Snatch Vo2 26 sets 7 4 sets 8, walking lunges, kb rows, Horiz pushups

Well it never got to 103 degrees but it was close at mid 90s . Either way the snatch vo2 work today was not that bad at all. overhead was solid and conditioning was very strong. Very happy with it all PLus I did some sets of 8's which I haven't done in  years so what was excellent

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
26 x 7
4 x 8
214 snatches
7704 lbs

no wonder it was easy didn't do that many  lol But power was good. started double breathing at 10 sets and that definitely makes it better and easier. back is fine. so nice to be able to use that technique now, after only 13 years :)
And being able to do eights again, well, that is AWESOME! It's coming back ! I can see 40 sets of 8  in the not too distant future

walking lunges
four laps of 40 sets

not bad but not unbroken either. knees and legs fine

KB rows
28 kg x 6/6 x 3 sets

wanted to make sure I got these in

Horiz bar push up
5 sets of 10
 done very slowly with paused lockout. Just needed a different flow

 no problem! strong day. speed ruck tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Military press 85 lbs,40 kg belt squat,Floor pushups ( pr) sled pull, side delts

Going backwards to move forward. Went back to 5x5's for my re start and about 63% of max. This was excellent and really let me concentrate on details, things that I saw from the last cycle and especially the top end.
I want to be able to touch the bar to my chest so I opened up my grip about 1/2 inch wider on each side and this time it worked! I also wanted to work on the overhead lockout and that was better too with the wider grip.

I just think all the extra hanging I've been doing is really paying off and my overhead position in general is much improved. This technique is letting my lats release better than anything else, and they were what was keeping shoulder flexion down. That and tight intercostals and serratus and the hangs are helping those, too.

I also made bigger jumps too another great sign. Small nuance changes can spell big overall changes overtime as well

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 5
85 x 5 x 6 sets

easiest this weight has ever been!

Belt squat
40 kg x 10
          x 12
          x 14
          x 15

strong here too!

Floor pushups
4 sets of 22 ( set/rep pr)
88 reps

this is coming along very well

Sled pull
127 x 250 ft x 2 laps ( mistake - forgot to unload 10 kg plate!)
105 x 250 x 2

this was good. I've been needing to up the weight a bit here. strong day to do it

Wednesday is snatch vo2 30 sets of 7. going to be 100deg+ so it should be EPIC!

datsit
neverquit.

Strong Ruck

Really solid one today. No problems from yesterday's workout, all parts still attached. Good sleep and woke up ready to go. Calves a bit heavy from yesterday for some reason but started strong.
I must have looked solid as I had two military guys, a half hour apart, stop and ask me if I was ex military.
One was just retired and wanted to get back into shape We walked four laps together..The second guy was an a paratrooper out of Ft Benning and wondered what I did

Can't ask for a better compliment and I was in hiking boots( not combat) REI shorts and a lululemon shirt so I wasn't all 511'ed out, lol.

53 lbs
2 hours
10 iso squats ( strongest ever)
last lap : 7:43 !

strong day.

datsit
neverquit

40 kg One Arm Swing( total pr), double 24 front squats,box pistols, parallel bar pushups, rear delts

SUPER strong day today. Everything just firing on all cylinders. Had a 2 hour nap yesterday and slept through the night so I needed some rest. Woke up very strong. The 40 felt light today!

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 8/8 x 8 sets
          x 10/10 x 2
168 reps
14, 784 lbs work

even the last two sets of 10/10 were easy. Cardio very good, all the parts felt together, very nice to have these types of days once in awhile. makes the suffering on the other days so worth it :)

Double Front squats
2 16's x 3 paused
2 20's x 3 paused
2 24's x 3 paused


decided against more swings today felt like a good day for front squat, just some low rep sets to practice upright chest and depth . these felt best ever,keeping the reps low really helps

Box Pistols
3 sets of 5 left leg only
supersetted with
Kickstand squats ( right leg forward)

these went very well too and adding in the KStand squats balanced out the right leg and gave even more work to the left.

