110 lb Military press( PR tie), 36 kg Belt squat, 40 rep pushup PR,Sled drag and crawls/rear delt

Very strong day today. All parts attached and  a"go" although I was tired all day for no good reason. Slept well and enough but must have waken up at an odd time in my sleep cycle because I just couldn't get going, no matter how much caffeine :)
 Of course it couldn't have been jumping right back on the horse with 40 kg swings and heavy rucks? Naw, just gettin' old :)

But I forgot how strong one can be when they don't feel good coming into the workout. PLUS I was solo as Glenn is out of town working. Hot as shit too for good measure.
Shoulders are still as plumb and even as I can ever remember too, and holding. Elbow back to normal too.

Was going to play it by ear and it worked out strong!

Mil Press
 stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 5
65 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 1
110 x 5 x 5 tie PR!

this STRONG and much more solid than the first time I did it. Thought about putting on 115 and doing 3's but decided it was a big enough jump from last weeks 95 lbs and I was right. By the last set I was tuckered out. But shoulders felt good, speed was decent and overhead ok as well.
Much harder to concentrate on the lockout when I have five heavy reps to do :)
The Innov8's were perfect here as well, Much better rooting for me than the Risto's

Belt squat
36 kg x15 x 4 sets
 great groove here as well and most reps/set I've one in a long time. Again the shoes felt perfect. Legs felt properly cooked.

Floor pushups
1 x 40 PR!! five more reps than last pr. very solid
1 x 16 lol cooked triceps!
1 x 15 done!

Sled pull
105 x 250 ft x 3 laps

Leopard Crawls
1 x 50 ft.

have to put these back in. felt great.

Band rear delts
3 sets 15 with red band

I do like this version.

solid solid day

BW = 162.4 this AM

datsit
neverquit

Sunday Ruck

ok back in the saddle. This was more solid than expected until lap nine. then it got a bit hard. Had to tell myself " this is where the training begins'.
Not when it's easy but when it actually starts to challenge you.
Everything else was fine, legs, wind back and even both shoulders still feel the most even they've had in eons! Have to say the ruck actually doesn't feel heavy anymore. It doesn't feel light but it's not heavy either  :)
Yesterdays work and skipping last weeks heavy swing and ruck made things a little tougher but today got them back on track

Ruck wt : 54 lbs
12 laps
1 hr 55 min
10 iso squats
7th lap pace=8:10
last lap pace= 7:50

Barbell presses tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

40 kg One arm swings 172 reps PR,double clean squats,pistol practice,parallel pushups, side delts

Today wasn't hard but it wasn't easy, either. Missing last weeks heavy training made it's presence felt just a little. Rest doesn't help as much as consistency for higher levels of strength or endurance. The base foundations stays easy but the top edge always falls off quickly.
That's just the way it is
But it does come back fast


Took the innov8s out for a test ride and they performed perfectly! Literally fit me like a glove, just like the running shoes. SO light and flexible but plenty of support and the heel height is perfect as well.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 9/9 x 4
          x 10/10 x 1 ( miscount!) Pr for reps
40 kg x 5/5 x5
172 reps Total reps PR
15, 136 lbs

was thinking of test this weight for five minutes but then I realized I haven't done 10 sets of 10/10 with it. That has to be the requirement for any bell. 200 reps in sets of 10/10
getting closer

Double bell clean and squat
2 20s x 3 x 2
2 24's x 3 x 2



as usual I just don't like doing double squats, trying re clean each rep was awkward too, too much moving feet out to adjust stance. Plus, as usual it's more abs for me than anything. But the bells felt light and the squats decent

Pistol practice and Kickstand squats
4 sets of 5/5/5


these felt good except for the rings allow too much arm help AND sitting back. will go back to the hand spot. more realistic positions. leg strength felt good and ROM too.

