The first one was okay, the second one was yuck! I cannot express enough how much I prefer the peanut butter.
Pre / Intra WO: 945am
1 serving C4
3/4 serving Surge (41g)
Training Session: 1000am
Bodyweight: 178#
Powell Raise
3x8
10/12/12
Seated external rotation
3x8
12/12/12
Incline press
45x10
115/125/135/145/155 triples
165 feeler
175x3x3
Fat Gripz on first two work sets @ 175.
Third work set felt the strongest, probably start warming up w/ Fat Gripz.
Incline press, 1-1/2 reps @ bottom
thick DB 30x6
thick DB 40x6
thick DB 40x6
wide grip BB 85x6
wide grip BB 85x6
*Push up w/ chains, feet elevated
3x6 w/ 80# of chains
*Incline bench rear delts
pump 12x2x20
swing w/ straps 55x25
*This combo will be moved to a warm-up. My shoulders felt open and strong and the next set (top 1/2 bench) was the tightest set up of the whole session. I chased that set up all morning and didn’t get it until the end.
Incline press, top 1/2
135x6
Testing this out for next week. Holy chest contraction.
Mini band bent over row
15 reps
DB/Plate holds
suitcase 2 sets @ 55 db, 20 count
farmer 1 set @ 55 db, 20 count
suitcase 1 set @ 35 plate
suitcase 1 set @ 45 plate
Kind of fucking around here.
Notes
Time: 1:30
Was bullshitting with a fellow meat head for a while so first couple warm up exercises ended up being about 10 minutes. Then ended up fucking around a little toward the end.
Had a shit load of energy going through me. All in all a decent session. Bench press is always my most unpredictable lift.
Notes (cont)
I am considering something like the following for Pressing days, since my best pressing consistently comes towards the end of my accessory work; this is what next week would look like:
Son woke up pretty early. Read a Chapter out of Tarzan and he fell back asleep. I ended up falling asleep for about 40 minutes. Nice nap.
Snack: 900am
2 peanut butter FiNIBARs
Pre / Intra WO: 945am
69g Surge (1-1/4 servings)
1 serving C4
Training Session: 1000am
Powell raise
3x10, 10/10/15
Shoulder horn
2x8, 15/15
Seated external rotation. Somebody calls them a Shoulder horn (Poliquin maybe?), although I am aware that a “shoulder horn” also refers to some other type of gimmick.
Zercher squat
45x10
115/135/155/175 triples
185 feeler
195x5x3, 2-3 min rest periods
Zercher squat, 1-1/2 reps @ bottom
135x6
135x6
145x4
155x4
Zercher squat, top 1/2 reps
185x6
185x6
195x4
205x4
Hip sled squat (reverse facing Hack)
2pps x2x8
3pps x2x8
Should have been doing these years ago.
Thick reverse EZ bar curl
2x8, 1 dime per side
Thick BB curl
65x7.5, last 1.5 reps were cheaters
45x8
Notes
Bodyweight: 178.8
Time: 1:30
Strong session.
Son has been lifting medicine balls (8#, 9# and 12#) onto a bench for a few months now. Started having him place the balls on the padding of a back ext/Roman chair unit. It’s about twice the height of a bench. The 12 is hard but he can get it up there 3 times or throughout the hour. Hitting pull ups of course and a few other odds & ends. Basically tries to mimic whatever I’m doing with his 3 & 5 pounds DB’s.
Post WO: 1130am
8 oz orange juice
Lunch: 100pm
10 oz salmon
2 servings of rice
2 servings of steamed veggies
Son really loves fish. Salmon, black cod, trout, sardines.
Going to cut back on rice again after today.
Napped for an hour with the kiddo.
Snack: 430pm
1 quart 2% milk
Probably switch back over to whole again soon.
Youth Wrestling Practice: 600pm
Ordered up a huge DVD set from Coach Dave Mills for teaching youth practices. We already have Deadly Weapons I, but I went ahead and purchased his Youth Championship Series and he sent me Deadly Weapons II and said he’d throw in an extra. Great guy.
