No worries dude! I actually didn’t, but a SITREP is an acronym for “Situation Report”, whereas AAR is “After Action Report”. Just me grinning through the cheese of the “tacticool” portion of this training block.
I have only ever cooked the short ribs in a smoker. Its a wonderful way to enjoy them. 250-275 until they reach 203, wrap in foil with ghee and let rest for an hour. You can air fry them too apparently, but I dig the smoker.
I was hoping you’d say crockpot (since I have one), although I do have a an air fryer. I was thinking of trying to make some short ribs for Christmas dinner. Visiting Carmel last year was the first time I ever ordered them, and now it’s my go-to when I see them on a menu.
Thanks for the quick response!
Absolutely dude! In theory, you can do them in an oven: they just won’t get the smoke like you would with a smoker, but it would still be the same protocol of 250-275 until internal temp 203. A slow cooker will cook them: I just can’t vouch for how they’ll taste. But growing up, we didn’t have a smoker, and my dad would do beef back ribs in the oven and finish them on the grill, and they were delicious, especially since he’d use sauce whereas I do them dry, so they’d get all carmelized.
Learning how to make them myself was like giving a junkie the keys to the evidence locker, haha. But there are worse addictions I suppose.
AM WORKOUT (0445 wake up via alarm)
OPERATION CONAN Spec Ops Insertion Phase
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol Specificity Bravo, Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 3
7 hill sprints for 20 seconds w/2 minutes rest
2 minute hang from bar, pull up every 30 seconds
BREAKFAST
No walk w/dogs (weather)
Notes:
Allowed myself to sleep in, since this is a shorter training day. Just rolled out on the LAX ball and did some light jogging as a warm up. I didn’t feel particularly fast today during the sprints, but I was gassed enough at the end of each sprint, so I was getting the desired training effect. Was actually watching my heart rate on the recovery as well, and saw it gradually build up over the rounds. Fascinating stuff.
7 rounds remains the max I can accomplish within the 15 minute construct, going for 20 second sprints with 2 minutes of rest.
I had some more in me for the hang from bar, but 2 minutes is good enough for maintenance. My elbows are feeling good, and I don’t want to jinx that with stupid human tricks.
Tang Soo Do was a moderate workout yesterday. I’ve got it on the schedule for tonight as well. Weather was a bit too chilly to take the puppies out.
I meant to comment that last night’s meal was about as “Apex Predator” as you can get. Beef ribs AND chicken wings: both Jamie Lewis approved for the protein to fat ratio.
Operation Conan Nightly SITREP
A departure from the rules, but still keeping “meat on the bone”, with 18 chicken wings, air fried with duck fat spray and salt, with 5 hard boiled pastured eggs topped with grassfed ghee, some grassfed cottage cheese and cracklin. I was contemplating making a sauce with sour cream and ghee, but these were honestly just delicious enough on their own.
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
OPERATION CONAN Spec Ops Insertion Phase
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol Specificity Bravo, Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 4
WARM UP
Roll out on LAX ball
50xBW reverse hyper
Bodyweight jump squats
Squats w/bar, 85, 175
MAIN WORK
Buffalo Bar Squat
5x10x270
Lever belt squat
5x10x227.5
Axle strict press
4x10x121 (rest pause final rep of final set)
Axle bench press
4x10x178
(3) DB Incline bench
5x10x60s
Dips
5x10x30 (rest pause final rep of final set)
ASSISTANCE
14 HLR
40 band pull aparts
TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 65 minutes
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dogs
Notes:
Kept the rests strict for the first 4 sets of the squat, and only slightly deviated from 1 minute on the final set. Lever belt squats were close enough. Kept it strict on the press until the final set, which drifted more toward 90 seconds. Then strict again for the rest of the workout.
Training motivation was absolutely shot. I’m definitely reaching my end. We got to bed late, and my kiddo was sick last night. I actually thought I’d be staying home with them today, but they ended up waking up feeling better, so that’s a positive, but it meant I got even less sleep than usual. And I’m not gonna lie: starting off each workout with 5x10 squats or deadlifts with a 1 minute is a real nut kick. I realize that’s totally on me: I could absolutely move those to the end of the workout instead and just blow my brains out that way, but for some reason I didn’t do that.
