Becoming Canis dirus - SvenG's Training Log

Training Training Logs
5505

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d2

Monday - 04 August 2025
Workout: Press + deadlift, 1310-1415 (65 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 1321; End: 1402; Duration: 41 minutes
Press - 95x5, 110x5, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5
Deadlift - 230x5, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5
Lateral lunge - L/R - 2x30 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Upright row - 70 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Decline DB press - 2x70 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Cable crunch - 60 lbs - 15
Face pull - 60 lbs - 15
Skull crusher - 2x22.5 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 22 minutes, supplemental in 19 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

I didn’t say it yesterday, but sets 3-5 of those squats were awesome, and set 3 was the best of the day!

Same thing happened with pressing today: Sets 3-5 were awesome, and set 3 was the best of the day.

Really happy with the rest of it, too: I was between meetings and whatnot as is typical for a work day, but I felt pretty focused on what I was doing—maybe not quite as zoned in as yesterday, but I was pretty deliberate in trying to really pay attention.

Except for those lateral lunges: My only goal there is to survive the stupid things!

Oh, and the deadlifts felt super light. Progress!

13 Likes
5506

I often find set 2 or 3 is the best, it takes a set or 2 for my old rig to be its best. LOL

2 Likes
5507

Have you tried single arm shrugs with a stretch after the set? You might not like the Smith anymore. It becomes shrugs + stretch + grip work + pain tolerance. So much burning in the smaller muscles but the only legitimate reason to quit is discomfort because the body can keep going. (I definitely quit from the pain before my body’s limits)

5508

Same, there’s been some good suggestions already but I’d also mention the trap bar (low handles, obvs)

3 Likes
5509

@aholding88 - Yeah, I should get a trap bar: Useful for so many different movements.

1 Like
5510

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d3

Tuesday - 05 August 2025
Workout: Conditioning + calves, 1330-1425 (55 minutes)

Seated calf raise - 120 lbs - 3 minutes

EMOM, 10 minutes:
a) BB curl - empty - 10
b) Towel hop - time remaining

3 rounds of:
a) Farmer’s walk - 2x77 lbs - 50 yards
b) Hang high pull - 135 lbs - 5
c) Push-up - 20

Assault bike - 10 minutes

That EMOM was a great way to approximate Poundstone curls: I had about 20-30 seconds of “rest” between sets of 10 while doing the towel hop, and that was just enough to make 100 total feel… Not easy, but manageable.

I don’t miss really Poundstones, and after 152+ straight reps awhile back, I’ve got nothing to prove, but there’s no doubt the biceps respond to that kind of stimulus.

12 Likes
5511

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d4

Wednesday - 06 August 2025
Workout: Bench + squat, 0950-1100 (70 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 1002; End: 1050; Duration: 48 minutes
Bench - 170x5, 195x5, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5
Squat - 205x5, 205x5, 205x5, 205x5, 205x5
Ab wheel - ramp (14) - 10, 10, 10
One-arm DB row - L/R - 55 lbs - 10, 10, 10
DB push press - 2x50 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Deficit RDL - 225 lbs - 12+5
Supinated lat pulldown - 120 lbs - 15
Rope pushdown - 25 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 21 minutes, supplemental in 27 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

Everything was moving along, then I hit those RDLs—and they left me wasted! Stupidly I started to rush them as they got hard, ended up being really uneven on the eccentric, bounced at the bottom, and almost lost my grip. I was able to regain control, but had mentally quit, so I reset, finished out the last few reps, and did a few more for good measure.

Everything else was awesome, even if I was totally crashing after the RDLs.

14 Likes
5512

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d5

Thursday - 07 August 2025
Workout: Deadlift + press, 0845-0950 (65 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 0854; End: 0937; Duration: 43 minutes
Deadlift - 230x5, 260x5, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5
Press - 95x5, 95x5, 95x5, 95x5, 95x5
BSS - L/R - 2x35 lbs - 10, 10, 10
V-grip cable row - 120 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Flat DB press - 2x70 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Serratus crunch - 25 lbs - 15
Rear delt flye - 2x20 lbs - 10+5
Dip - 45 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 24 minutes, supplemental in 19 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

Couldn’t be happier with how today went—lower back was feeling yesterday’s RDLs, and it was fatigued and super-pumped by the 6th set of deads, but nothing about today felt as hard as deadlift day normally feels!

