In terms of my overall programming? Yeah man it’s Frankenstein’s monster haha. Essentially 5/3/1 for the squat and press, HSS-100 for back, and Krocs bench program.
2 Likes
3/20/21
Hiking
Hancock Mountain - North and South Peaks
2&3/67
9.8 miles (15 total hiked)
2,631’ elevation gain (4,914’ total gained)
This was a really phenomenal day. Beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky. Most of the hike is mellow through some rolling hills in the woods and is super peaceful. The elevation gain is steep and happens all at once, which was brutal, and so much fun in the snow. You’re definitely working hard, and we passed a lot of people on the steep.
Like I said before, I’m purposely not tracking time so I don’t have speed records to beat, or rates to maintain. Not what I’m doing this for. That said, I can’t help but move pretty quickly anyway. My friend and I got to a nice outlook at the first summit for a snack break and commented on how separating ourselves from the pack really paid off.
Descent was madness. It’s just as steep going down, and I basically skated down on my spikes the first half mile. Some of that was spent on my butt sliding and it got sketchy but was so fun. If my pack setup wasn’t overly prohibitive I’d have likely pushed the limits there haha.
Fantastic day of nature and conversation with a good friend. I dig solo days and I’m looking forward to more of those, but this was a good one to share.
5 Likes
Brutal workouts @mr.v3lv3t matey. Fucking rip it up my man!!
1 Like
3/22/21
Bench workout
SUPER SETS (bench - chin)
Axle bench:
50x10
80x5
120x5
160x5x8
Rack chins:
7x8
SUPER SETS (bench - shrug)
Incline close grip football bar bench:
125x5
115x6
115x5
Kelso shrug: (w/ 2ct pause)
40x1x8
40x2x7
SUPER SETS (dips - hang board)
Dips:
x19
x15
x11
Hang board:
Jugs x20s
Overhead band pushdown:
x100
Various hang board grips until the song I liked was over: ~3 minutes
My schedule is way off, so I’ll have to try and catch up ground this week. Was supposed to do this yesterday but wound up having to go in for a rapid covid test and then there was a bomb scare at the local airport that my S/O was flying into that took up a good portion of the day.
Bench sets were solid yet challenging, but after each set my sternum had a weird pain. Like the actual bone hurt, seems fine now but it was odd nonetheless. They must’ve sapped a good deal of energy because I had absolutely nothing to give on the incline sets. That’s a movement I can usually grind out some reps on, but I must’ve started grinding right away because I went down for rep 6 and my muscles legit just shut off. With my sketchy incline set up this was not a great position to be in, and I wound up using my hips to heave the weight up and basically doing a bridge press to rack it. Dips felt fine though. Honestly this is simply what I deserve for benching on a Monday.
@ChongLordUno Man this was not the workout I wanted to log after you posted here haha. I’ll need to step my game up if the hype train is making stops here.
Haha don’t sweat it @mr.v3lv3t my man
Consistency is king up in this biyatch
1 Like
The bench chin superset
God tier mass gainer
1 Like
3/23/21
Squat workout
SUPER SETS (squat - core)
Box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x5
180x5
200x5
220x5
Ring fallouts: (1)
5x7
SUPER SETS (squats - shrug/squats - core)
SSB box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
180x10x5
DB shrugs:
50x5x11
Bench reverse hyper:
5x8
SUPER SETS (RDL - hang board)
RDL:
155x4x8
Hang board shrugs: (various grips)
4x5
Got called into work on super short notice today, didn’t have any time to pack lunch so wound up getting cafeteria food which was surprisingly decent today. Just small portions, so I’ve been pretty underfed all day compared to my usual. Had a great workout, probably because I wasn’t fat and happy going into it. Decided to grab a fresh breath and see what kind of speed I had on the last rep of the BBS work and the bar popped off my shoulders at lockout so that was cool.
Still experiencing the sternum pain, no clue what that is all about. Only noticed it when I was racking the SSB sets or on the first couple reps of shrugs. Weird stuff.
@ChongLordUno Consistency will be an understatement for me this week. Planning on hitting a workout every day this week to get my schedule back on track, gonna be rough by Friday I bet.
