So much this.
Applies to both @dagill2 and @kdjohn. And a host of others on here as well.
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Have you tried holding job at risk meetings while barely able to breathe? Definitely takes a lot of the gravitas out of the situation. Hard to give off the right air of professional authority when you’re leaking out your nose or stopping every 5mins to cough up phlegm.
Oh, me too. I want it all, but I’m getting better at making peace with the fact that I can’t have it all without paying prices I’m not willing to pay.
For me, I want to be able to enjoy staying active and “outdoorsey” for want of a better word and I want to be able to share that with my family. Everything else is a distant, distant second.
Much appreciated man. And you too, @SvenG
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Absolutely nothing wrong with this. In point of fact, when it came time to pick between lifting and fighting due to new family obligations, I settled on lifting BECAUSE I felt it was actually the more effective choice. Being able to hold your own in a fight is awesome, and every man should have that in some capacity, but looking like you’re so dangerous you’re simply not worth the trouble can stop the fight before it happens.
And thankfully, looking dangerous can often necessitate building up the same muscles that make you dangerous. Biceps are cool, but people don’t wanna mess with the dude with a jacked neck, traps and forearms.
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This is huge too. I still want to get back to combat training, but it will probably be abbreviated to a couple days a week. I already have my decade of blood and bruises from training in my younger years. Now it’s time to just keep the skills sharpened and honed, and start to look as tough as I am (or, as I feel, at least).
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Were it not for the commute, I’d be your punching bag. It’s really all I need at this point. Regular instruction is cool, but a plain ol’ sparring partner I can have “pick up games” with a few times a week would really hit the mark.
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God, yes. My sentiments exactly.
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26/09/2021
STRENGTH
Start time: 1330
Bench
- 140x5
- 160x5
- 180x5
Incline bench
- 3x8 @ 140
DB flye
- 2x15 @ 25
- 2x12 @ 25
- 45 sec pec stretch + 15 sec flex
Barbell curl
- 4x5 @ 110
EZ bar drag curl
- 3x12 @ 60
DB Zottman curl
- 3x12 @ 20
- 45 sec biceps stretch + 15 sec flex
Notes:
- Combining my love of 5/3/1 with T-Nation’s Tried And True Bodybuilding Program. I didn’t want to try and make up my own bodybuilding program, but I wasn’t willing to give up my strength pursuits on my core lifts. Bench falls on chest & biceps day, power snatch on back day, C&J on shoulders & triceps, and finally squats on leg day (duh).
- I also had a kind of “Aha!” moment: the “bodybuilder” I want to be isn’t a bodybuilder at all, it’s just an old-school lifter. Everyone did almost everything back in the day; weightlifters trained their bench and worked with higher volume. Powerlifters used bodybuilding techniques. Bodybuilders used O-lifts like power cleans (hell, Arnold competed in some weightlifting competitions in his early days). There seemed to be far less tribalism, and everyone was just a disciple of the iron. That’s what I want. To move weight in all its forms and every manner.
- Jumps, throws and running will stay in my training in the form of semi “track and field” sessions.
7 Likes
28/09/2021
POWER SNATCH & BACK
2045hr start
P. Snatch
- worked up to 155x1
Muscle snatch
- 4x6 @ 100
Weighted chins
- 1x8 @ +25
- 1x7 @ “
- 2x6 @ “
- 45 sec deadhang + 15 sec lat flex
BOB row
- 3x12 @ 225
EZ bar pullovers
- 2x15 @ 50
- 1x12 @ 50
- 45 sec “pullover” stretch + 15 sec lat flex
45° hypers
- 1x15 @ 30
- 1x12 @ 30
- 1x10 @ 30
- 45 sec forward fold + 15 sec supine bridge flex
Notes:
- I’ve kinda fucked up my supplemental work for this first Leader cycle. I realized halfway through yesterday that I should’ve done snatch pulls for the first cycle to work on strength off the floor, then hang snatches to work on transitional speed as I go into the Anchor. Oh well. I do pulls next week so I at least get some work with them. Otherwise, snatches are feeling strong, so that’s good.
- The rest of this session was just – to use a local term – right mint. The lifts I picked combined with the stretches just blew up my back. Also, weighted hypers are such a great way to cap it all off. Hits the erectors from my butt all the way to my head.
- I was thinking about swapping the barbell rows to t-bar rows, but since strength in certain lifts is still a goal, I’d rather keep the barbell row because of its carryover to snatches and cleans.
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You workout at home, right? How do you do these—special bench or machine or something?
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Yeah, I have a 45° hyper bench. It’s a cheap-o thing (like $100) I got off Amazon, but it does the job. Such a useful piece of equipment, and it folds up nicely so I can hang it.
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equipment on amazon is surprisingly great.
I got a nice belt for $25, a 45lbkb and 25lb kb for <150 at the height of the pandemic and my cheap bb rack, which I thought was an unstable squat stand iwas actually stable AND came with a pullup bar
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29/09/2021
AGILITY, AEROBIC STEADY-STATE, CORE
1245hr start
Push-up position into lateral shuffle + 90° cut into hard deceleration
- 5/side @ 5m + 5m
Running
- 5km, untimed
Standing barbell twist
- 2x12/side
Notes:
- I need to invest in 1) a HR monitor, and 2) shorts with a zippered pocket so I can take my phone with me. I want to make sure I’m hitting certain HR levels and also be able to actually time my runs to measure improvement.
