Strong ruck

 

After yesterday's relatively  light work todays ruck was strong as hell, continuing the best rucking streak I've ever had in these last 8 years. Crazy good

Perfect weather cool with a light breeze

Again almost no stops for rest with only one squat stretch

Very solid

Rib feeling 85% normal. Any tension seems more intercostal muscle tightness than rib bone pain or joint pain

45 lb ruck

12 laps

1:48 min

6 miles

13,367 steps

 BW 176
BF 14.3

32 kg One arm swings 14 x 6/6. pistol practice, laterals

 I was more than a little worried about popping the rib again today with swing work and whether I could keep myself from going too heavy  but all worked out. And I maintained common senses discipline and did not go over the 32 kg  which was fine. I care much more about a two plate press on Monday than I do another session with 48 kg bell which overloads the rib too early

And it was a solid session anyway, no problem whatsover. I could feel it a little bit, but I felt it the same going into the session and it never grew worse, and now, 5 hours later it feels actually better

Surprisingly I felt the left side more when doing right arm swings. That left side is definitely working to stabilize in the asymmetrically loaded swing. And only at the apex of the swing, not on the descent or the backswing which surprised me.

But all good

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 x 3 sets 2100lbs
          x 6/6 x 11 sets 9240 lbs
14 sets 11,300 lbs work

Pistol practice
3 sets of 4/4 4/4 5/5 alternating, two arm self spot

was worried her too about intercostal activation holding on but zero problem

laterals/rear delts
3 x 10/10 with 15's

BW 175.6
BF 13.2 ( bath)

Another fast and easy ruck

 The worm has turned and it seems my legs have remembered, after 40 years off training, how to move easily and long again. It's pretty freaking glorious to me. I thought, for quite awhile now, that it might never happen. That my rucks would be basically a hard fought slog; walking in knee  high water or occasionally mud. But lately that's changed and it seemed to coincide with lightening the ruck 5 pounds from 50 to 45 lbs

But I think it's more than that and the last 8 years of weekly rucks have finally gotten past the 25 year of pretty much NO aerobic cyclic leg work.

The thursday ruck is the tell. I would fairly regularly have decent Sunday rucks but almost never on Thursdays. I think this is the third or forth week in a row and wearing the Topo trainers all day to stretch out my calves is a game change as well as regards my tight shin issues.

Passive correctives for the win.

45 lb ruck

6 laps in 48min ( not counting another 1/2 mile to and from the park)

3 miles

8021 steps

BW 175.8
BF 13..9

175,185, 190 lb press x 2 x 2, light swing check band pullaparts

 The rib is exponentially better than G-d. Localized now to the front section where I levered it over the edge of the bin. Monday the pain was radiating all over, including the back, which had me very worried. But much better now and the pressing motion, and air swings, did not light it up

Monday just my arm hanging by my side lit it up.

Presses went great and all techniques and new cues held up

Press

65,85 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 2
175 x 2 x 3 sets

185 x 2 x 3 sets

190 x 2 x 2 sets

Very very happy with this

swing checkout

14 kg x 5/5 

16 kg x 5/5

20 kg x 5/5

24 kg x 5/5 x 2

this was fine. I could feel the rib a bit but it did not get worse nor change during the swing  motion

band pullaparts

3 x 10/10/10

not ready to test pushups yet

BW 176.9

BF 13.9

215 lb press, 220 misses, rib injury

 What a day this was. I was going to say clusterfuck but it turned out much better than I thought it would going in but then re turned to shit literally at the very end

The rib hurt turning over in bed last night and then when doing back over ball stretches this morning, which was not good. I stretched a lot and was feeling at most at max shoulder flexion in the stretches, but the press movement felt ok. Definitely did something to the rib tho, no pretending that.

Just realized I didn't explain that I popped a rib yesterday morning before my ruck leaning into and ON the recycling bin and the edge became a fulcrum on my rib and popped it

While it hurt like at hell at first I didn't feel it at all during the ruck was was a glorious walk. But as I wrote I felt it a bit last night and then this morning. SUCH A STUPID FREAKIN' INJURY~
and rib shit lasts and lasts usually

And all kinds of house/life chaos this morning and it was not the strongest mind set going in. But it went pretty well all things considered.

