The Punisher workout 40 kg OAS 10 sets of 10/10, pistols laterals

  

This was good but had distractions prior so it wasn't a 10 but a solid 8. Could have had better height on swings and locking into the standing plank but the lungs and legs were strong, nothing got tweaked and nothing fell off

Weight  didn't feel heavy either. Starting to get cold though, back to hot baths as pre warmup

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
200 reps
17,600 lbs work

Pistols
top down all reps on one leg then switch
3 x 5/5

these felt very  solid. only one arm self spot. for some reason the two handed spot was actually harder. Probably kept me from counter rotating properly

laterals

2 x 10/10 with 15s
late start cut these short

BW 175.4
BF 13.
W 57.9 ( bath)

Fast ruck

 

Decent one, got the left calf stretched out well before hand, or so I thought, and it was perfect for three laps but got tight on the fourth. Walking at 3.5-6 mph didn't help so I had to stop and stretch the anterior tib a bit more than I wanted. what a difference it is on Sunday when I don't stand for 7 hours prior to the ruck

BUT it should be stronger

50 lbs
6 laps
7414 steps
Speed 3.0-3.6 mph 
16.6 min miles top speed
3 miles
54 min
step length  ave =  25 inches 30.7 max length

BW 176.2
BF 14.5

The Kono Press worked great,175 and 185 lb press 2 x 5 each, 24 kg swings, wt pushups

  The technique worked great. The layback, then re layback and press clicked well. Still tons of reps need to be done to get the timing right, especially with real weight but I can see it put me in the position I need to be at the sticking point. If I START there, there is no where to go and no way to get momentum at the start ( via another layback).
This way I start with an arch then move back into the terminal arch position as I press. Similar to how a how a good bent press is done.

But the main thing is that I am leaning back with tight hips forward and the bar goes straight up

Press
65 85 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 2 x 5
185 x 2 x 4
185 x 1 ( last rep of last set wasn't perfect)

24 kg swings

5 sets of 8/8

wt pushups

bw x 10
53 x 10 x 3 ( have to  bump this up again)

BW 175.8
BF 14.9 ( dehydrated)

215 press and 220 near miss, floor pushups, laterals

 This was a good one despite not making 220 and and having an iffy lockout on 215. The setup worked well and as usual I screwed something else up while trying to master the first part. But it worked well overall

I've got to lean back though at the sticking point and push myself away from the bar more because I keep trying to press the bar through the sticking point and it pushes it forward, and even if I make the lift it's not optimal at all

But I'm not laying back at the critical point and I've got to change that

Press

65 85 105 x 2

135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1 fast!
195 x 1 fast
205 x 1 FAST!

215 x 7/8 ( wasn't layed back enough)

But felt strong enough to go for 220 this is the second attempt of three

then 207.5 for a miss
205 x 1 but rough
200 x 1
190 x 1 x 2

then some light stuff experimenting with a mid range grip
95 135 185 190 x 1 x 2

Floor pushups
63
50 
triceps dead

one arm laterals 3 x 10/10 with 20's
bent laterals  3 x 10 with 20s

BW 176
BF 14.1

De load one arm swings 10 x 8/8, pistol practice, laterals

 Strong and easy workout. All systems go. went strongly but realized it was supposed to be a recovery workout

One arm swings

16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5 
24 kg x 5/5 

32 kg x 8/8 x 10
160 rep
11,720 lbs

bad resolution from nicks phone for some reason

Pistol practice
set one : down two up one, switch repeat 4 x
set two : down two up one down on same leg, switch, repeat 3 x
set three:  same as set two

this is coming back and is definitely the correct choice of exercises

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

BW 175.8
BF 14. ( bath)
W 57.2  cooler weather drinking less and sweating less since I switch to magnesium citrate from the ZMA. I wasn't tolerating either the B6 or the trytophan precursor in it anymore.
Sleeping SO much  better with the Calm before bed now

Strong Ruck!

