Brandon's Backyard Buffoonery

Training Training Logs
201

@alex_uk yeah I had a similar experience. YouTube was on shuffle and I heard one of the songs and was like “woah, this is good” not even knowing who it was. And yeah, this program has been a very positive experience for me and I can see myself being on the Brian bandwagon for awhile. For this one specifically, working up to a heavy set then backing off for some volume is nothing revolutionary, but the waved percentages and changing movements keep it fresh in ways that other programs don’t. Also, like we discussed before, I am digging having everything planned out for me right down to the rest periods. The assistance work has been mostly good - some of the days were hit or miss. Ironically, the thing that initially drew me to it (the events day) is probably my least favorite part. Not because I don’t like those movements, but because it means my schedule is wacky each week. I like that he mixes the carries/loads into the other days on his other programs. I’m gonna do RPM after this because I want something 3 day/full body.

2/14/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 3, Day 2 (Light Press)

Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) BTN Press - 67/78/89/100/106/111 x 5
A2) Topside Halfmoons - 6 x 10 w/ 22lb plate

Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) BTN Press - 67 x 5 x 10
B2) Ab Wheel - 10 x 3

Assistance - Pushup Tabata Death:
C) Close Grip Pushup - 8/8/6/5/4/5
D) Elevated Pushup - 7/6/7/6/5/5
E) Pushup - 4

36:21

  • Top set was a nice grind on the last rep. Not an RPE “gun to the head” but good work. Conversely, every rep on the volume work was shot out of a cannon. That’s how the light day should look.
  • That assistance work was brutal. Was supposed to go 6 rounds with regular pushups but legit failed and could not even support myself. Good benchmark for when this comes around again in 3ish weeks.
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202

2/14/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

2/15/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals

2/16/25 - Daily Work
15 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using EMOM protocol

Changed the daily work up slightly today to see how it felt. Maybe a keeper, maybe not. Went 1 chin, 8 pushups, 1 chin, 12 squats, 1 chin then rested the last 10-15 seconds. Very good conditioning effect without getting anywhere close to muscle failure.

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203

2/17/25 - Daily Work part 1
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals

2/17/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 3, Day 3 (Heavy Events)
Carries (10 minute EMOM):
A) Suitcase Carry - 110 x 50 ft down > drop/turn/repick other hand > 50 ft back x 10

Back (10 minute EMOM):
B) Weighted Pullups - 10 x 2 x 10

Loading (10 minute EMOM):
C) Sandbag Shouldered Teddy Bear Squat - 100 x 3 x 10

34:32

Another grip intense session. Wanted to go harder on the weighted pulls but they are brutal after the farmers. Just trusting the process here.

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204

2/17/25 - Daily Work part 2
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

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205

2/18/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 3, Day 4 (Medium Squat)

Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Front Squat - 133/155/177/199/216/227 x 4
A2) Dip Bar Crunches - 6 x 10

Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Front Squat - 159 x 4 x 10
B2) Ab Wheel - 10 x 3

Assistance (10 minute AMRAP):
C1) BW Squat x 10
C2) Lunge x 10
C3) Jump Lunge x 10
C4) Jump Squat x 10

Got 5 rounds + 10 BW squats

40:28

  • One of the more challenging days of the program so far. Front squat & ab wheel supersets ain’t exactly my idea of a good time. And that assistance work was deceptively hard. The jump lunges/squats had my legs burning!
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206

This whole day looks really gross—nice work on getting it done (and done well, to boot)!

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207

@SvenG thanks! I had a feeling you would appreciate that workout as I know the front squat is among your favorite lifts :wink:

2/18/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

Hoping this gets some restorative blood flowing and kickstarts the recovery process. I have heavy block pulls later this week and would prefer to not be walking around like C3PO when that day arrives.

