Hell yeah dude! Oh man, next time I should TOTALLY pick something from a famous pro-wrestler. Maybe Ted Arcidi, the Road Warriors, Superstar Billy Graham or the Ultimate Warrior.
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We had an absolute blast and I filled out a t-shirt!
This was very muscle mag for me, which is the highest compliment.
“What should I do?”
“Pick… this.”
Done.
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Morning workout today - then back to hotel workouts for the rest of the week.
Chest & Shoulders
-
Machine Press
Did a bunch of sets of 8-12 working up to a top set, and did one rest pause with that. Then a back off set of 15 -
Incline Press
45/10
135/6 x 2
155/6
175/6
195/6 -
Bench
Paused on chest for 2s
185/5 x 5 -
Superset (3 rounds):
- Stretch Pushups
BW/14 - DB Rear Delt
- 20/20
-
DB Side Raise
30/6 x 4 -
DB 6 Ways
10/ 8, 7, 5 -
Seated Calf
1pps/10 x 3
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Pretty sweet hotel gym!
- Seated Leg Curls
Couple warmups
3 x 8
Supersetted with:
-
Smith Squats
45/10
135/10
185/8
205/8
225/6
My shoulders really started not liking these, so I hung it up. I think if I’d taken more time to get loose it would have been fine, but I was on a clock. -
Leg Extensions
3 sets working up
1 double drop set -
Machine Leg Press
1 set of 20 -
Ab roller kinda thing
4 sets -
Bike
15:45 intervals x 8
Quick one, but scratched the itch
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I remember someone somewhere advocating a directory of hotels that have great gyms for people who travel a lot. I travel for work, and can’t pick my hotel, but I’ve been to a few hotels with surprisingly well-equipped, even multi-floor gyms. It’s such a treat!
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Seriously? Where? Maybe we should start a thread and just post where we’ve been and what equipment it has when something stands out?
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That was the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco.
http(s)://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Feature-g60713-d81315-zft9188-Marriott_Marquis_San_Francisco.html#REVIEWS
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Got a couple more in at the hotel, but everything was very “punch the clock”. Those are fine though. I’m actually way in that mindset right now. I’m focusing on two things: just stringing days together, very workman style, and not doing anything that hurts. It’s not as fun as PRs and intensity, but it’s what I need right now.
I’m super tired and stiff, too. The travel lately is taking a bit of a toll. It should ease a little for Christmas and early January. I’ll have to figure out a better way to get the hang of it so it’s less disruptive. These are all very first-world problems, and it’s what I asked for, so not really complaining.
The big issues, and what I think are the solutions, are:
- Gym access. I know the hardcore people apparently plan their business travel around going to whatever powerlifting gym they saw on YouTube, but I’m not sure why they had to travel in the first place if they didn’t have any commitments when they got there. For me, the mitigation has to be sucking up whatever my bands/ hotel gym can provide and getting over it. I can’t try to fit/ reset the program because it’s too frequent.
- Diet. This really isn’t an issue - protein is everywhere and restaurants are pretty decent about doing whatever you ask. This is just a discipline question.
- Stiff/ sore/ tired. I think this just is what it is. Drinking a lot of water, curcumin and Flameout really do seem to help, so there’s mitigations.
More back today:
-
Pull-ups
BW/ 6 x 3
Slow reps - just using these to warm up -
Superset
- One-arm BB Row
50/6 x 3 - Meadows Row
- 50/6 x 3
-
DB Pullover
50/10 x 3 -
Smith Deads
Before each set, I did a hold with a red band
135/3
225/3
315/3
365/3 + 275/6 + 225/6 -
Crunch Machine
4 sets -
Standing Calf
3 or 4 sets working up, then a triple drop set
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You sound really level to me. Good for you! We all have lives.
I do it because I want to live well. But I’m not living well if I’m freaked out about disruptions to my routine, whether due to other commitments or injury.
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Thanks @EmilyQ! The “chase” is really good for me mentally, if that makes sense. I know nobody really cares how I look or how strong I am or any of that, but it’s very helpful for me to have this whole other thing I pursue - it’s like it’s a release valve so the other parts of my life don’t have to answer for every satisfaction. As such, it bothers me a little when I don’t feel like I’m giving it what I want to give it. Like when I let myself gain weight, that nobody else would notice, it irritates me - not because I really care about the fat per se, but I’m not giving the right effort to this hobby I profess to enjoy.
Does that make sense? You’re the mental health professional, so hopefully I’m not begging for a service call.
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Oh, I feel the same way! (I’m dealing with ITBS and sciatica at the moment.). It’s my stress management strategy, and I like it and need it. The alternatives are less optimal coping mechanisms, which create new problems. But I have a hard time with barriers when I’m really dialed in.
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Oh I’m a big fan of those too…
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Same! 
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Your 1 and 2 are, no joke, why I came up with “Chaos is the plan: the plan”. When our lives are in chaos, the only power we have is to embrace it rather than fight it. It’s something I picked up from Camus. You’re nailing that in turn: rather than lamenting an ability to stick with a specific program, you’re celebrating your ability to get SOMETHING done. You’ve stripped the nutrition down like a rally car and said “Ok, as long as I get in my protein, I’ve met my goal.”
It’s empowering. The world can’t take from us that which we don’t value.
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What is the actual travel schedule ? Are you away multiple days each week?? Do you have any days at home ?? Surely there is a way to strip the training back to 2 programmed sessions with some progression goal and then just embrace the chaos (as Pwn might say) and fill in with the hotel gym and bands. They way you get best of both worlds.
