Squat-
155lbx5, 205lb, 5x5
Felt stiff and sore but no troubles otherwise.
Amor-building complex with 55lb BB- 4/5/4/5/5 EMOM
Felt a lot of upper body fatigue and needed to put the bar down for the last set. Barely managed to finish it within the minute though.
Recon Ron pull-up program week 5
This felt considerably more difficult after all that stuff.
Managed to do Recon Ron pull-up program week 5 yesterday but nothing else.
Today-
Recon Ron pull-up program week 5 in the morning
Later-
Bench press- 95/115/125/135lbx5, 145lbx8
short pause at bottom. Felt good. Last rep of 145lb required a lot more effort than the other reps but I wouldn’t call it hard. The thing with the bench press is that I never know when I have more reps in me.
OHP-
75lbx5, 105lb, 5x5
Struggled a bit today. My OHP form is improving. When I have things really dialed in (I forcibly pull the bar down onto my chest) and the reps feel like they launch themselves up; when I don’t have things dialed in I struggle through the reps. The first 2-3 sets felt like I didn’t have things dialed in. Last rep felt great because I did have things dialed in.
Kneeling ab-wheel- 1x25
Started to feel tired at about 17 reps in. Needed to rest a bit here and there for the remaining 8 reps.
Bent knee inverted row- 4x6 EMOM
Had some difficulty with getting a full extension at top.
Bear complex- 10x3 EMOM with 75lb.
Started to feel fatigued at about 6 rounds in. I tried my best to do these as one fluid motion but completely failed to do so on the last round, so I know I got really fatigued by then.
10 rounds of-
5 chin-up
10 push-up
10 lunges (5 forward lunges then 5 reverse lunges)
with 20lb in my backpack.
Took ~28:38. First 5 rounds took ~13:27, next 5 rounds took ~15:11.
Took 1:40 min breaks between sets instead of 2 min as I did before. Very cool. The ROM on the chin-ups are also increasing naturally too.
30 minutes of basic yoga.
I want to see if the difficulties with squatting is indeed from all the burpees. I plan on going heavier tomorrow, so we shall see.
Yoga hurt way more than I expected. Holding isometric holds for an extended period of time hurts way more than I expected given my overall upper body strength increase along with the weight loss.
At some point in the morning-
3x18 EMOM push-up
Not easy. I think I’m no longer seeing the improvements I’ve been seeing earlier in the year. Perhaps I’ve maxed out the benefits I can get from this approach.
Recon Ron pull-up program week 6
Definitely feels more difficult now.
Later-
Back squat-
135/175/215/235/255/275lbx5
No lock-outs for 135/175lb. Felt great. Last rep felt a bit shaky. It feels good squatting with my head clean of mental fatigue. Abs felt sore.
Deadlift-
135lbx5, 245lb, 3x8
TnG with straps. Last set tired me out a lot.
Hanging leg raise to parallel- 3x10
Grip got tired.
Bent knee inverted row- 4x6 EMOM
Amor-building complex with 55lb BB- 6x4 EMOM
This felt really tiring.
At some point in the morning-
10x7 EMOM hand-release push-up
Recon Ron pull-up program week 6
Took a long break during the pull-up program due to a call, making it feel a lot easier.
Later-
OHP- 65/85/105lbx5, 125lbx6
Felt good. I didn’t notice a drop in speed this time, though the last two reps clearly felt more difficult.
Bench press-
105lbx5, 145lb, 3x8
I don’t think I used leg drive as well as last week. Overall felt fine though.
Standing ab-wheel- 5x5
Limited ROM as usual.
Seal row with bar- 3x15
Felt a lot of strain right around the scapula area, which is where I think I want it to strain.
Juarez Valley front squat with 105lb and 24kg KB swings- 10/1/9/2/8/3/7/4/6/5
Done in ~8:32
I did KB swings to focus more on the hamstring and glutes, which felt very sore today. The KB swings made this feel a lot easier than jumping burpees and I was able to move between the movements with minimal rest, and yet the time is virtually the same. I guess the swings take longer to get through.
Up at 4:53AM to leave for work by 6AM.
Armor-building complex with 55lb BB- 5/5/3/5/5 EMOM
I may have done 6 on the second rep, judging by how fatigued I felt on the third set and that I had only 12 second left on the clock after the second set. Either way, this beat me up real good.
