Strong ruck

Had two cancellations today so got to get out on the track extra early and this was nice.Feel good after yesterdays fairly long and intense swing session and the ruck went just as well.

44 lb ruck
6 laps
55 min
3rd lap 7:59
6th lap 7:49

not that fast but loose and steady and easy. Seriously hot too, at noon. 90 deg +  Definitely rounding into better overall shape and heat conditioning

BW 164.6 !!!
BF 11.1!!
W 57.2

that's crazy. but my waist is tight as it's been  feel thick :)

day off tomorrow then Sat is sets of 5/5 with the 48. haven't done that in forever!it will be interesting to see how the power is when I only have to do five rep sets

datsit
neverquit

17 Min Speed Swing , BW walking lunges, Parallel bar pushups. side delts

This was was stronger than I expected it to be. Good sleep, full stretchout as per client cancellations, coffee at correct time and yet I was  getting tired driving home and not psyched at all for the upcoming slog.

And yet it wasn't. The reps were crisp and strong, my body felt fine, lungs were there from the start ( almost no double breathing for a few sets towards the end) and I didn't even look at the clock until 12:33 had passed! that was a shock! I thought it was only 8 min or so. I was even taking less rest/sets without knowing it til Glenn pointed it out.

The rest was easy and I could concentrate on keeping my form and maximizing power output and speed.

24 kg Speed swings
15;15 x 10 reps
17 min
34 sets
340 reps
18,020 lbs tonnage - NINE TONS!

Best 17 min session ever

Walking lunges
4 sets of 40 steps

have to slow down ,keep the stride shorter and let my knee travel more. Stop worrying about just getting through and do more quality reps. stop looking up :)
Lungs and wind were solid and legs weren't too bad either


Parallel bar pushups
4 sets of 22
strong throughout

Side delts
3 sets of 10 with 20 lbs

now THESE were freakin heavy. a bit too heavy but ok. Not sure I have done these in this exercise.


BW 163.6!!!
BF  12.0
W 56.7


where the hell did this come from, lol ?

ok ruck up tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

135 lb Military press 5 x 3 PR, 48 kg belt squats,floor pushups PR , crawls, rear delts

Didn't see this coming either. I expected to be more tired and was going to be very happy with ONE set of 3 in the press with 135 and instead got all FIVE sets of three!  And the bar felt light in my hands on takeoff, a sure sign things are going well. Can't really believe it, actually. I could have done one more rep on most, if not all the sets, too.

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

used the same wider grip setup, not trying to pull the elbows in at all and didn't have ONE shoulder twinge the whole press workout. Now that's a very good sign. All the scapula activation/stretch work I've been doing on the rings is paying off

48 Kg belt squats
 4 sets of 10

strong sets but wanted to give the wheels a little break. 17 min speed swings coming up wed too

Floor pushups

FOUR sets of 27! big PR especially considering how badly they fell off last Wednesday after the first two sets

Crawls
3 sets of 60 feet.
strong the gloves make a huge difference..these were easy for a change

Rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 15 lbs

Double DB curls
3 set of 10 with 15s

these have never felt so light

BW 162.7
BF 11.7
W 57.2

ok stretchout day tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Tough Ruck

Kind of surprising. Things started out very well and I thought it would be another fast and easy one. It wasn't. Nothing hurting,legs were just tired , all over, and energy was low'ish. Yesterday was a tough one on the legs and glutes and I was feeling it today.

Times weren't bad at all though, but the non timed laps were just a bit slower; this turned out to be more of an interval workout than steady state

49lb Ruck
12 laps
10 iso squats 20 seconds ea
5th lap 7:55
9th lap 7:37
11th lap 7:32

I thought the last lap was faster than that but then I was shot and the 12th lap to home was definitely slower.

BW 162.8
BF 12
W 56.7

so looking at the heavy swing day schedule if I switch the 44 and 48 weeks it will look like this, with a corresponding switch of the wed workload as well

10 week cycle
wk1 32 kg sat  20 min wed
wk 2 36 kg sat 12 min wed
wk 3 40 kg sat                    17 min wed
wk 4 44 kg sat 10 x 5/5      10 min wed
wk 5 48 kg sat 10 x 10/10   15 min wed
wk 6 32 kg sat  20 min wed
wk 7 36 kg sat  15 min wed
wk 8 40 kg sat  10 min wed
wk 9 44 kg sat  10 x 10/10  17 min wed
wk 10 48 kg 10 x 5/5           12 min wed


I think that is right! I want an easy sat before each peak 10/10 saturday.I want to alternate hard efforts either for weight or time AND prep for the next session! not an easy task.I think this will work

ok either 130 or 135 lb presses tomorrow not sure yet

datsit
neverquit

44 kg One Arm Swings, 10x10/10 PR, Hack squats,sandbag pushups,side delts

We've never done this weight for these numbers before; not because we couldn't- after all we've done the 48kg for the same workload 6 separate times, but the plan was to take the week before the 48 kg workout easy and only do sets of 5

Now, we've decided to alternate the 44 and 48 kg week and swap out the workloads. So today was 10 sets of 10/10 with the 44 and it went great. Bell felt light, energy was good, wind was solid ( even that shit is still HARD) and recovery good as well.

