The Training Log of a Chronic Over Eater

Training Training Logs
81

Morning bw 216.3 (just missed 216.4, although it wasn’t my goal specifically)

Today’s workout

Duration 60 minutes

Today was a non-press day. I’ve decided to attempt pressing three times this week to see how my shoulders do. I pvc and baseball roll every day that I go to the gym and the knots are never ending. I might try doing the pvc and baseball work everyday, including non-training days, to see if that helps.

Limber 11 at home. (This is going well. Happy with it so far.)

Seated leg curl 70# x 2 x 45 ( These sets result in pretty nice pumps)

TGU 35# x 3 (These are getting smoother and faster. I plan to use the 35# for the week for continued practice and then gradually work in the 40# over the next couple of weeks. It’s not hard, and it’s not meant to be hard, it’s part of the warmup.)

Reverse lunge x 10

Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5

GOBLET SQUATS 45 x 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 4 (Spent time in the hole working the hips open and rocking back and forth. Need to keep working chest up, I can be lazy).

JVFS 115# x 2 x 5 *with breathing technique, this is approximately 3 seconds in the hole. (These are feeling good today. Really got my weight into my heels and worked my chest upward reasonably well. So I’ve nudged the weight up to 115 from 105 and they’re feeling rather easy. I plan to work this weight for another couple of weeks to get used to it and make it feel even easier.)

L sit heels down 40s x 3 (The extra ten seconds makes a significant difference)

Back extension 15# x 2 x 17, 16

Machine laterals 55# x 2 x 15, 14

Suitcase carry, heavier day 100# x 70s each side (I wasn’t confident that I’d do well with carries today based on the past two attempts with carries and the fact that my shoulders were a bit achey. But I wanted to try anyway and things went pretty well, added 20s to each carry.)

Good news for me. I found an olympic weight lifting gym that I’ll join over the summer to get some coaching. I’m interested in trying out the style of lifting. Plus I want a coach to evaluate my technique and maybe see what I can do for my shoulder issues. I can only do it for two months before my schedule changes making it impossible to remain at that gym. But that’s ok. So I’ll work this Dan John program until about July.

I intend to make a change in the Dan John 18 week protocol. I’m enjoying all this daily squatting and don’t want to give it up just yet. This is supposed to be the final week of squatting. I’m finding a good groove and am feeling ready to move the weights a little bit. So I’m going to add two weeks of squatting. I’ll combine it with some pressing, 2 to 3 days a week depending on how it goes. These extra weeks of pressing will add a few more workouts that I would have gotten in this two week period if I had been able to press daily. The other days will involve Pendlay rows. I like pulling. I haven’t worked this move before and I’d like to. So there’s my excuse for changing the program.

82

Afternoon pull ups, neutral grip

5 x 5

One set per 2 minutes, ended up with 8:19m

These are feeling stronger and faster again

83

Morning bw 216.8

I haven’t been eating poorly, just a bit more than previous weeks since my appetite has been up lately.

Today’s workout

Duration 66m

Limber 11 at home
Seated leg curl 70 x 50, 20 (again, serious pump after the set of 50)
Reverse lunge x 10
Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5
Tgu 35 x 3
Goblet squats 45 x 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 6 (lots of rocking in hole to loosen hips, hips felt good about halfway through the 65# set. I’m enjoying these as a warmup and awareness tool.)
Jvfs 115 x 5, 145 x 3, 155 x 2

The last set felt off, my weight was more forward than the previous sets where my weight was securely in my heels. Stayed tall while squatting.

L sit heels down 40s x 1
Machine laterals 55 x 3 x 15
Back extensions 15 x 3 x 17

Back extensions are feeling easier. Deliberately using a lot of lower back.

Farmers walk heavier day 100 x 65s

These went badly. I gripped too far forward causing the dbs to tilt.

Push press. I’m done with these until someone can work with me this summer.

Warmed up with db press neutral grip. 20 x 12, 30 x 10, 40 x 8, 50 x 6
Push press 135 x 3, 155 x 2

Switching to reverse grip bp.