Warmups went surprisingly normal. Except for a slight pressure on the left side of the rib cartilage where it originates near  the sternum it was ok. I was just looking to make sure the pressure didn't increase as things progressed. And they didn't

Press

65 85 105 x 2
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1 fast!
195 x 1 solid too
205 x 1 good but a little loose but rib was no problem

215 x 1 rough but got finished

Looking at the video now I realize I accomplished what I was trying to do going in - shift my weight forward  of the bar after the unracking but what I didn't realize is that I have to move my pelvis not just my total body

WITHOUT laying back ( that causes the bar to go forward). So there wasn't enough tension but it was close

200x Miss x 3 attempts

It was clear to me even during the misses that my elbows were dropping right before I pressed and I couldn't keep them up enough even know I needed to
My body was guarding my ribs I'm sure. Even though elbows up didn't seem to hurt them

 

Then 205 x 1 x 4 singles that rocked

then floor pushups and where things went bad

set on 50 reps. absolutely ZERO feel on the rib

Then the LAST rep of the 50 and I went a bit too low and felt a little, VERY little pop and knew it wasn't good

Sure enough what was one spot was now a nice wrap around ache through that whole rib!

FUCK!

Even air swings hurt,

Just moving my left arm hut

but two hours later I could lay pain free in bed and while it still isn't right it much better than two hours ago.

This may take a while but at least the press doesn't hurt :)

BW 176.6

BF 14.5

Steady State Ruck PR

 

Wow this was a great one. So fast and fluid and easy! Crazy easy. Cut 16 min off the total time ( I did not stop for squats at all) and was not a push, just steady state the whole time. Lungs felt great and my HR didn't go much above 120 or so at all

Did the first 3 miles in 50 min and the second in 48! Total time from door step to door step was 1:43 min

Brought me back to my runners high days when I would just look down and watch my legs move, effortlessly, on their own

45 lb ruck

12 laps

1:43

13,008 steps

BW 176.6
BF 14.5

44 kg One Arm Swing 10 x 8/8 pistol practice, laterals

 Back to my normal groove and it was solid. That other technique definitely was more powerful both muscularly and energetically but too wild to be useful for the long term. But definitely more power

One arm swings

16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 4/4
24 kg x 4/4
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
36 kg x 4/4
44 kg x 8/8 x 10
160 reps
15, 520 lbs

went fast for the first five sets, just 1.5 min rest between all three of us. Too fast so slowed it back down to 3 min rest. Much better

Pistol practice
3 sets of 
double leg down, one leg concentric followed but a full rep then switch legs 4/4 total

these felt great

Laterals/rear delts
3 x 10/10
15 lbs
BW 175.6
BF 13.2
W 57.9

Thursday ruck

 

Just five laps but fast. Behind on appointments so I cut it a lap short but  glad I got something done

45 lb ruck

5 laps

2.5 miles

45 min

ave speed 3.5

BW 177.2
BF 14.9

185-205 x 2x2 each, 24 kg speed swings,wt pushups

 Man this went perfectly. Basically did not screw up any position or technique of any rep. Some were more perfect than others but I did not make any fundamental mistakes and all the cues worked as planned 

warmup went well

65 85 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 2
175 x 2

then 185 x 2 x 2

then two sets at 190

two at 195 probably the best reps of all the sets

then a solid single at 205

the cues:
wide stance set up 
elbows up on unracking

hips forward- load the bow
press to face
hip drive immediately after

when I do these right it goes

24 kg speed swings

5 x 8/8  back to my classic technique

wt v pushups parallettes

bw x 10
53 x 10 x 3

slower than normal and more hold at lockout

pecs and biceps tendon feel great

BW 177.2
BF 14.2

215lb press x 1 x 4 sets, 205 x 1 x 3 sets, floor pushups one arm laterals

     This went well, at the end. Started great, got a little rough, got it figured it out then smooth sailing.

All the cues and corrections from last week worked great; I just ended up pushing the bar back a little TOO far to the face and had to make a correction. But I've never done 4 singles with 215 before, although it took me seven sets to do it.