3/25/21
Press workout
GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)
NG chins: (widest to narrowest grips)
BWx10 - close grip
+25x4x8
+25x7
Axle press:
50x10
80x5
95x3
105x3
115x7
105x7
Side plank:
x20s/side
GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)
Football bar press:
75x2x10
75x9
Axle press:
80x2x10
80x7
Dips:
6x failure
Lateral raise:
10x5x13
10x12
Band pull aparts:
6x20
Poundstone curls:
x109
I should’ve recorded these sets to capture the sound coming out of me towards the end of them. Solid workout, hit the effort quota on it. Made an improvement in the supplemental department too.
Poundstone curls were rough as always but not nearly as bad as they’ve been in previous weeks. Forearms held up a lot better so I was able to focus more on the biceps. Traps got pretty sore too.
My weekend plans took a hard turn in a different direction so I was able to catch a rest day yesterday.
1 Like
Bada bing another one in the bag @mr.v3lv3t brother
1 Like
3/26/21
Pull workout
BB row:
95x8
135x8
155x8
185x8
195x8
SUPER SETS (band - chin)
Band straight arm pull downs:
3x12
Overhand pullups:
x8
2x7
Band criss cross rows:
4x10
Rear delt swing:
5x100
Not too much to report on this workout. Rows are feeling good, probably the strongest I’ve ever been on them, so that’s cool. Still getting the hang of how to approach this workout, but I dig how quick it is.
1 Like
Swift but brutal @mr.v3lv3t compadre
The length of worship at the church of steel does not matter
All that matters is that we worship
2 Likes
Dude I wish I could like that more than once, got a solid guffaw from that one.
1 Like
3/27/21
Bench workout
SUPER SETS (bench - chin)
Axle bench:
50x10
80x5
120x5
170x5x5
Rack chins:
7x8
SUPER SETS (bench - shrug)
Incline close grip axle bench: (14 mats)
120x10
120x2x8
DB Kelso shrug: (w/ 2ct pause)
40x2x8
40x7
SUPER SETS (dip - hang)
Dips:
x20
x15
x11
Hang board hang: (various grips)
x20s
Band tricep lockout:
x100 rest/pause
Hang board hangs until the song was over
Pretty solid workout. Right trap is still getting cranky with benching. I some of it has to do with my re-learning how to bench without locking my shoulder blades in place.
The laziness is getting worse, and I couldn’t bother to swap out what bar I was using so just used the axle for incline too. Was spacing out and used two extra mats to it was even steeper than usual.
Those band lockouts were another act of laziness. I’ve gotten so bad I didn’t feel like looping the band around the power rack so I just put it around the back of my neck and basically did a standing skull crusher with a limited ROM. Nice little pump but probably not super effective for anything other than flushing.
1 Like
3/29/21
Squat workout
SUPER SETS (squat - core)
Box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
45x10
95x5
135x5
190x5
210x5
230x5
Ring fallouts: (1)
5x8
GIANT SETS (squat - shrug - core)
SSB box squats: (mats + 2 boards)
190x5x5
Band shrugs:
5x11
Laying leg raise:
5x8
SUPER SETS (rdl - hang)
RDL:
155x3x10
Hang board shrug:
3x8
Solid workout, definitely the easiest of the squat days right now. I’m really liking using the straight bar for the main work and SSB for supplemental sets. I can see myself doing some version of this workout for a good deal of time.
Might have done a 6th round of the supplemental work. When I racked the bar after set 3 I was at a total loss if that was the 3rd or 4th set. Counted it as 3 to be safe which is the proper meathead thing to do in these scenarios.
I’ve gotten so used to killing myself on squat days that these workouts are actually pretty enjoyable. The BBB sets suck of course, but everything else is pretty chill. The BBS days I cut the rest periods a bit but they’re still not too bad.
2 Likes
3/30/21
Press workout - Part 1
GIANT SETS (chin - press - core)
NG chins: (widest to narrowest grip)
BWx10 - overhand grip
+25x5x8
Axle press:
50x10
80x5
100x5
110x3
120x5
110x5
Side plank:
x20s/side
Poundstone curl:
x110
Wound up having to split up this workout between a couple days, so I’ll hit the supplemental portion tomorrow.