Parallel pushups
4 sets of 20

about time this became easy. no problem

Bar hangs 3 sets  20 seconds

DB rear delt
15 lbs 3 sets of 15


four star workout today. lets see what tomorrow ruck brings. back to 12 laps only

datsit
neverquit

Thursday Ruck upping the load

 Took five pounds our of the Sunday ruck pack and that left me at 47 lbs; three pounds heavier than usual, the same increase as Sunday.
No problem. Salomon boots held up, my feet held up and the pack felt no different, really. That is the nature of adaptation and why we train. To get stronger, better and more durable with ever increasing loads.
The idea is that the load always feel the same WHEN  you are ready for the next move up.

One hour ruck
47 lbs
6 laps

easy peasy.legs jumped right into the rhythm. nice

ok day off then heavy 40 kg one arms

datsit
neverquit

24 kg Swing Vo2, Walking Lunges,Horiz Pushups, KB rows, Hangs

 This was TOUGH! About as tough as expected but we haven't done it in three weeks so I almost forgot.
Give me 16 kg snatch vo2 anyday. this is much more work. But we got it done. Was much sorer than expected from Monday's heavy press day. Mainly upper back! Could really feel it for the first couple sets in the swings.

Swing vo2
24 kg
14 minutes
280 reps
14,840 lbs

hot as shit today but that's the point of getting in shape, so it doesn't bother you. Just another part of the loading. Bikram kettlebells. these went well. started double breathing early and that helped . power and speed were good but not great as the weight felt heavy from the soreness. Still technique was solid and efficient.
Wore old adidas black shoes for a change. Love these

next week is snatch vo2 for 30 sets another 14 minutes
the plan is this:

week one swing vo2 14 minutes / 28 sets
week two snatch vo2 15 minutes / 30 sets
week three swing vo2 17 minutes/ 34 sets
week four snatch vo2  18 minutes / 36 sets
week five swing vo2 20 minutes / 40 sets
week six snatch vo2 20 minutes / 40 sets

week seven rinse and repeat

walking lunges
4 laps of 40 sets broken as hell! lol had to stop on second part each way . legs were torched!

Horiz pushups
4 sets of 15

strong

KB Row
24 kg x  6 x 3 sets

solid

ok ruck tomorrow

datsit
neverquit

Military Press PR and 135 lb goal, belt squats, pushups, sled

Well that got done. A big goal of mine since I started over head pressing last year was to press plates, or  135 lbs. today it got done.
Being back on the WSB percentage program seems to have worked again as I hit the correct numbers on cue.

I had thought about being happy with a double with 125 as 120 was my old double pr but was secretly hoping for 130 but wasn't really thinking 135.

Especially after yesterdays PR ruck but it worked out just fine

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 3
85 x 2
105 x 1
125 x 2 pr
130 x 1 pr
135 x 1 PR!
95 x 5 x 2




a steady slow grind but if I'm in position I can grind for a long time on a press of almost any kind. and, of course  my shoulders aren't yelling at me

Today they weren't even though my left side first rib was out all day and rejected all my efforts to get it to settle in, until I started to train :)
My brain acting up

Belt squat
36  kg x 10  x 4

Man! my legs were tight and sore going in. took me three sets to warm up. last set was much nicer  and looser

Floor pushup
30 PR
25
20
 75 reps

these were easy. go figure

Sled
105 lbs x 250 ft x 4 laps

done done done. rows later I'm cooked.

rest and roll lots of work coming with swing vo2 on wed

bw this AM 161. 4

datsit
neverquit

Big Ruck Pr weight and distance

Wow, crashed through a nice barrier today; both mental and physical.
Got it in my mind to go for 15 laps today, 3 more than normal. I've been feeling really good lately, Tracy is down south with family and I had the time.

I also re arranged my ruck swapping out some books for another 10 lb bag of kitty litter. I thought it would conform better and it did. But I didn't weigh the ruck til after the workout and it turned out to be 52.4 lbs not the 50 I had been carrying!

But it was all good this morning as I got an earlier than normal start so it was cooler from the get go and it was cooler overall so I didn't have to fight the heat as well as the weight and distance.

