I realized I need some TMs for what’s coming around the corner soon.
Opening up conservative to start. Big thing to keep in mind is the workout has to get done in under 45 minutes. If these are too light, I can go up.
Squat and dead: 485
Press: 200
Bench: 315
We’ll see how that shakes out
Hah! Velocity Diet puns. Didn’t even realize it.
On that, more bloviating, because now that I’m not eating all the time, I have more time to think and write.
It’s interesting how there’s a concern about cheating on diets when they are strict, because I believe there exists an opposite potentiality as well: strictness begets strictness. Dinner tonight is leftovers, which is a free for all in the household. Just make a plate out of what is in the fridge. And there’s a LOT of potential there, but I’m planning on making mine pretty much pure protein and healthy fats ala steak and eggs. I thought about adding some keto toast, which I used to have every day and have since cut out this week as part of the Velocity diet…and then thought to myself “you’ve had nothing but shakes all day: do you really wanna undo that with some keto junk food, or do you want to keep it up and make sound nutritional choices?”
Yeah, there’s a part of the spectrum that says “you’ve been so strict: you deserve to cheat”, but that can also be reframed to “you’ve been so strict: make it worth it”
I don’t apply it successfully all of the time, but this line of thinking has carried me through SO many easy-to-make-a-bad-choice situations in SO many different contexts, not the least of which is nutritional choices!
@SvenG Hell yeah dude! It’s a bit of psychological judo. It’s amazing how it can really go one way or the other depending on how you frame it.
PM WORKOUT
TABEARTA, 3 complexes per round
50 dips
20 standing ab wheels
40 reverse hypers
30 GHRs
50 band pull aparts
25 pushdowns
25 curls
Notes:
AM WORKOUT (0445 natural wake up) Fasted
HIGH SPEED/LOW DRAG DELOAD Final Day
7 rounds in 30 minutes of
w/25lb vest
Notes:
Was able to complete the burpee chins of the 8th round right when the timer expired. No rain or snow this morning, so I was able to push the running pace a little harder. The 25lbs limited that a touch, but still no climate restraints. I was working hard yet not really taxing my heart or lungs: an interesting situation. My right shoulder is a little inflamed from the odd angle push ups with the vest, and that pinched nerve in my back/neck is taking a LONG time to heal. But my tricep/lat tear seems to really be in a good way, which bodes well for deadlifting in the next training block. This is the final day of the deload, as my weekend training will be pretty standard “whatever I can” fair. After that is done, next training phase begins, with a 10 mile run somewhere in April.
“Family man diet” will go into effect on the weekend as well. I’ve managed through this week to abide by the high volume of Metabolic Drive while still having family meals, and a big part of that is being away from the family at work for the majority of the intake. For the weekends, Metabolic Drive intake will reduce and more whole foods will be consumed, but I can still see it replacing a few between meal snacks. I’m also taking the first 3 days of the next week off from work, as it’s my kid’s spring break and my in-laws are coming into town, so there again real life happens and I’ll adapt. This wasn’t ever going to be a full on run of the Velocity Diet, but it’s taking as much of it as I can and making it fit me, pretty much how I do anything.
More Tang Soo Do sparring tonight, and most likely another short/hard conditioning session.
PM WORKOUT (1600)
21 ABCs in 5 minutes w/24kg bells
Notes:
Took it slow and smooth for my return to these. My knees are still pretty upset about Super Squats and my forearms are finally in a good way, so I don’t want to undo any of that. The fact I can knock out 21 while going slow and smooth is pretty clutch. Got the heart going.
Just ordered more Metabolic Drive. I’m officially hooked and had no appreciation for how quickly I was going to go through it as a result.
Got to bed at 2130 and slept off and on until 0700, best sleep I’ve gotten in a LONG time.
Got up and did 51 burpees in 2:30, fasted. After breakfast I got in 50 burpee chins in 5:03. We saw Disney on Ice, and I had a delicious lunch of fajita nachos
Similar to that, but shrimp instead of steak, and a giant plateful of them. That was amazing and I’m glad I took my Indigo-3g beforehand.
After that was done, got home and tried this evil idea
20 minute EMOM
Maybe some band work in my future, but I honestly feel spent. I’m wondering if the lower calories/carbs all week and then the big spike for lunch is making me goofy. I got to have a fantastic family breakfast this morning, and then did a Metabolic Drive shake for a snack before the show, which was awesome, because the show ran super long and it kept me satiated. Cheat-y meal is more Apex Predator style carb up, which I think will slot in well with what I’m going for here, but honestly, at this point, I’m “over” food today and would be happy to spend the rest of the day either fasting or just taking in 1-2 more shakes to get in protein and call it good. This has been a fantastic pivot.
