Just. Don't. Suck. Vol. 2

Training Training Logs
1182

4.2.26

We made it to Thursday! We’re off tomorrow to account for the two days we stayed late for parent-teacher conferences. It’s nice of them to put that on Good Friday. It’s technically not a religious holiday but matching the calendar was nice of them. Students are off Monday and we have in-service, so I don’t have to teach again until Tuesday. The break is welcome with the way our schedule has been.

I finally hit 227 on the scale today! 227.4 lbs. Progress helps me stay on track so I’ll fight my demons and not have a splurge meal tonight or tomorrow. I’ll save that for Sunday.

Something I noticed by taking nearly a week off from lifting with my legs, I finally felt good. No back pain or crippling soreness is great. But now it’s back. I felt pretty good until deadlifts yesterday. The stiffness it creates in my lower back really causes things to lock up. I also backed off on the back extensions Monday. I used 35 lbs held at my chest instead of 40-50 lbs on my back. I’m not sure how much I need to continue pushing my back extension loads. Is it okay to kind of fall into maintenance there?

Front squats were a great change for my body. My quads are sore which is the goal and they didn’t bother my back at all. I hate them because it feels like I’m moving the bar four feet down and back up with every rep, but if they target my needs and don’t aggravate my back… kind of hard to argue with that. I’ve been on this journey to alleviate back pain and I need to take note of this week.

And on that note, I’m questioning the need for deadlifts (gasp!). Why do I train? I want to look good, be fit, and be able to play basketball. I’m being reasonable with my physique goals and trying to look like Captain America instead of The Hulk. Do those goals require deadlifts of any kind? Is it possible to use cleans and clean pulls in place of deadlifts? :thinking: By the way, cleans moved really well after deadlifts yesterday…

I’m planning to pick up my son after school and bring him back to my school to shoot around. I might even get out the fancy machine that rebounds and throws the ball to you. I can get up 100 shots in less than 10 minutes with that thing. It also forces me to get more arch on my shots (like Curry) which improves my shot. And I’m probably going to count this as “light conditioning”.

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Congrats on the bodyweight win!

Something I noticed by taking nearly a week off from lifting with my legs, I finally felt good. No back pain or crippling soreness is great. But now it’s back.

I’ve got similar parts of me that respond similarly. The thing I take away from this: “I’m not injured”. It DOES suck being in pain, but when you find out you can simply NOT be in pain by not doing a thing, you have the reassurance that you haven’t permanently broken anything, and if you ever need a break from being in pain, you know what to do. It also means you’ll be able to eventually fix whatever the issue is.

I’m not sure how much I need to continue pushing my back extension loads. Is it okay to kind of fall into maintenance there?

That’s how I treat all core work. Abs and reverse hyper, once I work to “good enough”, I stay there. If I ever find myself failing lifts because of core strength, I’ll try to make it stronger again, but eventually it’s fine to just maintain the level you need. This is a microcosm of athletics in general. Dan John talks about how, to be a champion discuss thrower, you need to be able to snatch bodyweight and clean and jerk 20% more than that (I most likely have the numbers wrong), and after that, getting physically stronger isn’t really going to help your performance. If you’re THAT strong and still suck, it’s time for technique work. It’s similar with certain muscles as it relates to our goals. At one point, you get them strong “enough” that they’re doing what they need to do, and time invested in making them stronger is time that could be invested more toward our actual goal.

Is it possible to use cleans and clean pulls in place of deadlifts?

A million percent yes. Dude, the deadlift is a STUPID movement. I do it because I’m good at it and it shows up in my competitions, but if I COULD do the quick lifts like you can, I’d absolutely do that INSTEAD. It’s less weight, which means it beats up the body less, and it trains a lot more qualities. There is a LONG standing tradition of dudes just training the squat and the quick lifts and just showing up on the day of the meet to deadlift and doing just fine. Especially if you’ve got a dicey back, there’s no reason to do that lift. It’s just a heavy weighted hip hinge: you can hinge so many other ways. K. Black (of Tactical Barbell) talks about clients that just rely on the kettlebell swing for their hinge and the squat for their lower body.

Eddie Hall, who set the goddamn record on the deadlift, has come out and said that if you have no need to deadlift, not to do it. Rob Oberst said the same thing. It’s popular because it’s accessible, but if you have other options: use them.

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1184

I thought of this as I was typing my post. KB swings were a regular part of my CrossFit experiment last year and my back never complained.

