DCW1A2
Low Incline DB Press
40x12
50x12
65x16,5,3
Seated press
95x10
115x9,3.5,2.5
OH cable tri ext
30x10
40 x 11,7,3
WGPU
BW x 12,7,3
Cable row
90x12
140x16,7,4
@T3hPwnisher thank you for the recommendation on the book- it has been purchased and has been awaiting my eyeballs all weekend. Hoping to dig into it a bit tonight
Wanted to throw some notes on here from the past few sessions.
I am extremely surprised with my ability on wide grip pullups. I feel like (even with the severe lack of consistent stimulus) my back, traps and lats are absolutely exploding, and far and above my “best” body part right now, and seemingly the only bodyparts that are making any sort of progress right now.
Food intake has been steadily improving. I’ve added a couple PB+J per Dan John and have continued fairly consistently with the fairlife+metabolic drive as finances allow.
Weight has remained more or less stagnant. I am certainly feeling a bit more fullness in the muscle department, but I’ve been bouncing around 195-197 the past couple of weeks.
My recovery is fucking trash, still. Other than food, every other part of recovery is horribly sub-par. Typically 5-6 hrs a night of sleep, high stress and hectic work schedule etc etc. I need to figure this out.
On the subject of recovery, I’m starting to show some very odd symptoms of something “off” with my body the past 3-4 months. I’m pretty in tune with when I’m feeling good, really good, bad, about to get sick and everything in between. My wife is convinced I have stress induced IBS, I’ve been getting bouts of lightheadedness, headaches (which I have never had before in my life), overall general fatigue, eye twitches, inability to retain important information (scheduling, plans, things like that) and joint pain. I have been chalking this up to lack of sleep and just a lack of recovery overall, but part of me is worried about a larger issue at play as it just isn’t subsiding.
Still digging through mass protocol. I’ll probably switch to one of the templates after reading through the book and giving it some thought the next few weeks.
Is there any correlation between this and the added PBJs? Not sure when you introduced those.
Glad you’re digging that Mass Protocol book. I’m hoping it fits in with what you’re looking for.
I can’t say for certain that they’re related but it is possible. PB and J started making an appearance maybe 2 months ago, and I’ve been feeling pretty shitty for a bit longer than that. The lightheadedness, eye twitching and headaches are a recent thing (1 month or so) and the fatigue sort of comes and goes but has been apparent for a while now. More frequently I’ve been feeling general weakness more than anything, like I can’t muster the energy to express my true strength, and not even necessarily while lifting just life in general.
My first thoughts would be, as your wife suggested, stress. Coupled with lack of sleep, it’s the perfect storm. Other things to that might be playing a role might be high caffeine intake (not sure where you’re at here) and/or dehydration. I’d also suggest maybe trying a magnesium supplement if you’re not already taking one.
Keep us posted on how things are going and let me know if there’s anything I can do to help on the nutrition side of things.
I do know that peanut butter can really tear up my guts, and depending on the bread you may have some manner of gluten sensitivity/intolerance. @QuadQueen has some solid reqs as well, of course, but I just noticed that the two seemed to correlate in your post and I thought it’d be worth looking at.
@boilerman - FWIW, I can attest to the stress impact as well. My crash at the end of July/beginning of August after that conference was ridiculous, and everything single bad thing @QuadQueen has mentioned here was absolutely out-of-control with me.
Biggest impact: I’m 99.9% sure it’s been cutting coffee down to three 10-oz. cups (or less) a day. That’s a reduction by at least half of what it had been.
The other stuff—proper hydration and supplements (including one with magnesium)—has helped as well.
I’ll admit: Some of the external stressors have abated a bit, too, and that certainly doesn’t hurt, but… Wives and @QuadQueen are rarely wrong!
I want to frame this. lol
Just imagine if you married QQ, that would be a double whammy
DCW2B2
Preacher curl
40x12
60x12
80x16,7,5
Pinwheel curl (each)
20x10
30x21,10,8
Calf raise
Belt squat
90x36
Did this yesterday. Changed up belt squat setup and it hit quads way more/better.
Maybe this is why I’m chronically single… lol
I think I can manage both sleep loss and added stress fairly well in decent quantities, but not both in a high amount. I do believe you (and my wife) are correct in saying that stress is playing a large role in this- I just don’t think there is much I can do about it, haha. However, I can absolutely improve on the time I go to bed at night. 90% of weekdays I’m sleeping by about 11 and up around 5 with a middle of the night awakening by my son a few times a week. Weekends are about the same, but sometimes I get to bed later than 11.
My caffeine intake has gone from decent, to obscene to still very high within the past year. I’m getting around 600mg a day now from terrible sources (energy drinks) and it’s become such a habit I don’t even think about it when I open one. I try to get in as many non-caffeinated liquids as possible, but I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t get more water in. The caffeine thing is a problem I’ve had for probably a couple of years now that I know needs to be addressed, but I have yet to do anything about it.
I am taking magnesium through elitepro from bio test. Started them just about a month ago. I also supplement vit D all year due to being chronically low (western NY, spending days in basements = not good for sun exposure once summer is over).
