Velvet's Lifting and Other Fun Stuff Log

Training Training Logs
2361

7/20/22

Axle Press - 3s Week

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins: (widest to narrowest grips)
3x10
2x9

Axle clean and press away:
50x10
80x5
90x5
105x5

Landmine twists:
35x8

SUPER SETS (press - band)

Axle clean and press away:
90x5x5

Band pull aparts:
5x20

Low incline DB bench: (2)
60x8
60x6
60x5

Single arm BB row:
70x9
70x7
70x6

Nordic hamstring curl: (purple band)
3x10

Lateral raise:
10x60 rest/pause

CONDITIONING

Tabata burpees:
2x6, 6x5

Good to be back pressing the axle. It feels way better than a regular BB to me. Went with a low TM to get things back up and running on this. Going to stick with SSL supplemental for a while here too.

I’m getting to the point where I dread the Tabata more than anything. When I was gunning for 5’s across it was never all that bad to keep squeezing one more rep in. Thinking to the next workout, where I have to get three rounds of 6 is already vomit inducing. My quads were barking today. I find burpees to be one of those things that, no matter how winded you are, you can always find enough breath for the next rep. Whether or not you can push yourself back up or stand the searing pain in your quads is always what gets me.

3 Likes
2362

7/21/22

Conditioning

EMOM x15:

Round 1,4… - 25lb DB man makers x4
Round 2,5… - 16kg KB ABCs x3
Round 3,6… - burpee chins x5

Holy smokes this was way more brutal than it looks on paper. I was absolutely dying on the last few rounds. I had intended on making this longer, wound up needing to cut it short for other reasons, but my god I’m glad life got in the way. I think I’d have hung on for a few more rounds but the 30 minute workout I dreamed up was ambitious to say the least.

Side note, my fear about the adjustable KBs being a total pain in the ass has come to fruition. Putting them back together to stow them at the end of a workout has become my nightmare and a workout in itself. Super handy, but total lack of QC makes lining them up more of a carnival game than it should be. Considering leaving them unloaded and then just adding to them rather than leaving everything inside.

1 Like
2363

7/22/22

Trap Bar - 3s Week

GIANT SETS (jump - pull - core)

Box jumps:
x3

High handle trap bar pulls:
60x10
150x5
280x5
320x5
360x5

Dip bar leg raises:
3x10
2x9

GIANT SETS (pull - shin - calf - hip)

High handle trap bar pulls:
280x5x5

Tibialis raises:
3x10

Calf raises:
3x10

Band hip flexor raises:
1x10

Ring pushups:
x19
x11
x9

DB curls:
30x12
30x8
30x7

ATG split squats:
30x3x8

Trap bar shrugs:
60x50

CONDITIONING

Tabata burpees:
3x6, 5x5

Decided to just go with high handles the whole time instead of combining the two. I think I owe it to myself to just run this out for a while and pick up a silly (for me) amount of weight before it starts stalling. Why not?

I’m pretty sure those assistance numbers are accurate, but my notebook is inside and I’m sitting outside typing this. Fiancee has covid and is occupying the living room with our freshly post-op surgery pup, and our upstairs is stifling hot at the moment.

Was pretty nervous about that Tabata at the end of the workout, but it wound up being much easier to get through than Wednesdays workout. I think I reaped some immediate benefits from yesterdays hell session. Still, I used about 19 seconds on the third round of 6, which worries me for Mondays workout.

1 Like
2364

7/23/22

Conditioning

For time:

100 KB clean and press w/12kg KBs
3 burpee chins at the top of every minute

Time: 14:44

Shoulders maketh the man. Absolute delt scorcher of a workout. When you think you get a respite from the over head pressing, the burpee chins don’t really give you the break you think is coming. Pouring sweat all over the gym after this.

1 Like
2365

7/24/22

40 minute 60lb weight vest walk

That’s all for today, nothing exciting to see here.

1 Like
2366

7/25/22

Push Press - 3s Week

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

Over hand pullups:
x10
+25x3x6
+25x2x5

Hang clean and push press away:
45x10
100x5
110x5
125x5

Band oblique twist:
x10/side

SUPER SETS (press - band)

Hang clean and press: (clean each rep)
110x5x5

Band pull aparts:
5x20

Low incline DB shoulder press: (4)
50x8
50x6
50x5

Chest supported DB rows: (2)
70x10
70x8
70x7

Reverse lunge:
95x3x5

Band pec fly:
x60/side rest/pause

CONDITIONING

Tabata burpees:
4x6, 4x5

I’m sure I’ll get under a bench again at some point in my life, but I’m in no rush to. Opted to stick with push pressing for my second pressing workout, I think it’s the right move.

