Last workout of 2016. 4 sets of 10 with 48 kg,6 sets of 10 with 52,hacks, pushups, delts

Everything felt great this morning, no aches or pains, slept well,mobility good from the start and with only 100 reps to do in sets of 10, no fear :)

And things went great. Not stupid cold this morning ( only 41) and I warmed up quickly

One arm swings
 16 x 5/5 x 2
20 x 5/5
24 x 5/5
28 x 5/5
32 x 5/5
36 x 4/4
40 x 4/4
48 x 10 x 4 sets
52 x 10 x 6 sets

felt very confident the whole time. bell felt light except for grip. Nick suggested a false grip and while I wasn't ready to test it 3/4 the way into the workout I did adjust my grip towards that; basically a false grip with my thumb wrapped but very lightly. Worked better. I will have to play with this.
The grip was definitely the limiting factor in my ability to produce power here but man, overall , I am seriously stronger

Barbell hacks
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 10
125 x 10

very strong could really feel legs in a good way.

Sandbag pushups horizontal bar
bw x 12
32 lbs x 12 x 3

strong again

Side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15's. strongest groove ever

long ruck tomorrow with 3-4 intervals. can't drink too much tonight :)

datsit
DFQ

Happy freakin' New Year!

Quick and easy ruck

Got to the ruck late this afternoon after being on a phone call longer than expected. In fact, I forgot I had to ruck today , so caught up in the call I was :) When I realized it I was pissed; I thought I was going to get to eat lunch and I was hungry!

But it was Thursday, Ruck day, and a 45 lb ruck was first on the menu before food.

So I rucked up and had a great one. It was  a grand call and I was pumped up and once I got going didn't notice hunger at all

45 lb ruck
6 laps
No timed laps but sub 8's by guess. felt light, loose and fast
55 min

BW 165
BF 12.2
W 56.7

ok day off to stretch and roll and then just 100 reps in sets of 10 for sat

datsit
DFQ

28 kg StrengthSpeed Swings 10 min, BW walking lunges, parallel pushups, rear delts

This wouldn't have been bad at all if it weren't still 38 deg in my garage! It was 51 deg outside but near icebox level in Stones Gym. Cold as a stone, that's for sure. The slap freezes and won't thaw out til March at the earliest. Should have taken my 10 min active warm up bath. Next time I will, it always  make a huge difference and this is becoming a super cold California winter.

28 kg Strength Speed swings
28 kg
15:15 x 10
20 sets
200 reps
12,600 lbs work

not bad at all except I had to double breath about 5 min in. Just wasn't warmed up physically or cardiovascularly. No problem getting the reps out though and the height was good.
Alternating this every other week will work well.I had better speed on it because of the lighter work last week I'm sure.
Groove was fine, and I was pretty tight and sore from monday's presses but nowhere near as bad as last week

BW lunges
3 laps of 40 steps

off schedule but decided to do these today and next week instead of the weighted ones. these are harder anyway ,much better quad burn

Parallel pushups

 3 sets of 25, very strong reps something left at end

rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 15  very strong!

ok ruck up tomorrow

BW 165.4
BF 12.2
W 56.8

datsit
DFQ

140 lb Military press 4x5, 1x4 PR, 36kg Belt squats, floor pushups,crawls , side delts

SOOOOO CLose!!!! It was a great day. I fixed all the mistakes from last week and after the first set felt very confident I would get all five sets. Even after set 4 I thought I would and even after the first two reps of set five I thought I would but I got forward on number 3 and then had to grind way too hard on 4 to even think of five!Even got a full hour long stretch and roll!
DAMMIT!

It was FREEZING here today so I took a ten minute super hot bath and that made my warmup 100% better. Warm from the inside always works better for me.
Took way more time  warming up and really worked the arch position well. Took 3 minute rest between sets; everything pointed to making it except the last reps :)
 the last set



Glenn figured out that the reason I was losing my back position was that I was pushing the bar forward at the top and even though I felt like I was leaning back the same amount since I started more forward I was not back enough on the subsequent rep.
Great intel I just need more practice

Back off next week though probably to 120 and then go 130 and then a shot at 140 again

Military press
stick x 5 x 2
45 x 5 x 2
65 x 5
85 x 4
105 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 5 x 4 sets
       x 4 x 1 set PR!!
24 total reps

SO much better than last week but then again, lats weren't cramping with DOMS and I wasn't frozen solid. Not the best setup for a pr

Position is everything for me now on this lift, if i want to keep progressing, It's not so much my strength, it's being able to get into position to express my strength.

