Power Cleans from fat bumper plates - ramped in 5s to 185, tried to go up to 225 but wasn’t happening today. 1/2 not being able to grip the bar due to the sweat & heat in the deadlift room, & 1/2 not being a peak srength day I think. then hit a bunch of singles & doubles w/ 185
Chins (between some of the clean work sets) - 12, 10, 10, 8, 6
T-bar row - 2 plates x 2 x 10
Meadows row - 1 plate x 1 x 10
Yoke run - a few rounds of 100’, working up to +90lbs.
Notes: I haven’t run with the farmer’s or the yoke on a flat surface in a long time. The grass outside is very uneven, but I think it’s made me stronger. I wonder what I could actually do given comp conditions?
I didn’t feel a big back pump from this workout during, but I felt it after.
Also, I think cleans are fun, but I don’t know how much they really help me when it comes to strongman. Power production has never been an issue of mine - I’m a fast sprinter, and can pretty much ace any jumping test thrown at me. STATIC strength is where my weakness lies, and when I come back to training I think this should be addressed head-on.
I could still do cleans as an activator, but I think my 2 big lifts for back day will be the conventional deadlift, and the car deadlift (unless of course a competition dictates otherwise)
I’m a fan of that program as well. I often season my workouts with stuff from that article as I enjoy the simplicity and exercise selection he suggests.
It seems to be a somewhat rare combination to have both of these attributes in the same program. Some of the other elements have worked well for me in the past too like
working up to a heavy set & backing off with a downset
a little extra back & posterior chain work
hitting all of the big movement planes.
I think I avoided it for so long because it was a I just kept sipping on that frequency cool-aid and it seemed too “bro-spilttey.” Reading through some of the bodybuilding threads has really helped me come around on the whole thing.
Reverse lunges, bar on back
90 x 4 x 10 (each leg)
Suitcase carry
100’ x 100lbs
100’ x 150lbs
100’ x 100lbs
Prowler
3 x 100’ x 135lbs
Notes: im taking the concept of only using 10s, 25s, & 45s and applying it to a double progression with prs scheme. Im staying within the template set/rep sceme parameters and will add weight after i max out the reps. So for the front squat above as an example, i will keep ramping up in sets of 8 to a pr set (this time was 225x6). Once i hit 8 reps at 225, the max reps within the template, i earn the right to move to 245. I feel like if i can hit 8 good reps with 225, i should manage 4 reps with 245 & so on & so forth.
EDIT - weight this am is 176lbs… feeling dry right now for whatever reason
EMOM - 5 hang cleans with 135 - bar slipped out of my hands on 3rd rep of the 7th minute & I stopped it there.
Notes: Tick tock, tick tock!
As I said earlier, I don’t think cleans are needed as my primary exercise on pull day, but I’m not looking to strain my back right before the big day. I’ll probably keep them in as conditioning… I’ve been eyeing CrossFit workouts for some of my conditioning sessions and they’d fit well with Elizabeth or Grace.
BTN Strict Press, touching traps each time (using bodybuilder bar, I weighed it as a little over 30lbs)
bar/30lbs x8
50lbs x 8
70lbs x 8
80lbs x 8
100lbs x 8
120lbs x 5
90lbs x 10
70lbs x 10
DB slight incline bench (about 4" worth of plates under the back of the bench)
75s x 10 (no incline)
75s x10
75s x 10
75s x8
60s x 10
Cable Ys (as in YTWs but on the cable machine using a cambered bar)
Notes: I tried the first set of db bench flat, and not only did it bug my shoulders but I didn’t feel much in work my chest - probably b/c I was so focused on my shoulders. I really like the slight incline bench, it hit’s my lackluster upper pecs, doesn’t limit the weight, and doesn’t bother my shoulders at all.
I went with the Ys to get a little extra overhead action in since I’ve been slacking with it a tad.
Thanks @FlatsFarmer! Just got in last night! It was an amazing experience, the wedding, the honeymoon, everything. Back to reality lol.
Alirghty so update: I haven’t trained since the start of october. I’ve been running on quite the deficit and have done a ton of walking these last couple of weeks in SE Asia.
All total I’ve lost about 10lbs. I’m looking leaner, but I’m sure I lost some LBM. Everyone is remarking on my weight change (I weighed 172 last night). Going to get back into the gym and get down on it beginning next week, just going to dabble until then.
I was planning on just coming back to Ben Bruno College, though since I’ve lost so much size, I’m considering a re-run of building the monolith or another big full-body plan (really, really considering 100% awesome run as front squat/incline, clean & press/deadlift, incline/front squat) to regain some lost overall mass. Ben Bruno college feels like it would be better after a hard high-volume mass-building block to chisel the finer details.
Thanks partner! It’s crazy how much build up (and money) it all is and then it’s over in a flash… like a firework. A really, really expensive firework lol.