Also, any readers of my blog will dig this new addition to my gym wall
Hey boss, got a question for you.
I’ve come to the realization that I need more fats in my diet. I’ve gotten pretty freaking solid at this point following a meal prep routine, but it always tends to fall into “lean meat + starch + veggie,” and I realized I’m probably not consuming enough fats. Given my crappy sleep schedule and stress levels, I’m kinda thinking it would be beneficial to make sure I get enough fats just from a hormone balance level.
Any recommendations for easily meal prepable fats? I just bought some more nuts n more spread so I can have some daily on celery. Plan to boil a few eggs to have daily. I like the idea of adding salmon or Avocado, but find that they go bad by the end of the week, and with the 100+ hour weeks I’ve been working, I really only have the time to cook once. Maybe add some butter into my meat as I’m cooking?
Always happy to chat some fats dude. Big fan of them in a diet.
Are you averse to frozen avocados? Like such
I really dig these when I can’t get them fresh. Easy to deal with and they keep really long. You can even get fresh avocados and freeze them. But if your plan is to batch prep, I can see concern regarding them turning a little mushy toward the end of the week. I like throwing them in the food in the morning so they thaw when I need them, or just keep them frozen and zap them in the microwave.
Otherwise: pistachios, walnuts, pecans and macadamia nuts are fantastic fat sources, and can be thrown into pretty much any meal. They provide a pleasant crunch and amazing flavor. Really a delight. Can also just be eaten as a snack.
I am a big fan of sunflower seed butter. The unsweetened stuff is practically zero net carb.
Eggs are good, but I’m particular about animal fat sources. If I use animal fats, it’s from an animal that was raised on it’s natural diet, and ideally one that got to see the sun too. I know that’s picky, but fat tends to be where we store toxicity, so I would want an animal that wasn’t carrying a lot of that around.
Regarding cooking oil, I use very little of it, but DO make use of an avocado oil cooking spray, which, in turn, could be a way to get in avocado to the diet without actual avocados: the oil. Jon Andersen is big on boiling cheap ground beef to get all the fat out and then rehydrating it with avocado oil to add good fats back in.
Hopefully that gave you some room to play. Always happy to do some more spitballing.
Appreciate the response.
First off
I have never seen these in my life, and didn’t know they existed, but I am definitely about to buy a ton of them. Seems like a fantastic method that I could add in easily without messing with my meal prep times.
I have some sunflower seed butter. Current plan is to coat 1 stalk of celery in nuts and more, 1 stalk in sunflower butter, as my pre-bef snack. (Small possibility I may add a raisin or two to this, because I am a child)
May have to look into some other nut choices. Pistachios have always been a favorite, plus the pealing process keeps me from eating too many.
I think I’ll add the eggs in, even though I’m sticking with Walmart brand. Honestly, I want my own chickens, but my city doesn’t allow them.
Forgot to mention this earlier, but what are your thoughts on Milk? My stomach has always tolerated dairy well, so no issues there.
Honestly, I can’t help but think that my diet would be VERY different than it is if I had more time to cook. I’d love to cook more steak, salmon, potatoes, just generally wholesome country style meals, but I just don’t have the time, and they don’t last quite as well stored in Tupperware as chicken breast and rice. Maybe someday
No shame in that game: my favorite Nuts n More flavor is the cinnamon almond butter with the raisins, haha. Childhood was awesome.
Regarding milk: I don’t drink it, primarily because I see it as an opportunity cost. Unless it’s a protein shake, I don’t care to drink my calories. I was using fairlife skim to mix protein shakes before I switched to egg whites: I prefer the macro breakdown there. If I drink milk, it’s either fairlife skim or grassfed milk, for the aforementioned “natural diet” thing. Same with if I use it in a recipe. But that said, I also drank a gallon of 2% a day while I was in college following Super Squats, so it can’t all be bad, haha. As far as milk a fat source goes, a good amount of it is saturated fats, which aren’t all that hard to come by in a diet, whereas monounsaturated and Omega-3 poly unsaturated tend to be a little harder to get.
I dig grassfed cottage cheese as a pre-bed snack. Slow digesting protein and fats: great to feed off of.
I don’t know if you have an air fryer, but if not: super worth getting for cooking on a time budget. Huge fan of mine. Instant pot is great too. And I switched from tupperware to glass containers and it was life changing. Doesn’t hold a smell. cleans easy, microwaves well, fewer plastics, etc.
But hopefully your ops tempo slows one day and you can really dive in. I get it. Cooking is awesome. We need more time for it, haha.
This is a good point, and honestly probably even more important when im trying to drop a few lbs, as I can easily drink a liter of milk and still feel hungry. Not a lot of satiation factor, though would be good for bulking.
