Notes: My 60-second pace is solid. But my 90-second pace is lacking. At my 60-second pace, I should be covering about 410m or so. Something to shoot for in 2025. I think the fact that my sixth and final sprint was my best – and that they all steadily improved over the course of the workout – is a good sign.
“*” Was under a little bit of stress before setting out on the AM walk. It definitely showed in the HR!
AM weighted walk
35 minutes / AvHR (Max): 119 (155)
Block 2, Week 1: Max Strength (3/3) - 70%
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with long jumps 3 sets of 5)
165 lbs x 3 x 5
Shoulder rehab circuit
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
(superset with squat work sets)
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear laterals
Standing side laterals
Standing front raises
Back - DB row
(superset with scapular pushups 2 sets of 15)
65 lbs x 3 x 8
AM weighted walk
35 minutes / AvHR (Max): 123 (153)
Rest
Notes:
Lower back a little sore, but better after the neighborhood stroll.
Another fantastic, late-autumn morning in the American Southwest. Spent a few hours gardening and listening to music (Animals as Leaders’ The Joy of Motion, in particular).
Experimented with some band chest pressing. So far so good. Will add 2 sets of 15 along with the scapular pushups during horizontal pulls.
Seeing an ortho specialist on Wednesday. Looking forward to hearing whether or not there will be any slicing and dicing en route to the repair of this shoulder.
AM weighted walk
sub-30 minutes / AvHR (Max): 116 (146)
Block 2, Week 2 - Max Strength (1/3)
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with box jumps 3 sets of 5)
185 lbs x 3 x 5
Shoulder rehab circuit
(superset with squat work sets)
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear lateral
Standing side lateral
Standing front raise
Back - CS NG rows
(superset with scapular pushups 2 sets of 15)
130 lbs x 9, 9
Biceps - Single arm cable preacher curl
32 1/2 lbs x 6 (!), 6 (!)
Still have about 5-6 weeks of BB back squatting before then, fortunately. But, yes, leg press is going to be my best friend for a month or so next year, for sure! I’m going to be built like a centaur!
We just got a pendulum squat machine at our gym. I’ve heard great things about them. I’m looking forward to giving that a try.
AM weighted walk
30 minutes / AvHR (Max): 121 (152)
Block 2, Week 2 - Max strength (2/3)
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with box jumps 3 sets of 5)
185 lbs x 3 x 5
Shoulder rehab circuit
(superset with squat work sets)
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear lateral
Standing side lateral
Standing front raise
Back - Thibaudeau 4-count NG row
60 lbs x 9, 9
Biceps - Bayesean curl
27 1/2 lbs x 9, 9
Triceps - Single-arm pressdown
27 1/2 lbs x 9, 9
Notes:
Trained semi-fasted (some brown sugar in my coffee and a few grapes). Felt full all day and didn’t see any reason to add “fuel.” Performances were strong across the board.
Wanted to spend some more time standing rather than sitting so back to the hour on the treadmill for the day’s conditioning. Ultimately, this will be a Zone 2 workout, but for now, it’s right at the threshold.
AM weighted walk
30+ minutes / AvHR (Max): 121 (154)
Block 2, Week 2 - Max Strength (3/3) - 80%
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with broad jumps 3 sets of 5)
185 lbs x 3 x 5
Shoulder rehab circuit
(superset with squat work sets)
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear lateral
Standing side lateral
Standing front raise
AM weighted walk
35 minutes / AvHR (Max): 121 (153)
REST
MONDAY
BW: 156.6 lbs
waist: 35"
Sunday steps: 8.9k
AM weighted walk
30 minutes / AvHR (Max): 109 (135)
Block 2, Week 3 - Conditioning (1/2) - Red Zone
Warmup - Weighted incline treadmill
15:09 minutes / 0.85 miles / 123 cal / AvHR(Max): 115 (124)
Row sprints - 3 min rests
1:37 min / 375m / 23 cal / AvHR(Max): 130 (155)
1:37 min / 386m / 24 cal / AvHR(Max): 135 (163)
1:36 min / 379m / 23 cal / AvHR(Max): 137 (163)
1:37 min / 374m / 22 cal / AvHR(Max): 135 (162)
1:36 min / 367m / 22 cal / AvHR(Max): 137 (163)
1:37 min / 381m / 23 cal / AvHR(Max): 146 (169)
Cooldown - Weighted incline treadmill
15:09 min / 0.85 miles / 122 cal / AvHR(Max): 133 (139)
Notes:
Just getting the body ready for my T-ransformation 2025 “Before” photo …
That said, I need to rethink Sunday as a rest day given my caloric intake is highest on Fridays and Saturdays. I always liked Huberman’s idea of Sunday being a day for a long, 60-180 minute Zone 2-level hike, walk, or ruck. Given where I live, I’d be a fool not to do likewise.
