AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
Tactical Barbell Operator Cycle 2, Week 3, Workout 3
MAIN WORK
SSB Squat
3x2x365
ALTERNATE w/
Axle strict press from rack
3x2x186+1 push press rep per set
6 chins between sets
(4) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls (12 deep breaths between sets)
13+5+4x425
ASSISTANCE
4 round circuit of
- 10x80lb DB row
- 20x270 reverse hyper (skipped 4th round)
- 10x53 axle curl
- 6 hanging leg raise
Notes:
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Another morning where training just didn’t sound like an awesome idea, and it was just the notion of breakfast and not being able to fit this in anywhere else today that got me out of bed. The prospect of deadlifting excited me, and knowing it was the day of the week where I do only 3 sets made it a bit easier to negotiate. Was just feeling beat and blah though, and actually ended up figuring out a way to get MORE chin ups in during the warm ups BECAUSE I didn’t want to do them: instead of just a set of 10 before squats, I did a set of 5 before squats, a set of 5 AFTER squats and a set of 5 after chins, getting in 15 reps per warm-up round vs 10. Still cut it at 50 before the main work started, but this can help me accumulate some more reps in the future. Total of 80 for the workout.
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Trying to focus more on sitting back in the squat. I see myself on the video reverting to old habits of just sitting straight down and not loading the hamstrings. I’m doing this because my back is sore from the SSB squat, but in doing so I’m putting more pressure on my hips and knees. This, once again, speaks to the value of rotating the bar between cycles.
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The mat pulls moved incredibly well. I slid my knee sleeves down over my shins, and it made a significant difference in not snagging the bar on the concentric portion. Things just moved smooth, and none of the sets were taken to my absolute limit. Hip is feeling awesome on these as well: figuring out the starting position and pull has really gone a long way for my longevity.
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I cut that final round of reverse hypers on the circuit, primarily for the interest of time. I figured my lower back had seen enough work for the day.
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Another Tang Soo Do class tonight, and then we’re done for the week. My parents come into town tomorrow to celebrate the holiday, so schedule will be a little off. Also, we got our essay assignments for our belt test in August: “What is mental discipline, describe a time in your life when you have exercised it, and describe a time in your life where you failed to employ it and what you learned.” I am bummed we only have 1 page to cover the topic.
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25 years ago today I made the decision to “turn the ship around”. I was 14 years old, and had been a fat kid my whole life. Years later, I learned I was set up for failure, having been born at a low birth weight, resulting in my bottle formula augmented with cereal to bring my weight up, but I was also a product of poor decisions, like having Koolaid as my primary hydration choice and a lifestyle of processed/fast food. But on 2 Jul of 2000, I decided I didn’t want to be that way any more, and set out only with effort and some stories from my dad as my North Star. I cut my food intake to a third of what it used to be, switched to water and diet coke, and used the money I had saved up to buy a standard weight bench with a preacher curl/leg extension/leg curl station and 2 spinlock dumbbells with 130lbs of weights and set about changing myself. I lost 20lbs that summer and came back to school radically transformed and learned that my physical fat was within my control, which was one of the most valuable lessons I ever learned.
