Katartisis: Tyrant's Training Log

Conjugate Trial Cycle W2 Max Lower - Friday AM
NG chins: +35x5, +45x3, +70x2
Semi-sumo deadlift: 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 425x0, 365x4
Sled rope pull: 2x138x15yd, 2x228x15yd
Sled belt drag: 218x50yd forward, 173x50yd backward
Sled push: 148x50yd, 138x50yd

  • Was hoping for a bigger pull than what I ended up with, everything felt fine coming into the gym; 405 moved at like RPE8.5 then 425 wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t quite figure out where to get my grip set up and the last time I pulled sumo must’ve been about 3 years ago. If sumo is harder off the floor but easier at the top than conventional, and I pull heavier conventional + have never missed a deadlift above the knees, I think it’s perfectly fine to just stick with what I’m good at here
  • Viking Day is still terrible and awesome, planning on doing bodyweight x age squats instead next week as it’ll be on my birthday. Also my last workout as an undergrad
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Carb cycling always made a lot of sense to me, if one was going to eat carbs. I’m actually almost finished with Dan Duchaine’s “Bodyopus”, which presents a VERY unique approach to the whole thing. But Justin Harris always had a pretty sane approach to it.

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if one was going to eat carbs.

I do have a certain dietary restriction that makes a truly carb-free diet basically impossible, but I’ve had success with limited periods of low carb dieting in the past. I’ll definitely check out those resources, a quick Wikipedia scan for Mr. Duchaine reveals quite a character :wink:

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Oh dude, there’s SO much about him, haha. Chris Bell was going to make a documentary about him called “The Menace of Venice”, ala Venice Beach: don’t know if it ever got cleared. Justin Harris is just straight up legit: big, strong, and smart as hell. I DO know if some keto vegans out there, but concur that it’s definitely a tricky road to travel.

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Conjugate Trial Cycle W3 Dynamic Upper - Sunday Late AM
Pull-ups: +25x2x5
Power jerk (Fat Gripz): 165x10x3 EMOM
Close-grip incline bench (Fat Gripz): 155x5, 5, 4, 135x6, 5, 115x6 band pull-aparts 5x20 between sets
T-bar row: 115x15, 13, 12
DB overhead extension: 60x12, 12, 45x14
Poundstone curls (Fat Gripz): 45x37

  • New cycle of Even Easier Strength for chins, rotating neutral/pronated/supinated grip every 2 weeks. I’ve been following this method for a few months now and would highly recommend it, it’s been effective and, indeed, easy.
  • Think I’m going to adopt a mechanical progression approach for supplemental pressing over my next 2 cycles; the benches at my gym go from 60 to -15 degrees (6 increments, perfect) so I think I’ll start high and decrease the angle every week, keeping that 6x4-6 volume.
  • Dip bars were in use, hence the pencilneckery in my assistance selection; not a huge fan of extensions since I fatigue/pump up too fast. Dips I enjoy because one can count on all the other pressing muscles to keep total volume high, seems a lot more strength-specific than single-joint work. Hardly groundbreaking stuff here.
3 Likes

Conjugate Trial Cycle W3 Dynamic Lower - Tuesday PM
Pull-ups: +25x2x5
Power clean: 170x10x1 EMOM
Squat: 225x10x2 EMOM
Leg press: 408x20, 388x20
Zercher RDL: 135x20, 17
Standing cable crunch: 100x20, 20

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Conjugate Trial Cycle W3 Max Upper - Wednesday PM
Pull-ups: +25x5, +45x3, +55x2
Strict press (Fat Gripz): 45x5, 5, 95x3, 135x2, 155x1, 185x1, 205x1, 185x2, 155x5, 5, 4
Barbell shrug: 275x15, 13, 12
DB lateral raise: 20x20, 20, 20
Dips: +10x21, BWx23, 19
Hammer curls: 35x15, 12

