+1 was gonna say exactly that. You live for SM, but you are even more dedicated to your child. One could weep.
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Thatās amazing
Is this how dads are supposed to be?
@atlas13 Much appreciated dude! Not even a question. There will be more competitions: this will only happen once.
@jdm135 Thanks man. In truth, strongman is just something I do for fun. If I really cared about it, Iād actually try to get good at it, haha.
@anna_5588 People show love differently. I did Tae Kwon Do for 8 years. My dad never went to a single practice, and only ever saw me get my black belt. I wrestled for 3 years and he went to 1 meet. BUT, every morning, my dad would wake up before I did, make my lunch for the day to my exact specifications (2 PBJs, a tin of fruit, a protein bar, and a bottle of water), then make my breakfast for the morning, then personally wake me up to get ready. I can probably count the hugs I got from my dad growing up on 1 hand, but he was a provider, and he did it without complaining or question.
Thereās no manual for this: weāre all just winging it. I honestly struggle, because I feel like Iām always coming down on my kid and I just want some positive memories with them. We had an awesome night tonight: went out for ice cream, told them to put as many toppings as they wanted, and then we went and got a donut for them to have for breakfast for tomorrow, because Iām working an early shift and wonāt be there in the morning and this way weāll have a āconnectionā at that moment. I still tend to take after my dad: I like providing stuff.
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Was gonna reply, but you hit the nail on the head here. We pull the stuff that we appreciate from our childhood and apply it to our parenting, and we try to fill in the things we felt were missing. My dad was like yours - a provider and a hell of a hard worker, but conspicuously absent in a lot of things that, looking back, would have meant a lot of me if he were there. So I do what I can to be there in those situations for my kids. We donāt know much about Annaās dad, but he may be doing the best he can. Tough to tell.
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That hits awfully close to home. I was that sort of Dad to my kids for a long time, and I was absent a lot during my time in the Navy and then poor decisions in choices of ex-wife, and Iām still trying to bridge some of the rifts those choices caused. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, but sometimes I think I was just justifying that what I did was for the right reasonsā¦ Honestly, the best gift you can give your kids is your time, while theyāre young enough to appreciate it.
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This is gold. As is the whole paragraph, but I donāt like quoting that much
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@flappinit Absolutely dude. And it should be noted that I donāt resent my dadās absence or lack of affection at all. My dad is still my hero to this day. Itās just something Iāve observed in talking with others and see how my wife and her dad interact. And just like you note: we learn from the experience. My dadās dad was a piece of work. Smartest man Iāve ever known, but he developed that intelligence as a survival mechanism during the depression, and with it came a necessary degree of ruthlessness. His relationship with my father was similar to Indiana Jones and his dad: my grandfather imparted a lot of knowledge onto my dad, but provided nothing. My dad became a provider because he grew up having to eat beans for 30 days becuase thatās what was on sale that month and my grandfather wasnāt going to spend a cent more than he needed to feed his family. He drank so much orange tang one month that he stained his clothes orange with sweat. From THAT experience my dad swore that his kids would never go without, and he worked as hard as he could to provide. Affection wasnāt even on the radar, and understandably so. We all just try to learn from the past.
@OTHSteve I think the sign of being a good parent is thinking youāre being a bad one, haha. It shows you care enough to WANT to be better. I see so many parents that are just completely checked out and it just breaks my heart for the kids that have to deal with that.
@dagill2 Appreciated dude! Seeing that quote, I actually wish I wrote āpeople LOVE differentlyā, just so thereās no confusion that these arenāt attempts to demonstrate love but simply how that love is manifested.
DEEP WATER INTERMEDIATE Week 6 Workout 5 (FINAL)
AM WORKOUT (0258 natural wake up)
Tower of Babel (225lb front squat w/5 six count burpees between sets)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Time: 32:20
Transition to
12 rounds EMOM daily work
Transition to
Belt squat stripset (no lockout/rest between sets)
34x150
5x125
5x100
5x75
5x50
5x25
5xAxle
Notes: With this being the final workout of the program and there being no reason to hold anything back, I pushed far into the tower today. 81 total reps of front squats, and boy did I feel them. This is another just plain magical workout. With the heatwave returning to the area I legitimately feel like Iām drying by the end of it.
Program write up coming soon. I am feeling the best Iāve felt in a LONG time. Not physically of course. In that regard, Iām absolutely at my limit. I have to take excederin after every workout now because of the exertion headaches and my caffeine intake is way up to help fight that off and I move like the Tin Man first thing in the morning. But psychologically, emotionally, āspirituallyā, however you want to put it, Iām in the best space Iāve been in a LONG time. I feel like a college kid again. Iāve got an arrogant swagger about me. I constantly think about how absolutely indestructible I am. I am laser focused and dialed in. Just an absolute great spot to be in, and this happened the last time I ran Deep Water. Good lesson to learn.
I actually have a weekend this weekend. Iām gonna get in some keg carries and bodyweight conditioning stuff and start up the new program on Monday ideally.
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Iām going to have to try this Tower of Babel thing one day. Probably towards the end of this month, I donāt imagine squatting the next day would be fun.
Iām going to have to caffeinate and think on this so it clicks and makes sense in my head.
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Ya know, I was actually running it the day before squats without too much difficulty. In theory, itās a tonic workout, haha.
What Iām trying to get at with that quote is that, instead of these being gestures of love, their manifestations. Like, when the hubby is in the dog house and he goes and buys flowers and chocolates, heās doing it to show/prove love, but, in turn, itās an attempt to show love, vs simply a manifestation of love.
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That makes a whole lot more sense, and is cheaper than a Monster, thank you.