84

Yesterday’s pull ups, neutral grip

6 x 4 minute on minute sets, so done in 5:04m

Today’s bw 214.8

Limber 11 this morning. Unfortunately the baby wasn’t feeling great today so I couldn’t bring him to the gym this morning (they have daycare services that he seems to enjoy). I used to train in the evenings but I have found that it interferes with my sleep. I’ve training in the morning for several weeks now and I’m falling asleep earlier and sleeping more deeply, so I’m not really interested in training tonight.

Today’s pull-ups, neutral grip

Minute on minute sets. Two exercises performed concurrently. Neutral grip pull ups and push up plus (full push up then the plus, not just the plus). Waves of 2, 3, 5 for pull ups and straight sets of 5 for push ups. Work until I know the next rep will be slower than I’d like.

Total time: 14:35m

49 pull ups
50 push ups (these are easy, I didn’t want them to interfere with the pull ups)

I thought about lunges, like a PLP set up, but I thought it might be nice to give my legs a break from the daily squatting. Then I thought about swinging the 45# plate and made excuses to myself about possibly doing it later. So we’ll see.

My pull ups, while weak, are coming along pretty well from where they were 3 months ago. Progress is good.

85

Morning bw 216.7, not sure where this jump came from, maybe because I missed the gym yesterday?

Today’s workout

Duration 62 minutes

Limber 11 at home, still enjoying this, except for the prone squat stretch which he demonstrated in the video (if I remember correctly). That stretch induces a very unique sort of pain.

Seated leg curl 70 x 50, 25
Reverse lunge x 10
Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5
Tgu 35 x 7

The tgus feel pretty good. Only problem is that my left shoulder doesn’t maintain the same tightness as my right shoulder when driving my torso off the floor. This causes the db to shift and I have to reign it in. The final set occurred after waiter carries, it was probably the easiest set of the day.

Goblet squats with lots of rocking and hip opening in hole
45 x 10, 65 x 5, 95 x 10

L sit heels down 40s x 3
Back extension 15 x 18, 2 x 17
Machine laterals 55 x 16, 2 x 15
Waiter carries, heavier day 80 x 58s R, 67s L

Carries used a neutral grip and shrugged shoulder which I never thought to do before. This felt pretty good.

I recently watched the Glen pendlay video instructing the snatch. Wanted to play with this. Didn’t feel too bad, some reps had good snap.

I’m bored of all the accessory reps. I was enjoying it for a while, which was fine, but I realize it’s not necessary and I’m not enjoying it so what’s the point. I’ll shoot for ten to twenty reps per day of laterals and extensions, performed in one set each.

86

Morning bw 214.7

Yesterday’s pull ups, neutral grip

One set per 30s

Sets of 2 and 3 alternating, total of 32

I was curious where reps would slow down, this wasn’t necessary yesterday since I did something similar the previous day. Sometimes I need to remind myself to just practice some quality reps to maintain what I have, they’ll improve over time.

In addition to reducing laterals and back extensions I will reduce seated leg curls to one set and any carry to approximately half my max time and very gradually increase time, like the L sit sets.

87

Saturday morning bw 214.7

Attempted some conditioning at home

45# plate swings super setted with neutral grip pull ups

I ended up regretting this pairing

Minute in minute sets

Swings waved at 10, 15, 20, 25 reps
Pull ups waved at 1, 2, 3 reps

Only made it 8 minutes. Total work included 140 swings and 15 pull ups. Added 2 x 5 pull ups afterward to make 25 for the day.

I probably could have made another round, but by the time I had noted the reps in my note book I was late to start the next set so I made that my excuse to quit there. Maybe I’ll try again to get those extra rounds now that I know what I’m in for.

Yesterday morning bw 216.2

Today’s bw 216.5

Neutral grip pull ups 8 x 3, one set per 30s

Hanging straight leg raises to slightly above parallel
Waves of 2, 3, 5 for 25 reps. I thought that made sense because I could only get 10 anyway.

88

Morning bw 214.4 (surprising because I ate a pound of salmon right before bed)

Alright, so I have no intention of not squatting as indicated by the 18 week protocol. I’m enjoying daily squatting: my hips are feeling better than ever, and my form continues to improve although it can always improve a lot more, which means more squatting. Most importantly, my jvfs is super weak.