Warmups and first 205 went great

then onto 215 and made it but a bit rough

I thought that if I pushed the bar back to my face the second hip drive would automatically happen and it didn't. After this sets I missed the next one then made the third

this was the second miss. At the time I had no idea what I did wrong, but now, looking at the video I can see that instead of loading my  hips forwards I arched back, the bar dropped and I ended up pushing fwd

then made the next two. I lost one forward and two going too far back
On my first make at 215 I notice I shifted my weight back on the unracking and then had to reclaim the middle position, I think this threw me back enough to put the bar a tad out front

On the third set I unracked it straight up which is important it seems

The elbows up on the unrack worked

Then shifting hips forward worked

Pushing to face works if after launch ( which as FLYING, even the misses) I re drive the hips instead of trying to keep using my arms

then 4 single with 205 which flew

Very happy with this. Next week 220 for three singles then 225 with two plates for my Birthday challenge workout

floor pushups

3 x 50 

this was tough but do able. just going to keep this set workload until ( if) it ever gets too easy

One arm laterals

3 x10/10 wt 20

bent laterals

3 x 10 with 20

BW ( noon)
177.8
BF 11.2 !!
W 59.2 ( bath)

am wt was 177.2

Easy Peasy Ruck

 This went great today other than having some left lat/ right bicep tendon aches from yesterdays wild swing form. Luckily they stretched right out but I knew I had  my answer as to whether or not to keep the technique.

But the ruck went well from the start and legs felt good and lungs were pretty open right from  the start as well. Nice

Cool crisp and overcast too which is perfect

NO squat stretches the entire ruck too which seems to be a trend; which seems ok because I am finally, after almost eight years of walking with weight now, I'm starting to get that rhythm that I used to get with running and there's really no need to stop and stretch out.

45 lb ruck
12 lap
13,291 steps
top speed 4.9 mph
1:48 min for the 12 laps
last lap :7:37 min

BW 176.2
BF 14..9

40 kg One arm swings 10 x 10/10, pistols, laterals

 

The Punisher workout punished me today. Or, I should say I did it to myself. This workload has been getting better each time the last few months but today, with the experimental change in technique it really kicked my ass

I even skipped a rep. First time ever. But there was no point. it was rep 10 on the second arm on the 8th set and I was cooked.

I used the same technique I used Wednesday, basically leading with the bell and staying completely on mid foot at the top( not sitting back on the heel). the upshot was a MUCH faster  swing rep and way more speed on descent and less time to " enjoy the float" even though bell height was better

But I could really feel it getting tough at 5 sets in ( this video ) and then the bear jumped on my back for the last sets

For set 9 I went back to usual technique and got the feedback the reps with smoother, which I believe, but I think the power was less

One set ten I used hybrid style: right arm new technique, left side old technique and it felt  "interesting"

Here's todays set:

and here's last months set

Haha, the thumbnail caught it at the exact same spot.

I looked at rep 7 on the left hand and today's rep was MUCH higher than last month but I think the old position is probably  safer although sets of 20 is it's own thing

One arm swings

10 sets of 10/10 40 kg
200 reps

17,600 lbs

Pistol practice
concentric only alternating legs
3 sets of 4/4

this was hard, legs were toast and jelly

laterals/bent laterals

3 x 10/10 with 15s

BW 175.2 !! wow
BF 13.2

Cool ruckings

 Very strong one

Wore the topos negative heel trainer all morning and it worked again. A nice passive stretch on my calves and zero shin or calf problems during the ruck. Which really  helped me walk quicker

Definitely reaching a new level of aerobic fitness this last 6 weeks or so and it's about time. Legs feel loose and strong right from the gate lately

Took me long enough to come back from 25 years off lol

45 lb ruck

6 laps

3 miles

50 min 

ave pace 3.4-6 mph and top speed of 4.2

BW 176.6
BF 14.9

175 lb x 2 x 3,185 x 2 x 2 ,190 x 2 x 3, 195 x 2 x 1, 24 kg speed swings, Wt pushups

 This went well although my left arm was a  little jacked up from the clubbells I'm afraid. Started in my wrist, the woke up with a seriously tight left forearm flexor digitorum and it worked it's way up to my bicep tendon

Of course the two plus hours of knife sharpening I did yesterday probably didn't help but I probably will go back to pushups or try another tricep exercise next week. If I do pushups I will keep it after no more than 50 rep sets and focus more on ROM and control. Well see

Defintely sore though and it took some time to warmup

But when I did after 185 it went great and I realized I have to left my elbows up as I unrack the weight, not after. Another big one.
It has to go first then load the bow. Then everything fell into place

Press

65 85 105 x 3
135 x 2
155 x 2
175 x 2 x 3
185 x 2 x 2
190 x 2 x 2
195 x 2  x1 ( PR double)

This makes the setup even easier and with less moving parts. 

