Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

Training Training Logs
5196

June 30, 2022
Day 16 of 30:

Press
145 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 5
145 x 5 x 5

Alternating Between Sets
50lb DB Reverse Lunges x 10 per leg
50lb Goblet Squats

Finisher:
100 Red Band Pullaparts
3 x BW GHR x 10
3 x BW AB Halos on GHD x 10

The GHD is a fairly new addition to the weight room, so I’m going to try to keep it in rotation as much as possible before it becomes a storage rack!

July 1, 2022
Day 17 of 30:
Happy Canada Day, Y’all!

5min of Armor Building Complex
50lb DBs x 13 reps.

Whew, very winded on this one. I kept (what I considered to be) a decent pace. I’m going to really need to be moving if I want to get up to 20+ reps on this! My influence for doing this madness is obvious, Pwn.

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5197

Love everything about this post! Those ABCs will transform you dude.

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5198

Thanks, Pwn. They are a nice little hit-everything movement. Going to start working them into my week.

Deck pic for my fans, as requested by @FlatsFarmer.

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12’x16’ sun deck off of the covered porch. Currently refinishing some old teak patio furniture that will live out there with my BBQ. Clothesline installation incoming, which will free up space in our basement where we are currently hanging a lot of our clothes!

I know you have all seen a GHD before, but photos help to make the logs appear more interesting than they are.
So here is my new (to me) piece that I picked up on Marketplace for $225.

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5199

July 2, 2022
Day 18 of 30
We hosted a 3rd birthday party for our son. It was a lot of running around hosting and I’m just going to say that it was a “cheat day” nutrition-wise (Read: Bud Light + Chips + Burgers)

I managed to rack up over 14,500 steps, but that was the extent of my exercise.

July 3, 2022
Day 19 of 30:

A.M.:
100 pushups, just sort of did it feeling a little guilty about yesterday’s nutrition.

Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
335 x 5
385 x 5
425 x 5
335 x 5 x 3

Workout cut a little short with our son waking from his nap, but I got the majority of it done.

Alternating between sets:
Rolling triceps extensions: 50lbs x 10
Chest supported rows: 90lbs x 10

My stomach is also unhappy with my dietary choices yesterday. Time to get back on track.

2 Likes
5200

I feel like it might not be right to comment on another mans deck, but yours is really very nice sir. :wink:

1 Like
5201

July 4, 2022

Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 1
335 x 1
225 x 5 x 5

Threw in a couple joker sets to see where my bench is at. Based my TM off of a 335lb 1RM, so I’m glad I at least had that in the tank. It wasn’t a struggle, but there weren’t many more lbs in me so we stopped there.

Alternating between sets
GHR x 10
Reverse Lunges with 50lbs DBs x 10/leg

Finisher:
100 Band Facepulls

We are packing up for a little impromptu vacation for a couple of days. To make a long story short, my mother in law ended up with 4 rooms to a resort that is ~4hrs from us for 2 nights. So we are packing up the kids and heading there for 3 days, 2 nights. First “big” trip with the two boys, wish us luck!

Timing isn’t ideal, as I have a contractor coming to finish our landscaping. But he is a friend who has helped with the previous work and does know what we want as our end result. It’s nice to be around for the work even if just to answer questions/make suggestions/alterations.

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5202

Still showing us the way I see. Quality

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5203

I have returned from a great mini-vacation with the family. Swimming, golfing, mini putt and just touring the resort with the kids. No workouts for a while though!

After ~5.5hr commute home this morning (first train was at 5:55am), I got in the last workout of my “1’s” week for this 531 cycle.

Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
385 x 5
440 x 5
495 x 5 ← Not bad, but I am feeling a little weak in the upper back on some of these higher RPE pulls. I might try to add in some sandbag work in my next cycle of lifting to see if that will help.
385 x 5 x 3sets

Alternating Between Sets: - 25lbs on dip belt for both movements
10 dips (3 sets total)
8, 7, 6 pullups

Finisher:
100 single arm triceps extensions (red mini band, per arm)
100 Axle Curls (mine only weighs ~25lbs) - I am unsure how Pwn does 200+ reps on a 45+lb bar…my arms were screaming at me to stop.
100 Band Pullaparts (red mini)

