29 April 2015 - Compress the time, Keep the full volume. Ambitous yet successful

29 April
0540 hrs

As I mentioned last night I was going to be short on time this morning. Total time today was 40 min for a work volume that is usually 60-70 min. So, my conditioning is definitely solid. No missed reps. Lots of Back volume post floor press. I walked away feeling energized and jacked up to tackle the day.

Dicenzo Rows 3 x 21 x Mini EFS Band
Banded Shoulder Series 3 x 11 x Mini EFS Band
Minimal rest. I sort of repped things out wrote it down, switched exercises, wrote it down and switched back. Massive upper back & rear delt burn. Things felt activated and ready to go.

Floor Press
2 x 10 x Bar
2 x 5 x 95
1 x 5 x 115
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 155
1 x 5 x 174

Things felt solid but I think the speedy abbreviated warm up did not help as much as those two movements have activated things in the past few weeks. Definite improvement felt though in quality of control of the weight overall.

Neutral grip Pull downs (1 min rest) 
1 x 7 x 200
1 x 7 x 190
1 x 7 x 180
1 x 7 x 170
Lats and upper back are building. No tenderness and only minor weakness at this point. Strict reps through out. Hopefully things will feel solid enough I can do actual Pull Ups on my birthday.
Fat Gripz Rope Pulldowns (1 min rest) 
2 x 17 x 130
1 x 15 x 130
1 x 13 x 130
Working the volume. Wanted to see where things would fall off with the Tricep endurance. Concentrated on holding shoulders back but not the set ending criteria today. typically 2-3 reps past my shoulders rounding forward my triceps would give way. Not to ultimate failure, 1-2 reps shy.
Rope Face Pulls (to forehead /30 sec Rest) 3 x 17 x 80 lbs
Done on Cable cross over machine. Makes this lighter than normal intentionally. Maximum retraction at the "Pull" end of the movement with a slight pause. Really reaching for a longer than normal range of motion.
Rear Delt Laterals (1 min rest) 2 x 17 x 20 lbs
Start of the Rear Delt Pump

(No rest)
YTW & Seated Rear Rotator  2 x 11 x 5 lbs
Cycling through the movement patterns. Continuing the upper back /rear Delt blood flow.

Rear Delt Destroyer
1 x 50,50,15 reps x 60,25,15 lbs
End of the Rear Delt Pumpitude. There was damn near a shelf created by my rear delts.

Got to the office and sweat about another 2 Liters of fluid. Water intake high all day. Now that I am back in my regular office my coffee consumption is back up but I will continue to focus on water consumption as the primary fluid to be consumed. Don't want to get back to feeling chronically dehydrated.

In tomorrow for an Air Dyne Tempo Session. Then over to see if i can get a new Physio therapist.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

28 April 2015 - How much you are willing to suffer will determine your successes.

27 April
0550 hrs

RDL
2 x 10 x Bar
1 x 5 x 100
1 x 5 x 125
1 x 5 x 150
1 x 5 x 165
1 x 5 x 190
1 x 5 x 215
Rack Pulls
1 x 5 x 135
1 x 5 x 225
7 x 3 x 275
Hyper Deads
4 x 7 x 90
CSR 4 x 11 x 110 lbs

Super Set
CSR Shrugs 3 x 30 x 60 lbs
Seated Calf Raises 
1 x 27 x 95 lbs (fast reps)
1 x 17 x 95 lbs (slow controlled reps)

Not a lot to say about this. I do need to seriously start looking at my Rack Pull Numbers. At first I was just sort of throwing them in there but I need to plan them out just a little. My Lower back is getting nice and strong. Endurance is there also this week in my ow back. Feels great to have it dialing in.

Started Hacking right at bed time. So i dosed up on the big Q and slathered myself in Vicks Vapo rub. Slept like a stone.


28 April
0555 hrs

As most Stair climber days lately I approach them with a little bit of trepidation upon waking and by the time I get to the gym I am aggressively pumped. I know it is going to suck. I embrace that thought and go after it.

