Titanium Knickknacks has been on my to do list for a couple of years since I bought 5/3/1 forever and it caught my eye. I finally decided to give it a go as I am/was recovering from a lengthy infraspinatus and bicep injury so wanted something that was not too taxing on upper body work but was challenging. This obviously fit the bill. I also wanted to lose a bit of fat and thought that it would give me the impetus to do so as for every kg I dropped (and yes, I’m aware fat loss and weight loss aren’t the same) it was 2kg I wouldn’t have to deadlift on the day of the actual challenge. I started this on the 8th of June with a view to doing the test on the 1st of September which is my birthday in order to give myself a present.
For those not familiar with the challenge it is as follows:
Trap Bar Deadlifts or SSB Squats – x2 bodyweight for 25 reps
x50 press-ups
x25 chins
All whilst wearing a weighted vest equal to 10% of your bodyweight within 30 mins
I think it’s fair to say that on paper it looks fairly daunting, Jim does state that this isn’t for the faint of heart and for advanced lifters. I wouldn’t call myself an advanced lifter but I’ve been in this game for a few years now so thought I’d be well equipped strength and conditioning wise to give it a go. He also adds that there’s no real purpose for this other than to attempt it and live to tell the story, I will say that since retiring from playing Rugby a year or so ago I’ve missed not having a specific goal to train for. I’m not going to give the details behind the template away as I think anyone interested in 5/3/1 should buy the book, for me it’s the most valued book I own from a fitness perspective. I will break down the 3 stages of training in terms of what I got out of it and why I think this template is aptly named.
Phase 1
This is really the acclimatisation phase with going through the motions strength wise and getting used to training in a vest. I’ve owned a weighted vest for a few years now and have dipped my toe in Walrus training but this is the first time I ever programmed it and did it regularly. I normally use it for walks and would do the odd Walrus workout as conditioning if I was tight for time or wanted something low impact. I used a 5/3/1 maxim and started too light in order to progress, I started off at 10kg in the vest and worked my way up to 17kg by the end of it without being too challenged. For my lifts obviously I was doing TBDL’s and SSB Squats as lower lifts but also did BB Floor Press and BB Bent over rows as my upper body lifts which I felt best fit through the lens of my injury recovery. I was typically getting the upper body workouts done in sub 25 mins and lower body workouts in 30-35 mins. This allowed me to also get a load of my rehab work done after the workouts. When I was training on non work days or WFH I was also getting weighted vest walks in, other conditioning was typically LISS runs.
It did occur to me that Walrus as an accessory after barbell work is pretty effective especially when dieting for fat loss. It’s funny how much we think we need to do for this weak point or the other when actually just doing some good old fashioned weighted bodyweight work will hit the spot. This phase does break you in gently, I was tempted to only run it for one cycle but Dan John’s maxim of “Respect the process” kept me in check to run it for the prescribed 2.
Phase 2
From an injury recovery perspective things were starting to heal and had dropped a couple of lbs too. I started this phase a week before I went on holiday and it was pretty tough, I completed all the workouts within the prescribed time of 30 mins, I was classing the workouts as the top sets only as I ran it 5x5/3/1 style so did 7 actual . I did have one session where I felt a bit off so think I cut it short but was on track to do all the work within time. I paired Floor press with TBDL and row with squats, as my main lift was the row I also added DB bench into the circuit. I actually found this was probably the toughest phase of the template and was questioning how/if I’d get to a point where I could do the actual challenge. I also added in a bonus pump/rehab workout in on a Friday once I’d done my Walrus which was mainly just to test if I was getting any pain with light benching or OHP which I’m happy to report I wasn’t. I also found that doing the Walrus a day after the main lifting really helped with recovery especially with the vest squats. I was typically doing one of either a walk after the Walrus (in which case I was training fasted) or going for a 2 mile run in the vest which isn’t something I’d done before. This was all in aid of more conditioning and extra vest adaptations. Only running this for once cycle meant it was done after 2 weeks.
