OwainGlyndwr's Training Log

Training Training Logs
41

The Dúnadan
Who’s that Stranger in the Corner?

I will forego just pasting my lengthy writeup and methodology for this program here: it’s still a work in progress, and I’m under no misconceptions that the fine readers of TNation are super interested in a weird Lord of the Rings–themed homebrew framework. (But if anyone who happens upon this log wants more detail, lemme know and I’ll share!) The intro material below is already pretty lengthy anyway.

The bare bones are as follows:

  • This is a general athletic framework that combines a lot of the training ideas I’ve absorbed and put to good use, tailored specifically to my interests and abilities.
  • It’s intended to be a ground-level, park-bench-style framework for the rest of my life. It’s therefore scalable and adaptable to a lot of different needs.
  • It allows for “modules” to be inserted—ie other programs, so down the road I can do Super Squats or BTM or something and not be deviating from these principles.
  • The framework encompasses lifting, running, rowing, LISS and HIT conditioning, yoga, walks, sports and for-fun physical activities, one-off challenges, and nutritional tracking.
  • Programming is done in 9-week blocks comprising 3 waves, each with a particular focus.

This is just the trial run of the program, hence the title of this block, referencing the hobbits’ encounter with Strider at Bree. We’ll see how the man in the shadows turns out.

So, initial information for this block:

  • July 30–September 30
  • Main lifts: flat bench, back squat, trap bar deadlift, strict press
  • Supplementary lifts: close-grip bench, front squat, RDL, BTN press
  • Accessories: triceps extension, hammer curl, lateral raise/seated row; goblin squat, leg press, leg extension; KB swing, calf raise, clean; DB press, Poundstone curl, BB row
  • Complexes: Bear, ABC, row-clean-FS-press-GM-squat, clean-press-squat-GM-BTN-FS, row-hang-RDL-hang-FS
  • Carries: sled push, sled drag, goblin carry, KB rack carry, overhead carry
  • Agility: tire flips, ball slams, battle ropes, burpees
  • Bodyweight work: push-ups, sit-ups, ab wheel, ab machine, dips, chins, burpees, dead bugs
  • HIT: Grace, Cindy, Kalsu, EMOM burpees/chins, air sprints and KB supersets
  • LISS: rowing, incline treadmill, stationary bike
  • Yoga: mediation, flexibility, guided
  • Walks: as available
  • Other: swim, hike, basketball
  • Challenge: Weathertop run

Goals:

  • Fat loss (295 → 277)
  • 20-mile week
  • 8-mile run
  • 30-minute 3-mile run
  • 8:59 mile
  • 1500m row PR (current is 6:49)
  • Bear Complex x15 for time (set PR)
  • 10RM PR Front Squat
  • 10RM PR BTN Press
  • Hit 100 PS curls
  • Isolate triceps and quads
  • Nutrition: 2000–2250 kcal, 1 gallon of water, 150g protein, lots of vegetables, no idle snacking
  • Improve sleep and meditation

And there’s the initial block’s overview! I’m excited to get to work.

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42

The Dúnadan
Who’s that Stranger in the Corner?

Wave 1 Overview

  • Elf Week: high-rep Front Squats, 9:30 mile, high-rep BTN Press, high-rep triceps and quads
  • Dwarf Week: increase weight on FS and BTN, increase weight on close-grip bench
  • Ranger Week: hit 75 PS curls, longer rowing session, push time on Bear Complexes
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43

The Dúnadan
Who’s that Stranger in the Corner?

Wave 1: Elf, Day 1
Walk: 1.57 miles
Push-ups: x25
Dead bugs: x25
Yoga: 15:00, relaxation

Note: Good first start to the program. Nice to have it written up here; I’m still working on the spreadsheet to make tracking easier, so this log will prove helpful. I’m thinking I’ll only address nutrition at the end of each week; I’m already logging nutrition, water, caffeine, sleep daily, and I don’t feel like repeating the information unless I’m actually analyzing it.