Have an Instapot/Air fryer combo, but to be honest I find I hardly use it. Hard for me to cook 7 days worth of food in one go, and doing multiple rounds it just a hassle. I almost entirely cook with like 2 big pans, 1 big pot, and the grill. Normally have them all going at once, can crank out 21 meals in about 90 minutes not including dishwashing time. The grill was a game changer there.
May need to invest in some more glass containers. We have a few that my wife mainly uses, while I am rocking the same tupperware set that I bought 4 years ago…they are no longer the same color and the plastic is starting to get holes in the corners of some of em… probably time for an upgrade.
Lol, one can hope. I mean, deployments deployment, you know its gonna be a 24/7 gig, but I never thought i’d be putting in this many hours when I’m NOT at sea lol. Only 1 year, 9 months and 19 days left of this tour… but whose counting 
appreciate you letting me pick your brain. Meal prepping later today, definitely putting some of this to use.
Yup! Can’t be the classic gallon a day, haha.
Big fan of your methodology of cooking. I’m similar with my own gadgets: air fryer cooking meat, instant pot hard-boiling eggs, microwave making veggies, etc. I did enjoy my grill, but winter destroyed it and I got tired of dealing with that, so I’m exclusively electric now.
Always happy to chat more, and saw you got to put some of it to good use. I’m excited for you dude!
Slept until 0740 with daylight savings, got in a fasted 2:30 workout with my 25lb slam ball that was combinations of sprawl drills and burpees and picking it up and slamming it, just being chaotic and getting the heart rate up. Had a great lunch at our local BBQ place. They have chicken wings like this
So I got some of those and some of my kid’s grilled chicken. Dinner was a 6oz piedmontese sirloin and 2 eggs (stake and eggs woo!) with some of my wife’s filet mignon as well.
While cooking, got in a mutation of Grace and Fran. Did 21-15-9 of double kettlebell clean and press w/24kg bells and chins in 7:51.
Starting Krypteia prep phase tomorrow. That’s the projected way forward for this training cycle, with my own spin of course.
Training Log: Entry 2707
AM WORKOUT (0545 wake up via wife’s alarm)
5/3/1 KRYPTEIA PHASE 1, Week 1, Workout 1
Safety Squat Bar Squats
5xBar
5x175
5x265
5x335
5x385
3x1x435
5x5x385
Weighted Chins
5x10x20lbs
Weighted dips
5x10x90
Band pull aparts
7x25
Time: 38:33
20 standing ab wheels
25 pushdowns
30 GHRs
Notes:
It’s good to be back. The deload was absolutely what I needed, both in terms of healing my body and my spirit. My elbows feel good, my knee is stable, lat/tricep is restored, and I was champing at the bit to start moving stuff. And this program is totally answering the mail as far as post Super Squats recovery and a new challenge. The time cap is absolutely what I need to keep me driven and focused, and this is still “high speed/low drag” for me. I DID break Jim’s rule and threw in that extra ab wheel and push down, and I skipped my jumps and throws this morning just because I slept in since I have the day off, but the parts and pieces are all there.
My TM is clearly much too high. It’s always tough to anticipate top end strength coming off Super Squats, but with the SSB in particular it was my middle back that was the failure point. But, Chaos is the Plan, and I kinda dig the idea of getting in the weeks total reps. This was 3s week and I got in 3 reps with 435. My goal coming into this was get more time under heavy loads to compensate for the time with Super Squats, and I’d say mission accomplished there. However, in turn, I’m “not doing Krypteia”, so there’s that. Given that I finished in under 39 minutes, I have room to rest if need be. I honestly felt strong coming into that top squat, but a little more time to gather myself wouldn’t be bad.
In-laws coming into town, so Chaos is the Plan continues as far as training and nutrition goes, but the skeleton is there. Gonna get in the press workout tomorrow, and then maybe a run on Wed. Bench Thurs, Dead Fri, conditioning ad hoc. Long term, I’m wondering if running Krypteia all the way through wouldn’t be a bad call. I’d most likely make it my own by axing bench and keeping press when the time comes to make that decision.
On the nutrition front, the Velocity Diet “family man edition” approach is working quite well. I’m 1 week in and already I see leanness returning, which I imagine I can owe to the cheat meal on Saturday bringing carbs back into the fold and filling out what was flat. I crashed SUPER hard after that meal and felt like I was hit by a bomb, which is a testament to insulin sensitivity and how rarely I take in those carbs. My lifting belt fit incredibly well this morning, clothes are much looser on me, and this has been a fantastic dietary/metabolic “reset”. My digestion is the best it’s been in probably years, and I’m learning what I really “need” nutritionally in my life vs what were nice-to-haves and cheats that didn’t feel like cheats. I was eating a LOT of “keto junk”. There’s room for that, but they’re treats, not staples. It’s good to get back to basics.