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You’re always affirming in a way that reinforces the right behavior for the recipient. It’s a great tactic; helpful and appreciated!
Awesome line!
Great question! There really is no schedule in the sense of any consistency. For instance, I was gone all of last week, getting home Saturday morning, but I’ll be home all this next week. Then I’m gone Monday - Saturday again. There’s a couple upcoming where I’m actually gone multiple weeks back to back without getting to come home on the weekend, but that’s pretty rare. Once I get through this next couple of months, I should be able to manage it back to a more normal ~2 nights a week for the most part.
This is a great idea. I’ve tried wrapping my head around it a couple times, and really haven’t come up with anything. It’s almost like I let the weeks I’m home get in the way in this case - I like doing my gym stuff when it’s available. How would you go about it?
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Great googly moogly, today was a hard one. I’m sticking light, but milking every rep, and it’s brutal.
Legs
-
Lying Leg Curls
Paused at the bottom of each rep, then fired up and contracted hard
40/15
65/10
95/10
110/10 x 2 -
Leg Press
Feet a little wider than normal, and sunk these deep
2pps/6
4pps/4
6pps/10 x 3 -
Front Squats
45/6
135/15 x 3
On the last set, I racked it, and then went straight to 10 back squats
I thought this would be too light after the first set, but it caught up quick -
Leg Extension
I did the plate loaded one with a 25 on each side for a couple sets of around 12. I was smoked at this point -
Banded RDL
135 + red band/10 x 3 -
Seated Calf
.25pps/15 x 3 -
BOSU Crunch
4 sets
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Obviously this is going to be very goal dependent, but given this is TN I am assuming the goal is to stay big and strong.
I would have 2 planned sessions. Each would have lower body and upper body compound movement that I am focusing on and using as my measure of strength.
This could be SSB squat and DB bench press in session 1 and then RDL and overhead press in session 2. (you know what you like)
I would then build the workouts around a simple 4 week progression, simple % base or a rep progression at a given weight. Deload week 4 what ever works best. Then progress the weight and repeat.
Add to the session some accessory or supplemental work to support the main lifts.
This is basically like 531 or in bodybuilding terms its compounds followed by isolation work. (same same but different).
Workout 1
SSB
week 1 - 4 sets of 5 @ 75% 1RM
Week 2 - 5 sets of 5 @ 80%
week 3 - 5 sets of 5 @ 82.5 %
Week 4 - deload 3 sets of 5 at 70%
Bulgarians ( your preferred squat accessory to work weak point)
3 sets of 8-10 - weight or reps progress each week
Dumbell bench press
Same progression as with RDL
dumbell or barbel row (your preferred back accessory to work weak point)
3/4 sets 8-15 - weight or reps progress each week
Abs
Workout 2
RDL
week 1 - 4 sets of 5 @ 75% 1RM
Week 2 - 5 sets of 5 @ 80%
week 3 - 5 sets of 5 @ 82.5 %
Week 4 - deload 3 sets of 5 at 70%
Leg press ( your preferred deadlift accessory to work weak point)
3 sets of 8-10 - weight or reps progress each week
Overhead press
Same progression as with RDL
Pull ups or lat pull downs (your preferred back accessory to work weak point)
3/4 sets 8-15 - weight or reps progress each week
Abs
After the end of the block, just add 2.5% to the % and repeat, week 1 77.5%, week 2 82.5%, week 3 - 85%. It will probably work out that lower body weights are going up bu 10-20lbs a week and upper body 5-10lbs.
In terms of when you do these sessions, I would do them alternating and ideally not the next day. Other than that I would do them when ever I am in a gym that has the equipment to do the session. This could be at home or on the road at a good hotel gym (equipment permitting).
Then for the other workouts, just wing it. You now how to build a session based on time and equipment and you can use your other sessions to fill in with accessory work that will support you performing well the next time you hit one of these sessions. If you know your next session will be squats but you cant do it for 5 days, then include some sort of squatting in your hotel sessions so the body stays primed and ready when the time comes. In this way the 2 core session will give some loose direction to the fill in workouts. Not forgetting of course good conditioning helps with everything.
Hopefully this all makes some sort of sense. It does in my head
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That was a hell of a post, and similar to the way I’d thought through it. I had played with an upper body and lower body day, so I could do them back to back, then like a PPL “fluff” schedule during the week. Let me ponder through and get back with some more coherent thoughts.
Today was a short chest day, because I never handle 3 heavy(ish) days in a row very well.
-
HS Machine Press
Did 6 or 7 sets working up. Ended with 3 plates for 6 -
Incline Press
45/10
135/8
165/6
185/6
205/4
Yuck -
Dips
Just a couple sets of body weight, then out
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Short update, for which I apologize, because I promised I’d give real thought to @simo74’s post. I just really have nothing to add - it was all there. Main days on the weekend, “care less” stuff during the week.
Today I did the Thanos arm workout from Meadows’ YouTube page - that’s a hell of a pump! Highly recommend.
Tomorrow, thanks again to @simo74, I will begin John’s Incinerator program with @Stormblessed and @davemccright. The leg days will slip to Friday/ Saturday in the coming weeks, but may as well get ahead while I’m in town. I’m actually still a little sore from last Sunday’s! Should be brutal, but I’m pumped to do this.
@davemccright I’m going to drop some eating/ cardio ideas in here. I tend to get concerned with bodyfat and sabotage myself. I’m still unwilling to gain much more fat, but I think sanity checks can help me manage the workload the right way.
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