New Year's Eve Ruck

well new years eve afternoon ruck.

Beautiful crisp but not cold perfect day.

A quick six laps and getting ready for 2016 and all kinds of exciting new things!

45 lb ruck
6 laps
:55 min
8:05 3rd lap
7:55 6th lap

legs felt weird today from yesterday. took me 5 laps to get back in my groove lol.

BW 164.2
BF 12.3 ??
W 57.4

have not idea why

datsit
Neverquit

Happy Freakin' New Year!

24 kg Speed Swings, 15 min, Sandbag walking lunges,parallel pushups, side delts

Another seriously strong speed session. Went in well prepared mentally, which is really the key. Spending the 30 min drive home from work to the gym focused on it and mentally rehearsing has made a major difference

Cold as hell in the meatlocker, I mean garage today :) It was WAY warmer outside but so it goes. I started with a cap and a shirt on. It took about 3 minutes for them to go away. Who needs a sauna for heat shock therapy when you have max Vo2?

Very good power output the whole time and I barely had to double breath at all. The least amount used in this long a workout for sure. Good sign my conditioning is getting much better. If I can HS breathe my stability will be higher as well as my force production. and power. Everything is coming along just as I had hoped.

It just takes so stinkin' long :)

24 kg Speed Swing vo2
15:15 10 rep sets
30 sets
300 reps
15,900 lbs work

back felt fine the entire time. Had a great full body hour long stretchout this morning and that really helped.
Heel is ALMOST to butt. SO CLOSE but so far away. Plenty of knee ROM so I'm not complaining just thought I would hit that goal by now.

Sandbag walking lunges
30 lb bag  x 5 laps of 20 ft

this is STILL tough ,lol! do these things ever get easy in ANY configuration? Doing them with greater quality as I only have one lap to do but man they feel almost the same as two bw laps!!!

Parallel pushups
4 sets of 20

some kind of shoulder flexibility shift I can get lower into the pushup( more shoulder extension at bottom) than ever before. Just like being able to touch my nose to the deck in flat pushups.

Have to say that nothing screwed my shoulders up more than being good at the bench! all that excessive arching, rhomboid adduction and pressing without using the scapula AT ALL really will mess up your shoulder ROM, especially overhead and jack up your motor patterns.

It's taking so long to unfuck that. But it's finally coming. The scapula HAS to move , and well, for the shoulder to work correctly

side delts
3 sets of 15-12 with 15 lbs

finally getting some meat on the shoulder. about time

ok ruckout tomorrow, can't wait and then 10 sets of 9/9 in the Beast swing. I have half thoughts of just testing and doing 10 sets of 10/10 as a  end of year thing. Don't think so but maybe.:-)

datsit
neverquit

The Way by Musashi

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.”
~ Miyamoto Musashi

95 lb Military press, 48 kg belt squat, floor pushups, crawls, rear delts

Strangely strong press day. Decided to back off to 80% load today( 95 lbs) and it couldn't have worked out better. I like to back off to move forward by using the lighter workload to really hone in on the details of position, form, mechanics and control.
This went perfectly today and right from the start I got the bar to touch my upper chest which I have not been able to do since I started this training! AND it made it so much easier to press,lol. Go figure.

But the position just showed up!  I always try to see how low it will go and today it just went! even on take off. Crazy. Plus my lockout was much better too.
Cold as hell again today never really got warmed up til the presses were over but it was a solid workout

Military press
 stick x 5 x 2
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 4
95 x 5 x 6 sets

strong!

48 kg belt squats
4 sets of 12 strong although right sartorious was a little tight from yesterdays ruck. thought I got it all out but guess not. more rolling

Floor pushups
3 sets of 20
1 set of 15

also lower and best shoulder ROM ever/ touched nose to floor on each and every rep. never did that before.something clicked. about freakin time

Crawls
3 laps of 60 feet
also strong!

rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 12 lbs


ok off tomorrow then 15 min of speed swings on wed

datsit
neverquit

Cold Ruck

 A frosty 31 degrees at 7 am when we started out ruck! Brisk , thats for sure but not bad at all when you dress for it . I put on a zip up windbreaker over my t and I was good to go. Beanie and gloves came off after three laps when I started to sweat.

Not bad either. though I would be more stiff but was good. Started steady and got faster as we went. Last lap was fastest too.

