More Trouble Than I Am Worth: Chaos Is The Plan (T3hPwnisher Log)

Training Training Logs
5020

Chaos is the plan

I say that, because it looks like my competition has been canceled. The only indication being that I received a notification on facebook saying it was canceled, and when I go to look up the event at IronPodium, it’s not there any more.

This is the third time this has happened to me over the course of 14 competitions, which is not a good average, and one of the many reasons I was falling out of love with the sport before. It’s not professional.

But, chaos is the plan. My in-laws are coming into town to help us rebuild our deck in our backyard and celebrate the 4th. Before, I was going to have to be in a weight cutting phase during the 4th/their stay. Now, I figure I can call this a 1 week diet break, enjoy the company, eat well, and then get back to leaning out, because I’m actually seeing some solid progress there. I’m also feeling small and scrawny again: such is life. Chase one goal, then the other.

On that note, I’ll have to come up with a new way forward for training. That grappling competition is now the closest alligator to the boat, so emphasizing conditioning and full body strength while keeping my bodyweight in a good place will be prime. I may continue to wing it, or I may follow another plan. I’ll give myself a week to figure that out.

I’d love to connect with that armed combat group to get in some reps and possibly even some grappling. We’ll see if that happens.

Meanwhile, for weekend training, on Saturday the family walked 4.5 miles, I got in some practice throws and I did my axle mat pull deadlifts off of 3 mats

I managed 8, 4 and 2 with 426, using rest pause. Straps were really well set for this one.

Also got in a lot of outside chores, lawn mowing, etc. Lotta time maximizing sun exposure.

Today (Sunday), we did a 5.5 mile walk, got in more chores, more practice throws, and still did a zercher yoke workout, because I wasn’t ready to call it quits

I did 4 back to back runs w/160, 1 back to back with 250, 1 back to back with 340, and then I di 410 as far as I could…which wasn’t far, but I dug the struggle.

More chores outside maximizing sun exposure as well.

Dinner tonight was wonderful: 3 sunny side up pastured eggs and 4 venison chops.

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I’m going to try to not completely reverse course and eat like an a-hole this week, but I’ll be allowing myself to enjoy this time and feast as appropriate. Which, on that note, my wife made some oatmeal peanut butter cookies that are definitely going to be part of my carb refeed tonight.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I found a $10 bill on one of our walks too. So I’m not a professional walker, so that’s cool.

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5021

Reminds me of the “sanctioned gluttony” excerpt I read last evening.

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Come down to Texas, we have our comp the same day. There’s a Texas De Brazil not far away from competition, for post weigh in refueling.

Edit: ah wrong competition, was thinking grappling

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5023

@tlgains It’s a great piece! I’m not going quite that hardcore in either direction, but there’s a lot to takeaway from there.

@dchris There’s no way I’m making weight if I get to Texas, haha. Waaay too much good food.

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)

PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 2, Week 2, Workout 1

1 min of 185lb axle continental and push press (failed to get the press locked)

5x1 min of 156 axle continental and push press away (3x5, 1x4, 1x3) w/1 min rest between rounds

SSB Front Squat
5xBar
4x115
4x135
4x185
3x255
18x185+5x185 SSB squat

ASSISTANCE

5x6 and 6x5 chins (various grips)
3x10 standing ab wheel
50 band pull aparts
50 band pushdowns
16x115 SSB good mornings
10x115 Kroc rows
20,10 Dips

BREAKFAST

Short walk w/dog

Notes:

  • Sticking with the protocol for now. I’ve actually identified a competition in September that appeals to me and has events not unlike what I was training for (I’ll speak to that momentarily), so this style of training will still pan out well. I also don’t want to start on anything new this week: with my in-laws coming in and us working on the deck, flexibility is key and chaos is the plan.

  • Came into this with some pretty heavy fatigue from the weekend. Pushing that yoke hard and all the outside work had me fatigued, alongside the lower calories. It took a few attempts to get 186 in place, not captured on camera. I tried without the power belt, but eventually had to relent and strap us to give myself a shelf. Wasted a lot of energy there and wasn’t able to put much into the press.

  • After that, the 5 follow on rounds were good enough. I love how the thumbnail for the video actually looks like a decent triple extension. Not common to see that coming from me.

  • Little miffed at how weak I was coming into the front squats, but celebrating that my lower back held out as well as it did. It was slipping a bit this weekend. I lost the widowmaker from having it fall forward, but redeeming it with that follow-on SSB squat was clutch.

  • Thunderstorms this morning resulted in a short walk w/the dog.