11 Likes
5513

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d6

Friday - 08 August 2025
Workout: Conditioning + calves, 1535-1640 (55 minutes)

Seated calf raise - 120 lbs - 3 minutes

EMOM, 10 minutes:
a) Push-up - 10
b) Towel hop - time remaining

3 rounds of:
a) Farmer’s walk - 2x77 lbs - 50 yards
b) 1-pump burpee → wall ball - 20 lbs - 10

Assault bike - 10 minutes

In a foul mood today, not sure why—think maybe I’m just tired.

And the Assualt bike is acting like how a regular bike feels when the chain slips, so my pedaling was tentative. Not sure what that’s about, going to investigate now…

14 Likes
5514

I understand.

1 Like
5515

I’m sorry. (But thank you!)

1 Like
5516

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w2d7

Saturday - 09 August 2025
Workout: Easy conditioning, 1040-1145 (45 minutes)

2 rounds of:
a) Devil’s press - 2x35 lbs - 8
b) Pull-up - 6
c) Box jump - 24-inch - 6

Why Not Both? - AMRAP, 20 minutes
odd) Sled push - 90 lbs - 50 yards
even) Farmer’s walk - 2x77 lbs - 50 yards
Rounds: 13+

Why not both?

Because it sucks, that’s why! (I blame @Frank_C.)

Not sure what’s going on with the bike, couldn’t get the case open without a crank puller—that’ll be here later today. (Thanks, Amazon Prime!) Something’s definitely not right, regardless, so I swapped in the combined sled push/farmer’s walk for today’s conditioning. Needed about 10-15 more seconds on the clock to get a full 14 rounds in—not sure if that’s good or bad, but both the trips and the sucking wind got longer as time wore on.

I think I had more sled work in my legs, but my grip was being challenged by the end, so that’s something to work on.

Hopefully the bike fix is straightforward—I realized recently I’m getting an hour a week on that thing, and I’m sure that’s helping with fat loss. But “Why Not Both?” isn’t exactly slacking off, so that’s something at least!

15 Likes
5517

You’re a better man than me! I only did 25m push (down), 25m pull (back), and then I had to do 50m with carries so I could start and stop at the same place every time. I felt like I had plenty left in my legs so maybe I to make it a full lap for each exercise next time. It’ll also increase my rest time between carries so maybe I won’t need to drop them mid-set.

1 Like
5518

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w3d1

Sunday - 10 August 2025
Workout: Squat + bench, 1130-1300 (90 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 1143; End: 1236; Duration: 53 minutes
Squat - 220x5, 250x5, 280x5, 280x5, 280x5, 280x5, 280x5
Bench - 180x5, 180x5, 180x5, 180x5, 180x5
BB row - 165 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Incline DB press - 2x72.5 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Back extension - 25 lbs - 10, 10, 10
BB curl - 65 lbs - 15
Standing DB press - 2x45 lbs - 15
Deficit reverse lunge - L/R - 2x35 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes
3 rounds of:
a) Jump rope - 150
b) Shuttle run - 25-yards - 8

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 29 minutes, supplemental in 24 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

That. Was. Hard.

Edit: Okay, I was short on time earlier. I’m very tired today and am definitely feeling yesterday’s sled + farmer’s walk, so I knew this was going to be tough. I also had it in my head that 295 was today’s top-set weight, and that was worrying me. (Don’t ask me why—my TM isn’t even that high yet!) Anyway, it was “only” 280, so I felt a bit better coming into this than I did earlier in the day. Warm-up sets were fine, but I could definitely feel the fatigue in my legs and lower back. The top-set walk-outs were strong, and I felt really good on the eccentrics; the concentrics were decent, but some reps were maybe a bit slow, some felt uneven left-to-right, my shoulders were a bit forward on others, and sometimes all of the above. On the whole, though, they were okay—mostly just harder than I wanted them to be, but that’s a mental thing.

Bench and assistance were strong, however, despite feeling pretty much toasted by the squats.

Still not sure what’s up with the Assault bike: Either I’m an idiot or they make it really, really hard to get into the internal mechanisms on purpose, because I can’t figure it out, even with the right tools. On top of that, their website is not help—here, too, I think they’re vague on purpose. Anyway, Mrs. SvenG is going to enlist the help of a dude at her gym that does the maintenance on their bikes, but that’s not going to be a fast process, if he’s even able to do it. Guess we’ll find out…

In the mean time, today’s substitute for the ride wasn’t great: I was moving super (super!) slowly by that point, it was very (very!) hot in the driveway, and it took way (way!) to long. I’ll need to figure out some other way to approximate the end-of-workout Assault bike effect, because I don’t think that even came close.