Parallel pushups
3 sets of 20

elbow and shoulder fine

db laterals
3 sets of 12 with 12 lbs

ok roll out and hangs later. big ruck tomorrow. missed last week's ruck too. this should be interesting

datsit
neverquit

Fast Ruck

Nice and toasty today. into the mid to high 90's. Not bad at all, hit the ground running with Tracy. Six laps feels like nothing these days

Fast ruck
ruck weight = 49 lbs
six laps
58 minutes
last lap pace = 8:00

It was weird though having missed the last Sunday's ruck even I spent the weekend walking around with a ( light) pack and walking more than I would have had I stayed home.
Legs felt light and loose but it took me a few laps to find my rhythm.

New Innov8's are here can't wait to swing in them Saturday

datsit
neverquit

Speed Swings, 24 kg 14 min, walking lunges, Horiz bar pushups,kb row

Another solid speed day in the books. We jumped up from 10 minutes last week and it went ok but in weird stages

First five minutes were easy
Second five were moderately tough but mainly mental hard to stay focused on staying calm
Last four just cruised by and then it was over before I knew it. very distinct stages.Elbow is perfect,completely back to normal. Strange too but I'm happy and for the first time in ages both shoulders are as balanced together as I can remember.
Maybe the torque is, as I've been saying, just working it's way out of my body. maybe it came out the elbow and is gone :)

Speed Swings
24 kg
15;15
10 reps per set
28 sets
280 swings
14,480 lbs
7.42 tons

Not as powerful as I hoped but they were steady. Still a bit off my game per the travel.

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40 steps

hard after the swings, as usual but not weak

Horiz Bar pushups
20
18
15
15

68 reps upper back was tired but shoulder and elbow were great

KB Row 20 kg x 8 x 4 sets

ok back to a ruck tomorrow!

oh yea decided to sell my Risto's, the toe box is just too narrow for me and it's harder to get rooted. Buying a pair of Innov8 fast lifts. I've pretty much worn Innov8's continuously since my TKR and they fit my foot perfectly. All three pairs.
Hopefully their oly shoes are built on the same last

datsit
neverquit

95 lb Military press, 36 kg belt squats, floor pushups, sled, rear delts

Fun but hard weekend in Chicago for the StrengthMatters summit. Lots of travel with quick turnaround was actually tougher than my last trip to UK it seems. Or, I'm getting old or I'm out of traveling shape.

I don't have much time to adapt, I'll be doing alot very soon.

The summit was great, and the best part was partaking of Franz's sprinting group. Wasn't sure I should, or could but the drills felt great and I ended up doing some seriously decent striders at the last part of the session, it was heaven!

Just like in the running dreams I used to have before my TKR.

Did a ton of walking through airports with packs so it was a light rucking weekend but still lots got done

only 4 or so hours of sleep last night so today was a bit rough. lessened the loads but things went fine.
 Oh, and elbow re set perfectly, finally and it feels normal again
Just wish I knew what made it go out.

Barbell press
stick x 5 x 2
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 5x5

not bad felt lighter than last week and it was but only 5 pounds and last week felt 20 lbs heavier compared to this

Belt squat
3 kg x 12, 13, 14 ,15

solid legs feel great. slowly amping the reps up again

Floor pushups
 4 sets of 20

elbow is completely normal
fucking weird. all I know is that I did NOT like that pain and I am not going back to that world. not for anything

sled pull
105 x 250ft x 3

fatigue kicking in, time to stop and eat.

db rear delts
 3 sets of 12 12 lb  dbs

ok now shifting back to normal - for a few weeks

datsit
neverquit

Fast Ruck

Since I'm off the Chicago to speak at the StrengthMatters Summit I decided to go a bit heavier on today's ruck as I'll miss Sunday.
But I will be rucking a back pack all over the place for the next three days, just a light one,

50 lb Ruck
6 laps
55 minutes
Lap pace : 8:10

wore my vibram toe socks under the salomon's  and they felt great.

