Jump to box 3 x 5 superset w/
Explosive squat 3 x 5 @ 125lbs
Broad jump 3 x 5 superset w/
KB swing 3 x 10 @ 60lbs
Plyometric pushup from bench 3 x 5 superset w/
Explosive bench press 3 x 5 @ 115lbs
This week, the explosive work is at 50-percent of max. I’m currently assuming a max of 250lbs for squat and 225lbs for bench press as I seem significantly weaker than last fall/winter, when I would have assumed roughly 280 for the squat and 250 for bench.
I tried to cut a good deal of fat for the Transformation and lost some strength and stability along the way. I’m not sure if I lost muscle or not; combing through old pictures—it seems like I might’ve.
I’m not sure what happened during that fat loss journey; I’ll be better able to assess after running one of Thib’s hypertrophy program this fall. (I bought his program bundle, lots of choices).
Regardless, the ship has been righted and I sail onwards.
Seven circuits of:
Bear crawl @ 35ft
Sled sprint 60lbs @ 35ft
Hand over hand sled rope pull @ 35ft
Bear crawl @ 35ft
Backwards db farmer’s carry 50lbs @65 feet (I don’t have a sandbag)
Medicine Ball slam x 10 (sub for sledgehammer)
Even more brutal than last time. But…I didn’t stop. I looked a mess after removing the weights vest: shirt soaked through front and back with stinky old man sweat, panting, and flushed. My cheeks actually stayed a little rosy the rest of the day.
-Zercher squats 5x8 @ 145lbs
-Bench press 5x8 @ 155lbs
-Neutral chins 5x8 @ BW +10lbs first two sets, then BW
-Block pulls 5x8 @ 265lbs, lower back disagreed after the initial pull, dropped to 245lbs
Zerchers wrecked me. They take a lot of hamstrings from the bottom; for me, it’s kinda a scooping, hingy movement.
I think there was some carryover fatigue from the Zerchers because block pulls with the originally planned weight simply weren’t happening. I also spent the week fishing, out in the sun, kayaking, and fishing…less sleep and worse food than usual.
Regardless 245 for five sets of eight was still a grind, but I gave it my all and ground out a ninth rep on the last set after a few deep breaths and digging deep for the slowest block pull ever seen in North America.
Still not sure why they’re soooo fatiguing. I thought shorter pulls were just easier deadlifts. They’re their own animal.
Four circuits of
Sled drag forward 80lbs x 3 min
Farmer’s carry 40 lb dbs x 3 min
Sled drag backward 80 lbs x 3 min
All told, 36 total minutes of work. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I dunno if that means I’m in better shape or I sandbagged it a little or some combination of the two.
The last farmer’s carry I began losing my grip, but channeled my inner strongman and spent the last minute holding the bell in my left hand with open fingers.
I spent last weekend eating way above maintenance, drank a few beers, and had three desserts. Weight was up 5lbs Sunday evening, but back on point Monday morning. No idea what that means?
Jump to box 4 x 5 superset w/
Explosive squat 4 x 4 @ 137.5 lbs
Broad jump 4 x 5 superset w/
KB swing 4 x 10 @ 60lbs
Plyometric pushup from BU bench 4 x 5 superset w/
Explosive bench press 4 x 5 @ 125lbs
Today weights were 55-percent of max. I’m not good at explosive squats; descending fast leads
to misgrooving at the bottom, especially the first two sets. Things improved from there, though, felt like I crushed the weights from there in out.
Eight circuits of:
Bear crawl @ 35ft
Sled sprint 60lbs @ 35ft
Hand over hand sled rope pull @ 35ft
Bear crawl @ 35ft
Backwards db farmer’s carry 50lbs @65 feet (I don’t have a sandbag)
Medicine Ball slam x 10 (sub for sledgehammer)
Totally smoked after all this. Had to take one 15 second break, loosen the weight vest and take a few deep breaths between rounds five and six.
Felt like I crushed it.
