard to plan meals!

This is stupid false. We live in the future, and the future has Instacart and slow cookers. You literally can have people shop and machines cook for little to no time investment. You have complete control over everything that enters your house and your mouth.

Training: I don't have time to train!

False. Do I even need to do this? I've trained every day for the past few months. Multiple times a day when I have the energy 

The fact is, if you work from home, you are the closest thing to being able to live the life of an elite athelete without being an elite athelete. Add on a few cheap home gym items (pull-up bar, rings, single kettlebell) and you're set for life. 

The cold truth of working from home is this: if you can't get lean and jacked with every advantage in front of you, it was never going to happen. And that's a hard pill to swallow 

conditioning | grit

Over hulaween, I asked my buddy what his secret talent was. Grit. He said,.without hesitation.

I fucking love that. So much so, that I've stopped calling conditioning conditioning or hard cardio. I'm training grit. Resilience. The ability to push through a shitty situation when I want to stop. I've been in a daily training habit for 2 months now (love it), and the majority of my training surrounds grit workouts. 

Why?

- they're good for your heart.

- there is no guess work. I allow chaos to dictate implements, sets, reps, whatever. The only variable I pay attention to and set ahead is time.

- it's an amazing way to start a day or even break up a day.

- they make the workouts that drive strength and hypertrophy easier and possible (see: via rehab and injury prevention).

If we are being honest, I'm fanboying because I've ignored grit my entire training life. All of the programs that said do your conditioning? Ya I didn't. And I regret it a ton.

Today's grit

16min EMOM 

- odd minute 25 kb swings

- even minute 5 kb cleans

8.5min suitcase carry for distance (also kb)

Red Deck - Lifting for Destruction

Rehashing an old favorite from earlier this year. 

WEEK 1-3

1. Dips and rows

AM - Strength

• R Dip 6x3, rest pause last set (ex: 5,3,2)
• R row 6x3, rest pause last set (ex: 5,3,2)

 PM - Hypertrophy

• BW Dip, BW Row (ladders or downs)
• Tri ext, curls, delts

2. Condition 

3. OFF

4. Pushups and pullups 

AM - Strength

• R pushup 6x3, rest pause last set (ex: 5,3,2)
• R chinup 6x3, rest pause last set (ex: 5,3,2)

 PM - Hypertrophy

• BW pushup, BW chinup (ladders or downs)
• Tri ext, curls, delts

5. Condition

6. OFF

WEEK 4 - Deload

Straight sets 6x3 50% week 3 weight

DAILY

BSS - add 1-5 reps/leg per day

Ab wheel, as needed

Injury, Attitude, and Repeating Mistakes

I want to reflect for a bit. I had an article queued up about differences in training between my 20s and my 30s, but then I got hurt. I got hurt doing something I would have specifically called out as fucking stupid in the article I didn't finish writing. I'm really trying to figure out what I'm frustrated about with this entire debacle, because getting hurt is unfortunately part of the game. It doesn't matter if you exert yourself physically or otherwise. Injury can find you.

For a quick preamble before the bulleted list, I fucked up my neck and my right knee. My left arm has been completely numb for days (although that is almost completely turned around) and I feel a sharp pull in my right knee when it bends under weight. 

My thoughts from this last shitty week:

• My immediate thought was I'm fucked and it's not going to get better. This is a loser mentality. A 'war story bro' mentality. So what if my most of my body is out of commission, my left leg is fine. What's to stop me from racking up obscene amounts of volume with my left leg while the rest of me heals? Absolutely nothing. I'm not an invalid. I'm just acting like one.
• I've been seeing a neck injury coming for weeks. Instead of, I don't know, actively working on making it stronger for once, I kept hammering in on compound moves that I know are tough on my neck and traps.
• Once the initial neck injury happened, I doubled down and did farmers walks to stretch out the area. This no doubt both made the initial problem worse as well as incited the knee fun I'm experiencing.
• For the longest time, I have no programming. I'm lost at sea.

So where do we go from here? I'm in a weird spot where it's not a great age to take large risks or to ignore nagging pains. I had the right idea with one of my workout ideas (which I promptly abandoned after a week) where I could alternate heavy and light blocks of movements. 

Light (4 week blocks)

• Calisthenics.
• High volume.
• High frequency (2x / day). 

Heavy (4 week blocks)

• Weighted calisthenics, barbell squats, and barbell deads.
• Medium volume.
• Medium frequency.

The keys I'm missing are consistency and training for longevity. If I want a chance in hell in being in good shape when I'm a father, I need to abandon my chaotic approach to programming. There's a time and a place for chaos, and that's for conditioning. I can engage with the plan above and not exclude sandbags, farmers, kegs, whatever. I just need to be smarter with them. When I'm introducing chaos to my routine every week, I'm not correspondingly listening to what my body is saying. And bubbee, it was screaming before I got hurt. 

bodyweight leg curl (rings): underratted assistance movement

Digging up a gem from Ben Bruno to splurge a little bit. Back when i was on a steady diet of calisthenics + carries something weird happened. My legs and rear got bigger. Way bigger. All the while without me putting on fat.

The problem with having a routine with a ton of variety is you have no idea what was poison versus what worked. I didnt use weights. So what the fuck was it? Was it bulgarian split squat jumps? Was it farmers walks? Was it nordic hamstring curls?

Ive had a few months to try these things out in isolation. The verdict is bss jumps dont make my legs bigger, farmers walks are good for everything but tend to be a multipler stimulus for other movements (i.e. an rpg support class), and nordics dont do shit.

The other party member i had was an old friend - bodyweight leg curls suspended from rings (holding rings with my hands). They are supremely underrated and here is why:

- lower back friendly. Unlike RDL's (great movement, but erectors tend to be the weak link) your hamstrings and ass are the limiting factors.

- loadable: add a weighted vest. use one leg. Elevate your legs higher. Hold the top contraction longer.

- great 'feeler' movement. I get immediate feedback that this is making my backside bigger and stronger.

- mother fuckin hyyyypertrophy. There were many variables tied to my size increases, but they were most pronounced with high volume leg curls.

work capacity maximum

Edit: The day after

Everything is sore. I'm full on tired. I did not eat enough to support this level of volume.

I still love this concept.

Edit: a week after. Everything is stronger because of this session. I think the right way to play this is to come back to bw only 10 to 20yrs down the line if my joints require the break. 

This idea: I guess i want my heart to explode. Seriously, my blood is pumping and i didnt even do the entire thing in a single bound.

The course correct back to pure calisthenics for upper body is:

- it's enjoyable af. 

- it's easy on the joints.

- everything else is not agreeing with my body right now no matter how light. For real, a 35lb dumbbell press damn near injured my neck.

- this fits in nice and easy with a fasting schedule.

Lower body? You keep doin what you were doing baby. With the exception of nordic curls, all of the bodyweight leg stuff was doing fuckall for me except making my hips angry.