 

Really really solid one today.Legs loose and lungs open, Just strong

Using new iPhone mobility data

6 laps

3.1 miles

Step length

29.1 in

Walking asymmetry 0 % !! that's crazy good

Walking speed

3.5 mph. 17 min miles/ that makes me happy

top speed 3.9 mph

BW 175.8

BF 13.7

175/185 lb press practice( reverse lumbo pelvic rhythm) 24 kg speed swings, wt pushups

 This was great. Everything fell into place and I think I discoved the real key to my setup- lumbo pelvic rhythm- in reverse!

On my normal lumbo pelvic rhythm if I lean forward even 5 degrees my hips go back. normal is no hip hinge til 45 deg! But lower back injury changes that and mine is what it is. Once I figured that out I stopped trying to sit back to hinge on my swings and deads but lean forwards til the hinge happend.

And I think the same is true, but in reverse with my layback in the press. I've been trying to set up with my hips first as the base and then lay back on that base. BUT after seeing last weeks 215 presses and realizing I have to layback and then get my hips forward was a game changer

SO I did it today and it worked great.. Unrack the bar,then lay back from the T spine UNTIL the hips load ( the equivalent of the hinge) and THEN lock then in then press

Worked great

It was so much more precise and I didn't even realize about the reverse LPR until after the workout was over, But I did know I had to lay back first and now it should be even easier

Press

135 x 2

155 x 1

175 x 2 x 4
185 x 2 x 4

24 kg swing

5 sets of 8/8  solid

wt pushups

BW x  10

53 x 10 x 3

BW 176.4

BF 13.7

this could be the real setup I've been looking for!

215 x 1 205 x 1 x 5 press , floor pushups and laterals

 The rebound continues as well as the best sleep I've had in a long time. It has to be the switch  to Natural Calm magnesium instead of the ZMA. I've added zinc picolinate into the mix to make up for the loss from the ZMA and took that with morning vits herbs and protein drink. It also has 800 mg quercetin and have to say I felt great all morning. Very clear with great blood sugar 

Mainly it's the sleep I'm betting. Nothing more important

this went well and I'm pleased with how the first real heavy day with this new technique went. It didn't go perfectly but I clearly  see where I did the technique wrong on the misses and how easily it went when I did the technique right on the 215 and 205 at the end

On the misses I got tight with my hips forward but didn't lay back enough  with the upper back and that made all the difference. the latter is what puts me in a more decline position. the former a more incline press,which much weaker

I've been thinking this is a standing incline press but it's really a standing DECLINE I think I just had a revelation here!

Its pretty clear from this comparison of the two

But I felt strong, the bar felt light in my hands I felt mentally calm and collected, what a great press day to go with that fantastic ruck yesterday!
What a difference from that clusterfuck of last week

Press
65 85 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1 A bit slow. tried too hard to not shove it
205 x 1 outstanding
215 x Miss
215 x Miss above 
215 x 1
205 x 1 x 5 video is last set
felt so good

Floor pushups
63 x 2 very strong but kicked my ass
31 x 1 lol

one arm laterals
3 x 10/10 w 20s
bent laterals
3 x 10 with 20

BW 174.4
BF 14.1

Fast and loose strong ruck!

 

Man this was the best ruck I've had in ages and it came out of nowhere. But it was great. Legs were not sore, supple and strong. Everything was good. Lungs took their usually time to open but then were great. 
Air cool and decently crisp and I had a stride

48lb ruck

12 laps

1:55 min

12,658 steps

3 squat stretches ( feeling too good to stop. although I did unload the pack on the bench 3 times for 30 seconds to unload my upper back,which felt surprisingly normal)

5.7 miles

Last mile 14:40

BW 173.8

BF 14.1

60 and 68 kg One arm swings, pistol practice, double side laterals

 Have to say I was nervous for this one. Left levator scap tightened up just enough yesterday to feel it and some cervical shit I wasn't happy with. 95% better but 5% can be a lot, especially with lower backs and necks

Again, I was hoping the swings would reset things but 60 kg? or 68? Not sure what would happen but wouldn't know til I put hands on bell. Trap was tight at 16 kg and really didn't loosen til 48 kg! I realized I had to hinge back more and squat less on initial move and I couldn't even feel the trap! SO that's what I did and it worked great!

And all the huge amount of work for the trap tired it out enough so that it overwhelmed the tension and it let go!