Very short work morning tomorrow and off I go. Two year anniverary of my TKR tomorrow!

datsit
Neverquit

Speed Swings, 24 kg 10 min,walking lunges, floor pushups,side delts

Elbow slowly getting back into place today lots of stretching on the floor getting the wrist flexors opened up. Up go, front leaning rest, seated straddle with hands behind me. Just opening up the wrist and locking out the elbow with varying loads.

Also, lots of straight arm TRX ring work opening up the pecs and clavicals.lots of moving around in there. Just kept feeling better

SO an easy day before I take off for the SM Summit this weekend. Being able to travel and work easily is what I'm training for as much as anything so here we go. It's been a great run of very intense, progressive training for me with no travel. and it might be I have quite a bit coming up so we'll see how well this training left me conditioned, and how I will reconfigure my training at home to deal with jet lag and more frequent trips in the next six months

Speed swings
24 kg
15;15 x 10 reps/set
200 reps
10,600 lbs
5 tons

this almost felt like cheating, said Glenn and I have to agree.But that's a great sign. No double breathing at all and I really made sure to accelerate each and every rep as much as I could each set. It was over before I knew it.
Still great work but not that slog that 20 minutes is for sure

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40 steps
still hard , took longer strides to vary it up a bit

Floor pushup
4 sets of 15

this was the test and it passed. no elbow pain on initial descent and the reps were easy. just making sure I didn't push it

DB side laterals
12 lbs x 12 x 3 sets

ok ruck up tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Barbell Press 100lbs x 5x5,32 kg Belt squat,floor pushups, sled drag, hangs

For some reason my elbow went wonky again, again in the middle of the night. Perhaps it was the weighted pushups but it was bugging me all morning. Of course it was press day but I hoped that the bar would help re adjust it. much as it did last time.

The workout went ok but 1) the bar was heavy after doing just the single bell press last week and 2) the elbow was not happy and that was distracting.Especially on the pushups.

I got Tracy to release the long head of the triceps like she did last time and that has already made a huge difference. Getting into front leaning rest also helps set the elbow into external rotation.

It just made me realize again, just how much energy being in pain and tweaked really sucks from you. It becomes the entire focus of the day, figuring out how to un fuck it, then going through the inevitable pain to do so.

Importance #1 Pain free and easy ROM of all joint PLUS a little extra precedes loading big time. When that goes away put it at the top of the priority list ASAP!

Barbell Press
 stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
100 x 5 x 5

not easy at all but overhead position is better. This takes SO much total body exertion it's not funny. and 100 lbs seemed way heavier than expected

Belt squat
32 kg x 15 x 4 sets

strong and solid

Floor pushups
25
21
20
20
86 total reps

the shoulder was not clunky at all but the elbow was very distracting. BUT at the end, holding in the lean and rest posture the elbow adjusted correctly INTO external rotation and felt immediately better

Sled pull
105 lbs x 250 ft  x 4 laps
strong but the 100 degree heat didn't help

Bar hangs
3 grips x 30 seconds

these are crucial

day off tomorrow. lots of mobility work

datsit
neverquit

Fast Ruck

Surprisingly good ruck this morning. Fast, too, Tracy and I finished a full five minutes ahead of the two hour mark although I wasn't conscious of pace until the 10th lap when I looked and we were way ahead of schedule

I even used the Ranger Beads Morgan gave me a gift to make sure I didn't lose lap count again this week. Not their intended purpose but they worked great for the task.

Lightening up the workload helped me recover just a bit faster and good thing it did; I was feeling rode hard and put up wet.

Pack felt light and legs felt loose

Closer each day to "a back of iron and legs that never quit", the real goal

54 lb ruck
1 hr 55 min
13,350 steps
10 30 sec iso squats
6.21 miles ( according to iphone)
 last lap 8:10

still feeling good 2 hours post. back to barbell presses tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

32 kg One Arm Swings,First Fee Pistol!, parallel weighted pushups, db laterals

Well there ya go! One week short of two years of my TKR I made my first unassisted one leg squat! Not perfect by anymeans but all by my lonesome and a double to boot!



