1/16/22, Day 3, Week 7
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts
Dbell Incline Bench 3x12x80
Nautilus Flies 2x12x150, 12x155
Chest supported dbell rows 3x12x70
Face Pulls 3x12x115
Leg curls 2x12x95, 12x100
Leg press 3x12x525
Ab wheel 3x12
Good session in the gym I go to when I’m in San Diego. For some reason the website I use to track my training looks like it might not have saved the weights I was using some I’m guessing a bit at some of these.
1/18/22, Day 1, Week 8 (Antagonist Day)
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts 2x30
Dbell neutral bench 3x18x75
Supinated row 3x18x135*
EZ bar curls 3x18x45*
Skull crushers 2x18x45, 18x55*
RDL 3x18x205
Goblet heels elevated squat 3x18x75
L sits 2x25seconds
*I used unfamiliar short bars for both of these movements and counted them as 25#. Not sure that was right but that’s what I’m going with.
This is my last week of my second run through a program inspired by the Waterbury’s total body training. I’ve enjoyed it but am ready to change things up a bit. I’m 95% certain my next training cycle will be a 3 day per week run through the Eternal Warrior program. On weeks I’m stuck training in a commercial gym I’ll probably just do the same exercises but not as a circuit – setting up circuits in a commercial gym setting just seems like too much of a PITA.
1/20/22, Day 2, Week 8 (Antagonist Day)
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts 2x30
One arm dbell overhead 3x8x60
Chins 3x8x10
Dbell lateral raises 3x8x30
Straight arm pulldowns 2x8x75, 10x75
Seated leg curls 2x8x175, 10x175
Bulgarian split squats 2x8x70, 10x70
High bar squats 3x8x185
Bus drivers 10x10, 2x8x10
Good session. Managed two sets of ATG split squats with both feet on the floor so I naturally had to try some light barbell squats at the end of my session. Left knee did pretty good, but my left hip was not very happy with these, especially afterwards.
1/24/22, Day 3, Week 8 (Antagonist Day)
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts
Incline dbell bench 3x12x85
Dbell chest supported rows 3x12x70
Dbell flies + minis 3x12x30
Face pulls 3x12x55
Hip thrusts 3x12x205
Front foot elevated heel elevated split squats 3x12x70
Ab Wheel 3x12
Good final session of this Waterbury inspired program. I’ll likely only get one more lifting session in this week and so will either start on my new plan or perhaps just have a “fun” day of doing whatever I feel like.
1/25/22
10.7 mile bike ride, mostly flat.
1/26/22 – Whatever the hell I felt like day
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts 2x30
Chins 10, 3x8
Ring rows 4x10
Pullovers 3x12x55
EZ bar curls 3x12x60
KB swings 20x44, 3x20x62
Sled 1 trip on 2, 3 trips on 3.
L sits 3x15 seconds
Managed to do all of my ATG split squats from the floor. It only took me 6+ months to get here. I will plan to stick with what I’ve been doing for another couple of months and then I may switch to the Dense Program.
It was fun do just do what I felt like. I might sneak a bike ride in later today but otherwise will be off until next week – heading to the mountains for some more skiing.
2/1/22, Week 1, Day 1, Eternal Warrior Template
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts 2x30
Strength Circuit
A1. RDL 5x6x275
A2. Dbell Rows 5x6x95
A3. Neutral Grip Bench 5x6x225
Assistance Circuit
B1. Monkey foot leg ext. 10x15, 2x10x20, 20x20
B2. Dbell flies + mini 5x10x30
B3. EZ bar curls 3x10x60
Metcon (3 rounds)
KB swings 20x62
Stir the pot
10 minute weight vest walk
Skiing left my left knee in much better shape this go around than last time. I’m not sure if that was because I skied mostly groomers (no new snow to ski), iced afterwards, it is getting used to it or some combo of all three. Either way, I’ll take it!
Day one of a template I worked up based on the Eternal Warrior Program. I’ve probably trained using circuits less than 5 times in the 25+ years I’ve been lifting weights. It is going to take some getting used to but I’m going to stick with this for at least 12 weeks.
2/2/22
15.7 mile bike ride, 713ft climbing, 1:06.
Hi Burt. Saw you over in Shane’s journal and thought I would stop in. Looks like we are battling some of the same injuries. It was interesting reading about your KOT training. I was a runner for most of my life and my knees are beat to hell. Started doing Olympic style lifts 8 years ago and the high bar style squats killed my knees. From there I switched exclusively to low bar powerlifting squats and those are much better on my knees (trying to keep the knees over the toes). Also, I’ve been doing box squats for a few years now and that also helps keep the knees over the toes. Cool to see all of the bike riding that you do. That is something I would love to do more of. Guessing you are out west somewhere as you can drive to San Diego? Your session on 2/1/22 looks strikingly similar to most of my sessions. Strength > Accessory > Metcon. Almost fell over when I saw the word metcon in someone else’s journal. 