50 lb Ruck weight
12 laps
1 hr 55 min
5 iso squats ( really needed these to stretch out the glutes and legs )
5th lap 8:10
7th lap 8:00
12 th lap 7:47

stretched out first which did seem to help.

BW 164.4
BF 13 %
W 56.4

ok presses tomorrow but a back off week probably 80% ( 95 lbs)

datsit
neverquit

44 kg One Arm swings,115 lb barbell hacks,sandbag pushups, curls and laterals

Ok this is supposed to be an easy week; a downweek before next week's 48kg workout.So never more than 5/5 rep sets but it was COLD in the garage this morning, 35 degrees cold and it took forever to warmup. Skipped my bath too, for some reason and it cost me.Won't happen again. Strong workout overall though. Nice to see the 44 flying up to chest height.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5
36 kg x 5/5
44 kg x 5/5 x 12 sets
120 reps
11,640 lbs

Barbell Hacks


just wasn't in to mood for too many reps :)
55 x 10
75 x 10
95 x 8
115 x 5 x 2
serious quad work tho

Sandbag pushups
bw x 8
30 lbs x 12 x 3 sets
           x 8

these were hard today for some reason

Curls
45 x 8 x 4 sets

side laterals
4 sets of 12 with 12 lbs


ok ruck up tomorrow.
as long as it's not storming were going

datsit
neverquit

Calf ruck

Weird weird weather. El Nino strikes and we have warm and wet and cold weather almost changing by the minute.Got home today ready to ruck and it was storming. So I made some lunch  and watched the sky turn to sunshine!
Tracy had put something in the oven so someone had to stay home so she went out for a ruck and I expected it to be a loss for the day.

It rained on her but when she got home it cleared so I chanced it and went out full belly and all.
Started slow and the soft sand I walk in around the park had turned to slush so my calves immediately protested.

And my legs started yacking at me too from the swings and the weighted lunges! Luckily my salomon GTX boots really are goretex and my feet stayed dry . Really love these shoes and they are breaking in perfectly and holding up magnificently as well.

I was actually happy when it started to rain four laps in as I really ate too much to push the pace much and I still hadn't 'warmed' up.

I planned on walking home on lap five but then I warmed up , my legs loosened up and I wasn't cold. just wet so I got it done on six laps

Hard one

46 lb Ruck
6 laps
55 minutes
3rd lap 8:20
6th lap :7:55

weird ruck but got it done

BW 165.2
BF 12.4
W 57.3

still weird. still feel big, lean, and pumped most of the time

datsit
neverquit

24 kg Speed Swings, 17 min, Sandbag walking lunges,parallel bar pushups,side delt

Surprisingly strong day! good sleep and food yesterday and that helps. Also, good mental prep on the way in as well as a full one hour stretchout first thing this morning and that always helps



I had to get off the platform three times to adjust the music and once to pick up spilled chalk, something that normally would kill my recovery for the next set especially in a workout this long but I was fine.

Went in with my lower back just a bit tight and was worried about that kicking in but it got looser as I went! Very surprised.
Also did NOT look at the clock until that point in the video above and barely did Any double breathing. Things are shaping up. Literally

Speed swings
24 kg
34 sets of 10 17 min
15;15
340 reps
18.020 lbs

very happy, next week is twelve min then back up to 20. should be NO problem. More and more the focus and intent is maintaining the highest per rep power out put as possible as long as possible

Sandbag walking lunges
bw x 40 steps
30 lb sandbag x 20 steps walk back to start sandbag shouldered
4 laps

THAT was hard but it will help. Next week 5-6 laps. 8 will be the equivalent of 4 rep laps

Parallel bar pushups
4 sets of 20
80 reps

no problem
even started slowing down the reps to make them harder ( except for last set- a sprint!)

side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15 lbs

awesome session

BW 164.4 !
BF 12.9
W 56.4 ?

feel hard and lean and love handles are still melting.

ruck up tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

120 lb Military Press PR, 44 kg belt squat, Floor pushups PR, crawls, rear delts

This was a solid pr especially since I had zero "zip" for the workout today. Not sure why but it was just another day at the office for me today. More achy today than I have been for a long time. Not enough morning stretchout of late and I can feel it.
Plus the weather has really turned to rainy cold winter for the first time in three years so I can feel that too. Low barometer :)
Thought I was past that but there it is, tight and achy. But that's why they call it working out.