24 kg speed swings

5 x 8/8

Used the same 'follow the bell on descent' that I did on Saturday and man it worked great. Definitely activated my natural lumbar pelvic rhythm and bell speed was excellent

Wt pushups on v angle parallettes
BW x 10
53 lb x 10 x 3

strong!

BW 177.4
BF 13.7

Press revelations! 205-220 press day, Clubbell arm cast and laterals

 What a freaking day! Talk about up and down and all over the place. But the best thing is is that it ended up on THE up note I needed and filled in just another piece of the press puzzle.

Here's how it went:

warmups went great, really focused on setting and loading the bow, spotting the X, pressing back to my face and driving the hips pretty much immediately after. All went well even through 205 , which was steady but not flying

then 215 miss ! Ack~!

fuck! was really trying to get it back to face but elbows flaired and bar stalled.

Then I got pissed and made it, not sure exactly what I changed. But it moved well

Then up to 220 for another miss, then another, then another! all the same way.flying off chest but elbows flairing and not sure why

gave up and went back to 205 which I nailed two sets of and then had a revelation: I WASN'T KEEPING MY ELBOWS IN AND UP. So I changed it and this happened

This went so well and I didn't want to wait another week to test it so I put 220 on bar again,This is after 10 sets at 205 or heavier! and IT WORKED!!

Not a great lockout but after 10 sets of 90% plus I knew I was onto something

Freakin' hell I'm happy!
Back to 205 for 2 more sets done perfectly

SO:
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1
215 x Miss
215 x 1
220 x Miss x 3
205 x 1 x 2
220 x 1
205 x 1

10 attempts at 205 and above

So setting the bow is right, and spotting X is right and driving press to face is right but I have to have the elbows in and I don't even have to think about pressing to face, it's almost automatic given the angle of my forearms and the bar placement on my collarbone

Decided to give rep pushups a break and added in clubbell arm casts, this felt right immediately

Weighted pushups will stay on Wednesday. The high reps were getting to me after all this time and didn't feel like much of a transfer, and I don't really need more pec and upper body  size

Hope my wrists hold up. I think just staying with double arms, and only arm cast should help

15's x 5/5
20s x 8/8
25 x 8/8

One arm laterals
3 x 8/8 with 20
Bent lateral
3 x 8 with  20

BW 176.00
BF 13.8

great day I really think this is it.

Fast ass ruck

 Man, this was  a good one! Legs felt strong and loose from the start and didn't quit the rest of the way. Took NO squat stretches and just a few quit rest stops and the rest of the way held a solid fast pace. Tracy was with and she always makes me go faster which, in this case, worked out.

Cool and crisp and all systems were go

45 lb ruck

12 laps

6 miles

1:48 min!! haven't done it this fast in forever

13,327 steps

ave speed 3.6

ave stride length 20 in

BW 175.2
BF 15.0

32 kg One Arm Swing 10 x 8/8 deload, pistol practice , laterals

 

Really solid workout. As usual I think it's going to be easier than it is and, for a moment, contemplate upping the reps, but as soon as I start I realize ; " this is going to be plenty'  ,lol

And it is. Always is.

The deal is that is just heavy enough, and, just light enough, to really drive the power outage up, which makes the bell feel much heavier effect on the total body system. 

Another thing I played with was staying specifically on the mid foot even at the lockout , which gives me a more 'hollow" body position, as opposed to a weight on the heels, standing plank lockout. It's not as pretty at  the top but man the bell speed is way faster! I've done this before and it was the same then.