Speaking more to the “family man” approach, it’s awesome just how much of my life I’ve gotten back by relying primarily on the shakes. I’m not spending all of my time cooking, eating and doing dishes, nor am I hitting up 4 different grocery stores a week. My kid wanted to play some video games this weekend, so I slammed a shake, rinsed it out in the sink and got too it. How awesome. I also want to applaud the subtle genius in pairing each shake with a Flameout. Along with making sure I’m getting in necessary dietary fats that way, I figure those fats have to help slow down the digestion of the protein which, when paired with the blended nature of it, contributes to how overall satiating it is.
EDIT: Oh yeah, one other hot tip: I’ve migrated the afternoon shake into a mid-morning shake instead. I find that suits me better as an AM trainee. This morning, I had a 1 scoop shake before training, a 1.5 post training, and then a 2 scoop shake about 2.5 hours after that. The mid-afternoon shake always felt forced: I wasn’t particularly hungry when it’d role around, whereas I still have hunger post training in the delta between the morning shake and lunch. Plus, I figure more protein closer to the training window is ideal.
I am wanting to get the Ninja Foodie “smokeless” Grill for similar reasons.
Got a few of those! And the smoker. Havent been able to use the smoker yet, but the ninjas rock
PM Workout was TABEARTA. 3 complexes per round, moved much smoother than previous. Coming back in full form. Undid the damage, healed. From broken-bruised-forgotten-sore to stronger than I have ever been in my decline
Training Log: Entry 2708
PM WORKOUT (1910)
5/3/1 KRYPTEIA PHASE 1 Week 1, Workout 2
Log clean and strict press away
5xLog
5x150
5x170
5x190
Log viper press each rep
5x5x150
KB goblet squat
5x10x70
DB SLDL w/shrug at top of reach rep
4x10x90s
Complete in under 20 minutes
20 standing ab wheels
25 pushdowns
4x25 pull aparts
15 monster miniband curls
Notes:
Still working around family time/spring break/in-laws, so getting in the training where I can, and this absolutely answered the mail in that regard. Sub 45 minutes is the goal, so sub 20 is pretty nutty, especially taking each rep off the floor for the supplemental work. Per protocol, got in squats and SLDLs between sets. It’s supposed to be a DB squat vs a goblet, but I feel like this meets intent just fine. 190 was challenging but not world ending. Pushing the pace was excellent.
Plan for press is to use the axle for the 5s week and take each rep from the floor, do this workout for the 3s, and for the 1s I’ll use a log for the main work and axle for the supplemental, and in that case clean once and press away.
Got my jumps and throws done in the morning. Fasted and just jumped around and slammed a slam ball. Little mini-conditioning workout that way too.
Still keeping calories low and protein high.
Hey Pwn, big fan from Aus here.
Just found this. Been following the blog and reddit for a while.
Wanted to say you finally helped me understand 531, been doing the lifting part on and off for 5 years but always skipped the cardio and played bodybuilder with assistance.
Have been making pwn inspired tweaks and seen big gains in conditioning and havent lost any strength, definitely inproved my work capacity.
Running a beefcake run inspired by you right now.
@Deadliftnstill Hey man, great to have you along. Glad to hear you’re finding the magic in conditioning. It really is a gamechanger. Hope beefcake treats you well!
Training Log: Entry 2709
Slept until about 0700, got out of bed around 0800, got in my fasted jumps and throws/micro conditioning workout, did a lot of manual labor stuff and squeeze in a PM workout of
“Bow Your Head For Grace”
Once again, that is burpee chin into burpee into 136lb axle clean and press for 30 rounds. This was my first sub 10 minute time, so that was awesome.
Still relying a lot on shakes while family are in town. The meals I’m eating are keto/paleo as much as they can be. Biggest thing I’m running into is that, since I’m eating less food, I’m taking in less salt, and getting some headspins here and there. I’ve actually taken to adding salt to my Metabolic Drive shakes, which I think actually helps bring out some flavor too (the salt contrasting with the sweetness). Since I take Elitepro Minerals already, I can’t use a lot of electrolyte drinks, since they also double up on Zinc and Magnesium, but I got some Gatorade powder that should keep things simple enough.
I’m definitely seeing rapid leanness responding and can feel clothes fitting better. It’s awesome not walking around bloated all the time, and life is super streamlined. I’m experiencing some cramping and putting away a TON of fluids, but also have come down with a minor cold, which might be another x-factor.
