KRAKATOA: PowPowPunishment's Daily Ventures of Destruction

Training Training Logs
143

Last night:

Reverse hyper leg curls
5 plates x 50, 40

50 Kettlebell swings with 50lbs

Hanging leg raises
15, 15

Dead hangs
15 secs, 15 secs

Jackknives
15, 15

Also forgot to mention: that night where I did 150 curls and 150 skullcrushers, I also busted out my old Captains of Crush grippers and mindlessly squeezed the Trainer (misplaced the #1 somewhere) for around 8 minutes while I watched TV and did a few partial reps with the #2. Blew up my forearms.

Should also document what I’m doing with the way I’m eating. I had it in my mind to go back down in weight after my meet - well, that didn’t happen. I’d had my break from laboriously eating so much and I felt fresh, so I’ve been taking advantage of the holidays and eating to grow a little again. I think I’ll be done living like this right after Christmas, but it’s really up to whatever I feel like. I have my first doctor’s appointment as an adult in January so it’ll be interesting to see what my health markers are with this obscene diet.

I used to make a point to cut weight in winter and gain weight in summer as a personal form of social defiance. In 2005, the rep at GNC asked if I’m cutting weight “to get that beach bod” which started it all because I was an edgelord back then - scratch that, because I AM an edgelord - and I thought that question was lame as hell. But it’s just way more manageable to eat this much when it’s cold out. This past summer, all that laborious digesting on top of the extra bodyweight had me constantly sweating bullets in the office; conversely, it feels really good to be eating big and indulging in holiday traditions and foods when my weight goals align and the weather is cold.

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144

Axle clean once and strict press: 130 x 5
Chin-ups: 5
10 rounds in 11:25

Dips
20, 20
Super-set with chin-ups x 15, 10

Behind-the-neck press
50 x 20

Band pull-aparts
20

Lateral raises
15lb kbs x 12

30 second chin-up

Minimal rest times, just barely enough to muster the energy to go on. Sore all over from the crazy weekend training. Even lifting 130 overhead felt heavy.

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145

Bench press
315 x 4

Swiss bar bench press
235 x 11, 10, 10, 9, 8
Super-set with bent-over axle rows
200 x 5 x 10

Pec-delt tie-ins are feeling better.

Went to a work dinner party last night and ate a bomb steak dinner. While everyone else finished eating and were working on drinks, I laboriously kept at it until I finished the whole thing.

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146

Squats

410 x 11
320 x 20, 10 (last set narrow-stance)

Between squat sets:

Lateral raises: 15lb kbs x 3 x 20
Band pull-aparts: 3 x 20

Left hip is mad at me and back has been hurting ever since the last overhead press workout. Maybe cleaning the weight is to blame? However, a previous week I pressed overhead from the rack and my back hurt the next day as well. If it’s just the act of stabilizing the weight overhead that’s the culprit, I could do weighted overhead carries to train my posture combined with some ab work to address that weakness and then monitor how I fare the next day. Turkish get-ups could be useful here, too.

Anyway, squatting 410 without a belt felt dicey on my back although it VERY easily could have been psychosomatic and I was just mentally waiting for something to hurt. Instead of going into the 500s like I planned, I opted to not go above 410.

Fairly certain 410x11 is a PR but these numbers aren’t crazy for me or anything, yet I had to lie down afterwards from feeling like death. Been doing less cardio while getting heavier and it shows. Haven’t neglected that completely; I’ve been jogging roughly twice a week, shadowboxing almost every night I don’t lift, and have been doing 20-40 burpees on some morning before work, but those are all fairly non-intense activities versus death-defying conditioning workouts. Very often I’ll come home from work, eat a big dinner, and then simply be too full for several hours to do any crazy conditioning before bedtime. It’s a calculated and temporary choice, but if I wake-up just 15 minutes earlier I could get a lot done on that front.

I have a fridge full of goodness from Costco and Trader Joe’s and plan to finish all that up and then probably start ramping things down for gradual weight loss, although I’m not on a strict timeframe about it.

