Boatguy's New and Final Log (Ongoing)

Training Training Logs
181

11 March 2013
Monday - Bench/Row
HRV - 86, Green

1A. Deadstop Row - 70 x 8, 75 x 8, 80 x 8, 85 x 8, 90 x 8, 95 x 8;
1B. Bench - 135 x 10, 155 x 10, 185 x 7, 215 x 5*, 230 x 5*, 245 x 6*;
2A. Kroc Row - 75 x 20, 20;
2B. Incline DB Bench - 60 x 8, 8, 8;
3A. Reverse Crunch - 12#MB x 10, 10, 10;
3B. Elbow Out Extension - 30 x 10, 10, 10;
45 minute-ish break
100 rep KB/Row Mishmash - 52# KB
Swing x 10 per arm
500m Row - 1:46
Snatch x 10
500m - 1:52
Push Press x 10
500m - 1:50
Snatch x 10
500m - 1:52
Swing x 10
500m - 1:49
Total - 23:20
Heart Rate Average - 155 Peak - 178

Felt pretty good today. Bench was above prescription, but only by 1. had to run up to the office for a few after this, so it made a perfect break before coming back for the conditioning portion. I liked this better than the original 100-rep. Never liked just doing KB cleans, no real rhythm to it. So I dropped that and the rack position squats, and added in more swings and snatches while keeping the push press. Good conditioning routine, though I would have liked to have kept my average closer to my peak heart rate. SOmething to shoot for next time, by taking shorter rests.

182

12 March 2013
Tuesday - Squat
HRV - 73, Yellow

A. Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 8, 275 x 6, 315 x 5*, 335 x 5*, 355 x 7*;
B. Box Jump - 37" x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3;
Front Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 195 x 20;
Prowler - 90# x 30 yd - 6 sprints on 1:00 interval (sprint, remainder of minute is rest period)
Heart Rate Average - 160 Peak - 174

Squats suddenly felt heavy at 315. Guessing maybe I wasn’t as tight as I should have been, not sure. Felt better at top, though 7 reps was a little harder than I felt it should have been. Also felt really tired going into the gym, so that may have played into it. Yellow measure today, which I pushed through because tomorrow is just conditioning anyway and if I get a red, I can always just limit myself to recovery pace work.

183

13 March 2013
Wednesday - Conditioning
HRV - 81, Green

Cardiac Output - Incline Walk/Jog - 30:00
Speed varied to keep HR between 130-150
Heart Rate Average - 141 Peak - 155

High Resistance Intervals - Woodway Force @ 20# resistance - 10 second sprint
7 iterations, HR recovery
Heart Rate Average - 148 Peak - 168
11:00 total

Today being a planned conditioning day, I decided to try out some of Joel Jamieson’s 4-week conditioning program protocols. Performing cardiac output at the beginning is different for me. I have always either done it completely separate or done it after intervals as recovery.

184

14 March 2013
Thursday - Pullup/Military Press
HRV - 73, Yellow

1A. Pullup - BW x 10, 30 x 8, 50 x 6, 65 x 5*, 70 x 5*, 75 x 5*;
1B. Military Press - bar x 10, 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 6, 115 x 5*, 120 x 5*, 125 x 4*;
2A. Neutral Grip Pullup - 10, 10, 10;
2B. STR Press - 95 x 6, 7, 7;

Really felt off today. I am currently doing the 3g centrophenoxine for 21 days protocol from the brain function boosters threads (BBB came up with this one - cleans out the age-related poop in your brain), so I think that has something to do with it. Barely got 5 on the heaviest pullups, and couldn’t get 5 on the press. After today’s workout, I decided to repeat 3 x 5 week at the same weights next week.

185

15 March 2013
Friday - Deadlift
HRV - 81, Green

Deadlift - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 285 x 5*, 305 x 5*, 325 x 8*;
Leg Press - 450 x 10(Toe Press x 15), 495 x 8(TP x 10), 495 x 9;
Leg Extension - 45 x 10, 10, 10;

Felt better today. I never really do too much on leg days anymore. The heavy lifting takes it out of me more than it used to. Still going to hold the weight where it is next week, and hopefully that will get me moving forward again. Taking off what turned into two weeks really seemed to put a damper on my progress.

