Silver and Steel

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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Very excited to see how you all go and will be watching closely and picking up tips for a future run at something myself. It is funny how motivating it is watching someone else getting after it.

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Any recommendation for a good read (of videos) of John’s stuff so I can learn how it all goes together. I am a slow learner so I figure I better start reading now if I want to run something in January. :rofl:

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I’m very excited to be involved in this process and excited to be running a program alongside some fellow T-Nationers again!! I’m absolutely happy to help with any diet/cardio strategy!

And @simo74

this is a great starting point, as is John’s book “The Brutality of Mountain Dog Training”!

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Awesome thanks Dave, I will give this a few watches and then think about the book. Exchange rate isn’t favorable for me but I am sure it will be worth it.

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I would also watch that video. He had an incredible series about “build your own program” that was like a choose your own adventure book. A couple of those will give you a feel.

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those select an exercise videos are great.

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Got after the first leg day today @Stormblessed @davemccright. The weights weren’t very heavy, but I am enjoying a jump back into some volume.

  1. Lying Leg Curls
    Bunch of warmups
    110/8 x 4

  2. SSB Squat
    Chains for all sets
    45/6 x 2
    135/6
    185/6
    225/6
    Speed just started slowing, so that’s it

  3. Leg Press
    2pps/6
    4pps/15 x 2

  4. DB Walking Lunge
    50/11 per leg
    Oof, wore out quick

  5. RDL
    135/8
    185/8
    205/8
    205/8
    225/8

Kids’ first day back at school, so wanted to get them donuts and get back before they left. It was raining, so I ended up getting to drive my daughter

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I definitely had to lower my weights a bit too just to compensate for how high the volume is Vs what I’m used to at this point haha but I do love it, such a fun challenge. I’ve mentioned it a few times but I think really going hard on the peri workout nutrition is going to crucial to get through this and make the most gains possible!

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For a hypothetical corporate drone that trains first thing in the morning, sits at a desk/ plane all day, and eats dinner with his family when home… how would you structure your meals? Really slowly leaning out while maintaining workout performance is the (hypothetical) goal.

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Pre workout concoction Bowl with shake first thing after waking, intra shake intra, Post workout whey isolate and quick digesting carb(cereal is always an easy choice, but so are a couple of those big rice krispy bars) ready to go right away on the ride home/to work, then you can eat a proper lunch around noon, whether that be something healthy that your office offers (typical chicken or steak with rice or fruit like blueberries or pineapple and a veggie like spinach, asparagus, bell peppers carrots or broccoli… chicken fajitas might work well here) or something you meal prepped for lunch, then a mid-afternoon snack like pumpkin seeds and a whey shake is a good idea, then you can come home/back to the hotel and get a nice dinner of something of similar guidelines to lunch, but I might even suggest like a lean cut of steak(or some wild caught salmon) with a baked potato and a veggie. Nothing super scientific or fancy, but solid and very high protein to help you recover from these high intensity sessions and also easy enough in execution to be able to repeat this outline daily. Convenience definitely helps with compliance imo

Edit: I forgot to mention that DoorDash might be your friend with getting some good meals that fit these parameters when you’re on the road. Outback Steakhouse, Panda Express, Chipotle and Qdoba would all be good options to check. On rest days, I’d suggest eggs, spinach and fruit as your breakfast

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Thanks man! Everything you posted is pretty much right on with my thoughts. I’ve been experimenting a lot this last year or so, but I’m most comfortable with the “older school” eating you’re talking.

I tend not to do the preworkout meal, just because it’s hard for me to get all that in my belly and not crap my pants in the gym. I also like to do a little fruit instead of the cereal post, because I think it’s good for my blood pressure. I think of dinner as a preworkout and do exactly what you say: red meat and baked potato. That seems to give me decent (for me) sleep and I’m not too stuffed for intra in the morning but I’m not hungry enough to be distracted.

DoorDash is a winner any time I don’t have a customer dinner! I think with the way we’re trying the schedule here, with main workouts during the week and optional workouts/ cardio on the road, doing a little carb cycling is going to work perfectly. Carbier meals at home and more eggs and steak on the road. That’s also an easy way to eat in restaurants/ hotels, so it works. I’m about 10 lbs heavier than I want to be, which is basically nothing for me (I’m heroic at gaining weight), so it’s all in an ok spot.

Anyway, today was chest and shoulders. I’m not particularly strong right now, but that will pick back up as I get used to the movements/ cadence again.

  1. HS Vertical Bench Press
    -/10 x 2
    25/10
    1pps/8
    1.25pps/8
    1.35pps/8
    2pps/5

  2. Low Incline Press
    45/6
    135/6
    185/6
    205/6
    215/4

  3. Slight Decline DB Press
    60/6
    80/10
    80/10
    80/8
    I think this is my first time doing these 2-hand after the one-arm experiment. I went really slow and controlled. Felt great. I don’t think I’ve been using my left pec much at all the last little bit before I backed everything off.

  4. DB Rear Delt
    15/15 x 4

  5. Smith Cage Press
    135/5 x 5

  6. DB Side Raise
    25/10 x 4

Off to do some bike intervals, then watch preseason in the pool for the rest of the day!

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Looking forward to seeing you all doing the mountain dog program together. Got me seriously thinking about giving something more BB esque a go myself.
Always liked johns videos but his books seem to be starting at over £200 from what I can see.

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There’s a free one on here that I always recommend as the starting point. It’s very representative of his work:

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Cheers, looks like the links to the workouts have been removed unfortunately.

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I was worried about that so I saved the whole program as a pdf a couple years ago

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Oh no! I’m sorry. I know some folks know how to use some internet archive tool to find that kind of thing, but I don’t know how to do that.

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Back today!

  1. One-arm BB Row
    I used the Meadows row handle today. I wouldn’t say I ever got a great feel today.
    -/8
    20/8
    40/8
    65/5
    50/8 x 3

  2. Smith BO Row
    These did feel great.
    45/6
    135/6
    185/6
    205/6
    225/6
    245/6

  3. Incline DB Shrugs
    75/10 x 3
    Got a good groove on these too.

  4. Lat Pulldown
    Supinated with some cool handles. 1s flex and 3s negative.
    Warmup set
    3 x 10

  5. Reverse Hyper
    .25pps/15 x 2

  6. BOSU Crunch
    4 sets

Home for half an hour of bike cardio. I really don’t know the “right” amount/ frequency/ method/ whatever for cardio. I’m just trying to keep my heart alive (work is very sedentary) without hating it too much (good Lord it bores me).

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I’ve been looking at the Prime ROT8 spreadable handles for Pulldowns. They just look awesome. Have you tried them?

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These were the knockoff version of exactly those. They’re pretty comfortable and you can use a lot of angles. I was a fan. Back training can get pretty boring, so these little changes in grip are a nice boost for me

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