Military Press
stick x 5 x 2
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 4
105 x 3
120 x 4 x 5 sets PR!!

not bad except for my left bicep tendon not wanting to stay where it's supposed to for a couple setups but the press didn't feel hard at all. Definitely ready for it. 5 x 5 will go soon too.

Belt squats
44 kg x 12 x 4 sets

nice. unbroken reps( shorter rom because of the bigger bell but still below parallel) and legs felt strong

Floor pushup
3 x 25
1 x 28!! PR

 108 total reps is the most ever! strong too. Strength could have gotten me 30 on the last set but I felt the left shoulder start to begin to get clunky so I stopped. More for later

Crawls
3 sets of 60 feet in the rain :)

these felt the best of late! that's crazy

rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 15 lbs

this was a solid workout. Body was into it mind was the issue. SO the work was focus today and all in all ended up much better than the start

off tomorrow then 17 min of speed swings Wednesday!

BW 165.2
BF 12.7
W 57.3

datsit
neverquit

Leg Ruck

Forgot to post this last night but we did it on Sunday on time.

Legs were talking to me from the get go! No problems just tired from the work last week. All good though

Ruck
50 lbs
12 laps
1:55 min ( took a long way home finished laps in 1:50!)
6 iso squats ( one extra to stretch legs! )
 Nice and brisk 40 degrees out. Perfect!

BW 165.2
BF 12.5
W 56.8

Still under 30 gms of carbs per day. Feel great on many levels, VERY anabolic, lean, hard strong and endurance is good. Just wondering why weight is still up? I am eating a lot but not more than usual in terms of volume.Must be the calorically dense fats
BUT I am leaner even in the mirror and around the waist

40 kg One Arm Swing PR, Hack squats,Horiz pushups,bar curls,side delts

Super freaking strong today. This was the best 40 kg effort ever. I was going to do just seven sets of 9/9 but all ten was no problem so that's what we did.
Bell felt light, power was good, wind was solid and recovery between sets fast.
Very nice

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 9/9 x 10 sets
180 reps PR
15,840 lbs work

time to re take that five min test with the 40 again! this time 10 reps on the 15 seconds. just ten sets of ten. No problem I never made it last time, just 95 reps! It was a battle that I was really not prepared for. I can really tell how much progress I have made in strength, power and conditioning as I watch this. SHit, this is a YEAR ago!!

Hack squats
55 lbs x 12
75 lbs x 12 x 3

did these slower and deeper! what a burn!

bar curls
35 x 10
47 x 8 x 2

tiny little bicep weight :)

Horiz bar pushups with 30 lb sandbag
3 sets of 12 , 12 10

hard ,lol

standing side delts
3 x 15 with 12 lbs

lighter felt good. bigger ROM and more strict. great shoulder work. this is SO much better shoulder movement and stability than when I first started these.it was awful nothing worked together at all

ok big ruck tomorrow. back to 50 lbs weight and two hours. missed it last week!

BW 165
BF 11.7% ??
W 57.4


datsit
neverquit

Hard Ruck

Yesterday must've taken more out of my legs than I thought, today's ruck was pretty tough from the start. Legs felt heavy and tight despite a lot of AM stretching. No big deal but I could sure tell I missed  a few sessions and came back hard, lol

Ruck weight was down to 45 which was feeling light just a few times ago. And will again.it's amazing how fast the top end of conditioning falls off. The base stays deep but the top end ....

45 lb Ruck
6 laps
55 min
3rd lap = 8:07 ( not bad)

BW 163.6 !
BF 12.4
W 57.5

this was a surprise but I did have a tough workout yesterday

after ruck

bw 162.4
bf 11.9
  ok day off then LOTS of 40 kg rep on sat

datsit
neverquit

24 kg speed swings,12 min,walking lunges,parallel pushups, rear delts

Just an easy 12 minutes on the schedule and it turned out to be. Today's goal was not to look at the clock as long as possible. Just do the ritual, set up , breath and go. Worked great. Didn't have to double breath until just a few reps at the very end and only at the top of the rep, not the hole. My head was in the game today and the focus was good