186

18 March 2013
Monday - Bench/Row
HRV - 69, Yellow

1A. 1 Arm BB Row - 50 x 8, 8, 75 x 8, 85 x 6, 75 x 8, 8;
1B. Bench - 135 x 10, 155 x 10, 185 x 7, 215 x 5*, 230 x 5*, 245 x 8*;
2A. Snatch Grip Rack Pull (midshin) - 135 x 10, 10, 10;
2B. Incline DB Bench - 60 x 8, 8, 65 x 5;

Today felt a lot better, in spite of the yellow HRV score. The wife kept me up too late last night. As soon as we hit the bed, she suddenly gets super chatty. In spite of that, I got 2 more reps at 245 today, though my form felt a little off (elbows flared more than normal - could be wrong). Threw in the rack pulls, haven’t done those in a while, though I typically did them more like Dimel deads than rack pulls - drop just below the knee and don’t hit the rack. Felt a serious cramping in the mid/lower traps.

Got out of the house a little later than I meant to, so I stopped with what you see. Intended to get some conditioning in, but didn’t get it done - got too busy as the day wore on.

187

19 March 2013
Tuesday - NOTHING
HRV - 68, Red

Woke up to a red today, really starting to piss me off. Not sure why this is happening, doing my normal routine with nothing crazy added, no crazy life stuff going on either. Took today off due to the red.

188

20 March 2013
Wednesday - Squat
HRV - 74, Green

A. Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 8, 275 x 6, 315 x 5*, 335 x 5*, 355 x 8*;
B. Box Jump - 37" x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3;
Front Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 200 x 20;

Got a green today, though a lower score than normal. I was consistently in the 80s and lately my scores have been tanking. Got in the gym, hit some decent numbers. As I stated before, I was unhappy with my performance last week, so I am repeating this week at the same numbers. Decent day, felt good so I went up 5 pounds on my 20-rep front squat. Those suck. Can’t say for sure how much growth I get out of them, but definitely a metcon if nothing else.

189

21 March 2013
Thursday - Pullup, Military Press
HRV - 66, Yellow

1A. Pullup - BW x 10, 30 x 8, 50 x 6, 65 x 5*, 70 x 5*, 75 x 6*;
1B. Military Press - bar x 10, 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 6, 110 x 5*, 115 x 5*, 125 x 6*;
2A. Neutral Grip Pullup - 11, 10, 11;
2B. Half-Kneeling Landmine Press - 45(plate on end) x 8, 8, 8;
Cobra - 50 x 10, 10, 10;
PM
Treadmill Walk/Jog - Cardiac Output - 30:00 keeping HR in 130-150 range
Heart Rate Average - 139 Peak - 150

Another low score. Driving me nuts. Managed to get some good work done though, and added a rep to last weeks pullups as well as 2 reps to last weeks press. Did the weights I was supposed to do last week (I misloaded last week), which seemed to help at least a little.

Tried the landmine press. Definitely need to do that kneeling, standing is more like an incline press due to the bar angle. half-kneeling though (on one knee), is a lot more difficult than it looked. I started with one plate thinking I would add weight as I went along. Yeah, right. Planning to keep those around for a bit.

And I FINALLY figured out why I’ve been feeling like crap and getting low scores. I sell plasma on occasion for extra dough (they deposit on a prepaid Visa - I call it my blood money), and they check your iron and protein every time you go in to ‘donate’(don’t know why they call it that). Well, last week they took a couple vials of blood for periodic testing. Results were off (iron and protein either too high or too low, the attendants couldn’t tell me exactly), so they retested and did not allow me to donate. While I was sitting there, I googled low iron on the phone. Lo and behold, there were my symptoms. Low energy, get tired easily, feeling weak, etc. So I went to the VS, grabbed a multi mineral and iron pills, and started taking them right away. Taking the multi 3x /day (in addition to other minerals it gives me 20mg iron total), plus another iron pill (28mg) 1x/day. I’ll do that for another week or so, and then drop the iron pill and see what happens.

Thank God, I was starting to worry I brought something funky back from overseas.

