Late Post - Bench Press & FYF

Late post, just the facts.  Promise I'll be better with pics and video so spice things up.

Thursday

5/3/1 bench press
heavy single at 300lbs

5 x 15 dumbell bench press
5 x 15 dumbell rows

then...

185lb bench press x 10
75lb behind the neck strict press x 10
rest 90 seconds
x 7

Friday

Barbell complex
4 x snatch grip deadlift
4 x bent over row
4 x high pulls
4 x power snatch
4 x overhead squats
4 x back squats
x 4

then...

10 burpees
200m ski erg
every 2 minutes
x 5

then...

10 kettlebell swings
250m row
every 2 minutes
x 5

Still going strong on the diet.  Macros have been in check, always coming in a little light on the carbs, which I don't mind.  I kept this week 1,800-2,000 calories this week, so I will try for 1,600-1,800 just to see how it feels.  If I feel like death, I'll just stop.

Had a few cloudy brain type moments later in the week, some lingering work out fatigue, but to be expected as this low carb intake combined with a somewhat limited calorie restriction.

A few supplements I added this week:

- Natural Calm.  Basically just a magnesium supplement.  I don't know if this has been the main factor, but my sleep has been great since I started using it.

- BCAA's.  Just to prevent any muscle catabolism.  Using it after particularly intense training sessions with creatine and protein powder.

Pause Squats & Rowing Intervals

Late post, just the facts. 

Pause squats up to 240lbs

3 x 250m row (under 1:40/500m pace)

Rest 90 seconds

5 x 150m row (under 1:30/500m pace)

Rest 90 sec

5 x 100m row (under 1:25/500m pace)

Rest 90 sec

Carbs - 53g

Fat - 122g

Protein - 162

Calories - 1,902

Strict Press PR & Rowing Sprints

A pretty fun day in the gym.  This was my week of heavy singles with 5/3/1, so on my "joker" set, I decided to go for 160lbs.  It came up so fast, I threw a belt on and added another 15lbs for a very clean PR match (though I think the last time I maxed press was in September and I tried 80kg several times and never came close).

Pictured here was maybe my only sticking point and the most I leaned back in the lift.  I was so aggressive in my set-up that I didn't realize my hands were a little uneven.

I finished out my accessory work (dips and pull-ups) while I waited for Adam to roll in.

Finally getting the hang of the strict, dead hang, chest-to-bar chin up.  I have yet to master this overhanded grip.  But I'm working on it.

By the time Adam got there and warmed up, we didn't have a lot of time, so whereas I wanted to do 10 x 100m rowing sprints, we could only fit in 7, which was plenty.

I had Adam video one of my 15.9 sprints just because I thought it would be a cool thing to post and it ended up exposing some bent arms, a compromised extension on the finish of my pull and some rounding at the catch.  Add it to the list of more stuff to work on.

Another good day of tracking my macros and calories.  Ball parked my dinner, but think it's mostly right, a little over if anything.

Just under 1,800 calories for the day and feel sated and good.  I'm really hoping this will positively affect cutting my weight down or else it will be just another annoying thing I've added to my routine and I will still be chubby.  

Sled Pulls & Push-Ups

Mondays are hard.  Pull-ups are the cure. 

I wanted this workout to be more structural than power/endurance, so our sled was heavy and long--the length of our parking lot, maybe 100m and the sled weight was over 200lbs.  Tough.  Just tough.  If you stop because your legs were burning, your lungs caught up to you. 

I ended up with 204 push ups and Adam lost count but was around there as well.  We had some other stuff planned, but we were both pretty zapped, so we did some static holds, rolled out and called it a day. 

Macros tracked for today.  

A little under my calories (shooting for 1,800-2,000), but I'm not starving, but everything else looks pretty good.  Got a big day planned for tomorrow. 

Recovery & One Week Dieting

Just finishing a Sunday having taken it very easy.  Part of this was by necessity because I am pretty sunburnt, but also because I anticipate a pretty full and vigorous week of training. 