Sweat like a pig but heat tolerance is getting better too. And it's just the start of summer

One arm swings
16 x 5/5 x 2
20 x 5/5
24 x 5/5
28 x 5/5
32 x 4/4
36 x 4/4
40 x 4/4
44 x 10/10 x 10 PR!

very solid although left bicep tendon got sloppy on right to left transfers so I just set it down on even sets and did a new hike pass for the left side on sets 5-10

Hack squats
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 10
125 x 10

legs and wind felt good today so I bumped the reps.

Sandbag horiz pushups ( thumb wrapped)
bw x 12
32 lbs x 12 x 3
strong

side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15's
brought bells in front of me more to increase medial head stretch.I couldn't do this before without my shoulders complaining so this is good progress.

BW 163.2
BF 10.5
W 58 !!!

don't know where the hell this came from ? Ate and drank basically the same as always but I'll take it
Nice to have hydration over 57 for a change

big ruck tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Ruck it

It's not my favorite time to ruck but it's the time I have so it goes. Not wanting to do it helps make me go faster it seems, just to get it done. And it's getting easier all the time, even when I'm not "feeling it" which tells me I'm in better shape.

44lb Ruck
6 laps
3rd lap 7:51
6th lap 7:33

BW 163.4
BF 11.9
W 56.7

Post ruck and fast
BW 161.2
BF 10.9
W 57.2

drinking green tea all morning hydrates me a bit :)

day off then 10 sets of 10/10 with the 44 kg and onto a new schedule of alternating work loads with the 44 and the 48 kg
This will be tough and never done it before

datsit
neverquit

Speed Swings 15 min,Sandbag walking lunges,parallel bar pushups, rear delts , db curls

 This was a tough one, again, for no damn good reason. Slept great, felt good all morning, all parts cooperating, timed the last coffee right, plenty of energy going in AND just hard from the get. Just not as strong or powerful as I had hoped and spent way too much time looking at the clock and being disappointed :)

Lungs weren't bad at all but I think the heavy press day on monday took more out of my strength than I thought. No worries it's all good work

Speed swings
24 kg
15:15 x 10 reps
30 sets
300 reps
15,900 lbs

Sandbag lunges
4 laps of 20 steps plus shoulder carry back to start

these weren't hard but wind was still catching up!

Parallel pushups
3 sets of 22

used the thumbs over the bar here too and elbow felt better- fine in fact. I think I'm onto something!

Rear delts
3 sets of 10-12 with 20's
hard here too

Db Curls
3 sets of 8-10 with 20's

this is the technique. No rotation just hold them like a barbell and curl both simultaneously. Left wrist was fine

ok that's it ruck up tomorrow

BW 163.2
BF 11.7
W 56.8

datsit
neverquit

125 Lb Military press PR 5x5 , 44 kg belt squats,floor pushups. side delts, crawls, db curls

Wow this came out of nowhere. I was hoping for 2 sets of 5 to better my old pr of one set and four sets of four but even the first set felt so easy I thought right away I might get all five.
Adjusted my grip width out again a little more and decided NOT to tuck my elbows in at the lift off and to just let them flare a bit and it felt decidedly better right away!
No bicep tendon twinge on takeoff and that made the press very strong!
Took longer than usual rests too, about 1.5 minutes and that helped

Military press
stick x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 3
125 x 5 x 5 PR!!!

very very happy with this.