I plan on scaling back the carbohydrates on Rest Days moving forward, and weaning back on the caffeine as well (down to 100mg on Rest Days anyways). I may remove the early 6am feeding on Rest Days as well. I need to resume having a waking period with no food in me.
Wake + 30 min: 530am
1 serving of C4
2 Thermo tabs
Breakfast: 630am
2 servings cottage cheese
2 servings oatmeal
20g honey
5g creatine
Snack: 900am
2 chocolate FiNIBARs
Pre / Intra WO: 945am
1 serving C4
41g Surge (3/4 serving)
Training Session: 1000am
Powell raise
3x8, 10/15/15
Seated external rotation
2x6, 20/15
Dip
BW x10
25/35/45/55 triples
throughout ramp: band chest fly 3x8, bent over band rows 5x10
65x5x3, 2 min rest
Dip, bottoms up from low box
70x2x6
80x2x4
Dip, top half reps
90x2x6
100x4
454
Not gonna lie, this felt like a waste of time.
**Incline overhead tricep ext w DB
45x8
60x3x8
**Obliques
cable chop low to high 30x8
cable chop high to low 30x8
cable chop low to high 30x8
Pallof press low cable 50x8
Notes
Bodyweight: 178
Time: 1:30
Decent session. Primary and Secondary work sets were good. Half rep dips felt pointless, won’t be continuing those.
Going to back off on the extra Shoulder/Rotator cuff work. Maybe stick to one exercise and alternate them workout to workout. They do seem to be helping to pull this right shoulder out of internal rotation though.
60 more band pulls/rows PWO to get me well past 100.
Post WO: 1130am
1 cup orange juice
Lunch: 1230
3 bone-in chicken thighs
1 serving of rice
steamed squash & carrots
Snack: 430pm
1 quart of whole milk
Youth Wrestling Practice: 600pm
Playing with some drills to teach positional awareness.
Starting to get a little sick. Probably going to back the volume down on Accessory work Cycle 7. I don’t feel that it’s a result of training, just something contagious going around.
Pretty much reached for the caffeine right away today. I try not to do that but I wanted to get going this morning and my brain did not feel like it was going to go online anytime soon.
Had some tension in my neck that woke me with a headache.
1 serving of C4 and some acetaminophen to knock it out
2 Thermo tabs
Breakfast: 545am
1 serving protein powder
3 servings heavy cream
80g oats
20g honey
5g creatine
Snack: 900am
2 chocolate FiNIBARs
Pre / Intra WO: 945am
41g Surge
1 serving C4
Training Session: 1000am
External rotations
10x10 seated
10x10 standing (elbow resting on a barbell at shoulder height)
**Push-ups, feet elevated
BW x12
1 chain x10
2 chains x8
**Incline posterior deltoids
pump 10x25
pump 15x25
swing 55x25
Incline press
115/125/135/145/155 triples ramp
165 feeler, Fat Gripz
175x5x3, 10 bent over band rows after each set
Incline press, wide grip 1-1/2 reps @ bottom
95x2x6
115x2x4
Incline press, top 1/2
135x2x6
144x4
155x4
Incline chest fly
10x8
15x2x8
Notes
Bodyweight: 178.6 pre workout
Time: 1:10 before chest fly
100 total band pulls
Going to get out of the incline press rack and move to a free bench in a squat rack. The bench on the incline unit is too narrow and I feel that it is the reason for all the trouble setting my shoulders. The free bench feels so much better when I lie on it.
That’s all for today. Okay session, but I either got to find a solution to my set up or drop the exercise. Pressing is consistently my poorest performing exercise. Hopefully getting on a wider padded bench will be a sufficient solution.
Lots of fun. Near the end of season and I’ve still got 3 pee wees showing up. Trying to get them to either A. Stay in a good position after they begin a bout, and not try to hug each other (or in my son’s case, just try to bull rush like a wild beast) or B. Not just turn and run away.
Chuggin’ along. I have found CT recommending his 915 program after this, so I’m reading up on that. 915 is very close to this program, and similar to something I was considering early on during CPLP.
I will most likely sub Bottoms-up Dips as my primary pressing exercise; throughout the past couple of months this has been the safest and strongest upper body exercise I have done; a very solid exercise to set up as well. I can rotate various bench pressing and dip variations as Accessories based on what is feeling right. I’d also like to back off the volume a bit, maybe 2 sets per Accessory with a little more intensity.