I plan on making a couple PR attempts and I think this is the week for my sub 7 minute 2k row. 

Feeling good with macro tracking today.  Didn't quite get the protein in, but I didn't train today, so I'm not worried. 

Another note on the Whole30--I feel amazing.  I don't feel sluggish or foggy, my joints feel really good and I can tell I've lost some weight.  I'll step on the scale tomorrow and see how much.  More importantly, my face has cleared up, my skin rash is nearly non existent and I'm sleeping so much better. 

And I'm not starving.  

Breakfast

4 eggs

3 pieces of bacon

Lunch

Tuna

Avocado

Dinner

2 beef patties

2 pieces of bacon

1 cup of spinach

And I had a protein shake while watching Game of Thrones to fill up my macros.  Can't wait to see what happens in the gym and in the mirror these next few weeks!

Deadlifts & Thoughts on Tracking Macros

Pretty good day in the gym, finally.  Actually, most of the lifts I have been doing (press, bench, deadlift, squat) have all felt pretty good this week.

My 5/3/1 program had me deadlifting 390lbs for a triple today, so since I was at Pinnacle, I decided to go for a PR triple of 180kilos.  I usually use straps, but didn't today, so this was just a PR all around.  My butt shoots up a little on my second rep, but I'm able nail the last rep, so I'm calling it a clean PR.

My assistance work was good mornings and hanging leg raises, but I swapped them for RDLs, 5 x 12 at 70kg.  My hamstrings are pretty flexible and I can go pretty low with my RDLs, so I stood on a plate for my last set.  You can hear Hali make fun of me for having her film this light set.

So I tried tracking my macronutrients today.  Not necessarily a tenant of the Whole30 principles (which more or less dictate listening to your body and not worrying about portion size), but I thought I would track macros today and see how it went and if it was easy enough, to try it for the week.

I wanted my breakdown to look like this:

~ 2000 calories

- 50g carbs

- 130g fat

- 150g protein

This is what it I tracked using the My Fitness App.

Pretty damn close.  And it actually wasn't that difficult.  I'll go ahead and give it a try this week.  I think it'll be easy enough.

FYF - Tabata KB Swings & Rowing for Calories

600 calories is just hard.  It just is. 

Well, Adam and I didn't get in under 20:00, but not for lack of effort.  We finished in 32:55, but we were doing some serious breathing.  

The Tabata KB was a good way to pre-fatigue the legs and prime the lungs, but nothing really prepares you for staring down 600 calories on the C2. We started out rowing 20 each, then down to 15 and as Adam started to blow up a little, I began doing 25-30 calories to give him extra time to recover. 

It was exactly what I wanted today.  Some hard work for the engine.  Grip smoked, hamstrings smoked, quads smoked.  Good Friday workout. 

My snacks for the day:

Bench Press and Whole30 Update

Pretty easy bench work in the morning...

260 x 3 might have been a PR, but they all went up pretty fast and no grind, so I'm guessing I have more in the tank. 

Whole30 going strong.  I've been pretty good about eating sustaining portions at meal times so I'm never at that place where I feel starving.  Added a Larabar today for a snack, but will try to limit them because of the sugar from the dates.  Still a good go-to. 

Dinner with Hali was beef burgers on a bed of spinach, with chimchurri, tomato, avocado and bacon.  

Not pictured were home made naked sweet potato fries.  I think next week I'll try to limit starchy carbs and fruits, but for now, I'm happy to include them while I re acclimate myself to this style of eating. 

Another thing; I have had a pretty bad case of my arms breaking out for a little less than a year.  It gets really bad and inflamed with heat and sweat, but this week it has been drastically reduced.  Can't wait to see if the trend continues. 

Pause Squats/Ski Erg & Push-Ups

I think I nearly killed poor Adam today.

