Yea, it has been a rough week for me. thanks buddy.
Went ahead and did the workout this morning. Felt a little slower, but upped the weights and just moved steadily through it with no longer than 15-30s breaks. Dropped the barbell weight to 95#, but then also used that for the clean and press, which was a big jump for me from 35# KBs. Honestly after all the CrossFit Iāve done, repping cleans with a barbell again felt kind of natural lol.
Feeling OK today, just a little run down, and definitely didnāt have an extra gear this morning. We had a nice dinner last night and a delicious slab of lasagna, followed by a full 8.5hrs sleep. Ate at maintenance yesterday, and plan to continue that today and maybe tomorrow as well. Going to try adding in some easy 30min cardio on the rower or bike for more active recovery during OFF days.
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Got it done today. Gonna do my best to sprint to the finish of week 6. Upped the weights on a few lifts and cranked it out fast. Going on Velocity protocols for the last week, and adding in LISS for 30 minutes each dayā¦see what we can come up with for a grand finale lol
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You plan to keep logging your training once this program is over?
For what itās worth, the program should technically continue but will be behind a paywall - which is most likely a deal-breaker for me (no offense to CT or the program, simply that I gotta bail out of Cali while I can and need money to make that happen).
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Iāve loved the programming so far, and have taken away a ton of positives. I like having a log and a community, want to continue with being more active on here. I was pondering what I want to do from here, and Iāve been scouring the site. I always love how thorough @Christian_Thibaudeau is, and Iāve been reading all of his neurotyping articles. Fascinating stuff, and for all the BS training ātypesā you find online about hormone levels, body shape etc, neurotyping is far more nuanced and makes FAR more sense as the short term fluctuations in neurotransmitters and natural neurotransmitter tendencies have a much greater influence on behavior/performance than some schmuck on Insta trying to sell CGMs or trying to get you to stop touching your penis because it affects T levels short term. Thinking I am a 1A or 2B from reading all the articles and just knowing myself from training for 25 years, but Iām going to take the full assessment today to find out. Thinking I may see what the paywall is and what the further program entails. If itās not gonna work, Iāll get on one of his neurotyping programs from www.thibarmy.com , but either way Iāll be enlisting in the Thibarmy after this lol. How about you?
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Follow Up: Took the assesment and Iām 51% 1B, followed by 1% 2A as my dominant neurotypes.
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Iāve enjoyed the program so far, but Iām having trouble wanting to stick to it honestly. My gym doesnāt have all the equipment it needs, my home gym does - but itās been in the 110s lately so Iād like to not die while training.
I was logging here before this challenge and will continue to do so afterwards. Probably going to do 5/3/1 base with some form of hypertrophy training (might do a PPL+ gap template) and Crossfit WODs for any days I have extra work capacity. Also going to run an arm specialization block because i need bigger arms lol.
Would be nice to have you stick around the community - it always helps to see otherās training methods to inspire changes of my own.
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Yea home gym is the way to go, Love mine and well worth the investment. Iām in Carolinas so we get that horrible humid heat, but I lift at 6am every morning to avoid the worst of it. 110s is too much though lol.
Tried 5/3/1 a few times, but I need more variety/stimulation/novelty. Just a bit too boring for me to stick with, and the volume was a bit rough last time I tried it also. CrossFit was always nice for me in that regard, but I MUCH prefer this Metcon for Muscle plan. Loaded carries, sled pushes/pulls, postural holds are all incredibly more functional than the āhigh volume low returnā movements used often in CF.
Thanks for the kind words man, Iāve enjoyed getting to know other people on here as well and follow along with the progress. My wife is a DPT, but even she gets bored if I try to talk to her too much about training, so itās been nice to have other meatheads to talk to.
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Last leg day in the books! Feeling smoked like a blunt at Willy Nelsonās houseā¦but, I was able to increase weights AND Finish faster than last week. Iāve come to both love/hate my sled: I love the extremely high quality of the work (without the joint pounding) but hate how fast the pain sets in lol.
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Feeling OK today, really liked using the Trap bar for farmers walks. For the sake of time, and the novelty of it, I did Pendlay Rows wit it as wellā¦A little odd feeling, shouldāve dropped a few pounds off ot make it a bit ācleanerā movement, but a nice change. Moved a lot faster today, but grip for sure burned out. I got a straight minute on the holds, but that was it, totally smoked.
Feeling OK but slightly down overall. Mood, energy, sex drive definitely dimiminshed. Iāve been running Velocity Protocols all week long: 2 scoops of Metabolic Drive 3x during the day, one HSM in the evening, and another protein burst at nightā¦only change is the addition of 1-3 scoops of surge. Weight has been EXACTLY 201.9lb every single day, picked up my kid this morning and stepped on just to make sure my scale wasnt broken lol. Been doing 20 minutes of LISS on my Echo Bike or Rower each day, and added in @Christian_Thibaudeau ab program every evening. According to my tracking this week has Daily Average: 2244 Cals, 223g Pro, 167g Carbs, 78g Fatsā¦no scale changes, Iāll take my final body measurements and after pics tomorrow when the final workload is done.
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Metcon for Muscle 6th week completed. All workouts done on time, as prescribed, and surge used exactly as directed. Ill type up my full thoughts and experiences later, gotta run, itās my sonās 3rd birthday today.
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My overall thoughts on Surge:
PRO:
- Iām a āwake up and workoutā guy. I find the use of Surge to be superior to the stimulant preworkouts I had always used previously. The energy is more smooth, and I feel like Iām getting a better workout than just a buzz. My muscles felt more āfullā and I do feel like I was able to do more work using it. I felt better the rest of the day as well: no jitters, crash, or heartburn like previously.
