Looking good, but sideways pictures suck. ; )
Wow thats weird… It isnt a sideways pic, and it’s vertical when I view it on my phone. I’ll make sure the final one is right side up
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Bench 10x3@ 165 in 5:45 … I actually may have done 11x3, I think I lost count at like set 8 or 9, so I just assumed I skipped it and did an extra.
[/quote]
Ha! I have had this issue in my high-rep sets of KB snatches before…wait, was that 16 or 17? Dammit, I’ll just keep going for awhile longer…
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Wow thats weird… It isnt a sideways pic, and it’s vertical when I view it on my phone. I’ll make sure the final one is right side up[/quote]
I have had this issue a few times as well when posting pics/vids from my phone.
Hey ActivitiesGuy, Thanks for stopping by. I’ll swing by your log to see how your training is going.
Thats the issue with those high set workouts where the focus is on the time instead of weight, the pressure is on so much to get the sets in that you dont want to waste time writing stuff down.
Thursday 2-6
AM - 45 minute walk to store
PM Workout
10x3 overhead press @ 120 and 10x5 pullups, completed in 5:35, shaved another 7 seconds off. This was good stuff, hard work, breathing hard
Squats 10x3 @ 185 in 4:40… This sucked. Basically racked it, counted to 5, and got back at it every set. Finished it FAST but was smoked by the end.
Also did a new Bicep exercise by Chad Waterbury, its a “Biceps Plank Planche” which can be found on his website. 5 “sets” of 5 second holds in the extended position. Just throwing this in on the squat/ohp days as a bit more bicep stimulation.
2-6 - In which a Man Breathes Hard
AM - ~23 minutes on the bike, was reading something and didnt want to stop at the 16 minute mark so I got a few extra minutes in.
Bench - 165 10x3 in 5:37. Shaved ~5 seconds off. Nothing crazy… Think I lost count at 5-6 again, so I just did an extra set and counted it as 10
Deads 10x3 @ 225 in 5:09, shaved off a lot of time, so I did an extra set at about 5:45 to get 11x3 in 6:00 instead of 10x3. Woot, go me
Rows 10x3 @ 195 in 5:01, another victory here. up 10 pounds in the same time frame.
Man, those deads are lung killers, I love 'em though. I really like the training of 2 different qualities in the same week (Strength and Metcon for this 6 week block). Going to do a “deload” next week and reeval things going into the next 6 weeks, with some new goals
Sat 2-7
Did the usual Arms/Abs/Calves routine, and 17 minutes on the bike.
I used CT’s 10/5/5 pumping-partials technique on the first exercise and to say it worked would be an understatement, looked like I injected synthol there for about 10 minutes. For those that don’t know, these are very similar to 21’s except you do 10 top half partials, 5 bottom half partials, and then 5 full ROM reps. Since the point is to pump on this exercise, you want Constant tension throughout the entire set, even resting a bit in the top or bottom causes a little blood “leakage” which you dont want.
Start of “Deload” / Transition week into the next 6 week block to get the weights right
Keeping the 5x5 days, but switching the 10x3 for time days to 4x12 with slow eccentrics on a modified form of the lift.
Bench ~> Ring push ups
Overhead Press ~> BTN, snatch grip presses
Deads ~> Stiff leg deads
Squats ~> Front Squats
I’m also reordering the days to split up the heavy work, as per Chad Waterburys methods.
Day 1 - Overhead Press, Squat 5x5, pullups 5x10
Day 2 - Ring Push ups, Ring Rows, SLDL’s 4x12
Day 3 - BTN Press, Front Squat, 4x12, pull ups x 5 in between sets
Day 4 - Bench, Deads, Pendlay Rows 5x5
Deload day 3
Klokov Presses: 3x10 @ 85
Front Squats: 3x10 @ 115
5 pullups in between every warm up and set
… Easy ass day, but I guess a deload isn’t suppose to be incredible. I have a good idea for weights for the next cycle after today too
Deload 2-13
Bench 5x1 @ Training Max (205)
Deads 5x1 @ training max (275)
Basically a super low volume day heading into the weekend to recover for the next 6 week cycle.
forgot my other day this week which was 2-9 I think, it was 5x1 @ 150 and 3x5@ 95 for the overhead press, and 5x1 @ 225, and 3x5 @ 185 for the squat. Exciting 
2-15
Overhead press : 135x5,5,5,4,3
Pull-ups 5x10
Squats 5x5@ 205
Good start to the training cycle, squat was “heavy” but I wasn’t in danger of missing any. 5x5 @ 225 is the current goal as I haven’t hit that before.
Diet: cuts are starting to come in the quads, I think I hit that Tipping Point where I’m pretty happy with the leanness here. Will get a bit leaner but this is where I’d like to hang out from now on. About 178-180 seems to be that point for me, always has been as I look back on my previous attempts. 170 is Very lean but takes a huge effort to get to and maintain. I feel like this level is realistic for me to maintain while still keeping performance up in the gym
Tuesday 2-17
Ring Pushups: 3 sets of Hard 5’s
Inverted Ring Rows: 3 sets of Hard 5’s
Stiff leg Deads: 3 sets of hard 5’s at 185
Notes:
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See below for Hard 5’s description
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The Stiff leg deads sucked ass in a bad way… I thought they would be a good assistance for deads, but they were murder on my low back. I’m going to change these to power cleans next week and see if that doesnt work a bit better. Otherwise the ring pushups were quite nice, although I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to make them harder week after week since I cant really add weight easily with no DB’s… I’ll figure something out.
Thursday 2-19
Alpha Conditioning (aka… Inspired by T-Nation member Alpha, not that I consider myself an Alpha because I do this.)