I'll save the boring details about the food I've been eating.  It's been basically the same breakfast, lunch and snacks for the past three days.  I'm not bored of eating it, just bored of typing it.  I did have a protein shake last night after my dinner of 1 scoop protein, 1/4 avocado, ice, maca, raw carob, and some almond butter which was new.  I don't think it's entirely Whole 30 approved, but it's close enough.  I'm trying not to loose sight of the goal for draconian details.

I combined Adam's new love of pause back squats with my 5/3/1 squat work today.  I think my max was 245lbs x 5 with a three second pause at the bottom and Adam hit 205#.  The pause keeps the squat from that heavy shearing bounce that really does hurt my knee, but man, is it fight.  We supersetted our warm up sets with box jumps, which I really liked so maybe will implement permanently.

The bulk of our workout was...

1-12-1 push-up ladder
3000m ski erg relay
1-12-1 push up ladder
2000m ski erg relay
1-12-1 push-up ladder
1000m ski erg relay

Since our ski ergs at the gym are from the Spartan Race, they only go in 200m intervals, so we changed out frequently, but it sorta worked.  After Adam finished the second push up ladder, he got so fatigued and frustrated that he grabbed his stuff and said he was going to leave.  I was able to talk him back into finishing (we were so close!), but he struggled the rest of the work out.

We ended up doing 432 push-ups each, which is a heinous amount.  I personally love the ski erg as a break from the rower because of how similar it taps the energy system, but how different the movement is.

Making a variation of chicken tacos for Hali and I tonight, so I might take some photos and post those, other than that, sorry for the plain post.

Strict Press & 500m Intervals

One of the things I didn't like about yesterday's training was it was more of a test that it was training. We hit a heavy single, an aerobic test and then an anaerobic test.  One of the things I liked about today's training was that there was NO testing and just all work.

I wasn't super hungry this morning, so I made a cup of coffee and packed a lunch and headed out for the day.  I'm getting really good at pour-overs.

I lifted my 5/3/1 program for strict presses today with two down sets, which I really liked.  I ended up getting 6 reps of 145lbs and 11 reps of 115lbs.

My assistance work was my favorite--5x10 strict pull-ups and 5x15 dips.  I think I broke up the reps on my last sets, but for the most part, I was able to do these unbroken.

Food so far today has been

Breakfast
Coffee

Morning Snack
2 hard boiled eggs
handful of raw nuts

Lunch
6oz chicken
spinach
1 avocado
1 cup fresh raspberries

Afternoon Snack
handful of raw nuts

Dinner will be just a simple bacon & eggs.  I lack the energy for anything more complicated.

After work, it was so nice, I had to row outside.  My plan was...

500m row @ 1:50
rest 1 minute
x20

I got 8 rounds in and bombed out.  I just couldn't breathe.  I stayed pretty consistent, just couldn't hold on.  I even tried to break, get some water, recover and get back on the rower, I just didn't have it.

I finished my workout off with tabata kettle bell swings and some foam rolling.  I'll get to the level of being able to hold this intensity for that long, it just wasn't today.

Adam worked out in the morning and seemed to be really motivated by yesterday's squats and his (lack of) flexibility.  I gave him a pair of my old Rogue Do-Wins and had him do some tempo paused squats with some really light weight.  I can't believe what an improvement this is for his bottom position.

Day 1 Paleo Challenge / Overhead Squats & The Jonestown Crawl

Again, this was another Monday I woke up with a bad attitude and cloudy head.  I just felt a little out of sorts and Adam mentioned it, which made me defensive and the work out was a struggle from there.

I built up to a 175lb overhead squat and while I might have been able to do 185, I stopped because I was shaky and my knee hurt.  Adam really lacks the flexibility in his shoulders and hips to perform a heavy overhead squat and to be honest, I wasn't really in the teaching mood.  He did a front squat single at 205# and we moved on.

The Jonestown Crawl is 20-10, push presses and burpee pull-ups.  In typical fashion, it doesn't look that bad, but I used a pull-up bar that is roughly 8inches away from my max reach and it made all the difference.  I finished in 5:00 minutes exactly and it really gassed me.

