Haven’t had the chance to do dips yet, but weighted pushups feel weird too. It’s like the fact that you have to stabilize the added weight completely changes the exercise in a way that adding bodyweight doesn’t. Same with weighted chin ups. Don’t know how to explain why, though.
@startingagain Much appreciated dude! They are definitely close to failure. If I had a gun to my head I’d be able to grind out another rep, but I would otherwise fail the next rep if I attempted it. They’re progressing slowly and steadily, and I’m really digging that.
Finished the day with TABEARTA. 4 complexes for the first 3 rounds and then bombed off after that. Wasn’t the smartest play, but I’m not a smart man.
2 Likes
AM WORKOUT (0435 natural wake up) FASTED
CONDITIONING
Just gonna narrate this. I set a timer to go off every 10 minutes. I started off running Fran, which is 21-15-9 of 95lb thrusters and chins (kipping allowed). I filled the remainder of the minute with Meateater II from Tactical Barbell, which is 10 KB swings w/24kb bell and 10 burpees for 10 rounds.
I just did as much of Meateater II as I could until the timer went off, then I did half a Fran (12-8-5), Meater Eater II, then a full Fran again when the timer went off.
Notes:
-
I liked this because of how quickly the 30 mins passed. Were I less hurt, I think it’d really be magic. My right forearm was not digging those chins, and it slowed me down a touch. I switched to neutral grip, and that went a long way. I definitely want to re-visit this. I also think I have it in me to do 3 full Frans, but given I’m going to do Super Squats tomorrow, I didn’t quite want to do 135 front squats.
-
Food intake it getting ludicrous. I see myself in the thumbnail for the video and I look huge. This is just going so well.
9 Likes
Not that you need external validation but I thought the same thing, looking beastly.
2 Likes
@heretolog I may not need it, but I’ll gladly take it, haha. Thanks man! It’s been amazing getting the results from the work.
1 Like
Went for max burpees in 2 minutes for short conditioning. Got in 43.
3 Likes
AM WORKOUT (0345 wake up via alarm)
SUPER SQUATS Workout 11
Axle clean and strict press away/band pull apart
1x10x181
1x8x181
1x7x181/50 total reps of pull aparts
Axle row
2x15x213
Breathing Squats/Pull overs
20x390/20x20
Axle pause SLDL (pause on eccentric)
15x213
Poundstone curls
155xAxle
25 pushdowns
30 GHRs
POST WORKOUT SHAKE
ASSISTANCE/CONDITIONING
10 rounds in 5 minutes of
- 2 standing ab wheel
- 5 dips
Notes:
-
Starting to mess around with the program structure to account for how badly my forearms are getting beat up. Heavy weighted dips are just a no-go, and today I cut them out entirely. I think a future solution is going to be to do a flat bench “dropset” with slingshots. Allows me to get in some quick horizontal press work on this day. I would have to move it to after the squats due to logistics inside of the training space, but I’m ok with that choice. Means my forearms will be in less agony during the squats.
-
The squats themselves were excellent. I’m definitely hitting limits here, needing to actually regroup during the later squats. I’ve also had to take to rolling out my left hip on a LAX ball on the daily. This run of the program is definitely taking it’s pound of flesh. But it’s giving as well.
-
Super pleased with how strong I am on the press. Alongside the press itself, being able to clean the axle every time without issue just demonstrates how strong I’m getting.
-
Conditioning was pretty flat, but I just wanted to get in the rest of my assistance work and was running short on time. I’ve got Tang Soo Do tonight and will most likely fit in some burpees. It’s supposed to snow tonight, so my morning training may be shoveling.
8 Likes
27 burpee chins in 2 mins for PM work. Already delayed reporting for work due to weather.
1 Like
You look like the kind of guy that I always take an internal deep breath and go ‘oh boy…’ before going hands on 
You’re definitely ticking the more trouble than you’re worth box
1 Like
@kleinhound Huge compliment from you! And that absolutely nails it. Not about winning: just about making the winner really not want to play, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0600 wake up via alarm) FASTED
20 rounds of Dan John’s “Human Burpee” with 24kg bell, performed EMOM
Human Burpee is 15 swings, 5 goblet squats, 5 push ups
Notes:
-
It DUMPED snow yesterday and I know I have about 60-120 minutes of shoveling in my future, so I went with a 20 minute workout this morning just to get the blood pumping. This was actually really solid in that regard. I was feeling fatigued at the end and definitely showing signs of slowing, so there’s potential in this to take it the distance and see what happens. I’ve been sleeping on goblet squats: they rock. And this got me 300 swings, 100 squats and 100 push ups in 20 minutes: not bad at all.