190

22 March 2013
Friday - Deadlift
HRV - 73, Green

Deadlift - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 285 x 5*, 305 x 5*, 325 x 10*;
Power Cleans (done in between deadlift sets during ramp up) - 95 x 5, 3, 3;
A. Leg Press - 450 x 10, 10, 550 x 10;
B. Toe Press - 450 x 15, 15, 15;
Single Leg Extension - 55 x 10, 10, 8;

Feeling better already, even though the score is still low. At least I got a green on the day after a training day.

Deadlifts felt great, though mixing power cleans into the deadlift warm up was a bad idea. Why do I feel winded after doing power cleans and deadlifts back to back? I don’t get it. (DUH) After I dropped those, things went a lot better. I did that after thinking about CT’s force continuum model, where you would do explosive (power cleans) followed by more strength based (deadlift) in the same/similar movement pattern. I’ll probably try that again, except doing all the power cleans and THEN the deadlifts.

10 reps at 325 felt good. Probably had a few in the tank, but ten was plenty. Hit some accessory stuff, then got out. As my energy levels continue to improve, I will add in more heavy work and conditioning. Been doing the cardiac output stuff as a prelude to trying Joel Jameison’s 4 week conditioning plan.

191

23 March 2013
Saturday - Arms, Conditioning
HRV - 84, GREEN!

A. Dip - BW x 10, 75 x 8, 8, 100 x 4, 4, 125 x 3, 3;
B. Screw Curl -45 x 8, 8, 55 x 4, 4, 65 x 2, 2;
Treadmill - Cardiac Output - 30:00 (HR 130-150) HR Average - 140 Peak - 152
HICT (High Intensity Continuous Training) - Spin Bike @ heavy resistance - 10:00
heart Rate Average - 124 Peak - 135

FINALLY got back to a solid score. Really not sure how I ended up with low iron. Don’t think my diet has been slipping lately, but it could still use some tightening up.

Haven’t done dips in a while, so I strapped a few on. I was using the dip/leg raise station, and some ladies were working in doing abs. I squatted down to hook up the weights, and then stood there for a few seconds waiting for one of them to finish her set. I had an earbud out, and she says, ‘You know, some people pay a lot of money for that.’ I laughed, then thought about it. The weights were right up under my junk, so all I could figure is she was referring to some sort of penile enhancement. The only other viable meaning would be to have stuff hanging from your junk, which completely changes my image of the older (than me) ladies at the Y. Her friend says, ‘I just want to see what he’s going to do with that.’ Then they stood off to the side watchingm e while I was dipping with 100#. I had replaced the bud, so I couldn’t hear any comments. I’ve gotten other compliments on that before though, which I find funny. I guess that explains why some guys feel threatened when a stronger lifter comes into their gym and outlifts them. Big fish in a small pond.

Hit more conditioning after those, and tried out the HICT protocol on the bike. I’ve used it on the versaclimber, but never a bike. You are supposed to be careful to stay under your anaerobic threshold when doing this, but I never even got out of the 130s. I’ve had issues with the bike in the past though, not being able to sustain a high power output for very long. Maybe I’ll try more resistance next time.

192

If you’ve never seen HICT before, here’s the basics:

Versaclimber, bike, something of that sort. If you are using a bike, use a spin bike with a manual resistance knob. The exercise bikes in the cardio area use magnetic resistance, and won’t be hard enough.

Set a timer for 5 - 20:00, and crank along at a slow pace. IF you have the resistance set high enough, you won’t be able to go very fast anyway. At least not for long. I only did the one iteration, since I had already done 30:00 of cardiac output. If HICT is your main work for the session, then do the 5-20 minute period, followed by 2-10 minutes rest (depending obviously on work period), then repeat. This should be doen for up to 80 minutes. The strength coach who made the video I watched (forget his name) claimed this was great for the day after a game or hard practice/training session, and served as a form of active recovery. Which is another reason I did it today, because my thighs were sore as crap after squatting on Wednesday adn deadlifting on Friday.

