Thursday Ruck

 First hot one of the season but it didn't turn out that badly, surprisingly

45 lb ruck

six laps

3 miles

55 min

Overall strong and steady

BW 177.6
BF 13.7
W 57.6

175/185 lb press 5 sets of 2 each weight, 24 kg speed swings, floor pushups

 This went great. All the things I learned from Monday  got put into play  and worked great.

The basics:

1) wide stance set up

2) push up on bar on unracking and visualized bar high off pins

3) Hold in mid foot balance

4) Initiate press from hips

5) drive to face, elbows in

Couldn't be happier unless I can do it with 214, 220 and 225 :)

24 kg swings

5 sets of 8/8

glutes and hams finally not sore, this went well

Floor pushups

3 sets of 50 unbroken

last set hard last 10

BW 177.6
BF 14.2

BW177.8
BF 10.9 !!!
W 59.9
LBM 158.2

205-220 lb presses, laterals, rear delts

 Very strange one. Again, no show training partners at the last minute. I was pretty much expecting this but still through things off enough. Plus I was sore as hell! All over but especially hammies , glutes and shoulders. Weird but the 200 40 kg swings always get my front delts more than any other weight or rep combo

Nothing tweaked just sore

Focus today was on unracking the bar with just the knees and pre locking in the arch from the hips and lower back, and then initiating the drive from the hips

All of which I did BUT I forgot ( of course til after, just a bit ago) to have enough upward tension against the bar to start it as high as possible. And push back towards the face a bit

Which explains why I was just THAT much out of position even though the start felt good. Ended up pushing the bar straight up which makes it go forward

But hey, I was happy I was making the weights at all

65 85 105 x 3
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1

205 x 1

215 x 1

220 x 1 ( all of these are not locked out as the lack of start tension drove me back too much

this was a second attempt after a forward push miss
212.5

205 x 1  x 5 ( not including 2 misses!)

135 x 5 pauses x 3 sets ( no one to set weight on back for dips, this worked well tho)

one arm laterals
3 x 8/ with 20
Pullaparts
3 x 30 red band

BW 177.
BF 13.6

12 noon 

BW 177.6
BF 11.3
W 59.5

Solid ruck with squat stretches

  

Woke up a bit tight but no worse for wear but decided to put squat stretches back in the mix each lap and see how things went; as far as leg looseness or tightness, speed per lap and overall time

Surprisingly overall time was just about the same which means lap times went down and bit as did leg looseness

I figure I could use the extra squat time as well as I'm doing the least amount of direct leg work than I have in the last 7 years

Felt good at the time but now, 5 hours later I can feel some DOMS coming on already, lol. Tomorrow could be good

45 lb Ruck

12 laps
13,391 steps
top speed 3.7 mph
12 lap time  1:50
door to door 1:54

BW 176.4
BF 14.4

Punisher workout 40 kg One arm swings 10 x 10/10, pistols, pullaparts

 

Well I got my ass punished, that's for sure. First off both training partners out. Last one at last minute.
Good. I get to walk my talk about being able to train alone

Then shit sleep as my sick cat got me up at least three times and did not really get much solid rest

Good. Embrace the suck

I did. and it sucked ,lol

I ended up going faster than I thought I would but I gave myself 2.5 min /sets for the first five then 3 min for the last five but usually our workout, when we're all here, is 1.5 hours . Today I was done in one hour

No wonder I wanted to puke

Definitely went hard on each rep of each set but by set five I was pumped ( not good) feeling the lactic acid and although my HR wasn't that high ( 125?!) , my respiration was and I was a hurting unit

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

set five then last set

Pistols
top down full reps alternate sides
3 sets of 2/2 3 times

red band pullaparts

3 sets of 30 ( to chest, then each side angled)

actually did these because I was hurtin and the dbs seemed harder
these were hard too 

BW 175.4 ! wow where the hell did that come from?
BF 13.3
W 57.7 

Not bad actually. to be 13.3 with that little hydration is great. that would put me at 10.3 at a full 60%

I went into the house, still in training gear and just lay flat on my back for 20 min, I was cooked

Early Ruck

 

Had two cancellations back to back which let me get out on the ruck way early. So nice instead of 12:30 to have some cool morning air. And a nice cool breeze :)

45 lb ruck

6 laps

6571 steps

55 min

RPE 7

Really good flow today too

BW 176.6
BF 14.3

175/185 lb press 5 sets of 2 each, 24 kg swings, floor pushups

 This worked great! Setting up with both the elbows AND the hips in the starting press position seems to be key. Just straightening out the knees on the unrack. Hips get and stay in front of the bar and I'm arched but not leaning back.