Nearly had the 6th rep on the top set, got it over the crown of my head and it just hung out there for about 2 seconds then it came back down. Same thing happened with the back off set. Really wanted those reps but they simply weren’t in the cards today.
Curls were rough today, forearms were lit up something fierce. Had trouble opening my hands for a few afterwards.
2 Likes
Hardasss weight sessions but with the touch of a velvet glove my man
1 Like
3/31/21
Press workout - Part 2
GIANT SETS (press - dip - raise - band)
BTN press:
75x3x10
Axle press:
80x3x10
Dips:
6x failure
Lateral raise:
10x6x13
Band pull aparts:
6x20
Solid workout, always a little easier than when it’s one big workout. Had some extra juice to complete all the sets today, doubt that would’ve been the case with the main work directly beforehand.
Debating internally whether or not I want to do another six week block of this program. I’m leaning towards yes, simply because I don’t know what I’d want to do next.
@ChongLordUno That reminds me of “the glove and the fist” from when I did karate as a kid haha.
1 Like
4/1/21
Pull workout
BB row:
95x8
135x8
155x8
185x8
195x9
SUPER SETS (band - chin)
Band straight arm pull down:
3x12
Overhand pullups:
2x8
1x7
Inverted row: (15)
2x10
2x8
Band face pulls:
x100
I think I finally unlocked this workout. The MMC was real today, by the end of the rows and superset I had a lat pump unlike one I’d had before. The already too small Large T shirt I’m wearing was essentially painted on me. TBF, the shirt is closer to a medium than any other large T shirt I’ve worn haha. Still, was pretty cool.
Used the inverted rows to really try and smash the rhomboid/mid/lower trap area. That’s the area of my back that lags the most. Was good to feel that area actually working and getting fatigued. I can add weight to these pretty easily with my vest too.
1 Like
4/2/21
Bench workout
SUPER SETS (bench - chin)
Axle bench:
50x10
80x5
120x5
180x5x3
Rack chin:
7x8
SUPER SETS (bench - shrug)
Incline close grip axle bench: (12 mats)
120x3x10
Kelso shrug: (w/ 2ct pause)
40x3x8
SUPER SETS (dip - hang)
Dips:
x21
x16
x12
Hang board:
3x20s
Band pushdowns:
x100 rest/pause
Hang board:
x20s
Solid punch-the-clock workout. Never seems to be anything worth talking about after bench day, which is preferable to the alternative because that means it’s usually something bad I’ll be talking about.
I’m not sure that I’m sold on my chosen method for this day, I’m already bored of the linear progression program. I should see it through as it’s going to get pretty damn challenging though.
4/4/21
Hiking
Mt. Kinsman - North and South Peaks
4&5/67
11.2 miles (26.2 total hiked)
3,159’ elevation gain (7,973’ total gained)
This was a fantastic hike. Perfect weather, about 25* at the start and closer to 40* by the time I made the summit, kept the trails nice a firmly packed on the way up. There’s a .5 mile stretch of trial through the woods that I skipped to walk over a frozen lake instead. Super cool aspect that you don’t get year round.
I actually did the same on my descent on a different trail, it looked like the folks on who used the trail before me skipped the woods trail to cross a frozen pond. It turned out that no one had taken this route in quite a while and I wound up bushwhacking my way back to the trail (thankfully the blazes were abundant) and actually had to put the snowshoes on for a couple mile stretch.
Wound up dunking my boot on a stream crossing into some of the coldest water I’ve ever experienced. Within the minute my foot felt totally fine and was never cold. Smart wool in incredible stuff.
Feeling pretty rocked after this one. I’m sure immediately after doing all that activity that getting in the car and driving a few hours is the worst recovery option possible. I did that after a strongman competition once and I thought I’d never be the same haha. Looked like the tin man getting out of my car when I got home. Knees are feeling it a little but should be fine in a a couple days, good thing it’s deload week cause BBB squats would be sad today.
I passed a woman on the descent who was moving slow and she apologized for doing so and said she was protecting her knee. Let her know no apology is required for being smart and then she shared that she’s 3 months post ACL tear and working her way back. I’d guess she was late 40s or early 50s. My response was “wow! good for you!”. Which I then felt I had to clarify that the tear is not good but that she’s getting right back at it. She knew what I meant and we had a good laugh as I sped away.
4 Likes