TCam's Log - The Road to Elite

[TylerPK4L]

Chimera

Week 3 - Session 1 - Main Lower Focus

SSB Squat w/ Chains (+75) - Belt/Oly Shoes
3x3x380+75
2x6x330 - Paused

Conventional Deadlift w/ Bands (+90 lbs)
6x2x335+90 - Beltless
2x2x335+90 - Belted

A1 | Lying Lat Pulldown
4x10x120

A2 | Off-Bench Sit-Up - 30 Deg
3x12xBW

Another very high effort squat day. Decided to go with chains to deload the bottom slightly due to quad fatigue from the conditioning the day prior. Made it through fine, but it was the right choice compared to loading more at the bottom.

Went from 6x3x315+90 with a belt to 8x2x335+90 mostly without a belt for the power-focused hinge slot. All moved well.

Week 3 - Session 2 - Light Conditioning / Mobility

Air Bike
30 min LISS - Mixed limb use
Metrics: 15 mi, 244 cal, 115 avg HR, 134 max HR

Quads were feeling it at first, but got into the rhythm and made it through just fine.

Cardio goals are likely going to tap out around this time range, maybe pushing to 45-60 minutes eventually for some outlier event, but this “hybrid” training I’m doing is not meant to take me towards marathons. Being able to push hard for 15-30 minutes straight is pretty firmly in the realm of all that is necessary to be as athletic as possible and beyond that is going to take away from other athletic qualities. Hybrid = Maximizing all athletic qualities, not running one quality up as far as possible at the expense of the other qualities.

EDIT: I’m actually going to go against the above a bit after thinking about it more. While any “events” I want to run might max out at trying hard for 15-30 minutes, the actual fitness for that is developed with longer duration training too. 45 mins of Zone 2 training will help a 5K more than just training hard for 20-25 minutes with the assumption that that time is my 5K goal. Still reading and learning and trying to not put a powerlifting mindset behind everything.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

Week 3 - Session 3 - Main Upper Focus

Slam Ball Throw - SA + Chest Pass
2 x 5/5+5 x 15

Paused Bench
4x4x315

A1 | Leg-Assisted Ring Pull-Ups
3x10xBW

A2 | Landmine Press
8/8x70
2x8/8x95

Landmine Triceps Extension
13, 10, 10 x 25 - I think I invented a new exercise

B1 | Landmine Curl
15/15, 12/12, 10/10 x Bar

B2 | Paused Hammer Curl
12, 10, 8 x 25s

Low-pain bench strength increased again These moved very well both in speed and control. RPE was around 6-7 on average. Shoulder pain maxed out around 3/10. I haven’t reached 0/10 with any working set of pressing yet, but getting there soon hopefully.

The landmine got a lot of love today. Landmine presses are definitely not a optimal hypertrophy sort of exercise, but they are generally a pretty good exercise for variability and resilience in the sense that they aren’t unstable enough to be too light to be useful, but they are unstable enough to have to fight through positions and change foot positions sometimes.

The landmine triceps extension probably already exists, but I’ve never seen them and they were very good. Basically a skullover or overhead triceps extension, but the force curve puts a ton of tension through the entire ROM. Will film.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

Week 3 - Session 4 - Lower Body Accessories + Hard Conditioning

Single-Leg Landmine Deadlift
6/6x90
2x6/6x135

4.75" Deficit Snatch Grip Slow Eccentric Deadlift - Beltless/Straps
3x8x225

Conditioning - Air Bike HIIT
10 Rounds: 20 sec On + 60 sec Off - Maybe 85-90% effort each
No metrics, Oura ring was dead and I forget the bike metrics. I do know I was getting 775-850 watts output during the sprints

Motivation for training was low on this day. Mostly with regards to doing a bunch of exercises, so I chose a couple of hard variations and did a few sets. The goal with the deficits deadlift was to keep tension on the hamstrings through a neutral spine as far as I could, then allow lumbar flexion to the floor, then reverse that lumbar flexion to neutral off the floor, then complete it in a normal position. It was part hamstring/hip mobility exercise, part lumbar resilience exercise.

Part of the decision-making was quad fatigue too. I knew I wanted to knock out hard conditioning today and my quads would get hit from it, so the split squat variation I’ve had on this day was nixed.

