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

[T3hPwnisher]

It depends on the establishment. Like, Burger King’s big motto was “Have it your way”, and was one of the first big establishments where you could do special orders. Before that, it was pretty unheard of. For places with minimum wage employees, they’re slaves to the computer system: if it’s not there, they can’t make it work. I’ve actually learned how to order from BEHIND the counter at our one place we go to (called Culver’s), where I’ll walk the kid through his own computer system (“Go to ‘ala carte condiment’, select ‘special instructions’, then select ‘add protein’, that gets you the burger patty: I want 3 of those”).

It helps when I tell them that I’m willing to pay full price for LESS than the full option. Big issue people run into is they want to be comped for taking stuff off. I fully appreciate that the price is the price: but if I can get more of what I want and less of what I don’t, it’s a win.

[simo74]

That makes good sense. At this restaurant the kids burger had no bacon option but the adult burger did (which didn’t make sense). So my son was trying it on a little when he asked for bacon. The waiter did say he wasn’t sure but I just told him 'I am sure the chef wont mind throwing some on there; It probably helped that there were 14 of us eating so the bill was pretty high.

I totally get what you mean about the computer system issue, seems like you can only ask to add or remove something if they have a button for it.

I can remember when I first started driving (32 years ago) and would often drive my mates to the pub. As the designated driver I never drank but didn’t really love soft drink either. So I used to ask the barman for a pint of milk. Most pubs had milk in the kitchen or for making tea / coffee. The barman would often say we don’t usually do that but I would just tell them to charge me for a beer and they seemed to think that was fair.

[T3hPwnisher]

@simo74

The barman would often say we don’t usually do that but I would just tell them to charge me for a beer and they seemed to think that was fair

Really seems to be the magic. “Charge me for this and give me that”. Gotta be willing to meet in the middle

[T3hPwnisher]

Training Log: Entry 3329

AM WORKOUT (0500 wake up via alarm: day off, slept in)

2:08 hang from pull up bar, pull up every 30 seconds
75 KB swings w/57.5lb bell
2.6 mile walk at 3.0 average pace w/80lb vest
85x270 reverse hypers

Notes:

• Kid’s first day of school, got the day off work, slept in and got in the tonic workout. Would like to get in some carries and throws later, if possible, but otherwise got Tang Soo Do in the evening.

• I’m too damn lean again. That’s cool for being shirtless in the summer, but I’m 1 month out from my strongman comp and 2 weeks out from grappling and can stand to have some more bodyweight for both. We know the way.

• Really digging hanging from a bar. My back was feeling stiff this morning. I keep having spasms, which relates to that leanness mentioned. Hanging builds the grip strength AND takes pressure off my back. When combined with swings and hypers, it’s a cure all.

[whiplash1]

That food looks awesome…it’s been ages since I have had lamb. Excellent work in here as always.

[T3hPwnisher]

Thanks so much brother! You make my way into my neck of the woods and I’ll make sure to put lamb on the menu. It’s honestly inspired me to do a whole Heracles style of training at some point. I actually had a dude that took on “Chaos is the plan” and “have your training tell a story” by doing a Greek theme, basing workouts off of The History of the Peloponnesian War and nutrition was lots of lamb and goat. I dug that.

[whiplash1]

That’s super cool dude…would there be a way of reading up on what he did? I’d be curious to see that. And if you’re ever up my way I’ll get my hands on some moose meat if you’re interested

[T3hPwnisher]

Oh man, moose is definitely on my list of animals I want to consume, haha. I dig the idea of consuming a powerful animal. Bear is there as well for that reason.

I am not sure how good you are at redditing, but this was the original post/thread from the guy

He ended up doing about 30 workouts, but unfortunately real life derailed the plan. But if you find his username from there, you can see how he went about it.

[whiplash1]

Well I can tell you that if it’s done right, bear is excellent as well. Moose is hands down my favourite game meat though. And yeah I am on Reddit as well so I’ll take a look at that…thanks very much!

[geologist]

@T3hPwnisher

Phyrexian Dreadnought

Tried searching this program. It appears to be your own program correct?