All that said, crushing those squats was awesome. I’ve eclipsed my initial run of Deep Water. Yeah: it’s only half the sets, but it’s also half the rests, which confirms enough to me that I could do it with 2 minute rests if the demand was there, and given this is with my NEW mutant squat form vs my OLD mutant squat form, that’s just bonkers. Belting up on the squat is honestly like a little reward for making it to the end of the week. And at first I was a bit miffed that wearing the belt didn’t magically add hundreds of pounds to my squat, but I realize that’s indicative of just how strong my core has become. The belt is no longer covering up a weakness: it’s just enhancing what’s already there.
Wore the belt for the presses as well, just to be able to dig a little deeper.
Been meaning to log, but the jump squats I do are actually more like “Hatfield Jump Squats”. While the buffalo bar is in the rack, I grab onto it to assist me on the jump squat. It allows me to sink to the bottom quickly while taking some load off, and then to really explode out of the top. I’m sure this actually exists somewhere outside of my garage and that I didn’t invent it, but it’s really been a game changer in getting me ready to squat. I feel like it helps prime my system and remind my knees how to move quickly.
Tang Soo Do was a solid night of exercise. One of the black belts was turning 18, so 18 was the theme of the day. We ran 18 laps around the Dojang, did 18 hyungs (kata/form), and performed 18 exercise cards for 18 seconds per card. Because it was so ab heavy, I didn’t sweat the fact I only got in 1 set of abs this morning. Time was running short, but I’m also happy I didn’t just skip it entirely. Got 1 more night of it tonight as well, and then we take a 2 week break. Will have to make sure we practice during the downtime.
I realized I should have named last night’s meal “family reunion”, because chicken and eggs is always just delightfully evil.
Assuming you meant the Hatfield-esk jump squat? The jump squats pre-squat appear in some of Brian’s programming, but doubtful he was the first either! But when I’ve done it, or other similar explosive style movement pre squat/dead it’s fantastic.
With “cousin” duck fat on top! Why was this a departure from the rules?
It is also chased by another 5 sets of a different kind of squat.
Yeah, that specific technique. Jumping before squats is everywhere. Jim Wendler has that in every 5/3/1 program, and I was sometimes diligent about that, haha. But this Hatfield approach definitely allows me more compliance.
Why was this a departure from the rules?
Similar to what I discussed in your log: I’m prioritizing ruminant animals (beef, venison, bison, etc) during this gaining block. Trying to minimize monogastric animals. When I eat out, I make the exception, but at home I have more control. But I wanted to do a “wing Wednesday” for the family. Made some boneless ones for the Valkyrie, because that’s her jam.
And yeah: I get a chuckle about spraying chickens with duck fat, haha. “Why can’t you be more like a duck?!”
It is also chased by another 5 sets of a different kind of squat.
Sunuvabitch I didn’t even think of that! Haha. Fair shout. I really think it’s the mental anguish of the monotony of Deep Water that gets to you. Nothing like finishing up set 5 and thinking “f**k I’m only HALFway done”. Just like Super Squats, when you finish rep 10. …oh Mass Made Simple when you finish rep 25.
I have, on multiple programs, sworn at multiple authors in the privacy of my garage. “F–k you Dan John/Jon Andersen/Jim Wendler, you absolute maniac”
But which one came first? 
Time to invest in some mats so your Valkerie and kiddo can work angles on you over the xmas break.
@raven78 No one likes my answer to that: the egg came first. Eggs predate chickens! Haha. And I actually DO have mats: I bought them during COVID, when I first started teaching my kid Tae Kwon Do.
Operation Conan Nightly SITREP
Classic “breakfast for dinner Thursdays” continue. 3 omelets, each with 3 pastured eggs, grassfed ghee, grassfed cheese, and some canned roast beef from Costco, topped with grassfed sour cream, alongside 3 strips of beef bacon, 1 Teton Waters grassfed beef polish sausage, grassfed cottage cheese and cracklin.