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208

2/19/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 3, Day 5 (Heavy Bench)

Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) 2" Board Press - 89/111/133/155/177/188/194 x 3
A2) Russian Twists - 44 x 10 x 7

Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) 2" Board Press - 155 x 3 x 10
B2) Lying Leg Lifts - 10 x 5

Assistance (10 minute EMOM):
C1) Pendlay Row - 89 x 15/12, 111 x 10/8/8
C2) Dips - 10/10/8/8/8

43:45

  • And thus ends Block 1. Very satisfied with the program so far. I’m loving all the variation on the main lifts, and I’m very good at grinding through the volume work, despite it being the hardest part of the program.
  • Changed the assistance slightly - he called for floor presses and burpee lateral jumps instead of the dips. I don’t have a good way to setup floor presses… and fuck burpees, so called an audible and did the dips.
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209

2/19/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

Legs still smoked. If they don’t miraculously recover by tomorrow morning I’ll probably make it a rest day and do heavy pulls Friday, with the potential of doing a workout Saturday as well. At some point I have to do a 5 session week in order to finish before my vacation in April.

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210

2/20/25 - Daily Work
10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

Legs and traps still quite tender so this will probably be all I do today. Things definitely felt better after the Tabata though, so good to have that real-time feedback on the active recovery.

Question - does anyone here have any recommendations for elbow/knee sleeves? I’m not looking to add 100lb to my lifts with them, just something to keep the joints warm when I’m outside training in below freezing temps.

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211

For knee sleeves, I really like Mark Bell’s slingshot sleeves. They stay secured, keep the knees warm, and don’t provide much spring in the lift. I can wear them the whole session, which is big.

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212

Mark bells raw sleeves are what I use for most of my training. I have tighter and stiffer sleeves for competing but the raw sleeves are just for warmth

I also like the basic cloth hook grip knee sleeves

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213

I’ll third this. These are great sleeves. Will say I find myself washing them pretty often because they end up smelling.

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214

How do you wash them? I haven’t done that yet.

215

Right in the washing machine and then air dry. Have to time it where I’m not using them the next day, they take a bit to dry.

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216

Oh wow, super simple. The “hand wash only” instructions have deterred me.

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2/21/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 4, Day 1 (Heavy Deadlift)

Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) 4" Block Pull - 155/199/243/287/309/331 x 2
A2) Ab Wheel - 6 x 5

Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) 4" Block Pull - 265 x 3 x 10
B2) Dip Bar Crunches - 10 x 5

Assistance (10 minute time limit):
C1) KB Gorilla Row - 53’s x 10 x 5 (each set split b/w arms)
C2) KB Reverse Lunges - 35’s x 20 x 2 (each set split b/w legs, KBs held at sides), 35 x 20 x 2 (each set split b/w legs, KB held goblet style)

44:30

  • Peculiar day. Kind of the opposite of the earlier deadlift days in the program in some respects. In the 1st cycle I usually felt like I could pull the Titanic off the ocean floor for the top set, and the volume work was usually a “meet your maker” experience. Instead, I felt pretty flat on the heavy work today, but it was the first time I felt like I could keep on going with the volume after the 10 rounds was over. He actually gave the option to do doubles for the volume but as soon as I started the sets I knew triples were the way to go. In hindsight, this isn’t very surprising, as I’m super slow twitch, terrible at heavy work and great at grinding out reps; it was just weird to experience in real time.
  • Assistance was kinda meh - this was one of the days I remember feeling bland about the first time around. I have an idea to buy Brian’s sandbag ebook and use something from that whenever I don’t like the daily finisher, but I’m trying to be faithful to this and not sure if that bastardizes the program too much.
  • I’m feeling a little run down in general. This would usually be around the time I take a deload, but this program doesn’t have them, instead just relying on the light days to back off a bit. There’s a devil (angel?) on my shoulder that says I should just make peace with training 3-4 days a week and not worry about finishing the program before my vacation. We’ll have to see about that.
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218

2/21/25 - Daily Work

10 chins/40 pushups/60 BW squats in 5:00 using Tabata work/rest intervals
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

  • My conditioning with the vest is getting crazy. Other than one big hill on one of my routes that I usually have to slow down and let my heart rate get back in line after ascending, I feel like I could walk all day with this thing on. It did not feel that way a month and a half ago.

2/22/25 - Daily Work
12 chins/48 pushups/72 BW squats in 5:00

  • Switched things up here a tad to see if I have the capacity to bump these reps up. It went like this-

1 chin/2 pushups/3 squats/2 pushups/3 squats
2 chins/4 pushups/6 squats/4 pushups/6 squats
3 chins/6 pushups/9 squats/6 pushups/9 squats
Repeat

It wasn’t bad at all and it will probably be a keeper in the rotation, if not the new way forward.