[TylerPK4L]

Chimera

Week 3 - Session 5 - Full Body

Squat w/ Belt/Flats
6x365
3x8x385 - All of these sets got spicy

Paused Close Grip High Incline Press (60 Deg)
2x6x185
2x8x165

Standing Cable Leg Curl
3x12/12x30

Cable Cross-Body Rear Delt Row
2x15/15x15

Cable Facepull
2x15x30

First really hot day in the garage and doing squats for 8 reps didn’t feel amazing, but it was a good workout. All sets at 385 had a very difficult rep 7 for some reason and then a cleaned up 8th. RPE/RIR was hard to measure, but I probably had 2,2,1 hard reps left per set.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 3 - SESSION 6 - UPPER BODY ACCESSORIES

Kind of

Triceps Pushdown - Straight Bar
10, 8, 10 x 80

Ring Rolls
A bunch

I mowed the lawn before this and needed to get this workout done pretty quickly. Shoulder were also feeling pretty beat up from the week. So I decided to mostly start working on some ring skills with forward/backward rolls, upside-down holds, and just getting used to them. I’ll have to work out how I want to quantify the work on these, but I basically ended up feeling a lot in the upper back and forearms. It was definitely a rotator cuff intensive workout.

I’m tempted to not worry about quantifying this sort of thing and just putting an open-ended “ring work” slot into the programming, but I may also just look up some different skills progressions and log them.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 4 - MONDAY - CONDITIONING 1

Mixed Mode - Moderate: Air Bike + KB Play
5 Rounds: 2 minutes bike + 2 minutes 44 lb KB play

Metrics:
20 mins, 5 mi, 242 cal, 122 avg HR, 161 max HR

The goal here was to just continually move with the KB for 2 minutes during the time off the bike. I did swings, squats, shifts, passes, presses, etc. The bike time was not overly intense, just enough to get 1 mile per round. It definitely got harder than expected and ended up at a higher heart rate, but it was great for not taxing any particular muscle group (like quads on a bike-only session) so that I can deadlift later in the day without issues.

Also, not going to use the “sessions” titling because I have varying days in which I mix cardio into one session or do it separately, so it’s simpler to just title things whatever I did.

WEEK 4 - MONDAY - MAIN LOWER FOCUS

Sumo Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps
3x495
3x545
5x545

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps
6x405
6x455

2-Ct Pin Squat - Beltless/Sleeveless
6x3x315 - 90 sec rests

Single Leg Landmine Deadlift
6/6x95
2x8/8x140

Leg-Assisted Ring Pull-Ups
3x10xBW

Standing Ab Pulldown
15, 10, 12 x 80

Overshot this one a bit on the low back loading. No problems, just fatigue that was slightly beyond the target. I’m assuming it’s more to do with the higher absolute load of the sumo relative to recently that got me than anything else. Need to get the technique tightened back up.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 4 - WEDNESDAY - MAIN UPPER FOCUS

Strap Pin Press - 4-Ct Pause
5x3x245

Feet Up Close Grip Spoto Press
15x185
15x205

Landmine Triceps Extension
3x12x25

A1 | Cable Single-Arm Row
3x10/10x75 - Analog to DB rows, bent over with hand support

A2 | Ring Biceps Curl
3x10xBW - Body angled to make these near failure each time

Using my ring suspension strap setup for the pin presses. I have the strap safeties variety, but the suspension straps are easier to setup and allow for adjustment at the bottom. These were set up to be full ROM minus chest sinking, so the bar was sitting on my shirt basically and I released all pressing tension (maintaining arch tension) for the 4-count pause. The point here is starting power / force production, since it’s in my power slot. Low RPE, but high effort and bar speed.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 4 - THURSDAY - LOWER ACCESSORIES

Open Trap Bar Zercher Reverse Lunge - Front Foot Elevated
10/10x125
2x10/10x145

Cable Standing Leg Extension
15/15x40
15/15x50

Cable Glute Kickback
2x10/10x30

KB Side Bend Suitcase Deadlift
3x6/6x62 - This is basically a lateral flexion version of a Jefferson curl

Another unilateral variation for the Zerchers. So far I’ve done a rotating split squat, Bulgarian split squat, and now the FFE reverse lunge. I’m undecided on how I want to do some things in the programming. Like just having the “unilateral squat” slot and doing whatever I’m motivated to do within that parameter versus having a specific variation and progressing it week over week for 4 weeks. I tend to think in the former option more though.

