That looked hard. Great job getting it done.
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@shaneinga Much appreciated dude! Building confidence for my comp in 2 weeks.
ā,
Maximum Definition Diet recap
Didnāt photo breakfast, but it was a pretty ususal weekend one for me. Dinner was a full rack of pork spare ribs with a side of brisket.
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Non-training day today. Got my morning push ups and squats, mowed the lawn, walked a bunch (20k+ steps).
For Maximum Definition Diet recap, breakfast was 2 omelets with 3 eggs, leftover meatloaf, beef tallow, a slice of clobyjack cheese alongside 6 strips of beef bacon.
Carb meal was drum what pasta spaghetti with piedmontese meat sauce, alongside some slices of bread from a local Italian bakery (4 ingredients, wheat, water, salt and yeast, no sugar) fried in ghee, and then 4 of the Valkyries oatmeal peanut butter butterscotch chocolate chip cookies with some raw honey and fairlife skim milk.
Final week of training for the comp tomorrow. After that is a bridge week and then game on. And then, for my next phase of training, I came up with something I want to do.
Iām going to live the myth of Milo of Croton. Iām going to keep doing my daily carries, but Iām going to use my loadable keg. I have 1lb weights from my ankle/wrist weights, and I have my 2.5lb plates. Iām going to increase the weight in the keg by 1lb every day, while carrying it the same distance. Iām going to be eating to gain during this time, so my bodyweight so ideally be scaling to help meet the demands of the increase load in the keg.
I plan to start at 200lbs, perhaps 175. In a year, it would mean carrying over 500lbs, which is insaneā¦but Iād be curious to see when it stops working.
Oh yeah, my RHR got back down to 36. Thatās pretty cool.
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I admit I had to look this one up, butāwow! What a cool idea!
Reminds me of adding a rep-a-week to Saturday Poundstone curls, only to end up at 152 reps by the end of the year: Painful in the moment, but what a transformative year!
(It also reminds me: I need to start carrying again.)
Anyway, Iām excited to see where this takes you!
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@SvenG Thanks so much man! Every lifter needs to know the fable of Milo and the bull: itās effectively where the principle of progressive overload came from. And even though the bull itself may have been a myth, Milo was not: completely legitimate ancient Greek badass, who was such an awesome wrestler that they HAD to come up with myths like this, haha. I am curious how this experiment will go. Iāve been appreciating my daily carries, and feel like theyāve had a positive impact for me. The keg will be nice since it doesnāt have as technical of a pick up as the sandbag.
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
Tactical Barbell Operator Cycle 2, Week 5, Workout 1
MAIN WORK
SSB Squat
5x5x325 (misload)
ALTERNATE w/
Axle strict press
5x2x193+1 push press rep per set (misload)
6 chins between sets
ASSISTANCE
6 rounds of
- Press (98lb trap bar/95lb BtN/93lb axle) 3x10, 3x8
- Dips to failure
- 3x17/3x16 10lb lateral raise
- 3x17/3x16 band pull aparts
1x10 standing ab wheel
Notes:
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I swapped a 55 and a 45lb plate between the axle and the SSB, unbeknownst to me until I was unloaded the bars and noticed. In turn, I was remarking in my head how my squat was continuing to climb while my press was regressing and wondering what mechanism was at play the entire time I was working through all 5 sets. It ended up turning this week into a hybrid of weeks 5 and 6, which is fitting given Iām skipping week 6 to take a bridge week before my comp. Also awesome is that I initially thought I was pressing 173 and struggling, and instead I was pressing a weight I havenāt pressed in a LONG time and absolutely crushing it. Really boosts confidence for the comp, as Iām now strict pressing MORE than comp weight. As for the squats, I think Iāll bring it up to the correct weight next workout and do the 3x5, and then finish out the week with 5x5. For the press, I might just keep it at 193 for the rest of the week and keep hitting doubles.
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I woke up really stiff this morning, and really throughout the weekend. Not sure what the specific cause is there. Possibly dehydration from the heat. We got some new couches/chairs for our sitting room that are MUCH more comfy than what we had before, so Iām hoping that helps.
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Weighed in at 81.5kg post workout, which is a significant regression from last week. Really just playing the razorās edge with the bodyweight at this point, but Iām so excited to step away from competition for a bit and be able to just eat and recover.
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Between warm ups and post set chins, I got in 115 today. Had to cut the ab work a little short for the sake of time.
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Maximum Definition Diet recap
For breakfast this week, I broke out one of my all time favorite foods: rib finger.
For the unaware,
And theyāre practically the most perfect ketogenic meat
I did 14oz of them, alongside some leftover piedmontese meat loaf, beef liver, and my usual assortment of 3 pastured eggs and 5 whites. Eggs are also practically the perfect keto food as well, so these two together are a great combo.