-
Got a rare early morning physique shot
4 weeks into Super Squats: I’ll take it. I am eating everything in my path. I’m consuming Skyr by the tubful, which I’m hoping is transforming me into a Viking. But it’s also nice to have a shot of myself before I spend the remainder of the day bloated like a tick.
…which, actually, is a fantastic physique goal
Ya know what, if I can’t be the Juggernaut, I’ll be the Tick. That’s just dandy.
14 Likes
Got in 2 hours of VERY heavy/wet snow shoveling in the PM. Definitely calling that my afternoon conditioning. I was hammered.
3 Likes
AM WORKOUT (0345 wake up via alarm)
SUPER SQUATS Workout 12
(3) Incline DB Bench/Weighted Chins superset
1x12x110s
1x10x110
1x9x110/2x15x25 (need to re-accomplish, got 14 reps on the first set before resetting)
BtN Press/pull apart superset
3x10x140/50 total reps
Breathing Squats/Pull overs
20x400/20x20lbs
ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT Row into hyper into abs
23x110 Kroc Row
40x180 reverse hyper
10 standing ab wheels
30 GHRS
POST WORKOUT SHAKE
CONDITIONING
Tabata front squats w/buffalo bar w/85lbs
Notes:
-
I am all that is man.
-
This was a 10lb jump from last session. I realized I was letting 400lbs get in my head, and I was just going to spend the whole weekend stewing about it, which was going to make things worse, so rather than 395 today, we did 400. It was absolutely the right call. On my final warm-up set (which is a single with 400lbs), my right hip buckled and I threw all the weight onto my right forearm flexor, which was, of course, agonizing. But when I got under the bar for the real set, it felt fantastically light and I was strong. I knew after rep 1 that I was going to make it today. I felt that rep 20 was on the shallow side, but I’m beyond the point of caring about squat depth on this program. Squats are simply a means to carry weight on my body: the test is staying strong with 400lbs on my back for SO long.
-
After this was done, I was absolutely destroyed. Yeah, the forearm sucked, but I just had nothing left in me, even for 10+ minutes afterwards. This just took a chunk of my soul with it. I caught myself telling myself “I’m not recovering…I’m not recovering” right before I started the ab wheel, and I found myself remembering Jesse Marunde dying from a hard squat workout and could totally understand how it could happen.
-
The presses are moving great, chins are fantastic, we’re just in such a good place here.
-
Those tabata front squats were a decision made out of “what can I possibly do that doesn’t load my forearm?” They worked ok.
-
Tang Soo Do later tonight, and maybe some burpees.
16 Likes
PM WORKOUT
Got in 50 something burpees in 2:30 and then a full Tang Soo Do class. Got a great weekend ahead.
3 Likes
Jesus Christ haha. How much longer do you have on this program?
Also, have you ever pushed for PRs on the smaller lifts like incline db presses, kroc rows, weighted chin ups, etc? I’m just curious what you could do if you attacked those lifts with a long-term goal in mind.
Edit: You might as well it make a lifetime goal to hit Wendler’s definition of “strong” on the squat: 500 x 20. You’re pretty close as it is, especially being so relatively light.
2 Likes
@startingagain Hey thanks man! 2 more weeks will finish out a 6 week run. I’m undecided on if I’m going to keep pushing for weights beyond 405 or start looking at adding reps, but either way, I’ve been growing tremendously well. I haven’t pushed for a PR on any lift since 2012. I let them happen organically, but it’s worth appreciating that I’m hitting these lifts first thing in the morning on minimal food and with no psyche up. I’m always trying to raise my floor, rather than my ceiling. In general, lifts and numbers are less consequential than getting stronger. The lifts and the numbers are simply a part of the process.
Slept off and on until about 0630, got in 47…ish? Burpees in 2:30, fasted. Got a lot of living done today, had some fantastic food, and got this done in the mid-afternoon
Gonna call it “THANKSGIVING”
Start off with Grace, and do Grace every 10 min thereafter for a total of 3 Grace WODs. In the middle, as many rounds as possible of Meateater II (10 KB swings w/24kg bell and 10 burpees)
The name is fantastic (Render Grace before you eat meat), and this is like a full Thanksgiving day with 3 meals.