Went to see Godzilla Minus One once I managed to get up onto my feet and eat some leftovers after the nausea subsided. The movie kicked ass. A little too sentimental too many times (almost every human scene) but I’m always in the minority on that; I’m just particularly sensitive to a movie browbeating me to be sad versus organically feeling it. It was also the coldest theater I’ve ever been to and they were selling blankets at the confection stand for $20, laughably. They couldn’t break this Canadian, though.

Before and after going to see that, I rewatched Army of Darkness broken up into two viewings, which somehow gets better everytime I see it. Hail to the king, baby.

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147

Axle press
190 x 5
160 x 3 x 8
Super-set with chin-ups: 12, 12, 12, 15

20 dips

100 Poundstone curls with 40 lb axle

Did 10 kettlebell ABCs the day before yesterday and my back was hurting after. Thankfully it did not worsen the next day. Originally planned to incline bench but after training for a powerlifting meet, I’m getting bored of bench pressing. I still look forward to my heavy Saturdays but I had a strong itch to press overhead while also not worsening my back. I was able to make it work by wearing my belt on every set, including all work-up sets, and just being extra mindful to squeeze my abs and my glutes. If anything, this is good practice for doing those cues all the time. The gift of injury.

Been doing a minimum of 20 burpees every morning before work, depending on how much time I have, except for Wednesday when I did 50 push-ups. Have also been shadowboxing and running at night.

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148

Bench press
340 x 2
285 x 7
275 x 8
Super-set with seated reverse-hyper rows: 5 plates x 12, 12, 12

Swiss bar bench press
245 x 8, 9, 7 → dropdown to close-grip 185x5, 135x8
1st was super-set with more RH rows x 15, last 2 super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 12, 12

340x2 felt surprisingly light. Likely had another rep in me. It’s good days like this that keep me eating a lot and flirting with “permabulker” territory, but as Mark Bell says, strength is never a weakness.

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149

Squats
450 x 7
350 x 18

Bit of an off performance, but if this is my “bad day strength” then man, I’ll fucking take it. For some reason completely unbeknownst to me, I set up for 450 much higher on my back than normal and the Yukon bar was wobbling as a result, something that wouldn’t happen with a straight bar. Had much more of a good morning effect happening than usual, too. Hips also felt in a bit of pain. No regrets, I’m down for the curveball!

On the 350, and really any high rep, heavy squat set, I’m preventively shutting the set down a couple of reps before my perceived max, quite the opposite of the Super Squats protocol. It’s still a battle with back pain and when I squat, it’s when I’m in a good phase so I don’t want to get greedy with my back. I’m halting before it truly feels like I have to fight not to fold over. The healthier I feel, the more I’ll reward/punish myself with a truer max exertion.

Squatted in rainy, miserable conditions with soaking wet shoes I accidentally left outside. That oughta piss-off the YouTubers always leaving me comments about how dangerously I lift with my set-up or how I’m cruising for a Darwin Award. :alien:

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150

Bench press
350 x 2 (PR)
315 x 4
275 x 8
First 2 super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 2 x 12
Last super-set with bent-over axle rows: 220 x 10

Swiss bar bench press
245 x 8, 8, 8 → drop-down to close-grip bench of 135 x 10
Super-set with bent-over axle rows: 220 x 2 x 10 and 200 x 12

Kept having out-of-body experiences on the heaviest bench sets, almost like blacking out but being conscious enough to do the set. Felt so light and floaty that I can’t believe I was putting out the force to PR 350 for a double. I find that happens if I’m a little hungry, have had caffeine, and hold my breath during exertion.

Going out for a Christmas Eve Chinese food dinner and then meeting friends for festivities after.

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151

That picture needs some sort of quote above it, like “Real men are forged from iron”. Quality

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152

@simo74 That’s badass, I’ll take it. Much thanks.

Squats
370 x 15
320 x 20

Personal win. My back has been really bad this week and I’ve been doing more manual labor in the work warehouse while the usual guy has a week off, which culminated in my pain level being pretty high last night. Woke up this morning after a 10-hour sleep primarily on my back with two pillows propping me up slightly and felt lots better.