Alrighty, went in for a session on Friday to get a feel for it again. I didn’t have much of a plan, other that I wanted to get a feel for some pressing, pulling, and squatting.
I got all activated with working up to 185 for 3x3 on the power clean.
Hit some squats with just the bar to get the hips moving
incline up to a (sadly) heavy single with 185
left
Notes: This session wasn’t about building anything, just letting my body get a feel for the movement patterns again. 185 on was ridiculously harder than I’d like it to be, but with the time off and weight drop it’s to be expected I guess.
I had been experiencing a bit of tendinitis in my elbows after squatting and had hoped the vacation would relieve it, but even with just the bar it flared up again (short duration). It’s got to be a from thing, I think my grip is a wee bit too wide and it’s stressing my elbows. Although, the narrower the grip the harder it is on my shoulders. High bar could be the solution, but it’s actually harder on my low back than are low bar squats.
A1 Front squats - worked up to 5x5 @ 185, really fast & explosive reps
A2 Axle strict press - worked up to less fast 5x5 @ 135.
then some chest supported rows and a little circus bell.
Notes: everything felt good. I went beltless b/c the new tattoo on my side is still healing. I’m going to keep getting back in the swing of things for the rest of the week, then figure out some training maxes. I have been itching, itching, to run 1000% since I first laid my eyes on it, but never found a suitable time to work it in for my goals. I would have had to butcher the whole program. I won’t be competing anytime soon, so I can finally run it as intended. However I’ll run it with the front squat instead of back squat, & I’ll go with the pressing 2x/week option. It’ll be:
Strict press/front squat - deadlift/bench - Front squat/strict press
I initially wanted to run incline, but A) I want a body weight press, & B) logistically strict presing will be easier as I can superset the main movements since I don’t need anything but a rack. I’ve been concerned about loosing my ability to produce leg dive & the feeling of heavy weight over my head. Well, I need to bring my static strength up, period, and this will incentivise me to work on jerks with the circus dumbbell.
Goals for 3 cycle program are:
315 Front Squat (all-time PR is 300)
185 Strict Press (all-time PR is est. 175)
5lb weight gain
Deadlift, Bench, & conditioning will be on maintenance, Though I wouldn’t be shocked to see improvement by way of carryover. I think adding 15 & 10 lbs to these lifts and 5lbs of body weight is achievable for a higher frequency, 3 month training block cycle .
Haha, I guess you can’t put a price on memories my friend. But someone apparently can. We got married at a winery - I’m not particularly the biggest fan of wine so I asked how much it would be to get a couple of kegs. $3,000 soo, guess who drank wine all night lol.
I’m either going to train upper body today or tomorrow.
Fun fact about my trip: I stepped right on a damn sea urchin, those spiky black ones, and the barbs are still lodged in my feet & giving me quite a bit of grief. Can’t run at all, or even walk fast. But, unbeknownst to me, something got lodged in the heel of my OTHER foot and is now getting seemingly quite infected (perhaps some TMI). So essentially both feet are out of commission and walking is very unpleasant right now.
The reason I’m either going to train today or tomorrow is that I plan on drinking a bit and carving all that mess out of my foot at some point, and tonight may be the night.
Thanks man, I appreciate your concern. That pretty damn scary, & a couple of my pals who surf gave me similar warnings over the last day or two so I’m taking it a lot more seriously now.
Fortunately (well sort of, I’ll get to that lol), my wife is an RN and knows what to do. She sterilized everything & did minor surgery on it last night. We had no painkiller or analgesic, so I downed some wine & bit down on a pillow (that is the sort of part) & she got to work. She described it as a “tunnel” through my foot but after an hour got it to where she felt good about it. She doesn’t like using antibiotics unless they are absolutely necessary, so if it looks better today when changing the bandages I’ll let my body do they work.
Incline bench mechanical drop-set a la @T3hPwnisher, starting at the top setting and working until nearly flat - used 35lbs and got a wicked front delt pump
DB Incline bench: 55x10-12, 50x10-12, 45x10-12, 40x10-12
Dips rest-pause set
Notes: I’ve been thinking of things to do where I don’t have to utilize my feet, which there is quite a bit if you get creative - just no squatting, pressing, or deadlifting.
There is this guy in our gym who’s wheelchair bound post car accident. Dude is always in there working on something, and frankly made me feel like a bit of a bitch for complaining about my foot injury.
Saturday I FINALLY hit legs again. I went on the light side because A) don’t want to open the foot up again, and B) I’m super weak right now.
Every set was 10 reps with 135lbs (i think? may have gone to 185 somewhere but can’t remember, and who really cares lol)
Seated good mornings, 2 sets - hated these.
Low bar Back squats, 3 sets
good mornings, 3 sets
high bar back squats, 2 sets
Even at this weight, low bar back squats wreak havoc on my elbows. Screw 'em. I’m ready to begin my 1000% awesome next week and finally snag that 315 front squat & bodyweight press.