I've made much faster progress in this than I expected, of course I have been training for this, in retrospect, for the last two years. Have a long way to go but it is a solid start. Now to go back to some TRX or ring support and work on depth and static strength in the deeper position.

Now that I know I can DO it, I can go backwards a bit and rebuild. What an amazing present to myself and a great way to celebrate my two year anniversary of the knee replacement,

I did these after swings and did 5/5 kickstand squats right after. These are helping quite a bit in the progression as well

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps
14,000 lbs work
7 tons

positively EASY. Fast accelerative and no problem at all. Backed off instead of 12's and was a good idea although 12's would have been easy too. Recovery catching back up

Pistols
( as above)

Weighted pushps
bw x 10
25 lbs x 10 x 4 sets

draped chains around neck worked great.need a weighted vest though

Db side raises
4 sets of 10 with 15s

getting better, actually

ok heavy ruck tomorrow!

datsit
neverquit

Fast Ruck

 6 laps in 55  minutes, 5 minutes shorter than last week. have no idea why 47 lbs ruck
Not too hot that probably helps.
stiff and sore though, ready for a day off, lots of stretching out and a light bell on Saturday

24 kg Speed Swings, 20 min, walking lunges, Horiz pushups. KB rows

This was a tough one. Going for 20 minutes after the beast day working is proving not to be the best plan. We can do it but it's not maximal for this performance at all. I was a bit sore when I started so while I got though it decently it was much more about mental toughness than training adaptation.

So the plan is to put a 10 min easy day the workout after the Beast peak, then come back the next week and do the 20 min set
It will look like this:

1) Sat 48 kg swings
2) Wed 10 min 24 kg
3) Sat 32 kg swing
4) Wed 20 min 24 kg
5) Sat 36 kg swing
6) Wed 12 min 24 kg
7) Sat 40 kg swing
8) Wed 18 min 24 kg
9) Sat 44 kg swing
10) Wed 16 min 24 kg

repeat

that should separate the two swings, heavy and volume by a little bit more and let me put more into the 20 min set. It also puts a lighter swing load right after a heavier one so should also give a little less intensity in the week before the beast work
so the swing progression looks like this

10 min
20 min
12 min
18 min
16 min

we'll see. As we get stronger it's harder to recover so little variations on the loading and the intensity make bigger difference.

BUT we got it done today. and it was a workman like effort Not a lot of fun but not torture either.
I started double breathing at 6 minutes but things loosened up after 12 min and the rest of the set was stronger than the first.

Negative splits even here

Speed swings
24 kg
15:15
10 reps min 20 sets
400 reps
21,200 lbs
ten tons!

walking lunges
4 laps of 40 steps

tough! now just tired quads on fire!

Horiz pushups p bars
4 sets of 15
60 reps

slower tempo reps and more pause at bottom

KB row
24 x 6/6
28kg x 6/6
32 kg x 6/6

solid one
short ruck tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

24 kg KB Press, 32 kg Belt squat, 35 Floor pushups ( pr), sled pull, db rear delt

This went way better than expected. While not perfect my overhead position felt the best it has in eons. and the bell felt light. When I felt this and thought, "well, it's only 24 kg" I realized my most usual training weight with the bar bell is about 100 lbs and the 24 kg is half of that so it's about even in terms of load!

My shoulders are definitely better and the credit has to go to the hangs, and perhaps, the military press. Not sure if I'm going to stay with the kb or the press but it's nice to have the choice now.

KB press
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 3/3 x 3
24 kg x 3/3
          x 4/4
          x 5/5 x 2

lockouts were better than expected as i wrote but the real key will be seeing how the shoulders feel when I wake up . I'm betting fine.Still have to hang again later :)

Belt squat
32 kg x 10
          x 12
          x 14
          x 16

easy and deep although quads ares stiff from all the work this weekend but no sore

Floor pushup
35 pr!
25
19
20

99 reps! wow if I had know I would have done 2 more for a total pr,lol I was shooting for 40 reps on the first set but my shoulder starting moving around after 30 so I decided against.