Stair Climber w/ Vest
20 min /106 Flights (PR) /236 Calories

I definitely had a higher pace on the intervals than ever before. I also noticed I am more upright during the recovery times. Intervals are still 20 sec work and 40 sec rest. Lvl 12 for 10 min then Lvl 14 for 7 min. Then up to Lvl 16 for 30 sec then back down to 14, 12 for 20 sec ea before finishing the last interval at Lvl 14. I was fucking SMOKED! a solid 10 min before I was able to start lifting. Left the vest on.

(All exercises with Vest ON)
Back Ext 3 x 5 x 45 lbs (Vest)
Upright Rows 3 x 7 x 95
Rear Delt Laterals (on incline Bench) 3 x 11 x 20 lbs
OH Db Ext 
2 x 21 x 55
1 x 17 x 55
Standing Rear Delt Rows 3 x 21 x 70 lbs

This is slowly working into an actual Upper Body session. I am not stressing over it. I see it more as cool down, work volume. Push my Traps are usually screaming by the end of this. A full hour of wearing the vest is definitely taxing.

Notes: 
-good personal news today. people in my life health wise are on the up swing. Challenging times but getting better.
-now that I am off course I called to make an appointment with my physio. Well it seems my clinic cancelled her contract (not her fault just the system messed up). So now i have to go back to my GP and get a referral for a different physio. This messes with my continuity of care. It angers me. It will be frustrating to have to jump through hoops and re-establish a working relationship with a different physio. I think I am also a little sad. Meghan has seen me through A LOT of injuries. We had trust and understanding built up over yrs. I was eventually going to have to switch up Physio's at the end of the summer (moving cities for work) but now I will have to do it twice in 4 months. Hopefully maybe a change in Physio's will bring a change in perspective or experience that benefits me long term. time will tell.

According to my schedule I am supposed to do Sled drags /recovery tomorrow. I found out today I am losing my training time Thursday morning for work PT (oh yay! forced fun!) so I think I will do my upper training session instead. Followed by Tempo Airdyne tomorrow night. Tomorrow morning will also be a compressed timing for trg. Get Some!

KEEP. MOVING. FORWARD. 

24 April 2015 - Testing Mind and Body through Conditioning

23 April
0615 hrs

AirDyne
Warm Up 3 min /55-57 rpm
Tempo Pace 18 Min /60-63 rpm /5.3 Km /130 Cal

Banded KB Shrug (from Joey Smith)

3 x 13 x 50 lbs (3 bounce up /2 bounce down like in vid)

These were awesome. I had to use my EFS Mini Bands instead  of the average bands in the video because that was what was in my gym bag today. I simply doubled them up a second time to get some extra tension. What he doesn't mention is the grip element as well. Overall I give these a 5 /5 Gold Star rating. Traps fired up, Grip fired up.

Supersetted
Up Right Rows 3 x 5 x 95
TRX Rollout 3 x 11 (Medium Incline)

Banded Face Pull 3 x 21 x Monster Mini EFS Band

Just some other Trap /Ab work to finish up. The Tempo session definitely smoked me pretty hard but I felt I would be in good shape for Friday's KB Test.

24 April

Matt Wenning's Gym in Columbus, Ohio

So today's KB test was inspired by Matt Wenning. I met him at the LTT a year ago this week. He left an immense impression on me. I will make a point of either getting coached by him again in the future or go see him speak at the very least. Super Hero Strong and Genius smart when it comes to training and human body mechanics among other things training related.
Anyhow I saw an interview about a year ago where he spoke how he had used KB Swings as a conditioning /Strength test while he worked with the 3 Bn /75th Ranger Regt. I have been working towards this ever since ever so slowly. Today I thought I would give it a full go.
 Last time I stopped around 4 min as my low back started fatiguing and I lost my focus (got bored?).
So with that in mind here is how it went today:

KB Swing (AMRAP)
53 lbs KB (24 Kg) x 10 min 10 sec

Overall this was a great challenge. Keeping your mind into the swings in the first few minutes (boredom after about 3 min) which then switches to finding your happy place as fatigue, then pain slide in.
During Min 4 my grip started to burn slightly
During Min 6 my mid back started to ache burn also.
During the start of the Min 10 my grip started to go, I adjusted a little and then the KB came loose.