Felt great

175  5 sets of 2

185 x 5 sets of 2

 I will start  adding in some overload stand up( unracking) for 8-10 sec holds next wednesday. Start with 205 and then 225 ( plates!) after these ten sets. I think this will be good but we'll see

24 kg swings
5 sets of 8/8

10 sets of 10/10 with the 40 this saturday should be stimulating 

Floor pushups

3 sets of 50

these go perfectly here!

BW 178
BF 13.3 !!
W 57.8

1 pm
BW 177.8
BF 10.8 !! ( wow! first time this low in forever!)
W 60.1
LBM 158.6 

205,215 and 220 miss, wt pushups, one arm laterals

 Back on track and again and Monday feels fine. Tried switching it twice and now I know. this is the day. Overall very happy with today although definitely was 'off' compared to what I want. It's also my second heavy  day in seven so not so bad from that perspective, either

Body felt good, plus I was heavy ( 177) and slept well. Plenty of mental prep and stretch time so no excuses there

Warmups went well too 

Press
65 85 105 x 2
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1

Definitely not loading my hips enough and leaking through the knees/ I got the chest up technique right but not the hips. I tried to initiate through the hips first BUT because I wasn't hip locked in my knees gave
then onto 215

This went pretty well actually. the best starting hip position and tighness yet. but unfortunately not on the next three at 220

Looking at the videos  now I see I had the bar too high on my chest and that's what put the bar back over my heels so much. I struggled  with lockout balance a lot today.
then down to 205 for 4 singles ( second rep miss! ?)
205 x 1 third set

205 x 1 5th set( best of the bunch)

then
wt pushups on parallettes
bw x 10
53 x 10 x 3

one arm laterals 3 x 8/8 20s
bent laterals  3 x 10 20

BW 177
BF 13.7
W 57.51

12 noon
BW 177.8 !
BF 11.7
W 59.4
LBM 157

Steady ruckings

 Not bad although I thought having such an easy day yesterday would have made today faster and easier but no go

I think I'm still flat from the adrenaline dump I got from my cat's near death experience two weeks ago, 24 hr nursing and sitting on death watch will do that I supose.
Feeling stronger but I'm more sore than usual for no real reason except for that

45 lb Ruck

12 laps

13,653 steps

1:50 for the 12

basic 16 min miles steady as she goes which ain't bad if I think about it

BW 178~! ( wow highest on a sunday in forever)

BF 14.3

32 kg One Arm swings de load 10 x 8/8 , pistol practice, side and bent laterals

 

This went well. I always think right before this workout that I should up the reps to 10 per arm to make it harder. And I'm always quickly reminded this is quite enough. With the lighter bell my  force output is actually higher because it's moving both faster and higher and we always take less rest too. So it's harder that way

But the load was solid technique was on, legs and lungs were fine and it was nice not to have to push  quite so hard

One arm swings

16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg  x 5/5
24 kg x 4/4
32 kg x 8/8 x 10

Pistol practice
Same method as last week. worked great

side and rear laterals
3 x 8/8 with 15s

BW 177.2
BF 12.3
W 58.7

Solid ruck

 Got to start an hour early today ( 11 am instead of high noon ) and it was great. Nice and cool and a bit overcast and it make the ruck much nicer. Legs felt good although not fresh yet

Nothing fast but steady pace the whole way and shins and calves were perfect

45 lb ruck
6 laps
48 min

BW 177.2
BF 14.5

195-210-185 presses,24 kg swings, laterals, rear delts

 Well that didn't work well. Perhaps it was not enough rest even though I felt fine physically; good even. Big thick, not sore at all. But no go at all. Didn't help I worked right up to walking into the gym with no mental or physical prep time like usual.