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44

Wave 1: Elf, Day 2
Run: 2.0 miles, 23:28, treadmill (endurance, 0.8)
Row: 1500m, 7:24

Bench: x8 @ 225
CG Bench: x10 @ 185
Triceps Ext: x75 @ 125
BTN Press: x15 @ 95
KB Swing: x100 @ 53
Complex 2 (clean-press-squat-good morning-BTN press-front squat): 3 reps, 2 rounds @ 95
Agility: 5 burpees
Chins: x20

Walk: 1.1 miles

Note: Very pleased with this first day. Skipped the carry (sled push) due to lack of availability. In general, I get one skip per session, and all this took about 42 minutes, so I’m right on track with my estimated 45 minutes per session. I went too heavy for an Elf week, but that’s kind of to be expected; I’ll dial it back tomorrow. Overall, I feel very capable and fit from these movements, and I’m excited to move forward into this program.

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45

Wave 1: Elf, Day 3
Run: 1.5 miles, 14:41, treadmill (speed, 8:42)

Front Squat: 4x5 @ 135
Hammer Curl: 3x10 w/25s
Lat Raise: 3x10 w/10s
DB Press: 3x10 w/30s
Complex 1 (row-clean-FS-press-GM-squat): 5 reps, 3 rounds @ 75
Chins: x10
Dips: x10

Note: No conditioning and skipped agility, carry, and heavy squats today due to time constraints; might do some KB and bodyweight work before bed, might call it good with this. Accidentally hit my block goal for the speed run, but I’ll do it again outside before I officially count it. Successfully kept things much lighter this time. Still terrible at the rack position for front squats—my shoulders get in the way for the cross grip, but that’s the only way I can hang on to the bar for more than a few reps. Guess I need to improve wrist mobility. Baseball drills are my old standby, that’d be fun. Anyway, good session today.

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46

Wave 1: Elf, Day 4
Pushups: x25
Situps: x25
Burpees: x25

Note: Ordinarily, this would be a day for bodyweight work, a long walk, yoga, and maybe even some conditioning or something. I kept things really simple and short because I had some other personal stuff I wanted to focus on. Feels good to have made that decision, but going forward I don’t want to be lax about these “active recovery days,” since today I can tell that I’d be more limber if I’d done at least some KB stuff last night or something.

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47

Wave 1: Elf, Day 5
Run: 1.2 miles, 13:16, treadmill (free)

Press: x10 @ 185 (3x3, 1)
BTN Press: 4x5 @ 135
Seated Row: 5x5 @ 125
Calf Raise: 2x25 @ 200
PS Curls: x75 @ 45
Bear Complexes: x10 @ 95, 4:24
Goblin Carry: 6 laps @ 80
Chins: x20
Dips: x20

Butt Blaster 4000: made it to 6 @ 40

Note: Solid day. Made it through more than I expected in terms of movements. The BB4k conditioning was a mental fail; I could have made it to 10. Next time as penance haha. Overall though, this day was precisely what I thought it should be.

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48

Wave 1: Elf, Day 6
Deadlift: x10 @ 315 (3, 2, 3, 2)
Trap Bar Deadlift: 2x10 @ 225
Triceps Ext: 4x25 @ 100
Goblin Squat: 2x10 @ 62
Leg Press: x40 @ 265
Ab Machine: x25 @ 150
Burpees: x10 w/some ball throws

Modified Cindy WOD: 3/5/8 chin/push-up/air squat, 5 rounds, 7:43
Stationary Bike: 3 miles, 11:52

Note: Oof. In a good way. Another solid session. This day is meant to be simple strength and rep stuff, a few accessories/bodyweight movements, extra conditioning, and catchup/events/miscellaneous. I think the structure works really well; I think I went too heavy/too many reps for a proper Elf week. Which is fine, it just means I’ll need to keep that in mind and be a little more proactive about fatigue and load management. I’m glad I didn’t have time for my long run today; that’ll be tomorrow. I’ll also need to remember to vary my main/supplemental movements to different days of the week; I can’t always be hitting a long run, deadlifts and variations, and a bunch of conditioning every Friday. Again, though, this was a good session: it fit the needs of the program and confirmed the validity of the framework. Excited to try out Cindy again and put up an actual full WOD for it.

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49

Wave 1: Elf, Day 7
Run: 4.01 miles, 57:12, outdoor (bark/paved)

Note: That’s the longest run I’ve done since May 2022. Sheesh. Very slow time, but that was partially by design, since I’m trying to build back up a base. Heart rate was lower than I expected throughout, which is a sign that things are working. The weather’s finally cooling off a little too, which is nice. Overall, it was great to enjoy a longer run outside. I love running outdoors. This is a good first step.

That completes the Elf week for this wave. I’ll have to do a summary later on today with reflections and plans moving forward.

