What’s your carb intake like? I mean everything — fruits, veggies, grains, roots, etc etc.
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Looks like you are eating pretty low carb. I found when I went keto or low carb my performance definitely dropped considerably and I would hit walls on my energy level, especially when doing higher reps or aerobic exercises, bike riding etc. Some say it is because I wasn’t fat adapted, probably true, but once I started eating carbs again this went away quickly.
You might also want to consider adding in more salt or electrolytes around your workouts.
@kdjohn, @shaneinga - You’re probably right about the carbs. I’m in a hurry at the moment, but I’ll try to reply more specifically later this afternoon.
5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w1d6
Friday - 08 October 2021
Workout: Hard + extra conditioning, 1305-1350 (45 minutes)
Sled push - 10x50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
Goal: 7:30; Time: 7:31
60 Devil’s presses - 2x30 lbs - 3x20, 60-second rest between
BPA - red - 4x(10 high + 10 mid + 10 low)
BB curls - 43, 17 + 10
Bah! I’m getting weak—missed goal time on that sled push by 1 second. Think that’s the first time I haven’t come in below the goal since I got the stupid thing.
Rest of it sucked, too. No intensity today. But I did get 43 BB curls in the first set, so that was good. I wanted to get all 70 in just 2 sets, but I had to rest-pause the remaining 27.
Tomorrow’s gonna be a roller coaster: Kids’ winter short course season starts, and they’ve got events all morning. But we get to watch them swim—in person and inside. First time for that since February 2020 when the pandemic hit, so that’ll be awesome!
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w1d7
Saturday - 09 October 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning + calves, 0440-0605 (85 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 24 kg - 35 minutes
Bike@120 bpm - 15 minutes
SL CR - L/R - 30x8, 35x8 | 40x8 + isohold: 22s
Jump rope tabata - 16x20/10 - 1 round
Fasted. Got it in before heading out. Oscar, etc. to follow later.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w1d7
Saturday - 09 October 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1235-1310 (35 minutes)
Oscar WOD - AMRAP, 23 minutes
6 full rounds + 2 reps
4 Devil’s presses - 2x30 lbs
BPA - red - 4x(10 high + 10 mid + 10 low)
So that had to be pure adrenaline: got 6 full rounds and 2 additional devil’s presses before the 23-minute timer expired. Went immediately into finishing off the daily devil’s presses but opted not to continue into a 7th full round—that was the smart play today, particularly because ego’s been creeping in this week.
Tweaked something in my right quad, toward the outside and just below my hip in the second round of lunges. Thought about quitting, but it actually kept me honest about keeping the weight on my left leg during lunges, and it did not impact any other movements, so I continued. It’s a little tender right now, but nothing worse than when I notice my SI joints, for example. Luckily I can just take it easy for the rest of today, and maybe I’ll do something that doesn’t involve lunges tomorrow.
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Hope the quad is ok.
Little tender is nothing too serious but keep a look out for any bruising or swelling (IF you are anywhere as hairy as me in the legs then seeing a bruise is like finding a needle in a haystack)
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Thanks, man. Just got in from the weighted vest walk, and though the quad feels tight, it’s not exactly pain—kind of like DOMS, but in a very specific location. Moving about felt pretty good. No swelling or bruising that I can see, but I’m keeping a close watch.
5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w1 - summary
Interesting week—I was up and down a lot physically, I was up and down a lot mentally. Right now, I’m tired after two days of getting up and out extra early, but I’m doing my best to remain objective.
The lifting workouts went well, overall. Hit all the lifts and got all of my assistance in. Felt strong. Tuesday was a little slow—hit that wall midway through. Conditioning, on the other hand, really buried me. I did well on Wednesday with that run, but the other workouts felt tougher than they should have.
@kdjohn, @shaneinga - Again, I think you’re right about carbs. I’m not doing low-carb with specific intent… it’s just kinda my habit at this point. But even so, aside from veggies at lunch and dinner, I’m not getting much more than trace carbs except on what I’ll call “carb refeed” days. That’s not really a thing, nor is it conscious, but I’ve noticed a trend over the last few weeks where I eat a huge amount of carbs—usually potatoes of some sort or granola, maybe some rice—in the evening once or twice a week. Probably better to spread that out more evenly throughout the week. Oh, and I’ve been eating very little fruit lately, not sure why. So, all of this to say I’m not exactly balanced in my approach of late. It’s time to do something a little different.
