Never Go Full Strongman (or Bikini)

[TX_iron]

11-14-17 - 1000% Awesome, Leader 1, workout 1

A1) Beltless Front squat - 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 160x5, 180x5, 205x5
A2) Strict Swiss Bar Press - 45x5, 115x5x5

B1) bw back extensions, 3x10
B2) dips, 3x10
B3) chins, 3x10

C) Farmers walks, 115/hand, 4x100’

Notes: I just couldn’t wait any longer. Everything feels fairly heavy right now, likely due to me being so deconditioned. I guess a month of no lifting, followed by weeks of minimal training, and lacking nutrition takes away gains?

I think my body just needs to re-acclimate; that coupled with getting my eating back on track then these weights should start flying.

NO IDEA, why in the world I though Farmers walks of all things would be a good idea coming back from a foot injury, but oh well.

[TX_iron]

I thought I should mention in a separate post why I’m going with the 1000% awesome template.

A few reasons:

• If needed, I only have to be in the gym for the main/supplemental work. And with supersetting, I can knock it out in 20 minutes or so, then rack-up assistance & conditioning work throughout the day. This gives me plenty of time for those days when it’s lift during lunch or don’t lift at all.

• The workload won’t be too demanding ( compared to say, monolith, hardgainer, or power look program). Not that I’m trying to shy away from hard work, it just seemed more pragmatic to something I know I can handle, going for quality > quantity

• I’ve had a lot of success with fullbody routines in the past, & I dislike twiddling thumbs between sets… something I found myself doing with the power look program.

[TX_iron]

So I had an epiphany regarding “easy conditioning” as Jim Wendler puts it (air dyne, weight vest walks, easy runs) an how to fit them in.

I was driving home after picking my dog up from daycare (yeah, get the laughs in) and was trying to decide how to use the hour gap between when I get home and when my wife gets home. It was either pick-up the house, or go on a weight vest walk.

Then I thought, why not do both? I donned the weight vest (45lbs) & walked around the house picking up. I think this will be my 3x/week easy conditioning - lower my resting heart rate AND be productive.

[TX_iron]

Last Week

1,000% Awesome, Leader 1, B/3s

Deadlift - 135x5, 235x5, 290x5, 330x5
Pause Bench - 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x5x5

body weight assistance stuff & power cleans

---

1,000% Awesome, Leader 1, C/3s

(superset)
Front Squat - 45x5, 135x5, 185x5x5
Press - 45x5, 95x5, 110x5, 120x5

low back was fried from the bench, deads, & cleans the day prior, so I just did some chins, dips, & sit-ups

---

Notes: I did weight vest walks on most of the off-days, but I’ve been slacking a little with the conditioning work.

[Koestrizer]

@TX_iron

1,000% Awesome, Leader 1, B/3s

Is this another 5/3/1 variation? I can’t keep up anymore.

[TX_iron]

Yeah man it is, & it’s one I’ve been eyeing for quite a while now. Without getting into too much detail, it combines higher frequency of a couple lifts with some medium intesity work, while staying true to only actually pushing one big lift per day. I just never felt like it was the right thing to run for what I wanted to acheive, until now of course - it seemed like the perfect “get back in the game” program.

[TX_iron]

Wednesday
A1) Front squat up to 190
A2) landmine ab Twist things w/ a plate (core)
A3) landmine meadows row (pull)

B1) log viper press away 110x5x5
B2) empty yoke run on grass - 200’ x5

C) one arm stanfing arnold presses (push)

other days
Easy conditioning stuff

[TX_iron]

Was a little hangovery this am so i needed to sweat it out.

Deadlift - 135x5, 235x5, 275x5, 310x5
Pause axle bench - 45x5, 135x5, 185x5x5

Did a variety of pushing, pulling, and abs.

Then…

THEN…

I decided it was nice enough for a jetty run.
It’s a total of 2 miles down & back, & starts off easy beeezy

But it gets sketcky pretty fast

Real sketcky lol
(for reference many of those rocks are as tall as I am)

But in the end it’s a great feeling of accomplishment and a gorgeous view

Now time for a shower beer, brisket, and baked potatoes!

