Sunday Ruck

 As with last week legs feel stronger after Saturday's quad dominant swing training. Must be ham/glute sparing

45 lb ruck

9 laps

4.5 miles

1:35 min with dog stops

top speed 3.4 mph

175.2

44 kg one arm swings 25 x 5, 44 kg belt squats 3 x 10, pistols 3x3, pullaparts 3 x 30

 Strong session, New old style: quad dominant speed focus. definitely like this more. More power more speed less tension and just a little bit less bell height. good tradeoff

175.4

Thursday ruck

 Another decently strong one. Cool weather again and that helps..

Calves were tight, the only thing slowing me down

45 lb ruck

6 laps

3 miles

55 min

175.8

155 x 3 x 5, 160 x 3 x 5, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

 Thought about going back to 5x5 for a hot second then my left shoulder  reminded me why I stopped doing them before. It doesn't seem to like eccentric reps, especially with the bar racked high.  Not a lot of options left other than what I've been trying to do

then 195 x 1 just to see ( it moved fine)

177.2 ! at noon workout time  crazy. lots of macademia nuts and variety  of  fish for protein these days. switched supps to Rhodelia and Fagdotia but I don't think it's  that. Feel lean and thick tho

More press mistakes from today

 1) Gotta engage the rhomboids when setting the low rack position.Lock in

2) Elbows up is crucial

3) 'Straight  up' on the unracking does not mean hips in front, hips are under the bar with chest up

( legs are vertical, torso is perpendicular)

4) Fall back from the bar is first, then press to X

215, 220 ( almost) 215, 205 x 1 x 5 ( 3 good), laterals, rear delts wt pushups

 This went ok; a little better than last week with a similar miss but at 220 instead of 217.5 but a very solid 215 down set

The cues worked ok but on video inspection my elbows weren't up enough at the start, probably because my torso wasn't perpendicular enough, but man that's impossible to feel it seems

Also the 'triple push' didn't work as well as pushing back then pushing up- I just sent the bar forward especially with my elbows too low

But still better than last week

173.8

Sunday Ruck

Nice weather! back to overcast, cool and light  rain. Perfect but a bit sloggy and slow. But even with no creatine yesterday  and waking up SUPER SORE from the speed swings ( neck,traps and shoulders!) the ruck was strong and smooth and while not fast, not slow either. Last two laps were harder but just being lazy

45 lb ruck

9 laps

1:25

3.5 top mph

173.8 

New/Old swing technique 40 kg 25 x 6, 40 kg belt squat 3 x 10, pistols 3x3,pullaparts 3 x 30

 This new/old technique. Much more leg work, and by the end my lower quads were cooked! Ending up more vertical at the lockout position with zero focus on holding the plank while the bell floats,

Much faster reversal and more overspeed eccentric, too. Bell height not bad at all

25 sets in 33-35 min fast pace but with lower heartrates ( less isometric tension

174.4

13.7

Kono Style Press Cues; The Three Point Push

 1) Low bar

2) Chest up, spot the X

3) Elbows up and in

4) Straight up

5) Push away

6) Hips  forward

7) Press to X

Thursday Ruck, Start of Heat training

 Not summer yet but today was the first hot ruck in forever. Wasn't bad at all, in fact it was one of the strongest days in awhile. Slept well and that always helps

45 lbs

6 laps

3 miles

55 min

top speed 3.5

174.8

195 x 1 x 5, 190 x 1 x 5, 20 kg speed swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 40

 Made the correction to a more upright  start position ( just in the hips) and it fixed the balance problem at lockout

this went very well although I was stiff and a bit sore from Monday's workload

Same setup

Low bar rack

Hip in front of bar , torso perpendicular to floor, elbows up and in, spot the X

Unrack with  hips straight up

Push away from bar, drive hips and press to X ( all simultaneously)

then 155 x 1
        175 x 1
        195 x 1 x 5

then 190 for 5 sets of 1

BW 175.2

205, 215, 217.5,205 x 1 x 6, 190 x 1 x 3, laterals, rear delts bw pushups

 Well this went great. not perfect but the basic premise worked and I'm happy. I was not optimistic at all about this at all given recent workouts but the ideas held

1) low bar rack

2) OBSESS ABOUT THE X

3) Push away from the bar to start

4) Press to the X

The only problem I had was loosing balance at the  lockout. Not sure why but the start was fast and leverage was good at the top

I'll review the videos and figure the balance out but this felt great

175.0

Sunday Ruck

 Legs were heavy and tired from yesterdays hard swing workout. Lungs felt good just not a lot of energy to push hard, but steady good effort anyway

45 lbs

9 laps

4.5 miles

1:32 ( with stops and dogs )

top speed 3.5

ave speed 3.2

32 kg swings 20 x 10, 32 kg belt squats 3 x 10, pistol practice 4 x 3, pullaparts 3 x 30

 This is always a tough workout now, doing 10's, even with just one arm. Just so not used to it but it was strong and good. Doing just the one arm really lets me use Hardstyle on every rep of every set and it's never easy!

Ended up with a fast pace too doing all 20 sets in just under 30 minutes. Heartrate was between 130 and 150 for most of the session

174.8 

Thursday Ruck

 Unexpectedly strong one. cool almost cold day even with sun out. Legs felt loose and fast from the start .

Not super fast but finished  stronger than the start

45 lb ruck

6 laps

53 min

3 miles

17.66 min miles

175. BW

Low bar press redux, 195 x 1 x 6, 190 x 1 x 6, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

 This went very well. Started out as   'understood' load the bow concept( leaf spring) of setting up with the hips in front and then arcing back but after the first two sets with 195 I realized having the bar right  under my clavicle was making it harder.

Last time I used low bar press was also the first time I ever made 225 and then the next week with two plates. BUT it failed as I was holding the bar too low and couldn't consistently get the same position

Today I just lowered the bar from the clavicle just 1.5 inches or so and it worked really well. 

Cues

1) low bar rack position

2) slow, hips in front of bar set up/ spot the X

3) Unrack STRAIGHT  UP WITH HIPS FORWARD

4) Arc back and STAY ON X

5) Press to X

BW 176.2 at workout time!

Press 2.0 205 x 1 x 7 ( attempts) 175 x 1 x 3 , 195 x 1 ( load the bow),laterals rear delts wt pushups

 Well that didn't work. I could do it but I can see it would require a HUGE back step to master this safely.
WAY more moving parts than my current technique which I can barely do on demand. Plus a few scary misses with just 205 that gave me pause

Too dynamic

176.0 at start of workout!

Daylight savings ruck

 Ack.. I could have used that extra hour  today. First hour ( 6:30  DLT) in the dark. A bit hungover too which didn't help but it got done

decently strong legs, lungs etc

45 lb ruck

9 laps ( 3 a bit short corners, too much  dog time last 1/2 hour)

8700 steps or so

1:30

174.8

48 kg one arm swings 20 x 5, 48 kg belt squats 3 x 10, pistol practice 3 x 3 pullaparts 3 x 30

 Balance was a off today a bit. I  tried to focus on breaking at the knee more at the start than I have been as it's turned into more hinge than athletic hinge. It wasn't bad but COM was more forward than usual and bell height suffered

I got it figured out but it seems my groove has changed a bit with these big weights if I want to maximize bell height

the squats felt good and that groove feels very solid

Pistol practice.

really focused on keeping the right leg locked out in descent. very  tired of seeing that bent knee in videos

pullaparts

3 x 30

174.8

Thursday ruck

 Strong one, surprisingly. Cool still and decent speed right from the start. Legs not sore or tight and mind was good for a change

45 lbs

6 laps

3 miles

56 min

174.4