This would absolutely not be a tonic for me. It looks like a good way to finish a month in style though.
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Sums up all of parenting for sure.
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Iām actually in tears here at the image of you stumbling about like the tin man 
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@dagill2 An excellent send off for sure! Good reminder of why we do it.
@cyclonengineer Yup! I actually sent my parents an e-mail a while back just telling them they did a good job, because as a parent I realize thatās pretty much all Iād ever want to hear from my own kid. Itās amazing how much perspective it lends.
@ChongLordUno Itās so bad dude! These days, I put my socks on BEFORE I sleep because I have no chance of getting to them when I wake up. I also have to put the dogsā food bowls up on the kitchen counter so that I donāt need to bend down to get them.
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AM WORKOUT (0540 wake up via dog) FASTED
11 rounds in 15 minutes of the following
5 95lb thrusters
10 alternating 45lb KB snatches (5 per arm)
Notes: Once again, thrusters and snatches are lethal. Great kickstart to the morning.
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Congrats on finishing up DW man, I am definitely looking forward to your write up. Youāre looking like a damn tank right now!
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Thanks dude! Just posted it
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PM WORKOUT (1400)
41 rounds of 20 seconds on/10 seconds off with the following protocol
Every odd round: Stone of Steel to shoulder
Every even round: alternate between burpees for 1 round, then some aspect of daily work. Once I got through 50 chins, I did 50 dips, then 40 reverse hypers
So for example
Round 1: SoS
Round 2: Burpees
Round 3: SoS
Round 4: Chins
Round 5: SoS
Round 6: Burpees
Etc
Notes: SoS to shoulder under tabata timing continues to just be excellent. I average 2.5 shoulders per early round, which is to say I shoulder it twice and get it to my lap for a third before the timer runs out. Toward the end, I can barely beat the clock to get 2 in. The daily work allowed a bit more recovery, while burpees still suck, so again a kind of wave intensity approach.
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AM WORKOUT (0610 wake up via dog) FASTED
100 KB swings w/40kg bell
Notes: Just needed to get the body moving. Lots of aches. Two new issues: jammed my ring finger on my left side real bad on the stone yesterday and itās swollen up good. Hard to take off my wedding ring. Fun fact: itās a titanium band, so if I ever dork up that finger real bad, I gotta cut off the finger rather than the ring. Other issue is I actually slept REAL well last night, so that I slept so hard my neck is stiff. Been a while since I pulled off that trick.
Realized an issue with my āclean every rep dayā idea: my 0300 training times on early shifts are going to render that very much not viable. Way too much noise that early in the morning. Thinking I may make that a fixed implement log press day and do viper every rep instead. Also thinking that day is going to be the day I do axle benching as my follow up, meaning double supplemental work, but I wonāt tell Jim if you donāt. Logic being that, since itās a day Iām doing leg drive based stuff, the bench can be my strict pressing for the day. Thinking 5x5 SSL for that.
As far as training maxes go, Iām actually thinking of picking up right where I left off on Building the Monolith. Since Iām wanting to take weights for max reps on the FSL sets, it gives me room to start getting into those 15-20 rep ranges.
I ācheatedā and effectively started the new diet yesterday, rather than the traditional Monday. Iāve just been excited to NOT walk around feeling like the Michelin Man all the time. Stupidly easy swaps at the moment: stopped eating my dark chocolate, cut the butter out of breakfast, 3/4 of an avocado a day vs a full one, smaller spreads on nut butters, etc. I was nickel and diming my way UP, and now I can do the same down.
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PM WORKOUT (1400)
20 rounds of bear hug keg carries in 21 minutes.
In between rounds
Round 1: 10 chins
Round 2: 10 dips
Round 3: 8 reverse hypers
Round 4: 4 standing ab wheels
Repeat
90 second rest
3 laps with the keg bear hug/1 length done cross hold
Notes: Just wanted to get in the carries and daily work all in one. This sucked, but not as bad as when I throw in the KBs, so good to know. Neck still ached quite a bit, so was good to take things a little easy. Victory lap at the end was a good burnout.
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AM WORKOUT (0300 wake up via alarm)
20 chins
Axle clean and strict press away
5xAxle
5x146
5x166
5x186 (continental)
14+5+5x146 (DC rest pause)
(3) Incline dumbbell bench 100s
7+4+3+2 w/reactive slingshot+2 w/slingshot+2 w/metal catapult (DC rest pause)
Dips (plate change rests until topset)
8xBW
8x30lb
8x55
8x80
8+4+3x80 (DC rest pause) to stripset of
2x80
3x55
4x30
5xBW
Meadows Row (RIP John)
10x25lbs on axle
10x50
10x75
21x100
Poundstone Curls
110xAxle+2.5 per side
5 chins and 10 pull aparts in between sets of lots of stuff
Notes: Sorting out day 1 stuff. Thought this would go faster than DW but took about the same amount of time. Most likely plate changes factoring in there. Being a little leisurely between sets too: can definitely tighten it up. Totally kitchen sinking the assistance stuff there, but thatās how I roll. Biceps a little tender from the keg so kept weight away from the chins and just got in some light volume work. I had that 186lb clean just fine and then lost it and turned it into a SUPER ugly continental. Lost a lot of energy on it, so that topset of 5 was pretty slick. I ended up going up 10lbs on the my TMs from where I left off on BtM, but Iāll see if that remains viable. Still have a bit of a Jeckel and Hyde thing going on with training first thing in the morning vs later in the day.
Brought out the Meadows row handle in memory of John. Also reminded me how awesome the meadows row is in the first place. I think I may keep that on this day. It actually works out well, because now my landmine is set up for belt squats for tomorrow.
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