Seconding the fibre choice. I’ve been taking 3-4 tablespoons of fibre for ages now, in addition to whatever I get from other sources, and it’s helped greatly. I use psyllium husk and just add it to smoothies
The other thing that REALLY helped was copious amounts of probiotics from food sources, and not capsules. Capsules can sometimes have “dud” probiotics in them because they sit around for so long sometimes without a food source.
I’ve been having kefir and unpasteurized sauerkraut, but any yogurt or other fermented and unpasteurized veggies will do.
Just to chime on the digestive issues: have you tried regularly consuming fermented foods? I have kefir every day, and kombucha regularly. As I’m writing this, I see kdjohn made the same suggestion.
A kefir-based smoothie is fantastic. Kefir, spinach, frozen blueberries, and whey protein.
@doomyguy - Wow, man, that’s quite a compliment! Thank you. I absolutely appreciate the sentiment, but I gotta stay hungry—Hungry Like the Wolf, haha!
@kdjohn, @antiquity - Thanks for the additional comments, guys! I didn’t mention it specifically, but I eat Greek yogurt daily both at breakfast and as part of the post-workout snack in the afternoon. I’m not big on sauerkraut, but I could certainly try some kefir as well.
Today’s work will come in small chunks. Got the walk in. Next up: calf raises and BB curls. I’ll edit those in once they’re done.
Edit: Finished up regular morning work, still fasted. Everything burned this morning. Did the curls in 3:51, normally that set runs about 4:15-4:30—just eliminated some of the pauses for deep breaths. Pretty solid reps though, good ROM and minimal body english. Jump rope and daily work after my son’s basketball game.
Saturday - 19 February 2022 Workout: Extra conditioning, 1120-1155 (35 minutes)
Jump rope tabata - 4x40/10 - 1 round
The Devil’s Valley
10, 1, 9, 2, 8, 3, 7, 4, 6, 5
a) Devil’s presses - 2x30 lbs
b) Chin-ups/pull-ups (strict, various grips) Time: 15:53
Jump rope tabata - 4x40/10 - 1 round
Devil’s presses are one of those moves where, when you see it written down, you’re like, “Yeah, okay. Devil’s presses.” And then, when you’re just a few reps into the first set, you’re like, “Oh, f-me! Devil’s presses!”
These went: 10 presses, 10 chins, 1 press, 1 chin, 9 presses, 9 chins, etc. That’ll be it for today, but I got it all in.
They’ve both got their high points. PR sets are super fun and super motivating because I like pushing myself, but I’ve only done one PR-based cycle out of the (almost) 9 cycles I’ve run since starting 5/3/1 mid-last year. I’ve been doing a lot of Widowmakers and Malcom X style high-rep work to push my limits.
I also seem to be responding well to the higher volume of 5s PRO, and knowing my TMs are correct keeps me confident, particularly on days when I’m not feeling 100%. I’ve been pretty religious about 7WP TM Test weeks—in fact, I end up doing those during what should be 7WP Deload weeks, too—so I can always say to myself, “You’ve hit more weight than this for 5 reps recently, just get in there and do it!”
Oh, and I’ve also out-grown almost all of my old 1RM or 5RM numbers, so TM Test weeks are by-default 5-rep PRs!
Thank you! This is super useful info. I was thinking of doing the PR sets with Widowmakers how Jim has it laid out in Forever with “5/3/1 and Widowmakers” as my anchor after I finish the BBB challenge. I thought it seemed like a neat idea to balance the really high volume from my Leader with really high intensity during the Anchor. But I’m definitely wanting to try 5 pros and 5x5 fsl at some point because it seems like it has worked really well for you! 5/3/1 and Widowmakers just really interests me because I absolutely love DC training and it definitely seems modeled after that!
I actually ran that as an anchor to 5s PRO, 5x5 FSL last fall. It was awesome! I was worried about hitting my FSL numbers on the 20-rep sets, so I starting practicing those with extra work in the cycle leading up to it. Ended up smashing the 5+, 3+, and 1+ PR sets and then setting new WM PRs throughout that whole cycle. That’s when I discovered the value of high-rep work as a way to push myself. I also think my physique really changed in that short 3-week window of time.
Anyway, I think you’d really dig it. And based on your work ethic, I think you’ll absolutely crush it!
FWIW, I’ve found I can really push my conditioning with 5s PRO, 5x5 FSL, which is part of why it’s become my go-to template. I started running 5/3/1 with lots of conditioning when I decided to break up with my disordered eating habits last June, and it’s done nothing but wonders for me mentally and physically.
It’s amazing what a little bit of time, effort, and consistency will do for a body, huh?
Oh yeah man it’s incredible. And it’s great reading logs such as yours and Pwnish3r’s, for example, where you guys have been at it for years and are still making such gains and progress to this day! That’s definitely what I try to get across as well. Way too many people believe that you hit your muscular potential at 1-2 years, 5 years max and then you just can’t grow any more and either are just happy with that, quit, or start taking steroids. I love the people that never settle.
Not much to say that hasn’t been said already: did the work, hit my goals, ready for more. Two days on fiber and things are better—not out of the woods yet, but there’s some improvement. Hoping that trend continues, because feeling exhausted at the start of each morning workout wasn’t much fun.
My goals for this final week of the anchor are:
Complete all 4 lifting workouts
Complete an extra Widowmaker set for each lift
Complete 4 days of hard conditioning
Complete 3 days of easy conditioning + direct calf work
Do 52 chin-ups/pull-ups and 50 somethings every day
Continue to eat properly
Looking ahead, I plan to bump up my TMs, test them, and then move into two cycles of BBB, FSL, followed by a deload. That’ll carry me into mid- to late-April, at which point I’ll run some kind of anchor. Not sure beyond that…
Revisited that Burn Down the Tower workout from last Thrusday, this time with manmakers and chins. Haven’t done manmakers in a long time—they’re horrible. (And I was using only 20-lbs DBs!)
I’m slow with those, so I bumped up the burn-out rounds to 60-seconds. Ended up with 53 manmakers and 64 chin-ups/pull-ups over the ToB pyramid and the burn-outs. Not bad—I was working hard from start to finish.
That’ll be it for today, but I get to squat big tomorrow, so time to eat and rest.
So I’ve seen the picture below in Pwn’s content (here and elsewhere) a few times now, and it just occurred to me: no one’s talking about the size of this guy’s love handles.
Not sure who he is, but yeah—this realization totally confirms the fact that
I just need to get as big and as strong as this guy, and the rest will take care of itself.
My gastroenterologist recommended it to me, for IBS symptoms, so lots of gut issues but they usually present as frequent, loose BMs. Metamucial slows things down, usually. Also seems to keep me feeling full a bit longer. Fwiw, this only is the case when my gut isn’t in a terrible spot, if it’s there metamucial’s impact is trivial.