36 kg belt squat
 4 sets of 12
very slow and strict on eccentric. easy


Floor pushups
3 sets of 30

strong but didn't have a fourth set

Crawls
3 sets of 70 ft

stronger

Side delts
3 sets of 10 with 20 lbs

these were hard! haven't gone this heavy with these in awhile and I could feel it. Not enough height but it will make it stronger

BW 165.6
BF 11.2 ?!
W 57.8

this is just weird.


ok stretch and roll tomorrow

datsit
DFQ

Hanukkah/Christmas Ruck

Thought it was going to be harder, actually.
Yesterday's swing training was tough but I seemed to recover well, no tweaks or issues at all

Since it is Hanukkah/Christmas I decided to give myself a break and not time any laps, just go at a nice steady pace. So much easier ,lol
Did take me an hour to warm up but then I didn't die so badly on the tenth lap, as usual. Just a wee slow down but energy was good.

50 lbs ruck
12 laps
11 iso squats
2 hours on the mark

BW 165.2
BF 11.2
W 57.5

that was interesting. alternating a glass of green tea for every glass of wine seems to help ,lol

heavy presses one more time tomorrow. If I can't get fives I will back off and rebuild the next time

datsit
DFQ

48 kg One Arm swings 10 x 10/10 ( 13th time) barbell hacks, sandbag pushups,rear delts

This was tough. I'm not sure if it's it's still hard because I'm not getting stronger or that, because I'm stronger, I'm able to pushhard.

I actually think it's because I am stronger and able to go harder.All things point to this. My grip is easy. I don't "nut up" as much as I used to before the workout.The height of the bell is actually better. The speed of the descent is definitely faster and looser. I feel like I can actually push the bell back harder now and "go" with it, where as before I had to control the eccentric much more to feel safe.
I think the speed of the ascent is faster too.
It has to be if the height is better and the total time of 10 reps is the same.

BUT it still KICKED MY ASS TODAY. One of the toughest things is knowing the last five sets are the hardest, and the last three are the absolute harderst part of the whole workout! Trying to maintain bell speed, height and not get tweaked is tough!

Also we did the workout in just 30 min again today and that was blazing fast. Suffered a lot :) Pkus warming up was hard; 38 deg in the garage


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
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg  x 4/4
36 kg x 3/3
40 kg x 3/3
48 kg x 10/10 x 10
30 min
21,200 lbs

Hack squats
 65 x 5
85 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 5
125 x 5

too lazy and tired to change into bigger plates to get heavier. oh well

Sandbag pushups
bw x 10
32 lbs x 12 x 3

tired

rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20 lbs

BW 165.2
BF 11.4
W 57.3

ok long slow ruck tomorrow. Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas!

datsit
DFQ

Thursday ruck

A good solid ruck today. Not really into it at first but legs felt loose and pace was good from the get. No side effects from yesterday, which was nice


45 lb Ruck
6 laps
3rd lap 7:49
6th lap 7:32
52 min

smooth and good energy all throughout

BW 165
BF 12.2
W 56.7

cutting out ice cream :)

stretch and roll tomorrow then the big swing volume sat

figured this out: on wed before a 10x 10/10 speed swings with 24 kg
                           on wed before 10 x10 use the28 for strength speed swings

makes sense, we'll see how it plays out

datsit
DFQ

24 kg Speed swings 12 min,sandbag lunges, parallel pushups,side delts

Back to the 24 kg and speed work and boy can I tell the difference! SO much easier,lol. But the power output was much better. The two days were getting too close together and I thought I was losing speed and grinding away too much so here we are. felt strong too. I think my mojo is coming back. You have to pay attention. you have to be aware. you have to be willing to alter course to go as straight towards the goal as you can. even if that means going backwards or sideways. For the moment :)


24 kg Speed swings.
12 min 15:15 x 10 reps
240 swings
12,720 lbs

wind was good and bell height as well.not nearly as cold as lately and that helps too


Sandbag ( 32 lb) walking lunges
bw x 20 steps
bag x 20 steps x 4 laps

these were solid too

Parallel bar pushups
3 sets of 25
 ok but not great. couldn't have done another set of 25