SO

15 laps
52.4 lbs
2 hr 25 minutes
Last lap pace = 7:50!!!
10 30 second iso squats

Personal Best.


and it wasn't that bad.I was also very happy and impressed with my last lap's time- anything under 8 minutes is great. Granted I did pour it on a bit and it was faster than most of the other laps BUT
1) I could pour it on after 2 1/2 hours of continuous work
2) it wasn't that much faster than the rest of the laps

further
heavier
faster

can't ask for much more than that.
and my legs and knee and back feel fine.
I will leave the weight as it is. I'm ready for it.

Strong always feels good

Going to take a weight tomorrow in the press. time to roll out, rest up and eat up :)

datsit
neverquit

36 kg One arm swings ( PR tie),2 24 kg swings, Box Pistols, parallel bar pushups, hangs

Strong day today. Slept well and slept longer than normal and had an easy night last night. Ready to go. This was not easy but I could work it hard and that's good stuff. Went for my PR from the start 10/10 x 10 sets.

Technique felt solid and lungs and back cooperated as well.

One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 3/3
36 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps ( ties PR)
16,000 lbs

Two Bell swings
2 20's x 10
2 22's x 10
2 24's x 10


these felt much better than last week; I went more than  little bit wider and that helped a lot. Joe Sarti wanted me to comment on the first 15 second of the video; the point where I am setting up and taking my time to do so,
This is an old habit I got back from gymnastics( side horse particularly) where I really wanted to get my body completely "there" before I started as in gymnastics routines the second you start you have to be immediately up to speed! No easing into it.
This transferred as well into powerlifting too as the same dynamic is at work: zero to sixty in no time flat.
For my swings I really make sure to get the weight distributed exactly where I want it  and my body as rooted to the ground as possible before I go. Once the trajectory is set it's not impossible to change it but it's not easy. And the heavier the load the tougher it is.
I don't even notice it these days but Joe wanted me to mention it so here it is.

It's also a time to mentally really key in to what I'm about to do and the goals I have for the set. No reason to rush the setup at all.

Box Pistols
Left leg only
2 x 5 with Oly shoes
2 x 5 with vibrams



I changed a lot of things from last week here, I moved the box in more so I could reach forward instead of to the side, I raised the rails so I had more support earlier in the movement and I REALLY concentrated on not sitting back when I hit resistance on the descent,

It definitely felt better this way with the heels on but as soon as I went back to barefoot it felt WAY better, SO vibrams it is!

Parallel bar pushups
3 sets of 20

strong strong strong

Hangs
3 sets of 30 seconds

have to do these daily

ok great session. bodyweight lower today too ( 160.6) think I 'm headed down to 158 just to see how it feels. I like being lighter when it's this hot anyway. Feel really good.
big ruck tomorrow

datsit
Neverquit!

Snatch Vo2 40 sets of 7, walking lunges, horiz pushups,side laterals

This was harder than I thought. Nothing dramatic but a pretty long day with no real breaks to mentally prepare. But it was was harder but not hard, if that makes sense.

Still definitely easier than the same time with 24 kg swings :)

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15:15
40 sets 7 reps
280 reps
10,080 reps

next week we go back to 14 minutes of swing vo2 and then back and forth each week should be interesting

Overhead position especially on the right, continues to improve. left is pretty solid again. Can't wait to try handstand sometime. Just don't want to try too soon and be disappointed . Every was solid except mind was a bit distracted going in

Walking lunges
4 laps
had to stop half way on second part of first lap. the rest unbroken
Hot day again today .this was tough quads on fire!

Horiz bar pushups
20
15
11
10

lol shit was tired!
shoulder feels good though

Db  side lateral
15 lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

these are finally getting stronger

ok hot ruck tomorrow gotta hydrate

datsit
neverquit

85% Military press (100lbs), Box Pistols, floor pushups, sled, kb row

It's so much easier to press when you shoulders don't hurt :)
Go figure.

Solid day today,. 85% loads for doubles. One interesting part of this lower rep percentage work is the development of speed in each rep. I haven't been consciously been trying to move the bar faster , it just is.

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5
65 x 5
65 x 2
85 x 2
100 x 2 x 8 sets

each better than the last  took my usual four sets to warmup but it was strong after that. The hangs are really paying off.

