@wiseman83 Iām so jazzed about it. This is our second year in a row, and this time the weather should be perfect for it. Decent cool fall evening. Just nice to have the time with the Mrs, and, of course, wonderful food.
AM WORKOUT (0400 wake up via alarm)
TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN
Operation MILO Cycle 2, Week 3, Workout 3
MAIN CLUSTER
Axle bench press
5x3x246
Texas Deadlift Bar Deadlifts
10x440/200kg
SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER
Lever belt squat
4x8x230
Dip/axle curl superset
4x8x70/76
ASSISTANCE
Reverse hyper/standing ab wheel superset
3x15x320/3x10
Chins throughout workout
Notes:
I was excited for this training session, which is a great sign. This is my first early morning session since Thursday of last week: Iāve had a lot of opportunities to sleep in. Despite 0400 coming earlier than I remember, I was feeling strong and able, and it shone through on the deadlifts, which were the highlight of the workout.
I set a goal of 10 and achieved it, and shut it down at that point. I am pretty confident I could have fought for another rep, and 12 would have matched what Iāve been pulling all cycle, but this one particular workout wasnāt going to make me stronger: it was all the work leading up to it that mattered. This was more the realization of that effort, and itās a 15lb PR from last cycle, so thatās just outstanding. To move more weight easier is exactly the goal.
I moved my body closer to the lever belt, and it helped take some pressure off my knee.
Keg carry yesterday was 220lbs.
Tang Soo Do wasnāt too stressful last night, but we got all the way through our new hyung, which impressed our instructor. He talked about how our whole family is timing out to test for black belt at the same time, and heās never had that before. Iām happy for him that we can do that.
Digestion has been off these past few days. Wondering if Texas Roadhouse is to blame.
Weighed 83.3kg this morning. Wednesday is an atypical weigh in day for me, but schedule is different this week, and tonight weāre doing a ham for dinner, so sodium load is going to be higher than usual for tomorrowās weigh in. Getting data points where I can.
Woke up feeling really stiff. Combination of heavy deadlifts and a solid Tang Soo Do class last night. When I first joined, the demands of the martial art were pretty light, but as weāre getting more advanced more is being demanded of us. 3 nights in a row has me pretty stiff by the end of the week. The walk, in turn, tends to be pretty tonic.
Digestion seems to finally be in a better place. Was rough the past few days.
Weighed in at 81.1 post workout, which is pretty low. This week has been a bit unique in terms of food, so Iām not going to be too concerned about it, but something to keep an eye on. Plan is 3 more weeks of gaining with specificity, then 4 weeks of leaning out with a combination of bridge week and Operator, then back to gaining.
hey dumb question but how are you deciding on the programming for your lifts? The set x reps x weight for each lift, are you following a pre-written program or is this what you figured out for yourself?
Is the program Iām running. Tactical Barbell is a system put together by K. Black, and the Mass Protocol is his third book. Grey Man is one of the programs in that book. All 3 of his books tell you exactly what to do.
Breakfast is what itās been all week. Dinner was leftovers night: some of those pork and beef meatballs, a generous portion of kalua pig (I actually served myself some more after this), 3 whole eggs and 5 whites.
TACTICAL BARBELL MASS PROTOCOL GREY MAN (FINAL LIFTING WORKOUT)
Operation MILO Cycle 2, Week 3, Workout 5
MAIN CLUSTER
Buffalo bar squat (low bar)
5x3x340
Axle strict press from rack
5x3x163
SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER
(3) DB incline bench
4x8x70s
DB row
4x8x125
GHRs
4x8x50s
ASSISTANCE
GHR sit ups
3x10
Lateral raise
50x10lb
Chins throughout workout
Notes:
Was dragging this morning. Felt some allergies before bed, popped Benadryl and was still feeling it in the morning. Valkyrie also reminded me that we did lunges in Tang Soo Do on Wed, and they really had my knees wrecked (I appreciate Dan Johnās sentiment that those who can do lunges donāt need to do lunges, and those who canāt shouldnāt), so I was just beat. Knowing that this was the final workout gave me some consolation, and once I started things felt better.