The supplemental work doubled as a little bonus conditioning work. Lungs were working for that portion more than I anticipated.

Legitimately scared about progressing that burpee workout any further. I might just go for broke to get 6 across the next time I do it so I can just be done with it, rather than chip away at it. We’ll see.

Noticed my knees being a little cranky today. Left one after the workout, so no big deal there. Right one has been catching on itself and a few random sharp pains throughout the day. Meniscus might be a little jacked up, not sure why.

1 Like
2367

7/26/22

Cardio

~30 minutes of lawn mowing

~2.5 mile trail run

Best way to deal with cranky knees? Run a nicely groomed trail. Not even joking. Last year when I legit tore something up in one, I proceeded to run more than I ever had and didn’t skip a beat. Have what feels like basically the exact same thing going on, just less severe, on the opposite side, almost exactly a year later. Kind of weird. Ran pretty hard and the calves are cooked now.

Edit: I wanted to add that I was parked about 150 yards from the “finish line” of this run. I walked from there to my car and by the time I got to my driver’s door I was fully recovered breathing wise. Sweating profusely and tired still, but completely had my wind and my heart rate was probably in the upper 70s/lower 80s. Not bad for like 60s of walking.

1 Like
2368

7/27/22

Front Squats - 5s Week

GIANT SETS (jump - squat - core)

Box jumps:
x3

Front squats:
45x10
95x5
125x5
145x5
160x5

Incline standing ab wheel:
4x6
1x5

GIANT SETS (squat - shin - calf - hip)

Front squats:
125x5x5

Shin raises:
3x10

Calf raises:
3x10

Band hip flexor raises:
1x10

Dips:
x25
x15
x12

BB row:
165x14
165x10
165x8

Pause Bulgarian split squat:
3x10

Band seated hamstring curls:
x60

CONDITIONING

Tabata:
Odd rounds - push ups
Even rounds - air squats
Rest periods - 32kg KB swings

Ran through this with basically no rest, weights are crazy light, but I suck at front squats right now. Thankful for the light day because of how jacked up my legs are.

Knees are both still swollen, right worse than the left. Nothing in the way of pain, but they just don’t feel right either. Left achilles also feels like it’s going to snap today. Definitely from yesterdays run, but I’m surprised at how beat up I am from it. Definitely not muscular either which is just, odd.

Decided that bodyweight is probably the right move for assistance so just did long pauses on the split squats and that made them quite shitty.

I subbed out my usual burpee conditioning workout to some kind of Frankensteins monster parts of the puzzle thing. It didn’t hit nearly as hard, but I noticed that what ever I did to my knees to put them in this position, the burpees I did Monday caused them to blow up. I don’t imagine they’re the cause, but the speed I’m doing them makes for a fairly rough impact so I’m going to let them chill a bit. Once I feel confident in their ability to withstand it I’m going for 6 across then we’ll have another conditioning change up.

1 Like
2369

7/28/22

Cardio

150lb Sandbag to shoulder: x2

~20 minutes Airdyne ride

My plan was to do 30 sandbag to shoulders for time today. That simply did not pan out. Woke up with a pretty gnarly headache this morning that hasn’t really gone away. Feels muscular, which isn’t anything new to me, but has come with some serious brain fog to the point where I considered whether or not driving was safe earlier in the day.

First shoulder had me very lightheaded, which again is nothing new for that movement, but the second one nearly floored me. Sharp pain through the base of my skull into my temples, actually stumbled a little and caught myself on the bag. Decided I was all set with that on a concrete floor. Carrying the bag back to its storage spot I walked like a drunkard.

Feeling pretty defeated I didn’t want to totally give up on the workout, so I just rode the Airdyne for a while. Got my heart rate up and broke a bit of a sweat, but nothing crazy. I feel like with this thing your either blasting yourself or at a forever pace, there doesn’t seem to be an in-between.

Whatever, hopefully I feel better after a nights sleep. I might just have covid again since it’s been in my house all week and this is how it’s presenting. Find out soon enough.