Was able to really maintain a high power output the whole time. This is a good sign my conditioning is improving. Having the right focus in so important

24 kg Speed Swings
15;15 10 reps
12 minutes
240 reps
12, 720 lbs

Walking lunges
 4 laps of 40 steps

man this never gets easy! it's tolerable but my quads just burn! I' grateful for it but I might need some shorter sandbag workouts to increase top end strength and see if that makes these easier

Parallel pushps
20
20
18
15

73 total reps. everything is pumping up today.lol. big tricep burn

db rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 15's

even these are strong

BW 164.4
BF 12.0
W 57.4

feel lean too

ok ruck it tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

100 lb Military press, 40 kg belt squat, floor pushups, crawls, side delt

Fresh off the plane from the Seacoast kettlebell BodyMaintenance workshop so I decided to back off as appropriate.
Things went great and there was more sitting around ( Friday and Sunday travelling) than moving ( saturday) but that was fine. Nice rest and it also showed me that I can at last survive NOT constantly moving to self correct. I pretty much sat the entire ride(s) home on Sunday and was fine( back WAS starting to tighten up just at the end of the day) but best ever. I used to have to constantly stretch and move or  I would lock up like a big dog.

A little goes a long way now and that's fine with me. All the work DOES pay off and people don't have to mobilize and stretch excessively forever.Just enough to get them square plumb and neutral. But you gotta do the work

Military press
stick x clean and press x 5 x 2 ( getting ready)
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 5 x 2
100 x 5 x 3

very very strong and groove is holding. no major changes in months which is great. just work this position harder. The searching for your "groove" is the pain in the ass part. Just having to PUSH is not so bad :)

Belt squat
40 kg x 10 x 2
          x 12  x 2
 these were easier than expect. knee and ankle flexion feel SO good.

Floor pushups
4 sets of 20 easy peasy

this is SOP now

crawls
3 sets of 50 ft

strong

side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15

done done de done done

BW 164.4
BF 11.9 !
W 57.3!

weird. I hardly ate at ALL all weekend and tried to stay as fat based as possible. But even though I went over in carbs I was LOW in calories and thought I'd be lighter. but I could tell and see my BF was down and it was. water up too ( carbs I guess)
Low arbs ( not no) and low cals. No energy problems either
back on track today.

datsit
neverquit

Tough ruck

Was stinking sore in the legs today from yesterday's work. Didn't know that til I started the ruck. Decided to stay with 50 lb weight as I will miss Sunday's walk as I'll be flying back from the BodyMaintenance workshop on Saturday.

But I could feel my legs right away and they really didn't let up til the last two laps.

50 lb ruck
6 laps
55 min
8:05 3rd lap

Good times and I'm off to Seacoast kettlebell tomorrow at 6 am!

24 kg Speed Swing-20 min, walking lunges, parallel bar pushups, rear delts

This was good. Hard but strong the whole way through. And my mind did not get the best of me.Well not until about halfway through but then I got it back  under control
Good drive home mental prep. no phone calls no radio. Just focus on the task ahead and calming down for it.
Body is good and got some decent bodymaintence stretch and roll before work this am. plus lots of squats and hunter squats throughout the day as well as my seiza work

Speed swings
24 kg
15;15 x 10 rep sets
40 sets
20 minutes
 400 reps
21,200 lbs!! love this number

Didn't even look up at the clock til almost 10 minutes in. Should have waited longer.Kept telling myself 'don't think, breathe'.
It worked well except for a few minutes between 11 and 14 min in when I started trying to figure out how much work I had less. I let that go pretty quickly and got back into my rhythm: one rep at a time one breath at a time. do your best. set it down, click off the set on the counter, chalk the hand for the next set, deep breath and calm, step to the bell, look for the 7 count then 3,2,1 grab and go

that worked very very well> Lower back got tired at 13 minute but I adjusted my groove a little and that loosened up. Did almost no double breathing and that says a lot.

this is just another day now. perfect
power and speed were good too and technique held up. kept my head up and gaze up almost all the reps too. just happened and I went with it.

walking lunges
4 sets of 40 steps. hard but strong too. these just suck but I love em

parallel pushups
4 sets of 20

solid and upper body is really growing well

db rear delts
3 sets of 12 -15 with 15 lbs
can't believe I used to do 20 sets of rear delt work ,lol  crazy days

ok ruck up tomorrow then off to New Hampshire and Seacoast Kettlebells for my BodyMaintenance workshop. We have 25 people!! this is very exciting.

datsit
neverquit

120 lb Mil Press pr, 36 kg belt squats,floor pushups, crawls, side delts

Right on through with this progression as well. the first two sets were a little rough as I wasn't bringing my left elbow in enough and I could feel my tricep again. that's why I only did two sets of four ,Once I realized and correctly that the next two sets of threes were much better so I did a third set of four on the last set( video above)

I just feel strong here too and my shoulders are cooperating. For better or worse this is my current groove and it's strong.

