Becoming Canis dirus - SvenG's Training Log

[SvenG]

5x5/3/1 Anchor - c25w3d6

Friday - 16 June 2023
Workout: Bench, 0515-0625 (70 minutes)

Indigo-3G - 0500
Surge - 0530-0612

Warm-up
No throws, no jumps

Begin: 0532; End: 0620; Duration: 48 minutes
Bench - 90x5, 120x5, 145x5 | 165x5, 190x5, 215x5, 235x12 (rep PR)
Seated DB press - 2x45 lbs - 17, 13
HLR - 15, 15, 10
Chin-up - 25 lbs - 12, 11, 10
Band pushdown - red - 30
Good morning - 145 lbs - 15, 10
BFP - red - 30

Assistance totals:
Push - 60 reps
Pull - 63 reps
Single-leg/core - 65 reps

Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G and Surge as above.

Okay, that’s 4 of 4!

I hit 230x11 in December 2022, so I needed 235x11 for the PR today. Really I wanted 13—and I tried—but I failed hard: I started pausing briefly at the top after rep 10, and that can be totally counter productive sometimes (wasted energy and all that). Anyway, reps 11 and 12 were solid, and I contemplated racking it after 12, but ended up going for 13. I paused too long at the top, my elbows got out from under the bar on the way up—they were trembling like branches in the storm outside—and I ended up crashing to the pipes after getting less than a third of the way up, give or take. Meh.

But it is what it is, I was working hard, I gave it all I had this morning, I still set the PR, and I got all four this week.

I’m not going to complain about ANY of that.

Speaking of the storm outside: A pretty wicked thunderstorm was rolling through this morning, so I skipped jumps and throws. I’ll pick those up before this afternoon’s Tower of Babel deadlifts.

The rest of the work was actually pretty tough this morning—the last several reps of the first two toes-to-bar HLR sets were sketchy, so I did an extra 10, and I was struggling with chin-ups from start to finish, so I did an extra 3 reps. Made it through the rest of the stuff eventually, but it all felt particularly arduous today…

Even so, I’ll be back at it later—but first, breakfast!

[aholding88]

@SvenG

235x12 (rep PR)

Just busting these out casually
Really pleased to see the 5x5/3/1 has worked for you

[SvenG]

@aholding88

casually

Casually, says he. Meanwhile…

[aholding88]

I feel like today I can relate to this

[wardog2k]

@SvenG

235x12 (rep PR)

Hot damn great work!!

[Koestrizer]

Bench as strong as ever!

[SvenG]

@wardog2k, @Koestrizer - Thanks, guys!

[SvenG]

5x5/3/1 Anchor - c25w3d6

Friday - 16 June 2023
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1730-1815 (45 minutes)

Tower of Babel
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift - 285 lbs
10 45-lbs plate ground-to-overhead between sets
Time: 31:32

Throws + jumps

So happy I was dumb enough to try that.

So happy I was smart enough not to push for an 8-rep peak.

Almost forgot to do the throws and jumps from this morning, and while they would’ve made a good warm-up, I think they actually made a better cool-down.

[antiquity]

@SvenG

Tower of Babel
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift - 285 lbs
10 45-lbs plate ground-to-overhead between sets

Looks like a good one. I love the minimalistic approach of only having 2-3 focused movements and crushing them.

[SvenG]

5x5/3/1 Anchor - c25w3d7

Saturday - 17 June 2023
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0550-0635 (55 minutes)

1-pump burpees + 32-kg KB swings - 2x(25 + 25), 25-second rest between
Bike@120-140 bpm - 10 minutes
Weighted vest walk - 30 kg - 15 minutes

Fasted. Headed out-of-town to see my dad today, and my hope is to get the rest of the work in before we leave, but I may end up doing it when we get back, or pushing it until tomorrow, or… Guess we’ll just have to see how things go.

Either way, the end of this 5x5/3/1 Anchor is in sight!

[heretolog]

225 x 20 for bench coming soon!

[SvenG]

5x5/3/1 Anchor - c25w3d7

Saturday - 17 June 2023
Workout: Calves, triceps, & hard conditioning, 0930-1025 (55 minutes)

Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10

3 rounds of:
a) Single-leg CR - L/R - 35 lbs - 10, 10, 10
b) Triceps kickback - L/R - 15 lbs - 25, 25, 25

Towel hop tabata - 4x40/10

Pwn’s The Last Castle - AMRAP, 15 minutes
a) Sled push - 25 yards, 170 + sled = 257 lbs
b) 10 DB front squats - 2x30 lbs
c) Sled push - 25 yards, 170 + sled = 257 lbs
d) 10 drag curls - 60 lbs
Rounds: 5 (in 16:37)

Okay, that’s better! It’s a week later, so the driveway sealer is that much more sealed. And it’s much earlier in the day, so the driveway hasn’t been baking in the summer sun all day. (Sadly, though, I’m no less tired than last week, and there’s a good chance I’m even more worn down today…)

It was still hard, and I stalled out once or twice on the uphill bit, but that could be my shoes—I bought some new ones, but my wife insists they’re for the trip, so I won’t use them for workouts until we return.

