Dude I love Marseille. I took a ferry out to the prison the book was based around while I was there. Hope you are doing well and getting it in on the ship!
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Iām so excited for that home gym haul!
Iād love to hear your thoughts on this after you have some time to play with it. Itās very fascinating.
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03dec24
Wide grip lat pulldown: 130x15, 130x14, 130x12, 130x11
Chest supported t bar row: platex12, 12, 12. 15
Hammer strength row: 180x16, 180x15, 180x15, 180x15
Hammer strength front pulldown: 90x20, 140x13, 140x12
Barbell curl: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Alt db curl: 25x12, 25x12, 25x12
Machine preacher curl: 55x20, 65x15, 65x13
Conditioning: 35 min elliptical
Notes:
- back In Virginia. Got in late last night. Absolutely beat, probably slept 12 hours cumulative over 4 days in marseille, but I had a hell of a time.
- December is going to be a hectic month for me. Lots of travel, moving. No real āplanā for this time, other than sleep and rest. Plan to run a high volume bro split, just to give some rest to my joints, and a bit of rest for my CNS from the higher intensities. Using predominantly machines. Really, Iām not looking to progress this month, Iām looking to recover from the last few years, then start hard and heavy in January when Iām all moved in to the new place.
- On the ārecoveryā note, going to be cutting out caffeine completely. Donāt intend for that to be a permanent thing, but I need a reset. Also going to be taking melatonin and magnesium religiously, making a strict bedtime for myself, try to do what I can to get my circadian rhythm back in check.
- Have a pretty nasty cold, probably from debauchery in France. Slamming some meds, trying to knock it off fast.
@SvenG thanks man! Iāll definitely throw up some photos once itās all together
@taylortooswift I did that tour! Was pretty awesome, and the food at the old port was fantastic. The night clubs closing at 0500 was a dangerous decision though haha
@T3hPwnisher I am cautiously optimistic about it. When I first saw the thing, it looked super Gimmicky, and I thought hell no. But i read a lot of reviews that were actually really positive. I think the Nordic progression looks pretty awesome, dig the decline sit-ups, can still do GHDs, and getting the leg attachment would allow for some real isolation work. Iām not expecting it to be super sturdy, but I donāt feel like I get much out of āexplosiveā movements on any of these movements anyway, more effective for me when I go slow and controlled, so it might be pretty awesome.
Or it might be terrible. I was really hesitant to pull the trigger just because it might all just suck lol. But decided to take the risk, and if I hate it, then Iāll sell the thing and pickup a normal GHD.
@QuadQueen question for ya! Have you ever looked at the Vertical Diet? Iām looking to spend about 3 months being fairly religious with nutrition (aka, until my wife gets stationed with me lol), and was taking a look at this. I thought the premise was āeat a bunch of steak and rice,ā but actually reading the book, itās kind of the opposite. Massive focus on certain foods to fuel gut health and sports performance, and then AFTER all thatās done, you can fill in the rest with steak and rice. It seems solid to me, but that could also just mean Efferding has a hell of a sales pitch, so wanted to ask someone with an educated opinion what they thought!
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Yes, and I actually just responded to this same exact question couple weeks ago! Here are my thoughts!
And as you already know, Iām very āveggie forwardā if you have them filling half your plate, the nutrients are there.
If that didnāt make sense or answer your question, let me know and I will expand on any or all of it!
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Thanks so much! Thatās awesome!
I tend to agree against the counting calories and macros. I donāt think thatās a good ālifestyleā for just about anyone. I do like little periods of doing it though, helps me set a baseline for where I should be, then I can work to do it intuitively afterwards. I also geek out a little bit over numbers and tracking, so itās a bit exciting lol.
I think Iāll give it a go starting January. If nothing else, the low FODMAP may help even out the gut issues that have been plaguing me. (Ship food did NOT help lol)
Appreciate the response!
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Then, by all means, get down with yoā bad self. lol
Let me know if you have any questions as you go. Iām more than happy to help you. Youāve got my email and number - donāt hesitate to bug me!
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04dec24
Decline bench: 185x12, 185x11, 185x11
Db Inc bench: 70x10, 70x6
Hammer strength iso-lateral wide chest: 180x12, 180x10, 180x10
Pec fly: 115x15. 130x15, 145x13
Machine seated dip: 100x15, 130x15
Tricep pushdown: 50x20, 65x15, 65x10
Notes:
- decline bench is an odd feeling movement. Not bad, I actually like it quite a bit, but definitely a different feeling. Pecs got lit up.
- That hammerstrength machine was a staple for 16 year old me lol. Brought back some high school memories.
Still feeling a bit dead overall. Think the combo of jet lag, this cold, and no caffeine has me a bit lethargic, dragging ass through this workout.