Recon Ron pull-up program week 6
Abs felt quite sore and the sets felt forced. I’m not surprised since I did this right after kicking my ass with the complex.
Decided to do another short workout after coming back from work because I sat a shit-ton in traffic and at work today. Felt the need to give my body a kick.
100 burpees in ~6:15
I actually did like 16 burpees before my mom called for a short call. I decided to treat the 16 reps as warm-up and just restarted. My stomach felt a bit painful, presumably because I ate pizza for dinner ~1.5hr before doing this. I’m amazed that I can do 100 burpees in under 7 minutes without putting in serious effort.
Total of 100 KB swings in 3 sets. I think something like 56/26/18. Hands felt really tired after the first set.
I will need to go in the office every Weds from now on, and the only way to avoid serious traffic is to be out of the house by 5AM. So I will need to be up at 4AM if I want to get a short workout, a basic breakfast, and shower in! I proved that I can do 5AM wake-up today and I’m pretty sure I can do 4AM wake-up if I just go to sleep earlier.
At some point in the morning-
10x7 EMOM hand-release push-up
Recon Ron pull-up program week 6
Took 90 second rest after the second set instead of the usual 60. This made the following three sets feel a lot easier.
Later-
Deadlift- 135/195/225/255/285/315lbx5
TnG with straps. Form felt pretty bad on 315lb- I think I straightened my leg out too quickly. I’m pretty sure I’m doing this on most of the other reps but it’s not as noticeable because the weight isn’t heavy. Further, my weight was shifted forward today. I’ll have to video myself and see how it looks next week.
Grip held out ok on 315lb, which is the real PR today. This is the first time I really repped out 315lb.
Back squat-
155lbx5, 205lb, 3x7, 1x4
This felt ok. Definitely didn’t feel easy.
Hanging leg raise to parallel- 3x10
Abs felt sore.
Bent-knee inverted row- 4x6 EMOM
Felt ok.
10 EMOM rounds of-
5 jumping burpee
AMRAP power snatch with 45lb BB
Basically Kalsu power snatch with a cap of 10 minutes. Got to 72 reps. This got really difficult real quick. For reference I finished 12 snatches on the first round, then 10 more on the second round. So it took me another 8 rounds to do 50 reps.
At some point in the morning-
10x10 EMOM push-up
Felt good. I think doing the hand-release push-up gave whatever muscle is tired some time to recover? I tried leaning forward as much as I can to counteract my tendency to not lean forward.
Recon Ron pull-up program week 6
Later-
Bench press- 95/115/135/155lbx5
Short pause at bottom. Felt strong. This is a clear PR; I’ve never been able to do anything resembling a pause on the bench press with 155lb.
OHP-
75lbx5, 105lb, 4x6
Felt good until the last rep, where I either lost balance or accumulated fatigue finally caused me to stumble a bit.
Hand walk-out- 25 total reps.
I just kept going, taking breaks wherever needed. Really felt it in my abs and upper body starting from the 18th rep or so.
Seal row-
1x20, 1x10 (short pause), 1x10
This really messes me up. I think I’m going to have to build a box or find something that I can elevate the seat even more. This movement is proving quite valuable in isolating my upper back.
Bear complex WOD with 45lb.
~3 weeks ago I tried finishing this in under 10 minutes. I just read that post and it makes no sense- the WOD is supposed to be 5 sets of 7 reps, so how do I have ‘set 7’? Whatever. I failed to complete this the last time I did it. Well today I finished the entire entire in ~6:04. So clearly I got fitter and stronger since then, specifically in my shoulders because that’s always what would sink me with this complex. Yay me.
Edit- There was a difference in how I did it though. Last time I did each presses as separate movements, while today I flowed through everything. I know this makes a huge difference in the fatigue in the shoulder, so they’re probably not comparable. I’ll try it again next week as separate movements and see how badly that kicks my ass.
10 rounds of-
5 chin-up
10 push-up
15 squats
with 20lb in my backpack.
Took ~25:36. First 5 rounds took ~11:58 next 5 rounds took ~13:36
Took 1:40 min breaks between sets. I let ROM on the chin-ups go with what felt natural- leading to me going with a nearly full ROM and shortening as I got tired. Chin-ups began feeling tired at round 8 or so.
20 min of Yoga with Adriene.