Ended up on the floor afterwards, admiring the beads of sweat all over places I didn’t know even produced sweat…knees, wrists, ankles, and elbows. I took a photo of my pooled knee sweat for posterity. Who knows, it may come in handy someday?
Next week, the schedule calls for only five rounds, but double the distance in each round. I’m not sure if this will be better or worse.
The huge reduction in volume this week made the workout feel almost anticlimactic. The weights felt dialed in–I may, may, be good for a few more pounds on Zerchers and block pulls.
Unlike the past three workouts, I wasn’t folded in half blowing hard for ten minutes afterwards. It was almost disappointing, but I felt great afterwards. Fatigue from the past three weeks had been starting to build, so this small deload comes at the perfect time.
Next block, the program switches to strength-skill circuits. I’m looking forward to the change of pace.
Three circuits of:
Sled drag forward 90lbs x 3.5 min
Farmer’s carry 40 lb dbs x 3.5 min
Sled drag backward 90 lbs x 3.5 min
My kid is home sick, so I’m home, too. I figured I’d knock this out in the backyard before temperatures climb to, approximately speaking, the seventh ring of hell.
Last week this workout didn’t quite leave my inner cardio queen satisfied, so I pondered raising the weight on the sled drags; my heart said add 20lbs while my head told me to leave things alone. I split the difference and added 10.
Over the last month I’ve become intimately acquainted with every slope and pothole in my backyard. I try to even things out the best I can, but no matter how I try, some parts of the drag are way easier than others. Other sections, I need to take like six inch steps just to keep moving. Nothing I can do about it, I suppose, so I bounce between RPE 5 and 9.5.
Here’s what I’ve noticed: my cardio has improved. A ton. The last minute of each exercise today was absolutely miserable, but the first 2.5, I wanted to check that the weights were right because things felt, gasp, too easy.
Also: my grip sucks. It’s always the limiting factor in db farmer’s carries.
Anyhow, I’m still enjoying the journey. In the long run, this is probably all that matters.
Jump to box 4 x 5 superset w/
Explosive squat 4 x 3 @ 150 lbs
Broad jump 4 x 5 superset w/
KB swing 4 x 10 @ 60lbs
Plyometric pushup from bench
4 x 5 superset w/
Explosive bench press 4 x 3 @ 135 lbs
Yesterday’s weights were 60-percent of max. I felt like a savage on the bench press, but it always takes a while to get going with squats. The final two sets of squats felt explosive, moving nice and snappy.
Later today is the physical work session. I’m both looking forward to it and slightly terrified.
Five circuits of:
Bear crawl @ 65ft
Sled sprint 60lbs @ 65ft
Hand over hand sled rope pull @ 65ft
Bear crawl @ 65ft
Backwards db farmer’s carry 50lbs @ 100 feet (I don’t have a sandbag)
Medicine Ball slam x 15 (sub for sledgehammer)
This week was five rounds instead of eight, but half again or twice the distance/reps. The bear crawls, carries, and slams were miserable. It’s odd, but I like the sprinting and rope pulls.
This week felt less exhausting, though it could be the moderate temperature today, I could be in better shape, or it’s just easier to count to five.
Also, I’ve been reading some books by Jade Teta. He suggests cortisol can wreck some people who cut cals too hard and move too much for too long. Thibs made a similar point in QOS. I think this happened to me last spring. It seems like I became skinnier and flabbier instead of leaner and jackeder.
Anyhow, Teta suggests alternating brief windows of eating and exercising less for a few weeks with more food and more exercise.
I may try it in the future. But definitely not tomorrow. I have my once every few weeks “eat whatever the hell I want for lunch” planned.
Zercher squat 155lbs x 5
Bench press 165lbs x 5
NG Chin BW x 5
Deadlift 225lbs x 5
This was surprisingly fatiguing. Around the third round, I wanted to quit, but channeled my inner first responder and kept going.
Weights were supposed to be at 75-percent of my max; these weights felt about right. I’m learning Zerchers–which I subbed for front squats for convenience–and felt stronger set to set. The key seems to be to keep the bar pegged to my rib cage. I’ve assumed a max of 200…low, but climbing.