44 kg Belt squats
x 12, 14, 16, 18

this was tough. do able but hard with those last reps foot torque still working good for knee and strength

Floor pushups
27
27
20
15
 80 total reps
this felt great too and I thought for a second I would get three sets of 27 but then triceps death hit. hard. and fast

Side delts
3 sets of 15 with 15 lbs

Crawls
2 sets of 80 feet

had to wear gloves the sidewalk was so hot! gloves fixed that fast

db curls
2 sets of 15 with 15's

ok  stretch and roll tomorrow

BW 163.4 ( mac and cheese at fathers day lunch :) )
BF 11.7
W 56 7

feel solid

datsit
neverquit

Steady ruck

Stayed up too late and drank too much wine so the start of the ruck was pretty sketchy this morning but times weren't bad at all. If I can do sub eight's all the way across the 12 laps hungover then this quantuum shift is real :)

You play you pay. But it wasn't that bad AND nothing better for a hangover than sweating it out

49 lb ruck
12 laps
12 isometric squat holds
3rd lap 8:03
7th lap 7:43
11th lap 7:37

BW 161.2
BF 12.3
W 56.6

not so bad

Ok presses tomorrow .125 lbs for at least 2 sets of 5 and 3 sets of 4

datsit
neverquit

40 kg One Arm Swings, barbell hacks, sandbag horiz pushups, rear delt, curls

This was strong today. Bell speed and power output, plus speed into the "AZ" or acceleration zone, as coined by my wife Tracy was solid. The acceleration zone is the backswing. The stronger and faster you can move the bell into the backswing the stronger and faster it comes out. BUT you have to be strong AND stable enough to control that speed or it will tweak you.

This is very good progress with this weight; it felt almost light today and I needed no specific pre set focus on go after it hard. This is the goal. To move weights that once felt, and moved, very heavy like they are light bells. It's a slow process but it's steady
And lungs and wind were solid too. Very pleased, plus the 'squat/hinge' technique was solid.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 10/10 x 10
200 reps
17,600 lbs

Barbell hacks
65 x 8
85 x 8
105 x 8
115 x 8
125 x 8

legs felt strong too and knee was fine

Sandbag parallel bar pushups
bw x 10
32 lbs x 12 x 4

wrapped the thumb instead of false grip and voila! all left elbow tenderness was gone! nice hack there.
definitely more pec involvement. wrapping the thumb shifts the weight slightly towards the front of the hand activating more biceps as shoulder flexor instead of heel of hand activating triceps. made a distinct difference

Rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20 lbs

Curls
3 sets of 20 band curls

ok big ruck tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Rough ruck

Bad mindset yesterday, not in the mood but just got it done. Even forgot  my watch which was weird. Set off to not time any laps but ended up timing number five with my phone ( respect the OCD :) )
Never really settled into a good mind pace but got the work done.

44 lb ruck
6 laps
55 minutes
5th lap 7:50

BW 162.4
BF 12.2 %
W 56.3

still weird about hydration in am?

ok off today then 40 kg

datsit
neverquit

24 kg speed swings 15 min, bw walking lunges, parallel pushups,side delts

A distracted mind made this a little hard getting started but the shortness of the rest periods forced me to get into it asap and my legs and lungs did fine.

Anymore, bouts from 10 min to 20 are just about the same, no problem.

Used my squat/hinge style and the legs and glutes took the work and back felt fine. This is my groove not doubt about it

Speed swings

24 kg

15;15 x 10 reps per arm

30 sets

15 min

300 reps

15,900 lbs

BW walking lunges

4 laps of 60 ft ALL UNBROKEN!

First time I've been able to do this !

Legs and lungs are doing well

inverted V parallel bar pushups

4 sets of 20

a bit wider width and the inverted V were good for a change of groove. elbow liked it better too

Side delts

3 sets of 10 with 20 lbs

heavy but good and overloads the first part of the move more

ok ruck up tomorrow

AM

BW 163.2

BF 12,3

W 55.7 ???

After workout and fasting with green tea 

BW 161.8

BF 10.9

W 57.5

crazy

datsit

neverquit

125 lb Military press 5 x 4,40 kg belt squat, floor pushups,crawls, rear delts

These went well. Shoulder behaved and the positions and forms felt solid. I should be able to carve out 2-3 sets of 5 next week and the rest 4's.

Military press
stick x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 5
125 x 4 x 5 sets

elbow as ok too

40 kg belt squats
 4 sets of 10, 12, 14, 16

sucking wind today. hot and just a bit tired

floor pushups
2 sets of 27
1 x 25
1 x 20

72 reps

 I thought I would get a 4th set of 25 but that would have required more than 80 % effort and didn't want that

Crawls
3 sets of 60 feet

these felt good again but still gassing. the last two days must have gotten to me a bit :)

rear delts
 3 sets of 15 with 15 lbs

felt very light.

ok off tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Stepping back ruck- kind of.

I had solid intentions of really backing off today; it's been 3 weeks of solid increases in speed in my rucks along with the regular increases in swing load . So when I woke up pretty tired and sore today I knew it was a good idea. I wasn't even going to time any laps, just go  for a walk at whatever pace my body took me on.