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153

You work a physical labor job and still crank out numbers as such? You’re phenomenal dude.

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154

Thanks a ton! But it was this week only I did much physical work at my job to cover someone who was out. Usually I’m in the office.

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155

Bench press
365 x 1
315 x 4
285 x 8

Dumbbell rows
125 x 12, 20

Wanted a short but heavy power workout without much bodybuilding to maximize recovery in light of late night New Year’s festivities I’m anticipating. 365 felt lighter than expected and 285x8 was a very nice improvement. Still gunning for 315x5 after my max set.

Going to San Francisco with friends tonight. Bringing lots of food and protein. Happy New Year everyone.

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156

Just for fun…

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157

@Chris_Shugart Whoa, what an awesome surprise, that was perfect editing! I’m pretty sure I heard that exact soundtrack in my head as I struggled to walk this back.

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158

Incline bench press
225 x 7, 8, 7
205 x 10
Super-set with wide chin-ups: 15, 15, 20, 20

Short, simple, and effective. Haven’t benched 225 on incline in years.

The next night, I had a limited time to do something for my legs and I’m trying to squat only once a week to let my quad pain heal up, so I did:

Reverse-hyper leg extensions
4 plates x 40
5 plates x 40
Super-set with leg curls:
5 plates x 80, 40

Hamstrings cramped up after that and I had to sit for several minutes before going to my favorite hill with a friend to do hill sprints. Did 1 lap, then got the idea to carry her up it for the second lap. Got 3/4 of the way up via the weighted carry with Rocky 4 music playing in my ears. Cooked some bison burgers for dinner afterwards.

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159

Bench press
370 x 1
375 x 1
315 x 5
285 x 8

Kroc rows
125 x 30

Lateral raises: 15 kettlebells x 20
Super-set with band pull-aparts: 20

The bar felt so light today it caught me off-guard. I’ve benched 380 in my past but it was a much harder rep and then I went on to fail 385. I would LOVE to beat that before I truly focus on boxing and end up losing weight because I just received an email that the boxing gym I’m on a wait list for has openings and I have to go in to meet them and sign-up next week if I don’t want to get in the back of the line again.

I had time to do more this session, but separating out the heavy power portion of my workout with the more hypertrophy-focused incline bench work last week seemed to work so well that I’m going to keep trying that out. That has me lifting more frequently but via shorter sessions.

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160

Monday:

Squats
410 x 13

Back had been hurting and wanted to get something done for legs. Invariably works out that I get under the bar, feel pretty good, and that just continues the more I load up. Squatting is more pain-free than day-to-day life. Still feeling quad pain, but I notice an improvement from reducing barbell squat frequency and taking a break from daily burpees with a deep squat.

Wednesday:

Incline axle bench press:
225 x 3 x 8
205 x 10
Super-set with wide chin-ups: 15, 15, 15, 20

50 bar curls

Weighed myself mid-day and I was 225.7, more than I thought. Cool! I’m just letting my body do what it wants for now until boxing starts up.

Last night: shadowboxing practice and an easy jog to unwind after a 10-hour work day.

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Signed up at a boxing gym yesterday. I almost didn’t - there’s another powerlifting competition in April and it’d be awesome to keep focusing on getting bigger while trying to hit that elusive 405 lb bench press this year. But fighting is a young man’s game and I have to make use of my 30s while I can. Lifting will always be there (I’ll still continue to lift; just being realistic about maximizing the powerlifts while reducing calories and increasing physical activity at the same time).

Sidenote: we had a training seminar at work this week and someone brought donuts and bagels. I declined and joked that I had gotten the last beef donut left as I pulled out my homemade 1/2 lb grass-fed beef burger. This got everyone changing the subject to talking about meat and where to get venison and elk for the next 5 minutes. I feel like I did my part.

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162

Squats
460 x 1
500 x 1
520 x 1
350 x 18

Not counting the 19th rep because I could feel my body about to collapse and had to walk it back practically in the middle of the rep attempt. Some of the other reps could have stood to be a little deeper too, but 520 was solid. I walked away with my back feeling fine.

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