I was thinking this morning about how each evening meal is practically an eating competition in order to continue to grow…which is awesome. They don’t even fit on the plate at this point.
Slept in this morning. This time it was a pre-calculated decision. I was exhausted yesterday, caught myself nodding off at my desk, and Tang Soo Do was another good workout. We’re getting off work early today, and the wife and kiddo have some afternoon plans that will afford me an opportunity to get in the workout later today.
I’ve been really sore these past few days, and I woke up so swollen that I struggled to get my wedding ring on this morning. Definitely seeing some signs of elevated inflammation. Part of me wonders if I’m still seeing an impact from that stomach bug, but my kid was sick yesterday too, so there’s a chance that some general illness is in my system. I’ve also been training for about 4 months straight without a break, so a whole lot of factors are coming to a head.
Next week, we have no evening obligations and lots of holiday feasting, and then from there is the cruise. I’m going to push as hard as I need, rather than as hard as I can. It’s honestly purely for the sake of giving the program due diligence beyond anything else, but I’m aware that one week won’t make or break anything in the long term as well.
PM WORKOUT (1400)
OPERATION CONAN Spec Ops Insertion Phase
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol Specificity Bravo, Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 5
WARM UP
30xBW reverse hypers
Trap bar sets of 135, 225 and 315
MAIN WORK
Low Handle Trap Bar Lift
5x10x380
NG chins
4x10x10 (rest as long as needed)
Axle curls
4x10x73 (rest pause final 2 sets)
GHRs
4x10x32.5 KB held behind head
Reverse hypers
3x10x460
1x13x460 (AMRAP)
ASSISTANCE
2x10 standing ab wheel
Notes:
I was exhausted yesterday, and knew I’d be getting out of work early today, so I slept in. It was 100% the right call. I’m dealing with sort of serious inflammation: my hands were so swollen I could barely get on my wedding ring, and when I went to put on my knee sleeves for this workout it was like stuffing a sausage. Wonder if I’m still feeling the effects of the stomach bug I picked up, or possibly the illness my kid has. Either way, going to keep pushing the nutrition to heal. I’m approaching the final week of this cycle, with a cruise to kick off my bridge week, and I’m not afraid to take this final week a little lighter at this point, but I still want to give a good effort.
Which, on that note, this was a helluva effort. I kept the rests strict for the first 4 sets of the trap bar, and kept it under 2 minutes for the final, and was absolutely floored after that. I took advantage of the later training window by allowing myself to be louder with the work.
The chins were giving me a chance to recover at this point. Cut it down to 4 sets for the sake of time.
The curls were challenging, and I cut it down to 4 sets for the sake of ensuring I didn’t murder my elbows on them. Still an outstanding pump.
Was surprised at how the GHRs weren’t absolutely terrible.
If I do this again, I think I’m just going to call reverse hypers “core work” and include them toward the assistance portion. They do better with lighter weight and higher reps. Give me room to include a row or shrug insetad.
Ab work has been lower volume this week, but I got some of it in, and Tang Soo Do made up some of it.
We’re hitting the buffet tonight. Perfect post workout feast. Should go far for recovery.
Operation Conan nightly SITREP
As I said: the buffet again. Plate on the right was 5 eggs and then half a plate full of beef, the other half shrimp, and crab on top. Plate on the left was a lot of different seafood…and eggs of course. Got one more small round after this.
Operation Conan Nightly SITREP and AAR
Start with the meal
My kid pitched the idea of going to our favorite BBQ place tonight, and who was I to say no? This time, since we ate there, I didn’t squeeze out the ribs or rub off the dry rub, but it was a different pitmaster tonight, and he went lighter on the rub. Meanwhile, the ribs (full rack of course) were incredibly fatty and delicious, and honestly my appetite is back in a good place, so this hit the spot. Had some pulled pork with butter as well.
For the day itself, Valkyrie stayed up late working last night, so I got up at 0700 but laid next to her until about 0830. We got up, she made me a wonderful breakfast and we got on the road to go see Santa. I asked the big man for a cow for the freezer and to crush my enemies, see them driven before me and hear the lamentations of their women.