Sled pull
105 x 250 ft x 4 laps

stronger than last week.

db rear delt
15lbs x 12 x 3 sets

need these still. wish I had the energy for more sets. hard to believe I used to do 20 sets just for rear delts alone,lol

datsit/ one day rest than 20 min of speed swings
here we go!

neverquit

Heavy Ruck

Expected to feel much more beat up today but I was good to go. Slept well and woke up rested. Tracy and I got out right on time. Hot and humid and I ended up sweating off a record 3.4 pounds! Couldn't believe it. Didn't sweat that much in Bikrams :)

Ruck= 54 lbs
12  laps
2 hours
10 iso squat holds
didn't time any laps

we were slow today and I messed up the lap count but we walked for two hours steady. I'm pretty sure it was twelve laps but I'm not used to talking on Sundays,lol. Normal pace so I'm sure we're good.

Squats felt fantastic today and I got NO residual anything from yesterdays left leg work. It opened up right on cue. This is a freaking miracle for me. Nothing less

ok tomorrow some single kb press practice. really hope this works

datsit
neverquit

48 kg One Arm Swings 160 reps (PR), Pistol practice,Weighted pushups

One of my best days ever. All systems on go today. Hands held up no problem, wind was strong, hips and back felt great and shoulders didn't even say hi. Total surprise but I'll take it. As soon as I started my warmups with the 16 I knew it was going to be good. it felt like a 10 kg and each weight above felt lighter than it was. Always nice. Recovery between sets was great too. A ++ day!

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
24 kg x 5/5 ( big jump)
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 3/3
40 kg x 3/3
48 kg x 7/7 9 sets ( 126 reps)
          x 10/10 2 sets ( 40 reps)
166 total reps
17,596
8.8 tons :)

just that much closer to my 200 reps with this goal and then onto the 5 minute 100 rep test.

was going to do double bell cleans but that was enough hip work!

Pistol Practice
bodyweight with one finger hand spot ( flat foot)
2 sets of 5=3 followed by kickstand squats 5 each side
3 sets of 3 heel on mat SS KS squats 5 each side

this was great! best ever!! I will get this. vibrams plus a small heel block worked great better than the oly boot. but I still have to get the heel flat ideally , but one thing at a time!


Weighted parallel bar pushups
 bw x 10
25 lb chains x 10 x 3 sets

nice! need a better weight vest but I think this is going to work. need to go heavier on this day now . don't need high reps  3x a week anymore

datsit.  a bit tired :)
heavylong ruck tomorrow

neverquit

Ruck

Hard one today. Not much sleep last night, full client list straight through. Hot and humid.  normal life stuff on mind and straight to ruck.
got it done and felt better after

46 lb ruck
6 laps
60 minutes
med pace  8:15 laps

recovery good from yesterdays speed swings and lower back no problem

day off then onto the Beast.

datsit
neverquit

Speed Swings, 24 kg 340 reps,walking lunges, horiz pushups, kb rows

Surprisingly hard workout but not for the obvious reasons. Lower back ( left side) got a bit tight halfway through the set, I'm sure from too much pistol practice these last few days. No biggie and it didn't freak me at all I just made the work harder.

It was also interesting that the alternating of snatch vo2 with swing work does not make the swing day easier; if anything it makes it harder. We lose a week of more specific conditioning and I think speed swing works makes snatch vo2 workouts easier but not vice versa

Glenn concurred so I think it's back to just speed swing work on wednesdays. the overhead snatch work as nice but not essential. I also want to try to go back to kb presses again. That would be awesome.

Otherwise the work load was ok. Started double breathing at 11 minutes or so as my back tightened up.