Anyways, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Got 4 more Cycles of this program followed by a test week.
Waking + 30 min: 515am
1/2 serving of C4, will finish the rest later
2 Thermo tabs
1000mg acetaminophen, neck is sore as shit this morning
Breakfast: 600am
1 serving ON whey
100g oatmeal
30g honey
3 servings of heavy cream
5g creatine
Snack: 900am
2 peanut butter FiNIBARs
Pre / Intra WO: 945am
69g Surge
1 serving C4
Training Session: 1000am
Zercher Squat
45x10
115/135/155/175 triples ramp
195 feeler
205x3x3
Felt really strong here today.
Zercher Squat, 1-1/2 @ bottom
185x2x4
Also really strong.
30 minute mark
Zercher Squat, top 1/2 reps
225x4
245x4
**Hip sled Squat (Reverse Hack)
3 & 1/4 per side, 2x8
This bottoms out @ about 105-110 degrees, but gym owner made a block that fits in the unit so I’ll start using that, should get me to parallel.
**Thick curls
EZ bar reverse grip 30x6
barbell 55x8
***Leg ext
120x8
140x8
***DB curls
20x8
25x8 Zottman
Notes
Bodyweight: 178
Time: just shy of an hour
Favorite animal: Bos Taurus, prized for its delectable red meat. Also, Dragons. But only because of the glory gained from slaying them.
Strong session. Cut volume down on Secondary and Tertiary exercises but took a higher weight jump. Plan to do this all week.
Next week begins the final phase; I plan on dropping extra accessory work across the board. This session will simply be as follows:
Zercher 215x3x2, after a doubles ramp
Back squat 315x4x2 (I actually have no idea if I can squat this lol)
Hip sled squat on a block (maybe) 3 pps x 3x8
Post WO: 1130am
12 oz orange juice
Lunch: 1230pm
12 oz bottom round steak
2 servings of rice
steamed yellow squash & carrots
Power nap with the kiddo.
Lateral x walks with a mini band, 100 each direction.
Snack
put together a big bowl of blueberries & banana for my son and I and turned on some Dragonball Z.
Got some tightness in my left hip/low back since squatting yesterday. Was hoping the lateral band walks would help, but they did not. May try doing some glute bridges today and see if that loosens things up.
Wake + 45: 600am
1 serving C4
1 Thermo tab
Breakfast: 700am
1 quart whole milk
2 servings heavy cream
5g creatine
Snack: 1000am
1 quart whole milk
2 servings cream
Lunch: 100pm
3 bone-in chicken thighs
1 serving of rice w/ stir fry veggies
Youth Wrestling Practice: 600pm
Lots of running, rope climbing and practicing the double leg.
Dinner: 830pm
12 oz lean beef
1 avocado
finished off a tub of cottage cheese, probably a serving and a half
Strong dips today. The external rotations, extra rear delt work and band rows have proved quite useful.
Having some pain in the left SI area after oblique work. This is a problem area for me. QL or something maybe? Don’t know exactly what, and don’t know exactly how to fix it.
50 more bent over band rows at the end, for 100 total.
Training Deadlifts & Presses back to back for remainder of program.
After waking
1 serving C4
1 Thermo tab
Breakfast
80g oats
1 serving protein powder
30g honey
3 servings heavy cream
5g creatine
Snack
2 chocolate FiNIBARs
Pre / Intra WO
41g Surge (3/4 serving)
1 serving C4
Training Session
Band pulls
mini band 3x12
Standing external rotations
10x2x8
Bent over band row
mini band 2x10
Incline press
45x10
115/135/155 triples
175 feeler
185x3x3
Incline press, wide grip 1-1/2 reps @ bottom
135x3x4
Incline press, 6" block press (one of those foam blocks that goes on the bar to limit ROM)
185x3x4
*Incline press machine
100x8
120x8
*Incline rear delts
15x25
15x20
**Incline chest fly
15x8
20x8
**Incline rear delts
20x15
25x15
Notes
Bodyweight: 178#
Time: 1:08
Moved out of the Incline press rack and into an independent bench in a squat rack. Way more stable on this thicker, wider bench; huge difference in stability and power.
