Nice one.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w1d6
Friday - 29 October 2021
Workout: Conditioning, 1450-1330 (40 minutes)
4 rounds of:
a) 13 1-pump burpees
b) 13 KB swings - 24 kg
c) 30 BPAs - red - 10 high + 10 mid + 10 low
25-second rest between rounds
BB curls - 53, 26 + 6
Sled push - 10x50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
Time: 11:04
So I don’t want to jump the gun—I’m planning to write up a Week 1 summary on Sunday morning, as usual—but my attempts at Poundstone curls and these Widowmaker sets are absolutely reinforcing what I already know: my body is incredibly capable when my mind overcomes.
Missed a period of no rain earlier in the day, so I switched up the order this afternoon in an attempt to let the rain pass, and it did! (In fact, there’s even a break in the clouds and the sun is out as I write this.)
I thought about Pwn’s The Last Castle variation I did last week (sled + burpees + swings), but because it was raining when I started, I decided to just go for the burpee/swing/BPA circuit and do a continuous push at the end of the workout to minimize time in the rain. If I had known for sure… Oh well, maybe next week.
Absolutely crushed those curls today—53 reps in the first set, and 26 in the second, with a quick rest-pause to finish out the last 6. Wanted 50 in that first set, wasn’t really sure I had it in me—but I got 53! I think I paid the price later in the workout as the sled push took an agonizing 11+ minutes to complete, but it’s still a win.
Speaking of… I was reminded of why I love the sled today: either you do the work, or you quit. There aren’t technique breakdowns, there’s no form to be mindful of, no worries about bar speed—i.e, no excuses. If you put one foot in front of the other, you just keep going. You either do the work, or you quit.
I was also reminded of why I hate the sled today: either you do the work, or you quit. There aren’t technique breakdowns, there’s no form to be mindful of, no worries about bar speed—i.e, no excuses. If you put one foot in front of the other, you just keep going. You either do the work, or you quit.
Haha.
Okay, that’s enough of that. Let’s eat!
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Are these BB curls with an empty bar?
Sorry if it’s a dumb question, the only poundstone curls protocol I know of is 100 reps with the empty bar in 1 or as little sets as possible
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Yep, that’s right—empty Olympic barbell, 45 lbs. I’m trying to work my way up to 100 straight!
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This is much the same with the sandbag carries you either keep walking or you don’t
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w1d7
Saturday - 30 October 2021
Workout: Conditioning + calves + deadlift WM, 0755-0930 (95 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 24 kg - 35 minutes
Bike@120 bpm - 15 minutes
SL CR - L/R - 30x10, 35x8 | 40x6 + isohold: 28s
Jump rope tabata - 16x20/10 - 1 round
Deadlift - 160x20
Fasted—but, man, that was tough this morning: for the first time in who knows how long, I woke up overnight hungry. It must’ve been around midnight or so. And not just hungry, but like, H-U-N-G-R-Y. Not sure why… Dinner was pork chops and veggies, I finished off the day with a casein shake as usual, it was all pretty typical.
The deadlift Widowmaker set, which went well today (good bracing, good pace), finished off the first week of practice—so far, so good.
(Modified) Evil EMOM and BPAs later today.
4 Likes
5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w1d7
Saturday - 30 October 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1400-1435 (35 minutes)
(Modified) Evil EMOM WOD - EMOM, 21 minutes
a) 10 thrusters - 65 lbs
b) 20 KB swings - 24 kg
c) 8 1-pump burpees
BPA - red - 4x(10 high + 10 mid + 10 low)
Phew—glad that’s done. The “evil” in Evil EMOM was particularly wicked today. Those thrusters tried to eat my lunch. Anyway, that’s a wrap. Week 2 and even more Widowmaker practice starts tomorrow!
5 Likes
5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w1 - summary
Despite a rough start to the week (mostly with food), it ended up being pretty awesome overall. I got my eating back on track quickly, and I hit all of my other goals for the week.
So I know they’re baby weights, but these Widowmaker practice sets are proving to be a good decision: I am building confidence in my ability to gut it out, and I’m learning some things (e.g., squats tax my breathing, deadlifts my bracing, etc.). Weak points or things to watch out for will likely shift as the weights get heavier, but that’s okay: I’ve still got two weeks of practice to sort things out.