WEEK 4 - FRIDAY - MODERATE-HARD CONDITIONING

Air Bike
21 min of 2 min fast + 1 min slow intervals

Metrics
12.1 mi, 279 cal (Bike), 199 cal (Oura), 150 avg HR, 170 max HR

I was planning on going for a 30 min session, but I could tell pretty much immediately it wasn’t going to happen with the intervals I chose. This was likely too hard to recover from appropriately, in the overall context of the week. I’m trying to learn more about the best routes to take to best maximize everything, but it’s just going to take a lot of trial and error.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 4 - SATURDAY - FULL BODY

1/2” Block Pull w/ Stiff Bar - Belt/Straps
4x8x405

Open Trap Bar Low Incline Bench
2x6x200 - Shoulder didn’t feel great, so I cut it here

Slow Eccentric Deficit Push-Ups
2x8 - 8 sec eccentrics

Chest-Supported Cable Row - Wide Grip
3x15x120 - All to partials

Leaning Concentration Curls
16, 12+4, 13+3 x 25 - Myo-rep match sets

I knew going into this one that I wanted to avoid overly taxing the low back based on the rest of the week. Block pulls are hard enough, but reduced enough ROM to fit well and not be RDLs that don’t have a floating stopping point to reverse.

Wish the pressing felt better than it did, but it’s fine. Hopefully the shoulder trending to better continues overall.

WEEK 4 - SUNDAY - UPPER ACCESSORIES

Triceps Pushdown
12, 9+3, 8+4 x 80 - Myo-rep match sets

Cable Facepull
2x20x40

Cable Lateral Raise
2x15x40

Nothing super special here. Did some shoulder mobility with rings too.

First Month Chimera Review: Overall I’m enjoying the new style, but I am still figuring out how to incorporate everything. The major issue I need to figure out is cardio to make sure I’m not pushing it too hard to recover from it. Biking for what I consider “moderate” work is generally putting me into Zone 4, which is providing a lot of stress to the quads. I should be doing mostly Zone 2 work, but I’m not good at doing that currently. If I can figure that out, I shouldn’t have any issues with doing 3-4 cardio sessions per week with 1 being a hard session. The overarching concept to instill in myself is that everything should have a purpose. There’s no room for junk volume, even if I wouldn’t have classified it that way in my previous training scheme. For instance, with hypertrophy I can’t rely on (or recover from) a volume based approach with a lot of sets through the week for a muscle group, but I can maximize 3-4 sets reaching failure a couple of times per week. That generally will mean needing to pick the biggest bang-for-my-buck exercises for the intended outcome. I’m not going to go crazy thinking about it, it’s just a framework to generally follow, because enjoying it is priority #1.

[TylerPK4L]

Quick correction to something I said previously, which I edited in the post itself: I’m actually going to go against the bit about tapping out on cardio duration after thinking about it more. While any “events” I want to run might max out at trying hard for 15-30 minutes, the actual fitness for that is developed with longer duration training too. 45 mins of Zone 2 training will help a 5K more than just training hard for 20-25 minutes, even if that might be more specific to the event. Still reading and learning and trying to not put a powerlifting/brute force mindset behind everything. The balance needed for recovery won’t allow for that across all the disciplines.

Also by thinking this way I would be limiting myself in what I can accomplish with hybrid training. While I have no interest whatsoever in a marathon currently, that may change once the goalposts are moved with my changing abilities. That said, I am looking to push all qualities to their mutual maximum potentials, which means I won’t be sacrificing multiple qualities for one in particular.

For now, I’m still viewing “hybrid training” not as a mix of athletic events (like being a good powerlifter and a good marathoner), but as a mix of being athletic across energy systems, tasks/skills, and performance qualities.

CHIMERA

WEEK 5 - MONDAY MORNING - RECOVERY CARDIO

Air Bike
LISS for 37 minutes, including 2-3 minute ramp up and down each

Metrics
18.4 mi, 294 cal (Bike), 335 cal (Oura), 120 avg HR, 139 max HR

WEEK 5 - MONDAY EVENING - MAIN LOWER FOCUS

SSB Squat w/ Belt/Barefoot
3x3x430 @ RPE 8.5, 9, 10 - PR for this particular SSB

Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps
8x2x405 - 90 sec rests, dynamic effort

SSB Reverse Lunge - Front Foot Elevated
3x5/5x150

Cable High Row
15, 12, 15 x 120

Incline Plank w/ Anterior Hip Drop
3x8xBW - Made this one up. Probably the most effective rectus abdominis exercise I’ve ever done

Another high intensity squat day here. Up 10 lbs for the PR noted, especially with being able to keep the handles up at least for the eccentric and half of the concentric. The last reps were generally getting to my upper thoracic and I allow the handles to come down at the top as a result to finish out the sets, but I’m not as concerned with that.