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50

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 1
Pushups: x25
Situps: x25

Note: Just a quick thing on Sunday. I was visiting family and on the move all day. Plus, this week is a Dwarf week, so keeping things fresh for some heavier lifts this week will be good.

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51

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 2
Yoga: 14:52, meditative
Pushups: x25
Burpees: x25

Note: Unexpectedly busy today, so this is what I could manage. It was fine.

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52

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 3
Run: 1 mile, 10:00, treadmill (endurance)
Row: 500m, 2:34

Bench: 3x3 @ 255
CG Bench: 3x6 @ 225
BB Row: 5x3 @ 185
DB Press: 5x3 w/50s
Lat Raise: 2x10 w/10s
Complex 2 (clean-press-squat-GM-BTN press-FS): 8 reps, 2 rounds @ 95
Sled Drag: 4 laps @ 135 (handles)
Chins: x20

Note: Time was an issue, so the run and rowing were shorter than planned, but good enough. Lifting was great. I felt really strong today. Until the complex, anyway. The second round I had to do in two pieces because I was wiped haha. I’m still figuring out the right parameters of this program; there’s so much flexibility that figuring out the right approach for autoregulation is necessarily going to take a while. Just trying to make sure I jot down the right lessons so I can incorporate them going forward. In this case, Dan John’s “keep the goal the goal”: It’s a Dwarf week, so for lifting, I’m going heavier and more powerful, which isn’t the time to overextend on something like a complex. Now, in fairness, rounds and reps are chosen by die roll, but that means that I should have either done this complex prior to benching or should have dropped the weight. I’m not complaining - it was good work, and this is exactly the sort of thing I want to learn with this block. Overall, really solid day.

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53

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 4
Run: 1 mile, 8:19, treadmill (speed)

Squat: 3x2 @ 405
Front Squat: x1 @ 275, x3 @ 225
RDL: 2x10 @ 225
KB Swing: 4x25 @ 53
PS Curls: x50 @ 45
ABCs: x5 w/53s
KB Rack Carry: 4 laps w/53s
Chins: x20
Ab Machine: x50 @ 125

Note: Whew. Good heavy workout. Squats were good, RDLs were good, chins were good. Carries did crazy things to my obliques, so those are great. First time doing ABCs; I would of course like to work up to doing 5 minutes of them, but this was a good primer. Kept some other stuff light/lower reps as a result of the heavier workload. I’m still working on FS mobility, but this was a start! Short fast run, no conditioning: I’ll make up for both over the next couple days. Great example of a Dwarf day I think.

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54

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 4 (addendum)
Run: 0.85 miles, 9:43, outside
Walk: 1.17 miles

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55

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 5
Dead Bugs: x25
Ab Wheel: x5

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 6
Run: 1.6 miles, 16:59, treadmill (free)
Row: 1000m, 5:05

Push Press: x2, x3 @ 225
BTN Press: 2x4 @ 185
Triceps Ext: 3x25 @ 125
Calf Raise: 5x10 @ 400
Clean: 2x5 @ 155
Bear Complexes: x15 @ 95 (7:34)
Sled Drag: 4 laps @ 180
Ball Toss/Agility Work: 3 minutes @ 10
Chins: x10
Dips: x10

Note: Good session. Probably a little too heavy on presses, but that’s okay. Caught the 7th BTN on my shoulders, so a little light bruising there, but nothing on my back, which I’m taking pride in: shoulders are looking great right now. Overall a solid session. Tomorrow I’ll at least get in the distance run and a HIT session; might also have time for deadlifts, LISS, and some miscellany.

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56

Wave 1: Dwarf, Day 7
Run: 4.5 miles, 1:04:05, outside (distance)

Note: Slightly farther than last week’s, slightly better pace, about 10º warmer. Success.

Wave 1: Ranger, Day 1
Hike: 1.25 miles, 52:41, ~400 feet elevation gain

Note: Late Lammas celebration with my family. Considering that my three-year-old walked the whole way, this was a pretty solid pace. Great views, great company, great blackberry pie waiting for us at the bottom.