7 Likes
5204

My last recorded workout marked the final workout of a single round of The Kryptiea following some DC Style training. I was torn between running another cycle/different template of 5/3/1 or finally trying out the following:

With that said:

July 12, 2022

Workout 1 of 20 (Press 195lbs)

5 Rounds of:

  • 10 Swings, Press 1 rep
  • 15 Swings, Press 2 reps
  • 25 Swings, Press 3 reps
  • 50 Swings

Round 1: 6mins
Round 2: 14mins
Round 3: 22.5mins
Round 4: 33mins
Round 5 - Total Time: 43.5mins

Discussion:
Press was done strict, barbell, out of the rack. The presses actually started to sneak up on me here, and I really needed to make sure I was set up for a strong press.

I’m going to keep track of my splits, just to give myself a pace to strive to beat as I progress through the program.

I never had to put the kettlebell down during a set of swings, which surprised me. After round 1, I could already feel my forearms, grip, and glutes burning so I thought that I would require a drop at some point in the later rounds.

Right now, strength maintenance and leaning out are my priorities, so I thought that this program could fit the bill. If not, I’ll have completed a TNation Challenge that I can either recommend or provide first-hand feedback on if someone should have questions.

I hope my hands and forearms don’t give me too much grief this week, as I’m in a golf tournament this weekend with 11 of my friends and there are a LOT of bragging rights riding on this!

5 Likes
5205

Here is a photo of my “kettlebell”, I’ll have to leave a 5-star review on Amazon if this withstands the entirety of the challenge! Yes, I did have to make some minor adjustments to the product to fit my pro-style dumbbells.

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Also, some bpm metrics for a splash of colour and to admit to all of you that I was dogging it, haha.

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(I just forgot to stop the timer on my watch, the workout didn’t last 55mins)

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5206

Ok, I jumped the gun on beginning this program. My golfing extravaganza has just taken front stage right now, 4 rounds of golf over the next 4 days (and this is for someone who sometimes only gets out for 4 rounds a year).

I feel like this many kettlebell swings and golf swings will give me a poor experience at both with the number of blisters on my hands I’ll be likely to incur. I’m going to resume this program on Monday after my golf has been taken care of!

6 Likes
5207

A bit of a crazy last week. The good, the bad and the ugly.

I played 5 rounds of golf over a 7-day span and managed to give myself heat exhaustion. The golf was great, and lots of fun was had, but the heat exhaustion made for a fairly miserable couple of days with a pounding headache, chills, muscle aches, nausea, feeling delirious, sweats, etc.

I’m back feeling like myself again, so decided to do this workout today in the comfort of my air conditioning. We have had a bit of a heat wave here with temperatures over 34C/93F most days with high humidity. Apparently being comforted by my A/C much of the summer has not given me much heat resilience!

Our remaining topsoil has now been spread, so now I can attempt to grow some grass. My driveway was graded with recycled asphalt and turned out great. This will make for a much better surface to not only clear snow from but use for anything (bicycles, basketball, front carries, etc.) Our basement bathroom reno is now underway as well, which I’m looking forward to having complete.

I am catching an early morning train tomorrow to go visit my wife’s family for the weekend.

July 21, 2022

DAY 2 (Dip Belt+50lbs for all dips)
5 Rounds of:
10 Swings, Dip 2 reps
15 Swings, Dip 4 reps
25 Swings, Dip 6 reps
50 Swings

Round 1: 6mins15s
Round 2: 14mins15s
Round 3: 22mins
Round 4: 31.5mins
Round 5 - Total Time: 40mins5s

Sweat was pouring today, but the swings felt good. I did the dips in a slow controlled manner and the targeted muscles were definitely getting worked!

4 Likes
5208

July 25, 2022

DAY 4 (100lbs DB Goblet Squat)
10 Swings, Goblet Squat 1 rep
15 Swings, Goblet Squat 2 reps
25 Swings, Goblet Squat 3 reps
50 Swings

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5/Total
4m10s 11m30s 17m30s 25m20s 33m50s

While the 100lb goblet squats were light, they did require me to exert more effort than I expected in the later rounds when I was reaching full body exhaustion.