Side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15 lb

very solid

BW 166 WHAT THE HELL?
BF 12.2
W 56.7

It must be muscle because I don't see the fat and my belt fits the same. More fiber ? :)

ok ruck up tomorrow. ankle is perfect after the posterior tib released

datsit
DFQ

140 lb Military Press 1x5,1x4,1x5,1x3,1x4, 48 kg belt squat, floor pushups, crawls, rear delts

Well I should have seen that coming. I was great after yesterday's ruck til about 6 pm when my right ankle started to hurt. then it hurt more and something felt locked up. I didn't ping it at all when I was rucking but something wasn't right

I tractioned it with bands and Tracy, stretched and rolled it but didn't really figure out what was up,The joint didn't move like it normally would when I stretched it and it felt locked on the lateral malleolus side.I couldn't weight bear on it well either and that always freaks me out. Especially on "good "side

Sleep didn't make it feel better and I tossed and turned a bit. When i woke up I realized it was probably a very tight tibialis posterior and soleus locking up the joint and I was right. Some supernova ball therapy on the those two muscles and things started moving right. I could walk normal and things moved as they should. still sore though but at least I knew what it was.

SUPER freaking cold in the gym today and never really got warm enough to get a good arch. Had trouble getting tight in the press but more importantly, staying tight. That's why my reps were so all over the place
Not enough arch, lean back, glutes, anything
The bar actually didn't feel heavy I just didn't have the endurance to fight the weight AND my tight and stiff body

Military Press
stick x 5 x 2
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 4
105 x 3 ( rushed here )
125 x 2  too hard, not back enough
140 x 5 not bad, actually
140 x 4 ran out of gas!
140 x 5 this is the video
140 x 3 too upright and not enough glutes
140 x 4 decent but had to grind HARD on the last rep
21 total reps compared to last weeks 23. but so much harder
 just feeling gassed. I literally felt NO soreness from the weekends training til 10 am today when my lats went DOMS like a big dog.
This didn't help my arch or my reps

48 kg belt squats
10, 12, 14, 15

these were just hard as I was tired and still cold

floor pushups
30
30
25

not bad but everything tired and stiff

Crawls
3 laps of 70 ft

just want to get this done

Rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20

these felt strong

BW 165
BF 12.3
W 56.7

all weird. skipped my quest bar in lieu of psyllium and that didn't work

stretch and roll tomorrow

datsit
DFQ

Freezing ruck

It was frosty this morning when I set out on my ruck but it was clear and beautiful too. I love doing endurance work in the cold; it definitely encourages me to move faster to keep warm.
Felt great from yesterday and the low volume would makes today's work easier; I hoped.
And it did

50 lb Ruck
12 laps
11 isometric squat holds
4th lap 7:41
8th lap 7:22
12th lap 7:02 !!!

Nice intervals. Solid ground, instead of wet sand and mud makes it much easier to move faster though.:)
Again, still haven't figured out how to move any faster without breaking into a trot. I visualize a giant hand on my back, pushing me forwards as I walk, doing my variation of my understanding of pose walking. It works but my legs are only so long :)

BW 163.8
BF 12.3
W 56.5

more water soluble fiber is helping. When I cut quest bars out I took 15 gms of fiber out of my daily diet and it didn't all get replaced. so, quest bars back in as well as psyllium with my oats.

Ok back to 140 presses tomorrow and if's it a good day I would like 5x5

datsit
DFQ

44kg One Arm Swings 10x10,Barbell hacks, Sandbag pushups,side delts

This went very very well. It also showed me how important rest is in this process. My three day forced taper, even though it involved alot of travel, little sleep and weird food really let my body recover a bit and today's workout was positively easy.
Of course it was only the 44 kg and not the 48 but still, it felt like a toy and I had the best height and acceleration with it ever. Plus, cardio was STRONG
We finished the 10 sets in 13 minutes and we could have pushed it under 10 without breaking a sweat.

Of course it could have just been a good day but I know when March test comes I'm taking the Wed and Thursday workouts out and just resting.