But it shouldn't have made me this off

Good news, all my positions were correct, even on the misses

Bad news, I missed a lot

Press

65 85 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1 eh
195 x 1 meh
205 x miss  forward. always a tell

205 x 1 make but ugly and not easy

definitely not feeling 215 so I took 210 and couldn't lock it out!

then down to 205, again ugly

195 x 1 meh again. position and technique is actually fine just beat tired and flat

then 185 x 1 x 10 sets! finally started warming up ,lol at set five

these were actually good
24 kg swings

5 sets of 8/8

one arm laterals
3 x 8/8 20s
rear delts
3 x 10 20s

BW 177.6
BF 14.7
W 56.9

Press speed day, 175 x 2 x 8 sets, wt pushups, laterals, bent laterals

 This worked out perfectly and man was I ready for a light day. I felt rode hard and put up wet today and all day yesterday too. Just tired. CNS drop off from the heavy bells and all the hyper alertness with petunia being on death watch all week.

So today's workload was perfect and after my normal four sets to warmup the movement got a little peppy and all the pieces fit together. Wednesday should be interesting

Press

65 85 105 x 2 

135 x 2
155 x 2
175 x 2 x 8 sets

set four

set eight

Pretty identical technique from start to finish and exactly the form I was shooting for. Very happy with finally understanding what I should be doing

Now, to get really really really good with it

Pushups on v parallettes
bw  x 8
53 x 8 x 3

laterals 3 x 8/8
rear delts 3 x 10 15s

BW 176.8
BF 14.7

12 noon
BW 177
BF 11.7
W 59.2

Slow and sloggy ruck

 

Well that was hard. The super heavy swings and the con and eccentric pistols took their toll and I had to work for every step today

That's fine, I haven't had a hard one like that in awhile and its good to remember they're all not fast and loose and that it's about the work, especially when you don't want to do it

Especially then

I just kept telling myself to shut up just keep going and not even think about cutting it short

I wasn't hurt, I wasn't in any jeopardy, it was just hard, and boring and my head wasn't in it but that's when you just do it and suffer

EMBRACE THE SUCK INDEED

 Not too slow overall really, all things considered

45 lb ruck

12 laps

13,449  steps

Speed 2.4 - 3.8 mph

total time for 12 laps 1:50

1:55 door to door

BW 175.8
BF 15.1

60 and 68 kg One Arm Swings 7 x 5/5, 3 x 5/5, pistols practice, laterals/rear delts

 

This went better than expected. Since I haven't swung the 68 in two months and last months 60 kg workout was just 'getting back on the horse' after my rib injury I was very very pleased with my strength, technique and power 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
36 kg x 4/4
40 kg x 4/4
44 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 4/4
60 kg x 5/5 x 7 sets
68 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets

This felt as good as the ones three months ago looked. Can't complain

Pistol practice
3 sets of 1 bottoms up followed by one regular rep , switch sides and repeat 3 times
6 total reps per leg, per set

this felt very good doing it this way, the combo of concentric only, a full eccentric/concentric rep and the fatigue sparing effects of alternating legs. I think this is the combo for now

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

BW 176.0
BF 13.5
W 57.6

New schedule
Decided to switch heavy press day to Wednesday. I've had tired legs the last four mondays from the heavy swings and rucking and no rest afterwards. Gettin' old I guess but I don't want to go into my most important lift tired anymore

The key is keeping Monday LIGHT ( no more than 175 lbs ) and  putting rep pushup day on Wednesday not monday ( as I did the last time I tried this)

SO:

Monday
Speed press 175 x 2 x 8 sets ( only!)

