Treadmill
Walking 10 minutes at 5mph
Running 15 minutes at 8mph, 1 at 8.1, 1 at 8.2, 1 at 8.3, 1 at 8.4, 1 at 8.5
Incline 0
Notes: To clarify, the last 5 minutes I kept increasing the speed by .1 every minute.
I’m honestly amazed at how strong my cardio is for this. I’m not getting winded or fatigued, feel like I could run forever. Just holding back on pushing the knee too stupidly. Next up is 25 minutes.
Also, feeling much better than I did earlier today. I took the day off from dips, chins and pull aparts and ate all the dead animal flesh I could get my hands on.
And once again I am happy that I have joined this community! I don’t agree with all of what has been written but I love to read it and get an inside look into the mind of people like you and Alpha!
Pure gold! Thanks for sharing to the both of you!
@Koestrizer Glad you appreciated looking into our minds. No need to agree or disagree with any of it; it’s just how we work. Awesome new avatar by the way!
Grippers
5x#2.5
40 seconds with #2
DROPSET
10x2
10x1
10xTrainer
Notes: Took 2 weeks off, didn’t miss anything. Still took it a little lighter for my elbows.
Woke up at 195.2, which considering everything I ate yesterday, is probably a good sign that I was underfed. Good to be on the way to recovery.
Thanks! (would have set just “thanks” but this post must be 20 characters)!
Treadmill
Walking 5 minutes at 5mph
Running 25 minutes at 8mph
Incline 0
Notes: Another successful run, and by my calculations I ran a 5k in there (in about 23 minutes and 15 seconds). That would be the first 5k I have run since 2008. I MAY have run one in 2013, but my memory is a little fuzzy on the particulars of that one day. Ran with the garage door closed to make things a little more miserable.
Pretty soon I will have maxed out the return to run program. I think my way forward is to start including any incline on the runs. The program says “no hills”, but I imagine it’s the DOWNHILL that is concerning vs the uphill.
Woke up at 195.2 this morning. I have been eating everything in sight the past few days and I keep maintaining or losing weight. I have a feeling I’ve been pushing the volume to ridiculous levels. 6 week training cycle will be over soon, and way forward I think is to swap volume with intensity of effort or training density. Thinking rest pausing for some stuff and EMOM for others.
Hey man, glad to see her the running is going so well. Who knows, could turn into another pastime.
Just curious,why do you do the 100+ rep set of squats or deadlifts on lower body days?
@TX_iron Thanks man. I doubt the possibility of me taking up running again in all honesty. I’m only doing this because my physical therapist wants me to as part of the recovery process and it’s one of the few times they’ve allowed me to do anything athletic, but as soon as I can run with something heavy in my hands, I’ll be doing that instead. I like to stay in “running shape”, but only so much as to be able to run a sub 8 minute mile for 1.5 miles. Beyond that, there isn’t much incentive. And, being completely honest, running is my wife’s sport, and I don’t want to take that from her. It’s much easier having an athlete in the house with a different sport where we can support each other versus doing the same thing and competing with each other. She’s already a little miffed at how quickly I am recovering my running ability, especially with a new ACL, haha.
@stronkfak My physical therapist has placed load restrictions on me. In all honesty, I’m still exceeding those restrictions quite a bit (I was told 35lbs, and I’m using 60-66lbs), but I’m playing it as close to RX as possible. So, when the load has to be reduced, the only real way to compensate is with more reps. For example, doing 100 reps of 66lb axle curls boils down to 6,600lbs moved in that workout in terms of volume, akin to an 11 rep set of 600lbs. I of course realize that they’re not at all similar in terms of training stress, but it’s at least SOMETHING.
One of the other benefits is that I’ve been able to relearn the lost motor patterns really quickly with this approach. My first deadlift workout back was just terrible; kept hitting my shins and pinching the bar between my quads and just really lost my smoothness. Now, I’m back to more machinelike lifting.
I will say that, when the load restriction was placed on me, they most likely didn’t imagine that this is what I would do with it, but I’m willing to push a little harder. I know my body pretty well, and can read the signs of when I’m screwing up.
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Prowler (high handles)
2x80’@70lbs
2x80’@60
2x80’@40
2x80’@20
2x80’@unloaded
Notes: No rest between runs, just ran it like a big drop set. Really good at increasing the suck factor while taking stress off my surgical site. The sprints were getting to be a little too intense. Loading things heavier slowed me down but allowed for some more intensity.
Cheat meal this week was Little Cesear’s Deep Dish Stuffed crust. 5 slices. Had room for more, but knew when to call it quits. Actually ate pretty light today, so we’ll see how this plays out.
Axle strict press
5xAxle
5x66
5x123
3x138
3x158
9x178
10x158
12x138
3x10x123
2x9x134
Notes: Little sketchy on those final 2 backoff sets (158 and 138). Might’ve had another rep or 2. Left shoulder has been bugging me the past few workouts; feels like it’s going to slip during the concentric. Probably pushed the volume about as high as I can for now. Think I’m going to start the new assistance protocol early.
DB rows 105
5x10
4x5
Kelso shrugs 50lbs
5x12
Notes: Rows and shrugs performed between sets of presses.
Axle curls
1x150
Band pressdowns
1x50
Kroc rows 105
1x30
Notes: Still making great progress on these.
General notes: Woke up at 195.2. After a cheat meal, that’s pretty crazy. I’ve most likely been pushing the volume too high without enough food to compesnate.
Oh yeah, grabbed a blurry selfie as well.