My pace through out was about 40 swings /Min which is slower than my usual 45-50 swings /Min I do during my normal 1 min weekly work sets. I did use the KB /Band setup I usually use either. My hip seem to handle the free swings but week in, week out I will go back to using the attached Band.
I will look 12 weeks down range and try this again. The Goal is 13 min. It is within reach from there I just go faster and harder.
GHR 3 x 9 x Bodyweight
Pull Up Shrug 
Close Grip 2 x 7 x Bodyweight
Wide Grip 2 x 7 x Bodyweight

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

22 April 2015 - I still have much to learn

21 April
0620 hrs

Sled Drags
4 x 90 m x 50 lbs (YTI's, Face Pulls, High Rows, and square drag with squared shoulders)
4 x 90 m x 100 lbs (Backward drag, Forward Drag)
2 x 90 m x 50 lbs (same as first four drags)
GHR (at the end of every 2 x 90m )
2 x 11 x Bodyweight
4 x 9 x Bodyweight

Solid recovery session. Lots of sweating and steady hard breathing. Felt decent when i finished up. I could tell this was a good pace for today after Squats and Stair Climber the previous two days.

22 April
0605 hrs

An older vid on YouTube but still awesome. 

Warm Up:
Dicenzo Rows 3 x 21 x 60 lbs
Banded Shoulder series 2 x 13 x Mini EFS Band
Right Shoulder was a little stiff so I took my time warming it up. The upper back definitely responded well to the Dicenzo Rows.

Incline Bench
3 x 10 x bar
1 x 5 x 70
1 x 5 x 90
1 x 5 x 105
1 x 5 x 115
1 x 5 x 130
1 x 13 x 150
 A few extra sets with the Bar to make sure things were moving smoothly. Upper back tightness was not an issue throughout the whole session. All reps were 3 count paused 2" above my chest and then exploded up like I was going to throw the bar.

Just might do this with my own shotgun. 

Db Bench (slight Incline) 2 x 19 x 15 lbs (slow tempo)
Fat Gripz Wide V-Bar Pull down 5 x 13 x 115 lbs
Light Tricep work. 1 min rest and keeping the shoulders squared.
Wide Bar Rear Delt Rows 4 x 21 x 80 lbs
Rear Delt Destroyer 1 x 65,65,30 x 60,25,10lbs
Rear delts were definitely Swole at the end of the rear delt destroyer set. I lightened the weight a little because i was trying to up it too fast instead of trying for more of a muscle pump with lighter weight.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

20 April 2015 -I come in peace, but if you fuck with me...

20 April
0545 hrs

Waking up this morning I was definitely sore and fatigued with no idea what I was going to produce this morning. Well as a good friend of mine taught me a few years and reminded me a few months back: "Your limits are always further than you think they are. Your mind is merely trying to save your body. You always can push a little further."
So with that thought in my head (that along with a few other quotes are hung in my bathroom) I got up, dressed, slammed back a coffee and got excited to be getting on the Stair climber.

Stair Climber w/Weight Vest (45 lbs)
20 min / 232 Calories / 104 Flights

2 min warm up Lvl 8-10
6 min Lvl 12 x 20 sec - Lvl 10 x 40 sec
11 min Lvl 14 x 20 sec -Lvl 10 or 8 x 40 sec*
1 min 10 sec x Lvl 16.15,14,12,10,8

*I alternated the rest pattern between Lvl 10 for 40 sec or Lvl 8 for 40 sec. The slight change in pace every second minute was just enough to keep me going. I literally was almost drooling. My legs held up and my conditioning is at the point where I can just recover for the next up swing. So definitely a positive take away today.

*All Exercises while still wearing Weight Vest*
Face Pulls (w/ EFS Strap to forehead) 2 x 21 x 60 lbs
Rear Delt Laterals (on 45 deg bench) 2 x 15 x 10 lbs
Upright Rows (Wide-Medium-Close Grips) 2 x 10,10,10 x 65 lbs

I made a point of figuring out the actually weight of the Vest today. It only took me a year to do it. It came in at 45 lbs. Wearing the vest while training was definitely something new for me. Also my traps were burning by the end of the session for sure.
Driving home tonight i was feeling fatigued and came to a realization. I don't want to claim over training or even over reaching by any means but the sensation i felt was almost like mild depression or sadness. I will have to do some research if it just a sensation of being tired or if I am missing something in my diet. In the mean time i will continue with Cocoa powder in my morning coffee (and cayenne pepper & honey &cinnamon) as well as ending my day with Magnesium powder.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

