5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d4
Wednesday - 02 August 2023
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0530-0630 (60 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
Neck extension - 10 lbs - 35, 15
Neck flexion - 10 lbs - 35, 15
Fasted.
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d4
Wednesday - 02 August 2023
Workout: Hard conditioning, 1635-1700 (25 minutes)
Hill sprints - 110m - 6 rounds, for time:
Time: 14:50
Why!?!
Just… Why!?!
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d5
Thursday - 03 August 2023
Workout: Bench, 0515-0620 (65 minutes)
Indigo-3G - 0500
Surge - 0530-0606
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0534; End: 0618; Duration: 44 minutes
Bench - 105x5, 130x5, 150x5 | 175x5, 200x5, 220x5
Incline press - 110x5, 110x5, 110x6
(Short) BB front raise - 35 lbs - 12, 12, 12
Kirk K. row - 115 lbs - 15, 15, 15, 15, 15
Neck flexion - 15x20, 25x20
Neck extension - 15x20, 25x20
BFP - red - 25, 25, 25
Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G and Surge as above.
Warm-up sets in 9 minutes, main work in 12 minutes, supplemental incline sets in 12 minutes, assistance superset throughout.
Not much to say—bench is still nice and easy. I’ve got a modified version of the Euro Step WOD planned for this afternoon.
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d5
Thursday - 03 August 2023
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1735-1805 (30 minutes)
(Modified) Euro Step WOD - AMRAP, 15 minutes:
10 wall balls - 20 lbs
10 alt BB lunges - 105 lbs
10 dips - BW
2 burpee-chins - EMOM
Rounds: 5 + 0 reps
Intentionally modified to include the dips and run for 15 minutes. Also modified to do bar-on-back reverse lunges rather than the Rx front-rack forward lunges—my setup just wasn’t conducive to that today.
Basically boiled down to 10 + 2 reps EMOM: Those burpee-chins are a buzz kill, and with tight spacing, the transitions between movements were slow. Even so, that’s 50 wall balls, 50 lunges, 50 dips, and 30 burpee-chins in 15 minutes…
My engine’s running hot, so we’re calling it good!
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d6
Friday - 04 August 2023
Workout: Clean & squat, 0515-0635 (80 minutes)
Indigo-3G - 0500
Surge - 0530-0625
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0533; End: 0630; Duration: 57 minutes
Squat - 160x5, 190x5 | 215x5, 245x5, 275x5
Hang power clean - 70x5, 85x5 | 95x5, 110x5, 120x5
SLDL - 210x5, 210x5, 210x5
Ab wheel - ramp (19) - 12, 12, 12, 10, 10
Neck extension - 10 lbs - 40, 10
Neck flexion - 10 lbs - 40, 10
KB swing - 32 kg - 55, 45
Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G and Surge as above.
Warm-ups sets in 9 + 10 minutes, main work in 15 + 14 minutes, supplemental SLDL work in 9 minutes, assistance superset throughout.
Didn’t feel like it, but I guess I was moving a bit slowly today. Still a better setup than in Week 1, so whatever. My left hip and SI joint were bothering me a bit on those squats, SLDLs, and ab wheel rollouts. Not pain, per se, but just a dull ache.
Happy with how everthing moved, however. And the swing reps keep going up: 55 at 32 kg is another rep PR.
Planning to run the McGhee WOD for 15 minutes (half Rx time) this afternoon. The deadlifts sounded like a good idea when I wrote it down, but I’m kind of dreading those at the moment… It’ll be what it’ll be, I guess!
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d6
Friday - 04 August 2023
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1620-1650 (30 minutes)
Half McGhee WOD - AMRAP, 15 minutes:
5 deadlifts - 275 lbs
13 push-ups
9 box jumps - 30-inch
Rounds: 5 + 26 reps (6 full rounds in +0:0?)
Deadlifts were super-strong, push-ups were inconsequential, box jumps were the weak link.
Cut the Rx time in half and modified it to use 30-inch box jumps rather than 24-inch. Timer expired in the middle of the 9th jump in the 6th round, so I called it 5 + 26 reps. Ended up with 30 deadlifts, 78 push-ups, and 54 box jumps in just a hair over 15 minutes.
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d7
Saturday - 05 August 2023
Workout: Easy conditioning, 0830-0920 (50 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. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day!