Wt pushups 3 x 8
laterals/ rear delts

Wednesday
Heavy Press singles
Speed swings
Floor pushups

Saturday
Heavy swings
Pistols
One arm laterals/rear delts ( heavy)

 lets see how this works. It makes the most sense. It gives me a full days rest after Monday and time to eat up as well as rest up

175 /185 lb press x 2 x 5 sets each, 24 kg speed swings

 This went very very well, despite being very sore from Monday's out of the groove work. It's pretty distinct on the days I grind out of the groove versus in it as I'm am much more muscularly sore from not having correct leverage. So it wasnt very fast or easy today BUT the techniques were right, and they held even at 185 for the second rep

Press

65 85 105 x 3
135 x 2 singles
155 x 2
175 x  2 x 5 sets

then 185 for the same 2 x 5

 24 kg speed swings
5 x 8/8

didn't need pushups, too sore already

BW 176.6
BF 14.3

1 pm
BW 176.4
BF 11.3
W 59.4

205-220lb presses( 225 miss) 205 x 1 x 5, floor pushups, one arm laterals, rear delts

 I knew it was going to be tough when 175 felt heavy. Not a good sign. The ruck feeling heavy and slow yesterday wasn't good too and with my cat tuna being very sick sleep has not been good.

But, all things considered it wasn't too bad, Anytime I can press 220 can I call it a bad workout? Nope

The technique held very well just a few gliches on some sets ( 215 and 225). I can't try to 'sneak' my hips forward at all on the unracking. If I do I shift weight a bit onto my heels, and even a little bit messes me up

Jumped from 215 miss to 220 and made it. thought it was a technical miss and it was

the  next two misses at 225 were technically sound, if not perfect. But I could have made them if I had had a little more gas in the tank. But all signs are good

then five singles with 205, still hadn't really groked the not letting the hips forward at all til the last set! Of course

Floor pushups

3 x 50

don't know where this came from but I'll take it

one arm laterals

3 x 8/8 with 20s

bent laterals

3 x 10 with 20s

BW 176.8
BF 14.7

12 noon
BW 177.8
BF 11.5
W 59.3 ( bath)

EDIT : I JUST  REALIZED THAT I WAS SO FOCUSED ON MY HIP AND LEG POSITION I FORGOT THE PUSH UP INTO THE BAR AND CONNECT THE CHEST UP WITH THE PELVIC UPWARD TILT. THE RIBS PULL THE PELVIS UP! DUH~!

The CUES

1) Stand up TO the chest up/ pelvis up

2) Lock in and freeze

3) hip drive into the press

Slowish but steady ruck

 

Did not have one fast ruck but still came in 12 min ahead for the 12 laps. Legs were surpisingly slow and heavy day , it must have been the deeper pistols from yesterday and even the lungs took longer than usual to open up

But they did and I got a decent steady clip going with a good finish

45 lb ruck
12 laps
1:50 min
Last lap 8:00
13,750 steps
speed 3.2-3.4 mph

BW 176.6
BF 15.5

48 kg One Arm Swing 10 x 6/6, pistol practice, laterals

 

This was a good one. Set my focus on getting more height and hang time with this weight and it worked out  very well. Best heavy session since I tweaked my rib 5 weeks ago.
Weight didn't feel heavy and concentration and teshnik were good

We ended up going at a fast pace; by accident, a 2.5 min total trip for each of the three of us. Not bad at all, it wasn't easy but it didn't impede power, either

One arm swing

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 4/4
40 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 6/6 x 10 ( video is fifth set

Concentric only pistol practice

this was very solid and the best since my right knee was wonky a month ago, too. Perhaps some of the best reps I've done. I like this approach, especially the concentric only but I just realized I can't do it all the time as I need to keep developing my eccentric strength too

So, every other week this technique.Next week can be the same start but then regular reps

Laterals,rear delts

3 x10/10 with 15s

BW 175.8
BF 13.
W 58.

Thursday ruck

 

Wasn't quite ready for the 90 deg heat, especially after a nice 75 degree day the day before but after very little sleep the night before ( cat is sick) it was just the icing on the cake

Decided to do just two miles as sleep would help me more than another  two laps

Either way got the ruck on and on my feet

45 lb ruck

4 laps

2 miles

5086 steps

BW 177.4
BF  13.2 ?
W 57.9