The start was easy; weight felt like and speed good. The middle section was tough but then I just put my head down and when I looked up it was just a minute to go!  Doing this weekly will help find all these rhythms faster too.

Speed Swing
24 kg
34 sets of 10 / 30 seconds
340 reps
18,020 lbs ( 9 tons)
17 minutes

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40 steps

not bad  mostly unbroken

Horiz pushups
20
18
15
12

shoulders and upper back are tired. didn't push this at all

KB row
24 kg x 8/8 x 3 sets

actually this work out on this day. It needed to find a home. After all those sets and reps a few heavier sets if easier to do.

ok ruck it tomorrow!

datsit
neverquit

Military press, 95 lbs, Belt squat, floor pushups PR,sled pull, side laterals, BW pistol

this was the last thing I practiced today but it was way better than saturday. the heel helped plus NOT using a weight helped too as my left leg is just not strong enough to need weight, despite the need for a counterbalance.

Did a bunch of them with one arm on the rings and it was strong! just have to work it more. but today was much better than saturday. more lean and work the right leg straight!

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 5 ( stiff and sore)
85 x 5
95 x 5 x 5

took 3 sets at weight to loosen up. wasn't hard but body was feeling the weekend's work. ass end of the cycle

belt squats
44 kg x 10, 12, 14, 16

now these were very strong

Floor pushups
4 sets of 25 PR!!
100 reps!

total pr and reps per set pr!

I am very very happy with this. I've come a long way from two years ago not being able to do ONE!

next stop a set of 50 reps

Sled pull
105 x 300 ft x 3 laps

had to pull a different part of the street. ended up doing more than usual. legs are tired now!

Pistol practice
two and one arm with ring assist
12 kg pistol practice
BW pistol work ( as above.)

this is very encouraging. have to add it in at work now

ok day off  and needed

datsit
neverquit

Sunday ruck: Heavy Gravity.

Well it's not surprising. The day after heavy one arm swings the ruck is slower and harder than normal. Legs didn't feel tired but my upper back was. Pace was steady the whole ruck, slow but steady

lap 4 : 8:30
lap 12 8:10

Ruck weight 54 lbs
12 laps
10 iso squats
1 hr 55 min

good to have these slog days too. this is when you learn to push through. If it's always easy you don't learn much.

barbell presses tomorrow.

datsit
neverquit

44 kg One Arm Swing ( pr), Double highpull/cleans,floor pistol work, parallel bar pushups, rear delts

Took awhile to get in the swing of things this morning, pun intended. No particular reason, good sleep, food , rest etc, just lots of stuff in the head to work against. No problem though we got it done, with strong positions AND a pr total.

The great news is that even distracted, the 44 kg is attacked pretty  much alike all the other lighter weights. Power and speed of backswings continue to get better

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 3/3
36 kg x 3/3
44 kg x 7/7 x 4 sets
              8/8 x 1 ( brain fart)
              7/7 x 3 sets
               8/8 x 2 sets
146 reps ( 6 rep pr :) )
14, 162 lbs

trying to keep total sets to 10 and still increase totals
eventually it will be 10/10 x 10 sets at all weights.

Double bell high pull clean compounds
2 20's x 6
2 22s x 6
2 24s x 6
2 28's x 6 ( pr)


Pistol work
started off with support from rings, feet on floor 5 rep sets x 4. this worked great even better than off the box
Supersetted with
Kickstand squats 5 reps each leg  solid mobility and strength at same time .

then attempt at free pistol with weight for counter balance
first "attempt" with 16 kg too heavy. then this :


felt better than expected, long way to go but now I know I will get it. lots of little stuff to work on but that's the fun :)
also can play with greasing the groove with the trx support pistols at work

Parallel bar pushups
3 x 20 reps

solid

db rear delts
3 x 15 with 15 lbs

good one today but was tired,long ruck tomorrow too! time to eat and roll out

datsit
neverquit