Box Pistols


these are coming along well. I tried a rep with no support and the balance wasn't there, Now I'm thinking I should play with a counter weight as well as the support but the depth is getting there.

4 sets of 5 reps.
This definitely is working the hell out of my left leg. Time to start ramping up the reps towards ten if I want some growth from these.Just as with my iso squats no hurry to do these unsupported.
Warmed up with some kickstand squats too, left leg forward and those are going to play a big part in this.

Floor pushups
4 sets of 20 reps!
80 total

shoulder and elbow both 100% :)

Sled drag
250 ft x 4 x 105 lbs

tough but strong. and definitely can feel the left leg has gotten extra work

kb rows
 20 kg x 10/10 x 3

excellent! Wednesday is 40 sets of snatch vo2 then we start alternating swing and snatch day workouts

datsit
neverquit

Sunday Ruck with Tracy

Tracy went with me today on the full two hour ruck for the first time and killed it. No problem at all which was no surprise to me but I guess it is to her.

Slept well and woke up refreshed with no stiffness from yesterday.
Definitely different walking with someone but stayed with my pace. Warmed up quickly and overall the ruck was as solid as usual or more so

Timed 8th lap at 8:05. Pretty similar pace to most of the laps.

50 lb ruck
2 hours
12 laps
10 30 second iso squats

easy peasy :)

100 lb presses tomorrow , can't wait

datsit
neverquit

32 kg One arm swings,28 kg 2 kb swings,belt squat,pushups

Pretty rough one, a little too much vino last night but as I say " you pick it you play it" so I did. Not that bad just less energy than I had hoped for. Weight still felt light.

One arm swing
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 12/12 x 10 sets
240 reps
16,800 lbs ( wow, that gets up there fast!)

Speed and power felt good and the pace was quick( just three in the rotation today)

two kb swings
2 20's x 8
2 24's x 8
2 28's x 6 x 3 sets

now these were tough! Back was a bit tired at this point and they felt awkward. Should have gone back to 20's but so it goes

Belt squat
 28 kg x 10
           x 12
           x 14
           x 15

used the lighter bell to go lower and it worked, quads were toast

Box pistol
2 x 5 left leg only

just wanted to demo it for the guys. these were decent actually

Parallel bar pushups
4 sets  of 15

strong! elbow is 100 % again. Nice

ok  big ruck tomorrow and Tracy is coming along for the whole two hours! this should be fun

datsit
neverquit!

Thursday Ruck

Decent one today.Solo ruck as Tracy is out of town; a little slow start as legs and back were more tired than expected from yesterday but it warmed up well.
The new Salomon's were fine not foot issues at all beside fatigue from standing most of the day. Comfortable right out of the box. and light, too.

45 lb ruck
6 laps
55 minutes
3rd lap time = 8:08

tomorrow is an off day at work so a no -weight fast walk on the beach at Half Moon bay; this should be interesting

datsit
neverquit

Snatch Vo2 35 sets of 7, walking lunges, 90 floor pushups,rear delts

Very very very happy with this today. Not only the conditioning but the overhead position. Oh, and also that my elbow is almost back to normal. 90% or so. I am very grateful. Plus neither shoulder got wonky in response to my elbow feeling better which means I am actually squaring up for real. This could be very good indeed. After all these years, who'd a thunk it?

The hangs from bar are going very well too and this is a big part of it. Waiting out the stretch reflex under isometric tension is starting to work for my shoulders just as it did for my knee. I might be on to something.

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15:15
35 sets of 7
245 reps
8820 lbs

best my right arm over head has been in a year or more!!Plus the work felt light.

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40 steps unbroken

stronger than last week

Floor pushups
6 sets of 15 reps
 90 total reps PR!

this was very strong, choose to stay on the floor and keep the wrist flexors stretching, Elbow was fine.

Hangs
4 sets of 20 seconds. best so far

Band rear delts
4 sets of 5 reps

need these.

One possible way to integrate all of this is two alternating cycles
A
Wednesday
Snatch Vo2

Saturday
Heavy one arm swings

B
Wednesday
Swing Vo2

Saturday
24 kg Snatch for volume

Four- five weeks cycles of each. It just might work

ok fast and light ruck tomorrow and get to test drive the Salomons.

datsit
neverquit!