Amor-building complex with 55lb BB- 5x5 EMOM
I am always amazed at how badly this wrecks my shoulders. Interestingly the main source of fatigue has migrated to the right shoulder now. Previously I felt the most fatigue in my entire left shoulder area.
40 min of Yoga with Adriene.
First proper decently long yoga session in years. Felt smoother and better than yesterday.
At some point in the morning-
10x8 hand-release push-up
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
This actually felt easier than last week. Taking 90 second rest after set 2. The rep scheme makes it look as though set 1-2 is supposed to be the hard sets so I think it makes sense to rest longer in between.
Later-
Back squat-
135/175/215/235/255lbx5, 275lbx6
No lock-outs for 135/175lb. Felt good. I went in aiming for 7 but the bar speed slowed down too much on rep 6 and I decided not to push it. I need to keep reminding myself that I don’t want to push these too hard. Hell, 275lb is honestly probably too much of an ego lift as-is. If I wanted sustainable results I should be doing 255.
Deadlift-
185lbx5, 255lb, 5x5
TnG with straps. Felt easy. I think I’m rediscovering what it means to actually push against the floor with my feet cause bar speed increased as the sets went on. Glutes felt sore by the end.
Toe to bar- 5x5
This felt hard.
Bent knee inverted row- 4x7 EMOM
Dan John’s Complex A with 55lb- 3x8
Began to feel challenging on the last set.
Tabata KB swing
I initially thought of doing like 4x25 with as few a rest as needed in between, then I realized that tabata KB swings is pretty much the same idea but definitely will be more difficult because of the time element. This didn’t disappoint- I ended up gasping for air on the later sets but swings are such an easy movement that I can power through them. Stuck with 15 reps each set.
At some point in the morning-
3x18 EMOM push-up
I think it felt better than last week.
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
I managed to do the first two sets in the kind of ‘reboundy’ pull-up fashion that people who can do pull-ups well can. I always had to do a little pause at the bottom because whatever muscles that got engaged there needed time to recover or prepare or w.e. I hope this means I’m improving.
Later-
OHP- 65/85/95/105/115lbx5
Short pause at top and bottom. Felt tough on the 115lb and the last rep felt like a bit of a grind. Felt like solid work though.
Bench press-
115lbx5, 155lb, 5x5
Feels like all those push-ups are finally paying off. I don’t recall if I ever did 5x5 with 155lb, and definitely never with a minute rest in between. These felt like good, solid working sets- neither too hard nor too easy. I feel really happy with these. If things keep up I may be able to break 200lb on the bench for the first time ever in a couple of months.
Kneeling ab-wheel- 1x25
Felt pretty much the same as before- got to 18 rep and then needed to take mini-breaks every 2-3 reps.
WOD Fran with 95lb
Took ~9:48. I did chin-ups and did them in the partial ROM style that I’ve been doing them with the weighted chin-ups. The weighted chin-ups and overall strength increase due to Recon Ron seemed to really show itself today- I got to like 18 or 19 chin-ups before I had to stop. But now that I think about it I may have done more than 21 chin-ups, because I swear I did more than 2-3 after stopping. Maybe I did fewer than 18/19 chin-ups; I don’t honestly know. Most of the time went into the thrusters, which I never managed to do straight in any of the three sets.
Either way, great asskicker. I last did Fran in May and that took ~7:53. I did the pull-ups as strict as I can back then, but then I know that I couldn’t do 95lb thrusters back then. So I assume I’m quite a bit stronger now than before.
Up at 4:00AM. Shitty sleep. Tried to get a good amount by going to bed at 9AM. Ended up lying in bed for like an hour and then just doing random shit in the hopes that I fall asleep.
Armor-building complex with 45lb BB- 5x5 EMOM
Felt ok. Many of my body parts felt sore when I woke up. This doesn’t wreck me as hard anymore.
That was it for today.
At some point in the morning-
10x8 hand-release push-up
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
Later-
Deadlift- 135/195/225/255/285/315lbx5
TnG with straps. Did 135 and 195lb without straps and I noticed that I put way more strength into the front of my hands than my back; probably because of how I end up holding onto the straps. Weight still feeling like it shifts forward on 315lb, but the other sets felt better compared to last week. Filmed myself on 225lb and 315lb and I didn’t see an obvious difference, so I think it is because the weight feels heavier.