I wanted to get an idea where certain lifts are so I tested them all today to get an idea, they aren’t all out maxes.

Limber 11 at home
Seated leg curl 70 x 50
Tgu 35 x 3
Reverse lunge x 10
Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5
Goblet squats 45 x 10, 65 x 8, 95 x 6 all sets with lots of rocking and hip opening, attention on very high sternum
Jvfs 115 x 4, 135 x 2, 155 x 1, 185 x 1 all sets with breathing technique, my core won’t handle much more weight with out air and with such a long pause 3 - 5 seconds
Back extension 15 x 18
Machine laterals 55 x 16
Sldl warmed to 275 x 1, going rather deep, upper back didn’t want to support much more
Pendlay rows warmed to 235 x 1, saw no need to force the issue to see how much more was possible.

I intend to base my practice weights off of 531 percents.

89

Measurements taken first thing in the morning. Posted just for the sake of accountability.

Waist at navel 38.5, possibly misread, could have been 39.5 based on previous measurements, have to check tomorrow
Waist at widest 39 and 3/8… if above was wrong then this is too, but not sure if I really messed both up
Arm 16.5
Forearm 13 3/8
Chest at nipple 48.25
Thigh 27 1/8

Interesting changes if they’re all accurate. Lots of shrinking in waist coupled with growth in arm, and thigh (0.25, 1/8 respectively).

Minimal shrinking in chest compared to waist. 0.5 in chest versus 1.25 in waist. … have to double check tomorrow, I’m pretty surprised with this.

Afternoon pull ups, neutral grip

4 x 6

One set per 2m

Hanging straight leg raise waved at 2, 3, 5 minute on minute for 25 total reps

90

Morning bw 213.4, happy to see some progress on the scale

Took waist measurement again, 38.75 today, so just about right yesterday. I’ll keep today’s number as the official number so any progress made by mid April looks 0.25 inches better.

Took an extra job today so no gym today, will return tomorrow.

Neutral grip pull ups waved at 2, 3, 5 for 25 total reps completed in 6:32
Hanging straight leg raise to above parallel same waves and reps completed in 6:07
Ring push ups (never did these before) waved at 1, 2, 3 for 25 reps completed in 7:06

Well I found something new that’ll need a lot of work - ring push ups, not even dips. …

91

Sorry to come across as retarded, but what are you following now?
I couldn’t figure it out.
531?

Are you still having some shoulder discomfort?
Why did you take out the external rotations?

Stay Strong brother

92

Morning bw 214.2

Today’s training

Limber 11 at home

So I’ll write out what I did in the actual order, to the best of my memory

Reverse lunge x 10/side
Seated leg curl 70# x 50

The following exercises were worked in something of a giant set, I didn’t necessarily maintain the sequence as written

Goblet squats 45 x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 6, 95 x 5 all sets performed with lots of hip opening in the hole, attention on high sternum
tgu 35 x 4, left side is improving, I noticed that my starting position wasn’t the same as the right side starting position, this adjustment improved my left side tgus. They continue to improve in terms of speed and smoothness.
Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5

The squat rack was taken up by someone doing quarter squats for high reps so I warmed up some hang cleans to get ready to squat rackless.

Jvfs and sldl super set. About midway through these sets I started warming up the next super set of pendlay rows and reverse grip bench press. The second super set was completed before squats since there were only a few light sets. In reality, however, both benches were occupied so I did these exercises wroth dbs since they weren’t the main exercise of the day.

Jvfs 100 x 5, 115 x 5, 130 x 5, 115 x 5, 100 x 5
Sldl 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 5, 115 x 5, 95 x 5
Pendlay 45 x 10, 40s x 5, 50s x 10, 60s x 10
Reverse grip bench press 45 x 10, 40s x 5, 50s x 5, 60s x 5

Machine laterals 55 x 16
Back extensions 15 x 18
Suitcase carry, lighter day 80 x 60s/each hand

Conditioning a la alpha

Burpee pull ups 31 in 10 minutes (lots of room for improvement)

Overall, greater cardio effect today than previous workouts, I like it

93

[quote]young n wrote:
Sorry to come across as retarded, but what are you following now?
I couldn’t figure it out.
531?

