@mechinos That and the hanging lat stretch always hit hard! The quad, shoulder and bicep are actually pretty clutch. I don’t feel much for the triceps, and hamstrings are always a crap shoot.
@LoRez What you’re describing is more what I would vector towards: 5s as a phase vs a lifestyle, and particularly for the big movements. No need for sets of 5s in the curls and tricep pushdown.
That’s really funny about the Swiss bar, I never realized that! Great to see that the form clicked for you again on the mat pulls.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
75 KB swings w/55lb bell
2.55 mile walk w/80lb vest (3.1 mph pace average)
70x230lb reverse hyper
50 band pull aparts
Neck harness
Lateral raises
BREAKFAST
Long walk w/dog
Notes:
I was actually pretty excited for this workout. We had yet another tornado warning last night and some crazy thunderstorms, and I thought I was going to be confined to the treadmill this morning, but the skies had cleared out and I had a chance to get outside. I’ve really been striving the push the walking pace and make the most of this, and it went well.
Really trying to be explosive on the swing. I feel like those and the hypers have been key in rediscovering my deadlift. As I was walking into work this morning, I realized that I might still have a few 600+lb pulls in me, based on how these training cycles are going. There were a lot of things I thought were left in the past, but I’m rediscovering quite a bit these days.
Carbed up last night on 4 of my wife’s cookies, a little bit of raw honey from that stingless bee in Cozumel, and a little bit of fairlife skim milk. Not a full on carb refeed like usual, but our schedule is nutty…and my wife makes awesome cookies. She also made a 2.5lb bison meatloaf for us to eat over the next 2 days, so that’s pretty awesome.
Why does that not sound like it would feed you for two days?
Hah! You know me too well. Especially with it having to feed the 3 of us. I’m gonna have to be on my best behavior at dinner. But my Valkyrie always makes me eggs as a side, and they’ll go far.
She knows you even more!
This might be a bit personal, but I have to say: I absolutely love reading about the things you and you Valkyrie do together and the understanding of each other. Of course I am just reading about it and making my own interpretation. But all I see are positive things about your relationship and it brings me joy. Too often I hear negative things from those around me, coworkers, friends, etc. about their marriages. It is a breath of fresh air to see someone who is happy with theirs, and both parties putting effort in to keep it that way.
I really appreciate you saying that! Not too personal at all. I’m with you: I hear so much negativity within marriages, and my wife and I constantly comment on “I wonder how they make it work”, only for those folks to end up eventually splitting. That’s how: they don’t. Meanwhile, I really owe my wife everything. I was NOT pleasant to be around when I was sick, and she stuck with me through it all and has been so huge in my healing, and in that I’ve just rediscovered the love that was there. I am truly blessed, and reading about you and yours, I see the same there.
Loving all of the updates in here really excited to read this:
But the best PR is - the healthy happy marriage!
Catching up on your log, while eating a bowl containing 1lb of grass-fed ground beef and three eggs. I’ve been talking to my wife about carnivore for years with minimal success. She recently went down the rabbit hole on TikTok and approached me last week about going carnivore. I listened intently and said that sounds good, I’m in (as if I’ve never done this or talked about it… although, I messaged it as “I’m only going to eat meat” and carnivore sounds cooler). One week in and she feels waaaay better.
@PowPowPunishment It’s crazy the things we realize in the middle of the chaos, haha. And thanks! It’s really been great to feel like my old self again.
@alex_uk Thanks so much man! And no joke: those relationships are what matter: everything else is just icing. …BUUUT, if I can also be my wife’s Berserker/Marble Statue, that’s cool too, haha.
@dchris So great to have you along dude! And that’s awesome news for the Mrs! From what I’ve seen, carnivore is amazing for women. And I could TOTALLY live on a diet of just ground beef and eggs, haha. It’s amazing how awesomely “stoic” this was of eating is. Finding joy in the simplest things. I legit constantly find myself realizing that I gave up NOTHING to eat this way. Whenever I think about all the things that are “off diet”, I realize that none of them are as good as what is ON diet. Is cheesecake yummy? Sure. Poptarts? You betcha. If given the choice, would I pick those or would I pick beef ribs? 100% of the time: ribs. Zero question. Those other choices are simply more convenient yummies, but on the scale of “high reward”, nothing tops animal.
I think it’s interesting you noticed this. I’ve been getting a lot of value out of swings for this reason too.
There’s a few things I’m still doing by the book, literally. Super Strength basically has you go from Jefferson curls (erector focus, especially), then swings, working up to a set of 40 with 100 pounds. After that, then you should have a good base for deadlifts and other various pulls (straddle deadlift, hand-and-thigh lift, etc.).
Reverse hypers are somewhat different of course, but from what I’ve seen they’re definitely one of the more erector-focused options.
I noticed it 12 years ago, haha. I just get stupid sometimes.