80% Military press ( 95 lbs), Box pistols, floor pushups(!) sled, kb rows

This is a freakin' miracle. Two days ago I couldn't move my left arm in any direction with out the elbow screaming at me and today I did the entire workout as I planned. The stupid elbow was "out" from those reverse grip pushups and really didn't calm down until todays training.

It was feeling better yesterday and I could hang no problem and spent a decent amount of time in updog on the floor( that helped stretchout the wrist flexors ). Stretched and hung today too and got some rocktape on it which also helped.

But I had no idea I could press til I started the workout. I thought it might be position specific and it was. The swings on saturday showed me that. it's still tender but definitely going in the right direction

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 3 x 8 sets ( 80%)

these were strong and fast and the elbow did not hurt at all in the rack! very weird but I am grateful

Airborne lunges/ box pistols/

tried the airborne lunges but it just didn't feel right. wore the oly shoe and that helped a little but not enough. Tried holding on, setting a support for my rear leg but I had a hard time keeping the rear leg straight and not touching  the foot before the knee. Weird. Leg felt fine but it just wasn't right.

Then I tried pistol squats while standing on a box and that worked great! Held onto the power rack upright but barely used them. this I think could work really well. Did  five sets of five on let and 3 sets of 3 on right.

Floor pushups
 6 sets of 10!!!

Now this is hard to believe but getting my  shoulders ahead of the wrist took the pressure off the elbow and distributed the load. I think the rev grips put ALL the pressure on my elbow.
I was going to do 10 sets of 10 but decided not to be too greedy.
SO pumped and happy I can do pushups I can't tell you!

Sled pull
4 sets of 250 ft

strong

KB row
16 kg x 10 x 3 sets

no problem here either.
Thank God.

That constant pain brought me right back to the last 15 years of my knee and back pain and I do NOT want to visit there again. No matter what.

Hung for 4 sets of 15 seconds after the workout too. getting way easier. both grips.

Even did some light snatches to see whether that was the issue with the elbow and my left shoulder position seemed better than ever!?!

I think my torque from all the years of asymmetry is slowly working it's way out of my body. It's been in my shoulders and worked it's way into the elbow. Hopefully it will be cast out and I'll be square plumb and neutral again soon!

datsit
NeverQuit!

Sunday Ruck : Fast.

Interesting day. Yesterday was spend in pain trying to unlock my elbow. Did a lot of bodywork and movement therapy and ended up sleeping well last night and waking feeling 50% better.
Didn't expect much from the ruck but it went very well, although it took longer than usual to warmup.

Usually by lap 5 I'm at close to best speed for the day and try to hang on. Today started slowly but no slow and kept getting faster. It was lap 8 that usually signals a downturn but today it was the opposite and speed picked up.
Last lap was 7:48 which was not that much faster than the rest. Surprising. Legs felt loose and fast and the pack light
10 sets of 30 second iso squats were strong'

50 lb ruck
12 laps
10 iso squats
1:55 min

Didn't hurt at all that it was relatively cool with a nice breeze. Always makes me faster.

We'll see what tomorrow brings with the press. that motion with a stick doesn't light up the triceps or elbow at all so who knows

datsit
neverquit

48 kg One Arm Swings, 2 24 kg swings, airborne lunges, pushups

Rough one today. My elbow has not been seated correctly ever since those reverse pushup and it was not happy at all today and last night was no fun at all either. I've had this before, the radius in not in the right place and everything else around it spasms.
This reminded quite nicely of how i used to live my life; in pain, basically, interspered with tons of work trying to unfuck myself.

Got up in the middle of the night and used the voodoo floss to decompress it and that worked surprisingly well. Got an excellent adjustment and fell right back to sleep :) I thought I would be able to swing, and also that the swing might traction it back into the right position- and it worked fairly well.

But two of my partners are out of town for holiday and Nick showed up with his back locked up from too much travel and not enough stretching.

So it was a challenge but it turned out well and the swings were strong!

One arm swing
16 kg x 5/5 x2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 5/5 x 10
100 reps
10,600 lbs

love me some five rep sets!