- Surge tastes good in both flavors, but Lemon>Berry for me.
- I think itās a far superior workout fuel, and I will continue to use it, already ordered a couple more bags. Glad I was a part of this challenge to give it a try. Iāve recommended it to a few of my buddies who also train, as well as a few clients that I program for, and Iād recommend it to anyone to use over ANY kind of āenergyā drink/preworkout. Far better use of money.
CON:
2. Three scoops on working days was a lot for me. Felt pretty water logged, and was forcing the last scoop down throughout the day. For continued use, I think 1-2 scoops per day is max for me.
3. I found a very low diet satisfaction/satiety with the 3 scoops per day. That can take up 50%+ of your carbs for the day for guys doing a low carb diet. For me, it was often times difficult to work around what my wife/family were eating, and what I had left to eat. I think Iām more comfortable long term with replacing a daily serving or 2 of fruit/carbs with a scoop of Surge. I just prefer to eat a well rounded meal every 4 waking hours, and trying to make a few of those more āketoā or just straight up protein was dissatisfying. Not to mention my wife thought I was an annoying wierdo often times as Iām choking down packets of tuna lol. For me, it just works best as a supplement and not a diet staple, but I may be more sensitive to this kind of thing than other folks. Probably explains why Iām not lean and mean as well lol. I just know the most āshreddedā I have ever been was 20 lbs and 4 years ago when I started CrossFit on a 6 week challengeā¦but I also know the pictures were fantastic, and I felt like dogshit. I think deep down, at almost 40, I just want to maintain a flat stomach with a waist thatās half my height. Being strong, having energy to play with my kids, lowering my long term health risks, being able to enjoy daily life, and maintaining muscle mass is most important to me. Far more so than being shredded. I do feel like Surge helps me achieve all of my main goals.
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My thoughts on the Metcon for Muscle Plan
Pros:
- I personally loved it. Quick, but intense workouts with a lot of intentional structure to them. Well designed and thought out. CrossFit claims programming is āconstantly variedā, but far too much focus is on the energy system targeted, and often times traditional box programming hits the exact same joints/muscles/movement pattern day after day and only varies the metabolic aspect of the workouts. It can be grinding in the long run. I feel like this type of Metcon is so much more sustainable an enjoyable. There was no boredom for me with this plan.
- The high intensity/low volume was very sustainable while also stimulating. I enjoyed chasing 2 rounds of each portion of the workout. When I had the right intensity, it was absolutely enough volume, and I wasnāt left chasing āgarbage volumeā while fatigued, for the sake of making myself āfeel like I got a good workoutā. Target muscles were well pumped and fatigued.
- PPL and hitting each area hard every other day was a welcome change for me, over training intensely back to back days.
- The workload day was nice to finish the week
- Overall, this program is far superior to CrossFit, from my experience with both. I heard Tanner Schuck describe CF well with āhigh volume, low value for timeā work. I think loaded carries, sled work, positional holds, hangs are far superior for long term health and benefit, as opposed to doing endless burpees, box jumps, double unders, wall balls just for the sake of elevating your HR. These moves have value, but not much for dozens or hundreds of reps. Returns diminish quickly and injury risk skyrockets. I donāt think they are worth the increased injury risk when performing fatigued.
- I found the slow eccentric strength work, and the āadvanced methodā accessory lift to be a much better way to train instead of just āclang and bangā all the time. I know my tendons and joints feel really good after this program. I was able to rep cyclist squats with a 145# bar in the front rack yesterday for full ROM, ass to grass, with no pain or difficulty. My previous best was a goblet with a single 53# KB, and some painful creaking knees and ankles.
- I was able to do this whole program at home as well as in a commercial gym.
Cons:
- I think any cons to this program just come down to personal preference. If you like hammering out tons of reps/sets, being in the gym for hours, using slow calculated progressions, resting fully between intense efforts, then this may just be a program you run for a short conditioning cycle.
- The density of this training may just be too difficult for some lifters. With a program like this, you have to measure success in how fast you do the work, and for some guys that may be odd/unsatisfying. Itās also different than performing traditional supersets, or giant sets as well, because you do multiple rounds back to back. I enjoyed that challenge, and just taking 3 deep breaths between movements before hammering out another one, but some people may not enjoy that.
- You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable for several minutes doing this. If you arenāt the type of person who can cope with spending some extended time in the Pain Cave, then this may be a tough program for you mentally. Again, itās not nearly as demoralizing as traditional CF, where you can spend 10-45 minutes like that, praying for the WOD to end, but for 5-10 minutes at a clip you will feel heavily exerted and uncomfortable. This is much different than traditional lifting where you may only feel that way for 1-2 minutes max on a set/superset and then you rest fully. In a program like this, you are going to easily spend 2-4 minutes building up the āpainā and then you have to do it again.
Overall, I think this is an excellent training program. I would recommend it to anyone. If you are a stimulus/intensity junkie this program fits and can keep you more focused instead of program hopping. If youāve been doing traditional CrossFit and feel burned out with nowhere to turn, this program is perfect. You will feel better, but not get too bored. If you need to feel like you look good for beach season or an event, I think you can get there with this plan. If thatās not really your thing, but you have become a āpermanent bulk modeā lifter and need to get into better condition, this program is great. If you only have 30-45 minutes 3-4x a week to spend on your fitness, then this program can be a comprehensive plan that tremendously benefits all areas of your fitness with a demanding personal schedule.
Loved the program and thankful to have been selected. Thanks to @TC_Luoma @Christian_Thibaudeau @Tim_Patterson for giving me this opportunity, I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed both Surge and Metcon for Muscle.
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