Anyway, I will try to follow along. Good work going on in here!
I’ll be honest – the fading powerlifter in me threw up a bit when I wrote “Metcon” in my log lol. 20 years and 40 powerlifting meets, being too heavy and skiing moguls have left me with a couple of beat up knees. The KOT stuff does seem to be helping though the process is slow. I have a perhaps irrational hope that one day I’ll be able to return to some form of barbell squatting but right now all of the variations leave me with a left knee that is too pissed off to justify continuing the movement when there are other options.
Yeah, I’m on the West Coast in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a long drive to San Diego but doable. I’m blessed to live somewhere where the weather is good enough to cycle pretty much year round (with the occasional rain out).
Glad to have you following along!
Like you said to Shane, the goal is to maintain strength and be healthy. There’s no sense in doing exercises that hurt you. Good call to stop squatting (although I don’t know how you do split squats???). Ha ha on the metcon. I was bored out of my mind lifting and came across crossfit 8 years ago. The variety was much needed, but the training style overall just left me sitting out with injuries so I had to stop. Now I plug in two metcons per week that are chosen very strategically to not aggravate injuries. It is a fun type of conditioning if you can limit it to things that minimize your risk of injury.
It’s always easier to give good advice than to follow it yourself. 
I have no idea why certain things bother my knees and others don’t. My best guess is that it is mostly load-dependent.
2/3/22, Week 1, Day 2, Eternal Warrior Template
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband pullaparts 2x30
Strength Circuit
A1. KB one arm overhead 5x6x62
A2. Pullups 6x6 (extra set in here since I needed one warmup set of the other movements)
A3. Hip Thrust 5x6x225
Assistance Circuit
B1. Rear laterals 3x10x15
B2. Triceps pressdowns 3x10x75
B3. Monkey foot leg curl + doubled mini 3x10x20 (took a bit of fiddling to get this set up right)
Metcon (4 rounds)
Farmers 65#, up and down driveway
10 minute weight vest walk
The farmers walks were recommended in Thibs’ article on the program but these didn’t really get my heart rate up that much. They were fun though so I’ll keep them. I need to up the weight a bit on the hip thrusts next week and pick up a dip belt so I can easily add some load to the pullups.
2/5/22, Week 1, Day 3, Eternal Warrior Template
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband Pullaparts. 2x30
Strength Circuit
A1. Incline Dbell bench 5x6x95
A2. Pendlay rows. 5x6x215
A3. Bulgarian split squats 3x5x80, 2x5x90
Assistance Circuit
B1. GHR 3x8
B2. Dbell curls. 3x8x40
B3. Dbell laterals. 3x8x25
L Sits 3x15 seconds
Metcon
Sled, 3 trips on setting 2.
10ish minute weight vest walk
I’m now consistently able to get my ATG split squats with my front foot on the floor. I’m going to keep doing the modified zero program for at least the next twelve weeks and then may consider switching to the Dense Program. Oddly while the ATG split squats don’t bother my left knee, the Patrick Steps still sometimes do.
One week in on this Eternal Warrior template I’ve come up with and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I like the exercise choices I made and so will keep these for 4-6 weeks before rotating to different movements. The only bit I don’t like so far is the 10 minute steady state cardio. The weight vest walks don’t feel like they are doing much for my heart rate. I’ll try upping the weight in the vest this week to see if that helps.
Nice lifts in here. Strong work.
+1 Strong work on IDB and Pendlays. Those split squats just scare me to death. 
I have a weight vest too and usually wear it while doing pull-ups, push-ups, squats etc. It will definitely get your heartrate up doing that type of stuff.
2/6/22
26.5 mile bike ride, 1,153 ft. of climbing, 1:54. Beautiful weather for a ride today. We haven’t had any rain for more than a month and there’s no in the forecast. Great for “winter” cycling but not so great for our drought.
Thanks for the kind words and support gents.
Nice job on the bike ride. Sounds like it was a great day.
2/8/22, Week 2, Day 1, Eternal Warrior Template
Modified KOT Zero Program
Miniband Pullaparts 2x30
Strength Circuit
A1. RDL 2x6x275 3x6x280
A2. Dbell rows 5x6x95
A3. Neutral grip bench 2x6x225, 3x6x230
Assistance Circuit
B1. Monkey foot leg extensions 10x20, 2x10x30, 15x30
B2. Dbell flies + mini band 3x10x30
B3. EZ bar curls 3x10x70
Metcon
KB swings 3x20x62
Stir the pot
10ish minute weight vest walk