In other news, got the ok from the man himself to use the sandbag sessions in place of some of the assistance work in the 45M program, so expect to see some of that going forward. This will be good to have as a backup plan when my equipment/space doesn’t match up with what the day has planned, or it’s just plain something I don’t want to do (looking at you “burpee lateral over bar”).

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219

2/23/25 - Daily Work

12 chins/48 pushups/72 BW squats in 5:00

2/24/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 4, Day 2 (Medium Press)

Strength (20 minute time limit to get to top set):
A1) Trap Bar Press - 66/77/88 x 4, 99/110/116/121 x 3
A2) Topside Halfmoons - 7 x 10 w/ 22lb plate

Volume (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Trap Bar Press - 88 x 4 x 10
B2) Ab Wheel - 10 x 3

Assistance (10 minute time limit):
C1) DB Press - 22’s x 10 x 5, straight into-
C2) DB Waiter Walks - 22’s x 30 seconds x 5 rounds, straight into-
C3) BW Face Pulls on ropes - 5 x 12, straight into-
C4) 30 seconds rest

44:30

  • Brain fart doing 4’s for those first few sets. Prescription was to work up in 3’s.
  • Funny slow realization I’ve had about this program - every day has you working up to a 1-5 rep max, so every day is technically “heavy”, it’s the volume work where things get moderated. The trick of the trade is choosing your movements for each day wisely. I can go way heavier on block pulls than deficit deads, for example.
  • Now that I’ve done a full cycle, I can safely say that this assistance finisher is my favorite of the program. Just perfectly designed and my entire upper body is pumped after. I dropped the weight a little bit from the first go round and it was still brutal.
  • Progression from Cycle 1: Strength 110 x 4 > 121 x 3, Volume 77 x 4 x10 > 88 x 4 x 10
  • Forgot to post this, but Heavy Dead progression from Cycle 1: Strength 309 x 3 > 331 x 2, Volume 243 x 3 x10 > 265 x 3 x 10
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2/24/25 - Daily Work
12 chins/48 pushups/72 BW squats in 5:00
2 mile walk w/ 20lb vest

2/25/25 - Brian Alsruhe’s “45 Master Sessions”: Week 4, Day 3 (Light Events)
Carries (10 minute EMOM):
A) Farmer’s Carry - 73 per hand x 150 ft (2 turn course/no drops) x 10

Back (10 minute EMOM):
B1) Wide Grip Pullups - 10 x 2
B2) Dip Bar Crunches - 10 x 5

Loading (10 minute EMOM): “60 Sandbag Sessions 002 - Boulder Shoulders”
C) Atlas Stone to Shoulder - 115 x 2 x 10 (alt. sides each set)

39:22

I have a love/hate relationship with this day. I love it because it’s shorter, it appeals to the inner caveman, and the back/bicep pump from stringing those movement patterns together is ridiculous. I hate it because it’s brutally difficult and it keeps my week from being a nice symmetrical upper/lower split. Looking forward to his other programs where this stuff is spread out among the other days.

Speaking of his other programs, I have a pretty solid idea of how I want to setup the rest of the year. After 45M is over, I want to do Reps Per Minute (RPM), which is a full body program that doesn’t have much heavy work but turns the volume up to 11. Then, I want to do Powerbuilder Lite, which will bring back the single set work, but with top sets in the 5-10+ rep range. After that, I will do RPM 2, which is basically the same as the original, but I’ll buy the 2nd ebook just for the different finishers. Then, I will do Minimalist, which again brings back the single set work, but in the lower rep ranges like I’m doing currently. This feels like a good mix of volume and strength focus with a chance to set PRs across a lot of different rep ranges. I didn’t do the math, but this should take me pretty much to 2026.

Quick diet update - I’ve fully embraced a “2 meals/2 shakes” setup. The shakes are pretty much pure protein - a homemade blend of unflavored whey, peanut flour, and egg whites, with a dash of cocoa powder, cinnamon, and sea salt for flavor. The taste and texture is amazing - like a slightly runnier eggnog. The meals are the usual stuff I’ve written about - lots of grassfed beef, pastured eggs, and cottage cheese, tons of potatoes/rice/pasta, and veggies and fruits galore. My BW is up a few lbs, my body comp is still on point, and I’m spending less time cooking and cleaning. Wins across the board.

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