[TX_iron]

11-26-17, 1,000% Awesome, 5s week, workout C

In no particular order (post-warm-up)

• 5 rounds of" 2 Turkish gets-ups, 2 box jumps

• Front Squats - 135x5, 185x8x5

• Strict Press - 90x5, 100x5, 115x5

• Neutral Chins (pull) - BWx8, +45x8, +45x8

• DB 2" Incline Bench (push) - 2x15 w 60s

• Lots & lots of tire flips (single-leg/core/conditioning)

Notes: I’ve been doing the get-up/jump/throw combo since I began this program, as it calls for mobility & jumping. I freaking love turkish get-ups. I feel so much more mobile when I incorporate them and I don’t find them tedious to do. I probably should fit in some soft-tissue work in though.

It felt like a good day to push the squat volume since I was fresh & had a lot of time. It felt so good to do some tire flips again! There are tons of tires outside and lots of space, I just dislike being covered in a thick black residue after.

[TX_iron]

11-28-17, 1000%, 531 week, workout A

5 rounds:

• 2 turkish get-ups
• 2 box jumps
• 5 softballs on chains pull-ups (forearm destroyers)

A1) Clean 1x then front squat away - 135x5, 170x5, 190x5, missed twice with 215, so as punishment…
Zercher full cycle 1x, then zercher away - 215 x5

A2) Swiss bar press, 5x5 with 115

B1) landmine squats
B2) Snatch-grip rows
B3) incline push-ups

Notes: I don’t really know why I missed those cleans with 215, could have something to do with forearm fatigue (softball chins + tire flips) or the front squats. Whatever.

In other news, I like my house on the bay, but I really miss living on the Island. Taking my barbell out to the beach in the morning before work & hitting the water after made my mornings.

This was exactly 1 mile from my house:

[TX_iron]

Saturday, 12-2-17, 1000% Awesome, Leader 1, 5/3/1 week, Workouts B & C (combined)

W1) 2 turkish get-ups with 35lb bell
W2) 2 box jumps

A1) Deadlift - warm-up, 275x5, 315x5, 345x5
A2) OHP - warm-up, 95x5, 110x5, 130x5

B1) Axle Paused Bench - warm-up, 185x5x5
B2) Axle mixed grip rows (alternating) - warm-up, 185x5x5

C1) Front squats - 185x5x5
C2) TRX reverse flys w/ upward rotation (I love these for the rear & mid area of the delts)

D) a bunch of machine stuff for push, pull, single leg/core

Conditioning recap (since I need to be held more accountable for this)
Monday - none
Tuesday - half an hour or so of biking, easy
Wednesday - nada
Thursday - 1 mile run, hard
Friday - 10 rounds of Dan John’s 1 kettlebell workout, hard
Saturday - Disk golf, easy
Sunday - zilch

I missed one hard and one easy conditioning session. I planned to do a hard run followed by walkin, aka “stubborn fat cardio,” but the day got away from me (time management is a skill I need to improve upon). Ineed to reign that in and be more dilligent this week, as the program calls for 3 hard days and 3 easy days.

Notes:
This wraps-up the first leader. I’m enjoying the program so far & feeling the lifts are starting to groove a bit smoother. Initially I though my bench would go down, and that still may show to be true, but I think with this speed/technique work that may not be the case.

As my training maxes are now higher, it’s time to up the weight of the 80-85% work, so it’ll be 195 for front squat/bench. The press will remain for the most part unless I’m using a log.

[TX_iron]

12-4-17, 1000%, Leader 2, 3s week, workout A

No warm-up.

Axle Continental Clean (1x) and front squat away:
115x5, 165x5, 190x5, 215x5 ← continental PR

Log Viper & Press Away:
115x5x5

200lb sand bag over bar (single leg/core):
10 total reps

DB incline/DB rows - about 50 reps total for each movement with 50lbs, constant tension/no lockout. Also did some keg vipers and some continental to overhead, both weighed 165lbs.

Farmers runs (hard conditioning 1):
100lb/hand x about 80’ (1 turn) x6

[TX_iron]

12-6-17, hard conditioning 2, easy 1

Did what I call complex cards, I assigned a movement to each suit, & the number of reps corresponded to the number on the card (duh), all face cars were 10, except for aces would have been 20 had I seen one. The moves were:

hearts - paused, slow decent push-ups
diamonds - goblet squats w/ 35lb bell
clubs - kb swings w/ 35lb bell
spades - ab wheel

Ended up being a lot of face cards & goblet squats. I was doing my kb swings as both a hinge AND a pull. I swung it up violently with my hips, and then tried to forcefully pull it back downward with my lats. I hate the ab wheel, it wrecks my low back.