We went out to lunch at Culvers. Kiddo left behind about half of their double cheddar burger, so I ate that, while still considering that “fasting through lunch”, because I’m at a place where I’m putting away so much food when I DO eat that this was nothing.
Came home and took the puppy for a 90 minute walk. Weather was great for it. She got another quick one when we got home for dinner. My step count has been stupidly low recently, but this got me to over 18k today, which is nice.
I picked up some beef back ribs at Costco today, so gonna put those on the smoker for tomorrow.
Operation Conan Nightly SITREP and AAR
Slept in until 0700, got in my 50 push ups and squats, Valkyrie made me breakfast, took the dog for a 2-ish mile walk. We got some chores knocked out, I fasted through lunch, and I got in a “Reset 20” workout on the BAS.
I felt myself petering out in the 4th round and really fading on the 5th, but tried to focus on giving my all. It may have actually been me going so hard in the first 3 rounds that caused it. Still, good to be able to tap into that level of intensity.
Took the dog for another 2+ mile walk, got to work on dinner. Made a full rack of beef back ribs,
And managed to fit that all on one plate, along with 5 pastured sunny side up eggs.
And not only did I leave no survivors,
but I even finished off about 6oz of my kid’s New York Strip. This was about the most successful “Operation Conan” meal ever. This gaining block has been fantastic, and, at least tonight, I’m excited to train tomorrow. We’ll see how the morning feels.
I got in another walk with the dog post dinner. It’s another day with 18+k steps.
@freshyfresh these were about the best beef back ribs I ever made. I pulled them off the smoker a little too early, but still absolutely delightful. Had to share with someone who gets it.
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
OPERATION CONAN Spec Ops Insertion Phase
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol Specificity Bravo, Cycle 2, Week 3, Workout 1
WARM UP
Roll out on LAX ball
50xBW reverse hyper
Hatfield bodyweight jump squats
Squats w/bar, 85, 175, walkout w/290
MAIN WORK
Buffalo bar Squat
5x8x290
Lever belt squat
5x8x250
Axle strict press
4x8x131 (rest pause final rep of final set)
Axle bench press
4x8x193
(3) DB incline bench
5x8x65s
Weighted dips
5x8x50
ASSISTANCE
HLR/Band pull apart superset
3x20/10
TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 62 minutes
BREAKFAST
No walk w/dogs (schedule)
Notes:
I’m starting to think last week’s training ennui was a manifestation of recovery from the stomach bug, because after last night’s dinner of a full rack of beef ribs, and really this entire weekend of eating like a champ, I was ready to tear apart the weight room this morning. It’s what I dig about gaining phases: the food motivates the hard training, which motivates the food. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of awesome.
Kept rests at the strict 1 minute mark for the squats, which is to say, after 45 seconds, I turned around and set up under the bar, permitting myself 15 seconds for that. The very first set was too slow, going back to old habits and being like Bambi on the ice. I focused on moving faster on the follow-up sets, and it went a long way. This is also probably my biggest accomplishment this training cycle, as I started off Mass Protocol 15 weeks ago with 4x8x285 squats with at least 2 minutes between sets and was in so much pain when it was over I thought I’d have to scrap the whole program, and one of my co-workers asked me if I had a herniated disk when he saw me walking around work that day. Adding 5 lbs, 1 more set, and slashing the rest time AND being able to move right on to lever belt squats from there is a true testament to growth.
Lever belt squat was brutal today, and I realized I was going back to old habits and folding more at the hips than the knees. Need to keep that upright posture.
Really pleased with how all the post strict press pressing went. Typically I fade away there, but I showed up strong. I cheated a little on the strict press by belting up, but I’ll save the power belt without the underbelt for next session.
Let this training run a little long so I could get in the ab work. I went too light on it last week: don’t want to make a habit of that.
No walk with the dogs today, and no evening walk tonight. It’s going to be a light week of evening activities, with Tang Soo Do canx for the holidays. We’ve talked about getting in some practice as a family, but also a good time just to enjoy each other’s company. The weather is supposed to be good, so we may get in some walks.