  • Presses performed off the chest/clavicle/whatever with elbow sleeves, wrist wraps, and belt on. This is a 5-pound press PR from late last November, pretty happy with how well it moved. Sure didn’t feel fast, but it definitely was on video. Still ridiculous to me how good my bench/strict press is relative to my squat/bench
  • Added more backoff sets + switched up assistance work some
  • Pretty great workout, go figure that I finished school yesterday and haven’t had time for the stress of unemployment to sink in yet. Enjoying the mindset while it lasts :+1::+1:
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Conjugate Trial Cycle W3 Max Lower - Thursday AM
Pull-ups: +35x2x5
Behind-the-back deadlift: 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455x0, 1, 365x3, 3, 3
Squat: 185x22

  • This was a fucking awesome main movement, felt similar to a trap bar pull but with a more advantaged start because of the back position. I’ll probably have some bruising on my hams and calves after this, though
  • Kind of a milestone workout in that today’s my birthday and the last day the school gym is open before I graduate. I think my first workout here may have been when I was running Mag/Ort ~3 years ago, at the end of which I hit 375x2 and failed 385x2; always fun to put things into perspective. Also sadly not doing any proper lifting for up to 5 days after this, might get up to some conditioning at my parents’ place
  • Birthday squats done in beltless/high-bar fashion. Weighed in at 188 this morning, so not dropping too badly but I could definitely stand to eat more
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Happy birthday dude!

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Many happy returns

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Upper Body Deload in Apartment Building Gym - Sunday PM

Pull-ups: +35x2x5
KB snatch: 40lbx10 per side

Giant sets:
Band pull-apart: Bluex20, 20, 20, 20, 20
Seated DB press: 50x10, 7, 5, 40x8, 8
DB lateral raise: 20x10, 10, 8, 8, 8
Pushups: BWx15, 15, 13, 12, 12

DB curl: 30x12, 10, 9
CoC grippers: Tx8, 8, 8, 1x4

3 Likes

Deload/Conditioning in Apartment Building Gym - Tuesday PM
Pullups: +35x2x5
CoC grippers: Tx5, 1x5, 5, 5, 5
Treadmill ruck: 40lbs in backpack, 2 miles in 35:34 with 3% incline for first ~5-10 minutes

  • Going to keep working on the grippers once I get back on a proper training cycle
  • Shins were holding me back on the ruck more than my lungs or even my traps were, anyone have insights on working around rather than through shin splints? I did this wearing my ancient pair of Inov8 barefoot shoes
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Conjugate C1W1 Dynamic Upper - Wednesday PM
Push press (Fat Gripz): 145x10x3 EMOM
Superset pullups/60deg close grip incline bench (Fat Gripz): +35, 45, 55, 70, 80, 100x1 / 135x6, 6, 4, 115x6, 6, 6
Superset T-bar rows/band pull-aparts: 115x15, 15, 12, 9, 100x15 / 5x20
DB flyes: 25x25, 21, 17, 12, 20x17
EZ Bar curl: 81x11, 8, 51x15

  • Deload seems to have done me well, everything moved smoothly and quickly today. On the latter, I kept all my assistance rest periods to 1 minute
  • Not fully counting that last pull-up, as I basically grinded it up to bar-at-nose then couldn’t get any higher
  • Supersetting back and rear delts may be a keeper, excellent upper back pump here. I think this is conceptually similar to a Kelso row/shrug in how the pull-aparts help exhaust that muscle group after others are worked by the row
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Conjugate C1W1 Dynamic Lower - Thursday AM
Pullups: BWx10
Power clean: 150x15x1 on 30s timer
Front squat (+light bands): 190x10x2 EMOM
Leg press: 438x17, 408x18, 14
Zercher RDL: 155x14, 135x18, 14
Standing cable crunch: 115x20, 18, 17

  • 2:00 between assistance sets
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Conjugate C1W1 Max Upper - Friday AM
Chinups: +45x2x5
Snatch push press: 45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 185x2, 205x1, 225x1, 205x2, 185x5, 4, 3
Superset barbell shrugs/DB lat raises: 275x15, 13, 12, 9, 245x12 / 20x20, 17, 15, 14, 10
Dips: +10x17, BWx20, 19, 10, pushups x13
Hammer curls: 35x14, 12, 9

  • 1min rest on everything besides ME work
  • Any workout where I get 2 plates overhead is probably a good one
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