Tu/Th/Sat

(Opt) Breathing squat 1x20

Circuit 3-8x

Lower - kb swing or nordic 

Upper - switch push and pull in a giant mechanical dropset

Mon/wed/fri: fast, sled work

Example circuit:

Nordic x amap or kb swing x10

Ring dips, rest 20s

Ring pullups, rest 20s

Ring pike pu, rest 20s

Ring pullups band assist, rest 20s

Ring pu, rest 20s

Close ring pullups band assist, rest 20s

Bar dips, rest 20s

Bar parallel pullups, rest 20s

Close bar dips, rest 20s

Bar parallel pullups band assist, rest 20s

Pushups, rest 20s

Ring rows, rest 20s

Tri ext, rest 20s

Bicep focus partial pullups

Rest 3-4min

So ya, lots of work and long fucking sets. I didn't plan this out, and no two circuits were exactly alike. In general, i moved from harder moves to easier moves. That's it.

kratos dominoose: high frequency, alpha destiny inspired

Schedule

Sunday: Calisthenics, conditioning, quick and the dead

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Heavy

Wednesday: Calisthenics, conditioning, quick and the dead

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Light

Saturday: Calisthenics, conditioning, quick and the dead

Heavy/Light Days

- 3 movements, 15min block per exercise

- Movement 1 is dynamic: power clean, snatch HP, DB snatch, push press, BTNPP

- Movement 2 is a squat: BSS jump, FS, ZS

- Movement 3 is a pull: RDL, seated row

- Heavy days: Sets of 1-3

- Light days: Sets of 6-12

Calisthenics, conditioning, quick and the dead

- If doing quick and the dead swings, do them first for power.

- Calisthenics can be ladders or countdowns. Get in a fuckton of volume on basic movements. 

- Randomize calisthenics movements and conditioning. Figuring it out on the actual lift day is great.

Example calisthenics

Ladder ring pullups 1,2,...,10 super set bar dips 2,4,...,20. Try to eliminate all rest.

Countdown bar dips 20,19,...,1. 60s rest between sets.

Example conditioning

Sled drag, run back to start, keg carry. Rest 30-60 seconds.

Sandbag highpull x4, sandbag zercher carry. Rest 30-60 seconds.

Any of Chandler Marchman's kettlebell conditioning. Post with growing list.

olad: linear progression (all muscle groups)

Writing this shit down as it comes. Too often I find myself grasping for a concept i fleshed out and poo poo'd. Ive been grateful for the few times ive actually catalogued my training because it's been great to look back on and analyze.

AM: Conditioning

- not optional.

- Chandler Marchmans kettlebell routines work great here, but anything made up on the spot works period. The more alien the better.

- do not repeat workouts close to each other.

- avoid excessive lower back strain (heavy farmers carries are a no go).

PM: OLAD

- optional. Skip days when absolutely wrecked or feeling low/depressed from overreaching.

- stop sets before you hit grinders.

- (until top set = 5 reps) top setxamap,  volume sets, 1xpump set.

- (when top set <= 5 reps) 10x3 or 12x2 straight weight.

- (when 10x3 or 12x2 fails) switch movements

Example week

Mon: ring chinup

Tues: rdl

Wed: ring dip

Thurs: jump squat

Fri: rope climb

Sat: db clean and press 

Note: weekend dates are great for farmers because of added recovery. Likewise, hybrid explosive speed strength moves (snatches, clean and presses, high pulls) go well here.

kettlebell conditioning : chandler marchman collection

Creating a data dump for all kettlebell conditioning ideas I've liked and used from Chandler Marchmans YouTube channel. These fit in great as post workout finishers, or a post power workout finisher.

Unless otherwise stated, every exercise is completed in a series with 5 reps. Each series is completed 2-5 times with 2-3 min rest.

Shoulders builder, 6/18/21

Link

Offset z press, each arm

Clean and press, each arm

Lateral pushups

Pushups on kettlebell

Goblet walk (50ft)

Two handed swing

Deadlift

Legs 11/20/20

Pause goblet squat ss reverse lunge x10

Two handed swing x10

Dead x10

Link

Note: do not underestimate this one. A 45lb kettlebell whipped my ass. I took at least one break per set. The last set felt like a max effort every rep. This works great right now in lieu of a quad focused day 

Legs 7/4/21

Goblet squat, deadlift
3x5 goblet
3x5 dead
3x3 goblet
3x3 dead
3x1 goblet
3x1 dead
Rest and repeat 2 more times
Each intra set uses a different weight
Ex: 3x5 goblet means
1x5 weight 1, 1x5 weight 2, 1x5 weight 3

Link

morning conditioning 6/28/21

10min

3 box jumps

10 step ups (per side)

10 pushups

This was great. Woke me up without grinding me down into paste.

olad : pulls and squats only

I've never liked pressing. For me, it's the last kid picked for a frisbee game. Fuck, ive got to place Carl on a team. He's gonna slow down whatever team he's on but i cant just leave him on the sidelines playing Pokemon. 

It's not even the movements that irk me necessarily. Explosive presses in particular are fun af and i see a direct transfer to my shoulders when i put in the effort. The nagging feeling is i feel like they are taking away from the things i really want to do. If i could run cleans and snatches until the end of time i totally would (disclaimer: and still have nasty shoulders and triceps). 

Here's the test. Im not saying Carl can't play, but he's not exactly on the team. Ive toyed around with one lift a day (olad) in the past and absolutely adored it. The limiting factor always becomes my ability to recover. A lot of this stems from heavy pressing and utilizing rest pause a little too much to drive volume.

New test: 

- olad with upper body pulls and squats 

- alternate lower upper

- avoid failure most of the time

- swap movements when one stalls

Carl still gets hit daily after olad: 

- different press variation and ab wheel.

- Grease the groove method in play. Stop well before failure every set.

Sample week

Mon: 

- glute ham raises

- hspu

Tues:

- ring chinups

- pushups

Wed: 

- bss (left leg)

- rear delt raise (left)

Thurs:

- ring rows

- db press (left)

Fri:

- bss (right leg)

- rear delt raise (right)

Sat:

- rope climbs

- db press (right)

Sun: rest

Sets and rep schems will not be found here. Generally, start with a higher weight set, get in some medium weight volume, and end with lower weight higher volume. If you want to add 1 set of extremely light minor accessory (see: curls) this wont break the bank.

10min conditioning can and should be added daily where possible.

In terms of progression, it doesn't matter too much. Add weight every few weeks or strive for more reps. Swap a move when it gets boring or stuck. Ez.

pezutti wisconsin

Lean into it

Morning

Ring dip 100x1, 55x2x2

Kb swing 3 rounds 40s on / 20s off, 20kg

Afternoon

Upper body pull medley

condition | sandbag hp and bw squat | very minute on the minute

I greatly regret basing my reps off of the first set. 

1st set

3 sandbag high pulls

6 bw squats

Internal monologue: well i barely felt that. Am i coddling myself? Has the bitch not left mah soul? 

Sstan: double it

Internal monologue: yeshhhhh mah mashterrrr

Min 1 - 10

5 sandbag high pulls 

10 bw squats

By minute 5 i yearned for death. This was a great end to an upper body workout. Doing high pulls with the sandbag is money because there doesnt have to be a concentric. I just drop the fucker on my feet.

How to:

Every minute on the minute do

5 sandbag high pulls

10 bodyweight squats

The faster you finish your sets, the more rest you have before the next set. This was surprisingly brutal.

calisthenics: push legs pull legs (repeat)

It's not like it sounds. 

I want to work out every day. If im going balls to the walls with the same muscle groups daily, that can't happen. If i do ring work too often, my hands get ripped up. Theres got to be a medium.

Enter the bro split version of calisthenics. Typically PPL (push pull legs), I'm interspacing legs in the mix much more often to give my hands a break. 

Break each phase into 2 month long cycles: hypertrophy and strength

Hypertrophy phase: bw only on push and pull 

Pull 

Legs

Push

Legs

Repeat

Push and pull hypertrophy 

4-5 movements, 5x10 per movement, avoid failure

Start with difficult movements, move towards easier

10s-60s rest between sets

2min rest between exercises

End with isolation (shoulders, bi or tri)

Legs hypertrophy 

1-2x lift per day

Quick and the dead (kb swings and pushups)

Conditioning 

Strength phase: weighted calisthenics 

Stick with ring dips and ring chinups

1st Push/pull

Legs

Off

2nd push/pull

Legs

Off

Repeat

Push and pull strength 

1st push/pull 1x3, 3x8 (autoregulate weight)

2nd push/pull 5x5

Legs strength

Same as hypertrophy 

Add in glute ham raises and trap high pulls

power calisthenics 2 x electric boogaloo

Found a full body split works great with this template, but as an added bonus splitting movements into planes per day.