I gave Adam the choice of doing 3 x tabata kettle bell swings or a 500m row for time.  He chose the 500m row, the sadist.  I started it 3 times before I committed and came in at 1:32.  I don't know what was wrong with me.  I just couldn't pull a sub 1:30 pace to save my life this morning.  I left the gym frustrated and deflated.

Concerning yesterday's blog, Hali and I have decided to do a Whole 30 challenge, which is a pretty restrictive paleo diet meant to restart good eating habits.  This will be the second time I've done something like this and Hali's first ever introduction to a paleo eating style.  Day one, so far so good.

My eating today has consisted of:

Breakfast
- 3 scrambled eggs with spinach and hot sauce
- coffee

Mid Morning Snack
- Handful of raw nuts and seeds

Lunch
- 6oz of chicken breast
- Spinach
- 1 whole avocado
- 1 cup of fresh raspberries

Afternoon Snack
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- Handful of raw nuts
- Iced green tea

I haven't had dinner, but it will be...
- Filet mignon
- Broccoli
- Hand cut sweet potato fries

I'm really trying to limit the starchy carbs, but I want to ease into the first week.  I may end up tracking portions and calories in the last two weeks, but I really just want to eat when I feel hungry to start out.

Have some interesting stuff planned for tomorrow training wise.  Let's see if I have the stomach to really do it.

Recovery & Thoughts On Dieting

Definitely feeling the work from this week this morning.  Can't quite seem to get going.  I still feel that sleepy fatigue feeling behind my eyes and while I'm not sore or in pain, I'm just moving slowly.  All in all, it was a pretty good week of training.  All in all, it was a shitty week of eating.  I basically ate and drank whatever I wanted which included tacos, burritos, pizza, gelato, wine, beer and whatever else was around.  Now, I was rowing a lot this week and lifting pretty heavy and logging time on my bike (which is more challenging than just a normal bicycle because I ride a fixed gear), so I don't feel as if I gained any bad weight, I just know if I was a little smarted about my diet, I could squeeze more performance out.

I've said before that the best I've ever looked and felt was during a Paleo challenge.  I was probably right around 183-185lbs and feeling pretty good.  I don't know how sustainable that is because the diet is pretty restrictive.  I would have maybe 1-2 pieces of fruit each day and sometimes a baked sweet potato, but I would say my carbs were no more than 60g.

Okay, so my idea/challenge for this week is:

- No alcohol
- 1.5g protein/day per pound of lean body mass
- 1 serving of fruit (berries preferable)
- Unrestricted green vegetables
- Limit fats to coconut oil, ghee
- 1 protein shake post barbell session

I will weigh in on Monday and then again on the following Monday.  To keep me accountable, I will start logging workouts at the end of the day to include what I ate that day.  Sometimes something as simple as that can make all the difference.

As for fitness goals this week...

- 2k row everyday
- 500 push ups everyday
- 2 days riding bike to work
- 4 days heavy barbell work
- 3 days hard conditioning sessions
- Hike the Incline on Saturday
- Hot Yoga at least twice

Now that these are stated goals, I feel like I have a better chance at completing them.

PRT & Deadlifts

Slept really well last night and watching all the runners do their PRT this morning got me all jacked up.  That and my breakfast. 

Blueberries, banana, coconut water, chia seeds, matcha, cacao, goji berries, protein, almond butter and MCT oil.  So good. 

Warmed up for my 500m swim and immediately felt some fatigue in my stroke.  Worrying.  Rocked my sit-ups (92 in 2:00) and bombed out my push ups (46 in 2:00).  To be honest, I'm not sure what happened.  Yesterday's bench work out probably didn't help.  My swim felt good and I was so mad at myself for the push ups that I took it out fast and held that pace.  Lost my lungs a little bit and had some panicky breathing moments, but I didn't stop and finished at 6:38, easily maxing out by over 40 seconds. 