The plank exercise: Basically I’m in a standard plank position in an incline with my elbows on a bench and my feet on the ground, then I allow my hips to sink, while keeping my scapula protracted and not sinking into scapular elevation, all the way down so that I’m in full spinal extension. This puts my rectus abdominis in a fully stretched position. That’s the eccentric. To initiate the concentric, I’m pushing through my feet but thinking about drawing my pelvis and ribs together to us the rectus abdominis to rise primarily back to the start position.

Another thing to film. But the idea here is to get the most tension possible at the stretch for that sweet stretch mediated hypertrophy. But it’s also providing tension all the way through. An unweighted ab exercise that’s absolutely brutal for 8-12 reps is a good one.

Week 5 - Wednesday Morning - High Intensity Cardio

Air Bike
3 min ramping warm-up
6 rounds: 25-30 sec sprint + 90 sec full rest + 30 sec slow rest
3 min cool down

Metrics
5.5 mi, 161 cal (bike), 190 cal (Oura), 133 avg HR, 149 max HR

Very interested in the HR metrics measured. This was very hard and I wasn’t able to maintain a 30 sec 90%+ effort sprint (not unexpectedly), in which I was getting 1000+ watts throughout. I eventually dropped to 900 watts and then 850 watts, but barely making 25 sec. So the question is, why was my HR not at an actual redline number of like 170-180? I have to imagine it’s just a matter of time spent working and 30 sec wasn’t enough time to get that increase and my muscular fatigue didn’t allow for continued high enough cardiovascular output.

Either way, good sprint session.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 5 - WEDNESDAY EVENING - MAIN UPPER FOCUS

Med Ball Throws
2x5/5x15 - Single-arm throw
2x10x25 - Chest pass

Paused Bench w/ Chains (+75)
3x3x275+75

Bench
2x8x275 - 1 finger width closer

Chest-Supported Cable Rear Delt Row
3x20x40s - Separate line D handles

Seated Cable Incline Curl
15, 10, 10 x 15s

Cross-Body Triceps Extension
15, 10, 10 x 17.5

Band Shoulder Stuff
2-3 x 15-20 x Micro Mini - ER and abduction (behind the back very much hit the painful part directly)

After the HIIT in the morning, I was definitely feeling a little fatigued for this, but neurologically ready based on how the med ball throws and bench warm-ups felt. Shoulder was definitely experiencing an uptick in pain at the bottom of the bench, so I didn’t push beyond what felt reasonable. Last set of chain bench was the best one.

The big positive here is that I hit 9 total reps with that weight. A few weeks ago I did a single set of 4 with it and backed off, so some definite progress in general work capacity regardless of pain.

WEEK 5 - THURSDAY MORNING - LOWER ACCESSORIES

Kickstand Landmine RDL
3x8/8x135

Seated Cable Leg Curl
15/15x35
2x15/15x47.5 - Myo-rep match set on 2nd set

Yep, that’s all. Still just testing out how I want to structure effort / exercise selection for the week overall. I’m thinking that I need to time cap the 2 accessory days to about 45 minutes each so that I don’t do too much like I did in the previous few weeks. That way I’ll have 3 full workouts plus 2 short workouts to fill in gaps and 3-4 conditioning-focused workouts.

Today I did this in the morning because I’m planning on trialing a longer Zone 2 run with my wife later. I have a feeling it’s going to be a painfully slow shuffle, if not just a walk/shuffle mix to stay in Zone 2.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 5 - THURSDAY EVENING - MODERATE CONDITIONING

Running - Aerobic Capacity
45 mins with short walk at each mile, 40 minutes total running, 5 minutes total rest
Metrics
3.85 miles, 12:19 avg pace, 714 cal (Oura), 139 avg HR, 171 max HR

This was almost literally more running for exercise than I’ve done in my entire adult life combined Goal here was to do Zone 2 work, not to have fast miles or go hard. I obviously didn’t strictly stay in Z2 with a 171 bpm HR, but the average at 139 bpm means I was probably in and around it mostly. Since I haven’t done a max HR test and (220-age) isn’t exactly an accurate equation, I have to rely on breathing mechanics and the talk test. I was just able to nasally breathe most of the time and talking wasn’t impossible. But I was probably at the top end of Z2 most of the time.