One arm swing

16 kg x 5/5  x 2
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
40 kg x 4/4
44 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 4/4
60 kg x 5/5 x 7 ( starting starting with just left arm at set 5 it was transfer that was dicey)
68 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets
 all good except on second of second set ( video one) where because I was hinging more than usual I scooped a little but and lost my right lower back tightness a little and felt it. It came back
wasn't sure I should do the last set but back felt ok and I wanted to leave on a good one
I did

Pistol Practice

decided the lunges were not getting my rec fem enough and that that was important so pistols came back in. started back easy
3 x 5/5/ bottoms up two hand spot

double laterals rear delts
3 x 10/10 with 15

kept neck in extension
BW 173.8
BF 13.5 ( bath)
W 57.5

Back to normal, Presses 175/185lbs x 4 x 2 each, 24 kg swings and wt pushups

 Slept well last night but still woke up with left side levator, trap and first rib yelling at me. NO WHERE NEAR as bad as the day before but still not right. Took 500 mg tylenol and worked on it. As I moved it got better. By workout time it felt damn  near normal
After pressing it felt 95 % 

Thank you G-d. that was too close! Neck shit is real. When you neck is jacked every single freaking movement of your head or arm or arms sends serious spasms of pain throughout every part of the upper torso. Not good.

It was the first rib that was out and the ring mobility work saved me, It got it to mobilize, then adjust in, and when it did, the spasms stopped! That was not nice but at least I know how to re set it myself. It's happened before and I didn't

this
https://youtu.be/alKOanYNtd4

Along with activating the  cervical flexors and bracing the abs prior to moving helped reset the whole unit as well

Presses

65 85 105 x 2

135 x 2

155 x 1
175 x 2 x 4
185 x 2 x 4

Cues
hips unrack
set up tight and wait for tightness before pressing
elbows IN
start the press steady, not explosive

24 kg speed swings

5 x 8/8 solid, didn't bother neck at all

Wt pushups

bw x 10
53 lbs  x 10 x 2

BW 174.5
BF 14.1

200 lb press 5 sets of 1 ( Neck tweak)

 My neck went from bad to worse last night an I ended up with about two hours of bad sleep and LOTS of upper back and neck pain.
finally found a position I could relax a bit in but it was a LONG NIGHT

I thought the extension of the press would help and it did. No pain at all but I was seriously depleted and stressed from the night. And four lbs light And feeling weak

Spent the whole morning working on myself and it, and constant, pretty intense pain, was wearing on myI 

I figured out that if I activated the cervical  flexor along with an ab brace the SCM released a lot SO I did and they did!
they were tight but they were not contracting.
 1000 mg of tylenol helped to and now, at 7 pm I feel almost normal. I was worried, actually. Worst pain I've had since my back injury in 2000

Press

65 86 105 x 2
135 x 2
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1 
200 x 1 x 3
       x miss x 2
       x 1 best rep of the workout
Really focused on waiting til I got tightest legs and hips possible, elbows IN and then a grinding start instead of trying to pop it. Worked well as I was under it the whole time
We'll see when it's 200 :)

BW 173.4
BF 15.9

Coolbreeze ruck

 Clean air, cool breeze but neck still tweaked and bad sleep. I thought the pack would help unload the traps, and it did but it took an hour and a half and the pain restricted my breathing for most of the time. No fun

took forever to warmup too but eventually it felt decent
Slow times of course but got the full two hours in

48 lb ruck
11 laps
5 squat stretches
12, 690 steps
5.4 miles

Glad it got done but it was  tough one

48 kg One Arm Swings 10 x 6/6 bw lunges, laterals

 Neck and traps a little jacked up from too much screen time, I was hoping the swings would "reset it".  Thought they would just wasn't sure 48kg version would
Turned out it did, thank goodness

One arm swings

16 kg x 5/5 x 2
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
40 kg x 4/4
48 kg x 6/6 x 10 
160 reps
16,960 lbs

bw lunges

3 x 10/10 ( getting easier)

Laterals
3 x 10
rear delts
3 x 10 both with 15 lbs

BW 175.2
BF 12.5

Strong ruck

 Solid one today. Legs felt good and air was clear. Not cool but not too hot.