19 April 2015 -Why do only get Nose bleeds before i get to the gym and not while squatting?

19 April
0915 hrs

Banded Side Step 3 x 15 x EFS Light Band
Banded Front Step 3 x 15 x EFS Light Band
Single Leg Hip Bridge 2 x 10

SSB Box Squat (2" High)
1 x 21 x Bar (Monster Mini Band around knees)
1 x 5 x 150
1 x 5 x 190
1 x 5 x 230
1 x 5 x 245 (Belt on)
1 x 5 x 280
1 x 11 x 320

Things felt fairly solid. I managed my tightness very well overall. The last set with 11 reps was very solid. I jacked up the headphones, growled, took a few deep breathes, tightened up, Unracked the bar and went. After the set with 245 i did throw on my band around my left groin, things settled down after that. Leaving the gym I can tell my right might have been travelling forward, it is feeling "off" but not sore or tender or swollen
Db Straight leg Deadlift (1 min Rest) 3 x 13 x 55 lbs
Barbell Back Extension (on GHR) 
2 x 13 x 115
1 x 13 x 95

Over all high pace and focus I was done after the Back Extensions. Hit the only mildly warm sauna for over 30 min and then headed out. Had some lunch, had a nap and then another snack. Back to the gym.

0535 hrs

Prowler 
1 x 40 m x 180 lbs
2 x 10 m x 270 lbs
4 x 10 m x 360 lbs
4 x 10 m x 270 lbs
I had a partner today so rest was based off when the other person was finished with 30 sec or 1 min added on. I have close to 50 lbs on my partner. I have to give it to him, he kept up, despite only come off surgery last month. Excellent Heavy Prowler session overall.
GHR 2 x 7 x Bodyweight

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

18 April 2015 - 3 days of short but intense

16 April
0602 hrs

AirDyne
Warm Up: 3 min Avg Pace 11 miles /hr
17 min Pace 13.7-14.3 miles /hr
Total Distance:4.8 Miles
122 Calories

This was definitely feeling smoother. I am finding a decent Tempo pace as well as parameters to figure out and follow to keep myself honest. This also gives me a chance to know whether or not I am improving or being lazy.

17 April
0552 hrs

Banded KB Swings (w/Mini EFS Band)
Alternate between 70 lbs KB & 53 lbs KB 30 sec Rest
6 x 30 sec x 70 lbs
6 x 30 sec x 53 lbs
Working the movement pattern of the Swings and a little conditioning at the same time. Next week is test week for Swings. This scenario of rotating up and down in weight after each rest period allowed me to stress my grip and low back without burning them out.

GHR 3 x 5 x Monster Mini EFS Band
Face Pulls 1 x 110 reps x Mini EFS Band
Chin Ups 1 x 3 

Just like every Friday, fast pace. Lots of sweating. Lots of breathing hard making the heart feels like it will burst, if I don't pass out first. Lol. Tried one set of Chin Ups to see how things are coming along. The Movement was weak and short on endurance but at least no tenderness or pain. So progress.

18 April
0915 hrs

Fat Man Pull Ups (Football Bar /feet elevated 10") 10 x 10 reps
Incline Push Ups (Football bar /45 Deg) 5 x 15 reps
Using the push ups to work my upper back and keep my shoulder blades moving. Using the football bar as I discovered last week seems to not irritate things and help engage my lats better.
Football Bar 1 x 100 x 65 (bar weighs 45 lbs)
Upright Rows (wide -medium -close grip) 
1 x 5-5-5- x Bar
4 x 5-5-5- x 95
Yoke work, plain and simple.
Rope Curls 3 x 21 x 110
End of Rope Curls 2 x 21 x 40 lbs
EZ Bar Face Curl 2 x 21 x 40
EZ Bar OH Tricep Ext 
1 x 21 x 40
1 x 21 x 60
1 x 21 x 70

Saturday morning work. Nothing too strenuous. Suns Out Guns Out. Made a point of keep my shoulders square during all the variety of Cable curls. Sat in the sauna for at least 40 min. Tomorrow is Squat and heavy prowler. Food and early to bed.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)