For dinner, I went off plan and did some carnivore tacos. Used egg white wraps, piedmontese 93% lean grassfed beef, some grassfed sour cream, Mexican queso fresca, and a fried egg yolk in each one.
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Amazing to me that you could misload anything overhead by 20lbs and still manage to get the reps. Really, really solid work here!
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@atlas13 Much appreciated dude! Those are the best kinds of PRs, haha. Similar to your experience with the rower, itās amazing what we can accomplish when we donāt know weāre being ridiculous.
AM WORKOUT (0515 wakeup via Valkyrieās alarm)
Tactical Barbell Operator Cycle 2, Week 5, Workout 2
āCharonās Trinityā
5 rounds of
- 1 minute rower
- 1 minute 24kg KB swings
- 1 minute burpees
- 1 minute rest
Notes:
-
Almost talked myself out of this when I woke up, thinking of opting for just an all rower workout, but was glad I settled on this again. Itās just incredibly effective. Didnāt have as high an output on the rower today as I did last week, but I imagine itās because the training is much heavier for the weights.
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Was really sleepy yesterday. Got to bed early and got some good rest. Hoping that helps. I imagine the heat is part of that.
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Tang Soo Do tonight. Itās wildcard cardio week, weāre a month out from testing so physical testing requirements show up in class, and in general it should be a pretty solid workout.
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Physique is really looking sharp these days. Iām in a good spot to gain.
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Awesome press, dude. This is exactly what Bob Ross meant with the phrase āhappy little accidentā.
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@PowPowPunishment Hah! Absolutely.
Maximum Definition Diet Recap
Just did the same meal twice, with minor variations. Breakfast was 14oz of ribfingers with some leftover meatloaf, beef liver, 3 whole eggs and 5 whites, dinner was 15oz of ribfingers, 3 whole eggs and 5 whites.
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AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
Tactical Barbell Operator Cycle 2, Week 5, Workout 3
MAIN WORK
SSB Squat
3x5x345
ALTERNATE w/
Axle strict press from rack
3x5x173+1 push press rep per set
6 chins between sets
(2) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
1x425 (shut it down)
ASSISTANCE
5 round circuit of
- 10x80lb DB row
- 20x270 reverse hyper
- 10x53 axle curl
- 6 hanging leg raise
Notes:
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Iām definitely reaching some levels of burn out here. Did the thing where I woke up and tried to figure out if there was some way I could push this workout off and realized my schedule couldnāt support. That this was my deadlift day and the day I only have to do 3 sets of the main work tends to be enough to motivate met to get going, but it was a no sale. In turn, when it came time to pull the deadlifts, I was fried. The first rep was much harder than it should have been, so I shut it down. Iām 10 days out from comp, and grinding through a set I have no business doing wonāt do me any good but will do me harm.
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Reading the tealeaves, this was something to expect. I noted that my output yesterday wasnāt as good as last week, and I had a REALLY good week last week on pulls, which most likely means I went further into my recovery reserves than normal to get that good outcome. Combine that with the oppressive heat weāve been dealing with, and it just wasnāt the best day for pulling. Deadlifts are a sensitive lift.
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Highlight includes crushing the squat now that I have the correct weight loaded on it. 345 on the SSB was plenty heavy and these were challenging squats, which also most likely contributed to my deadlift, but it was awesome to get through them. Meanwhile, the press felt very light compared to Mondayās misload. Iām thinking Iāll finish the week off going 3-4x2 with the final week loads, to blend weeks 5 and 6 together before the comp. Planning on using next week Monday to do a set of pulls off the floor and from there head into the bridge week for the comp. Body can definitely use the break.
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Weighed in at 80.9kg. Weight is dropping and body is presenting very lean, and this coincides with INCREASING the fat and decreasing the protein. The alchemy explanation from the carnivore community is that a body fed high fat recognizes that weāre in a period of feast rather than famine, so it sheds bodyfat knowing that it no longer needs to store it for energy reserves, whereas when we feed the body lean foods and restrict fat, it stores fat because it thinks weāre in a period of famine. This, of course, directly contradicts the notion of a protein sparing modified fast, but I canāt discount how often this experience has run true for me. I seem to get my leanest when eating the fattiest foods, and Robert Sikes has presented a similar construct. Another less alchemical explanation is that ketones are muscle sparing, and protein requirements are reduced when the body is producing ketones, which is what tends to happen when fats are high and protein is moderate to low in the absence of carbs. All this to say, things are going well, rib fingers are delicious, and Iām really excited to start gaining after this competition.
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Tang Soo Do tonight. Last night wasnāt too terrible of a workout. Iāve got a good warmup going though: Iāve been doing my staff form 5-10 times in a row, and it really blows up my shoulders.
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Good idea to shut it down. Those SSB squats were strong. 
