Brandon's Backyard Buffoonery

It went like this:
Minute 1: Bear Complex
Minute 2: Chins
Minute 3: Bear Complex
Minute 4: Pushups
Minute 5: Bear Complex
Minute 6: Squats
Repeat 4 more times

I did a workout a couple weeks ago that had me Clean & Press something AND do a BW movement every minute, but it was a little too much - like trying to keep Tabata intervals going for 30 minutes straight. Something to keep in the back pocket as a test/benchmark workout, but not sustainable as part of daily training.

Love it! Positively brutal. Coming up from those push ups into a bear complex must suck particularly so, haha.

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10/25/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 4, Day 5

Viking Thruster (79lb) - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3
BW Curls on ropes - 15, 12, 9, 6, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15
BW Tri Ext on ropes - 15, 15, 15
BW Face Pulls on ropes - 15, 15, 15

29:35

  • First time using the viking handle. Cool piece of equipment. Went a little light with the weight because I didnā€™t really know what to expect. Itā€™s almost like a standing incline press at the top. And it forces a really vertical squat pattern. Hopefully leads to some new growth.
  • Supersetted the curls with the thrusters, hence that inverted rep pattern. Vikings have big arms - 'nuff said. Threw that other assistance work in at the end because I had the time and hadnā€™t hit those movements yet this week.
  • Smoked meatloaf for breakfast, brisket chili for lunch, and steak & eggs for dinner is the menu today. Life is good.
5 Likes

Absolute score of a lifetime today - volunteered to help my old Olympic Weightlifting club move locations across town, and in return, they let me have some of the strongman equipment that was sitting in the corner collecting cobwebs. That dusty equipment - a 10ā€ log, 100lb sandbag, and 150lb sandbag! More tools in the toolbox to be put overhead.

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Holy cow, thatā€™s an outstanding win right there!

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One of my favorite things to smoke - Baltimore-style pit beef. A rump roast at 225* until medium rare-ish; no need to worry about the stall, wrapping, spritzing or any other smoking trickery.

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what a score. Quality

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10/28/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 5, Day 1

Axle Clean & Press each rep:
66 x 5
88 x 3
99 x 6, 6, 6, 6

Assistance b/w sets:
Pullups - 6, 6
Dips - 12, 12
Heels-elevated Prisoner Squats - 25, 25

Finisher, 60 second AMRAP:
Keg 1-motions (100lb) - 8

27:46

  • Rolled a 4 on the dice this morning, which equals ā€œ5/3/1 Prilepinā€. If youā€™ve never heard of it, look towards the end of this blog - https://www.elitefts.com/coaching-logs/dizenzos-5-3-1-mashup/
  • Pullups after axle cleans suck. And my pullup bar is thick too. But my forearms are reaping the rewards.
  • Putting some skin in the game with videos. I wasnā€™t making a metaphor when I talked about the backyard. Weā€™ll see how long I can be bothered to mess with YouTube.
2 Likes

10/29/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 5, Day 2

10 round circuit, go every 3 minutes:
Double Kettlebell Snatches (2x35lb) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Viking Thruster (88lb) - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Assistance b/w rounds:
Wide Grip Pushups - 5x12
Inverted Rope Rows - 5x10

29:49

  • That was a good one. Solid work-to-rest ratios, total leg/metabolic smokery from combining the snatches and thrusters, and a sneaky upper body pump from the BW work between rounds.
3 Likes

Itā€™s absolutely evil how this combo works. They both get the weight overhead, but use different methods to do so, so you ā€œrecoverā€ between exercises, but not really. The legs and hips are good, while the lungs keep screaming. Great work there!

