That’s very true! I’m a rest pause junkie!
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And if it ends up not being fine, you know how to get a hold of me and we can tweak it! 
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Wow I need to do some updates!
I did my pull workout in a hotel the other day (we saw Luke Combs in Charlotte - awesome). No heavy KBs, so I didn’t do those - that was actually kind of annoying, because I’m ready to be done with that!
I did the pump legs and 500 swings in the gym on Monday, push yesterday, pull today (so I messed up one rest day)… 1500 swings down! I’m at 8k… almost done! I haven’t done the math whether I’ll finish next week; I’m on the road a few days, so probably not.
The week 3 workouts have started getting lonnnnnnnng with the added volume. The push day took me nearly 90 minutes.
I’m also super bored (again) with the bodybuilding stuff. I am definitely doing something more CT-style when I’m done with this. One thing the KBs have ignited is an absolute fire where I’m actually enjoying the conditioning work more than the lifting… that’s weird!
We’re taking the kids to Gatlinburg this weekend. I’ll get in tomorrow’s workout, and then will just be outdoors with them all weekend - big wins.
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I feel like the serpent having given you the forbidden fruit here. Conditioning rocks. The results are immediate, both in terms of feeling nuked when it’s done and watching yourself get fitter and fitter. Bodybuilding has SUCH a long time for payout.
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Love the analogy and appreciate you for clueing me back in! I definitely have no desire to swing a KB again for some time, but the hard bouts are a winner and there’s a billion vehicles to get there, so the tool doesn’t matter so much
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While on the genius of Dan John…
Been using these as part of “Mass Made Simple” and they’re fantastically awful. Definitely another way of getting there, and it’s got the hidden bonus of more time under the bar/more volume in the traditional lifts while ALSO getting in some conditioning work.
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I was never, ever, a big Dan John reader and I should be. I guess I gravitated more towards the ultra-complicated than the ultra-simple writers, which is odd itself because my personality is the opposite.
Thanks for another drop! I’m going to start playing with these as I come off the swings. I’ve done some BB complexes in the past, and they’re a pretty awesome way to make yourself hurt in a hurry. CT’s old 6 weeks to superhero was, in my opinion (though I think not his), a similar concept and I loved that program.
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I discovered the same thing about myself during the 2023 T-ransformation Challenge. I’ve been running CT’s Metcon for Muscle over the last 4.5 weeks and it has been gasoline on the fire.
His Eternal Warrior and Fire Ready plans look similarly horrendous and enticing.
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Awesome! He definitely has always had a cool blend of strength and hard conditioning that was pretty fun for me. I’m also getting super bored any time I’m in the gym much more than an hour, so I’m not real up for doing that for awhile.
I remember looking at the programs you mention when they came out, but I didn’t dive in. I’ll have another peek - thanks!
I have no idea why the plans released to promote the reformulated Surge didn’t gain more traction. Reading through the logs, it looks like less than 1/3 of participants saw the challenges through.
The plans are unlike anything else I’ve done, written by top tier coaches, challenging af, and free.
I can’t find a downside.
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This whole site is a free library of programs written by the top coaches of the last 3 decades, and we’re still doing “rate my program” threads, so who knows?
The Surge Challenge was cool. I like what they’re doing now with the quick fitness challenges too.
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I think there is almost too many programmes on here, too much choice and too much of ‘this programme is the best for X…’
It would be hard as a novice with the overload of information and opinion. I also think if you came on here and said, ‘i want to get big, how do i do that’ you’d probably get 5 completely different responses some with the statement ‘almost anything works’ which then creates the attitude that maybe you can create your own programme if it all works, people just forget the hard work and consistency bit.
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I feel we are discounting the Super obvious here: humans in general have terrible follow-through. Its why the best time to buy “used” fitness equipment is February
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Totally agree with both of you. I think the two roll together, as well.
We already want an excuse to quit. When we can go on the Interwebz and find out that we aren’t doing something “the optimal way,” that’s our justification right there!
I’ve said before I’m really glad I didn’t grow up with the Internet - it’s too much and gives you the illusion of choice. I was always a “no Plan B” person - I felt like, when Plan A got hard, Plan B started looking pretty good. I did much better if there wasn’t another choice. Nowadays, there’s always another choice so quitting is very easy. One of the things the SEALS supposedly do in BUD/S (I’ve never been, so I’m just pretending I know what I’m talking about) is make quitting really, really easy. If you quit, you immediately leave the group and go get a hot shower, and food and sleep. That’s really smart for a selection process. Dudes that washed out of stuff in the Army still had a day or two of outprocessing, and people they quit in front of might still see them, so it wasn’t as enticing.