Anyway, that’s the end of the 5x5/3/1 Anchor. And it was a really GOOD week!

[SvenG]

5x5/3/1 Anchor - c25w3 - summary

Crushed it! Just absolutely crushed it last week: 4 rep PR attempts, 4 rep PRs set. And about a bajillion extra reps of all 4 lifts via Pwn’s Tower of Babel.

I’m still not sure what I was thinking to try THAT for all 4 lifts in a PR week, but it was a Really Bad Idea and I absolutely owned it.

Ate like a monster, too, but even so I never felt ready to go the next day…

And that’s why we just go before we’re ready.

So that’s the end of 5x5/3/1, and I’m exhausted. Now I’ve just got one week to fill before a two-week hiatus while we’re in Europe. I’m still not 100% sure what it looks like, but I’m just going to continue digging a hole with that barbell, I suppose…

My only goal for the week:

• Don’t do nothing

This one’s gonna be interesting folks, so let’s see where it goes!

[SvenG]

??? - Day 1

Sunday - 18 June 2023
Workout: Conditioning, 1325-1400 (-ish, 35 minutes or so)

Cindy - AMRAP, 20 minutes
5 pull-ups (strict, various grips)
10 push-ups
15 air squats
Rounds: 13 + 24 (20 full rounds in +11:03)

Woke up late feeling absolutely trashed—I finished up yesterday’s work before we left for my Dad’s, so I think I let down both mentally and physically while we were on the road. (But I’m okay with that because I worked HARD last week.)

Anyway, still didn’t have a plan once I got moving, but eventually decided to knock out Cindy to get something in. 13 + 24 isn’t stellar, but I was drenched in sweat and the reps were QUALITY.

I decided at some point in the second half of the Rx time limit that if I didn’t hit 15 rounds, then I’d carry on until I finished 20 full rounds. That was enough incentive to push a little harder, but not hard enough to get 15 done before the bell—time expired, I marked the completed reps, and I just kept on.

Took me half again as long to finish up the not-quite 7 rounds that remained, but I got 'em all done eventually. And I realized after the fact that 20 rounds of Cindy is basically Murph without the running, so I was actually pretty happy that I pushed myself to finish 20 rounds.

But that’s it for today…

“Don’t do nothing!”

[simo74]

Just catching up on the last few days.

Firstly

@SvenG

235x12 (rep PR)

Holly fkn pec pump mate, that is some nice bench work.

Secondly

@SvenG

Crushed it! Just absolutely crushed it last week

You really did crush it. It should never be understated how hard it is to keep progressing and keep hitting PR’s is, especially when you have been doing it as long as you have. Amazing work sir.

Thirdly

@SvenG

My only goal for the week:

• Don’t do nothing

I would change this to… Get a massive bicep pump every day.

[shaneinga]

That is a hell of a BP set. Congrats on the PR there!

[raven78]

24 hours later I’m usually catching up on minimum 2x @SvenG logged sessions… hope all is ok chief.

[shaneinga]

Where ya at Sven? Hope all is well!

[SvenG]

@simo74, @shaneinga - Thanks, guys. PRs are always fun!

@raven78 - Haha! That 2x part made me laugh.

All good here. Just a very different kind of week…

[SvenG]

??? - Days 2-7

Monday - 19 June 2023 through Saturday - 24 June 2023
Workout: No training

So… I failed to hit my goal for the week: “Don’t do nothing.”

I’ve been doing exactly nothing, and it’s more or less on purpose. Monday brought two big critical path tasks at work for a deadline that occurs next Wednesday, but I basically evaporated yesterday: Our trip to Europe begins in a few hours.

So that meant I had to cram 10 days worth of work into not quite 5 days, but I did it: I got my pieces checked in, I unblocked the downstream colleagues dependent on my work, and I signed off yesterday afternoon feeling good that I didn’t force anyone to pick up my slack.

But I sacrificed to do it.

I sacrificed my training.

I sacrificed my diet.

I sacrificed my sleep.

And I even sacrificed my family time.

Was it worth it?

My boss would say, “Yes!” because that’s his job.

My wife and kids would say, “Yes!” because we made a conscious decision about the job change last fall fully aware that these periods will happen about twice yearly.

But me?

I don’t know, man. I look in the mirror and I can see the toll a complete lack of movement, crap food, crap sleep, and boatloads of stress have imposed on my body in less than a week’s time, and it’s awful. I was living like I did in grad school, but I ain’t 24 years old no mo’…

It is what it is, I suppose. And I will bounce back, there’s no question about that.

But for now, I’m going to focus on this trip, I’m going to be fully present in each moment of each day, and I’m not going to worry about anything else!