Juarez Valley 225lb front squats w/5 six count burpees between sets
14
1
12
2
10
3
8
4
6
5
Time: 21:30
Transition immediately to EMOM daily work w/4 45lb alternating 1 arm KB snatches as buy in
15 rounds
Transition immediately to Tabata empty bar front squats for 8 rounds
Notes: Prowler was a no sale: lightning storms had me thinking that pushing a big metal object wasn’t the smart play. This was a great workout none the less. With deadlifts tomorrow, I didn’t want to go too heavy nor did I want to use so much volume that I came in crippled, so I kept the weight light and started the reps high but cut down by 2 while going up by 1. Had just the effect I was looking for: lungs were on fire but legs weren’t too blown up. Very humid in the garage with those storms: lots of sweat. For the Tabata work, I went with Dan John’s recommendation of getting at least 8 per round, and that was a solid marker. Ideally, I would have done belt squats for this, but getting this done before work I was in a bit of a time crunch and already had the rig set up for squats. In retrospect, trap bar would have been the right compromise, but live and learn.
Belt was fitting ok today. I’m sure I lost a little weight from travel, and I’m dehydrated. Going to try to eat as well as I can on this shift to gear up for a good deadlift workout tomorrow. Most likely do the squats the next day, maybe some prowler the day after, and then get after Deep Water soon after that. My schedule is going to keep being crazy over the next 2 months, so it’s just gonna be getting in what I can when I can.
Nice work man, and awesome dedication with the traveling. I have never been on a plane myself so i dont know how it would factor in to things but travel in general can make things tough sometimes. Good on ya!
Much appreciated dude! Regarding plane travel: it depends on the length of the trip. I’ve done 14+ hour flights, and they can really jack you up, because you have no real reference for day or night, your eating is all weird, sleep get messed up, and you arrive in a completely different timezone, to say nothing of the effect of elevation and breathing in recycled air the whole time. These were much shorter hops, so nothing too crazy there, although I do tend to get bubbly guts. Big thing is in flight “meals”. If you even get one these days, they can be pretty crummy. This place did a packaged lunch that was a ham and cheese sandwich on a crossaiant, a package of sun chips, fruit snacks and a 6 pack of oreos. I took the ham out of the sandwich and ate that, and then ate the meals I packed (some nuts n more and nutso spread on 1 carb tortillas, celery with nuts n more, protein bars, grassfed beef jerky, etc).
And allowing myself to be judgemental here: it’s amazing how many folks DON’T prepare. I saw a lot of my compatriots just chowing down on the meal, eating every last bite of it. And these same cats ate out for every meal while we were traveling too, and they hit up the local grocery store and loaded up on pop-tarts for breakfast. It’s a bit of a shock to me: I tend to keep to myself on my downtime, but when I travel and watch the eating habits of others, I’m always just blown away at how much garbage people will just put into their body without even a second thought. And it’s also why I was a bit miffed over my own health issues: I THOUGHT I was taking great care of myself when I see what my peers were putting away without a second thought. But ultimately I learned the effects of extremism.
I’ve gotten pretty skilled at traveling now, having done it so frequently. It really only takes a little bit more effort than going in completely blind, and the rewards are so worth it. I’ve come back from this trip feeling awesome compared to others, and my wallet is thankful too.
Just springboarding a little here, something I meant to write about my fish taco walking exodus is one of those “intangibles” about being fit. I loved the fact that a 3.5 mile walk 1 way to get grub didn’t even phase me, but ALSO the fact that walking through a downtown area by myself ALSO didn’t phase me. And it’s not that I’m some Billy Badass looking for trouble, but more just the confidence that comes with “being a handful”, and knowing that you’re not perceived as a soft target. I remember blowing out my ACL and losing that and how vulnerable I felt, and it’s pretty awesome having it back again.
Yeah that plane stuff you wrote there would be good to keep in mind if i do end up on a plane one day. Same goes for my wife…preparation is always important with her in general too because she has celiacs and is a vegetarian. Thanks for sharing that stuff.
Alright, so I went 4 days without my wild blueberries and my digestion was the best it’s been. I had them this morning and it’s gone crazy again. I think I need to tap out on these. Looking into it, I may have Salicylate sensitivity. I know my guts react poorly to NSAIDS/anti-inflammatories in general, and this would match up pretty well with it.
It’s a shame, as blueberries just seems to be awesome in all regards, but juice doesn’t seem worth the squeeze.