This was actually really enjoyable at this pace. While I’m not technically good at running slowly and my legs hurt, it felt systemically good and I felt kind of “lifted” at the end of the workout, rather than beat down.

And like I saw in the first few runs with shorter intervals, muscular endurance is the limiting factor in these longer runs too. Aerobically I could have kept going without stopping at each mile, but my quads and calves needed the rest. Been sore the last few days following this, so this was my first taste of how recovery is going to be affected by hybrid stuff. No full body day this week due to family time, went casually kayaking on Saturday, so this gave me an opportunity to fully rest the lower body from running.

WEEK 5 - SUNDAY - UPPER BODY ACCESSORIES

Decline Deficit Push-Ups
3x20

Cable Shrugs
3x20x35s

6 Ct Eccentric Dips
3x6

Cable Lateral Raise
2x15/15x10

Leaning KB Lateral Raise
2x20/20x13 - Leaning away from the working side, not towards, to bias the bottom

Vertical Jumps
3x5

Not much to note on this one. Did the first 3 exercises alternating, not really as a superset. Right quad was a little tweak-y on the vertical jumps at the end.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 6 - MONDAY EVENING - MAIN LOWER FOCUS

Paused Conventional Deadlift w/ Belt/Straps
2x3x495
6x495 - PR, I believe

Cheat Deficit Bent Over Row - Beltless/Straps
3x8x275

Wide Stance Hatfield Squat - Beltless
3x6x330

A1 | Incline Plank w/ Anterior Hip Drop
10, 8, 8 x BW

A2 | Heels Up Feet Together BW Squat
3x20xBW

I didn’t know what to expect on heavy paused conventional work since I haven’t done heavy conventional in a few months, but hitting a PR isn’t a bad start. Conventional is feeling better than sumo currently (and for the better part of a year probably). I think I’ll be doing mostly conventional for a while, provided the low back fatigue is managed. May take a run at beating my PR of 622.8 from the deadlift only meet years ago.

I wonder what I’m further from: A 630 conventional deadlift or a 6:30 mile (I’m guessing the latter)

The rows today were a deadlift supplement. Using a deficit means the bottom position was at a normal deadlift height and initiated the pull with my legs/arms simultaneously.

Hatfields felt okay. I just did those to be conservative with my quad tweak feeling the other day. No issues as of now.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 6 - TUESDAY EVENING - MODERATE CARDIO

Air Bike
37 minutes, including 2-3 min warm-up and cool down
Alternated legs-only / legs+arms each minute
Metrics
20.1 mi, 377 cal (Bike), 334 cal (Oura), 132 avg HR, 155 max HR

Last week this slot was “recovery cardio”, but I definitely went a little harder this time. Got an extra 1.7 miles and 83 bike calories in the same time and my HR was higher. This one was probably at the top end of Zone 2 for the average, but the HR graph line was linearly increasing to the 155 max when I stopped. Felt like I was aerobically able to go indefinitely, but I’m assuming I had actually reached my lactate threshold and beyond near the end and would have ran out of gas at some point.

Either way, this was my first 20 mile ride on the air bike. So that’s a cool milestone.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 6 - WEDNESDAY EVENING - MAIN UPPER FOCUS

Strap Pin Press - 4 Ct Pause
5x3x255

Cable Seated Chest Press
15x35s
2x15x45s

Lying Lat Pulldown
15x90
10x140
12x120

A1 | Triceps Pushdown
12, 8+4 x 70 - Myo-Rep Match

A2 | Cable Biceps Curl
2x15x35

Band Shoulder ER
2x20/20xMicro Mini - Left side dummy painful lol

Forgot to mention in the last entry that I did a bunch of band shoulder work prior to the cardio because both shoulders have been aching a good bit. Mostly the right side this past week, but then it was back to the left for this band work. Curls are painful depending on the variation too. But this was otherwise pain free.

Bench was significantly easier than the previous pin press with 10 lbs less too. So that’s cool.