- Part of the reason for this is because I’m going to try following the Canadian Special Operations pre-selection training program for aerobic (running) and work capacity (rucking). It’s a very sensibly laid out program, with good variability, and the length lines up with my training blocks. Part of it requires that you’re hitting certain HR zones or running for a certain amount of time, which is something I have no way or a difficult time gauging.
3 Likes
29/09/2021
CLEAN & JERK, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS
2035hr start
P. C&J
- worked up to 210x1
BTN push press
- 3x8 @ 135
Wide upright row
- 2x15 @ 110
- 1x12 @ 110
Weighted dips
- 1x8 @ +40
- 2x6 @ +40
- 45 sec “dip” stretch + 15 sec delt & chest flex
EZ bar PJR’s
- 1x12 @ 80
- 1x10 @ 80
- 1x8 @ 80
- 45 sec triceps stretch + 15 sec triceps flex
Overhead hold sit-ups
- 4x12 @ 25
Notes:
- Two thumbs up. I don’t know why I’ve never done BTN push presses as jerk assistance before. They feel like they’re gonna be a great addition. Really light up the whole shoulder girdle and upper back.
- Upright rows continue to be the only movement I feel in my lateral delts. No idea why, but I ain’t changing it.
- I was originally just going to do weighted sit-ups with the plate behind my head as usual, but I figured an overhead hold was more in keeping with the theme of the session. Plus, it’s one of those reaching movements @j4gga2 is so fond of.
3 Likes
30/09/2021
SQUATS & LOWER BODY
1805hr start
Prone band leg curls
- 3x15; 15 sec hold on last rep
B. Squat
- 200x5
- 230x5
- 270x5
Front squat
- 3x8 @ 170
G. Morning
- 170x10
- 180x8
- 190x6
- 45 sec hamstring stretch + 15 sec flex
Barbell reverse lunges
- 2x10 @ 170
- 45 sec quad stretch + 15 sec flex
Standing barbell calf raises
- 4x12 @ 120
- 45 sec calf stretch + 15 sec flex
Notes:
- I was initially unsure of how this was going to go, because I self-diagnosed myself with IT band syndrome; basically inflamed and overworked IT band, with pain located laterally at the knee. I felt it after my stationary bike ride earlier today. The injury is common in runners and cyclists, which are my choices for aerobic training. Wonderful. Squats were a little iffy at first, but knees felt decent after a few sets. Guess I need to do more mobility work for my hips and not dive right back in to an equal workload after taking time off.
- Gonna swap front squats out for high bar cyclist squats next time. Still quad focused, but closer to a back squat and easier on the wrists.
- Heavy lunges are brutal, but are one of those movements I feel equally in every part of my leg. Keepers for sure.
- Calf raises suck, but I promised my wife I would work on my extremities more. Happy wife, happy life.
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Pretty sure I’m gonna pick up a slant board for weighted calf work. Since I’ve started running, and doing minimal BW calf work, it’s legit changed my appearance in shorts haha.
I saw myself walking into a building today and was like damn son look at you.
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In case you’re interested, this is the “spring ankle series” from Cal Dietz (great strength coach at Minnesota). I’ve used it with my athletes and noticed solid improvements in ankle stiffness during running and jumping, as well as some extra calf mass.
Start trying to get to 60s per leg, per position, then move to adding load for 15-30s.
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03/010/2021
AEROBIC STEADY-STATE & MUSC. ENDURANCE
0700hr start
12°C, light rain
Running
- 5km, approx. 00:26:07
Circuit, 2 rounds
- BW squats, 60 sec
- 30 sec rest
- Push-ups, 60 sec
- 30 sec rest
- BW jump squats, 60 sec
- 30 sec rest
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 pull-ups w/ 5, 4, etc sec rest between
- 30 sec rest
Notes:
- I’ve decided I need more adversity in my life, because over the years of not training martial arts anymore, my ability to handle adversity has plummeted. This is not good, as I was always someone who could deal with anything thrown my way. One way I’ll be tackling that, on the training side of things, is waking up earlier and doing fasted conditioning — runs, rucks, regular walks, bodyweight endurance work — no matter the weather or time I go to sleep prior. Whether it was specific workouts, gruelling sparring rounds or certain training partners, there was no escape from dealing with adversity in martial arts; I might be thinking, “Fuck, I don’t want to do this. I hate this right now”, but I had to anyways. I was mentally and spiritually strong. It’s time to reclaim some of that.
- I don’t recommend this approach for everyone. It’s very hard and takes a lot of personal conditioning (not in the exercise sense) to achieve, and without guidance or wisdom it can break you — I was definitely almost broken at some points in my training. I know this works for me, though. Intense physical stress can cause mental stress, and in proper doses that can shape you into a very strong person.
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I am such a fan of this intentional adversity approach. With you being in the great North you will have ample opportunity soon too with winter.
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Unfortunately, I love the cold and thrive in it. I heat up super quickly so winter doesn’t bother me much.
Summer, on the other hand… ugh.
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I am the same. But experiencing it fasted adds. I like to do progressive resistance with outerwear as well; trying to get down to jeans and a t when below 0 and less.
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