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Part one of the gym shipments came in. I severely underestimated the size of the box the uprights would come in. That was a whole separate endeavor lol
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Christmas came early!
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That looks like a beautiful, cardboard covered, iron, Christmas tree.
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Instead of Santa Claus coming to town, itās the Fire Marshall
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Thatās actually how Santa gets a lot of his gifts now that elf labor is so expensive.
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06dec24
Beltless/sleeveless hi bar squat: 45x10, 45x10, 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 185x3, 225x3, 225x3, 245x3, 245x3, 265x3 (this is where my form fails. I can do a lot more weight, but itās hitting my erectors more than my quads. Useful to know). 225x3, 225x3, 225x3, 225x3, 225x3
RDL: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10, 135x10, 135x10
Leg press: 3ppsx10, 4x10, 5x10
GHD: 10, 10, 10
No chance Iām doing cardio, dripping snot between every set, it just aināt happening lol
Notes:
- tons of reps high bar. Sinking these ass to grass, done in front of a mirror to focus on form. Iāve never had a good high bar squat, but Iād like to change that. I feel like if I can get my hi bar form down, then it would be a super valuable accessory lift for my comp squat, and maybe open the door for front squats, which currently are almost unfeasible as an option with how much forward lean I have in the squat.
- Quads were cramping from the 135 sets. Really shows how little I use my quads when I low bar.
- I feel like I smoke my hamstrings much more using light weight on RDLs, so sticking with that.
- God I really do want a leg press lol. Maybe keep my eye open for a used commercial one. Nothing quite hits my legs the same way, just no thought all muscle.
- This cold has become full on sick. So much phlegm.
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Holy shit my quads are smoked, I donāt think Iāve ever had quad soreness from squats before. And itās with pathetic weight lol
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Absolutely smoked mine last night too! Bulgarian split squats are no joke.
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Work for today:
Press: 45x15, 45x15, 95x5, 95x5, 115x5, 115x5, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5, 135x12
Lat raise: 25x12, 25x12, 25x12
Rear delt raise: 15x12, 15x12, 15x12
Dips: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
Tricep extension: 3x15
Conditioning: 13 min elliptical
Notes:
- did all pressing without a belt or lifting shoes. Still keeping intensity lower, which is good, because I feel like my body is moving in slow motion. Like the fatigue from everything just hit me as soon as I took the gas off, itās a struggle. Low caffeine not helping any either.
- happy with 135x12. For first time pressing in months, no belt, running shoes, thatās aināt bad. Making an effort to drop the weight a bit lower, down to chin instead of nose.
- attempt 542 of trying to make dips not hurt my shoulder. Trying something new. Did a bunch of sets of 3. I can do 3 very easily, but the goal was to make these 3 dips as deep and as tight as possible. Trying to see if I can ease my shoulder into the movement. These actually felt great today, but tomorrow will be the real indicator.
- cut the conditioning short. Still fighting whatever I caught, at like 10 minutes my heart rate jumped from 125 to 165 and stayed there, and I started getting the cold sweats, figured that was a good sign my body wasnāt down for this today.
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Movers came today. My lat pulldowns in like 20 boxes. I am praying they all show up in MD lol
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That stresses me out lol
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@taylortooswift i am very stressed lol. One box goes missing and I canāt put it together, and god knows I donāt trust Iāll be compensated. Fingers crossed.
Work for today:
Wise grip lat pulldown: 145x15, 145x13, 145x13, 145x10
Chest support tbar row: plate+25x15, 12, 12, 11
Hammer strength row: 4x180x15
Various curls
Notes:
- starting to feel a little bit back to normal. Cold is still here, but on the decline. Sleep still a bit sporadic, but better than it has been.
- forgot my headphones. Gym plays no music. No one was talking. Most people lifting light enough that they werenāt making any noise. It was so oddly quiet lol.
- I hate lifting at base gyms. Much preferred going to a civilian gym, and honestly am beyond pumped for my home gym again. Train how I want, when I want.
- may decorate my home gym this time, never really done that before. The garage needs some work, have some cabinets I gotta remove, and there is some god awful wood paneling that Iām debating taking off. It looks hardcore 80s lol, but thatās a project for after the gyms already built. I think a nice aesthetic would make it feel more like a real gym lol.
- definitely getting a speaker system for the gym. Thinking some Alexa deal so the Mrs and I can just yell out songs to play while we workout. Inappropriate lifting music continues hahaha
- So yeah, onto this actual workout. It happened. I do not get excited for this kind of training, but just trying to get some work in while overall focusing more on recovery. Ik itās good for me, but Iām antsy to train again.
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