WEEK 6 - THURSDAY AFTERNOON - LOWER ACCESSORIES

DB Split Squat - Front Foot Elevated
8/8x100
2x8/8x125

A1 | Seated Cable Leg Curl
3x15x40

A2 | Side Bend
3x8/8x62 - Did a few with cables and a few with a KB, just logging as if it’s only KB

B1 | Cossack Squat
2x8/8x35

B2 | Standing Cable Spine Conditioning
3x5/5x40 - This is essentially a standing spine CAR with straps around forearms for loading, very difficult

Alright, time for testing another variation on this day. I wasn’t able to get this workout done in the morning, so that means I only have about 2.5 hours between this and running. And this one was definitely more of a complete workout than last week’s. We’ll see!

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 6 - THURSDAY EVENING - MOD-HIGH CARDIO

Running
2 x 1 mile w/ 90 sec rest - 9:55 and 9:00. Then walked 0.25 mile and ran another 0.5 mile (didn’t keep time)
Metrics
2.5 mi running, 456 cal (Oura), 153 avg HR, 180 max HR

Pushed the pace faster than last week and it killed me lol. Partially because this was 2.5 hours post lower body accessories, my quads were starting to cramp at the first mile mark. The 90 sec between was stretching those out then continuing. I made it 1/2 mile into that second mile and had to walk for about 30 sec due to aerobic fatigue, muscles were fine by then. So I finished that second mile in 9:00 including the 30 sec of walking. The last 1/2 of that mile did the killing. It didn’t feel like I was at 180 bpm HR, but afterwards it was clear I was basically done.

Hitting 2 miles in 20:25 total is decent for me at this point though. Short term goals include obviously breaking that 20 min mark and doing it without stopping at all. I’m still very much in “beginner” numbers here, so I do expect some noob somewhat linear gains in aerobic conditioning. My limiter to that has more to do with the muscular endurance and the capacity to absorb impact at 225 lbs.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 6 - SATURDAY EVENING - FULL BODY

Suspension Good Morning - Open Trap Bar - Beltless
3x6x255 - These were hard

Open Trap Bar RDL - Beltless
2x15x255

Ring Pike Push-Ups + Normal Push-Ups
2x8+8xBW

Ring Inverted Row - Pause + 6 Ct Eccentric
3x5xBW - Emphasis here was more about control at the shoulders/scapulae than hypertrophy, full protraction and internal rotation at the bottom

255 lbs on good mornings does track for what I’ve used before, but starting from the bottom position was rough. Undecided on if it’s a worthy lift, but it’s something I’ve never really trained to see how it affects my lifts, so it might be.

WEEK 6 - SUNDAY MORNING - LIGHT CONDITIONING + UPPER ACCESSORIES

Air Bike
15 mins, 7.8 mi, 130 cal

4 Rounds
Pull-Ups: 5xBW
Floor JM Press: 8x135
Alternating DB Curl: 10/10x25

Air Bike
15 min, 7.6 mi, 125 cal

3 Rounds
Cable Shrug: 15x85
DB Lateral Raise: 15x25s
DB Bent Rear Delt Fly: 15x25s

Oura Metrics
57 min, 513 cal, 128 avg HR, 148 max HR

Minimal rest in the lifting portions, just switching stations between exercises and then under 1 minute between rounds. Last three exercises all got to partials.

Goal for the bike was mostly Zone 2 work which was achieved.

REVIEWING THE FIRST 6 WEEKS

I’m enjoying this process a lot so far. It’s cool to still get a decently significant rep PR on deadlifts while doing all of this. Despite the increase in systemic load, I’ve felt mostly good.

That said, I don’t think I like the resistance training split I have going. Full body days feel like I hit a decent lower body lift and then I don’t have any interest in setting up for an actual press variation, also leading to poor accessories. On lower body accessory days, they’re either too hard or too easy depending on my mood. Upper body accessory days haven’t been much of anything relative to what I’d usually do on a focused secondary day.

While I like the general idea of full body splits, they just didn’t work out for me practically. Back to upper/lower we go! I’m planning lower, upper, gap filler, lower, upper for a 5-day resistance training split. The first 2 are primary focused days and the gap-filler is for some exercise back work, isolation work, resisted mobility, etc. The last 2 are secondary focused days where most of the stuff from the full body and two acc days will spread to.

I do like the separately focused weeks for deadlift/squat, so I’ll continue that.

Still working on where best to incorporate jumps, sprints, and other stuff that I’d like to work on without interfering too much with recovery or needing to remove other things. But that will filter in as I figure out the bigger pieces. No need to shove them in and then not know which thing or amount of which thing messed up my recovery.