1 Like
2370

7/29/22

Press - 5s Week

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

NG chins: (widest to narrowest grips)
4x10
1x9

Axle clean and press away:
50x10
75x5
85x5
100x5

Landmine twist:
25x4x10

SUPER SETS (press - band)

Axle clean and press away:
85x5x5

Band pull aparts:
5x20

DB high incline bench: (3)
50x9
50x7
50x6

Meadows row:
60x12
60x9
60x8

Lateral lunge:
3x5

Lateral raise:
5x100 rest/pause

CONDITIONING

Tabata KB swings:
32kg x 8 rounds

This strength session was more of a conditioning session given how light the weights were. Fine with that. Didn’t really sleep, just sat in bed with a pounding headache all night. Took some Advil in the morning, what a game changer that was. Surprise, surprise. That wore off by the time I got out of work and back here to lift, but I was fine today. Was heaving and struggling to not puke by the time I got part way through the assistance for some reason, which made the end of the workout fun.

Those lateral lunges hurt like a son of a gun. It felt like turning over a cold car in sub-zero temperatures the way my connective tissue around the outside of my hips down to about mid thigh seemed to break up. Guess that’s a motion my body needs more of.

Going to be pretty rad the next time I workout and feel “fine”.

2371

7/30/22

Conditioning

Tabata KB clean w/32kg KB

Tabata DB snatches w/40lb DB

Tabata BB thrusters w/45lb BB

Tabata pushups

This was not one single workout, but the cumulative efforts from throughout the day. I’m on call this weekend and on puppy duty as she recovers, so I couldn’t be in the gym for any extended periods of time. Was able to steal 4 minutes here and there throughout the day to try really hard at some stuff though.

For all of these I just went for broke each round to try and make it as miserable as possible. Alternated sides on the cleans and snatches each round rather than during the rounds. Somehow pushups felt like the hardest one of the bunch.

1 Like
2372

8/1/22

Trap Bar Lift - 5s Week

GIANT SETS (jump - pull - core)

Box jumps:
x3

High handle trap bar pulls:
60x10
150x5
260x5
300x5
340x5

Dip bar leg raise:
4x10
1x9

GIANT SETS (pull - shin - calf - hip)

High handle trap bar pulls:
260x5x5

Shin raises:
3x10

Calf raises:
3x10

Band hip flexor raises:
1x10

Ring pushups:
x21
x14
x12

Trap bar rows:
170x10
170x7
170x6

Pause ATG split squats:
25x3x8

Band tricep pushdowns:
x100 rest/pause

CONDITIONING

Tabata KB swings w/32kg KB

Flew through this workout. Plate change rests during the main work, then treated the supplemental like a circuit more than giant sets. First real semblance of a rest period came when I was breaking down the trap bar before the pushups. Light weight benefits.

1 Like
2373

8/2/22

Conditioning

“Candy”

AMRAP in 20 minutes with 45lb weight vest:

Over hand pull ups x3
Dips x6
Squats x9

13 or 14 rounds

Bodyweight over hand pull ups x17

Called this workout Candy, because she’s the heavy set cousin to Cindy. Lost track of how many rounds I had completed towards the end. Dips were the limiting factor on this one for me. Pretty sweet to have knocked out the 17 rep set after all the weighted ones.

Going away for the rest of the week. Vegas with the boys! Plan to hike and mountain bike the desert, and of course indulge in the strip.

1 Like
2374

8/11/22

Push Press - 5s Week

GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)

Over hand pullups:
BWx10
+25x4x6
+25x5

Clean and push press away:
45x10
90x5
105x5
120x5

Band oblique crunch:
x10/side

SUPER SETS (press - band)

Hang clean and push press: (each rep)
105x5x5

Band pull aparts:
5x20

High incline DB shoulder press: (5)
40x10
40x7
40x5

Chest supported KB row: (3)
32x9
32x7
32x6

Walking lunges:
x50

Poundstone curls:
x127

CONDITIONING

Tabata mountain climbers

First lifting session in over a week. Spent the second half of last week and into early this week hiking and mountain biking around the deserts and mountains near Vegas. I like that stuff way more than lifting weights.

Everything was fine despite an impromptu week off, except for the Poundstone curls. After the first 10 reps I was in some trouble. Normally I can knock out my first 70 or so without stopping, then hang on for the rest. Not sure why, but my biceps were completely smoked and I had to rest after the first 30. That’s when I knew I was in the shit but I managed to get all the reps without setting the bar down despite the set taking like 6+ minutes.

The mountain climbers tore up my abs and hip flexors quite a bit, but my lungs weren’t really hit by them. Not a bad workout, but didn’t hit what I was looking for exactly.