I may still try my hand at other dark berries. I know my body can handle avocados, so not all fruit is off the table, and I’d like to have a more diverse diet. Apples have been good to be too.
EDIT: I’m definitely web md-ing this, but apparently broccoli is in a similar way, and I’ve noticed that raw broccoli upsets my digestion in a similar fashion too. Almost the exact same way. And Curry does too. And almonds. Lots of things are starting to come together…
Most people have reactions to cruciferous veggies unless they’re cooked in some way, so you’re definitely not alone on that.
It’s funny, our “twinning” definitely stops at the fruit and veggie department, because I handle them so unbelievably well. To the point where if I’m starting to feel crummy, it’s usually because my fruit and veg intake is too low. Goes for most carbs, actually.
Vegetables I tend to have zero issues with. Raw broccoli is a new one for me, and I seem to be ok with it when cooked. It’s not the typical gas/bloating people talk about, but more a rapid and painful exiting. The blueberries entered today at 0500 and left at noon. Fruit has been a challenge. I do imagine a big part of that is having had such a restricted diet for so long in the first place. But yeah, we definitely seem to run opposite on fuels. That’s gotta be the parallel universe at work, haha.
Wow just finished reading through the stuff I’ve missed (curry was the first thing I came to and clearly the most important!). Absolutely smashed BtM (again) never in doubt but inspirational to see, and echo @simo74’s sentiments about you!
Appreciate it dude! I got the last half of the final week to finish out, but the big part is over with. Deads are gonna be interesting, but I always manage to pull through (pun partially intended).
I have an odd, mild allergy to many fruits. It’s a total bummer because they’re so damn good, I’ll still put myself through hell for an apricot once in a while. If I stick with tropical fruits though I have zero issues. Not sure what the difference in genetic make up is or anything that causes it, but I get nearly all my fruit intake from pineapple, bananas, papaya, and strawberries.
@mr.v3lv3t That is pretty fascinating. You tend to see the opposite with a lot of folks. I might actually look into that myself. I hear good things about kiwis.
BUILDING THE MONOLITH Week 6, Workout 4
PM WORKOUT
DB rows 90
2x40
1x20
Texas deadlift bar touch and go deadlifts
5x135
5x275
5x400
5x455
3x5x505
Axle bench press
5x136
5x221
5x256
5x5x281
Last bench set followed immediately with
50 dips rest paused
25 pushdowns
40 reverse hypers
20 standing ab wheel
50 pull aparts
Poundstone curls
160xAxle
Notes: Broke the rules on the rows because frankly I’m over them at this is the last workout. Just got the 100 reps done, and did them before anything else so I could focus on the dead and bench. Supersetted those two, with 90 seconds rest between movements. Had to use the Poundstone hitch on the final rep of the final set of deads, which seemed fitting. Those benches were all super ugly, but I got them all in. I am so pleased with how this day went. Coming off of travel, there was a chance of getting destroyed , but we made it through. Threw in the daily work at the end.
The check is in the mail for the final workout: no new frontier there, just gotta cash it in and blow my brains out on the widowmaker. From there, I only intend to take a few days off until Deep Water, because my schedule is going to get crazy.
Much appreciated dude. Definitely feeling like my old self. It’s always a rebirth process it seems, haha. This time I stripped myself down to bare bones and regenerated with some much better nutrition, just like…
I’m noticing my standards are differing as well. I’m feeling “fat”, and am at the point where, back in the day, I’d consider myself lean. I’m down a pants size of where I’d normally consider myself my leanest and still holding strong in that regard.
I’m still not moving QUITE the poundages I was back in the day, but I think it was the right tradeoff.
This workout was one of those ones you survive, but that’s absolutely where I thrive. It’s what I dig about percentage based programs and, by extension, competitions: tell me what I gotta lift and I’ll find a way to make it happen.
Kiwi is in the fly zone as well, citrus fruits too. I have the same reaction with some nuts and whatever mystery ingredients are in a lot of protein bars.
A perk of having a primary care provider for a S/O: Turns out I have an allergy to the thermic process of breaking down a specific protein or enzyme or something that they all share. I can’t go anaphylactic but I just get an itchy mouth/throat that’s pretty annoying. If I heat up whatever I eat long enough that the protein breaks down, I can eat that stuff issue free. Something about tossing a nice ripe nectarine into the microwave for a few hasn’t ever seemed like the right move though.