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Much appreciated dude! It was an unprecedented moment of maturity for me, haha. Old me woulda rested 3 minutes and tried again, then stripped off a plate per side to try to get in some reps, and ultimately just fried myself out. Itās why I like having a competition on the horizon: gives me something to train for.
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Smart. I tell myself sometimes when I am not feeling great, beat up, or something is hurting beyond the usual amount of pain.
āYou are the only voice of reason in the room for this.ā 
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Maximum Definition Diet recap
Breakfast was 1lb of rib fingers along with the rest. Dinner was a feast of leftovers. Egg white wrap tacos with egg yolks, piedmontese ground beef, sardines, queso fresca and taco cheese and sour cream
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AM WORKOUT (0355 wake up via alarm)
Tactical Barbell Operator Cycle 2, Week 5, Workout 4
āGO RUCK YOURSELFā
Treadmill walk w/20.4lb tac vest
- Speed: 3.5
- Distance: 5.25 miles
- Time: 90 minutes
- Incline: 6.0 for the first 2.5 miles, 7.0 for the next 1.5, 8.0 for 1 mile, 15.0 for the final .25 mile
Notes:
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With how brutal training has been, I opted to reduce the vest weight and focus on the incline today. Figured this would be more restorative. That final quarter mile at 15 was a fantastic challenge: at the end, my heart rate on my watch was showing 160, which, given than my RHR is 36, thatās quite a jump.
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Weighed in at 79.6kg post workout. Weight is in a very good place for the competition, and I got 2 ketobricks in the mail, which will most likely be competition fuel, so that bodes well.
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Tang Soo Do was an outstanding workout last night. We would roll a six sided die, and whatever the number was, weād do that many forms/hyung/kata, and then weād draw a card from a pack of exercise cards and perform that movement either for 10x the die roll in seconds or 10x the die role in repetitions. We rolled a lot of 5s and 6s, and people were making the smart call and picking seconds instead of reps. It came to me, I rolled a 6, and I drew a card that was effectively half a burpee (start in the push up position, bring your legs to your chest, kick them back out, do a push up, repeat) and I selected repetitions. 60 of those on top of everything else we did was a challenge, and then trying to do hyungs with blown out shoulders was an exercise in overcoming. Weāve got another class tonight, where Iāll be performing a hyung with my kid on my shoulders, so that should be a pretty solid workout as well.
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Maximum Definition Diet recap
Breakfast was the same as yesterday. For dinner, 3 whole eggs, 5 whites, 12oz of Garyās Quick Steak and then a can of salmon, mixed together. Surf and turf.
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AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
300 Burpee Chins in 60 Minutes (5 EMOM)
Notes:
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This was supposed to be the final lifting workout for Tactical Barbell. I woke up feeling really good and like it was going to be a good day. When I get under 315 for the squat warm-up, I noticed how heavy it felt during the walkout, and how my lower back was saying āstopā when I started squatting, and I recalled how the deadlifts on Wednesday went and concluded that Iāve simply pushed myself to my limits and it was time to shut it down. One more workout isnāt going to make me any stronger for my competition, but it can certainly mess me up, so the juice wasnāt worth the squeeze. At that point, I found myself with an abundance of time, and knowing that Cindy was only going to take around 23 minutes, I decided to do something Iād been wanting to do for a while that would require no external load on my body.
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Yes, the decision to having āSomewhat Damagedā on a loop the entire time was intentional and metaphorical.
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I originally was going to do just 50 minutes, but my schedule was pretty flexible this morning and I was able to push the workout a little longer into a far more satisfying full hour/300 reps. I ended up spraining my right middle finger somewhere in the mid 40s due to a misgrab on the chinning bar. That finger has been injured before, so this is a re-injury. Itās already quite purple and swollen, but should most likely be good by the day of the comp.
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Tang Soo Do went well last night. Kiddo and I knocked out our Hyung and got in a decent workout. Weāre going out for Texas Roadhouse tonight, so more steak and eggs on the horizon.
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@ChongLordUno we still got those burpees going.
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Maximum Definition Diet recap
Breakfast was the usual, with the 16oz of rib fingers. Dinner was a 26oz bone in ribeye, salt only, from Texas Roadhouse alongside a bowl of hardboiled eggs and some sour cream.
Got my labs done today. Total test at 413, Hemogob at 14.5, Hemocrit at 41.5, and PSA at .3 (yes, .3, rather than 3). Iām very pleased with that final number. The test is the lowest itās been since starting therapy, but given I got this drawn after 300 burpee chins, with my bodyfat as low as it is, with such hard training, Iām not too concerned. Still within range, and feeling awesome, which is what matters. And 413 is still literally 10x as much as I had when I sought help.
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Seen this earlier mate
Takes me back to the glory days for sure
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