Ouch! Hope you didn’t tear anything and only it’s a minor set back.
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Thanks! If I tore anything, it’s a baby tear. I’m just not tough anymore. It only hurts in the stretch, but I’m apparently easily deterred
I’ve been working out, but not logging. I’ve turned my Secret Santa into more of a White Elephant game by not doing the program that was very thoughtfully picked for me.
I’m traveling and whiny and apparently about to buy a new house, so I’m on my do whatever train. (Hopefully I’m about to interview too, which would be nice.) Today that was a full body workout I just saw on the YouTube.
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5 minutes elliptical
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Incline BB Press
45/15
135/8
185/6
205/9 -
MAG Low Row
1 warm-up around 100
3 sets of 8 with around 160 -
Close-Grip Bench
135/8
185/8
205/8
225/5 -
Incline DB Raise
20/12
25/12 x 2 -
BB Curl
70/8
80/8
90/7 -
Adductor Machine
1p/12
1.25p/12
2p/12
2.25p/12 -
DB RDL
60/15
70/15
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Did legs today, but all machines and just getting a ton of blood in there. I’m actually starting to feel ok. I’m back in my “just show up” mood. I got to go to a seminar recently with Trevor Moawad (he works with athletes and teams like Russell Wilson and Nick Saban’s Alabama). He talked a lot about a “neutral mindset,” saying they didn’t even focus on trying to get everyone positive or believing - just not being negative. He had some videos of he and Saban talking about the “illusion of choice,” and saying that if “you want to be really good, it just takes what it takes.” The take-home lesson for work, gym, life, whatever, was basically to just set your plan and then put in the work - they don’t have to be good days all the time; you just string together a bunch of neutral days. Anyway, I liked the concept.
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15 minutes elliptical
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Lying Leg Curl
50/12
100/12
140/12 x 2
150/12
150/12 + 120/8 + 90/7 -
Leg Press
3pps/8
5pps/8
7pps/8 + 8 + 12(with some lock-outs on this one) -
Machine Squat
-/8
1p/8
2p/8 + 1p/8 + -/15ish -
BSS Drop Set of Death
30/8 + 8-second hold + 20/8 + 8-second hold + 10/8 + 8-second hold + BW/8 + 8-second hold -
Leg Extension
30/8
40/8
50/8
60/8 + 5-second flex + 50/8 + 5-second flex + 40/8 + 5-second flex + 30/8 + 5-second flex
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If you can do RFESS then I think you could do Dark Horse!
You just have to modify things a bit. Box squats to a depth that doesn’t hurt. Narrow stance squats. Rack pulls. Seated good mornings. The list goes on but I think you can stay true to the spirit of the program and avoid stressing your adductors.
I can’t remember the jump but I know this would be a factor. I’m comparing everything to my current situation of grossing about $53k. A big chunk of my check never makes it home. I have so many deductions. I keep getting raises but my take home pay seems to stay the same. $450k per year would be like eight years of income in one for me. I’d like to think I could use $50-60k and saved the rest. Do that again for two more years and I’d have a fat bank account. At the very least, I would own my house and cars. That would free up a lot of money and allow me to do something that doesn’t make much and still get by.
I admit that I probably couldn’t afford to sit in my recliner for 60 years, but I’d sure be able to get away from any job I do just to pay the bills. Like I said, I could go train and coach and not have to worry about the low income side of things.
I do agree. I was kind of testing it out today. I’ll get back to the dark horse sooner than later, but it’s definitely a mindset switch for me - it’s freaking hard and heavy.
I do agree with this - a bigger nest (or, ideally, paying off your house and being debt-free), would put you in a position to do what you want.
So if you made $450, and filed with standard deductions and no other income/ assets (to keep this simple), you’d owe the federal government $128,424 in just income tax. Say your state takes 8% from you as well (that’s a relatively high number, but something like 20 states are there or above); your $450 has now become $286k - and that’s before you pay any of your property taxes, insurances, local programs, etc.
Now there are other things you can do to lower your pretax income, which are helpful (like 401k contributions and HSAs), and it’s unlikely you only file the standard deduction at that income level, but you don’t get a percentage benefit until you’ve brought yourself down to 414.
I don’t know what my point of this whole ramble is, but I’ve already typed it out so here we go.
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I assume I only get to keep 65% of what I make. Anything over that is a bonus.
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I’m going to order the guys book on Audible.
Sounds very interesting
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And that’s the gist - you boiled it down much better than I.
Yeah I really liked the session and his points. I was skeptical when I heard “mental conditioning coach,” but the proof is in his track record… if Nick Saban is quoting you, you’re probably onto something.