Did 1/2 a deck, then put on a weight vest & cleaned-up the casa for about 45 minutes.

[Koestrizer]

@TX_iron

I hate the ab wheel, it wrecks my low back.

That doesn’t sound right.

@TX_iron

put on a weight vest & cleaned-up the casa for about 45 minutes.

Now that sounds like it would wreck my back . For me simple house work can feel pretty stressfull on my back because I am so tall and have to bend over for such a long time when I do this stuff.

[TX_iron]

@Koestrizer
Haha, that it does not. It’s weird, I can pass a lot of core-strength standards. I can do dragon flags, levers, etc. But my low back just tends to cave in when doing ab wheel roll-outs. Man, I definitely felt my low back tightening up it walking around! And my cat was being very catty & knocking around our holiday decor… thanks cat.

---

I did my fasted health screening via my company this morning.

My stats are:
6’ tall/183cm
176.9lbs/80kg
11.9% bf (done with one of those handheld things, not super accurate but ok for keeping track)
126/72 blood pressure
61 resting heart rate (post-coffee chug)

Labs looked good too, everything in the range it needs to be in.

My wife told me last night that I’m looking bigger in the shoulders & chest, & leaner around the waist. So score there!

[caesium32]

For what it’s worth my lower back sometimes felt funny with the ab wheel but after watching a Ben Pollack video about abs and trying it with the ab wheel today they felt much better. It was called something like the secret to shredded abs but I’m sure you could find it on youtube if you just search Ben Pollack abs.

Oh and I’m 100% stealing that conditioning idea.

[TX_iron]

Thought I was the only one lol. Thanks man I’m definitely going to check that out, everyone rants & raves about them, but that issue has kept me from really getting into them.

Steal away mi amigo! I’m sure it’s been around (probably in prisons) long before I thought of doing it. I’ve done it with a set weight barbell too which was pretty sweet.

[TX_iron]

12-8-17, 1000% Leader 2, workout B (1/2)
Warm-up - 5 rounds of 2 turkish get-ups, 2 box jumps

Deadlift - 135x5, 225x5, 265x5, 300x5, 340x5

Cut it short here, I just plain ran out of time. Atcually, I’m thinking of ditching the lunch gym workouts. I still want to workout, but I think I’d be much better off doing conditioning instead of going to the gym. I SHOULD have trained outside, feelin’ a bit bummed about not doing so, especially because it was a SNOW DAY!

I know it’s not a big deal to most people around the world, but the last time snow fell in this city was in 2004. Hell, last week it was in the 80s/30c. The roads were fine, but almost no one even showed up to my office until like 10.

[TX_iron]

12-9-17, 1000%, leader 2, 3s week, workout C
AM
2 mile easy jog/run (Easy 2)

PM
Axle Strict Press - 100x5, 110x5, 125x5

Paused Axle Bench - 135x5, 195x7x5

Front Squats - 195x7x5

face-pulls, curls, dips, back extensions.

Notes
I tried to superset the bench & front squat, using continental cleans to rack the weight Man did I jack myself up & threw my back out. 215 went up smooth as could be, but 195 felt stapled to the floor.

I was going to hit the hills & run, but didn’t want to tweak my back further with potentially compromising movements, so instead I did some active recovery by way of disk golf.

[TX_iron]

12-12-17, 1000% leader 2, 5s week, workout A

Front Squat - 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 200x5

Trap Bar clean 1x, & press away - 115x7x5

Dips, back raises, sandbag rows

Suitcase runs - 115 x 3 x 200’ (switched hands at 100’)/Hard conditioning 1

Notes
Back was a bit upset waking up this morning, I think the trap bar work was too much too soon. I’ve been doing the loaded carries really light for two reasons, the first being I want to work on speed, the second is if it’s heavy I don’t really consider it conditioning & would make room for it in the “single-leg/core” assistance category.

Bikini (her)
She’s been doing more or less her own thing. Her main lifts are front squats, sumo deadlifts, and close-grip bench, and then follows it up with a circuit for the muscle group. She definitely likes training with a split approach; each body part on it’d own day. Different strokes I guess, I have just never had much patience for body part splits.

She’s also working to lean-up. She’s eating around 1500 calories right now, and plans to cut it down to 1450 once the weight loss stalls, then to 1400, and so on.

I’m thinking about introducing her to a 10x3 rep scheme or something.

I also bought her some adidas powerlift 3s for Christmas, but shhh