2 Likes
2375

8/12/22

Conditioning

For time:

50 double DB snatches w/25lb DBs
At the top of every minute, 3 burpee chins

Time - 6:39

This is a winner for a quick and effective lung buster. I’d initially planned on using KBs, but it was so late by the time I got around to it I didn’t want to mess with adjusting the weights on those so I just rocked the DBs. As a standalone this was a little light, but as a post workout chaser this could be a monster.

1 Like
2376

8/13/22

Cardio

~3.25 mile trail run, between 21-22 minutes time

Had the nicest day outside that I can remember yesterday. Mid 70s, not overly humid, sunny with some cloud coverage. Absolutely perfect weather IMO. Unfortunately I’m on call this weekend so I couldn’t go out to the mountains or anything to enjoy it. Wound up getting a lot of yard work done, then decided to hit up a trail run for my workout. Went over to a loop trail and knocked out a couple laps. When I got back to my car I was pretty surprised. I didn’t feel like I was moving that fast, but apparently I was absolutely flying. Not sure where that came from.

As a fun bonus, I kicked a root on my second lap and went completely airborne for a full second or so before hitting the deck. I got lucky and landed in pine needles and dead leaves, missing every other root in the area. So that time included the fall and recovery.

2377

8/14/22

Conditioning

Axle continental cleans:
120x3
140x3
160x2 (1 miss)
170x1
180x1
190x3x0

For time:

25 pullups
50 pushups
75 air squats
3 continental cleans w/140lb at the top of every minute

Time - 8:46

Wasn’t sure what to do today, and still feeling very lazy as far as equipment set up goes, so went with something low investment. Wasn’t sure what I could do for this movement so decided to start with hitting a heavy single. I think I have the strength for 190 but my technique wasn’t there for it. Tried three different methods but couldn’t finish the rep.

For the EMOM workout I just cycled through the three movement after the cleans going for max reps. Sucked big time.

1 Like
2378

I’ve admittedly been gone for a while. Did I miss anything recently? How are you doing? Any new pursuits?

2379

8/15/22

Front Squat - 1s Week

GIANT SETS (jump - squat - core)

Box jumps:
x3

Front squats:
45x10
95x5
145x5
170x5 (whoops)
180x5

Incline standing ab wheel:
5x6

GIANT SETS (squat - shin - calf - hip)

Front squats:
145x5x5

Shin raises:
3x10

Calf raises:
3x10

Band hip flexor raises:
1x10

Dips:
x28
x17
x12

BB row:
185x11
185x8
185x6

Bulgarian split squat: (holding DB)
40x3x6

Peterson step ups:
x25/side

CONDITIONING

“Tabearta” w/65lbs:
2/round x 8

I was fine Saturday, a little stiff yesterday, and basically immobile today from that spill I took running. All’s well, just noticing how impacts in my 30s aren’t quite the same as impacts in my 20s today haha.

Workout was fine, made it a little harder on myself by mis-loading the bar on my second work set. Weights light enough to be a non factor though. Keeping the bar on my shoulders and staying upright is the hardest part of the front squats, so my legs and trunk are feeling pretty fresh most of the time when my knees are good.

Tabearta sucks pretty bad. It’s not the worst I’ve ever felt during a conditioning workout, but it’s definitely relentless. It was taking me about 18-19 seconds in the early rounds to complete the two “reps” but towards the end when I was hurting I stopped breaking down the movements into individual parts and started doing a cluster into back cluster basically. Got me down to about 15-16 seconds and much needed extra breath.

@Koestrizer Hey dude! No sweat man, I haven’t been particularly active in many logs myself these days. Biggest recent news is my pup had bilateral ACL surgeries, so my past month has been kind of boring haha. I’m living a pretty charmed life though, getting married next year, getting a promotion in a couple months, family and friends are all healthy and doing well. Anything I can find to complain about is pretty superficial if I get down to it. Nothing new to report on as far as fitness pursuits go, all my mental energy is tied up in finding the time to get out into the woods and pick back up on traveling. How about you man? I skimmed your log the other day and saw you have Covid, which blows, but anything else new happening for you?

2 Likes
2380

I’m happy to hear you’re living the good life, man! Sounds awesome. Big hug for your puppy, hopefully it recovers soon.

Yeah Covid continues to suck ass and the timing was as shit as can be.
Other than that I can’t complain much. I’m living a very ‘interesting/ alternative’ dating life these days, I’m still doing strongman somewhat and still working way too much while being poor as hell, haha.
I don’t mean that to sound too negative. I’m doing way better than I used to and that’s what really counts. Most of the time I’m pretty happy and focused on new experiences.

1 Like