Deadlifts have always been a mystery. My max varies wildly day to day and I generally suck at them. I’m assuming a max of 300, but it probably ranges from 260–320 depending on the day. Pulls also get easier set to set. Sub max training has traditionally been the best way to get better at them. We’ll see what happens.
I ate a large pizza and then some yesterday, bumping calories to approximately 2 million. That and 5 Diet Cokes added less than a pound to the scale.
Front squats 135lbs x 10, 8, 6, 4
supersetted with
Sled sprint 70 lbs x 130ft x 4
Seated press 115lbs x 10, 6*, 6, 4
supersetted with
Two pump burpees x 45 sec x 4
This workout is where I’ll have to deviate most from the plan as written. I used front squats instead of Zerchers because Zerchers are easy to circuit with bench for Sunday’s Strength-Skill session.
I can’t push press in my basement --ceiling is too low–so I subbed a seated press. Finally, I don’t have an arms/legs bike to sprint with, so I subbed as many double-pump burpees as manageable for half again as long.
I had to take a best guess at the weights to use–115 was a tad much for seated pressing. I dropped the third set to 105 and will start there next time.
Today, I remembered that I hate front squats. I haven’t tried one for about four months and certainly haven’t missed them. They felt solid, but I didn’t completely “own” the weight for the last couple reps: they were grindy. Slow eccentrics are humbling. I expect to get my front squat groove back quickly, though, and may add 5lbs depending on what my inner bro tells me between now and next week.
This workout was hard. I sucked a lot of wind after each circuit of sprints and burpees. I like that I hated it.
Romanian DL @ 10x155, 8x165, 6 x165, 4x185
Supersetted w/
Power cleans from hang @ 3x5
Supersetted w/
Trap bar jump squats @ 3x5
Incline bench press 10x135, 8x145, 6x145, 4x155
Supersetted with
Explosive press 3x5 @ 65-percent
Supersetted with
Med ball overhead press @ 3x5
I was an extra sweaty mess by the end of this. Recently, like the last couple of weeks, I swear I sweat like a lawn sprinkler. It’s gross. I’d like to believe it has something to do with getting in tremendous shape and will precede 20lbs of muscle mass in the coming weeks, but…I doubt it.
The weights were about perfect for the Romanian Deadlifts…speed slowed significantly on each of the last couple reps.
I was overly ambitious with the pressing and had to drop the explosive press weights and skip one jump up in weight on the incline press.
This was maybe the second time I’ve tried power cleans in my life. No idea what my max would be; instead, I worked up to a challenging weight, but one I could move explosively.
Jump squats are also new to me. I like them.
Tomorrow is six rounds of physical labor, some new exercises and a slightly different order. I bet it’ll be the best kind of terrible.
-Weighted chins x 4
-KB Swing 60lbs x 10
-Hand over hand sled pull 60lbs x 35 feet
-Lunges 15/leg
-Backward farmers walk 100lbs x 65 feet
-Med Ball slam x 10
Holy hell do I hate lunges. There are some exercises I hate, but lunges are the worst and it ain’t close. I hate the thought of them; I’d carpet bomb lunges if I could. I even hate how the word sounds spoken aloud. I want to spit on the grave of the first man to do a lunge.
They suck.
I knew lunges would be the worst part of this circuit. They were. I did the first two circuits with walking lunges, but had to start breaking up the 15 into smaller groups the remaining rounds.
Need to add weight to the sled pull…maybe 80lbs next time.
Oddly, as miserable as it was, I felt like I caught a second wind the third round and things felt a bit easier. Running used to feel that way, the moment I thought my lungs would explode, I’d hit my stride and a tidal wave of calm and relaxation would wash over me.
-Zercher squat 175lbs x 4
-Bench press 180lbs x 4
-Deadlift 240lbs x 4*
-NG Chin BW +10lbs x 4
Surprising how much less wrecked I felt doing sets of four than last week’s five.
Weights felt solid…maybe a hair heavy for bench press. Also, I sorta remembered how to deadlift today. I go through periods of being better and worse because there’s always some cue I forget.