I’m up a solid 10lbs from my surgery and I can still make out a few abs. And I ate pizza last night, haha.
i have been wondering ,
when the doctor gives you clearance to return to normal program
since they normally go by their experiance and training and may or may not have treated people like you
how do you know when you can cut loose on the knee repair?
in the history of strongman,or just being strong, as far back as man has tried to see who is the strongest
what lift or event do you believe demonstrates who is the strongest,where technique is not a big factor
@cavemansam In regards to the physical therapy, truth be told, I don’t imagine I’ll ever really get the clearance to go ahead from them. My surgeon is probably going to the one who decides, which thankfully he’s a sports medicine guy, so he at least has a chance of being helpful. I am thankful that my insurance has covered all of this, but my PT folks don’t really seem concerned about getting me athletic again, so I have to violate protocol a bit to get to where I need to.
I’m going to take it slow and focus on volume at first, and then push when I feel ready. I honestly don’t think I’ve lost much strength or muscle through this process; it’s really just the graft I have to worry about.
In regards to your question about strongman events; that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, I think the historical lift that would best demonstrate sheer raw strength would be the back/hip and thigh lift, as seen here.
It’s a circus lift for sure, but it has been in actual strongman comps
You will however note that Derek is wearing a squat suit in that video, so it shows how, in modern times, there can be a slight equipment element to it. Still though; minimal skill required, and a maximal display of strength. It’s a short distance, all about overcoming the inertia and using everything you have to get it moving.
In terms of more modern events, I’d say the side handled car deadlift fits the bill well. Leverages plays a role, as does technique slightly, but for the most part you just strap in and try your hardest to stand up. Having no prior experience with the event, I was able to just beast it using raw strength.
Dude, coincidence. I had a 3 hour chat with a friend about how bad he wanted summer abs and how he tried to justify going from 2500 calories a day to 1400, whilst still eating copious amounts of potatoes and greek yogurts as the bulk of his calories. I linked him your article from your most recent post on the blog, but I sort of told him all of it already. Hey, though, at least your article appears to have merit with a cool webpage and neat pictures that will keep him entertained and potentially educate him! Anyway, needless to say the ignorant will remain blissfully ignorant until they quit after not seeing results or glean wisdom through time and arduous trial and error thus realizing how naive they were. That was definitely me at one point in time.
Still, I guffawed checking your blog seeing you had posted that. You are siphoning my frustration through the cosmos and subconsciously feeding it into letters and words. Or…there’s too many people who want to look like a ripped video game character but they’ve only been lifting for 2 years and tentatively at that.
Also, back lift was fucking cool as hell. I miss fortissimus and I miss poundstone. To be honest I just miss leaner smaller guys (280-330lb guys) that used to dominate up until the turn of the last decade. To chip in though, I do believe clean and presses with awkward objects (sandbag, stone, keg, a person) are a great test of total strength. Similarly are stone lifts to the shoulder and stuff.
@strongmanvinny2 Oh man, what a crazy coincidence. It’s funny, I don’t really like to write about nutrition much just because I don’t really read up on it and try to keep it simple, but the “bulk/cut” thing has just been driving me nuts for so long that I had to get it all out there. Just as you noted, it tends to just appeal to the people that already know what’s going on and the people who NEED to hear it won’t listen, but it’s still cathartic to get it out all.
I miss the exact same era of strongman. Don’t get me wrong; the current crop are just ridiculously strong, but there was something really superhuman about the guys looking like Kaz and Pudz and Poundstone. We saw fewer deaths too. I know Misha tapped out because he said that the super heavy weights being used in competition now were requiring too much on the athletes, chemically and otherwise.
Hey, while I got your ear, I’m planning my next training cycle, and I’m wanting to start training my strict press like you do. I know you’re a fan of drop sets, and you’ve explained your method before, but can you lay it out for me again?
Yeah. My favorite strongmen will always be Svend Karlsen, Poundstone, Ortmayer, Misha, and maybe Zydrunas overall cause I remember watching him when I was like 8 years old during the 2000-2002 WSM.
And happy to help on the strict pressing man. I think the bulk of my strict press training consisted of doing 4 weeks of like 4x8, 5x5, 5x3, 6x1. At the end of each of the final sets, I’d strict the bar like 4 times and just AMRAP the fuck out of it.
205x6x1 last set drop set
185 max reps
155 max reps
135 max reps
115 max reps
95 max reps and usually don’t go beyond 5 strip sets.
Something like that. I trained that way with push press/jerks for a while as well. Something I’m considering going back to.but I never really do it much anymore. Probably cause I don’t want to tell people how much I strict press because when they hear 300+ they expect me to be deadlifting like 800lbs to match it. 
Awesome man. I think I’m going to do the exact same thing for my assistance work. I’ll have to use some real baby weight comparatively, haha.
And there is no shame in having a beastly overhead dude, no matter how it stacks up. Jim Wendler had a great quote about how a 900lb raw bencher would never cry themselves to sleep over having “only” a 900lb squat and deadlift, haha. Be a freak!
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just got to love a sport when smaller is used to describe people who weigh 280-330
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Treadmill
Walking 5 minutes at 5mph
Running 25 minutes at 8.1mph
Incline 0
Notes: Breaks down to a 7.4 minute mile (7 minutes, 24 seconds). It was nice to push myself, but I can feel my knee is a little puffy after this. Not going to exceed 8mph for my next go. This is my last workout with required walking. Next up is 30 minutes of solid running.
Woke up at 195.2.
I have ceased my daily training this week due to signs of overuse. The most alarming feeling was a shooting pain through my elbow down to my forearm, forcing my middle 2 fingers to lock in place. I think daily training was a great idea, but I most likely discovered the ceiling on it for now. This next phase is going to be lower volume, higher intensity of effort, with possibly some every other day capped training.