Double bell swings
2 20's x 10
2 24's x 10 x 5
 these were surprisingly strong! Liked the variation of the sumo stance for a change. used to hate it, now it's a welcome relief!

Airbone Lunges

Got these from Max Shank's new Book Ultimate Athleticism. It seems like the perfect answer to my need to do a left leg only workout. My left thigh is still an inch smaller than the right. It's growing but so is the right.
This seemed like a good move, especially because I am so weak at it! And, it didn't seem to activate my back or sacrum like pistols do.
Excellent regressions and progressions to work on too

Five sets of 8-10 reps

Horizontal pushups
4 sets of 8-10

wanted to see how the elbow would treat this with a normal hand position and while it wasn't perfect at all it seemed re doing the correct pattern, with a normal elbow groove helped but I didn't push it too far


Three sets of hangs from chin bar with both grips seemed fine and had no problem doing so, which was weird. But the shoulder ROM continues to improve,

Long hot ruck tomorrow!

datsit
never quit and Freedom  On!

Happy Independence day!

Thursday Ruck ( late post)

Somehow posting this got away from me but I didn't forget to do it. Very hot day but it's good to see my heat adaptation is coming along just fine. easier than ever.
Last try with the lowa's before I took them back. No good. 20 minutes into the walk right toe starts to go numb again.
Now to test REI's 100% guarantee.
upped the ruck weight 2.5 pounds as well

45 lb Ruck
60 minutes
6 laps
last laps 8:10

Not the fastest ruck but solid as hell

Report
REI's took back the boots no questions asked, without a receipt or box! They have my business for life.
This is what I got in return

lets see how these do. The Lowa's were a bit too stiff I think. these feel more like a trail runner with a hiking outsole
time will tell

Now it's almost time to go swing the Beast!

datsit
Neverquit

Snatch Vo2 30 sets of 7, walking lunges, rev grip pushups,side delts

Well this was an experiment. After not snatch at all for the last 4+ months I decided to give snatch vo2 a try instead of swings.

It literally kept me up last night wondering I had made a very stupid error; starting back snatches with a high volume workout when I didn't know if I could even handle a few.

I did know that if it wasn't working I was prepared to switch to swings but it was a a bit risky. The bet was that all the shoulder improvement I've been getting from the overhead hangs would help and it did.
A lot.
I didn't get video and I know the right arm wasn't perfect but it wasn't that bad, either and it was definitely better than the last time I tried this
Two sessions of hangs this am too and that's getting better.

I ditched the straps though as I realized the extra tension from my grip is also part of what is chronically tonic and needs to be released via shutdown threshold isometrics ( read Relax into stretch for great detail on this)

But, in a nutshell it's what I did with my pause squats rehabbing my knee. hitting a dead stop how far the muscle will stretch in a ROM and then waiting for the stretch reflex to give out and allow some more stretch.

It worked with the knee and now it's working with the lats.
Now if I could just get a new shoulder joint it would be all peachy

Snatch Vo2
16 kg
15:15
30 sets 7
210 reps
7560 reps

haven't quite decided how to cycle this; whether to go straight snatch vo2 for 4-6 weeks then switch back to swing vo2 or to alternate weekly. Have to think on it more
After four months of swing vo2 though I think I need some snatches :)

BUT this was way easier than expected! I think the equivalent time of swings is harder! It's certainly heavier but the swing ROM is less. BUT the extra ROM one gets during the snatch you really aren't doing anything.
That's the float. One the way up AND down
And there's a nice release of tension that you never get in the swing.
So while the swing's ROM is less it's ALL work.
But that extra float is what takes off tension on the heart muscle too and that creates a much better cardiovascular effect than the swing so they're both good.

Walking lunges
4 laps of 40 reps

strong but not unbroken
 Oh yea it's about 100 degrees today :)

reverse grip pushups on horiz bar
4 sets of 12

these are great! easier on the shoulder and more on the triceps a perfect "same but different"

side laterals
3 x 10 with 15 lb

surprisingly stronger finally. supraspinatus seems to be working better

ok ruck up tomorrow in some serious heat!

datsit
neverquit