So I’m definitely all healed up, because I was probably just being a baby in the first place. I’m probably being a turd for not jumping right back into Dark Horse, but I’m going to do the high volume bodybuilding stuff for a couple (to get through a couple squat sessions) for a few reasons:
- It’s familiar, so it’s easier for me to “know” when I’m screwing up.
- It’s way friendlier to unfamiliar gyms, and I’m in the midst of travel (hoping to change that very soon).
- It’s just easier, so I’m finding fewer excuses to skip (this is me being undisciplined, and I get that).
These are more excuses than valid reasons, and I said I would do the program, so I will get back to it in a couple weeks and do it right.
Today was chest and shoulders.
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10 minutes elliptical
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DB Bench Press
30/15
50/10
70/8
90/8
100/8
80/12 (bottom 3/4) + 55/10 (full reps) -
Incline BB Press
Paused at bottom 2” off chest - holy poo
135/8
165/8
165/7 -
Bench Press
Supposed to pause, but I think the best I did was not bounce
135/4
185/6 x 4 -
Flye Machine
3 sets of 12-15 -
Dips
BW x 4 sets with 30 seconds between -
Leg Press Calves
2pps/ 1 minute work, 1 minute rest x 4 rounds -
Machine Rear Delt
80/12
70/15 x 3 -
Machine Side Raise
80/6
120/8
140/8
160/8 x 2 -
BB Front Raise
30/12 x 3
3 Likes
Back
Holy Volume!
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15 minutes elliptical
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One-arm BB Row
Bar/10
25/8
50/8
60/8
70/8
80/8 -
MAG Pulldowns
Did 2 sets of 10 with 3 different bars, so 6 total sets of 10 -
C/S Row
2p/12 x 4 -
Prone DB Row
70/10 x 4 -
Tri-set:
- Nautilus Pullover
8-12 reps - Chin-ups
BW/4 - Plate Shrugs
45s/15-20
4 rounds, no rest
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Ok! Stopped being a wuss and got back to Dark Horse this morning. Folks, it is freaking hard. I do think I need to change my mindset, though. On a strength program like this, my “failure” needs to still be a crisp, clean rep - especially since we use those top sets to then base our volume sets; going too heavy on the top set makes the rest of the day risky too.
Conditioning
- 15 minutes elliptical
Main
- 5 Burpees
- Front Squat
45/10
135/5
185/3
225/3
275/3
Stopped it there to try to feel my way back in to these. I honestly wanted to do SSB this block, but the bar was taken and I’m traveling to gyms that don’t have one anyway, so why set myself up for failure? - Ab Wheel: 8 reps
Volume
- Front Squat
225/8 x 3
Staying upright was the weakness here - I wanted to dump the bar bad. - Ab Wheel: 8 reps
Dynamic
- Deadlift
245/3 EMOM x 10 minutes
Assistance
- Adductor Machine
Some - New Leg Curl Machine
Some
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I am SO glad you didn’t pick anything with these for me!
@loganator wants me dead so he can have the biggest arms in the challenge. Not today!
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I have looked at Dark Horse several times and figured I was not tough enough to run it.
It’s definitely not easy. What you’re doing right now is every bit as hard, though.
Where Dark Horse saves itself is giving you a ton of leeway on assistance and starting at a really low percentage for the dynamic work. Where I need to save myself is not get super grindy on the reps to hit a top set, because you freaking pay for it on the volume.
But, yeah, it’s hard. I’m also starting to think I just plain don’t like programs.
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Did my workout. Don’t feel like logging it. Boom!
I had a “one-way video interview” last night where you record yourself responding to questions that pop up onscreen. Super awkward. Not sure why this log is turning into my taxicab confessions, but there you go.
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I’ve not been logging, but I have been doing the work (promise)!
Last couple highlights were 455/2 rack pull from just under the knees and 205 for 3 on the seated press.
I have been sticking with elliptical for cardio. It’s going to start being more dog walks and stuff when I finish dark horse, because I’ll drop calories then. So far I’ve just been cleaning up the food, but not restricting the quantity, because the heavy work is taxing for me. I’m currently 205.5. Last time I was pleased with my leanness, I was ~190, so I have a ways to go and need to get started. I’ll track my calories the next week or so and then start adjusting from there.
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Damn. That’s solid.
How do you feel about rack pulls? Are you stronger, weaker, or the same with those? I haven’t done many of them but I find it tough to get the bar moving.
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Thanks man!
Honestly, I think I’m a little weaker on them, but they don’t take the toll afterward that pulls from the floor door that makes sense. As a movement, I really like them. I can lock my back in a little tighter, maybe even get a little lat soreness, and I don’t get the “hangover” the next day.
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What’s your best deadlift? I don’t think I’ve really seen many posts with deads?
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