You want to know the funny truth about why I deadlift? That stupid 600 lb Deadlift thread. Back when that started, I only did power cleans and clean pulls. I had successfully power cleaned 315 lbs before reading that thread.. And then I got curious and tested my deadlift. 405 was my first test and I hit it no problem without having trained the movement.

I guess I was on to something back then and it might be worth revisiting.

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Absolutely so! Dan John talks about pulling 628lbs to win a powerlifting meet his first time deadlifting, having come in with a background as an olympic lifter. Paul Kelso has similar stories regarding the value of the quick lifts for becoming a good puller. There is a lot to that.

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Back Ext
BW x 15 x 2 sets nice and slow to enjoy the decompression aspect
RFESS
BW x 15 ea x 2 sets

Maybe if I do this most days of the week I can adapt and not get so sore.

Edit to add:
Good Morning
70 x 10 seated
70 x 10 standing
Experimenting with different ways to train my lower back. Today’s work also loosened me up for the time being and I feel much better.

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I’m counting this as a light conditioning session. I put up 150 shots during this time.

6083
60831080×1250 110 KB

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1188

4.3.26

Saw 226 on the scale this morning! Another step in the right direction. I’d love to see 223 someday soon and then I can put an end to this cutting nonsense.

I don’t think I’ll be doing any official training today. My back is plenty sore from the past two days. I guess my regret for yesterday was doing a set of seated and standing good mornings. I couldn’t tell you which one was more effective. My brain tells me that I like the seated option because I can allow my back to round a bit. I feel like I can’t do that with the standing method because of the positions required to balance.

I didn’t sleep well and had a hard time getting out of bed thanks to my back soreness. I’m sitting on my massager now. I don’t have anything planned for the day because I’ll be home with my 9 and 4 year olds while my wife is coaching at a track meet. I try not to leave the 9 year old alone with the 4 year old for too long so I won’t be going to the gym. I was considering finding a basketball game until I learned my wife has to be at her meet at noon even though it doesn’t start til 2. I need to find a way to make sure I don’t sit around and waste my day (even though that’s where my current motivation is).

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1189

I managed to vacuum out my truck and clean the interior today. This is a huge feat for me. I hate that sort of thing.

I also used the weed trimmer while my son figured out how to use the push mower. We had a rain delay and I just finished mowing the biggest part of the front yard.

Not a worthless day.

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1190

How many children do you have? If you don’t mind my asking.

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Three - my oldest daughter just turned 13. My son is 9, and my youngest daughter is 4.

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4.4.26 Strength & Conditioning

C3 W1 D3

Jumps
Squat Jumps x 5
Skater Jumps x 5 ea
Power Skips x 8 ea
Decline Crunch
BW x 15 x 3 sets

45 Deg Back Ext
20 lbs on back x 15, 15
Walking Lunges
40 x 10 ea
BW x 15 ea

Main Work

Front Squat
125 x 5
140 x 5
160 x 5
125 x 5 x 3 (FSL)
Bench
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 5
235 x 5
210 x 5 x 5 (SSL)

Lateral Cable Raise
30 x 10 x 3 sets

Machine Row
220 x 15+6+4 double rest/pause

45 Deg Back Ext
BW x 15 just to get everything back where it belongs (didn’t work, see below)

Hard Conditioning (ha!)
Down/Back x 2 on the short basketball court
5 runs EMOM

Did not want to do conditioning at all. Talked myself into starting with 5 minutes. Get to 5 minutes and then we’ll see how it feels. Well, it felt awful, so I quit there. My back hurt while running so I was bracing and not able to relax and breathe properly. It wasn’t great, but I guess it was better than nothing.

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Ahhh… Gotcha.

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4.5.26 Easter Sunday

The tomb is empty!

Today we celebrate the day Jesus was raised from the dead fulfilling countless prophecies and proving he is the Messiah. I heard someone say that this year’s Good Friday actually lined up with the same calendar date that Jesus was crucified. If that’s correct, then today is the actual day the tomb was found empty - and that’s pretty cool.

I haven’t eaten great the last couple days and that’s not going to change today. Despite cracking the 227 and 226 barriers this past week, the scale showed 228.8 lbs this morning and that’s exactly what I expected. I’m going to try very hard not to overdo it today and focus on the foods that I really really like instead of eating just a little bit of everything. I’ll have to scout out the options and pick out the best sides to go with the meat (which I assume will be ham). The problem isn’t the first plate. It’s sitting in the open concept kitchen/living room with all the food all day. It’s very difficult not to grab another bite of this and that as you pass by and pile it on to an already full stomach.