Haven’t posted the physique in a long time here. Appetite has increased with activity, so I’ve been chillin at my usual 220-225 lbs range. Still about 6’0". Still natty. About to turn 35.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 7 - MONDAY EVENING - PRIMARY LOWER BODY

Beltless Paused Squat w/ Oly Shoes
3x3x405 - Higher bar position felt good today

Beltless Conventional Deadlift w/ Stiff Bar/Oly Shoes
5x3x405 - Initial reps were hard every set

Static Forward Lunges w/ Open Trap Bar
3x8/8x125 - Done by alternating per 4 reps

A1 | Cable Leg Curl - Lengthened Bias
2x12/12x42.5

A2 | Band Torso Twists
2x20/20xMini - Lat pulldown bar as a dowel on traps, band in one hand

I haven’t done heavy / high effort beltless work in a long time. Squatting beltless with 405 isn’t historically amazing for me or anything, but it is very good for recent comparisons. Each set got difficult at the end, but form held up well. Along with the more comfortable higher bar position, I’m taking this session as a sign of the handles-up SSB work working.

I think I’ve deadlifted in Oly shoes a handful of times over 10 years ago. I only did it today to allow me to do the lunges during warm-ups for deadlift. That sudden switch and the use of the stiff bar made it much harder than expected. It’s also getting hot as balls in the garage gym here in Alabama.

WEEK 7 - TUESDAY EVENING - RECOVERY CARDIO

Air Bike: LISS for 32 minutes - Mostly legs-only
Metrics: 16 mi, 250/299 cal (Bike/Oura), 107 avg HR, 130 max HR

Cardio is so much easier when watching a YouTube video or whatever lol

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 7 - WEDNESDAY EVENING - PRIMARY UPPER BODY

3 Ct Paused Bench
3x3x315
5x315 - Touched too high on the 5th and made it harder than it should’ve been

Ring Push-Ups w/ Chains
4x10xBW+37 - Went from slow eccentric with slight pauses to quick and a couple partials by the end, making each set at or above RPE 8 per its own rep style

Kneeling Cable High Row
2x6/6x85
8/8x85

A1 Incline Cable Curl
15, 12+3, 10+3+2 x 17.5s

A2 Cable Upright Row / Lateral Raise
2x15x35

Alternating Front Raise + Alternating Lateral Raise
2x10/10+10/10x10s - Full ROM flexion and ~100 deg abduction

Wanted 6 reps on the last set of bench and I think it was there if I hadn’t messed up the 5th. Oh well. That’s about 20 lbs under my PR for that particular variation 5RM. Shoulder pain is still hanging around through the strength increases, but not changing for the negative.

WEEK 7 - THURSDAY AFTERNOON - ACCESSORIES

Lying Cable Overhead Triceps Extension
2x15x35
20x35

Forearm Things
2x15s w/ 13 lb - Pronation/supination and ulnar/radial deviation holding onto a band attached to a KB

I’m not sure what to do with this day yet, but this wasn’t it. Motivation for doing anything was super low, so I just did this and some mobility stuff for the back and pecs.

I will say that there’s a pretty low chance of me feeling like doing any explosive work like jumps around this time in the week, due to fatigue from the two primary days adding up. So that’s at least giving me some more ideas for where to put that.

WEEK 7 - THURSDAY EVENING - MODERATE CARDIO

Running
8 x 400m with 4-5 mins of walking between each
2:30 + 1:55 + 1:45 + 1:30 + 1:35 + 1:35 + 1:40 + 1:45
Metrics: 691 cal (Oura), 139 avg HR, 175 max HR

Peaked at a 6 minute mile pace, which is cool. This was a pretty casual running day with the long rest periods, but I’m still happy to have maintained a quick pace for multiple bouts in a row. Worked on getting a higher step cadence today.

[TylerPK4L]

CHIMERA

WEEK 7 - SATURDAY AFTERNOON - LOWER TRANSITION

Switching up the order of events during the week to see if I can better manage fatigue and motivation. I’ll likely just feel it out this upcoming week and then restart with a new cycle after that. Basically shifting the lifting days so that I’m fresher on the primary days.

Beltless Wide Stance SSB Squat
5x6x240

KB Swing
3x8x170

Rope Pull Cable Row
3x8/8x42.5 - Basically one arm row with a long strap, then grabbing with the free hand and rowing with it, causing a rotation one way, then the other, then eccentric one way, then the other. Just messing around, but it does seem decent for rotational control

Treating this like a deload. Planning on running a bit within a couple of hours of this.