  • For future competition, I’m looking at “Nebraska’s Strongest 2024” on 14 Sep. It’s got these events

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  • I’d be the open MLW 181. A max 18” deadlift suits my ROM progression training, axle press ladder will play into my axle pressing work, max distance carry really appeals to me, I HAVE a throwbag now, so I can train that max distance throw (that’s going to be more like a hammer throw vs a bag over bar throw), and the farmer’s hold will be a combination of pain tolerance and grip strength. I may learn how to hook grip between now and then, but I’m also liking the look of this because I feel like training for it will benefit the grappling tournament as well. Max distance sandbag carry will really help develop some conditioning and ability manipulating a heavy unstable object, the farmer’s hold will be good for grip, sandbag throw explosiveness and rotational strength, and taking stuff from the floor and putting it overhead is always good stuff. I’ll need to sign up officially, but I’m thinking this will work. And there’s already someone in my weight class, so that should mean they WON’T cancel this one.
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I’m excited to see how this goes for you. Personally sandbag over bar makes sense to me but the minute you require athleticism to throw (like all the track and field/highland games stuff), I look like a baby giraffe walking lmao

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@freshyfresh Thanks man! I am absolutely “monkey f–king a football” levels of coordination on anything somewhat athletic, haha.

I came home and moved 65 16’ long composite decking planks from my driveway to my backyard. I took them two at a time, on my shoulder, like a heavy sandbag. In gratitude, my Valkyrie said “I’m going to make you extra eggs tonight”

She did

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Get you a spouse like that.

Already drafting up a skeleton of a training protocol. I’m thinking another dip back to EMOM work, 3x a week, with an emphasis on the axle instead of the log this time. Zerchers and horizontal press on the middle day, with the AMRAP trap bar pull. Part of me is thinking of stealing from SVR II as well, which may be an option.

Prowler is going to be swapped out with a carry and throw events day. On Saturdays, I’ll keep the mat pull workout. Sundays, I can drill the farmer’s hold, and will most likely include farmer’s walks in there too.

This won’t be too tough of a pivot.

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5026

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)

Treadmill walk w/45lb vest
Speed: 3.0
Incline: 6.0
Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 1 hr

50x270lb reverse hypers

Notes:

  • Intention was to do some carries and throws, but we had some crazy storms last night. Sounded like my house was going through a car wash. Still raining when I got up, so went with a walk, which is my standard Tuesday workout anyway. Kept the incline high from the start and just kept it there. Solid enough pace, and I got to watch some episodes of X-Men ’97, so that’s cool.

  • Upped the weight on reverse hypers. Really coming along now.

  • Because of rain, no walk for the dog. Got Tang Soo Do tonight. Week will be disrupted with the 4th, so we’ll do Tues/Weds/Saturday. I’ll be doing some deck building on Wed until we’re done, so that will be some extra activity too.

  • Had the thought that I should bring back Zeno Squats into Phryexian Dreadnought. Might be what I do on Fridays. Thinking DC style leg workout Monday, EMOM Zerchers Wed, Zenos on Friday.

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That’s too bad, I remember feeling quite let down when the first strongman competition I had ever signed up for ended up being cancelled (If I remember correctly, it was a venue issue).

But onto the next comp!

Also, those are some great looking meals!

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Thanks man! It’s a shame that it’s so common in this sport. And yet, I’m not learning any lessons, because I signed up for that other comp already, haha.

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Pwn I’ve been ‘contemplating’ on ‘thinking about going’ carnivore. A few reasons for me include a good baseline to then bring foods back in slowly to see it’s effect on my performance and the body’s response. The other I’m interest in if it helps will bloating in the mid section (suspect it would).

I’ve been following along your expansive posts on the subject. Have you considered condensing the meals and general discussion into a stand along topic?

Reason for asking is the main thing I’d be keen to ensure is keeping some variety in the meat choices, would love your thoughts on this whether it be here in your log or worthy of a separate new thread?

Thanks fella!

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Hell yeah dude: how exciting! After enough of my meals were referring to as “stomach churning” and “something that would come out of Satan’s a-hole”, for the sake of the forum, I’ve restricted my meal posting to my training blog instead, but I am more than happy to allow this to be a safe haven for carnivore/carnivore discussion.

I feel like you’ll see exactly the results you are seeking there.

Variety is outstanding for carnivore! There are SO many animals to eat. Ideally, the base of carnivore WOULD be ruminant animals, simply because their multichambered stomach means they do a fantastic job of filtering out the nasty stuff in their food so that they don’t pass it onto us. But, one of the mantras of carnivore is “the worst meat is healthier than the best plant”, and if you’re eating some sort of flesh or egg, you’re in a good way.