Right, okay. I’ve added assistance, added distance to the sled push, continued to bang on the extra conditioning, and I’m noticing physical and mental fatigue. Could just be a bad week, so I’m going to run the experiment again: I will keep assistance totals, I will keep sled push distance, and I will push with extra conditioning. But I will also get in a few more direct carb sources and try to more evenly distribute them throughout the week to see how I feel. I will then adjust accordingly as I head into 1s week.
Given all of that, then, my goals for this week are:
- Complete all 4 lifting workouts
- Complete 4 days of hard conditioning
- Complete 3 days of easy conditioning + direct calf work
- Do 100 burpees + swings and 120 BPAs every day
- Continue to clean-up my diet, paying attention to direct carb sources
I’m going to go back to daily burpees + swings in place of devil’s presses this week, just for a change of pace.
Nuff said, let’s get on with it already.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w2d1
Sunday - 10 October 2021
Workout: Easy conditioning + calves, 0440-0550 (70 minutes)
Weighted vest walk - 24 kg - 35 minutes
SL CR - L/R - 30x10, 35x8 | 40x6 + isohold: 23s
Jump rope tabata - 16x20/10 - 1 round
Fasted.
Out the door early again, second day of kids’ swim meet (from which I’m typing these entries, actually). My quad feels pretty good—still a little tender, but getting moving this morning felt good and there’s no obvious signs of a problem. No pain in bodyweight movements either, so that’s a plus.
Trying to settle in on the right rep range for these single-leg calf raises. Form yesterday and today was beginning to break down, particularly on the last set today, and the hold was sketchy at best. Not a big deal, but I’ll find something that works correctly soon enough.
Gonna try Pwn’s The Last Castle workout later: Farmer’s walks in the driveway with alternating DB snatches at one end and KB swings at the other. I’ll follow that up with burpees, any remaining swings, and BPAs as well.
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Most of your workouts are short and intense enough that the body will primarily want to power them with carbs. Despite what the prevailing trend is lately, carbs aren’t evil, especially if performance is a key goal.
Fruit before a workout and denser carb sources (potatoes, rice, whole grains, etc etc) after a workout are a good idea, in my opinion. Save your non-or-low-carb meals for times when you’re not working out. I wouldn’t be surprised if a subtle shift like this helps things slightly.
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I find I kinda self-regulate on this. I have been playing some hard sports lately for the first time in a while, and I really needed to up my carbs and protein. I was literally craving burritos and pizza. When I’m in more of a maintenance mode, I eat a bit lighter and satiate myself with nut butter at the end of the day as needed. I know everyone is different, though, but for me extra recovery needs mean extra carbs and protein.
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Beginning to think I’m in this boat, too. I’m still trying to figure out what works well for me after doing the caloric restriction thing for so long, but those carb refeeds often follow about 48 hours after squat and deadlift workouts—not always, but enough that I can see some sort of pattern.
My relationship with food is still a work in progress, but I feel like I’m at least trending in the right direction these past few months!
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w2d1
Sunday - 10 October 2021
Workout: Extra conditioning, 1225-1325 (60 minutes)
Pwn’s The Last Castle - 10 rounds
a) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
b) 6 alternating DB snatches - 30 lbs
c) Farmer’s walk - 25 yards - 2x77 lbs
d) 10 KB swings - 24 kg
100 burpees - 4x25, 25-second rest between
BPA - red - 4x(10 high + 10 mid + 10 low)
Tried my hand at Pwn’s The Last Castle. I don’t have a keg, so I substituted farmer’s walks. Today’s variation: One round is a trip up the driveway, DB snatches, a trip back down the driveway, KB swings. Took just over 23 minutes—early laps were just under two minutes, later laps were closer to 2:20 or so. Swings were good, but I might be able to bump up the weight on those DB snatches.
@T3hPwnisher - Thanks for that one, man. Hoping to make it a regular.
Forgot how much I love farmer’s walks. Literally had to dust off my bars it’s been so long. Once upon a time I was working toward 1/2 BW in each hand for some kind of time goal (was it a one minute trip up my hill?), but that goal fell by the wayside… And I don’t remember why. Anyway, I’m glad I rediscovered those.