[T3hPwnisher]

Correct. I got to name it myself, just like “The Cimmerian Chronicle” and “Pestilence”

[T3hPwnisher]

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm. Slightly rough night of sleep due to thunderstorms/flash flooding)

PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 4, Week 3, Workout 2

PHRYEXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 4: Week 3, Workout 2

30 minutes, start each round with 1 axle zercher squat from floor w/206, 3x125 weighted dips, 3x55 weighted chins. Add a squat each round until failure. Work back down. Got up to 8 for failure and 1 backdown set

Low Handle Trap Bar Pulls
12x425

12x425 low handle trap bar pulls

ASSISTANCE

3x10 standing ab wheel
Lateral raise dropset (35x10lb, 35x5s, 35x2.5, 35xEmpty Hands)
1 minute timed hold low handle trap bar w/315 (felt calluses wanting to tear, shut it down)

BREAKFAST

Short walk w/both dogs

Notes:

• Original plan was EMOM w/245 on the axle zercher, but couldn’t break it off the floor. Apparently these back spasms are showing themselves. Came up with this on the spot and pretty pleased with how it worked out. The heavy dips were spot on, and by the time I got to rep 6 or 7 on the way up I was fighting for it. It would have been nice to Tower of Babel it fully, but I needed to keep to my schedule.

• Those trap bar pulls were definitely a test. Felt myself wanting to spew around rep 8. I came in saying “I need to beat 10” and I did it. This is twice as many reps as what I started the cycle with, which is awesome. Really enjoying seeing this lift grow each week.

• Timed hold was pretty solid. I was sore, sweaty and fatigued going in. I feel like I will be pretty strong come comp time.

• Tang Soo Do last night wasn’t too terribly exhausting, which was good for the Valkyrie as she recovered. Before class started though, I went through my staff form 17 times. I intentionally selected the heaviest staff available for purchase, so this is a really solid deltoid workout.

EDIT: Posting this here, because it’s not often you hear this from a spouse, haha.

[simo74]

@T3hPwnisher

Low Handle Trap Bar Pulls
12x425

I need to lift my game. Nice work Pwn.

[wiseman83]

Referencing your Thai experience. there is a restaurant i visit every week for lunch…thai of course. The serving size I get is ridiculous. Gotta be the cheapest and larget meal in any restaurant in Australia LOL. more than 500gm of chicken, cooked weight. costs 19 dollars. And they give me a huge serving of rice also. They see me coming every week and just start cooking LOL

[T3hPwnisher]

@simo74 Thanks dude! I’ve really found some magic in “one set a week” as the protocol for this. I’m honestly pretty upset with myself, because I “learned” that lesson in my late 20s, and then decided to forget it for a decade. This training cycle, I’ve really focused on doing those things that have ALWAYS worked for me…and they’re still working, haha. I also realized that I’m NOT doing that as far as my press goes, and it’s showing, but it gives me some hope for the post competition training phase, when I can bring some of THAT stuff back too.

@wiseman83 Gotta love people who wanna feed people. I get that with the southern Asian population and, having grown up in San Diego, the Mexican population as well. They love people who love to eat, and they love to feed me. Italian grandmothers are always that way too, haha. “You’re too skinny: eat eat!”

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AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm, really good night of sleep)

EVENTS/CONDITIONING

Just gonna narrate. I took my 182lb/82kg keg for max distance carries, then would run back to the start, backwards drag a prowler to the keg, run back to start, throw my throwbag (30lb) to the keg, load the keg on the prowler, backwards drag it back to the start, run back to the bag, and throw it back to the start.

Did that 3 total times in 40 minutes. First time, I carried the keg the the .05 mile mark, turned around and walked it back a bit. Second time was about .025 mile mark. Third time, I carried the keg from the bottom lip in a semi-bear hug and got about .0125.

Notes:

• This continues to be, apparently, my least motivating training day, because I seriously contemplated skipping it again. I did that last week. My alarm went off in the middle of a REM cycle and I just wasn’t feeling this. We had some bad storms last night and I was curious if it was still raining, as it would have been a good excuse to skip out. Eventually, I managed to lie to myself about what I would do, got up, and got it done. I’m glad to have done so, as this is a day that will directly contribute to competition results, but it’s still just a slog. I do imagine a big part of it is how I have to load everything into my truck and traveling circus it to the training area.

• Been a LONG time since I’ve used this keg. It was the first one I ever purchased. My right lower back was pretty sore/stiff to start, and this felt much heavier than I remembered. Toward the end, I had a good feel for it again.

• Focused on really just trudging along, re-lapping as needed, ragathering, and getting “just one more step”. I’m going to do everything in my power to take this as far as I can.

• My first throw in each series was always my best one. I’m getting better at staying loose until the moment of release.

• When this was all done, my body actually felt better than when I started. The reverse drags are probably pretty tonic.

• 10 years ago I met Robert Oberst and Nick Best at my third strongman competition. Crazy how the time flies. Also crazy just how big those men are. And how dark my hair was.