And allow me to point out I’m doing this the DAY after 20x400 Breathing Squats
Because I am more trouble than I am worth.
…and not terribly bright.
But dig me repping the brand.
9 Likes
Slept off and on until 0630, got in 2:30 of fasted burpees upon waking up, lived another full day, did this before dinner
“Bow your head before Grace”
30 rounds of burpee chin into burpee into axle clean and press w/135lbs
10 minutes was what I wanted and this hit just about right. I wanted to blow chow pretty quick into it. Definitely tests you.
Big day of Super Squats tomorrow.
8 Likes
Alright, life has been nutty. I’ve got 2 days of training to log here. Monday was a federal holiday, so I spent it with the family, which meant my schedule was off.
I slept until about 0715, got in 2:30 of burpees fasted, did 2 hours of Top Golf (like time at the driving range) and then did
PM WORKOUT (1400)
SUPER SQUATS Workout 13
Axle clean and strict press away/pull apart
1x10x181
1x9x181
1x8x181/50 total reps
Breathing Squats/pull overs
16x405/20x20
Axle rows
2x15x218
Axle SLDL
1x15x263
Poundstone curls
159xAxle
20 standing ab wheels
25 pushdowns
150 unbroken DB flat bench reps w/22.5lbs
Notes:
-
Different kind of training day, different variables, different outcomes. As much as I’m stronger when I train in the afternoon, I’m also just different, and it showed. I intended to make this an abbreviated training day as it was, as I was in between obligations. I felt strong getting under the bar, but I felt myself slowing down much earlier than usual in a set. Part of it may have also been trying to chase the squat depth dragon, but along with that, when I’m training later in the day I don’t have the natural tightness in my hips that comes with morning training. I absolutely pushed this to the limit, as evidenced by how exhausted I was when the bar hit the straps. Also blew out a lot of blood vessels in my face.
-
I am not afraid of the weights but excited about this future challenge. I now have something specific to conquer. In turn, my approach is going to change mentally. I’ve been racing to 20 reps (or 30 in the previous cycle), whereas now it’s simply a matter of “get strong and stay that way for as long as you can”. If I get 20 next workout, outstanding. If I get 17, the goal has been met. I’ve got 5 more workouts to conquer this. The soundtrack is changing too. “The Fragile” was appropriate that the time, but now we’re going to “Burning Bright”
-
It’s too perfect. “I’m going back/of course I am/as if I ever had a choice…” “Oh my god I have missed you it has been so long/and I am stronger than I have ever been in my decline/I am stronger than I have EVER been IN my decline/for now I know, now I know, now I know for certain” To say nothing of the fact the song literally says “Breathe…breath….breath”. It could NOT be a better “Super Squats” song.
-
The axle press continues to be mighty. After the squat set, I was amazed at how I literally had nothing left in me. Each time I approached the axle for the rows, I would just stop and laugh at how there was nothing in the tank, and then I basically hatef**ked the reps out of the axle. Being able to come back to the SLDLs with somewhat challenging weight afterewards boded well with the healing tricep. And then I took the DB press reps in an interesting direction, just to get in some horizontal pressing, since heavy weighted dips continue to be a no-sell.
-
I’ve been eating like a Geisha. There’s no room for that.
TUESDAY
AM WORKOUT (0435 wake up via dog) FASTED
CONDITIONING
Juarez valley burpee chins (1-10) w/10 KB swings between sets using 24kg bell
Then Juarez Valley KB swings (10-100) w/10 push ups between sets
Notes:
- Got through the full Juarez Valley for the first one, and then I got stopped on rep 63 of 70 for the second. For the second, I started with 100 swings, then 10, 90, 20, 80, 30, and was working on 70. So I got in about 493 swings this morning in 30 minutes. That’s pretty cluctch. This was a good 30 minute light workout gearing me up for tomorrow’s Super Squats run. Very little quad flexion, lots of hip hinge.
15 Likes
Sick work as always. Told a guy ok TikTok about your YouTube, he said he’d check it out
1 Like
Appreciate that dude! I like the new forum avatar too!
1 Like