48 lb ruck

6 laps

6910 steps

3.1 miles

about 8 min miles last half of ruck

BW 175.8

BF 14.9

Heavy press day again/ Back to the future

 I decided to go back to my old technique but didn't want to wait a week to try it out so I put up some singles to give it a test, even though my shoulders were pretty sore this morning from Monday's work. I thought for sure I escaped it because they felt great yesterday but when I woke this morning they were sore; a good sore, a muscle sore. but sore and tired the same

I would just go up in small bits and see how things went. And they went great

My  focus today was on unracking with the hips, getting into the bow and staying there til I felt super tight and a strong leg and glute tension before I pressed. It worked well although it's obvious shoulders and tri's were fatigued. BUT I made lifts I just missed Monday so that was a big sign

It felt like I held the static position longer than it looks on video it felt like forever. I must have been really rushing

Press

65 85 105 x 2

135 x 2

155 x 1

175 x 1

190 x 1

200 x 1

205 x 1 slow but under the weight the whole time

200 x 1

195 x 1

185 x 2 x 3 sets

24 kg swings

5 x 8/8

wt pushups

bw x 10

53 lbs x 10 x 2

BW 177.
BF 13.7

It's all easy til it's heavy lesson. again. new press technique fail

 Fuck

I thought this would work, I really did.

And just like the technique idea that inspired my quote it did work well , until it got heavy; then,

nothing.

it was a very stressful morning though, across the board and I was as unfocused as I've been of late but still thought the technique was solid and it would pull me through.

No. Freakin'. Leverage.

Press

65 85 105 x 3 nice

135 x 2 easy and fast

155 x 1 fast too

175 x 1 ok very good line but felt heavy

195 x 1 same got me worried

205 x miss!

205 x 1 to hard

210 x 1 max effort today here. what the hell?

215 x miss x 2!

205 x miss!! what the fuck?

195 x miss. ok this is a definite sign

185 x miss

Go back to old technique, unrack with hips forward, eyes on ceiling. false grip etc

185 x 1

195 x 1

205 x 1! not easy but hey, I'm freaking tired now

185 x 1

ok there's my answer : false grip layback technique. it ain't pretty but it's the best it seems for me

floor pushup

65
50

tri's fried

one arm laterals 3 x 10/10 20s

bent laterals 3 x 8 25s

BW 177.2
BF 13.
W 58.3

48 lb Strong ruck, clean skies

 

The air is clean and crisp again as the winds shifted and blew the smoke from the fires away > Now, all we need is some rain

But my lungs were still tight from almost two weeks of smoky air and took awhile to open up. About an hour to be exact.
But the second hour was wonderful

My legs felt good the whole way, strong and loose and not stiff at all/. Started out slow and got faster. Lots of rest breaks and 5 sets of squat stretches the the first half then just continuous laps

48 lb ruck 

12 laps

5 squat stretches

13,268 steps

5.9 miles

1:55 min

last mile@ 15 min

BW 175.4

BF 14.9

44 kg One Arm Swings 10 x 8/8, BW lunges , laterals

 This went really well. Strong. Lungs and legs were there today. No idea why but I love it

Fast pace too.  So much easier than last week with heavier load. Crazy the difference four reps makes

One Arm Swings

16kg x 5/5 x 2

20 kg x 4/4

24 kg x 4/4

28 kg x 3/3

32 kg x 3/3

36 kg x 3/3

44 kg x 8/8 x 10 sets
160 reps
15,560 lbs

BW lunges
3  x10/10
stronger

Laterals /Rear delts
3 x 10/10

BW 174.6 ( lightest in quite awhile
BF 12.5 ( bath)
W 58.3

48 lb ruck in the smoke

 Shitty air is back from more burning forests here. just crazy. thought we were going to catch more of a break but no go.
Only did 5 laps as I could start to feel my eyes and my legs were dead so I called it. First part was ok and 511 ruck was solid as could be. Made the right choice

48 lb ruck

5 laps

45 min

legs tight

BW 175.4

BW 13.7