But when the first lap was easy and second loose and strong I figured I would time the third just to see what an easy pace now consisted of.

Surprise to see 7:58 on the clock! It was nice and cool this morning with a brisk wind which always helps me but that is fast. What once was the old 'high' is now the bottom. Legs felt loose, back felt good and lungs felt open from the get.

It was all good til the tenth lap when I bonked a bit. Took it easy on the lap then pushed the 11th to see where I was and it was great 7:24! With no problem. So odd but so nice

49 lb ruck
1 hr 55 min
12 laps 10 iso squats three stances
3rd lap 7:58
7th lap 7:43
11th lap 7:24!!

very weird indeed. pack felt like nothing on my back

BUT
  first weigh in 5 am
BW 161 .4
BF 13.8 !!!
W 55.7 SO weird

after the ruck
BW 159.2
BF 12.3
W 56.6

SO how do I sweat like a pig for two hours drink NO fluids and have my water go UP?
Not sure why my water has been down for the last few days as I have been upping my carbs a little with coconut water, a few high fiber bars that have 15 gms of carbs in them and basically getting close to  65 -75 gms of carbs a day instead of 50

Usually I hold  more water when I do this and my BF goes down as hydration goes up.
strange

Ok back to presses tomorrow and 125 lbs for sets and reps

datsi
neverquit

Serge Redding Olympic lifter extraordinaire

36 kg One Arm Swings,hack squats, sandbag pushups, side delts

After the last two swing workouts using the pure hinge I definitely felt lower back tightness. NOT what I want to feel. That style definitely works my lower abs more too which usually lights up my lumbars as well.

So back to the squat/hinge style and it worked great today. As before my legs and glutes feel the loading not the back.

The weight felt like nothing and the power output and wind was better than good.

One Arm Swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
36 kg x 10/10 x 10
200 reps
15,840 lbs

very strong! squat / hinge it is.

Barbell Hacks
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 8
125 x 8
 these were strong today. a bit wider stance as last week and letting myself lean over more gives me better depth and ease of ascent

Parallel bar sandbag pushups
BW x 12
32 lb sandbag x 3 sets of 12

Side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15's

ok big ruck tomorrow. lets see if the pace still holds

datsit
neverquit

the crew at World Gym Campbell, 1994
Jim "Big Chief" McGoldrick, Jeff Stanley, me, Kevin Winter, Dave Conragan

Zone'ing in ruck

This new pace seems to have stuck. Even after a 20 minute session yesterday legs and back were good to go and what used to be a decent fast lap in now the new starting point.

44 lb ruck
6 laps
55 min
3rd lap 7:54
6th lap 7:24 !!!

this felt strong. Again, I almost felt like I could break out into a trot/run. Legs and lungs were solid and I could just put the machine on "go" and set above and watch it move. The pose style of walking is good at higher speeds to. Just lean in and lift the leg. Definitely reminds me of my running days when I could just get on "autopilot"and literally just watch my legs move from above!

That is how I got into ultras, I felt like I could run forever at the right pace.

BW 163
BF 12.4
W 56.7

ok day off then some heavy swings

datsit
neverquit

24 kg Speed Swings 20 min,sandbag walking lunges, parallel bar pushups, rear delts

Strongest 20 minute session ever. Did not have to double breathe until the last 4 sets and then it wasn't a necessity. Power output strong throughout as was mindset. No fear or dread. Used the same pure hinge style of late and it was strong although it does work the lower back more. I can feel the fatigue now and have to make sure not to slump or I can feel it would tighten up

But, wind and conditioning feel up a notch for sure bell felt light.
Glenn had to take off so I got a rare camera man for the occasion

Speed swings 24 kg
15:15 x 10
20 min
400 reps
21,200 lbs

SOLID!

Sandbag lunges
4 laps of 20 ft with 32 lb sandbag
strongest ever.

Parallel bar pushups
4 sets of 20
experimented with V and inverted V on the bar angle. Elbow likes mild V definitely hits different parts of the pecs shoulders and tri's

rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20 lbs

BW 163.4
BF 11.7
W 57.0

this is strange.

LOVE this movement too!

ok ruck fast tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

115 lb Military Press 5x5, 36 kg belt squat,floor pushups,crawls, side delts

Went back to the re build for my press after deciding to stick with this as the main course and not switch to the kb press. Groove felt solid but strange, strangely after only taking one week off of it.
Took a slightly wider grip and it felt good as well

Military Press
stick x 5 x 2
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 5 x 5

36 kg Belt squat ( on plates)
10,12,14,16

very easy, strong. knee felt perfect, just have to remember to set the torque in the foot and it all follows from there

Floor pushups
3 sets of 26
 elbow solid too

Crawls
 3 sets of 50 feet
damn pavement is too hot!