Are you still having some shoulder discomfort?
Why did you take out the external rotations?

Stay Strong brother[/quote]

Hey young n,

Thanks for checking in.

Shoulders feel good without the overhead pressing. I’m going to avoid it until someone can work with me. I’m getting two months of Olympic lifting coaching this summer so I hope to get as much as possible out of those two months to take with me for the rest of the year, including technical work.

I dropped the external rotations in favor of the push up plus, I haven’t missed the external rotations so I won’t spend the time on them.

That’s a good question about my programming… so I like the idea of practicing the same lifts every day like Dan John talks about. I like the frequency and greasing the groove. But I also like 531, I used it a couple of years ago with good success. But I also know that JW doesn’t necessarily recommend front squats, reverse grip bench presses, sldl, and pendlay rows as main movements. So in that sense it’s not 531. But I’m enjoying those exercises on a daily basis so I intend to use them for a while. The working weights use the 531 percents. I warm up the four exercises at 40, 50, and 60%. Then one exercise per day at the 5s, 3s, or 531 percents depending on the week. So it’s sort of like the bbb template divided over the week. To make it more bbb like, I might do 40% x 10, 50% x 10 for the non 531 exercises of the day. That would add up to bbb at the end of the week.

So it’s a little unusual but I wanted to combine those ideas and see what happens.

94

Morning bw 214.6

Today’s workout

Duration 70m

Limber 11 at home, I think this is helping me to get my hips to open up better and better

Leg curl 70 x 50
Reverse lunge x 10
Goblet squats 45 x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 95 x 5 all done with hip opening and stretching in hole
Tgu 35 x 4
Push up plus into downward dog 2 x 5
Sldl 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 5
Pendlay rows 45 x 10, 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 125 x 5
Reverse grip bp 45 x 10, 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 125 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 180 x 7, 190 x 3, 205 x 1, 225 x 1
Band pull aparts before bp
Machine laterals 55 x 16
Back extension 15 x 18
L sit heels down 40s x 1
Waiter carry 65 x 40s/each side

Extract

10 minutes of burpee pull ups

Made it to 40, at a marginally greater heart rate.

Now to get the time down. They felt smoother today. I maintained better control throughout the movement, especially between things. But there’s a ton of improvement needed technique and performance wise. Once the time comes down to a more respectable duration I’ll super set the burpee pull ups with swings because I think that will make it even more unlikeable to do.

I’m happy with these workouts, looking forward to next week.

95

Saturday and Sunday morning bw 213.6

Morning bw 216

Saturday pull ups and such

Neutral grip pull ups waved at 2, 3, 5, total of 25 reps completed in 5:22m
Hanging straight leg raise waved at 2, 3, 5 total of 25 reps completed in 4:55m
Ring push ups waves at 1, 2, 3, total of 25 reps completed in 6m

Today’s workout, duration 70m with conditioning

Limber 11 at home, as well as push up plus

Seated leg curl 70 x 50
Reverse leg curl x 10
Tgu 35 x 3, 40 x 1
L sit heels down 40s x 1
Goblet squats 45 x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 95 x 5 all done with lots of hip opening

Sldl 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 5, 160 x 5, 185 x 5, 210 x 5, 185 x 5, 145 x 5
Pendlay row 45 x 10, 85 x 10, 105 x 10, 125 x 10
Reverse grip bench press 45 x 5, 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 125 x 5

Machine laterals 55 x 16
Back extension 15 x 18
Farmer, heavier 100#dbs x 40s

Conditioning

40 burpee pull ups in 8:18, heart rate moved up about 10bpm with time decreasing about 1:40m

Not a bad workout. I ate a large plate of Chipotle last night, this explains the sudden jump in bw. I expect that to work it’s way back down soon. Looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow. Focus will be on pendlay rows.

So after this month I’m thinking about keeping the training weights for another month and upping the conditioning work. My goal is still fat loss (while happily accepting strength increases if they come my way while dieting). I’d like to keep the weights and try for a few more reps all while conditioning harder. I’ve been inspired by alpha lately, so maybe that’ll be the time to add an insert.

