12/7/20 - ME Trap Bar, Marches, and Shrugs
ME Lower Body today.
Trap Bar (high handles) - Worked up to 435 x 1 and then did 405 x 3 x 2 - I haven’t used the trap bar in years and it felt great. The last two times I deadlifted from a higher position (block pulls and trap bar high handles) everything just felt so much better and more natural. Duh, you made the lift easier, Mark. I get it, but my 6’7” frame was happy with the position of today’s lift.
Dip Belt KB Marches - 48 x 4 x 100 steps superset with
Trap Bar Shrugs - 225 x 4 x 10-12
Really fun session on a fine Monday. I will be keeping the trap bar in the rotation.
12/6/20 - Speed Bench, Lat Pulldowns, Guns, and Hiking with and Old Friend
DE Upper Body session today.
Bench with mini and monster mini band - 95 x 9 x 3 - 3 narrow, medium, and wide. Weight was embarrassingly light but felt good.
Lat Pulldowns - 90-115 x 5 x 12 superset with
One-Arm KB Bench - 20-24 x 4 x 10
KB Tris - 14s x 4 x 8-10 superset with
KB Rope Curls - 20 x 4 x 8-10
This was a really good session early on a Sunday morning.
Cali and I met an old friend of mine and his wife for a hike at Valley Forge this afternoon. We went about 5.5 miles and had a great conversation the whole way. It was 39 F and sunny with some wind that made it feel colder. A great day all around.
12/4/20 - DE Lower Box Squats, Deadlifts, and KB Swings
DE Lower Body today:
Cambered Bar Box Squats (18”) with 65 lbs of chains - 165 x 12 x 2 - EMOM - These felt great. The higher box and chains instead of bands was way more forgiving on my groin and didn’t cause me any pain. I also did these barefoot, which felt much more natural. I didn’t have to adjust my feet after every rep.
Deadlifts - 230 with 65 lbs of chains - 20 x 1 - one rep every 30 seconds - Stuck with conventional today.
One-Handed KB Swings - 44 x 24 x 3 - one set every 30 seconds, alternating hands each set - First time ever doing one-handed swings with the 44. They felt very solid. After doing easy one-arm cleans with the 44 the other day, I knew I could swing it with no trouble.
12/2/20 - Overhead Press, Rows, Side Laterals
Good lunchtime session today.
BB OHP - Worked up to 135 x 5, 115 x 3 x 5
BB Rows - 60 kg, 70, 70, 75, 75 all for sets of 8
Side Laterals - 15s x 3 x 15
I’m pleased with the OHP considering I haven’t done it in so long. I’d love to work up to a bodyweight press, but right now I’m not even close.
12/1/20 - Steady State Air Bike
Rode 10.7 miles in 30 minutes on the Air Bike this morning. This was a good pace and got the blood moving. I haven’t done steady state cardio in awhile so it felt good to mix it up.
I plan on following up with a couple walks around the neighborhood later today. Should be fun.
11/30/20 - Box Squats, GMs, and Other Fun
Lunchtime training of whatever the hell I felt like today. I’m still nursing this right groin, but I needed to see how some regular stance box squats felt.
Beltless/Barefoot Cambered Bar Box Squats (16”) with 50 lbs of chains - 205 x 2 x 5, 225 x 1 x 5 - Felt the groin a tiny bit but nothing painful.
Cambered Bar Good Mornings - 165 x 4 x 8 - These felt great.
Single-Arm KB Cleans - 44 x 3 x 3 per arm
Suitcase Holds - :20/:15 work/rest x 5 per arm
By far the best workout I’ve had in a long time. Everything felt strong and solid.
11/29/20 - Movement Circuit
After several days of too much to eat and drink, I was ready to just move a bit. My right groin is still super tight and feeling awful so I tried not to aggravate it.
40 minute running clock EMOM:
Odd Minutes - 5/5 one-handed swings with 32 (first two sets were 28 but I decided to go up; 32 felt easy)
Even Minutes
1st 5 - 5 chins of various grips
2nd 5 - TRX push-ups x 5
3rd 5 - TRX inverted rows x 6
4th 5 - Quad Mace x 10 360s
I felt like shit halfway through this workout, but I pushed on and finished strong. For the next month or so, I may just do whatever I want for training and not stress about following a specific program. I think this will be a nice mental break, give my body time to heal, and be a lot of fun.
11/27/20 - Valley Forge Hike
Broc, Lauren, Cali, and I walked a big loop around Valley Forge today. The weather was perfect and the dogs had fun. I wish I had gotten a picture. ~4.5 miles total.
11/26/20 - Thanksgiving Day Workout
We were blessed with some great weather on this fine Thanksgiving weekend. It seems like everyone had a good workout this morning. We actually had the exact same workout crew of six that we did last year.
30 minute running clock with exercises done EMOM:
KB Goblet Squats - 36 x 5
Gorilla Rows - 24s x 30 (15/arm)
One-Handed Swings - 28 x 20, 20, 14, 14, 14
Carries - 150-lb, 150-lb, 200-lb, 32 kg, 32 kg - My right groin is jacked up and scooping up the sandbags felt terrible.
Hanging Knee Raises - 5 x 10
KB OHP - 24 x 4 x 5, 28 x 5
Thankful for good family, friends, and a healthy body. Broc, Lauren, Cali, and I followed this up with a 3.5 mile hike at Green Lane Park in the afternoon. One of the best Thanksgivings ever.