Who does this workout work for?

• Goal is to train for general strength and hypertrophy (not maximal in either respect).
• Mobility and joint health.
• Enjoy working the same muscle groups with a high frequency.

What equipment is needed?

• Any type of suspension trainer would be great (rings, trx knockoffs, homemade trainers).
• Pullup bar. This can be nixed if you have a suspension trainer that hangs high enough.
• Dip bar.
• Cinder blocks and a chair. Use cement to anchor the chair when doing jump bulgarian split squats.

What happens when I can do too many reps on the hardest variation? I don't want to train for endurance!

Hey! This is a great problem to have! If you get to the point where you are knocking out 15-20 rep sets on the hardest bodyweight variation of an exercise, then you have a few options:

• Add weight to the current exercise (conversely, add a 5lb vest and do the same workout).
• Decrease the stability of the current exercise.
• Add a new (harder) variation before the one you have mastered.

2 week mesocycle

Week1

Monday

Morning - Dip variations | Row variations | Bulgarian split squat variations

Afternoon (optional) - Conditioning

Diet: High protein and high calorie. Get in as much quality food as possible.

Tuesday: OFF

Diet: Fast until 5-8p. 

Wednesday:  

Morning - Pullup variations | Pushup variations | Bulgarian split squat variations

Afternoon (optional) - Conditioning

Diet: High protein and high calorie. Get in as much quality food as possible.

Thursday: OFF

Diet: Fast until 5-8p. 

Friday: Same as Monday

Saturday: OFF

Don't worry about diet, just don't be a weekend asshole.

Sunday:

Morning or afternoon - fuckin whatever man. Play. Do whatever feels right.

• Landmine push presses
• Sandbag pendlay rows
• Landmine lateral raises
• Tris and bi's
• Yoke walk
• Farmers walk  

Don't worry about diet, just don't be a weekend asshole.

Week2

Monday: OFF

Diet: Fast until 5-8p. 

Tuesday: 

Morning - Pullup variations | Pushup variations | Bulgarian split squat variations

Afternoon (optional) - Conditioning

Diet: High protein and high calorie. Get in as much quality food as possible.

Wednesday:  OFF

Diet: Fast until 5-8p. 

Thursday: 

Morning - Dip variations | Row variations | Bulgarian split squat variations

Afternoon (optional) - Conditioning

Diet: High protein and high calorie. Get in as much quality food as possible.

Friday: OFF

Diet: Fast until 5-8p. 

Saturday: Morning or afternoon - fuckin whatever man. Play. Do whatever feels right.

• Landmine push presses
• Sandbag pendlay rows
• Landmine lateral raises
• Tris and bi's
• Yoke walk
• Farmers walk  

Don't worry about diet, just don't be a weekend asshole.

Sunday:OFF

Don't worry about diet, just don't be a weekend asshole.

power x calisthenics

Thought process was driven in part by what i wanted to buy next in the gym - a kensui weight vest or farmers handles. Ive been feeling lost with weighted calisthenics and found with weighted carries, so handles it is.

The idea is this:

- carry heavy stuff

- calisthenics workouts are bw only

No set and rep schemes on the calisthenics work. Start with a hard version of a kinetic chain, and move to easier exercises as the workout progresses.

Split is still

1. Push/squat

2. Pull/hinge

3. Carry

4. Rest or repeat

Workout push example: 35min

Note: all push and legs sets are super setted with 1min rest 

Ring archer pushups: 3,3,2,2,1

Ring dips: 9,8,7,7,3

Pseudo planche pushup: 1

Ring pushups: 10,6,4

Dips: 10,7,5

Close tri ext: 12,8

Rrg grip tri ext: 10,8

Knee squinx pu: 10,8

Bss jump; 12,8,8,8,7,5

Bss: 21,15,13,12,10,8

Reverse nordic curl: 10,10,8,3

Garage Gym Update x Next Equipment

 Picked up a barbell, 195lbs of weights, and swing straps. Noticed a couple of things right away.

• I still should NOT do cleans/snatches. This is annoying. My lower back is SORE after 5 easy sets of RDL's alone.
• Weighted carries with the swing straps kicks copious amounts of ass. I likely.
• Farmers walks with bands are surprisingly hard due to the bounce factor. The only thing i don't like it they are difficult to load and to grip. 70lbs per hand is about as much as I can do right now.

I did want to get a kensui vest queued up next, but I'm not so sure it's next in the lineup. Possible:

• More weights.
• Mini farmers handles.

timed x rest pause

 Really enjoying this variation of rest pause. Instead of taking a clean number of sets, reps, rest periods, or rest pause periods, just set a timer and get to work.

All sets can approach failure without going to failure. Set a rep goal for the time period you use and increase the weight if you hit your goal. I also found a conjugate/concurrent method of lifting (see: heavy day | lighter/volume day) works really well with this type of rest pause. Going heavy all the time is great, but I need to back off way sooner than if I relegate 1 heavy day a week.

Example:

Ring dips | Heavy | 5min | Rep goal 20

9 , 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 2 , 1  = 26 reps, increase weight next time 

dont miss days

Ive got that voice in the back of my head that wants me to not do anything. We all do. This voice has speech level 70. It threatens, it bargains, and it complains. I hear it the loudest on my off days.

"

Hey man, youre fasting today. Dont do anything. 

Arent you afraid of impacting your lifting tomorrow?

"

Cool story bro.

Something is always better than nothing. And that something is activity, not necessarily lifting. I get wrapped up in 'everything is training' when its more accurate to say training is training. Everything else is staying healthy and mobile. 

Off day activity can be easy and it can be short. Personally it hypes me up for the day. And i really. Really. Really dont think 10 to 15min of conditioning is bad for anyone regardless of fasted status.

Examples

60min brisk walk

10min light farmers walk

15min heavy farmers walk

15min medley of 3 bodyweight exersies (3,6,9 rep cadence)

Strongman medley: keg carry, farmers carry, sandbag carry

push pull splits : the best

Ive been on and off push pull splits for near a decade. I consistently make my best gains with them until i decide to sabotage and derail a good thing. It's real simple.

Day1: presses, squats

Day2: pulls, hamstrings or deadlifts

Day3: off

Day4: off or repeat

Add a brief conditioning session after each workout. Baby, youve got a stew. Conditioning as a separate day feels kind of wasted. Not because theyre not useful, but because im warmed and ready to go by the time theyre over. Id rather start in a hole and go from there.

Post workout, accessories can be linked in during the day. For press this is triceps, shoulders, and quads. For pull, this is biceps, shoulders, lats, and hams. Isometrics and abs can be any day. Ez.

Example

Push1

Ring dips rest pause x 3

Step ups x 9 (one set per rest pause)

Condition

...After, sets of

Bw tri extensions, different grips

Ring extensions

Band shoulders

Abs

Reverse lunge

Iso

Pull1

Ring rows rest pause x3

Hamstrings x 9 (one set per rest pause)

Condition 

...after, sets of

One leg rdl

Bw pullups, different grips

Ring curls

Abs

Iso

Push2

Ring pushups rest pause x3

(Same as push1)

Pull2

Ring pullups rest pause x3

(Same as pull1)

Other variables:

Switch push or pull movements if bored

Switch progression schemes periodically (ex: clusters, top sets and backoff)

Conditioning changes every session

Off means off

Recovery, fasting, walks, and god damn suction cups.

single max(ish) | single clusters | volume | accessory

 Dips. 