Adam had a headache and he usually doesn't bitch about working out, so I let him off the hook for this FYF.  Instead, I rode my bike to see Hali and do my 5/3/1 deadlift workout.  I got this cool app that tracks cycling so I can post some cool screen shots. 

Finished off with my accessory work (5 x 12 good mornings, 5 x 15 hanging leg raises) and had some time to kill before Hali's shift finished, so I did Tabata kettlebell swings, drank a protein shake with creatine and beta alanine and rode back downtown to meet Hali at Chipotle. 

Recovery & Bench Press

After feeling ravenous all day after yesterday's workout, I am feeling a little more even and centered.  Did my first 5/3/1 bench day and focused on legit paused reps. 

Ended up with 215 x 6, which wasn't bad for how precise and eccentric these reps were.  A long way off from my goal of 225 x 15, but it's a starting point. 

Planning on a bike ride later on this afternoon. 

Deadlifts & Kettlebell Swings

Ugh.  Just so smoked from this.  No pictures from today, too much work.

100 x 225lbs deadlift

Treat every rep like a single

20 kettlebell swings @ 80lbs

200m ski erg 

rest 2 minutes

x 5

3 x 10 RDLs with 53lb kettlebell off 2 20" boxes

I had plans for another 2k row and my 5/3/1 bench, but I am exhausted and starving.  Refueling and getting ready for an active recovery tomorrow and to go super hard on Friday.

2k Row & Back Squats

I don't think I realized how taxing yesterday was until this morning.  I was just wiped.  Made my morning power shake, got ready to hit the pool and sat down and felt just so sleepy and sluggish.  I made some scrambled eggs and half an avocado since I still felt ravenous and eventually made it to work.

It wasn't until my mid morning matcha that I started to feel a little more energetic.

I manned up after work and warmed up for my 2k row.  Per usual, my first 300m were easy and I managed to hang on to a sub 7:10 pace...  until my last 500m where I totally blew up.

Yikes.  Ideally, I'd like to hit 1:46 for the first three 500m splits and then give it all I have for the last 500m and get right in under 7:00.  I was looking at the C2 rowing World Championships qualifying times and most are adjusted around 9-10 seconds for Denver altitude.  Well, Colorado Springs is another .15 miles higher so while I'm not elite, I'm not doing as poorly as I might have thought.

It took me a little bit to recover and I started on my Wendler 5/3/1 squats which felt quite heavy.  I might have to adjust my 1RM since I haven't been squatting for load since my knee has been really bothering me.  

This was probably my worst depth of all the sets, but whatever.  I'm a hair high in the picture, but again, this is a knee issue and I'm doing the best I can.

I finished the day with more bodyweight stuff without dips since my shoulders were pretty hot from all that work yesterday.  With our physical fitness test coming up this Friday, I focused on speedy reps and that ever important eccentric squeeze.

Monday Part 2 - Bodyweight Calisthenics & Strict Press

My knee was pretty hot and angry from whatever this morning so I was happy to get in a nice big upper body workout this afternoon.  While I waited for the rack to open up, I knocked out the strict bodyweight movements I missed out on this morning.  I didn't push the reps, but rather focused on eccentric squeeze and explosive movement.

This was my first day on Wendler's 5/3/1 and though I've started programs like this before, I'm committed to really seeing this through the four week cycle.  Today was a pretty easy pressing day.

Struggled a little with my last rep of 135lbs, but was trying to make every rep a legit strict press and avoiding the excessive back arch of some of my heavier standing presses.

Finished up the day with more dips and pull ups and tried to get sets of 10 and 15.  I'm really liking how my upper body is progressing.

More rowing and deadlifting tomorrow!  

Fatigued Intervals - Goblet Squats, Rowing & Box Jumps

Had a little trouble falling asleep last night which caused me to hit snooze a few times, but I tried a new shake in my Ninja blender this morning which perked me up some.  Brewed a cup of coffee for the drive to work and I sat down for my first 2k row of the week. 