Grip almost gave out on 315lb but I managed to hold on.
Back squat-
165lbx5, 215lb, 5x5
The 215lb sets felt difficult- I began having trouble balancing and staying ‘tight’ from set 3 onward. I also noticed my right shoulder feeling tight and uncomfortable when I did my warm-up with bar- could be from WOD Fran.
Hanging scissor kicks-
4x6
Trying something new out.
Bent knee inverted row- 4x7 EMOM
Felt good.
Armor-building complex with 55lb- 5x5 EMOM
Shoulders are feeling good with this now. In fact the most challenging muscle group today ended up being my legs- they began to run out of energy from set 4.
At some point in the morning-
3x18 EMOM push-up
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
Later-
Bench press- 95/115/135/155/165lbx5, 175lbx3, 30 second later 1x1
I hoped to finish the set of 5 on the 175lb but the fourth rep felt like too much of a struggle. I struggled a bit with the last rep of 165lb, so I should have expected 175lbx5 to be too ambitious.
This is yet another clear PR- first time repping out weights that is almost certainly more than bw. I am thinking that I currently weigh somewhere between 160-168lb? It’s a wide range because I reintroduced carby foods into my daily diet + my eating is no longer as strict carb-wise on the weekdays due to heading into the office on Weds. That being said, it’s entirely possible that I’m not eating a whole lot on Weds.
Looking forward to the day when I can finally be setting PRs again for lower body lifts.
OHP-
75lbx5, 105lb, 3x7, 1x4
Felt strong until the third set, which felt considerably more difficult near the end of the set. The fourth set felt ok.
Hand walk-out- 4x6
Seal row-
55lb, 4x8
I don’t feel the severe muscle strain in my entire back anymore.
Bear complex WOD with 75lb.
Needed to put the bar down to rest starting from round 3.
I figured that I wouldn’t be able to finish this in under 10 minutes so I set a timer today. Finished it with 1:12 remaining. I didn’t realize that I did 45lb last week; I thought I did 65lb! Well that makes me feel better- I wondered how just a 10lb bump would cause me to slow down this much. 30lb jump makes more sense.
In the morning-
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
Felt fine. I’m trying to slow down the pace on set 3-5 in the hopes that it helps something.
10 rounds of-
5 chin-up
10 push-up
10 lunges (5 forward lunges then 5 reverse lunges)
with 20lb in my backpack.
Took ~25:39. First 5 rounds took ~12:10, next 5 rounds took ~13:28
Took 1:30 min breaks between sets instead of 1:40min as I did the last couple of times. ROM on the chin-ups are getting closer and closer to full ROM. I didn’t cut off any ROM today.
This began to feel pretty difficult starting from set 7. The push-ups felt progressively harder and harder and the lunges got be breathing quite hard. I pushed through though.
In the morning-
Recon Ron pull-up program week 7
5x10 EMOM hand-release push-up
These actually felt hard. I assume it’s because of yesterday.
A couple sit-ups. I can’t do regular sit-ups without anchoring my feet. There’s obviously some deficiencies with my movement pattern and core strength, so here’s my next bw target to randomly improve. I’m going to reduce the number of push-ups for now so that I can make time for the sit-ups and see how things go from here.
30 minute Yoga with Adriene.
Felt stiff again today. I need to do these more frequently than just once a week to see improvements.
Edit-
Did the 45 min daily walk with a 30lb backpack today.
At some point in the morning-
Recon Ron pull-up program week 8
5x9 EMOM hand-release push-up
Some straight-leg sit-ups
Later-
Back squat-
135/155/185/215/245lbx5
My right knee felt odd and painful. Not sure why this is happening. The 215lb felt a bit heavy on the back and the 245lb took a lot of effort to get through without locking out. Felt like good effort.
Deadlift-
195lbx5, 255lb, 4x6
TnG with straps. So I remembered that I should be shifting my weight onto my heels/back of the foot. Adjusted with this mindset and I no longer felt like I was leaning forward and I felt like I could push the floor away better. Imagine that. Felt pretty good, nearly ‘easy’.
Toe to bar- 4x6
This felt hard.
Bent knee inverted row- 3x8 EMOM
Amor-building complex with 55lb BB- 5x5 EMOM
Completely blew myself out on the last set. I’m still feeling tired and sore nearly 20 minutes later.