Wave 1: Ranger, Day 2
Run: 1.5 miles, 16:41, treadmill (endurance)
Row: 1000m, 5:06

Deadlift: 2x5 @ 365
BB Row: 4x5 @ 135
PS Curls: x50 @ 45
Triceps Ext: 10x10 @ 125
Complex 1 (row-clean-FS-press-GM-squat): 2 reps, 3 rounds @ 135
Chins: x10
Ab Machine: x50 @ 125

Note: Pretty good day. I realized that I didn’t have clear expectations for this Ranger week: it’s meant to be pretty flexible, meaning I can choose to hit PRs, do extended cardio/conditioning, hit block goals, bring up lagging bodyweight stuff, deload, whatever. After this session, I think this week’s focus will be on cardio and conditioning, with lifting dropping a notch in intensity so I can manage fatigue better. Also I’ve been enjoying the agility work I’ve been doing, so I want to bump that up. Overall I think it’ll be a solid week: I think with some CG bench, longer rowing sessions, and bear complexes, I’ll handily hit all my goals for this wave and be in a good place for the next one.

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57

Wave 1: Ranger, Day 3
Agility: Burpees x5, Tire Flips x10 @ medium weight, ball throws x50ish @ 10 pounds (over, under, up, low, both hands)
Bench: x7 @ 275 (PR)
CG Bench: 3x5 @ 245
Hammer Curls: 3x10 w/35s
Leg Ext: 5x15 @ 100
DB Press: 3x10 w/50s
Complex 2 (clean-press-squat-GM-BTN-FS): 6 reps, 1 round @ 95
Chins: x5

Note: Pretty happy with this session. That bench PR was a fun one to grab. Loved doing the agility work, as I noted in my last post. I was gassed by the time I got to the complexes, so I only did one round. Feeling good though.

Wave 1: Ranger, Day 4
Run: 5 miles, 1:13:38, outside (distance)

Note: I was supposed to do this run last night, but spent time with my family at the aviary instead. Well worth it. Woke up feeling like death and spent the entire run feeling like death. Probably would have been faster to just walk instead of the huffing-gasping hybrid trot I did. BUT: I completed the 5 miles, I didn’t give up, I listened to a fun audiobook, and I feel excellent for having logged it. I also devoured a lime snowcone afterward. Some of the mitigating factors were legitimate (poor air quality and sleep, higher fatigue), some were just mental, but this was definitely a victory of grit. Probably won’t do much more today and I’ll be back in the gym tomorrow.

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58

Is there a relation between the “races” – Elf, Dwarf, Ranger – and the training style or qualities you’re developing?

59

Yeah, for sure. I’ve got a much longer writeup of the methodology and intention behind the program that I should finish fleshing out at some point, but since this is a homebrew program that I doubt anyone else will ever want to run, there’s no urgency for that, haha.

But the basic idea is that the program is called The Dúnadan, which specifically refers to Aragorn, and the conceit is that as the Dúnadan he epitomizes the best qualities of Elves, Dwarves, and Rangers (drawing on his time with Legolas and Gimli in TTT). Elves are fast, agile, and light; Dwarves are strong, sturdy, and powerful; and Rangers are resilient, adaptable, and endurant. The Dúnadan is all three of these.

As far as that translates to training, it kind of permeates the program. Lifting days have heavy work (Dwarf), technical/supplementary high-rep work (Elf), and complexes (Ranger), as well as carries (Dwarf), agility/mobility work (Elf), and bodyweight/accessory work (Ranger). There’s a similar breakdown for running, conditioning, etc. choices.

And then on a broader scheme, each block of programming is 9 weeks of 3 3-week waves. Currently, each wave has a week for Elf, a week for Dwarf, and a week for Ranger. (I might do a block in which there’s an Elf wave etc.) How that actually affects training is mostly in terms of load management, rep and set schemes, and mindset. During the Elf week, I set goals that are focused on moving quick, hammering technique, running fast. During the Dwarf week I try to increase the load and do more carries. During the Ranger week I lengthen distances, increase conditioning and work capacity overall, address deficiencies, etc. And then once every block I do some sort of themed challenge: climb Weathertop, the Flight to the Ford, that sort of thing.

It’s meant to be a general athletic framework that I kind of just run indefinitely and plug other programs/training/comp prep into as necessary. Sort of a baseline for the rest of my life that gives me some structure and allows me to work toward specific goals without neglecting the fundaments of fitness. This is just the trial run, but so far I’m really happy with the setup of everything.

I apologize that even this “summary” is so long-winded, haha. But that’s the gist of it.

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USMC Dadbod Elimination Log
60

:bangbang:

Awesome, nice work!

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