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Last year, the day after Easter was my “oh wow! That’s not great” moment when I got on the scale. I expect nothing less this year. Lol. I’m sure the sugar hangover will be tremendous.
Happy Easter!

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My daughter helped me go for a walk to help me feel better about my stomach bloat. She wanted to take the dog and he’s stronger than her at my wife was a bit concerned. I caught up to tag along and make sure it went okay. We really need to train him more so he doesn’t pull on the leash.

According to my watch, we covered 0.94 miles in 22 minutes and I burned off about one handful of the M&Ms I ate.

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Happy Easter! He is risen!!!

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1198

4.6.26

I weighed 228.8 yesterday morning and only 230.0 lbs this morning. I’ll call that a win. The key is to lock in and get back on track by avoiding the candy and cupcakes that remain in my house. We have in-service today. I had a good lunch (3 eggs + egg whites and the last chunk of brisket) and should get my workout done after work. I’m due for light conditioning and I think I can do that in the school weight room via some jumps, 5-10-5 shuffles, and med ball throws. After the workout is baseball practice at 5:30 for my son. I plan to take my daughter and work on her skills like last week. I’m sitting on my rear all day but I should get in a couple hours of physical activity today.

We finished last night by playing with a frisbee that we haven’t really appreciated until now. It has LED lights around the edge and it was dark when we used it. That was actually a lot of fun! We’ll definitely have to do it again on a non-school night.

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Strength & Conditioning

C3 W2 D1

Foam Roller and Mobility

Jumps
Power Skip Progression (start like normal skips and work up to max height as I warm up)
20" Box Jumps
36" Box Jumps

RFESS
BW x 10 ea (more later)

OHP
80 x 5
105 x 5
120 x 5
135 x 5
120 x 5 x 5 sets (SSL)
Power Clean
(took this from the Morning Star template where Jim alternates between 10 total reps with the TM and then 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with FSL or SSL weights)
185 x 2
205 x 2
225 x 2, 2, 1+1, 2, 2
These were ugly and hurt my shoulders. I haven’t done cleans from the floor in ages but thought I’d go back to it since this is now my main pull/hinge. The pulls sucked and I was catching the bar low. That means my elbows were directly under my hands instead of up high. This puts a ton of strain on the external rotators and they aren’t very big so they don’t like it.

Assistance Stuff

Two Rounds

  • Pull-Up x 10
  • 45 Deg Back Ext 45 lbs x 15
  • Push-Up x 20
  • RFESS 25 lbs x 10 ea

Extra Work

  • Band Face Pull x 25
  • Hanging Alternating Knee Raise x 20 ea leg

Conditioning (4 Rounds)

  • Speed Skater Hops x 4 ea leg
  • 5-10-5 side shuffle
  • Kneeling Lateral MB Throw x 5 ea
    Time: 7:56

Assistance Totals
Push: 40
Pull: 45
SL: 30
Core: 50

So this template and the BB the Upper/Athlete the Lower had plenty of running and I’m not really doing that. The paranoid side of me fears I’m not getting enough work for my legs. But I get to front squat again Wednesday and it’s going to suck, so there’s that.

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1200

4.7.26

I suppose I got in some light conditioning and physical activity today. I picked up my son and took him back to the school so we could shoot baskets. I let a couple students shoot with us for a bit and it kind of cut into my time and plans for shooting. I still put up 100+ shots; it just took longer. My watch said I burned about 300 calories in 28 minutes.

I also forced him to go to my daughter’s softball practice where we worked on ground balls, pop fly’s, and hitting - basically the same thing I’ve been doing with her. He’s been playing 1st at practice so I showed him how to step towards the ball after it’s thrown so you can catch throws that are right or left. I’m tired of watching my daughter’s team’s first basemen just stand there and miss the ball because no one has taught them where to step or to get off the base when it’s a bad throw. It doesn’t do any good to have your foot on the base if you don’t have the ball!

On a dietary note, I ate a big salad (mostly romaine), four hard boiled eggs (some cut up in the salad), and a bunch of ham for dinner. It wrecked my gut for the remainder of the night. I even stopped off for some ginger ale on the way back from practice in search of relief. I’m not sure which one was the culprit, but I’ll be slow to eat any of those again this week…

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I’m not sure which one was the culprit

You know what my vote is, haha.

Lettuce tends to make the Valkyrie feel ill.

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