Man, how did I get so old…
I dig that progression approach. Jon Andersen’s “Deep Water” is sneaky that way. The beginner program has a back day that includes clean pulls, bent over rows and shrugs in various parts (from what I recall, the clean pulls are consistent, and you start with bent over rows for the first 3 weeks and then shrugs for the final). The intermediate program has you do cleans. But what was happening was, you were “learning” the clean in the beginner portion. The clean pull was the start, the shrug was the end, the row was the middle. And yeah: that’s not REALLY how you clean, but it developed the strength in the various phases of the clean to be able to transfer over. It’s brilliant, and like the grasshopper and the ant, all those kids that skipped the clean pulls in the beginner program find themselves suffering in the intermediate.
Wow, you really did explicitly call that out, lol. Well, always good to learn from your own advice 
Yup! I’ll legit read something from my blog from years ago and think “damn that was pretty smart: why didn’t I think of that NOW?” Although, in my case, I’ve been hiding from deadlifts. Didn’t want to come to terms with how weak I had become on my best lift. Embracing it again is carrying me where I need to be.
Haha very recognizable. Every time i squat, by set 6 I realize I should spread the floor. Same with deadlifting that ‘hips through’ beats "stand up’.
Fixed that for you
“Time timed.”
A quote from a Tibor Fischer novel that says it all.
@Panopticum It’s amazing how we can be so smart and so dumb at the same time.
@simo74 I didn’t feel like what I said was broken
@The_Myth Oh my goodness I love that! That captures it too well.
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm, shifting schedule due to after work demands)
DOGGCRAPP Week 9, Workout B1
Axle Curls
20xAxle
10x53
5x63
12+8+6x73
90 second bicep stretch
Axle shrugs
20xAxle
10xLight band
10xAverage band
18+6+6xStrong and Miniband
60 second axle lat stretch w/strong and miniband
Belt calf raises
16xBW
10x55
12x90
90 second belt calf stretch w/105lb
SSB Good Mornings
10xBar
10x98
10+5+3x155
90 second hamstring stretch w/40kg
SSB Front Squats
10xBar
8x115
4x135
4x185
8x255
20x205
90 second quad stretch
3x10 standing ab wheel
50 band pull aparts
BREAKFAST
Longer walk w/dog
Notes:
Felt pretty jazzed about this training today. I really appreciate the genius of Dante’s set-up. It’s so much light work leading up to the two big movements (hamstrings and quads) that it seems like an easy day, and then it concludes with hard work. And the walking in between restores me. Knees were feeling much better today: lack of storms seemed to help.
Progressed everywhere. Upped the weight on the curls, good mornings and calves. Got in 2 extra reps on the heavy set of squats and 3 reps on the widowmaker. I had some more in me for that heavy set, but wanted to give my all to the widowmaker. Once again: understanding intent here. The heavy set keeps me strong and is a good primer, but it’s not the money maker. And I honestly had some more in me FOR that widowmaker, but my right bicep cramped up pretty fierce from holding the SSB in the front rack on the final rep. That bicep has been feeling like it’s going to go for a bit now, so I am playing it safe. As much as having a torn bicep on each side WOULD create some symmetry, I don’t think that’s the kind I’m looking for.
Those good mornings are absolutely swallowing my soul, and I felt beat to hell by the time I got to the squats, but it got me thinking about how it’s probably a LOT of different factors right now contributing to how strong I am feeling on my core lifts, and it includes stuff like these good mornings and all the other ways I’m getting stronger with different movements from different angles. It’s honestly a lesson I keep re-learning: I’m not the kind of lifter that thrives by doing the same lifts indefinitely. I always seem to get my strongest when I introduce variety. And again: the structure of DoggCrapp is awesome, as it allows me a longer progression cycle to come back and realize this growth. But even something as simple as Super Squats, I did better having an A-B workout approach vs keeping lifts the same throughout, and back in undergrad, while running Pavel’s 3-5 I did the same thing as well. Which, of course, flies in the face of something like Easy Strength, but maybe there’s something there as well, because Dan even talks about swapping the movements at the 2 week mark but keeping the core the same.
That was a tangent, but I also just want to celebrate how well the squats went. I’m keeping those heels together too: just a nutso technique making it as hard as possible.
Tang Soo Do last night was pretty rewarding. We were doing 1-step self-defense and encouraged to improv and get creative. I also found out my Valkyrie revealed to my instructor and one of our seniors that I have a Muay Thai background, primarily because they saw my sparring stance at the tournament and said “It looks more like Muay Thai” and she replied “Well he used to do that, so it makes sense”. My instructor is thankfully really cool with borrowing stuff from other styles, but I’ve done my best to be respectful to him and try to make Tang Soo Do be Tang Soo Do and not try to make everything “taste like ketchup”. I’ve got another class tonight, because our schedules are a little nutty this week.
Mrs hit me with my favorite feedback “You’re looking bigger”. I can always tell when the gaining phase is going right when I hear that.
Ah 4am SSB Good Mornings before Front Squats. You like to party
Like any good party: I felt like throwing up, haha.