A metric fuckton of dips is what I did. Using cluster training as a base with some volume to back it up.

Dips yo

Max(ish) BW+105x1, 10-20lbs left in the tank. Slow but not a ginder.

Singles BW+75x1x15. Controlled negative. Explosive concentric. Done in about 12min rest as needed.

BW+30 x4x8. This is how many sets it took before I couldn't get 8 reps. ~20-30s rest.

BWx12,11,10,9,8,7. ~20s rest.

Total volume: 105 reps. Couple more counting warmups.

Accessory:

Lateral band raise 1xamap multiple lengths

BW tricep extensions x20,10, had to stop right tri is not ok with this.

poliquin clusters

It's been a long fucking time since i just used singles. Boy oh boy did i miss them. I dont know if it's just working with a heavier weight or feeling shaky while still energized post workout, but singles rock.

I used poliquin singles, a type of rest pause, so i could still get in some inverted rowing volume. Accessory post main lift was normal.

Workout

Fat grip Dips 65lbs

4 clusters of 5 singles

20s rest between singles

3min rest between clusters 

Every cluster ends with a single set of inverted rows 1xamap 50lbs

Accessory

Rear delt, bands 

Close tri bw extension

Front delt, bands

Tri bw extension

isometrics only workout

Ive never done this period. 

Isometrics are a little bit of a leap of faith due to the information on them. They work. They dont. Use short holds. Use holds of 30 to 60 seconds. Yielding isometrics! No....overcoming isometrics....

Cool guys. Cool.

Why am i even entertaining this as an idea? Couple reasons:

- i love when my goals line up with someone else's philosophy and results. Said person has a single $1 pdf he released with a 50 day program (he doesnt make his living off youtube or writing)

- i want to work out more often. This isnt possible with classic weighted calisthenics without comprimising strength and my sanity. I tend to get depressed when i train too much. Isometrics are short training sessions needing little recovery.

- this doesnt change my current 2 hard workouts per week.

- ive got little to lose. If this works for strength and size, i get a low cost accessory to training. If it doesnt, i lose 30min a week on something that is still great for prehab.

The schedule is said pdf is

Day1: isometrics, condition

Day2: strength (heavy), core

Day3: isometrics, condition

Day4: strength (explosive or volume), core

Day5: off

This plays rather well into my long term goals.

- strong goal: hit sub 12% bodyfat

- strong goal: 1 standing ab wheel rollout

- weak goal: forget what being tired is like

 

calisthenics only workout

My usual insomnia hit at 330a and it had only been 1 rest day since my last weighted dip session. How tired could i be?

Turns out pretty fucking wrecked. I worked up to a single shaky rep with 75lbs before calling it quits. What resulted after was a breath of fresh air and may become my new rotation if i can use it to lift more frequently.

Enter calisthenics only. Mentally way easier than adding weight. The goal was to find ways to still make this tough.

Ring dips 16,12,9,10

Ring Archer pushups 3,2,1

Ring pushups 18,12,6

Accessory with shoulders and triceps

1min rest between all sets

Notes

Archer pushups are way harder than ring dips. They go first next time.

Rest longer (2 to 3min) between exercises. The goal on this day should be massive volume.

Add more exercises: incline ring pu, bar dips, pushups, pseudo planche pushups.

today was a solid fuckin win

Maybe I didn't highlight my last post enough. Or concentrated too much on the conditioning aspect of that conditioning workout. I want to emphasize what a big deal today was for me. For the last 2 years I've been freaked out to dance, sprint, or otherwise frolic for fear of messing up my back and knees. 

Today I ran. I RAN. And I'm pain free. Both during and after. I'm so happy right now. Basic shit is now back on the menu.

conditioning | sprints sleds and kettlmobiles

It's been a long ass time since ive run full speed. I truly dont even remember when. And this sucks. Because my speed was always something i was proud of and cultivated. Even without sprints, i felt a direct correlation to oly lifts and my ability to dance like a fiend.

Remove cleans and who the fuck am i? As ive gotten older, ive started to covet things i didnt have ti fight for a few years ago. Mainly speed and power. On the flipside, my conditioning has always kind of sucked. Ive had rare moments where i didnt gas out first, but those moments were rare and subsidised with substances. Enter more conditioning.

Im pressing for conditioning on my non upper body days. This means ive got to choose movements that do not interfere with my ability to press and pull weight the next day. Today this meants a lot of movement training.

5 rounds as fast as possible

Sled push driveway x 2

Sprint lawn x 2

Kb suitcase carry lawn x 2

conditioning | bw + sandbags

Been getting a little complacent with my conditioning over the past few weeks. The cards method is awesome and im not ditching it, but ive gotten way too good at running through the deck. It aint hard right now unless i go through the deck twice.

Todays conditioning:

Rounds of 60s, 45s, 30s, 15s

Each round

1. Reverse lunge left

2. Reverse lunge right

3. Bw squat

4. Sandbag dead

Reset timer to next round and immediately start.

Ex

60s lunge, 10s rest

60s lunge, 10s rest

60s squat, 10s rest

60s dead, 10s rest

Reset timer to 45s rounds

45s lunge, 10s rest

...

And so on

calisthenics | explosive legs | let's see some fucking intensity

I was a quarter into a deck of cards workout when I realized I was phoning it in. Ya, I got all of my reps. But every single rep was enduring instead of injecting speed and aggression into the mix. When I consciously made every rep a fight against death, two things happened:

• I ran out of steam REAL fast.
• I woke up out of a fog and felt like $1000000000 bucks.

This folks is quality over quantity. If you're doing something like me - running through a deck of cards for lower body, bodyweight only - then the only ways forward are to add weight, do the same reps in less time, or add some fucking intensity. I choose intensity. That bulgarian split squat jump? You should be trying to jump through the roof on every rep. That bodyweight squat? If you had the intention of leaving the ground you absolutely would. That deadlift or clean? Light up them glutes baby.

The literal only thing I've felt 'go' with age is feeling explosive. And like most things with aging, you can still have what you've always had. But now it isn't free. You have to work for it and practice it. If you practice to be slow, you'll be slow. Practice being fast. If you are only using your bodyweight, practice intensity.

bfr bands and calisthenics

Experimenting with adding bfr bands to bodyweight movements. Dis is what i enjoy so far.

Pull giant set

Add bfr

Ring pullup

Ring rack pullup

Ring row

Ring row 45deg (one arm)

Ring row 45deg (two arms)

Ring curl 

Band curl

The biceps are not the limiting factor in most sets. By the end of each set, im pumped beyond belief.

End of cards

Play card method using lower body

Add bfr after entire deck

Alternate reverse lunges until you can't 

Especially if something in this deck involved explosive legs, this is fucking money. Heavy movements after explosive movements signal more power, strength, and hypertrophic gains. Bfr introduces the same metabolic stress of heavy lifting. Time will tell if this is a money shot or not, but it's a pump from hades in the interim with 0 added weight.

massive drop set | pull chain | calisthentics

I do as many of these as possible in a single day spaced out with at least 30min between sets. All sets are completed with 1 to 2 reps in the tank before moving to the next movement. If at any point a more difficult variation isnt possible, skip it or spend more time recovering before the next set (usually the limiting factor is my hands are torn up).

Giant set

Rings towel offset pullup (switch sides)

Ring pullups

Ring rows, parallel body position

Ring one arm rows, 45deg angle

Ring rows, 45deg angle

Ring curls, 45deg angle

This gets a little bit of everything. Intensity, volume, and a sick ass pump (especially in the last 3 movement). 