You DO want to be cautious when it comes to monogastric animals insofar as, if you’re going to eat them, try to get ones that were raised right. A ruminant animal has a pretty good margin for error because of the multichambered stomach, but pigs, for instance, can eat some NASTY stuff, and they pass it directly onto you. I remember an episode of Dirty Jobs where a pig farmer in Nevada fed his pigs the leftover spoiled ice cream from a nearby Vegas casino buffet, and that’s still nothing compared to farm animals that live off of literal feces.

Not sure if there were any specifics I can cover for you, but always happy to chat!

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Thanks Pwn. Noted on the pigs for sure. @QuadQueen iirc noted bacon wasn’t a great choice regardless given the processing and high fat compared to protein.

Are you able to outline your go to meat meal plans? Is there any regularity to your weeks meals?

Obviously unprocessed, so are we simply talking various cuts of various animals grilled, bbq’d, air fryer, pan fried (olive oil) etc?

Any love for home made rissoles from mince with some herbs & spices (noting the satiety and flavouring vs keeping things plain for a majority of meats ideally you’ve touched on before)

Have half a cow (organic pastured raised locally) in the deep freezer so plenty of cuts and mince from beef. Kanagaroo, Fish, Lamb etc all easily sourced too.

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I will say that I DO eat processed meats, as there is something of a debate regarding the health impacts. You might appreciate this

That said, I consider processed meat “meat candy”. It’s a treat, rather than a staple. It’s less about being health concerned and more about satiety concerned: I can easily overconsume bacon, whereas trying to do the same with a steak is MUCH harder. I go to Texas De Brazil and will eat my face off, but eventually steak just doesn’t sound good anymore. I don’t have that same off switch with bacon.

I avoid all plants with carnivore, to include olives and their oils. Dr. Robert Kiltz has a great quote: “plants have oils, animals have fats: eat fat”. So tallow would be a carnivore approved cooking fat, along with butter, ghee, and a favorite of mine: Duck Fat Spray. That’s a Nebraska product though, but duck fat can be obtained commercially. Bacon fat is popular too, but once again, stuff coming from bovine will be a bit better than pig.

I stay away from these as a carnivore as well. If the goal is elimination, getting away from all plants as a baseline is helpful. As you’ve noted, I’ve talked about how unseasoned food SHOULD taste delicious when we’re hungry. Salt is an exception, of course, as it’s a mineral rather than a plant, and essential for our survival. I do enjoy minced meats though, and they can be flavored with salt, eggs, and cheeses/butter/ghee/sour cream.

Sounds like you have an EXCELLENT set up to hit the ground running.

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One more post, but 2 July is a significant date for me. When I was 14, it was the day I decided to “turn the ship around” as far as my fitness goes. I was a fat kid, living a fat kid life, and with no real idea what the hell I was doing, I decided to change that. I had no real guidelines aside from desire and effort, but that was enough to lose 25lbs over the summer and completely transform myself. And from that I learned the valuable lesson that I could achieve things if I worked hard for them.

And here I am, 24 years later, still living it. And this week I’ve achieved leanness again in pursuit of that goal, to include one of the telltale signs I’ve gotten there: a gnarly ab cramp out of the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Also…this isn’t the confession thread, but I should confess that I just bought 28 grass finished piedmontese 10oz New York strip steaks. …technically, I bought 24 and then used a promotion code to get 4 more for free…all because the 24 were “buy 12, get 12 free”, so this made it go from 50% off to 58% off. Just couldn’t pass up a deal like that. @boilerman, you get me right? Haha.

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Do I ever! That is quite the deal they have going on. I’ve been ordering from them less (and eating significantly less beef in general) just due to cost, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss it.

Not completely unrelated, but a little side note- my son has been loving a huge array of meat. Ground turkey, chicken, eggs, we’re about to give him some grass fed grass finished beef for the 4th, and unsurprisingly to me liverwurst. I absolutely loved it as a kid, and it turns out he does too. We have to limit his intake of it due to the high concentrations of vitamin A (per doctor). If left to his own devices he’d eat an entire log of the stuff!

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Darn right! Bacon is a condiment and should be treated as a fat, not a protein.

Signed, your favorite Fun-Hater

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GREAT example of getting to “yes” - love seeing it in action!

Sorry these seem to be consistently inconsistent in their execution, but it’s pretty awesome seeing the immediate pivot.

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Do you all get short cut over your side?
I mean ibget it has fat but it has a fair whack of protein, and frying it makes a lot of that then drip out.

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Its not as nice as “streaky” bacon aka middle bacon, but its still bacon and delivers a good ratio imo.

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I’m sure it’s probably available somewhere, but it’s definitely not common or what most folks over here are eating. It definitely has a better macro profile than our American “streaky” bacon!

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Just curious, what does your “squats and pushups” consist of? Is it every morning?