Phase 3
I’d never lifted with a weighted vest on before, with the actual weight in the vest I started too light and started off with just 6kg, I did work up to 12kg in the end just to make it harder than the actual test. I didn’t raise TM’s for squat or TBDL to allow for getting used to lifting in a vest. The Trap bar wasn’t really a problem in terms of the mechanics of the lift, it just made it a lot more taxing from a conditioning perspective. The SSB bar however…. I didn’t think I’d need to reduce the TM, I started off on 5s %’s and it moved albeit slowly, tried to 3s %’s a couple of workouts after and I could barely manage 2 reps. The vest made the lift massively harder which I really should’ve thought through, I realigned the weights and dropped the TM which was fine as I was planning on using the trap bar for the test. Again, for the Walrus days I was walking after or going on a 2 mile run with the vest. I was also adding a walk in on the Sunday which ended up being some Daddy/Daughter conditioning as I heard my youngest one up as I was leaving the house so we’ve made that into a bit of a Sunday thing which is extremely wholesome. I also kept in my Friday bonus session, mainly just to keep my eye in on upper body lifts and keep ensuring I’m getting no pain. As I added weight to the vest and worked up to 12kg the deadlifts became fairly vomit inducing which was interesting. Again all workouts were done within 30 mins, I was actually clocking 18/19 mins a few times so knew I’d got the conditioning to complete the test in the bag. I did the workouts in the circuit fashion that Jim outlines as well.
The Test
Despite the fact I’d planned it for the 1st of September I got home last night and considered that today was the last workout of phase 3 and with the lift being Trap Bar Deadlifts at 182kg 5x5 I was very close to double bodyweight. I had a decent dinner and felt pretty good so went with my gut last night that I was ready and would go for it. Weighed in at 95kg on the nose this morning which gave me a double bodyweight lift of 190kg (418lbs for my American friends), I went with 10kg on the vest as I only have 1kg weights and being at 9kg felt like cheating. I don’t think I’ve felt nervous going into a workout for a very long time but I was. Got a few sets of lowish reps ramping up the weight and some bodyweight press-ups and chins and then was ready to go.
Trap Bar Deadlift 190kg x25 reps
Press-ups x50 reps
Chins x25
All done in 10kg vest, done as a circuit 5 times. All done within 25 mins, 5 mins under the allowed time.
This was possibly the most challenging workout I’ve ever done, my heart felt like it was trying to come up through my throat and my lungs out my arse. There were a couple of deadlift sets where I had to rest pause to hit 5 reps, the first rep of each set was particularly challenging. I did record the whole thing for posterity but it’s not great, I only really captured the deadlifts with rest of it being a little obscured. Think the only way I can upload is via YouTube to which I don’t have an account and don’t think the video is good enough quality to post on YouTube. I think it took me about 20 mins from finishing for my breathing to return to normal. It’s certainly made the rest of the day interesting but been eating a bit more than usual to counteract it, I started to feel sore a couple of hours after finishing.
I’ve done a couple of different challenges, 10k KB swings in a month, BBS challenge in forever but this is the first one I’ve done where I’ve had to train for a specific event. It’s given me a bit of a taste for training for something again after hanging my boots up last year fully, not really sure what to do with this now as due to family and work commitments I don’t have time to take up another sport.
From a fat loss perspective I think I’ve dropped 6-7lbs over the course of running it which is ok but not great, I was wandering whether the fact that the lifting workouts are essentially hard conditioning if it’s particularly conducive for fat loss. Injury rehab wise it’s been great, I’ve got no pain and been able to get my rehab exercises done so ready to start benching and pressing again. I’m also going back to BB squatting so will see if that gives my infraspinatus any grief.
I was expecting to feel something after completing the challenge, other than feeling like my lungs had very firmly exited my arse I think I just felt relived I’d done it having committed to doing it. I have pondered what it would be like doing the SSB squat as the double bodyweight lift but given I hate the SSB and I know I could possibly hit double bodyweight for a single on a good day I don’t think I’ll be re-doing this with that goal in mind anytime soon. Thought I’d knock this review up as I’ve seen very little about Titanium Knickknacks online but I want to show it some love, it’s definitely one I’m glad I gave a go.