No weights required. If at any point towel pullups become too easy (starting to get 10+ reps in the first sets) just make the exercise harder.

More workouts sans equipment | deck of cards

Start with a deck of cards. If you dont have cards, download a cards app. Either works.

Run through the deck 2 times as fast as possible. 

First time through the deck

Spades: jumping bulgarian split squat (left)

Clubs: jumping bulgarian split squat (right)

Hearts: bw single leg rdl (left)

Diamonds: bw single leg rdl (right)

Values of cards

2-10 = their value in reps

Jack - ace = 10 reps

Bss jumps use half the reps indicated rounding down.

Ex: jack = 5 reps

Ex2: 9 = 4 reps

Second time through the deck

Spades: split squat (left)

Clubs: split squat (right)

Hearts: band pullthrough

Diamonds: bw squats

Bw squats use 2x the reps indicated.

Progression methods: 

1. Strive to beat your previous time.

2. Make every movement more explosive.

3. Switch out 1 to 2 movements.

4. If possible, add a small amount of weight aftee a few weeks (optional).

Switching up movements

Ive been doing nothing but weighted ring dips for the past month. Although my overall strength has gone up (bw+55 x 10, up from a previous best of 45x8) things are starting to feel creaky. The movement is boring. Even my warmups feel a little iffy. Ring dips didn't suddenly turn on me. Im either under recovered or getting stale.

Enter a planned switch.

Replacing weighted ring dips with weighted ring pushups is money. I can still go heavy without burning my house down. The literal only downside is i may run out of weight to use (75lbs), but thats a great problem to have. Also, something i wont run into for weeks if i only add 5lbs every 3 sessions (+5 week). 

This is working. My joints feel great. My shoulders are rounding out. My chest is looking better by the day.

Hypertrophy | Turning isolation into full body

Summary

With isolation movements that have little to no injury risk, start strict and end sloppy.

Not so summmary

Sometimes you try something and think - why the fuck haven't i been doing this already? Years. Wasted. Should have sent a poet.

For the past few months, Ive been ending each workout with a gauntlet of quasi isolation. Something like:

- band rows

- bw tri extensions

- band curls

- band one arm overhead extensions

- ring rear delt raises, face pulls

- band two arm overhead extensions

- band rear delt raises

This takes all of 8min to run through. It's the icing on the cake of an already complete workout, but i enjoy it and see a visible difference when i neglect it.

Ive noticed a solid pronounced increase in performance (on main lifts) and size when i started to cheat every movement once i could no longer complete a strict full range of motion rep. Lemme say: YOU SHOULD BE DOING THIS ON ISOLATION. Especially when bands are involved and the most tension is at the end of each rep.

You have little to no increase on injury risk, and unless youre a psycho you arent trying to enhance performance on these tiny movements. Turn each isolation movement into a full body movement once strict isolation can no longer happen.

Example: band bicep hammer curl

Grip low on the band, strict reps

Grip low on the band, cheat reps

Grip medium on the band, strict reps

Grip medium on the band, cheat reps

Grip high on the band, strict reps

Grip high on the band, cheat reps

6 sets where your biceps are being challenged without risk to your biceps or back.

I wouldn't suggest using this method with dumbbells or barbells. There is too much risk involved once you get fatigued and start to put in sloppy reps. Likewise, most bodyweight movements are probably not great choices for the same reason as barbells, but with the added bonus of ingraining shit form for movements you actually want to be competent at.

vacation no equipment pushups

Found 2 different protocols that have been fun to play with this vaca.

First: dynamic pushups, band curls

Rounds of: 

5 dynamic pushups 

5 heavy band leg curls

30s rest (1min if you miss 5 reps on either)

Repeat until 40 to 100 reps

The power side of dynamic pushups is a real kick in the ass to start a day. Great stuff.

Dynamic pushups are NOT clapping pushups or where your hands leave the ground. Instead they are 

- As fast as possible on the way up

- free fall down. Catch on the bottom and pause before exploding up again. You get a cool little plyometric effect here.

Second: pushup medley, band curls

Rounds of: 

Amap pushup variation

Amap light band leg curls 

30s rest

Repeat

The goal here is gaining strength in harder pushup variations before accumulating volume in easier variations. Start at whatever variation you can that allows for >= 3 reps in the first set. Change variations when you cant get more than 3 reps in a set.

Variations (10 is hardest, 1 is easiest)

10. Planche pushup

9. Dead stop planche pushup

8. 90degree pseudo planche pushup

7. Pseudo planche pushup (i start here)

6. Clapping pushup

5. Explosive pushup

4. Archer pushup

3. Elevated pushup

2. Pushup

1. Reduced rom pushup 

Both protocols take 10 to 20min.

calisthenics | legs

 Not sure how much you can call leg shit calisthenics. It's more so 'non-barbell or dumbbell leg shit.'

Workout

Step up jumps BWx7x3 each leg (jump at the top of each rep)

Step ups 30lbsx1xamap

Easy morning workout. I can really add more weight to these step up's.

calisthenics | bw only | push

Did pull yesterday but forgot to log it.

Ring dips 18,9,6,3

Planche pushups 5,2

Bar Dips 21,15,15,8,7,9,2

Pike pushups 14,7,2

Pushups 13,4

Triceps: ring extension, bw extension, band extension

Rear delts: band pulls

160 reps before triceps/rear delts

Note: holy shit planche pushups are hard. First movement next time.

calisthenics | BW + some weights | pull

 Added weights here and there. It ended up being a great idea by keeping every set between 5 and 12 reps (i.e. making the lighter bodyweight only stuff harder).

34min total 

150 reps before accessory work

Main

Ring pullups (+40) 3,2,1 (BW) 10,5,2

Close ring pullups (+40) 5,2 (BW) 10,4,2

Assisted ring pullups 10,7,2 (close) 7,2

Ring row (+24) 10,7,3 (BW) 11,4

Bar row 9,13,8,10,3

Accessory

Band pushdown 1xamap

Bicep focussed chinup 1xamap

Hefesto curls 1xamap

Rear delt band raises amap at different distances. End with a 60s yielding isometric pull. 

conditioning | push sled | taking it easy bro | workout#2 for the day

 I bought the XPO sled for a couple of reasons:

• Get lean as fuck by adding a new amazing conditioning tool.
• Rehabbing my back.

After a sprint session with the sled this weekend, I found that #2 is not in the cards if I go balls to the wall. Either the angle I'm at or the speed I'm going made things worse, so today I mixed it up a bit. 

20min speed walking with the sled

Body angle almost completely upright

This is definitely not the same conditioning level as an all out sprint, but I was able to get outside and work up a sweat while making my back feel better. Tomorrow I can add in some leg work before repeating a slow sled walk.

calisthenics | bw only | push

Ring dips 17,13,8,3

Dips 20, 19, 19, 14, 5

Pike pushup 18, 11, 10, 10

Inc Pushup 14, 2

Pushup 20, 11, 5

Tri ext (high) 10,9,3   (low) 14,9 (rings) a bunch i dunno

Rear delt rings 20,15,9

307 total reps

Not a huge amount of difference between pike pushups and incline pushups. Good progress across the board. Feeling more confident and faster on all movements. The first couple of reps are especially explosive. This is the most ive ever worked my chest. Ever. I dont totally hate it at all.

Keeping the same movement patterns is the way to go here. Will look at filtering some in/out or changing order after a few more works. No reason to fuck with this right moew as im getting stronger, leaner, and im still excited about each workout without also getting burnt out.

calisthenics | bw only | pull

Adding reps per exercise is becoming cake. Still not at the point at needing more difficult exercises, but we're close. So close.