- Tabata style, alternating between hang snatch with an empty bar and jumping rope. 4 minutes total
Strength Work
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Klokov Press: 3 “Hard 5’s” at 95 lbs
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Front Squats: 2 Hard 5’s at 135, 1 hard 5 @ 115
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Pull ups, 3 in between every set and warm up, total of 15x3
20 minutes on exercise bike
Notes:
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Hard 5’s are a set of 5 reps, 5 deep breaths, 5 reps, 5 deep breaths, 5 reps, done. Basically lets you do 15 reps with a 10RM. A way to increase density, and get reps but still use a lower rep range.
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Starting to incorporate a little conditioning a la T Nation member, and everyone’s favorite Log, Alpha. Keeping it super easy and minimal at this point since I’m adding it on top of everything else, but its more than nothing. Trying to make it “specific” to the days workout. Snatch because I was shoulder pressing, and jumping rope for the legs to get ready to front squat.
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Pull ups were easy as hell, but again starting light and easy and will ramp it up over this 6 week block. Did every rep with 2 second hold, and 3 second negative.
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K presses were HARD, and I actually lowered the weight on the last set of front squats because it was both hard and I felt a lot of strain on my bicep, so instead of risking injury I humbled myself.
I’ve added weight to pushups with a backpack.
Stuff an old (small-ish) pillow in the backpack for cushioning and put a weight on the pillow (so the pillow is in between the weight and your back) for comfort.
Good idea Tim. I was also thinking of turning it into a bit more of a Fly instead of a Push, or adding a second to the eccentric each week.
I have a weight vest, but its like 58 pounds… So I think thats probably a bit too much to jump up. I could lighten it up but boy that just doesnt sound like fun
2-20
Alpha Conditioning
Burpee Pull ups (super set with 5 broad jumps) x 10,8,6,4,2
Strength Work
-Bench 5x5 @ 180 (only got 21 last week… all 25 this week)
-Deads 5x3 @ 260
-Pendlay Rows 5x5 @ 205
-Bike x 20 minutes
Good session, the conditioning was good and actually seemed to help with the strength work just as Alpha has stated.
2-21
Waist is down to 34 even. Quad cuts are coming in. I was TIRED today though before my cheat meal. I dont know if its my schedule (brutal work week), the diet, or the combo of both, but man… I was tired. Feeling better today though.
Headed to the real gym, did some arms, rear delts, and calves along with 20 minutes on the bike. As always just the low intensity, volume based stuff. Looking a bit more lean every week it seems. Will measure everything again next week.
Thinking of slowly transitioning from this 20 minutes on the bike to doing “The Bear” barbell circuit at home, but for conditioning and to get a tiny bit of extra volume in for the lifts and increase frequency. I am increasingly enjoying “being ready” every day, instead of trashing my legs and not walking right for 5 days and dreading sitting down.
2-22
Had to do this workout a day early since I’m out of town for a day
Conditioning
- 10,8,6,4,2 of Med Ball Slams supersetted with 100lb Trap Bar Deads (got a new bar, home gym is coming along nicely). This was stupid easy and I got it done in 3:30. Still testing out my capacity here, and this is still “add on” work to my main stuff. Learning from it though and will adjust as time goes on.
Strength (5x5 day)
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Overhead press @ 135 lbs, 5,5,5,5,4 … Almost up to 25, started this weight only getting 19.
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Pullups, 5x10
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Squat @ 215, 5,3,3,3,5 … I think the extra day of recovery would have helped here as this felt quite heavy, oh well. I stopped at 3’s in the middle sets because form started to become an issue (knees caving in), and went for broke on the last set because for some reason it felt already and pushed out the last 2 for the full 5. Need 6 more reps here total, I feel good about getting it in the next 2 squat sessions
2-24
Conditioning Super Set: 4 Rounds
- 5 explosive pushups
- 5 Snatches with empty bar
- 30 jump ropes
- 5 explosive jumps
Strength Giant Sets, done in “Hard 5’s” style
A1 - Ring Push ups, 3 second negative
A2 - Ring Rows, 3 second negative
A3 - Power Cleans with 95 pounds
Notes:
- Totally sucking wind the whole workout, lots of hard work here
- The urge to wimp out on the power cleans was STRONNNNG, I actually relented half way through the first set and did a few reps of hang cleans… Then realized I was taking the easy way out and did them all from the ground from there on out.
-I was initially a little wary of going so “light” on the cleans but boy am I glad I did, it caught up with me quickly as these are essentially 15 rep sets, just with a little rest every 5 reps
Feb 26
Diet: 175 today, waist down to 33.5 … Getting right where I wanted to be right where I wanted to be there. Dropped from 6 eggs a day to 4, so nothing drastic, but enough of a change to keep the gears turning. Still at 5 cardio sessions of 20 minutes a piece, I likely will not increase this, and when I come off the diet I will simply drop back to 3 and keep the cals the same for a few weeks, using the lost calorie burn from the cardio as a “reverse diet” first step
Conditioning:
A1 - 10,9,8…1 of Back Squat Thrusters with empty bar
A2 - 20 jump ropes
Strength: Hard 5’s
A - Klokov Press @ 95 pounds
A2 - 4 pull ups
B - Front Squat @ 135 pounds
B2 - 4 Pull ups
C - Bicep Plance, five 6sec holds
D - Ab wheel rollouts, 3 sets
Notes:
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Conditioning started off sucking wind, but after the 3rd or 4th round it was quite easy… Which is kinda the point right now, just easing into it
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60 total pullups
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Weights were well selected today, the last Hard 5 for each one was very tough, and I was able to keep 135 for all the squats this week. I will keep the weights here until I “own” them and earn the right to move up.
Just curious, why drop eggs?
Why not drop something starchy?