July 26, 2022
DAY 5 (+35lbs)
10 Swings, Chin-up 1 rep
15 Swings, Chin-up 2 reps
25 Swings, Chin-up 3 reps
50 Swings

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5/Total
5m20s 13m20s 20m 26m50s 34m40s

These were my first back-to-back workouts for the Kettlebell program. I’m not really doing the “challenge” per se, as I’m not meeting the workout frequency, but I will get in all the work (however long it may take).

I was going to wait until I was another week in before offering any thoughts on the program, but I’m going to let a few spill while I have a moment:

I like it. The program fits well for me right now, for a few reasons.

Time - very little warmup required and not much time loading/unloading weights. When I actually only have 45mins to workout, I can get the entire workout done, get showered, and get back to my parenting/landscaping/carpentry/chauffeur duty as required. Time efficient workouts, when I start the timer, it is go-time for the next ~35mins.

Injuries - Yes, I know my knee just needed a little rest, but this program is very easy on my knees. Focusing around the kettlebell swing, with goblet squats being the biggest stressor for my knee (which isn’t much). My knee has felt the best it has felt in a long time. I can feel my glutes/hamstrings getting in some good work with these swings, two areas I’ve wanted to try to improve in an attempt to alleviate some hip flexor pain I’ve been battling.

Effort - This has been a little bit of a mental shift for me, as far as effort goes. If someone asked me if these workouts are hard, I would say no. This is because my training history has programmed me to attribute difficulty, to being close to muscular/technical failure. Do I ever feel like I can’t do ONE MORE kettlebell swing with 50lbs? No. BUT, When I set that bell down, am I hunched over my GHD with a towel on my face wishing that was my last set of swings? Yes. It is a different grind than I’m used to, and I’m enjoying it. Having the body in a state of exhaustion, and just forcing out another swing, another swing, etc. I’ve found myself grunting/making all kinds of noises while counting/forcing reps while fighting some lactic acid buildup in the lower back/forearms. I think I circled around my point with this one, but some of you might have a small idea of what the heck I’m talking about.

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5209

:laughing:
Our temps cooled off to 93 this week. The heat index has been 105+ a lot lately.

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5210

Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve had a heat related illness since I was in a sports tournament as a kid! I guess the heat/humidity caught up with me over a few days.

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5211

Long days in the sun require hydration and, unfortunately, beer doesn’t help.

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5212

How heavy of a KB are you using? I’ve done this challenge a few times. I don’t care what weight you use, squatting after 50 swings sucks.

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5213

This may have grabbed an assist on giving me heat exhaustion…

I’m using a 50lb dumbbell on one of those plastic kettlebell handles. I actually just picked up a pair of 65lb Kettlebells for a good price from Marketplace. I played around with them today for a few minutes just to see how the swings, double KB cleans, and double KB front squats felt. I think the 65lbs bells will give me a nice challenge to add to my rotation (or, gasp, run the program again with the heavier bell).

1 Like
5214

July 29, 2022

DAY 1 (Press 195lbs)
5 Rounds of:
10 Swings, Press 1 rep
15 Swings, Press 2 reps
25 Swings, Press 3 reps
50 Swings

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5/Total
5m20s 12m50s 19m40s 28m30s 38m40s

(4min50s faster than week 1)

My hips are feeling a little cranky today. I did some light stretching before the workout to loosen them up, they felt OK during the workout, but I had to be conscious of my foot placement.

My plan is to do a little yoga this afternoon to keep things from tightening up on me. I’m chalking this up to the high reps likely hitting some muscles that aren’t used to this stimulation. Likely just a little stiffness.

I don’t think I mentioned it in this log yet, but a couple of weeks ago I had some swelling in my lower abdomen/hip flexor area. This was overshadowed by the golf/heat exhaustion, so it didn’t really rise to the top of my priority list to assess. I managed to get in to see a doc and he is sending me for an ultrasound next Thursday as he thinks it is a hernia. I’m not convinced, but this also adds another positive to running this program right now compared to one where I would be squatting/deadlifting heavy multiple times per week. It doesn’t seem to be bothering me right now, so hopefully it was just a bad bug bite, haha.

3 Likes
5215

Sorry to read about this, my dude. I experienced something similar a few weeks back during an ab wheel rollout. Luckily there was no obvious evidence of a hernia, and there was never any swelling—I think it might have just been a close call, and it’s mostly resolved itself with time.

In any case, here’s hoping for good news from your ultrasound next week!

1 Like