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 5/5
36 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 5/5
44 kg x 10 x 10 sets
9680 lbs

13 minutes total with 44 kg bell

Hacks
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 10

Sandbag pushups
bw x 10
32 lbs x 10 x 3

solid but taking it easy as per the whole day

Side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15 lbs

BW 165
BF 11 %
W 57.7 !!! recent high

strange!

long ruck tomorrow with 3-4 intervals

datsit
DFQ

140 Military Press 3x5 PR 2 x 4, 44 kg belt squats, floor pushups PR, crawls, rear delts

This was STRONG! Very surprised after how hard yesterday was. I didn't think my nervous system was recovered but I easily hit 3 x 5 ( never have done 5 with 140 before) and could have done 2 more sets  but thought better of it.
Wow. the setup makes such a big difference
As does my increased flexibility and tissue quality

Love this move. I never appreciated how strong my bench press was when I was powerlifting because I was so focused on my weak points, the squat and deadlift. Now I am fully enjoying being a strong presser again!  I went so long with a fucked up shoulder it's so nice to be able to use it again. Just like my knee.

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

Belt squats
44 kg x 12 x 4

Floor pushups
3 sets of 32  PR!
these were strong too!

Crawls
3 sets of 70 ft

Rear delts
 3 sets of 12 with 20 lbs

BW 165.2
BF 11.9
W 57

thought I'd be light but ???

Ok off tomorrow and then off to Florida for my Total Knee replacement lecture at IHMC

Be back friday so I will just miss Wednesday strength speed work and thursday ruck but it's actually perfect.I need some down time, And also, will go back to 24 kg speed strength work on return as it's time, at least for awhile.

datsit
DFQ

Hard , slow, slog ruck

As expected, after yesterdays seriously tough workout today my legs felt like they weighed 1000 lbs. Didn't help that I was either walking in wet sand or mud. Good mental training though, as I just adapted; slowed my pace and lowered my expectations and things loosened up quite nicely.
Not much energy though

I also started squatting on lap one, just to stretch out. It helped
 Didn't plan on timing any laps, but I thought the pace wasn't too bad and it wasn't

50 lb ruck
12 laps
two hours even
12 iso squats
5th lap 7:53
12th lap 7:33 ! not bad

nice and crisp out- always love that

BW 164,4
BF 12
W 56.7

after ruck
BW 162.6
BF 11,7
W 57

and that's without drinking any more liquids! Just moved things around  lol

Good training on just putting one leg ahead of myself for as long as it took

48 kg One Arm Swings 10 x 10/10( 12th), hack squats, sandbag pushups, side delts

This was just hard. No good reason, either, of course. Good sleep, good food, no soreness, etc. Just hard to do and my mind was the biggest problem My other partners are on injured reserve and were just doing sets of 10 and one was missing in action so the rest periods were particularly short.

I thought about really extending them once I realized how hard it was going to be but then thought again as this kind of random variation in the rest cycles is part of the plan. When all partners show I get a lot of rest, when none show I go as fast as I can.Today was somewhere in between but it was tough!

I kept reminding myself this was the training I need for the test in March but it just sucks to have to try to produce that much force/power when you can't breathe! But the strength was there no problem and the groove is what pulled me through. Keeping the momentum going is what kept me going.

I wish I would have timed the total work time as I think it was the fastest yet but not sure. It seemed it.I started out much stronger than normal. Usually it takes 4-5 sets to warm up, today I was good out the gate, which probably made it harder

Again my main enemy was my mind, just too much internal talk about how much this was sucking and how much the rest was going to suck etc, etc wah wah wah :)
Just shut up and swing

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 4/4
36 kg x 3/3
40 kg x 3/3
48 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps
21,200 lb
Ten tonnes :)

Hacks
65 x 6
85 x 6
105 x 6
115 x 6
125 x 6

Sandbag pushups
bw x 12
32 lbs  x 12 x 3

side delts
 3 sets of 12 with 15's

just beat to shit by now

BW 164.3
BF 12
W 56.7

ok long wet ruck tomorrow. should be interesting

datsit
DFQ

Fast and easy Ruck

This was a nice surprise. I think I must have been fighting some bug the last few weeks because suddenly  I feel normal again and just realized I haven't been.

Today's ruck was strong. Fasting was no problem and I started well and finished stronger
 Nice and cool too and that' so nice

45 lb Ruck
6 laps
 3rd lap 7:49
6 th lap 7:29 !
53 minutes

overall pace was up too and I had no problem keeping a sub 8 min/lap pace it felt like

BW 164.4
BF 11.9
W 57

ok off day and get my head wrapped around 200 reps with the beast! I want it to be the strongest yet!

datis
DFQ

28 kg Strength Speed swings 10 min, walking lunges BW, parallel bar pushups, rear delts

This was a tough one. No good reason of course. Slept well, bodyweight up, no aches or pains,mentally prepared  etc but I had a very hard time warming up.
It was stinkin' cold in the cave that's for sure ,41 degrees I think but my body temp warmed up fast when I started swinging. But my  system didn't and I had to work  every set
But it wasn't THAT hard, just mainly had to double breathe but there was no question I could it, and more if need be. Ten minutes is so much faster yet when I do the 5 min test it seems like an eternity.