Ring Pullups 15,7,8,9

Close grip pullups 16,8,9,5

Ring rows 20,8,10,10

Bar rows 31,11,8

Ring curls ??

Bar curls  ??

Rear delt raises ??

calithenics | bw only | push

Holy shit batman. My reps compared to earlier this week. Wtf happened. Gains of 7 to 10 reps per (top) set were not uncommon. This is great news, but im going to keep with the same movements for another ?insert unknown period of time? Until we are living in pure endurance land. At that point its gonna be time to add a more difficult bw variation into the mix.

Candidates

One arm pushup (reduced range of motion)

Handstand pushup 

Workout push

Ring dip 14,13,5,4

Bar dips 30,18,14,10,4

Pike 23,14,12,7

Elevated pushup 17,10

Pushup 16,14,2

Paralette skullcrusher 9,3

Ring tri ext 14,10

Rear delts 36,15,14,8

conditioning | 10min | sled push

Lesson learned. Sled only pushes are way harder than sled + something. I can definitely make rounds longer with sled+something, but nothing can match the intensity of a balls out push.

I moved off of my driveway/lawn to a nearby sidewalk where I had a ton more room. Holy shit my dudes this was hard. This sled - XPO Trainer 2 - feels deceptively easy. The moment you turn up the heat it pushes back and back and back and back.

10min was enough.

calisthenics | BW only | pull

This bodyweight only shit feels WAY easier on the joints than weighted calisthenics. I'm not done with weighted stuff by any means, but this high volume stuff is a fun ass sidebar. I can train often, grow, and drop some lb's in the process.

Ring pullup 9,4,2

Close ring pullup 10,6,3

Feet elevated ring pullups 10,6,3

Ring inv rows 15,11,9,8,8,8

Bar inv rows 14,9,10,6,7,7

Ring curls 16,9,8

Ring rear delts 16,10,10,9,8,5

20-40s between sets of the same exercise

~1min rest between different exercises

~30min total

256 reps total

Couple of things...

Pullups after a long period of no pullups were really fuckin hard. Ive got plenty of growth before i add a harder variation here.

Feet elevated pullups (kinda like rack pullups?) Didn't feel awesome. Not terrible either, just kind of a waste compared to everything else. Possible removal next time.

I love moving to static bars (as opposed to rings) as an easier variation. The volume really jumps up due to the stability added. 

Rear delts were the same as last time with a small twist. Started with rear delt flyes, then switch to face pulls aa fatigue set in. This helped with muscle activation a TON and helped get some volume in.

conditioning | 15min | keg carry, sled push

Morning

Bonus 10min sled only in the morning

This was the maiden voyage for my xpo trainer sled. So far it's impressive as hell, although i will get better mileage if i use it on flat ground.

10min of nothing but the sled woke me up  and felt great on my hips/legs. Not entirely sure how my back likes this yet. It feels great now, so, monitor.

Afternoon

15min. Rounds of:

• Keg carry chest height, length of my lawnx2
• Keg carry at hip height, length of my lawnx2
• Sled push, length of my drivewayx2 

calisthenics | bw only | press

High volume workout this morning.

30min

Ring dip 8,7,6,5

Bar dip 18, 19, 14, 14, 10, 9, 6, 7

Pike 14, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 2

Pushup 16, 8, 6, 2

Tricep ext 6, 3, 10, 2

Face pull 22, 16, 10, 7, 6, 5

20 to 40 seconds between sets

1 to 2min between sets

calisthenics | rest pause | pike pushups

Pike pushups, rest pause

35x9,3,1

20x14,2,1

Bwx19,2,1

So many things. 2 rep increase over Thursday on my top set. Bumping the weight up to 40 next time.

I was about to increase the weight on the BW only, but i attached bfr bands to my arms instead (i have always waited until accessory work). Bubbee, this is what these things were meant for. Making a lighter weight feel heavy. Attempting to do accessory for triceps shoulders and biceps after was harrrdddddddd. When normally i can bang out 30 to 50 reps per exercise in 1min, i found i was getting closer to 10 or 20 with the same tension.

Fun fun experiment. Im very interested to see how it affects subsequent workouts. The ol Nuckols studies imply that they are essentially free volume without lifting heavy. If i can keep adding reps and weight for the mext few weeks id be super god damn happy.

Conditioning | 20min | Walking lunges, crab walk, kettlebell suitcase carry

The grab bag of conditioning. Throw 3 things together and do them as much as possible for 10-20min. 

I'm not sure what made my back feel uneasy last weekend, so I'm reintroducing things one at a time. It was either:

• single leg RDL's (this is the most likely culprit, they felt off)
• keg explosive presses (2nd choice)
• kettlebell suitcase carry (felt fine)

If today goes well, I'll try incorporating a keg carry next week.

Conditioning: 20min | Rounds of

• Walking lunge = across my lawn 1 way
• Crab walk = halfway back across the lawn 1 way
• Suitcase carry = 2 lengths of my lawn (1 way = 1 hand then switch)

I'm not going to be strict on rest periods. Just do as much work as possible. My right shoulder has been hurting a tiny bit lately, and I've found that exercises that pull my shoulder DOWN (i.e. suitcase carries) have been more helpful than band presses UP. Weird enough, the biggest fix to my left shoulder last year was the last time I attempted cleans. Fixed my shoulder (in an almost jarring snap) but made my back feel like shit. You're a dick body.

Result:

Left knee feeling a little wonky after all of the lunges, but otherwise this as great.

calisthenics | rest pause | pike pushups

Pike pushups 

35x7,3,2

15x15,5,2 

Bwx16,5,3

Minor accessory (1 set per row, bands only)

Tricep extensions

Rear delt raise

Added another cinder block for height this session. Definitely feeling the intensity rachet up a bit.

Conditioning | Light Day 12min

So, apparently either the keg stuff or single leg RDL's made my back unhappy. This is frustrating but managable. Couple of edits:

• Conditioning can be animal walks and runs. 
• Next week, my XPO sled gets in. Cannot fucking wait to try it out and incorporate this madness.

Rest Pause | Pike pushups

I'm tired. I also kinda like the idea of hammering RP on a single exercise. I don't have to leave anything in the tank or worry about affecting the super set pairing. Misc accessory is also streamlined to match the movement.

Pike pushups: paralettes, feet elevated on blocks
30x9,4,2
10x12,5,2
BWx15,6,2
5min rest between sets
~30-45s between pauses

Misc Acc
Tricep pushdown banded
Rear delts

Conditioning | 20min of hell

Pulled today's workout out of my butt and it ended up being something great. I don't know if I should be writing these down as repeatable or what. Just, choose 3-4 things and do them for 20min. Donezo.

Time: 20min
As many rounds as possible

• Keg clean and press x5*
• Single leg RDL, 45lbs KB, x5 each side
• Suitcare carry, length of my lawnx2. Switch arms and repeat.

I got maybe 6 rounds in 20min. Not great.



*Press is as violent as possible. The keg is filled with a tiny amount of sand, but it's not heavy yet.

back to basics

Pike pushup 

54lbsx3

24lbsx9,8,8,7

Ring row, bw only

100ish reps?

Minor accessory

Tri

Bi

Shoulders

Will need to see the difference between rest pause and this method.

Wisconsin Method | Ring rows | Day 3

Wisconsin
55lbs x 11
More weight than yesterday and pulled the same number of reps. Really grooving into the aggression factor.

Good news! I'm adding more weight tomorrow.
Indifferent news! I'm going to run out of weight soon. Good problem to have.