Burpees were slow and controlled today, BPAs were typical. Whole workout took a bit longer than I would have liked, but I had the time today so no problem. Just going to have to choose when I put this one into the rotation carefully.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w2d2
Monday - 11 October 2021
Workout: Squat, 0900-1005 (65 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 0918; End: 1000; Duration: 42 minutes
Squat - 105x5, 130x5, 155x5 | 180x5, 205x5, 230x5 | (180x5)x5
Pull-up - BW - 10, 10, 10, 10
HLR - 16, 16, 16, 12
Dip - 60 - 10, 10, 10, 10
Band face pull - red - 40
KB swing - 24kg - 20
Push-up - 40
Assistance totals:
Push - 80 reps
Pull - 80 reps
Single-leg/core - 80 reps
Felt good today—sleeping past 0400 helps: didn’t get up until 0515. Squat was strong, no trouble with that tweaky quad. In fact, I notice it only in one spot if I push on it. Seems to be on the mend, whatever it is. Not much else to say today.
Conditioning later.
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w2d2
Monday - 11 October 2021
Workout: Hard + extra conditioning, 1245-1330 (45 minutes)
Sled push - 10x50 yds, 135 + sled = 222 lbs
Goal: 7:30; Time: 7:43
100 1-pump burpees + 80 KB swings - 5x(20 + 16), 20-second rest between
BPA - red - 4x(10 high + 10 mid + 10 low)
Something’s going on—things are getting worse, not better. I’ve slept, I’ve eaten, I’m not overly stressed, this morning’s workout was pretty awesome, I was mentally ready for this work. But I missed sled push goal. Again. This time by 13 seconds! And I was working—and I mean, w-o-r-k-i-n-g—at it today, but my quads were jelly and my lungs were on fire. I honestly think I didn’t have any more to give…
Follow-up burpees and remaining swings were almost as terrible. BPAs were fine, though, so there’s that.
So, ego aside, I may have actually crossed some kind of threshold. Or maybe I just need to dig my way out with a fork and spoon.
Just now remembering that JW says something like, “When there’s doubt, there is no doubt,” so…
That’s probably the answer.
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Nice work man. I will say something that could be happening is your body needs more recovery time between lifting and hard conditioning sessions.
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What did you do in between the 2 sessions? You might need an little extra rest in between them certainly if you felt super good in the first workout.
Also how do you decide on the sled push goals?
Only time this should be the case is if you are very close to a deload and can physically afford to go balls to the wall and over reach. If you are not close to a deload then grinding through this will just hurt you in the long run
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5s PRO, 5x5 FSL - c4w2d3
Tuesday - 12 October 2021
Workout: Press, 1140-1245 (65 minutes)
Warm-up
Throws + jumps
Begin: 1157; End: 1241; Duration: 44 minutes
Press - 50x5, 65x5, 75x5 | 90x5, 100x5, 115x5 | (90x5)x5
Incline DB press - 2x60 lbs - 18, 18, 14
OA row - L/R - 45 - 22, 18
Bulgarian split squat - L/R - 2x20 lbs - 20, 18, 12
Chin-up - BW - 10, 10, 10, 10
Cable crunch - 50 - 30
Band pushdown - red - 30
Assistance totals:
Push - 80 reps
Pull - 80 reps
Single-leg/core - 80 reps
Weird schedule today.
Press moved well, but my shoulders were tired after the top set. Luckily the FSL sets felt easy. Struggled with the last 2 sets of chin-ups, which is kinda weird. And now my biceps feel like they’re about to explode. But I got all those cable crunches in one set again today, so that’s good. (I do those with a 3-2-5-1 tempo, just for the record. Not sure I’ve logged that anywhere in here yet.)
@shaneinga, @hustlinghat93 - Some good food for thought there, guys. Thanks for the input. I do think more time between lifting and conditioning workouts could help, but I’m at the mercy of my schedule. Gonna try something different today, because it’s all messed up anyway. Likewise, I’m only in Week 2 of two back-to-back leader cycles (6 weeks total), so it’s not a great idea to bury myself unnecessarily, and I’m watching my energy levels quite closely this week.
I’m frustrated with the sled push performance because I did it twice last week within the time goal. The goal is somewhat arbitrary, yes, but I hit it nonetheless. Twice. Then I got to Friday, only just missed it—okay, fine, bad day—but then I really missed it yesterday. Ugh. If it’s too much, it’s too much—I’m actually trying to find that line. I’m just not 100% sure I’ve crossed it yet.
Speaking of which: conditioning to follow later. Not exactly sure when, just yet, but I’m going to try to push it off as long as I can to see what happens.
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Is this mandatory (part of the program) if not, could you just not do it?
You’re already doing a lot of work
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