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3d7
Saturday - 05 August 2023
Workout: Hard conditioning, 1545-1615 (30 minutes)
Pwn’s The Last Castle - 5 rounds
a) Sled push - 25 yards, 170 + sled = 257 lbs
b) 10 DB hammer curl - L/R - 25 lbs
c) Sled push - 25 yards, 170 + sled = 257 lbs
d) 21 BPA - red - 7 hi + 7 mid + 7 low
Time: 17:32
25 DB hammer curl - L/R - 25 lbs
Knocked that out pretty quickly—the sled felt good today, despite tired legs, glutes, and lower back! The fact that it’s not a billion degrees with the sun burning me away probably helped.
Realized early on I should’ve bumped up the number of hammer curls (or used a heavier weight), so I went straight into a set of 25 after the conditioning work. And that made me realize I should chase the pump a bit more more often than I do…
5/3/1 BaBY - c26w3 - summary
This post isn’t so much a summary of Week 3 as it is just some random updates because I haven’t had a chance to post them yet…
My kids kicked a$$ at the summer swim team Championship Meet on Saturday, 29 July: They both swam 3 events (the maximum), my daughter had second, third and fourth place finishes, and my son had a first place and two second place finishes—not too shabby! The team finished 2nd in the meet, and 2nd overall in the division. It was a good season!
We had the team banquet later that day, and my son received the Hardest Worker Award for the 2023 season! There are 117 kids on the team, ranging in age from about 5-6 years old to 17-18 years old, and he stood out among all of them this year! We didn’t know about the award in advance, and the coaches had some amazing things to say about him, so that was a truly awesome surprise. We are quite proud of both our kids’ effort, but this award was icing on the cake!
Anyway, here was my dinner at the banquet:
I get seriously giddy on banquet day each year—the meat is so good!
And apparently I’m developing some kind of reputation: When I was in line loading up my plate, one of the swim moms I don’t really know but who helps prepare the food said, “Oh good! You ARE here. We hoped you’d be coming—we made a lot of meat this year.”
That’s not a bad reputation to have, haha!
Also, this arrived last Thursday:
I’m super-pumped to try it out: I’ve use some of the individual ingredients before, but not from Biotest and not in combination. Biotest has never let me down before, so I’m expecting good things from Alpha Male!
I’ll be moving on to Cycle 27 today. Not surprisingly, my goals for the week are:
I’m still trying to find the right balance between family life, training life, and work life—I’m almost a year into my new job, but it’s still presenting new challenges every day, it seems. I feel like I’ve been training a bit less overall since the end of 5x5/3/1, but I’m also not feeling like a zombie most days since then—at least not because of training. I’m going to keep the schedule in Cycle 27 pretty much as it has been in Cycle 26, and then re-evaluate in another 3 weeks to see where things stand.
I’m still carrying a lot more fat than I’d like, and I swear work stress contributes in a way I didn’t appreciate before. But that’s an easy excuse, and I know my nutrition still isn’t as dialed in as it was earlier this summer. I am making progress toward finding the right balance between eating correctly and consciously and not being an a-hole about food, so that’s good…
Like everything else, that’s just going to take time and consistent effort.
Finally, I’m cycling up my TMs on the main lifts:
Press - 130 lbs
Squat - 295 lbs
Bench - 235 lbs
Dead - 340 lbs
Clean - 130 lbs
and on the supplemental lifts:
Incline press - 130 lbs
Front squat - 205 lbs
Close-grip bench - 200 lbs
Straight-leg deadlift - 255 lbs
The first cycle of BaBY was awesome—despite what I said above, the workload is really clicking for me right now—so I’m super-pumped for the next 3 weeks!
Right, so that’s that. @kleinhound recently observed that:
brought him to the dance, and I couldn’t agree more: It means there’s hope for me yet, haha!
So, folks:
Let’s just f-ing go!
5/3/1 BaBY - c27w1d1
Sunday - 06 August 2023
Workout: Easy conditioning, 1020-1155 (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. Slept until almost 0800 today—that was awesome!
Yesterday was downright pleasant, but it’s back to nasty humid and hot. I was sweating like a pig iron from start to finish.
5/3/1 BaBY - c27w1d1
Sunday - 06 August 2023
Workout: Hard conditioning, 1430-1510 (40 minutes)
Pwn’s The Last Castle - 5 rounds
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x117 lbs
b) 8 devil’s press - 2x30 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x117 lbs
d) 20 BFP - black
Time: 27:19
I made up for all of yesterday’s speediness with a total lack thereof today!
I wasn’t in a hurry—and that shows—but I was focused on bracing with the carries and quality reps with the other moves. Bumped up the weight on the carries by 10 lbs per hand, and because I’ve just about worn out my second (of two) red bands, I moved up to the black one today. I could feel both the extra weight and the extra tension, but things went well nonetheless.