I didn't push much, even on the last 500m, but I never blew my pace either.  An almost :30 improvement from last week, but still a lot of work to do. 

Adam showed up and we got into the meat of the workout. 

I never made the 600m mark and I couldn't tell if the squats or the box jumps were bothering my knee, but I did swings for my very last round.  I felt pretty strong throughout, but with all that rest, I should have been hitting 600m each round.  I need to get used to that oxygen deprived, panicky place on the rower.  Still afraid to really "go there."

Saving my strict body weight calisthenics for this afternoons pressing workout. 

True Recovery - Bike Ride & Pancakes

After my failure yesterday at "actively" recovering, I am taking today completely off.  Woke up and rode my bike to my girlfriend's house and we rode downtown for some pancakes.  Maybe not the best choice on a day when I decided not to train at all, but it was delicious and I'll pay for it with tomorrow's workout.

One of those amazing Colorado summer days.

Headed out to get groceries.  Goals for this week:  2k row time in shouting distance of 7min.

Active Recovery-ish - Ski Erg and Push-ups

Saturdays have sort of been a toss up training wise for the past few weeks.  Sometimes I take them off entirely, other times I have done some aerobic recovery and once I did the Manitou Incline (note:  decidedly NOT recovery).

I brainstormed over breakfast (Cliff Bar not pictured):

I had about three ideas going into today.  I thought I might swim, do some intervals on the ski erg (which I am not very familiar with) or just do some bodyweight calisthenics.

This was was I decided:

Probably a bit much for what was planned to be recovery, but I would soon find that out.  I didn't sleep great last night, so I might have already not been fully recovered from yesterday's work out.  I've never really done a workout on the ski erg, but how hard could it be?  Hard.

I got about 20 minutes into the 60 minute timer and fell apart.  My "max" push ups were coming in around 15-17 and the erg was zapping my lungs.  I called it quits and finished with 32 pull ups and 32 dips.

Today was definitely a lesson in what it feels like to go off program when you're not ready.  I should have gone for a long swim or bike ride and instead decided to do something pretty challenging for where I am fitness-wise.  Tomorrow will be a true day off with maybe a bike ride to see my girlfriend at work and maybe a few push ups.

Fuck You Friday - Power Endurance/Mental Toughness

Today I woke up just ready to put in some work.  I opted for more Bulletproof Coffee this morning instead of eggs and oatmeal.

While I waited for my work out partner to show up, I knocked out 50 strict form push ups, 50 strict, dead hang pull ups and 50 strict, as deep as possible dips.  It felt pretty good, especially my push-ups because I've been working so hard on them recently.

This was the plan for today:

While doing burpee pull-ups earlier this week, I noticed my timing and footwork was way off and I was making it a lot harder to do.  I thought the burpee pull-up ladder was a good way to start our main workout with a little leg fatigue and concentrate on perfect reps.  

The bench press/row ladder was especially difficult today.  I wanted to start off at 140m and get progressively faster, but as the bench presses went down, so did my recovery for the row.  I managed to pull off my goal, which only means I could have started at 145m.

(excuse the moto bullshit quotes--we share a whiteboard)

Since we only have the one barbell in the gym now, Adam and I switched off for a 10 minute max strict press at 65lbs.  I ended up with 134 and Adam ended up with 125, I think.

This was my first time doing the Gym Jones "Tailpipe," and it was pretty difficult.  My splits for my 250m were 49.8/49.2/47.3, which hopefully we can improve on.  Our transitions from kettlebell to rowing machine were pretty slow and next time we'll time the whole Tailpipe to get a baseline.

All in all, it was a killer workout and hopefully I earned some margaritas and burgers this weekend.  Starting 5/3/1 for my afternoon workouts next week, so hopefully the heavy barbell work will add that oompf I've been missing with all this conditioning.