Today, on the last set, I remembered to flex my quads hard on the descent, instead of standing on wet spaghetti noodle legs, starting from the initial setup. The weights flew.
I’m still not sure what’s happening, but lately I run hot during exercise. Sweat pours off of me; my family is terrified when they see me emerge, soaked, from the basement like some fairytale creature that keeps children awake at night. Is this some hormonal change, mTor, increased insulin sensitivity? I simply don’t know. But it is becoming oddly consistent.
Front squats 140lbs x 10, 8, 6, 4
supersetted with
Sled sprint 70 lbs x 130ft x 4
Seated press 105lbs x 10, 8, 6, 4
supersetted with
Two pump burpees x 45 sec x 4
Front squats are still on a short list of movements I don’t like, but believe are a great exercise. And they’re nowhere near in the same ballpark as lunges, which were almost certainly invented by the devil.
Not much to report. Weights were right–I think Front Squats get really hard around rep 8, almost regardless of the weight. Sled sprints were wayyy slower this week. Last week the grass was wet and slippery, this week dry and extra grabby. My stride was short and my quads burned, themselves becoming fire ready.
My cardio seems to keep reaching new summits of excellence in middle age. I’m shocked at how much less taxing sprints and burpees have become. They totally suck in the moment, but I get my wind back. Quick.
Sigh. If only I gained muscle as easily.
Two workouts away from the halfway point of the program.
Romanian DL @ 9x160, 7x175, 6 x190, 3x205
Supersetted w/
Power cleans from hang @ 3x5
Supersetted w/
Trap bar jump squats @ 3x5
Incline bench press 9x135, 7x145, 5x155, 3x165
Supersetted with
Explosive press @ 3x5
Supersetted with
Med ball overhead press @ 3x5
I felt stronger this workout, and was really able to focus on feeling the reps and slowing the eccentric. All this even after spending the prior evening at a Blue October concert.
I don’t have a press or power clean max, so I added some weight from the week before, keeping reps explosive and challenging.
-Weighted chins x 4
-KB Swing 60lbs x 10
-Hand over hand sled pull 75lbs x 35 feet
-Lunges 15/leg
-Backward farmers walk 100lbs x 65 feet
-Med Ball slam x 10
Holy cow do I feel like I crushed this! I needed a few small 10-15 second breaks and a few small sips of Surge, but everything was soooo much easier than last time.
-Zercher squat 185lbs x 3
-Bench press 185lbs x 3
-Deadlift 250lbs x 3
-NG Chin BW +15lbs x 3
I’m now more than halfway to living the dream of having that sweet, sweet first responder fitness.
The Zercher and bench weights felt heavy the first couple sets, but got easier afterwards. Sets three and four are almost always the easiest for me. Weird.
Deadlifts felt good; flexing my quads on the descent is accomplishing something–the weights moved better than last week AND today was the first time in years I’ve pulled with zero back pain. Usually, there’s a bit of discomfort, especially at the end of a set…like a 2 or 3/10. Not today because my spine is now fireproof or Fiready or something.
Chins felt almost preposterously easy.
I like the Zercher movement more and more. It feels increasingly solid and, after six weeks, I’m fairly certain I can Zercher more than I front squat.
Front squats 140lbs x 10, 8, 6, 4
supersetted with
Sled sprint 70 lbs x 200ft x 4
Seated press 105lbs x 10, 8, 6, 4
supersetted with
Two pump burpees x 70sec x 4
I was able to dial in the front squats and press technique even more than last week, focusing on slowing the negative and exploding upwards.
Adding fifty percent more distance to the sprints and half again the time to burpees made this an extra intense session. The last third of the sprints lit my quads up, my sprinting pace slowed to a near crawl.
I couldn’t complete four sets of a minute plus of two pump burpees, so as I neared fatigue, I only managed one pushup per burpee. Oddly, I was able to double-pushup the entirety of the final superset.
This plan has me continuing to push my limits. I ended this workout on the floor, sucking wind for a couple of minutes.