My weight vest tops out at about 74ish pounds. Once we get there, I can just strive for more reps until I start to backslide. Adding a band looks, weird. Can give that a shot if we must.

Non-Wisconsin
Band rear delt raises 1xamap
Single leg RDL: shit is magic
20min walking / bear walking / bear running aka the best conditioning until I get a sled

Wisconsin Method | Ring rows | Day 2

Morning: Wisconsin Method
Ring rows BW+50lbs x11

Afternoon: Conditioning
Medicine ball slams x 5
Burpees x 5
Bear run my lawn

I got in 10min of conditioning before lightning became a problem.

Wisconsin Method | It's been a long time dude

Whenever I'm having internal conflict over what methods to use - Reps, sets, movements, whatever -  The best thing I can do is simplify my approach. This is expressed best in one of two methods:

• One lift a day
• Wisconsin Method

And fuck me I like the Wisconsin method. I definitely sacrifice some size gains, but it takes the guesswork out of lifting. What am I doing today? Morning - bodyweight rows. That's it dude. Anything else in the morning is minor assistance I'm doing to get blood into muscles. Anything else later in the afternoon is conditioning.

Workout

Ring rows 50lbs+BW x9

Minor Acc

• Ring curls
• One leg RDL (still love this shit)

Home made gym equipment | Medicine ball

Super easy way to build a cheap medicine ball.

Supplies needed:

• Basketball (~$20)
• Sand or pea gravel (50lbs for ~$5) 
• 1 roll gorilla tape ($8)
• Scissors 

Total cost ~$33 for a 30ish pound medicine ball.

How to:

Make an incision around the air valve of the basketball. Try to make the piece you cut out a single piece so it's easier to tape back later.

Create a funnel (I used a piece of cardboard) and slowly add your sand/pea gravel. It helps to use a small cup to transfer the sand/gravel instead of pouring direct from the bag.

After the ball is filled up, replace the piece you cut out to its original spot or as close as possible. Use the entire roll of gorilla tape around the ball. 

conditioning | afternoon workout | kegs, bear crawls, and dynamic pushups

10min total
Station 1: Empty keg push press x 10
Bear run to station 2
Station 2: Once overs dynamic pushups x 5
Run back to station 1

As always this is humbling. I love and hate it.

rest pause | ring dips and rows | fuck you i like this

Ring Dips
42x5,2,1
20x13,3,2
BWx12,3,2

Ring Rows
20x11
10x15,3,2
BWx13,2,2

Accessory (bands):
tri ext
rear delt raise
rows

Adding rows to replace pullups made a huge difference here. Dips felt solid even though I hit well under my rep goal. Found out the dip rings were crazy off centered. Fun beans yo. I kinda like this day as a strength/hypertrophy day with 2 full rest days in between (although both are used for conditioning).

I like the amount of volume I'm able to get in here. Not sure if Doggcrapp (which, while this is rest pause, it def isn't Doggcrapp) would render higher strength and size results at a higher frequency and a lower volume, but I like getting more volume at the lower intensities.

condition | morning workout

10min

Ring rows, bodyweight only 

- fail - 2 reps

- multiple heights per set

Depth explosive pushups x5

Run the length of my yard x6

wisconsin condition | phased approach

Wisconsin ish style

Ring Dips 60x1. More in the tank.

Ring rows 1x20

Rear delts bands

Condition

5x3 bss jumps

10min 

Medicine ball slams x5

Bear run 

Crab walk

Back not feeling bad after slams but not great either.

1 month. Back recovery yo. Bear runs**, on the other hand, feel great.

strength | dips | last time we go to failure

Going to failure is literally burning me the fuck out man.

I'm buying full into Ross' performance based training, and performance ain't based on going to failure.

Dips 35x9
Dips 15x16
Dips BWx13

Good sets regardless

conditioning | more burpees fuck it

More or less repeated the last conditioning workout. It was 10x easier, but I wish I mixed things up as suggested. Next time.

Round1 x 60s
2 x45s
3 x30s
4 x15s

Movements
Burpees (god help me)
Chinups
Bear walks
Pushups

Rest pause | ring dips and chins | punch the clock

1 rep gain on both pullups and dips. Arms and shoulders are getting noticeably bigger. Nothing really to report otherwise.

Ring dips
35x7
15x6,2,1
BWx4

Ring pullups
25x7,2,1
10x6,2,1
BWx5

Accessory: Added BFR. All movements below used bands with cascading sets.
Tricep extensions
Rear delt
Shrugs
Curls

conditioning | rosstraining | mah work capacity

Been reading ross trainings book "never gymless" a ton recently. That dude is:

1. motivating as fuck. Hes in his 40s and has maintained a stellar work capacity

2. On an ethos plane of existence that i can get behind.

Im still getting bigger and stronger doing what i do, but the worst part about age is feeling lethargic. Thats not because you cant have energy past age (fill in the war story blank). Its because god mode slowly gets turned off and you have to work harder for what you want.

In never going to abandon size and strength, but Ross' ethos is rooted in conditioning and power. I need that in my life right now.

This workout told me my work capacity absolutely sucks. Just fucking abysmal. This is a great thing. It means im going to level up quickly because theres a ton of room to improve.

4 rounds

Burpees

Ring Pullups

Bulgarian split squats 

Pushups 

Round 1 60s per exercise

2 45s

3 30s

4 15s

The only thing i would change here is switching out burpees with bear/crab walks. My back just isnt up to jumps yet.

This workout has an optional footnote of isometrics later in the day. To be continued.

Edit: Isometric workout
[
One arm chinup holds 3x6 seconds (3 joint angles)
One arm dip holds 3x6 seconds (3 joint angles)
]
x6

Today I ran like a fucking bear

All fours. Sprinting as fast as I could in small intervals. Did this for about 12min. Neighbors think I'm psycho fuck-em.

I'll tell ya what man:

• This is rough conditioning. Conditioning is best when you're doing things you're bad at. And bubbee, I'm bad at running on all fours.
• I feel an odd amount of stability in my abs, back, and knees I haven't felt in months. Weird. good weird.

This is actually the second time I ran like a bear this week. I'm a fan. I'll eventually get filmed by the college kids across the street. Yolo.

Actual workout:

• Bulgarian split squat jumps. 5x3 per leg.
• 12min bear runs

Edit 7/10: Surprising outcome. Running like a bear is really laborious on the traps. My traps felt sore earlier this week as well but I discounted it. Today, my traps, legs, and glutes are all lit up (no doubt also in part to jumping BSS). 

Straight sets | Dips and chins | Bodyweight only

Was having a tough day yesterday. I decided to get some tonic work in instead of burning down my house.

Ring Dips BW
14,11,8,5,4

Ring Chins BW
12,,10,8,7,4

~3min rest between super sets

Accessory: Add BFR bands cause why not, all band work
Tricep extensions
Lateral raise
Shrug
Curls

Rest pause | dips and pullups | punch the clock

Nothing crazy to report here. All lifts are progressing slowly but are progressing.

I dialed back assistance a bit because it's been taking way too long wen I have a billion movements.

Ring dips
35x6,2,1
10x11,3,2
BWx12,3,2


Ring pullups
25x6,2,1
10x9,3,2
BWx11,2,2

Assistance (bands, multi set)
Press 45 deg
Low row
Tricep extension
Hammer curl (only to try out BFR bands)

Gettin the itch to play up Wisconsin again. Shit is addicting as hell and great for strength. The one thing I really love about my current setup is I can plan when to break a fast.

Rest Pause | Ring dips and pullups | -10% workout

First set of dips went well. Literally everything else did not. -10% workout across the board.

