TACTICAL BARBELL GREY MAN Cycle 2, Week 2, Workout 3
MAIN CLUSTER
Axle bench press
6x236
5x236 (sprained/pulled my pec)
(2) Texas Deadlift Bar Mat Pulls
1x405
SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER
Lever belt squats
5x10x205
Behind the neck barbell press
4x10x95
Axle curls
4x10x76
ASSISTANCE
Reverse hyper/ab wheel superset
3x15x360/3x10
Band pull aparts
100
Handful of chins
Notes:
On the 5th rep of the second set of benching, I felt that familiar cramp/crunch feeling of a pulled/torn muscle in my right pec. Racked the bar, still managed some chins, and decided to shut down the benching and live to fight another day. For my regular readers, I know your instincts will be to show me sympathy: please donāt. Nietzsche wrote in āThus Spake Zarathustraā that one of manās greatest sins is pity, and I fully believe that. Iām not a race horse: no one is going to shoot me. This is just a bump in the road that Iāll deal with. The fact I was able to finish out the rest of the session is proof positive of that, and Iāve already got a bunch of work arounds figured out based on how long recovery will take. I donāt really care about flat benching as it is, and I can still press overhead, which is the lift I actually DO care about. Iāve got plenty of toys in the gym, and a bunch of slingshots as well, so Iām in a good way. Specificity may be super bodybuilder friendly this time around, and thatās just fine with me. Chaos, as always, is the plan.
That said, the workout continued off the rails on the mat pulls. 405 didnāt feel as heavy as 470, but it still felt much heavier than it should have, and I saw some stars. Iām thinking the CNS may just need a legit rest, and I may wave off next week and start the cycle over again when Grey Man ends and Specificity begins. I am somewhat tempted to shift to trap bar, since I have a max frame pull coming up in competition, but I also know that I specifically went back to ROM progression with a Texas Deadlift Bar because it always works for me. āAnd in a dream Iām a different me/
With a perfect you, we fit perfectly/And for once in my life I feel complete/And I still want to ruin it/ā¦Do you know how far this has gone?/Just how damaged have I become?/When I think I can overcome/It runs even deeperā
Was pleased with the audible on the behind the neck press. Very juicy shoulder pump from that. That was originally the plan before I settled on weighted dips, so I may have just forced my hand on this.
Lever belt squats continue to feel awesome having switched to flat shoes and bringing myself closer to the lever arm. Far more leg than hip.
Ab wheel put a little pressure on the pec, but nothing terrible. Reverse hyper was actually more stressful. Iām a few hours post training now and more inclined to believe it to be a sprain/pull vs a tear.
On the body POSITIVE news, I had my follow up physical therapy appointment yesterday. Knee pain is improving, but still present. Doc was pleased with my progress. Gave me some more stretches. I asked him, from an expectation management perspective, if pain free was a possibility for me, and he seemed pretty positive that, due to my muscle tone, I should be able to resolve the issue. He believes itās primarily structural rather than musculature, and I just need to loosen up my hips and keep rolling out the IT band. Roger that.
Carried a 231lb keg, fat gripz hold for 1:05 yesterday.
Weighed 84.0 this morning. Canāt wait to feast tomorrow.
Oh yes, I suppose Iāll have to see if I feel grappling ready in a week. Pecs are dumb, Iām just going to channel the spirit of Tra Telligman
Great to hear you can still press overhead. Heal strong, dude.
Random question that the NIN lyrics got me wondering: any interest in seeing the new Tron movie in theaters with NIN doing the soundtrack? They absolutely killed it.
It helps that all my MMA knowledge is locked into the year 2007, haha. I can tell you all about thr Lionās Den and have no idea who is currently fighting.
Thatās accurate. Movie wasnāt amazing in terms of story and acting, but the action itself was good and the soundtrack allowed me to turn off my brain and enjoy it as an extended NIN music video.
Looks like it must have been a night for sore muscles and seeing stars. Looking forward to seeing the chaos unfold as you work around this niggle. Game on
Breakfast was some of that leftover breakfast scramble with a pin of sardines. Dinner was a leftover feast, with more of the scramble, those steaks from the weekend, some leftover steak bites from Texas Roadhouse, ribs from my favorite BBQ place and pork tenderloin. It was like a greatest hits plate.
My wife is doing this right now. She loves it. For whatever reason, she really likes Dan John and resonates with his approach. āHe just seems like such a nice guyā is her stated reason. But, I do think ABF is such a great program for both people more serious into training, and for people just interested in having some movement and bare-bones training in their life. It really hits all you need.
@antiquity Hell yeah! So exciting to hear. Dan told me that the ABF is (much to his surprise) really popular with female trainees. My wife keeps telling me how fun she finds it, keeps asking me questions about kettlebells, canāt wait for the next workout, etc. I remember reading through the book and thinking how well it would suit her, but like you noted, I also wanted to do it for myself, haha.
Happy Thanksgiving for the US Readers. I did a double Tang Soo Do class last night, carried a 232.5lb keg, hanged off fat gripz for 1:10, and my pec is feeling good. Not 100%, but definitely not torn. Testing things out, it seems like the pullover motion really triggers it, so maybe Iāll start regularly training those to strengthen the area.
I did one-armed push ups during Tang Soo Do, since the pec was still a little achy, and that caught some looks. Also, forgot to mention that I was crowned the Dojang sparring champion for the month of Nov, so that was cool, and since we wonāt have an innerschool tournament for Dec, I get to keep the trophy for 2 months.
Because I have had rude things said about my food there, and though I can take that, if one were to do that to the food my Valkyrie lovingly made for the whole family, I would most likely take their skin as a trophy, and prison tattoos donāt gel with my natural skin tone.
Much appreciated! And really, that woman should be nominating for sainthood for the shenanigans sheās put up with from me. Least I can give her is my undying loyalty.