I agree with the internet almost giving too much choice, but I am not sure that is a bad thing. When I started training a while back (pretty sure it was still the 80’s just) there wasn’t as much information but if you add all the programs I read in Flex, muscle and fitness, Arnold Encyclopedia, Weider books, spoke to my dad or mates or people at the gym about, there was still a massive overload of possibilities and options.
So what did we do? We did what we do for other areas of our life, me made a decision and just went all in. Over the years I did, full body, upper lower, PPL, 4 day spits, 6 day splits, 3 day splits done twice a week, high rep, low rep, heavy duty, the list is endless. But the one thing I did that made the difference is show up, show up and work hard and just keep repeating that.
How many people that you know or that started at your gym and then gave up after 6 weeks ? I am guessing it would be too many to count. People have always not understood this stuff and always given them self an excuse to stop. Its just the few crazy ones who keep coming back day in day out.
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Yeah, it was awesome!
The OG Surge program and CT’s Metcon and FireReady plans are also really demanding–or at least seem that way to me. I liked both free plans so much, I bought a couple off his website to show my gratitude.
Anyhow, if one of CT’s programs speaks to your new love of conditioning, I hope to see you run it and also hope you don’t mind me following along.
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@simo74 i agree with your main point, but I still see the Internet as worse (not just for training decisions) for a few reasons:
- It costs us nothing to get the next bit of information, so there’s no investment. We had to wait for the next issue of Flex, and pay for it/ go with mom to the grocery store and sneak read it. We conferred some value to getting the info.
- There is no barrier to entry for information. Everyone has essentially the same large platform to spew their “knowledge,” regardless of credentials. We used to only listen to someone we already had some interest in; we sought their advice.
- There was spacing of information. If you read a magazine or attended a lecture or debate, there was some time until the next one; you could process or practice what you heard (as you said, you tried it all over years). Now that information is all available today and you don’t have any time to develop a heuristic.
Great topic and conversation!
@barley1 That’s awesome! Have you seen the offer that came out of his latest T-Nation webinar? $300 for all programs on his site (a total of 98 documents). I like the guy a lot, so felt that was an incredible deal and I’m happy to support.
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It really is a good conversation point. I see your point regarding less information and certainly less continuous bombardment of new (not really new) ideas.
I guess the question I am wondering about is if more people start and fail today vs yesteryear?
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Probably not, to be fair. Humans are humans, we just updated the vehicle we take to our destination.
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Alright, my dudes, I’m thinking out loud here and I’d welcome your input (although I don’t know what this ramble will turn into):
I’ve got 3 more weeks of Odin Force with @davemccright, although I’ve not been super faithful about writing down all the workouts - sorry, my man. I’m embarrassed to put my incline presses up next to yours. I will also finish the 10k swings next week - probably on Sunday because I’ve got some work travel in the middle.
That will all line up perfectly with the kids going back to school and us getting back into a normal rhythm. This has been a great summer, but probably our busiest. My wife is working more seriously than she ever has, the kids were kind of at an in-between age so they had more grown-up sports and fun camps/ vacations.
I’ve been thinking more and more about what I joke is “90s block periodization,” where you completely change focus every ~4 weeks when the new Muscle & Fitness comes out. I liked really diving into a new challenge, and I’m simply not making any real progress anymore (nor do I intend to) physique-wise, so there’s no real reason to stick with a training style.
As I play all that out, I’d also like to take another V-Diet run… a better-planned lifestyle version like @T3hPwnisher did, though. I like the freedom he applied to it; made it his own a little more than I did. I’ve also never really tied diet to training (and I still think people do this backwards), and I’m thinking I’d like to.
So, all that said, I think I will use these next few weeks while I wrap Odin Force to “ease” into the V-Diet. I have a couple nights on the road every week, and either a mini-vacation or family in town on the weekends. So “easing in” will essentially be a shake for breakfast and lunch and then probably just be a teenager on the weekends. I can keep that honest.
When they go back to school, my plan is to do CT’s “Blitz” Program (I took advantage of his all program sale after that webinar and highly recommend it - he gives too much to us for me to ignore that). It has a good blend of conditioning and lifting - high school throwback, which is awesome for me. It’s only 6 weeks long, at which point I will do another of his. His programs are so different from one another I think it will be good for me.
I’ll take another V-Diet run. I’ll stick with the Surge Workout Fuel option for my training days, and stay pretty on-script Sunday - Friday afternoon.
On Friday evening through Saturday afternoon, I’ll eat solid meals with my family. I’ll keep these closer to carnivore. I really like that thought process. Saturday evening will be whatever night.
We’ll get back on the train of the meal delivery/ cook together plan for our dinners. That was terrific option. If I find myself hungry during the days or really getting run down, I’m going to option myself a steak and eggs meal as a fuel-up vs suffering through and really giving myself permission to be a turd on the weekends.
I guess there aren’t really any questions there, although I certainly welcome any commentary, just throwing it out.
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