13 Likes
5519

Hah! Not so sure about that, but I appreciate the sentiment. It’s interesting to me that you feel like you’ve got more in your legs—that was exactly my experience, and it surprised me!

Good stuff in any case.

1 Like
5520

After suffering with the sled again today (no carries or pulling, just pushing), I think the legs just recover faster or better than my forearms. Sure they burn and I slow down to a grinding pace at times, but I’m able to go again within a 30-60 seconds. With the grip, I think we get closer to or actually reach failure. Like, I dropped the DBs during my 4th set when I did it, but I’ve never fallen down and been unable to take another step. The intensity per muscle group is higher for the grip work.

I do the carries for grip work, but I wonder how we’d feel if we cheated and used straps so the carries were just about moving under a load. I’d bet we could add weight, distance, and reps pretty easily.

2 Likes
5521

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w3d2

Monday - 11 August 2025
Workout: Press + deadlift, 1440-1550 (70 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 1451; End: 1534; Duration: 43 minutes
Press - 105x5, 115x5, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5
Deadlift - 245x5, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5
CS DB row - 2x50 lbs - 10, 10, 10
One-arm DB press - L/R - 60 lbs - 10, 10, 10
Ab wheel - ramp 14 - 10, 10, 10
Pull-up - BW - 11+4
Skull crusher - 2x25 lbs - 15
BSS - L/R - 2x35 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes
AMRAP - 5 minutes
Shuttle run - 25-yards
Rounds: 21+

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 20 minutes, supplemental in 23 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

That went pretty well. Definitely moving faster than yesterday, too. Press was strong and felt good—only the last rep or two were really tough. (But not even grindy, just tough.) Could feel my energy starting to fade after the second set of deadlifts, but I finished out well.

The shuttle “runs” are more like shuttle “trots,” and they definitely don’t feel like the bike. But it’s 5 minutes of continuous movement, and worked better than the jump rope/run combo yesterday. Still not quite what I’m looking for, but I guess running (or trotting) for a bit while the bike is out of commission won’t hurt…

10 Likes
5522

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w3d3

Tuesday - 12 August 2025
Workout: Conditioning + calves, 0915-1015 (60 minutes)

Seated calf raise - 120 lbs - 3 minutes

EMOM, 10 minutes:
a) BB curl - empty - 11
b) Towel hop - time remaining

3 rounds of:
a) Farmer’s walk - 2x77 lbs - 50 yards
b) Clean & press - 115 lbs - 3
c) Goblet squat - 32 kg - 7

Assault bike - 10 minutes
Why Not Both? - AMRAP, 10 minutes
odd) Sled push - 90 lbs - 50 yards
even) Farmer’s walk - 2x77 lbs - 50 yards
Rounds: 6+

Body was telling me it is fatigued, and now I know it wasn’t lying.

Good day despite though: Almost broke 100 good reps in the 3 minutes of calf work, added a rep to each round of BB curls in that EMOM, was surprised at how light 115 felt for the clean & press, and didn’t fall too far behind Saturday’s Why Not Both? pace despite the fatigue.

10 Likes
5523

5x5/3/1, 5x5 FSL - 2025.c2w3d4

Wednesday - 13 August 2025
Workout: Bench + squat, 0900-1000 (60 minutes)

Jumps/throws

Begin: 0909; End: 0946; Duration: 37 minutes
Bench - 180x5, 205x5, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5
Squat - 220x5, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5
Upright row - 70 lbs - 10, 10, 10
DB shoulder press - 2x45 lbs - 10, 10, 10
HLR - 10, 10, 10
Shrug - 2x72.5 - 15
Rope pushdown - 25 lbs - 15
Cable crunch - 60 lbs - 15

Assault bike - 5 minutes
AMRAP - 5 minutes
Shuttle run - 25-yards
Rounds: 22+

Assistance totals:
Push - 45 reps
Pull - 45 reps
Single-leg/core - 45 reps

Main work in 19 minutes, supplemental in 18 minutes, assistance superset throughout.

Everything was good this morning.

14 Likes
5524

Honestly I don’t think of TNation folks often when I’m out on a walk, but had to take a picture given their slogan.

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14 Likes