MarkKO's Training Log

Merry Christmas to one and all. Also happy Festivus. And Chanukah.

General happiness and PRs.

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The savoury parts of lunch are done (roast pork shoulder, roast pumpkin and carrot, goat curry, 12 hour slow cooked lamb shank in alcoholic ginger beer, rice, pork mince wrapped in bacon with curry sauce). So far on target with macros and calories - I decided to be that guy, but only to the extent of tracking and trying to stay within my target. Things are going so well I figured it would be worth the effort to do this.

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Now, I know I set out a broad plan for 2017 but I think I also want some arbitrary targets to shoot for along the way, because it makes life a bit interesting. In no particular order:

  • squat 500 lbs in sleeves for five
  • bench 302 lbs for a triple
  • DL 528 lbs for five
  • 10 chest to bar pull-ups/chin-ups
  • military press my bodyweight (that’ll be interesting given I’m not focusing on it as a main lift)

Felt antsy for some kind of work, but equally eager to stick to my no-barbell decision for the holiday period. Went across the road to the outdoor gym at the park.

Today’s training

Lazy lifter

Pull-ups, chest to ‘bar’: 4, 4, 4, 4

Definitely ready for fives next cycle

Dips 50 total reps: 20, 10, 10, 10

Supersetted with

Towel fatman pull-ups, feet elevated by about 6 inches after set one: 15, 10, 10, 10

Among other things I got a pair of Elite FTS normal knee wraps (2.5 m). They remind me a bit of the fabric used for the Reactive Slingshot. I’m now playing around and seeing how many revolutions I get with various degrees of cranking.

No tension, just snug: six - four around and an X
Slight tension: eight - four around, an X and two around
High tension: 10 - four around, an X and four around
Maximal tension: 12 - four around, an X and six around

At every level of tension they are surprisingly comfortable.

From just how it felt without any weight, high tension should be a pretty good sweet spot for stopping power and rebound. Maximal tension feels like it’ll have massive stopping power, not sure about rebound because it feels like the wraps are stretched to their absolute limit.

Either way, I’m happy with these. They’ll be my wraps for weeks one to three of peaking pre meet, and in weeks four and five I’ll move to my red Slingshots and try to get eight revolutions out of them (four around, an X and two around). It may change when I actually use them, but I don’t see how the EFTS normals will give more rebound than the red Slingshots simply because of how stiff the Slingshots are.

Ended up going to the park near the in-laws with munchkin and his cousins. It also has an outdoor gym, so we all ended up mucking around. I did some more pull-ups (I think maybe 12 or so), some dragon flags (some fives), some shins to bar and some dips. To my surprise (and satisfaction) my elbows didn’t say shit.

Then we ended up trying to climb these 4-odd metre high vertical poles around two inches in diameter with a bell at the top. Turns out I can get to the top - twice. Massively pleased.

Congrats on your bench pr man.Even the paused rep moving is a big win imo

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Thanks. I agree, bench is moving in the right direction. Taking a full week away from the bar probably won’t help in the short term, but my body and head are enjoying the break. Doing dips and pull-ups will be enough to maintain things I think. Hope you had a good Xmas.

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Using implements around the house today.

RFESS with munchkin (45 lbs or so) 50 total reps: 16, 14, 10, 10

Seated good morning with munchkin 100 total reps: 50, 50

His legs work like SSB handles. He also doesn’t understand the concept of breaks, so I did all these quite fast.

No abs because I did a bunch yesterday

Bulgarian bag curls (48 lbs) 50 total reps: 12, 12, 10, 10, 10

Bulgarian bag shrugs with munchkin sitting on it (around 90 lbs all up) 50 total reps: 25, 25 - seriously good pump in the traps

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This is awesome, you should probably publish a munchkin workout for Dads looking to get rid of their ‘Dad-bod’.

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It’s definitely fun. So far over time we’ve done:

Thrusters
Swings (he sits in a laundry basket and I swing it like a kb)
Weighted push-ups
Squats
I think zercher squats
Good mornings (on my back and my shoulders)
Seated good mornings (back and shoulders)
Bulgarian bag swings (him sitting on the bag)
Bulgarian bag shrugs (him sitting on the bag)
Lying leg raises (he lies on my legs)
Presses (him in the laundry basket again, single press like with a kb)

The key is keeping him safe, interested and just patient enough to let you get some breaks.

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Since he grows bigger over time… does that make it progressive overload?

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You’d think so wouldn’t you? I have this long term goal that I still want to be able to do all that stuff with when he’s much older.

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Impromptu progress pic. My fiancee took this today and tagged me on facebook.

Leanest I’ve ever been (which doesn’t say much).

Seven months in, sitting on 2500 cal/day using Paul Carter’s macro breakdown. I think by May to July I’ll be at 15% or whatever per cent I’ll like the look of enough to establish my new set point.

Challenge for the next two days: we’re heading on a mini break, so I’ll need to keep an eagle on my food choices.

I will admit to holding my gut in slightly here. I knew she was taking a picture.

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Happy Birthday MarkKo!

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That 6 pack is coming in. And every body has bicep veins besides me.

That is pretty awesome.

Hahaha

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What is a munchkin? Never heard that term.
Out of the context I would guess it is a human child or a medium sized dog.

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It’s the former in this case…

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What Ben said. My stepson is four. He has been an implement for the last two years. For some reason he likes sitting on me while I do stuff.

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Maybe he is going for the “My dad can beat up your dad” thing. :wink:

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