[T3hPwnisher]

AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)

PHRYEXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 4, Week 3, Workout 3

PHRYEXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 4: Week 3, Workout 3

Axle push press out of rack
4x176
3x3x176

ZENO SQUATS (12 deep breaths between sets)
9x315
5x315
3x315
2x315
1x315
9x275
5x275
3x275
2x275
1x275
10x225

ASSISTANCE

3x10 standing ab wheel
50 pull aparts
32 GHRs
20,7,7 dips
1 minute hang from bar, chin every 30 seconds
Band overhead tricep extensions
Band curls

BREAKFAST

Short walk w/both dogs

Notes:

• As I’m getting closer to the competition, I want to get better at pressing and used to handling heavier loads. I’m going to allow Fridays to be some pressing from the rack, and really try to intensify on it. This also spares my back from the continental, allowing me to put more of it into the Zenos. With Grace and mat pulls on the weekend, alongside heavy sandbag work, my back is getting slammed pretty good as it is. This is also why I wore the strongman belt through the Zenos, which I think I’m going to continue until the competition day. It doesn’t provide me any additional bracing capability, but it keeps my lower back warm and reduces pain, which seems to be allowing me to squat deeper, so that’s a win.

• Pressing felt pretty solid. Missed the lockout on the final triple, but wasn’t worth fighting for. Feeling confident in my leg drive.

• Really got to see the cascade effect on today’s Zenos. By adding just 1 rep to the topset, I ended up doing 10 more reps total per series, which was 20 reps more for the first 2 series. In turn, 10 reps was more than sufficient for the final set, as I went from doing 50 reps of total squats last week to 60 this week.

• Today was unique in that I was not excited to do the Zenos as I’ve been before, and even had the image of failure in my mind, but the set of 9 was FAR easier than the set of 8 last week, with depth I was much happier with. I’ll pat myself on the back here, but this protocol really is just magical with how it makes you stronger. Just 1 more rep than last week is so easy psychologically, but the volume sneaks up on you. I’m up 5 reps from where I started on the topset, but that’s resulted in 36 total reps more. And I’m mastering 315 in turn: it feels less and less heavy each week.

• Assistance went pretty well. The GHRs are taxing. I recognize that I’ve dropped Kroc Rows, but with all the strongman stuff I’m doing, my upperback is getting hammered enough.

• Tang Soo Do last night was more heavily focused on self defense vs cardio, which was a nice change.

[T3hPwnisher]

Hey, some more blasts from the pasts here. This was taken on a cruise 14 years ago, when I was toward the tail end of my Dave Tate early 2000s style bulk phase

I was about 205-210 back then…and VERY familiar with the Taco Bell menu

[T3hPwnisher]

Holy cow what an awesome Saturday.

Valkyrie got to sleep until 0800, which was awesome for her healing. She made us breakfast, then I got in some mat pulls

(3) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls: 10+5+3x425

10+5+3x425 off 3 mats.

My right hip was still in a bit of pain from those Zenos, so it made breaking the weight really tough, and the lockout hurt. At rep 5 things felt a bit more solid. I felt like I had an 11th in there, but when I went for the eccentric my body said no so I shut it down and lived to fight another day. Walked both dogs after that.

Got some errands ran, had 5 side orders of chicken from Taco Bell for lunch (I love that I’ve learned I can order that), then did some sandbag work before mowing the lawn for about 70 minutes

200lb sandbag work

I wish I had thought of this earlier, but I realized it made more sense to just beat the hell out of my back for one day doing the pulls and the sandbag vs doing pulls on saturday and sandbag on sunday. Still figuring out this training cycle as I go.

For dinner, we tried out a new buffet that opened in town, and oh my goodness it’s way too awesome and I can’t wait to go back.

It was HUGE, mostly Asian cuisine, but no shortage of carnivore fair. It had New York strip cooked to order at the hibachi line, and BBQ spare ribs, and all sorts of shrimp, octopus, squid, salmon, lobster, crab, etc etc.

I absolutely gorged myself. In truth, I nearly binged. I DID eventually stop eating, but I was definitely eating beyond satiety at one point. I wanted to try everything there, but actually stuck carnivore as I could, avoiding things in heavy sauces and staying away from the absolute no-nos. But I didn’t come in with “a plan” which is something I usually do with buffets. Since this was new, I didn’t want to limit myself, and I was pleased with everything I ate.

I do think, next time, I might just made it a legit “steak and eggs” run. New York strip grilled to order and eggs on the hibachi line is just absolutely baller, especially for the price.

I needed a meal like that. I’ve been undereating for a bit too long, and I’m in a good place for making my weight class.

[QuadQueen]

What is the name of that buffet? I may need to check it out if I make it down to Omaha!

[wiseman83]

That looks amazing dude! Australia just does not do these things very well

Ninja Edit:

Great to see your Valkerie is healing up too, mate. A happy and Healthy wife, is the only way to a happy life!