Oh, and if I thought I was sweating like a pig iron earlier… Holy cow! There’s a literal path of sweat streaking the driveway and the floor. Good stuff.
Last note: I’ve been doing those short “runs” from the top of the driveway down to the weight room and back in all of these The Last Castle workouts since that first time I tried it a few weeks ago. It’s not much, but the extra movement doesn’t hurt!
Mind blown at all the work in here as always. Trip looked epic, and all the best on the rebound.
@Deadliftnstill - Thanks, man! It’s nice to see you back and posting again, too.
5/3/1 BaBY - c27w1d2
Monday - 07 August 2023
Workout: Press, 0515-0625 (70 minutes)
Indigo-3G - 0500
Alpha Male - 0500
Surge - 0530-0605
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0530; End: 0620; Duration: 50 minutes
Press - 50x5, 60x5, 75x5 | 85x5, 100x5, 115x5
CGBP - 140x10, 140x10, 140x10
Neck extension - 15 lbs - 25, 15, 10
Neck flexion - 15 lbs - 25, 15, 10
BPA - black - 25, 25, 25
Pull-up - BW - 12, 12, 12, 10, 7 + 2 + 1 + 1
Glenn B. shrug - 2x30 lbs - 100
Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G, Alpha Male, and Surge as above.
I’ll be doing Alpha Male 5 days on during the week, and 2 days off over the weekend. Not sure if taking it with Indigo-3G is a problem or not, but that’s what we’re gonna try. The second dose will follow 6-8 hours later—so in the late morning or early afternoon—depending on when I’m looking to each lunch.
Warm-up sets in 11 minutes, main work in 11 minutes, supplemental CGBP sets in 10 minutes, assistance super-set throughout.
Today was easy breezy, except for those dumb pull-ups: The rest-pause in that last set is me begin annoyed with myself for failing to get 10 straight reps. And even so, I barely squeaked out 11! In the end, I managed 57 reps over the 5 sets, and the first 3 with 12 reps each felt pretty strong.
I used the black band for the BPAs today—that’ll be the standard for BFPs and BPAs from now on—and while the low position was super-tough, they actually went alright considering. I also added 5 lbs per hand to the Glenn B. shrugs, and let’s just say: Burn, BaBY, burn!
I’ve got a modified version of the Triple Time WOD planned for later today, so we’ll see you again this afternoon!
5/3/1 BaBY - c27w1d2
Monday - 07 August 2023
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1355-1420 (25 minutes)
Alpha Male - about 1130
(Modified) Triple Time WOD - 3 rounds, for time:
20 dips - BW
30 sit-ups
40 air squats
100 jump rope reps
Time: 18:16
We lost power a while ago, so I decided to knock this out now. Modified to include the dips (because they’re awesome) and replaced double-unders with 2x jump rope reps (because I can’t do double-unders). The sit-ups and jump rope were the slow moves today, and while this WOD isn’t exactly a barn-burner, it is some decent work in 15-20 minutes.
Oh, and this: The power’s back!
I think you generated enough energy to get it back on.
@SvenG the original potato battery!
@unicornsandrainbows - Hah! I honestly like to think I am the reason the dehumidifier in the weight room turns on, so maybe I’m able to jump start the power, too!
@heretolog - I am feeling like SOME kind of potato these days, anyway.
5/3/1 BaBY - c27w1d3
Tuesday - 08 August 2023
Workout: Deadlift, 0515-0625 (70 minutes)
Indigo-3G - 0500
Alpha Male - 0500
Surge - 0530-0610
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0532; End: 0619; Duration: 47 minutes
Deadlift - 120x5, 155x5, 190x5 | 225x5, 255x5, 290x5
Front squat - 145x10, 145x10, 145x10
Neck extension - 7.5 lbs - 50
Neck flexion - 7.5 lbs - 50
KB swing - 32 kg - 60, 40
HLR - 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 + 3
Semi-fasted: black coffee upon waking, then Indigo-3G, Alpha Male, and Surge as above.
Warm-up sets in 14 minutes, main work in 17 minutes, supplemental front squats in 16 minutes, assistance super-set throughout.
Solid morning, no complaints. Except that I hate front squats. (Haha!) Everything moved well, and deadlifts are still feeling strong. The rest-pause on the HLRs is me trying to keep the reps clean, but failing to do so on the last couple of that final set. I’m pretty sure they’re improving, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do.
Oh, and swinging that 32-kg KB for 60 unbroken, super-solid reps is another PR.
I’ll be running a modified version of the Jennifer WOD this afternoon.
You doing all this additional neck work makes me want to add into my routine somewhere. I have a neck harness I just need to put it to work.
Nice work in here as usual.