Went up to the full 5 sets for the squat and the press. The squats were slow, but form was solid, and press was strong.
Didnāt have the bandwidth for my full on lateral raise work, but getting in some work felt good.
Keg carry last night was 222.5lbs. Tang Soo Do was a moderate workout.
Valkyrie and I are going out tonight for that whole hog live fire dinner. May not post any photos for Operation MILO, but Iāll be eating well between pulled pork, open fire grilled chicken, and possibly some off menu items as well.
Iām dealing with someone in another thread at the moment where it escaped them as well..and continues to do so, haha. āWhy would someone use a sled if they werenāt a strongman?ā Because theyāre awesome.
The awesomeness doesnāt escape me just the plug in for single leg work haha. I saw that and was wondering how athletes are somewhat strongman competitors just because they use sleds
Breakfast included 2 pieces of prosciutto. No photos of dinner, but I had 4 smoked chicken thighs and a heaping plate of pulled pork at our live fire whole hog feed, along with some smoked cheese and lots of farm fresh cultured butter.
Oh wow I didnāt even see that post on this thread, I remember the terrible knee injury you mentioned there, really glad you made it through all that mess
I meant at the start of the post, rather than the start of the thread, haha. But thanks all the same. Been about 10 years now: wild how the time flies.
Breakfast was a standard weekend affair of 2 omelets with 3 eggs, leftover pulled pork, beef tallow and some thin sliced swiss cheese, topped with ghee, alongside 4 strips of beef bacon and a piedmontese grassfed hot dog.
For dinner, we went to our local pumpkin patch and I got a turkey leg AND a smoked tomahawk porkchop. A turkeyleg with a side of porkchop is just plain awesome living, and totally Conan approved.
1 minute rest between sets, except for final set of strict press and incline bench (90 seconds rest)
I have missed strict 1 minute rest between hard sets of main lifts. Itās a different kind of challenge, and keeps me sharp and honest. The light weights are a good break for my body as well. And itās why Iām such a big fan of this system in general, because after this cycle Iāll swing into Operator, where it will be heavy with longer rests.
Went with 4 sets with everything just to see how my time shook out at the end. As you can see with all the assistance work at the end, I had ample time, which means I can do more sets next time and/or take longer rests as things get heavy. My strategy is to take as little rest as possible as early as I can so that I have room to rest longer as things get harder. Iām also figuring on hitting more sets on the lighter workouts so I can do fewer sets on the heavier. Lots of room to maneuver.
Since Iām already doing 3 kinds of pressing exercises, I cut out flat bench. It makes the most sense from a logistics standpoint, as you can see the set-up Iām working with. Iāve contemplated adding another lower body lift, but Jim Wendler said something recently that has resonated with my own training history, and that is that the lower body just doesnāt seem to need as much assistance as the upper body to grow, and when we slam it with too much, it has the reverse effect.
Weighed in at 83.5kg this morning. Really enjoyed the family meal yesterday: bacon cheeseburger alfredo casserole, using pancetta, piedmontese 93% lean grassfed beef, drum wheat pasta, grassfed cheddar, and some good quality cream, alongside 2 biscuits with grassfed butter and raw local honey and then 5 of the Valkyrieās homemade cookies with some more honey and some fairlife skim milk. In terms of āall things healthā, Iāve noticed how much I look forward to my Sundays now, where I take a day off of training and enjoy a meal that we all cook together as a family, whereas before I had to really talk myself into these days. Itās a nice place to be in.
Breakfast was a real treat this morning: a little over a pound of lamb chops sprayed with wagyu beef tallow (New purchase) alongside about 4oz mixed combo kalua pig and pulled pork with beef liver, 3 whole eggs and 5 whites topped with ghee.
No photos of dinner, but Valkyrie and I had a date night, as the kiddo was away on a school trip. We shared a meat and cheese plate appetizer, and then I ordered 2 entrees: one titled āthe pig and the goatā, which was a sandwich of pork shoulder and herbed goat cheese, and then the āMt Everest burgerā: double patties with smoked cheddar and thick cut bacon. Tossed the bread and asked for a side of extra cheese and bacon instead of fries. Absolutely delicious.