193

25 March 2013
Monday - Bench, Row
HRV - 65, Yellow

1A. DB Row - 65 x 10, 70 x 8, 75 x 8, 80 x 8, 85 x 8, 90 x 6;
1B. Bench - 135 x 10, 155 x 10, 185 x 6, 230 x 3*, 245 x 3*, 260 x 4*;
2A. Snatch Dimel - 135 x 10, 10, 10;
2B. Incline DB Bench - 60 x 8, 65 x 8, 70 x 6;

Back where I was. Wife got back late Saturday night, so not a lot of sleep then or Sunday night. Guessing that is why I got a low score with a yellow. Bench still felt decent though. Was a little short of time, so I didn’t get to do the cardio I had planned.

194

26 March 2013
Tuesday - Squat
HRV - 84, Green

A. Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 335 x 3*, 355 x 3*, 380 x 5*;
B. Box Jump - 38.5" x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3;
Front Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 205 x 20;
PM
Treadmill - Cardiac Output(HR 130-150) - 30:00 Heart Rate Average - 136 Peak - 151
Bike - HICT - 10:00 Heart Rate Average - 135 Peak - 149

Today felt great. Got plenty of sleep the night before, and everything went smoothly in the morning. Felt strong and solid in the gym, was real happy with the numbers I put up. A couple hours after lifting, I hit the Y to do cardio - cardiac output is like LSD cardio, so it’s extremely boring. I don’t get a consistent signal on my phone in the work gym, but I do at the Y. So I went there and watched Avengers while I walked on the treadmill. They also have good spin bikes, so I did 10 minutes of HICT after the treadmill. The video I watched about it on Jameison’s website said it was great to do after a hard practice or the day after a game, sort of a blend of good cardio and recovery. I was interested to do this after a leg workout for that reason, and two days later (I am typing this on Thursday), still no soreness to speak of in the legs. I cranked up the tension a little over what it was last week, but I’m still not getting my heart rate up as high as I would have expected. In the video, the guy mentions to keep it under anaerobic threshold, but I am not getting anywhere near that doing it the way they recommend.

195

28 March 2013
Thursday - Pullup, Military Press
HRV - 84, Green

1A. Pullup - BW x 10, 30 x 8, 55 x 6, 70 x 3*, 75 x 3*, 80 x 5*;
1B. Military Press - bar x 10, 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 6, 115 x 3*, 125 x 3*, 130 x 4*;
2A. Neutral Grip Pullup - 11, 11, 10, 10;
2B. STR Press - 95 x 8, 7, 7, 6;
3A. TRX Scarecrow x 8, External Rotation (L) x 8, Face Pull x 8;
3B. Lateral Raise - 25 x 8, 8, 8;

Got a yellow on Wednesday, but can’t really trust it. Had planned on taking the day off from training anyway, so I slept in, and then was messing around with the wife before I did my HRV measure. Did it after my heart rate slowed down, and still got a 64 yellow again. Funny.

Got up today, good solid green. Hit the gym at work and had another good workout. Real happy with the numbers I put up on the main lifts, and was still able to put in some good accessory work. Traveling on Friday again, but I will still try and hit the gym for deadlifts once I get out there, if I have time.

196

Continuing to follow and enjoy your log Boatguy. Really good stuff, particularly how you manage your recovery around your training and job demands. I’m 32 and have gotten much smarter about this myself in recent years relative to my teens and 20s, and my results have never been better.

As much as you’re able to, could you describe a typical work day/week/month, in terms of hours, travel and anything else? And how much in advance do you know what it’s going to be, to enable you to plan you life and training around it? (Been reading a few books etc on SEALs and SWCC and am fascinated by what you guys do.)

197

justrob- Typical day really depends on a lot of factors - what team you are at, training dept vs. boat troop, instructor duty (my current billet) vs. operational, what phase of training/deployment cycle you are in, etc. Since I am on instructor duty right now, I pretty much know my daily schedule well in advance. When I was at a Special Boat Team, pre-deployment workup was grueling. A few hours training on the water was compounded by the extra hours before launch time prepping the boat (and any weapons/ammo we might be using) and another few hours after we return doing post-op checks and maintenance on the boats. Riverine is worse than coastal in this regard, because we have five weapons mounted on each boat (versus 2 each on coastal RIBs), but I would still take riverine over coastal any day of the week and twice on Sunday - more interesting and a LOT more fun. Training Department at a Team was much easier because you just showed up right before launch, inspected boats to make sure the guys you are training have it all set up correctly, hop on, and then observe/train/critique. When we return, training conducts a debrief on the days training, and then leaves while the troop in training post-ops the boats. During training (on both sides) you know the schedule, so if you plan appropriately you can still put time in at the gym.