I was wondering if this possibly was the case initially, or at least contributing to IBS symptoms. I recall when I first started reintroducing them my stomach was turning over for an hour or so. I may try a little test and cut them out for a week or two and see how I fare.
That is great to know. I have known for some time that I need to cut back on caffeine, just haven’t felt the effects/need to. Thanks for the input as always sven
Minimalist W1D1 (Total Time 36:07)
Short warm up
30 second KB swing
DL 225x8
1 min plank
30 second KB swing
DL 295x6
1 min plank
30 second KB swing
DL 365x4
1 min plank
30 second KB swing
DL 295x12
1 min plank
Finisher
As many rounds as possible in 10 min, 3 rounds completed
Tempo RDLx5reps (4 sec in each phase of lift)
x225
x225
x205
Max DEEP Goblet squat at 30lb x 20 seconds
Uni band ham curl each x 8
Got one set into this around noon and got called out on a service call. On call ends tonight/tomorrow morning, thank god.
Have a lot of thoughts on diet and training but will have to add those in later after the little dude goes down for the night.
Coming in late here but without fail, I get eye twitches every single time I’m stressed for a prolonged period of time (a few days or more). Weird symptom I’ve picked up on over the years.
Hope you can get your stress levels down but kind of reassuring to hear someone else experiences this 
Amateur!
I’m in a similar situation (BP is up around 140/90 when it’s been 110/70 for most of my adult life); there are things you can do (not that I’m doing any of them myself), meditation and breathing exercises, walking and “green therapy” (spending time in nature) are all proven to help stress.
Hope you get it sorted!
Same usual sleep deprivation for me but those two things seem to be fairly closely linked!
That’s “good” to hear, haha. And thank you. I had a bout of it that lasted a few months back in 2022 mostly due to work. This time around it’s a combination of any and all things.
Thanks man. Can you actually feel the effects of a higher blood pressure, or is it just in the numbers? As far as I know mine has been spot on for my whole life… I haven’t been in for a physical in close to 7 years (but have an appt scheduled) so I could be way off on a ton of other things, but due to urgent care/ER visits I have a good idea about where I’m at in regards to BP.
I’ve been falling back on a lot of stuff I learned growing up about taking a step back and trying to reframe my viewpoint, which I guess is a sort of meditation.
I definitely do green therapy every single day during walks with the family. We live in a pretty wooded area on top of a small hill, so lots of trails and trees and running water. Even better this time of year with the leaves changing. Also trying to make visits to my cabin a more regular thing.
To expand a bit in this and my choice in programming for now
I’m starting to formulate some habits/ideas based on what has worked for me in the past, and trying to hone in on what I truly want out of lifting/exercise/whatever you want to call it.
I chose to run the minimalist for reasons I’m finding hard to describe. It makes me feel like I did work. I’m breathing heavy and constantly moving. I like that. I like the conditioning aspect. I also recall getting the sessions done in 45 minutes or less the last time I ran part of it and having essentially zero downtime during the sessions.
I have zero goals or expectations from this program other than to see it through. I need to MAKE time to get this done. I need consistency.
Whole foods. I have always felt the best when the majority of my diet is based around them. If I stay 90% adherent to meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables I have a feeling I will be in a totally different place in a couple of weeks. When I ran deep water the first time I ate meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables and I felt more capable and amazing in those twelve weeks than pretty much my whole life, until it dug my grave in advanced, haha.
I’ve already cut out PB and J, which has helped immensely. Almost zero stomach issues since. I had a pumpkin brownie the other day and it sent my head into a whirlwind. Immediate headache and lethargy. To add another issue I found- food dye… Specifically blue. Took a sample preworkout pack today before lifting and it felt like my stomach was being ripped out. Never again.
This means cutting out sugar (not that I eat much of it to begin with), minimal processed food and severely cutting back on energy drinks. I do not plan to gain or lose weight, I plan to feel good and healthy and all of the added benefits will follow. This is a huge realization for me. Everything I want out of lifting needs to come from a place of feeling better.
LOVE these priorities and this statement of intent. I’m excited for your future.
Minimalist w1d2 (30:52)
WGPU BW x 9
Seated DB OHP 40x9
Plate halo 25lb x 8 each side
WGPU BW x 7
SDBOHP 50x7
PH 25 x 8 each
WGPU BW x 5
SDBOHP 57x5
PH 25x8 each
WGPU +45 x 3
SDBOHP 62x3
PH 25x8 each
WGPU x 13, 4
SDBOHP 50x12,4
PH x 8,8
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of
Varying grip pull ups
SDBOHP at 35lb
Did this around 7pm before bedtime routine. I love how much work is crammed into a half an hour. Literally just dove into work sets, no warm up.
@T3hPwnisher thanks for the positive vibes man
Minimalist W1D3 (32:15)
Burpee x 6
Pause squat 135x10
Hollow rock x 25
Burpee x 6
Pause Squat 185 x 8
HR x 25
B x 6
PS 225 x 6
HR x 25
B x 6
PS 245 x 4
HR x 25
B x 6
PS 185 x 20
HR x 25
Zercher squat EMOM at 105
x2,4,6,8,10,12,4