Side delts
3 sets  of 12 with 15's

SO love this exercise!

BW  162.4 ( coconut water yesterday!)
BF  11.8
W 57.1

datsit
neverquit

All time Lap PR Ruck

" And intensity is born from consistency"

Yes indeed. I didn't think this was going to be a fast ruck at all today; when I started out my legs felt heavy and tight and my lungs weren't open at all. I settled into what I thought was an  8:20 pace for the first three laps  and was shocked when I timed my fourth lap : 7:53!
 Almost never have I started out a Sunday ruck with a post 8 minute lap time but there it was.

Seventh lap was faster still 7:43 and the ninth was the exact same time Crazy!
 I purposely sped up for the last lap to see if I could get close to my all time pr of 7:32 and was shocked to see 7:22 on my watch!

After two hours of rucking. Sweet. Definitely a line of conditioning has been crossed.

50 lb ruck
1:52 min
4th lap 7:53
7th lap 7:43
9th lap 7:43
11th lap 7:22 All Time PR!!!

BW 162.4
BF 12.5
W 56.4

need more fluids today. still stinkin hot.

ok back to barbell presses tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

32 kg One Arm swings 200 reps,Hack squats, sandbag pushups, rear delts

My quantuum leap in conditioning carried over very well to the 32 kg swings and my wind and lungs were the best ever. Even in this heat I was not stressing at all. Didn't know if the rucking would carry over to the swings but it did.
Also, so did my groove. I took my stance out a little wider, as I did Wednesday, and really focused on more hinge and less knee flexion at the start and body it was strong! This seems like the new groove for now
As Louie always said, 'everything works but nothing works forever'.
Seemed to get me into, and out of, the hole much stronger.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 10/10 x 10
200 reps
14,000 lbs

best speed and power for this weight and workload every. pretty much had max force on all the 20 rep set for all 10 sets
Bell felt like a 24 on a good day

Hack squats
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 8 x 2

let myself lean over a bit and widened the stance here too and felt like I got deep more easily. right knee was fine ( lots of rolling this am)

sandbag pushups ( horiz bar)
bw x 12
32 lbs x 12 x 4

solid here as well

Rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20lbs

this is very strong now

BW 162.4
BF 12.3
W 56.8

long hot ruck tomorrow!

datsit
neverquit

Quantum leap ruck

I thought I had made a serious leap of ruck conditioning the last 10 days but this day confirmed it. I can get into and keep a much faster pace than ever with less effort.Today was hot as shit( 90 deg) with NO wind and lots on my mind to distract me.
But I just rucked up and went out expecting some slow laps.
But I knew right away the pace was good and my legs felt loose..

44 lb ruck
6 laps
55 min
3rd lap 8:00
6th lap : 7:43!

I felt like I could almost run the last lap, I pushed the effort wanting a good time but it was not hard. Lungs good legs good pack felt light even though it was up two pounds

Forgot to weigh in this AM so I did it right before the ruck. numbers always better

BW 162.4
BF 10.8
W 57.7 !!

ok day off and speed work with the 32 on Sat

datsit
neverquit

24 kg Speed Swings 15 min,walking BW lunges, parallel bar pushups, side delts.

This was a nice surprise. Got hit with an interesting amount of DOMS from my Monday workout( delts lats, traps , neck) and didn't think I would be very 'spry' at all today. With the 90 deg heat as well I couldn't imagine it would be a strong day- just one to survive.

Yet it was a very strong workout, one of the strongest 15 min bouts yet. I didn't double breath except for a few reps, my groove felt very solid ( more pure hinge than of late) and bell speed was the best in forever. The bell even felt light despite my muscles feeling sore! Everything just clicked , even wind and lungs felt easy

Speed swings
24 kg 15:15
15 min
30 sets
300 reps
15,900 lbs

Walking BW lunges
3 sets of 40 steps

these were solid as hell too. first two laps unbroken and ROM felt great

Parallel bar pushups
2 x 25
1 x 20

just sore.but groove was strong

DB laterals
3 sets of 12-10 with 12 lbs
 lighter bigger ROM reps.

ok that's enough

BW 162.4
BF 12.3
W 56.6

this whole metric is weird!

ruck up tomorrow

datsit
neverquit