Deployment is slightly different, depending on where you are deployed. All of my deployments I had plenty of time to train around my job, except in a few short periods where we were in austere conditions and had no facilities.

198

Had to skip lifting on Friday, due to an all day flight. Got into Fallon at a decent time, but our schedule had been truncated so we went right to work. By the time we were done, I just wanted to check into my room and relax. Got up the next day, and hit it.

30 March 2013
Saturday - Deadlift
HRV - 85, Green

Power Clean - 95 x 3, 3, 3;
Deadlift - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 305 x 3*, 325 x 3*, 340 x 8*;
A. Suitcase Deadlift - 100 x 8, 8, 8;
B. Leg Extension - 140 x 8, 160 x 10, 180 x 10, 10;

Felt pretty good today, deads felt good. Cleans always feel odd. I’ll probably start doing clean pulls or snatch pulls instead, since the catch is what I don’t like. The whole point (for me at least) is the explosive portion, not the technical aspect of becoming an Olympic lifter.

199

01 April 2013
Monday - Row/Bench
HRV - 72, Green

1A. Seated Cable Row - 160 x 10, 10, 170 x 8, 180 x 8, 190 x 8, 205 x 6;
1B. Bench - 135 x 10, 155 x 10, 185 x 7, 215 x 5*, 245 x 3*, 275 x 4* - 185 x 10 - 135 x 10;
2A. DB Row - 80 x 8, 8, 110 x 4, 4;
2B. Incline DB Bench - 65 x 6, 60 x 8, 70 x 4, 4;
Reverse Crunch(slight incline) - 12#MB x 10, 10, 10;

I always like this week. Bench felt strong and solid. Had enough time to get some accessory work in, but no conditioning work, so I cut out. Did get some core done, so not too bad.

200

02 April 2013
Tuesday - Squat
HRV - 82, Green

Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 6, 315 x 5*, 355 x 3*, 405 x 7*;
Front Squat - 135 x 10, 185 x 8, 225 x 6, 275 x 4, 205 x 20;

Bike - HICT - 10:00work/5:00rest/10:00work
Heart Rate - Average - 130 Peak - 143

I was ecstatic after today’s squatting. Warmup sets felt decent, but nothing special. Top set was supposed to be 400, but I didn’t feel like adding all the plates together so I just threw 405 on - besides, four plates always feels a little more satisfying, don’t it? Put the belt on for the last set, got under the bar, set up, and started pumping. Got to 5 before I realized it, paused for a couple breaths, then squeezed out two more. Racked the weight, loosened the belt, and leaned against the rack. Then I decided I’d rather sit. So I sat down and rested for a little bit. Just couldn’t stop smiling. Didn’t expect it to be that good a set before I started, but afterward I wished I had asked somebody to video it.

Got back up, stripped plates and started front squats. Finish the first set, and one of the guys I’m training (who had watched my last back squat set) comes over. “Hey bro, did you front squat or back squat 405?” Got a good laugh from that one, apparently I switched quicker than he realized and wasn’t sure what I had been doing before.

Afterward I hit the High Intensity Continuous Training (HICT) on a spin bike. Basically, get a spin bike set up and hop on. Crank the tension up to the point that you can pedal, but with a lot of effort. You pedal (half a revolution), pause, pedal, pause. Keep going like that for 5 to 20 minutes, take up to 10 minutes rest (depending on how long your work period was), and repeat. If you have the time, repeat several times. You can also do it on a versaclimber, which I have done in the past. I was watching a video about this cardio technique, and the guy was claiming it wa a good thing to do on a heavy leg day or game day, or the day after. I tried it out, and my legs were barely sore after the weights I was moving.