This is the final week of Mass Protocol, and it’s my final weigh in, as I’ll be on a cruise next Monday. I weighed in at 84.7kg, having started the program 15 weeks ago at 79.1kg. This is a gain of 5.6 kg (12.32lbs) in 15 weeks, averaging .82lbs/.37kg per week. It was a bit of a Christmas present stepping on the scale this morning, as I haven’t had a real weigh in for the past 2 weeks, having to cut weight for my grappling comp 2 weeks ago and then having the stomach bug drop me down to 80.7kg last week, but I had faith in the system and it paid off. Once again this was with zero macro or calorie counting, eating one solid meal a day on weekdays, 2 on weekends, keeping it carnivore for all but 1 meal per week: doing it my way.
And on the topic of “doing it my way”, my big goal was to not rely on “carnivore junk” to get me there, and I succeeded on that. I employed very little cheese in my meals, counting cottage cheese as a separate entity, and even then I used a quarter cup of it per meals. Pork rinds/crackling were kept to a reasonable portion when introduced at meals, and “goal meals” were the ones that had so much meat and eggs that there was no need to include either of those things: like last night’s meal. I stuck primarily with ruminant animals when preparing food at home. And in that regard, I got the results I wanted: I felt good this whole training block, got stronger, and I kept “lean enough” through the process. I’m going on my cruise at the end of this week, and after 15 weeks of gaining, I’m not at all feeling “not beach ready”: I’m still shapely in the right spots and can still see my abs.
But I think the biggest thing is: I’m “over” feasting. Having done it at practically every meal for the past 15 weeks, the novelty wore off LONG ago, and though I’m still enjoying all the food, I feel no need to binge at meals as I’ve done in the past, and I foresee myself not trying to set records on this cruise like I did before (although I’m sure my kid will egg me on. Last night, at dinner, I looked at my plate of ribs and said “I may have been a bit too ambitious with this”, and they said “No, I think you got this”). I noted at Thanksgiving that I walked away satisified but not uncomfortably full, same with my Birthday at Texas de Brazil, and I imagine our Christmas feast will be similar. I wonder if this is kinda like the Amish “rumspringa”: get it out of your system and then it won’t seem so awesome. I heard podcast with Mark Tourcotte yesterday that talked about a cyclical keto approach that allowed a once a week cheat meal where trainees were encouraged to “eat whatever you want”, and after 3 weeks of binging on junk, Mark observed trainees would naturally gravitate toward cleaner carb sources, as the novelty of eating junk would wear off, and they’d be sick of feeling like garbage after binging on junk and just want to not feel that way. Matt Wenning actually proposes a similar idea about cheat meals, come to think about it. Start with one every 3 days, then move to every 5 days, and trainees will naturally want to make that change, because after eating clean for long enough, their gut biome doesn’t handle the junk well. Funny how it all ties together.
Just got upload this, since it’s awesome
I’m feeling this way currently too. Still in the brainstorming phase of trying to implement some kind of intentional feast/famine dichotomy like we talked about in the other thread.
Hah! I see what you did there…
Honestly a good long rest can save the smoke even if it’s a little early. I’ve had plenty of brisket’s that have finished too early or had to get pulled off, but resting them for a few hours made them amazing.
They look great! Beef ribs require good meat and good intuition. Looks like you had both!
Excited to see how this turns out for you. Implementing some manner of fasting has really been gamechanging for me. I spent WAY too long as a grazer. And I TOTALLY didn’t catch my own egg-pun there, haha.
@freshyfresh Major kudos coming from you dude! I’m really loving how much “alchemy” there is in smoking. It’s my kind of cooking: some science, but a lot of art.
Operation Conan Nightly SITREP
We have a tradition where we go out to eat at a fast food place and then drive around looking at Christmas lights around this time of year. It actually use to explicitly be this McDonalds by our house, as it was the first place we ate at when we had moved in, but eventually McDonalds just got too stupidly expensive to justify the tradition (the whole point is kind of an “easy night out”), so we’ve been going to Culver’s instead. I got 6 patties and 3 packets of butter, and finished off what was leftover of my kid’s double cheddar burger. A light dinner for me, but it means more room for feasting tomorrow.
I’m not convinced McDonald’s uses real beef.