2 Likes

10/30/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 5, Day 3

Atlas Stone Clean & Press each rep:
65 x 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
95 x 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Assistance here and there:
Pullups - 3x5
Pushups - 3x15
Heels-elevated Prisoner Squats - 3x25

29:33

  • Mediocre workout. Couldnā€™t keep my heartrate down and had to cut some of the volume I wanted to do. In hindsight, the prisoner squats were probably the wrong thing to pair with the stones. Also, the morning dew kept gathering on the stones even after I toweled them down, which made them quite a joy to grip.
3 Likes

Nothing worse than dewy balls

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10/31/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 5, Day 4

10 rounds, go every 3:00-
Circus Dumbbell Clean & Press each rep (51lb) - 10x2 (alternating hands)

Assistance supersetted throughout:
BW Curls on ropes - 3x15
BW Tricep Extensions on ropes - 3x15
Knee Raises on dip bars - 4x15

27:52

  • Circus dumbbell was a strategic choice - wanted something single arm for a lower systemic hit. Ditto for the arms and abs assistance work. I really try to slow down and feel the muscle on that isolation stuff - I think thatā€™s kinda the point.
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11/1/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 5, Day 5

10 round circuit, alternate b/w:
Axle Muscle Snatch + Klokov Press: 66 for 5 sets of 5+5
Log Clean & Press each rep: 84 for 5 sets of 5

Assistance throughout:
Sled Drag (+88): 6 sets of ~20yd (alternating forward/backwards)
BW Face Pull: 4 sets of 15

28:12

  • This was a ā€œlast trip around the buffet lineā€ kinda workout. Everything I didnā€™t get around to this week that I wanted to, I shoved in there.
  • That axle snatch & press continues to kick ass. Itā€™s not heavy but the ROM is so huge it just lights up my entire upper body. Definitely high up on my list.
  • First time using a log in a long time. Itā€™s a weird movement. Iā€™m hoping it carries over to my stone pressing.
  • I can probably add some sled weight next time without worrying about it detracting from the main work.
  • Experimenting with my diet a little bit to try and gain some quality mass. Upping the daily eggs from 6>8 and going from 1lb of meat a day to something like 1.33 or 1.5.
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This is a fantastic approach. I like the idea of a running tally for the week/month to try to keep things honest. And like you noted with the circus dumbbell: this stuff will autoregulate as well. Love seeing that plan with the nutrition too.

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Oh man, Iā€™m an accountant, donā€™t tempt me with something like this or I will take it too far haha. The intuitive approach is enough for me.

Love seeing that plan with the nutrition too.

Yeah itā€™s long overdue. I have been plateaued at this bodyweight for awhile. I donā€™t think Iā€™ll ever go full meateater, there are a few things I refuse to give up, but thereā€™s no question who the lead singer of the band is when I sit down to eat, haha.

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I really like what Jim did in ā€œBuilding the Monolithā€ where he just set a meat and eggs goal for the trainees. ā€œYou can eat whatever you want, but you HAVE to eat 1.5lbs of ground beef and a dozen eggs a dayā€. Having a vector like that really helps with the decision space. Dan John had a similar approach for a fat loss diet, where he has a bare minimum of things that must be eaten in a day, and itā€™s extensive enough that, by the time you get through it, you probably wonā€™t be hungry for anything else.

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Bingo! I can still have all my favorite meals, I just end up doubling the meat and halving the carb, haha. The meatballs were always the attraction, not the spaghetti!

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11/4/24 - Chaos Is The Plan: Week 6, Day 1

5 1-minute AMRAPs, each rep alternate implements:
Axle Clean & Press (88lb) + Log Clean & Press (84lb) - 7, 8, 8, 9, 9

Assistance b/w rounds:
Pullups - 5x5
Wide Pushups - 5x10
Heels-elevated Prisoner Squats - 5x15

28:53

  • Monday equals Axle C&P day, which equals dice roll day. Rolled a 6, which is dealerā€™s choice. Always enjoy the dueling implements approach, so there it is. Happy with both the strength and conditioning there. Always a satisfying feeling when the reps go up rather than down as the workout goes on.
  • Wanted assistance that required no setup so went with the bread and butter. Pullups after axle work continues to be a character builder.
  • Girlfriend is off work the next 2 days so she cooked me a breakfast of champions while I trained. Pasture raised 5oz sirloin from my friendā€™s farm (with veggies sautĆ©ed in grassfed butter), 2 pasture raised duck eggs (sunny sides), 4 cage free chicken eggs (sunny side & scrambled), pint of grassfed milk, home fries, and blueberries. Trying to focus on food quality as much as quantity.

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Put a ring on this one dude!

Everything about this post is fantastic. What a champion meal and a champion way to train.

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