Mil Press
stick press x 5 x 2
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 4
100 x 2
120 x 4 x 2 PR
       x 3 x 2
       x 4 x 1

Belt squats
 36 kg x 12 x 4

strong too! getting more ankle flexion all the time

Floor pushups
30
28
18
15

lol I tried. too much pump in tri's!

91 reps!

Crawls
3 sets of 50 ft

steady

Side delts
3 x 12 x 15 lbs

these are definitely getting stronger and shoulders are thicker too. this is definitely an important stabilizer

ok twenty minute swing session on wednesday , got to get ready mentally

datsit
neverquit

STRONG RUCK

Wow this was another seriously strong day. Ended up a full ten minutes early, that's a serious pr. Started out slowly too but we picked up speed
Ruck weight was 50 lbs but it felt like nothing.That's the goal

Ruck 50 lbs
12 laps
1 hr 50 min
3rd lap= 8;20
7th lap= 8;10
11th lap= 8:00
5 iso squats

legs not sore back not tight.
I do think the keto diet has kicked in too.

BW 163.4
BF 13%
W 55.8 %

ok a few sets of 4 with 120 tomorrow then 3 sets of 3 in the press. If I'm lucky

datsit
neverquit

32 kg One arm swings, hack squats, wt pushups bar curls and rear delts

had to skip ruck on Thursday as it was just raining too hard to make sense. tomorrow though rain or shine
I was surprisingly sore from Wednesdays little impromptu swing test with the 28; I must have been moving it faster than expected. My lats and upper back were seriously worked.
But everything was great today and the 32 was the strongest, and most powerful ever. Even the 24 reps per set didn't bother my wind at all and recovery between sets was strong and fast.

One arm swings
16 x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 12/12 x 10
240 reps
16, 800 lbs

Barbell hacks
55 x 10
75 x 10 x 3

the close stance knees moving groove is still working.

Horiz bar pushups, 30 lb sandbag
3 sets of 12

36 reps

bar curls/ band rear delts
3 x 8 3 x 12

ok datsit
the fat adaptation is beginning to kick in. less hunger and more satiation

BW 163.2
BF 12.8
W 56.2

ruck up tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

28 kg speed swings, walking lunges,parallel bar pushups,rear delts

Interesting experiment today. Never did speed work with anything but the 24 kg but since it is the download 10 minute week to prepare for next weeks 20 min  peak and we feel so damn strong and recovered , Glenn and I decided to do the ten minutes with the heavier bell.
The key was not just to survive it but still keep the power high.

It went very well on many levels despite a few mishaps. Mentally I was there but it was definitely heavier than expected and I was a bit more sore in the upper body from Mondays press pr and it took awhile to warmup
Not as cold as before but not even close to warm
And, I ended up with some baby powder on my hands which I thought I fully washed off but still had enough residue to make the bell just a tad slippery.
Not the best thing with a heavy bell for speed work
But it still was only ten minutes and that is nothing now when before it was 10 minutes too long !

So speed and power were good as was wind ( no double breathing til the last 1.5 minutes.) and I didn't feel at all like I did when I tested with the 32. That would be harder now but nowhere near as hard as before. A good sign of progress

It's good to feel now that I can suffer for ten minutes no problem. the 20 minutes sessions have done their job

Speed swings
28 kg
15:15
20 sets of 10
200 reps
12.600 lbs

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40

these kicked my ass. Had to use more leg in the swings to make sure my back didn't load and it showed up here. Nice

Parallel pushups
20
20
15

pecs and shoulders are tired

db rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 12 lbs

ok ruck up tomorrow with 50 lbs and see how short and heavy feels

datsit
neverquit