28 kg Speed Swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
24 kg x 55

28 kg for 20 sets of 10
15:15
10 min
200 reps
12,600 lbs volume

BW walking lunges
3 laps of 40 steps unbroken
1 lap two stops on last leg

legs were just pumping up! Monday's press took more out of me that I thought it would
That is just a heavy load on my total body on one's days rest

Parallel bar pushups
3 sets of 25
not too bad but certainly not easy

rear delts
3 sets of 15 with 15 lbs

now that was easy! Finally :)

BW 165.2 WTF?!
BF 11.4
W 57.3

My waist is the same, sub q fat good and I think it's muscle but either way I don't want to be this HEAVY.
I am eating more carbs than I have in eons but less overall food.

Ruck up tomorrow!

datsit
DFQ

140lb Military press 5x4 PR, 44 kg belt squat, floor pushups, crawls, side delt

This went GREAT. Learned that if I set up the arch as I take the bar out of the rack the layback is almost 3/4 done and it made the first reps so much more consistent, and took the tension out of my biceps tendon as well
Also, stretching out enough to lay the bar on my chest right from the start made a big difference as well. So much easier.
This was solid, I could have done a few sets of 5 or more no problem
With the bar on the chest instead of holding it up with my arms and shoulders it feels much lighter and I have more to push with on the press

Military press
 stick x 5
45 x 5
65 x 5
85 x 3
105 x 3
120 x 2
140 x 4 x 5 sets PR!

44 kg Belt squats
( on plates)
 4 sets of 12 taking it easy on the legs after yesterday

Floor pushups
2 sets of 32
1 set of 20!!!

those presses took more out of my triceps than I thought

Crawls
3 sets of 70 ft

hips lower head upper :)

side delts
3 sets of 12 with 15's

BW 164.2
BF 11.2
W 57.1

ok stretch and roll out tomorrow
very happy with today's press

datsit
DFQ

Super Fast Ruck, PRs

This was the strongest ruck ever. It started easy and got stronger every lap. Feels like I am starting back on a nice strength peak again, even though I am just getting over a cold. Ate up yesterday and was perhaps the most hydrated I've been on a Sunday. Alternated glasses of green tea with my wine and it kept all systems go.

Yesterday's swing workout seemed almost too easy also and I felt nothing from it today.
It was also 41 deg out and I do much better when it's cold. Moving faster warms me up.

50 lb Ruck
12 laps
10 isometric squat holds
4th lap 7:33 ( fastest first time eveer)
7th lap 7:19 strong
9th lap 7:14
12th lap 6:58 ( that was a surprise)

for the last lap I really pushed "go" and had a lot to go with, pretty surprising.Limiting factor in more speed was coordination and timing in my gait rather than legs or lungs. Nice

BW 163.6
BF 11.3
W 57.3 !!

Ok time to up the press game tomorrow with 3 sets of 4 and 2 sets of 4

datsit
DFQ

52 kg One Arm Swings 10/10,Hack squats,Sandbag pushups, rear delts

This was WAY stronger than last week. Grip: no issue. Cardio: no issue. Bell height was much better too and power output stronger as well. Very happy with today's session

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 3/3
40 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 3/3
52 kg x 10 x 10
100 reps
11,500 lbs

Barbell Hacks
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 10 x 2

solid leg burn

Sandbag pushups
bw x 12
32 lbs x 12 x 3

strong!

Rear delts
3 sets of 12 with 20 lbs

solid!

ok long cold ruck tomorrow!

BW 162.6
BF 11.9
W 56.7

Get it done ruck

Long work day with car stuff after but still got the ruck done. Moved as fast as i could, I was hungry :)

nice and cool out though

45 lb ruck
6 laps
55 min
no lap times counted around 8-8:10 laps

legs felt ok just distracted and hungry hard to find a rhythm

BW 163.4
BF 12.5
W 56.6

weird night, getting over a cold pretty quickly but it wasn't great sleep

datsit
DFQ