As I sit back on my heels at the top and lock down the bell always slows down, which can be good with the  heavier bells but for power really concentrating on letting that bell fly is key. the speed on the video is faster than usual and bell height is better too

This is from last month and a good example. I stay more 'tall' and really get  back more on the heels. Certainly a good swing but I think today's form was definitely more powerful, and , I should say , much more natural for me

https://youtu.be/w-NMOklnX5M

32 kg One arm swings

10 sets of 8/8

Pistol Practice

concentric only bottoms up

2 x 4/4
1 x 5/5

this worked very well and much better than last week, the first time in quite awhile

Laterals/rear delts

3 x 10/10 with 15s

BW 175.6 !! ( shocking actually, not trying)
BF 13.1
W 57.7 ( bath)

Fast ass ruck

 

I wore these shoes all day today for work before the ruck and for the second week in a row my calves were stretched enough so that I had zero shin issues the entire ruck

So I could push the entire ruck instead of having to stop and stretch every lap after the third. this is great . even though it doesn't look like it from the picture these have a slightly negative heel so the calves are really being stretched instead of elevated ( like they are in my goruck macv1s and my lifting shoes)

legs felt good and lungs opened up early

45 lb ruck

6 laps

3 miles

50 min!

BW 176.4

BF 14.4

175, 185, 195 lb press x 2s, 24 kg swings, wt pushup

 This went great.  A bit sore in the shoulders and upper back ( go figure) but that warmed  up pretty quickly if not fully. I think the soreness now is from the volume of pushups and not the presses. Might have to change that but we'll see

Normal warmup to 135
135 x 2
155 x 2
175 x 2 x 5 sets

then 185 lb x 2 x 2 sets
then 190 x 2 x 3 sets

All things considered this is huge. When I think of how long it took me to get to a 190lb single just once and now it's my light day for sets and reps! Awesome. I'm actually impressed myself , lol

24 kg swings

5 sets of 8/8

always stiff the first two sets then it opened up

Wt V pushups on parallettes

bw x 10

53 x 10 x 3

loving the V shape p bars 

BW 177.8
BF 14.4

1 pm 
BW 178
BF 11.2
W 59.1 !

215 lb Press, 225 lb miss, floor pushups, one arm laterals

 I'm surprised I missed the 225 ( three times no less) after feeling so solid with 205 and 215 but it also revealed the real key component in these max effort lifts, as well as what I've been doing wrong all this time when I miss

The setup was good but from the video I can see I wasn't as locked in as I thought I was, there was still some movement wobblies right before the start. But mainly I didn't get the second hip drive after the initial launch and that's why it stalled.

I had good  but not not great Bow, and a solid push back to my face but then I failed to re get my hips under the bar and this was the result. Good less. Plus I need to really work on maxing out the bow tension from my hips, not just the body shape- i.e just pushing my hips forward a bit isn't enough I have to really  create some stretch tension in the bow

warmups felt great, 

135 x 2
155 x 1 fast!
175 x 1 perfect line
195 x 1 best speed ever
205 x 1

215 x 1 - decent but I can see I didn't set the bow tight enough and while I get the second hip drive it wasn't strong enough and that's why the bar ended up too vertical ( almost forward) instead of sliding into easy lockout

then the three misses at 225. Im pretty shocked I missed as the bar felt solid and not heavy in the rack position too and I was confident, not scared. Just goes to show how delicate that line is. Just a little bit off and it's a no-go. Can't shoulder muscle 225 :)

then 205 for 4 singles. this is the last one. really solid double hip drive

Floor pushups

2 sets of 61

1 set of 50 ( barely!) 

these were strong and using the scaps in the bottom to shock absorb makes a huge difference but all the heavy attempt wore me out a bit

One arm laterals

3 x 8/8 20s

bent laterals

3 x 8 20s

BW 177.6
BF 14.5

Ruck Strong

 

Had a full head of steam this morning and it always makes for good energy to burn it off during the ruck! Nice cool temps and fresh air

Legs were good as were lungs, the heavy swings and pistols wouldn't show itself in my calves til later 

Sunday evening but there were good on the ruck.

45 lb Ruck

12 laps

6 miles

top walking speed 3.6 mph

total time door to door 1:55 min

BW 177.2

BF 15.6 ! dehydrated