Ha! ha! Just trying to land the plane at this point.
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THURSDAY
BW: 146.2 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
BJJ
20 minutes drills and light specific training
6 minutes Live Training
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
Thursday’s jiu-jitsu tends to be a more moderate session compared to Tuesday. That said, my goal is to work myself up to the point where I’m doing 12-18 minutes of Live Training a night - probably by the new year. Until then, I’m going to keep doing these Zone 2 two-a-days on BJJ training days.
Feeling virtually 100% neck/shoulder/back-wise. Still deciding what to do with regard to strength training. Recovery is an even bigger issue now that I’m back on the mat; I need to take the volume way down. Wendler’s 2x/week 5/3/1 (rather than 5s PRO) is looking better every day. Low volume. Simple and straightforward.
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FRIDAY
BW: 145.6 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
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SATURDAY
BW: 146.4 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
Warmup
Stepmill
5:14 minutes / 50 calories
WALRUS
5 rounds of
10 BW dips
5 BW pullups/chins
10 +15 lbs goblet squats
90 second rests between rounds. That felt about right. Starting to ease my way back toward strength training with WALRUS. Everything felt good. No lingering neck/shoulder pain. I think we’re good to go.
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SUNDAY
BW: 148.2 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
DAY OFF - Took a 30-minute walk to the beach and back.
Reading CT’s thoughts on the incline bench in his new skeleton program got me thinking. I’m considering a 2x/week split that would go something like this:
Monday: Squat 5/3/1 + Incline press 5 sets of 10
Friday: Deadlift 3s PRO + Incline press 5/3/1
I’d been a bit obsessed with the OHP over the bench. This would give me the opportunity to split the difference and actually hit the chest/shoulders/triceps complex three times a week (dips or pushups in the Saturday WALRUS). I’d superset the incline presses with DB rows, pullups, inverted rows, etc.
I’ve been doing my biceps work “off the clock”. I will formalize it one of these days. But I think this might be a good way to do my biceps hypertrophy work without adding it to my in-the-gym schedule. I’ve got DBs at home up to 45 lbs - that should keep me busy for awhile. On Saturday, I did this pump-based set non-stop.
5 sets of 10 DB alt curls @ 10 lbs
a set of 4, 3, 2, and 1 of DB alt curls @ 25 lbs
3 sets of 10 DB alt curls @ 10 lbs
a set of 2 and 1 DB alt curls @ 25 lbs
1 set of 10 DB alt curls @ 10 lbs
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MONDAY
BW: 146.8 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
+++
TUESDAY
BW: 148.0 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
BJJ
20+ minutes drills/specific training
12+ minutes Live Training
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
I’m in a nice groove in training, both technique-wise and cardio-wise. My submission rate has sky-rocketed relative to how I trained pre-COVID, which was too often over-cautious and risk averse resulting in more control and fewer finishes.
I credit John Danaher and Gordon Ryan for a lot of this new attitude - though spending the past few years watching a variety top competitors at work - including the Ruotolo brothers, Mica Galvao, Tainan Dalpra … even the 10th planet EBI qualifiers - has played a major role, as well. I’m chaining movements together better, pursuing submission opportunities more consistently and persistently. I’m still almost exclusively a strangler, but I’m enjoying the idea of specializing in strangulation more every day.
Going to shift away from my cardio uber alles training starting on Monday. It is clearly easier for me to keep my weight down when I’m not weight training. So it will be a challenge to re-introduce weight training back into my schedule without an accompanying savage an increase in appetite - and body fat.
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WEDNESDAY
BW: 145.8 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
My goal was to reach 145 lbs by Thanksgiving. We’ll see what things look like tomorrow morning, but like the former president, I’m going to hang my Mission Accomplished banner all the same.
From here, six weeks at maintenance is next. I’m going to be bringing in low volume strength training twice a week starting on Monday: 3’s Pro squats and incline press for 5 x 10 on Monday, 3’s Pro deadlifts and 5/3/1 incline press on Friday. I’ll add some DB rows and rear delt work for back on both days, supersetted with the presses.
I’m hoping for some body recomp from here, leveraging better insulin sensitivity to lose another inch or so around the waistline, while adding a little size (relatively speaking) to upper chest, shoulders, and upper back (rear delts and rhomboids esp.). Something like BW 148 lbs @ waist 32". ultimately (i.e., June 2023).
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THURSDAY
BW: 145.0 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
WALRUS
5 rounds of:
10 BW dips
5 BW chins/pullups (alternate grips each set; pause at top of each rep)
10 15 lbs DB goblet squats
plus 30-minute walk to the beach and back.
Made it to 145.0 lbs this morning. Absolutely thrilled. One more thing to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving!
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FRIDAY
BW: 146.2 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
OFF - Black Friday shopping and Beer Junction Day
+++
SATURDAY
BW: 147.0 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
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SUNDAY
BW: 146.4 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.5 miles / 468 calories / 60 minutes
Sunday is Zone 1 Cardio Day. Max heart rate is 60% which works out to about 125 bpm for me. Did 3.5 mph at 4% grade for an hour.
Update: Going to take another stab at accurately tracking my calories and macros to help with this maintenance phase. Today: 1867 calories = P111 F58 C140
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All good in theory, but most of us have stuff to do and we just shoe-horn in the lifting where we can. 5.30am alarm here and i’m lifting by 5.45 ish… fwiw.