They also didn’t impact my recovery anywhere near as much as I was initially thinking, and that’s good, because my regular workout weights go up this week, the Widowmaker practice weights go up this week, I’m adding another 20-rep set for each lift this week, and I’m creeping the total reps for assistance and daily work back up as well. (I am leaving the hard conditioning at 2 days/week, however.) Sunday and Monday aside, I wasn’t eating like a madman this week, so there’s room for more (good) food if I find I need it.
My goals for this week are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Complete three Widowmaker sets for each lift
- Increase assistance totals to 65 reps in each category
- Complete 2 days of hard conditioning
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning + direct calf work
- Do (at least) 75 burpees + swings and 100 band face pulls every day
- Eat well
I’m replacing daily band pull-aparts with daily band face pulls, mostly for a change of pace.
Plan with this week’s Widowmakers is to do one after each lifting workout (for the same main/supplemental lift of that day), and then two sets after a rest day in between (e.g., one 20-rep set of squats on Monday, two sets on Wednesday, etc.). This week’s weights for those sets are:
Press - 85 lbs
Squat - 165 lbs
Bench - 155 lbs
Dead - 190 lbs
which are 60% of the projected anchor TM. I think that’s about it, so let’s get going.
8 Likes
5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w2d1
Sunday - 31 October 2021
Workout: Conditioning + calves + bench WM, 0620-0735 (75 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 24 kg - 35 minutes
Jump rope tabata - 16x20/10 - 1 round
SL CR - L/R - 30x12, 35x10 | 40x8 + isohold: 12s
Bench - 155x20, 155x20
Fasted. Luckily did not wake up hungry overnight, and I got the work done a bit earlier today, so I will be eating breakfast shortly. Dressed for outside, so switched order of jump rope and calf raises again. Didn’t feel it as much this time, but that’s probably because I added reps to the calf raises—and I was definitely feeling that!
Crushed the bench WM sets again. Took 3 minutes rest between sets. Second one was actually eaiser than the first, probably because my pecs and tris had some blood flowing to them after the first 20.
Pwn’s The Last Castle and burpees + BFPs planned for later today.
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Hold my (non alcoholic) beer…
My 5+ set for tomorrow is at 75kg. I’m going to hit 20or die trying 
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You and me both!
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Tbh though, I’m not sure how I’ll make it. My legs feel pretty toast today.
Delayed fatigue always trips me out
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Eat more, and then make sure you don’t hurt yourself. 5+ means “5 or more,” so 5, 6, 7, … any of those fit the bill—absolutely does not have to be 20 reps.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c5w2d1
Sunday - 31 October 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1055-1140 (50 minutes)
Pwn’s The Last Castle - 10 rounds
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
b) 6 alternating DB snatches - 35 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
d) 10 KB swings - 24 kg
4 rounds of:
a) 19 1-pump burpees
b) 25 BFPs - red
25-second rest between rounds
Have I mentioned I’m tired of the rain? Actually, it was more like a very light drizzle. Less miserable than last week…
Moving slowly during setup/teardown, but I got a good time on The Last Castle today: 10 rounds in 21:28, so that’s cool. Funny, but every week I start the snatches and I think, “I could’ve gone heavier this week,” and then about Round 6, I think, "I’m so glad I didn’t go heavier this week."
Oh, and I like the extra BFPs—works similar muscles, continues the low-impact extra volume for my back, but definitely gives a different feel than BPAs.
Anticipating a carb-heavy dinner tonight: headed to some friends’ house this evening so all the kiddos can trick-or-treat together, and they’ve made chili. But, hey, tomorrow’s squat day, so we’ll just call it “preparation.”
5 Likes
Actually 5+ means " 5 or more reps with no noticeable changes in technique" @anna_5588 there is no way a 5+ set should end in 4x the reps unless your training max is drastically underestimated
Chilli is the last thing I want before a squat day… Too many “false alarms” at the bottom.
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Uh-oh. 
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Well… I’m 100% sure my TM is not underestimated. I am good at grinding out reps so long as I don’t give up mentally or pass out
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No doubts about that, I know you are a grinder but how many of those grinding reps would you say are clean without any technical defects due to fatigue?
Any respectable program with x+ sets preach technical failure not muscle failure
Don’t get me wrong true MR work has its place in a training programme, hell crossfit is built on it because fatigue is what they go for… but if you are practicing a lift and want to master it to get stronger then why grind out reps to enforce bad technique?
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Replying with the quote, as it’s beautifully written this.
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Agreed. I loved this too, but was too shy to say. 
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