11/23/20 - Speed Squats and KB Swings
DE Lower today. Normally this would be Friday but we have company coming to town for the Thanksgiving weekend so my schedule will be off.
Box Squats (16”) with Average Bands - 135 x 8 x 3 EMOM - right groin still feels like shit
Two-Handed KB Swings - 40 kg x 20 sets of 6 swings every 30 seconds (120 total reps in 10 minutes) - This wrecked me.
I did not feel like Hercules today. Just kind of feeling in a funk after last week’s travel.
11/22/20 - Speed Bench, Chins, Floor Presses, and Carries
DE Upper Body today:
Swiss Bench with Monster Minis - 135 x 9 x 3 (3/narrow, medium, wide grip EMOM)
Chins - BW x 4 x 4 (nunchucks, regular, neutral wide) superset with
One-Arm KB Floor Press - 28 x 4 x 6
One-Arm KB Carries - 3 sets of waiter, rack, suitcase - left arm then right arm to Chase’s driveway and back
Good little session. Still recovering from Friday’s travel (and night caps).
11/20/20 - Bis, Tris, and Heading Home
I had my usual restless night of sleep before getting to head home, but I managed to hit up a quick morning workout. It’s going to be a long ass day of work and travel but at least I got a pump.
Bis and Tris supersetted exercises. Just did a bunch of extensions and curls in various forms.
Jump Rope - 5 x 1:00/:30 work/rest
Walked one awesome mile on the treadmill
11/19/20 - Hill Sprints
There was a nice hill behind the hotel so I went and ran 12 sprints (every 50 seconds) on the sidewalk this morning. Everything felt good and I didn’t pull a groin so I’ll call it a win.
After the sprints, I went into the hotel and stretched and did 5 sets of planks with :30/:30 work/rest. These were challenging but felt good.
Followed up with a ~50 minute nature walk at County Grounds Park on a beautiful afternoon in the low 60s.
11/18/20 - Shoulder Pump
Early morning workout in the hotel gym. Just wanted to get a quick shoulder pump and move around a bit.
Standing DB OHP - 50s x 5, 40s x 3 x 6
Side and rear lateral raises
One awesome mile walking on the treadmill
I followed this up with a ~20 minute walk around County Grounds Park. It was quite dark, windy, and cold by the time I finished so I was ready to be done.
11/17/20 - Hotel Circuit
I’m on the road in Milwaukee this week but training will continue. I’m actually looking forward to mixing it up and knowing I can get it done under less than ideal circumstances. There are some good gyms by the hotel, but none of them are allowing day passes due to COVID. Fortunately, the hotel has ellipticals, treadmills, 5-50 pound dumbbells, and I brought a jump rope and band from home. Oh, and there is a nice county park right by the hotel so I’ll be utilizing that throughout the week.
Early morning workout.
Rounds of 5 EMOM: 5 rounds of:
1 minute jump rope
10 push-ups
10 burpees
10/arm 50-lb DB one arm rows
10 50-lb DB goblet squat
This was a good session to get the blood moving. I followed up with 2.5 miles on the treadmill in the afternoon.
11/14/20 - Green Lane Park Hike
Did a beautiful four mile hike at Green Lane Park this morning. Arvid had fun and it’s always great walking and talking with Cali.
11/13/20 - DE Box Squats and Deadlifts
DE Lower Body today:
Box Squats (16”) with Average Bands - 115 x 8 x 3 - right groin nagged a bit but overall solid
Sumo Deadlifts with Mini Bands - 225 x 15 x 1 (every 30 seconds) - The setup was kind of a pain in the ass but it was definitely different than using chains.
March in Place - 48 kg KB hanging on dip belt - 5 rounds of 1:00/:30 work/rest
Pretty solid session all things considered.
11/11/20 - ME Swiss Bar Inclines, Chins, and Dips
ME Upper Body on this fine Veteran’s Day:
Swiss Bar Incline Bench with Monster Minis - 175 x 1, 125 x 3 x 5
Chins - 10 kg x 6 x 3 superset with
Dips - 10 kg x 6 x 3
KB Gorilla Rows - 28s x 20, 24s x 2 x 30
Pretty good session. The chins and dips felt great.
11/10/20 - Sucky Hills and Air Bike Sprints
It was a gorgeous day so I drove over to the Y to run some hills, but things didn’t go as planned. I popped my right groin on my fifth sprint. Fuck me. I’m determined to keep running hills but the last two times I tried to go all out, I pulled a groin. Oh well. If that’s my biggest gripe, life is pretty good.
Came home and did some intervals on the Air Bike - 8 rounds of :15/:45 work/rest. This was effective and, best of all, I didn’t hurt myself.
11/9/20 - ME Good Mornings and Simple & Sinister
ME training today. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go because I had pretty severe diarrhea this morning. I felt fine otherwise so I pressed on and felt pretty solid training.
Beltless Cambered Bar Good Mornings - 5 reps with 225 + 50 lbs of chains
Simple & Sinister with 32/24 - This is either a new PR or very close to it on S&S. I felt fatigue on the latter sets of swings but otherwise felt very strong. I haven’t done S&S in forever, but I knew I could hit these weights. My current training has kept me overall strong and feeling good and confident in my physical abilities.
Onward and upward.