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2nd this. I wake up at 0430, just so I can start work by 0600.
Theoretically, I love the idea of working out first thing in the morning. However, in practice, that would involve me working out at about 0230, which just isn’t a feasible option when weighing in some semblance of family life. So instead of lift after work at 5pm/7pm timeframe.
That being said, I do see the massive advantages behind fitting in your training in the AM, and wish to emulate that in the future. Seems a great way to start the day, hope I can fit that in to my future schedule. Glad you found something that works for you
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I’m trying to convince myself to try morning training. The free weight area at my gym has become increasingly popular and I’ve been shifting my lifting times around to try and avoid the crowd. One time I haven’t yet tried is pre-9am, which would be earlier than I’ve ever trained before.
During COVID, I trained in my home gym/garage after work and before dinner a la @atlas13. That really worked. But I can’t imagine trying to squeeze into the free weight area at my commercial gym at 5pm …
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Extremely valid point made here. I work out at home, which means my only competition for equipment is my wife lol. Factors change when working at a commercial gym
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MONDAY
BW: 147.8 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
SC&J W1 D2
Strength
Squats
bar x 10
box jump x 5
bar x 10
box jump x 5
95 lbs x 8
box jump x 5
135 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 5
180 lbs x 5
205 lbs x 5
155 lbs x 10
Incline bench (Swiss bar/Dead stop)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
95 lbs 5 x 10
superset with BB rows 135 lbs 5 x 5
Also did total of six sets of band pull-aparts and three sets of band over 'n 'backs for shoulders - which really needed it. Technically, since I’m sort of following the Huberman Protocol, yesterday’s Zone 1 walk was Day 1.
Felt good to be back in the squat rack. Definitely still getting accustomed to having some weight on my back again! Focused mostly on grip tightness and breaking at the hip first. Will increasingly emphasize proper bracing, which I find to be almost as exhausting as the lift itself. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to take the volume down; I’d rather not forge any more bad habits than I already have.
Back later with the calorie count.
Workout took about 70 minutes, a little less efficient as I started with a straight bar before switching to the Swiss bar, and longer rest periods during the three work sets of the squats.
Update: 1786 calories = P161 F73 C115
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TUESDAY
BW: 147.2 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
SC&J W1 D3
Conditioning
WALRUS
5 rounds of:
10 BW dips
5 chins (alternating grips/pause at top)
10 15 lbs goblet squats
90 seconds between rounds
–followed by–
Row Sprints
2:06 minutes / 26 calories / 463m / damper 7
2:06 minutes / 28 calories / 477m / damper 8
2:03 minutes / 28 calories / 484m / damper 9
2 minutes rest between sprints
Treadmills were all taken. That’s a first. Did WALRUS today instead, which helped get some blood flowing in my pecs and quads after Monday’s weight training session. Also threw in some row sprints, which I have been neglecting. Will do Zone 2 cardio after jiu-jitsu tonight.
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TUESDAY (Evening Program)
Jiu-Jitsu
Approximately 30+ minutes of drilling, specific training, and Live Training. Trained a lot of specific with our Professor, which was incredible. Then some Live Training rounds with a new black belt, a recreational purple belt, and that white belt with no brakes that’s become my most consistent sparring partner since I returned to the mat in August. Pretty maxed out session - goal next year would be to go one more round. I was pretty tired when I rolled with the black belt and really had to do some digging by the time the white belt and I were almost done. Grateful for this off-mat cardio emphasis over the past few weeks. .
–followed by–
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
1654 calories = P143 F44 C149
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WEDNESDAY
BW: 144.0 lbs
waist: 32"
Went to the gym to do some Zone 2 cardio. Every treadmill taken again. Crazy. Could have waited around, but had a few errands to run and figured a day off wouldn’t be a bad idea.
One of the ironies about my increased cardio is that it’s taken me back to the point where I get tired enough in sparring to fall into old bad habits, especially when passing the guard. I’ve been trying to incorporate more speed and misdirection in my passing instead of just “smash, climb, smash”. Also realized the limitations of the smash, climb, smash passing game vs. short legged grapplers. But because of my relative technical weakness in speed passing, I end up spending a lot of energy on it. And knowing this had made me reticent about working on this part of my game as the rounds and minutes add up and the fatigue escalates.
The trick is to break down the technique of the pass even further so that I can execute at least an initial portion of the move without much effort. Then slowly begin to incorporate more and more of the move as technical proficiency rises - and the temptation to substitute with energy-sapping athletic ability subsides.
1667 calories = P140 F74 C87
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THURSDAY
BW: 146.4 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Conditioning & Jiu-Jitsu
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
++hours later++
BJJ
20+ minutes drilling
6 minutes Live Training
++followed by++
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
1607 calories = P99 F44 C98
Miss on the protein today. Will make up for it tomorrow. That said, I’ve been really enjoying this transition diet, especially the fact that I’m eating more fruit than I have since I was a child.
Keeping the majority of carbs after training around noon (fruit) and in the evening meal six hours later (fruit and rice). Red meat for lunch (lamb or beef). White meat for dinner (chicken, pork loin, seafood). A protein shake or two.
That’s during the work week. I try to stick to a Velocity Diet approach on Saturday and Sunday.
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