96

Morning bw 215.6

Today’s workout

Limber 11 at home

General warming up

Reverse lunge x 10
Seated leg curl 70 x 50
Hindu push ups 2 x 5
Tgu 35 x 3, 40 x 1
L sit heels down 40s x 1
Goblets 45 x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 95 x 5 all sets with stretching and opening of hips, usually feel good after a couple sets

Some work, pendlay row focus

Sldl 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 5
Pendlay rows 45 x 10, 85 x 10, 105 x 10, 125 x 10, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 180 x 10, 155 x 10, 135 x 10
Reverse grip bench press 45 x 5, 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 125 x 5
Power snatch 45 x 2 x 5, 55 x 2 x 5, 65 x 2 x 5 (these help wake up the sldl)

Little stuff

Machine laterals 55 x 16
Back extensions 15 x 18
Waiter carry, heavier day 80 x 30s/both sides

I thought about burpee pull ups but no pull up station was available. So I skipped that. I’ll probably take off from the gym tomorrow, maybe I’ll get some conditioning then.

So that was week one of my Dan John 531 inspired invention. Of course I’m not really skilled in terms of programming, but I’m enjoying things so far. Looking forward to week 2 and slightly heavier weights. Also looking forward to next month to see how things progress.

97

Morning bw 215.9

I still have a cold that came on yesterday. Took off from the gym this morning but felt up for some conditioning this afternoon.

Giant sets, ten rounds, one minute rest between rounds

Neutral grip pull ups x 5 (final two rounds were 4 + 1)
Push ups x 10
Reverse lunges x 10/each side

Completed in 22:25m
Final heart rate 174 (rather high)

I might repeat this occasionally to improve the time and see if the heart rate will come down.

98

[quote]pabergin wrote:
So that was week one of my Dan John 531 inspired invention.

Neutral grip pull ups x 5 (final two rounds were 4 + 1)
Push ups x 10
Reverse lunges x 10/each side
[/quote]

I see your adding Waterbury to the mix as well hence the PLP.
Well whatever works for ya.

Stay strong brother

99

Morning bw 214.3

Today’s workout

Duration 74m, I was a little slow today, mostly over the cold. Squat day takes longer than any other day.

Limber 11 at home

General warming

Hindu push ups 2 x 5
Reverse lunge x 10
Tgu 35 x 3, 40 x 1
L SIT heels down 40s x 1 (finally feeling easier toward the end of the set)
Goblets 45 x 10, 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 95 x 5 (all with stretching and hip opening in the hole)

Light work, giant sets

Sldl 45 x 10, 95 x 5, 125 x 5, 145 x 5
Pendlay 45 x 10, 85 x 10, 105 x 10, 125 x 10
Rgbp 45 x 8, 85 x 5, 105 x 5, 125 x 5

Squat focus

Again the squat rack was occupied by guys 1/4 squatting 225, literally just the lockout. …so I warmed up to clean the weights
Power snatch 45 x 5, 55 x 5, 65 x 5, hang clean 95 x 5
Jvfs 110 x 3, 125 x 3, 140 x 5, 125 x 5, 110 x 5 (all with long pause to exhale inhale exhale)

Squats felt Ok today, not quite right, but pretty good. I’m being lazy with my upper back. There’s no chalk in my gym so I have to hold my upper back very tight with high sternum and shoulders because once I start to sweat the bar will start to slide if I get lax.

Extras

Back extension 15 x 18
Machine laterals 55 x 16
Suitcase carries, lighter day 80# x 60s/each side

Conditioning

40 burpee pull ups afap

Completed in 8:04m at 174bpm hr
Slight improvement, some reps were pretty sloppy with wasted energy. If I can manage a cleaner technique I could go a bit faster. Anyway, these are tough and humbling.

100

[quote]young n wrote:

I see your adding Waterbury to the mix as well hence the PLP.
Well whatever works for ya.

Stay strong brother [/quote]

Hey young n

Thanks for checking in, I like getting feedback.

Yeah a little plp to get the heart going and get in my pull up work. My preference would have been burpee pull ups since they destroy me but my pull up bar is to low since it’s the door way kind. The plp action seemed like a decent idea. Plus it’s a little quiter than jumping around doing burpees and stuff, the quiet factor was helpful because the little guy was napping and I didn’t want to wake him up.