W/re2 today’s training: my top rep gave me a 2 minute 514m split. My worst rep would have put me at 489m after 2 minutes. Averaging all six reps gives me 498m after two minutes, which is a nice baseline to improve from. Also happy that all six reps were better than the last effort two weeks ago. My goal is to be able to row 500m in 2 minutes.
Screwed up and thought that the gym would be open until 4pm on Christmas Eve. Turns out I was reading the schedule for New Year’s Eve. On Xmas Eve, they shut down at noon, an hour before I arrived.
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with box jumps 3 sets of 5)
210 lbs x 3 x 3
Shoulder rehab circuit
(superset with squat work sets)
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear lateral
Standing side lateral
Standing front raise
Back - CS NG row
130 lbs x 9, 9
(superset with scapular pushups BW 2 sets of 15)
Biceps - Single arm cable preacher curl
32 1/2 lbs x 6, 6
Notes:
Filed my paperwork for the 2025 T-ransformation today. Goals by Memorial Day weekend are: (1) 33" waist, (2) successful shoulder surgery and recovery, and (3) 270 lbs x 1 on the squat
AM weighted walk
sub-30 minutes / AvHR (Max): 120 (148)
Block 2, Week 3 - Conditioning (2/2) - Blue/Green
Warmup - Weighted incline treadmill
15:02 minutes / 0.85 miles / 122 cal / AvHR(Max): 129 (139)
Tempo intervals - rower - 19 reps
10 seconds @ 70% of max
50 seconds active rest
20:05 minutes / 3.2km / 163 calories
AvHR (Max): 134 (150)
Notes:
Miscounted my reps and stopped one rep too soon. Also reduced rest time from 60 seconds to 50 seconds to make the rounds a minute long.
Scheduled surgery for early March, which gives me nine full weeks. The last two of those weeks will find me out of town at an average hotel gym. So I might start transitioning toward the Post-Surgery Split a little early …
The plan is upper/lower 4x/week for three months from March through May. Nothing written in stone. But an effort to keep whatever lower body strength gains I might have made over the past few months via hypertrophy.
Upper body work will be single arm; when I’m in the sling, I’ll just train my left side.
Barbell back squat
(warmups superset with box jumps 3 sets of 5)
210 lbs x 3 x 3
Shoulder rehab circuit
(superset with squat work sets)
2 rounds of 15 w/ 5 lb DBs
Seated Arnold press
Seated rear lateral
Standing side lateral
Standing front raise
Back - CT 4-count seated row
60 lbs x 9, 9
(superset with scapular pushups BW 2 sets of 15)
Triceps - Single arm cable pressdown
27 1/2 lbs x 9 (!), 9 (!)
Biceps - Single arm Bayesean cable curl
27 1/2 lbs x 9, 9 (!)
Notes:
Band PT work (straight-arm pulldowns, internal and external rotations) done throughout warmups.
Another semi-fasted session. Squats felt a little heavier than expected. Looking forward to hitting them again on Tuesday.
Finishing 2024 pretty heavy The T-ransformation could not come at a better time.
Weighted incline walk
3.0 miles / 53:24 minutes
AvHR (Max): 122 (170)
Notes:
Took the Big Loop in my neighborhood out for a spin this morning to see if it would work as my Sunday Ruck. A little short on duration - would have preferred a full 60 minutes - but plenty of uphill walking (hence the 170 max HR at one point) to make up for it.