Workout
Ring dips
30x10
10x5
BWx10

Ring pullups
25x4
10x8
BWx10

Acc: Bands
Pulldown
Tricep overhead extension
One arm row
Curls
L raise
Shrug

Rest Pause | Ring dips and pullups | Band Accessory

Good workout all things considered. Taking 2 entire days off between sessions (i.e.: lift OFF OFF lift) has been difficult to do but a good call. I feel rested, can actively see strength progress, and look bigger. All good shit.

Ring Dips | Rest Pause
30 x7,3,1
10 x12,4,3
BW x11,3,3

Ring Pullups | Rest Pause
20 x8
10 x11,3,2
BW x11,5,2

Band Accessory
Standing rows
Tricep pushupdowns
Hammer curls
Shrugs
Standing rows
Lateral raises

Notes on accessory:
I like the idea of starting and ending with rows and lateral raises. They take very little effort wise and work on body parts I need bigger.

Cut out of accessory

• Bent over rows because they were a shittier version of standing rows. 
• Band bench presses. Haven't found a good way to do these incrementally. May try standing one arm press forward next time. EDIT: Just tried this and fuck ya I'm doing this.

Edit2: add band pulldowns dude. 

sled drag | 200 lbs | 13ish min?

200 lbs is a guess. 

100lbs from kettlebells

Anywhere from 100 to 125lbs of sand

Heavier drags felt really good. Less conditioning and more pure strength. 

rp | Ring Pullups and Dips | Rest Pause

Volume and weights are slowly creeping up! Good news all around.

Getting downvoted on my small ass youtube channel. Yessssssssss. FEEEEEEED.

Workout
Note: Pullups and dips were super setted. Not sure how I feel about this.
Ring Dips
25 x 9
10 x 11,3,2
BW x 13,3,3

Ring Pullups
20 x 6,2,1
10 x 9,4,2
BW x 11,5,3

Accessory: 1 set per movement, massive dropset with bands
Tri pushdown
Rows
Lateral raise (small band only)
Curls
Shrugs

garage gym equipment: current and future

Current

2 pairs oly rings

2 sandbags (60lbs, 100lbs)

3 kettlebells (16, 40, 62 lbs)

2 weight vests (24, 50lbs)

1 keg

Paralettes

Bands and chains

Ghetto sled

Although the oly rings are the stars of the show, all of my equipment is getting used (minus the keg).

Future

Xpo trainer sled

Tire and sledgehammer

Climbing rope

I keep on asking myself how i can train my lower body in this condition. The answer always comes back to sleds. Possibly some light sandbags and z squats, but mostly sleds. I really wish i could try the xpo before i sign in blood, but all signs point to this being a great piece of equipment that doesnt need weights.

condition | sled light 10min

Fuck my back man. Sled work is amazing and i love it to death. The scariest part of this workout was lifting the sandbag to place it on the sled. After that, its all recovery baby.

Sled work is OP. I do wish i could do heavy loaded carries like i did Sunday, but the current risk is not worth it.

1 week of sled work last week let me do things i didnt know i could do with sandbags. What could 1 month do? 2? Partner this with rwst pause upper body work every 3 days. Baby you got a stew.

Hurt

I don't know if my sandbag medly this weekend or the massive amount of band deads fucked me up, but I feel like asshole. I hate this. I don't mind the constant prehab or restorative exercises, but if they can't prevent days or weeks like this then what is it all for?

Felt discomfort last night. Heat emanating down from my back to my legs and feet. Keeping lifting purely to upper body work. May explore pulling the sled tomorrow depending on how I feel.

I will beat this. I will not be a war story asshat in his 40s.

2x daily big 3 is still the dosage I need.

rp | dips and chins

Didnt make my reps this time. Feeling not so hot overall. Not sure what is wrong, but my diet is the first thing thats got to improve.

Ring Dips (rest pause sets)

25x 6,3,2

10x 11,3,2

Bw 9,3,2

Chins (rest pause sets)

20x 6,3,3

10x 9,2,2

Bw 13,6,3

Bands, 1 set to way past failure on each exercise. Massive drop-set using band tension.

Tri push

Row

L raise

Curl

Bench 

Shrug

Stiff leg deadlift

NOTES:
Next time without pre-workout supplements. Supplement fast time dude.
Rest pause worked great in this instance. If I'm not going to make my goal reps, I want to push myself to a point where next time I will.
2x week Dips is fun but difficult. I honestly just don't have anything I would rather do right now. Ring pushups and HSPU aren't in the cards but should be in the future. Eventually I'm going to stall out and need alterations on each exercise. 

rp | dips and rows | punch the clock

Woke up at 430 so not at my best, but things didnt go badly at all. Top sets were both solid. Backoff sets were fine but i didnt get enough volume. Keeping lower weights where they are at.

Ring dip

20x9

10x8

Bwx9

Ring row, feet elevated above head

20x10
10x9
BWx10

Minor assistance:
Tricep pushdowns
Rows
Lateral Raises
Curls
'Bench Press'

NOTE: All minor done to failure repeatedly with resistance bands. Something akin to:
- rep until reach failure
- move hand on the band/s in order to decrease tension (kind of like an extended drop set)

BIG fan of this minor assistance. Little to no injury risk. Big fucking pump. 

day after dinosaur training | I've never been this sore

Some of this soreness is negative-ish (near my lower back, feeling some instability near my discs) but everything else is both amazing and awful. Apparently my stabilizers suck because I'm walking like a drunk. My biceps in particular feel broken and torn. I hadn't been able to properly squat since last September, but somehow sandbag zercher squats felt fine just fine.

Given how long this workout took - about 1.5hrs - this may be a 1x a week thing. I'd like one of my conditioning days during the week to include one portion of what I did yesterday. Something like 10min of front carries or bear hugs.

dinosaur training | sandbag medley | best shit ever

This is the best training session ive had in 2 years. Literally since i herniated discs in aug 2018. 

Warmup

Stuart mcgill big 3 , reps 4,3,2

Workout 

Note: light sandbag was around 75lbs. Heavy around 100lbs.

Light press 7,7,8,7,9

Heavy bear hug x5

Light curl 9,5,3,3,2

Heavy front carry x5

Light zercher squat 10,13,15,12

Light shoulder carry (1xeach shoulder)

Took about 1.5hrs

sled work 10min | bear hug 1xamap | hang

Backwards sled pull ~ 100lbs non-stop for 10min
Bear hug also started with an overhead hold
Hang felt...off?

rp | pullups and deads

Ring pullups
BW+10 x 9
BW x 12
BW x 9

Sandbag deads
2 bags x 9
1 bag x 40

Obviously, bag#1 was fuckin heavy. My grip gave out way before my hips did.

sled work 10min | bear hug 1xamap | hang

sled work 10min | bear hug 1xamap | hang

Nothing special here. Walked forwards instead of backwards with the sled for some variety.

rp | ring dips ring rows

Main

Ring Dip 

bw+10 x 9

Bw x 11

Bw x 6

Super set

Ring row

Bw+10 x 10

Bw x 13

Bw x 10

Acc

Sandbag curl x ?, 12

Kb french press x ?, 14

Hang

1x forever 42lbs

Warmed up with modified cuban presses

Everything feels good if not weak

4min rest between main superset 

sled work. been a long time baby

I really really missed these. Low impact on my back, and i feel my entire posterior chain light the fuck up. After feeling my back get a little squirrelly post swings in the last 2 weeks, it's time to actually make a change.

Today:

14min sled drag, 150lbs

Sandbag bear hug 1x as far as possible

New schedule

3x a week, reverse pyramid

1-3x a week, walks or sled training

Saturday: off or sandbag work