If you decide to pursue this, here’s a Google sheet I made. Save your own copy and change it as you see fit (if you want). I made this a couple years ago because I’m a spreadsheet nerd.
Son and I went to our regular hiking trail. Came back and gave him an easy workout.
Milk jug carries (3/4 full of water, weigh about 5# ea) three laps down the hallway paired with 6.5# medicine ball lifts over a bar at about 3 foot high.
5 assisted pull ups, 5 assisted chin ups
6.5# medicine ball carry down the hall and another lap holding it over head.
5 double leg set ups, popping the elbows up to shoot
3 double leg set ups using Mill’s 1.2.3. method.
Lunch
Going to slow cook some cow tongue and make a couple steaks, with sautéed onions, bell peppers, and a couple tortillas. My kiddo loves making beef tongue street tacos. We usually do home made masa corn tortillas but we went the pre made route today.
Snack
1 quart whole milk
4 servings of heavy cream
Youth Wrestling Practice
Right now I’ve got 3 pee-wee regulars. Two 5 y/o and my 3 y/o.
I recently purchased Coach Dave Mill’s “Wrestling by the Numbers” youth instructional. So far I’ve used is his “Step of Champions” technique to set up for double leg takedowns and all 3 of my boys picked it up within just a few reps. Huge game changer for me as a coach.
We are also working on making contact with the head, and working for inside ties, via Coach Mills.
With 3 kids this young, ATTENTION is the hardest thing to come by, but I am learning.
So we will start with running (their request), then drill a little bit, round robin style (one of the little bastards usually runs off, so when he comes back he tags in and one of the other little shits runs off, works great actually). Then we rope climb, then drill some more. Then maybe jump rope, drill some more. You get it. Intermittent breaks to do something else they find cool, push ups, lunges, jump rope, rope climb, dummy carries, etc. Always back to the drill at hand. Then at the end of practice they get their favorite part. I get on the ground and let all three attack me. No directions, no commands (besides of course the obvious rules, no eye or nose pokes, no kicking, etc), just good old fashioned rough and tumble. I’ll sweep one, roll another, sit out on another, two will bonk heads, one will trip and face plant, etc. I’ll let all three climb on my back as I crawl across the mat and then turn em all over. Keep them moving on their toes for a good 20 minutes. My son is use to this but the other kids are not and they love it. They will work hard all practice just to get to this point. It’s my ace in the hole.
Another Rest before starting Cycle 8. Freezing rain and very cold temps has me stuck at home today, maybe the next two days; haven’t stepped out to test the ground. No worries because I am sore, tired, and been feeling a little seedy for a couple weeks now. Had a tough DL session and Press session back to back, gonna take the extra rest before blasting through the final Phase of this program.
Wake + 45 min: 600am
1 serving C4
Breakfast
Going to eat my Training Day breakfast today, since I’ve had some oats soaking for two nights already and it’ll be another 1-2 before getting to the gym.
100g oats
30g protein powder
30g honey
half cup of heavy cream, got a little carried away hehe
5g creatine
Son’s Training
I think the Easy Strength philosophy applies well here.
*Milk jug carries, 5#
3 sets down the hall & back
*Medicine ball throw-over-bar, 6.5#
3x3
**Medicine ball catch, 6.5#
2x5
**Pull ups, alternating grips ea set
2x5 assisted
**Medicine ball carry, overhead
2 sets down the hall & back
Double leg takedown set ups
Blast double set up 5 reps
“Step of Champions” set up 5 reps
Lunch
3 bone-in chicken thighs
Big skillet full of veggies and left over rice stir fried, share it with the kiddo
2 tortillas
Napped for a couple hours. Had one yesterday too. Don’t usually nap, even when my kiddo is here, but have been needing the extra sleep lately.
Most of the ice has melted off so we are going to try and get to the lakeside park for our hike, or adventure walk as he calls it.
Snack before Dinner
couple bananas shared with kiddo.
Dinner
beef steaks topped with butter, avocado on the side