Thanks man. I feel that way on the warm ups. Did NOT think 50 was happening today
@ChongLordUno The infection is spreading! Haha. Joe made it pretty awesome. Appreciate the sentiments as well. @TrainForPain pointed it out in your own log: thereâs proof in these logs that the method is inconsequential compared to the effort.
BUILDING THE MONOLITH Week 2, Workout 5
AM WORKOUT (0308 natural wake up)
Log viper press 130lbs
1x50
GIANT SET (chin-squat-pull)
Weighted chins 85lbs
5x5
Buffalo Bar Squats
5xBar
5x140
5x230
5x300
5x350
5x390
Band pul aparts
5x20
Axle shrugs agains tbands
65 against short average bands, drop immediately to 35 against light bands
Buffalo bar squat
50x230lbs
Death
Rebirth
50 dips
25 pushdowns
40 reverse hypers with 50lbs
20 standing ab wheels
Neck harness
Neck Curls
21 GHRs
POST WORKOUT SHAKE
CONDITIONING
10 minutes of the following circuit
1 KB cluster w/45lb bells
1 KB swing w/40kg bell
Each round, add 1 to the cluster and 2 to the swing
Finished 15 swings and rep 5 of 8 of the clusters. Solid finisher.
Notes: I was thinking to myself âI already cleaned every rep off the floor last time: how can I make this week worse?â Doing all the press work in one set was the solution. It also makes this workout SO much faster. It was honestly my legs giving me the most trouble on those vipers, which had me concerned come time for the widowmaker. I told myself the lie that all I needed to do was 40, as that would match my previous PR accomplished at a heavier bodyweight. Had to sail through the first 30 to give myself a chance, and once I was there I knew I wasnât going to be satisfied with 40.
This was the first tim I legit felt like I was going to vomit from straight bar squats. The SSB has done that to me before, but not the buffalo bar. Whereas last week I was upset because I knew I had more reps in me, this week Iâm content. Yeah, I probably could have kept goingâŠbut I didnât need to.
Holy F**K this workout is anabolic. Go do you 50 log vipers and 50 squats and a bunch of junk in between. That conditioning circuit at the end was pretty dandy too.
We took some family Christmas photos yesterday and I hit a new physique milestone: I looked jacked in an oversized Christmas sweater. 'tis the season for weight gain: I could not have timed it better. Thanksgiving coming up on Thurs and Iâm amped.
Doing so much cooking in my ninja. Had a salmon wrap today that was amazing. When I get more downtime I want to lay out my eating strategy for gaining, but I just keep adding more stuff to my meals that are SO easy to take away when the time comes.
Iâm feeling the Super Squats bugâŠAnd then I realized I squatted 230 for 50 reps and I wonder what kind of absolutely stupid weight Iâd need to use for that programâŠ
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I had my own version of the former this morning; that I will undergo the latter is still an open question⊠In any case, reading this part made me chuckle. The rest of the entry left me amazedâcrazy good work in here, as always!
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Thanks man! Swatting away Valkyries so you can get in some more sets is awesome shoulder work, haha.
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BUILDING THE MONOLITH Week 2, Workout 6
AM WORKOUT (0317 natural wake up) FASTED
âBREAKING THE LAWâ
18 rounds in 52.5 minutes
Notes: Just gonna explain this one. This is a prowler workout. I have the prowler loaded with 90lbs on one end, and 60 paces away are my 45lb kettlebells.
Odd round: Run to KBs, do 5 front squats, run back to prowler, low handle push it to the bells, then backwards drag it back to start.
Even round: Run to KBs, do 5 clusters, run back to prowler, low handle push it to bells, high handle push back to start
So why the cute name? Because in the middle of round 7, the cops rolled up on me. Theyâre were more than cool about the whole thing, considering I was shirtless in a high school parking lot in sub freezing weather pushing a prowler.
Exchange went like this
Me, delirious with prowler flu, trying to remember what time it was to render a proper time of day greeting âgasp, wheeze, Morninâ Officerâ
âGood morningâŠI THOUGHT that was what you were doing, but I had to come and verify just to be sure.â
âI appreciate you doing that.â-followed by me staring at him with dead sunken eyes.
âThat looks like hard work!â
âYupâ
Awkward silence as I wonder if I should just keep pushing to signify that the exchange is over. Finally he says
âWell Iâll let you get back to itâ
âHave a good morningâ-finish up the high handle push
I figured it was a matter of time. I am SO glad I had my sweat pants on instead of my usual blue rehband shortsâŠ
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Realized I totally forgot to log that, after the prowler workout, I came home, smashed a protein shake, and got in my daily work.
50 chins
40 reverse hypers w/50lbs
20 standing ab wheels
50 band pull aparts
50 dips
25 band pushdowns
I still owe neck and GHR
This evening, Iâll either do some weighted vest walks or some hill sprints
Wanted to log how my morning went/do one of my âday in the lifeâ snapshots that are fun to do during these gaining phases. Particularly because my second breakfast is getting nuts.
I got up at 0317. Checked my phone for time. I have an alarm set for 0330 in case I âoversleepâ, but I prefer waking up on my own.
Get downstairs, and have some sort of world ending bowel movement. This is because, before going to bed, I eat 5 celery sticks with nuts n more spread, an omelet with 2 whole organic free range eggs, 1 egg white, 2oz of grassfed steak, half an avocado, fire roasted tomatoes and jalapenos topped with 1/4 cup of grassfed cottage cheese with 2 slices of keto toast (one topped with natural peanut butter, the other with natural almond butter) alongside a cup of cashew milk and a mix of pecans, macadamia nuts and pistachiosâŠand a small slice of venison summer sausage. I still wake up hungry, but today is a conditioning workout, and I do those fasted, because I believe that doing so provides better nutrient partitioning post workout. It doesnât matter IF thatâs true: believing it is enough. Plus, it means I get to eat a BIGGER breakfast post workout vs if I break it up.
I loaded my truck with the prowler and bells the night before, so I take off, drive 2 minutes to the high school parking lot, unload/set up and get to work.
After the workout, I hit up the gas station thatâs a minute away to get my family some goodies. Specifically, either a donut or muffin for my kid for breakfast and a fountain diet coke for my wifeâŠexcept this placeâs diet coke has been broken for weeks so I end up having to make ANOTHER stop to get it for her, but such is the life of a trophy husband. The plus side is my wife said this morning âI love prowler daysâ BECAUSE she had a fountain diet coke waiting for her this morning. So thatâs a win.
I get back to the house and immediately slam the protein shake (10oz egg whites mixed with serving of whey isolate). Itâs less because of some anabolic window, and more because doing this means there will be A gap between when I have the shake vs when I eat breakfast. This buys me about 40 minutes, which is enough time to get in the daily work (takes about 10 minutes), get in a shower and start pre-staging my ELABORATE breakfast before I wake up my kid.
HERE is a listing (from memory) of what I am eating for breakfast these days
-
Omelet with 2 whole organic free range eggs, 1 egg white, 2oz grass fed ground beef, fire roasted tomatoes, and some grassfed butter topped with half an avocado, fat free feta cheese and some tatziki sauce. I put it in an egg white wrap that has a light layer of grass fed sour cream on it to make a breakfast burrito.
-
1 frozen keto breakfast waffle slathered with no-sugar added sunbutter
-
5 celery stalks with nuts n more spread (I cut them in half, so 5 halves have a peanut based spread, 5 have an almond based one)
-
3/4 cup of fat free greek yogurt mixed with a serving of naked PB powder, 3/4 scoop of whey protein concentrate, cinnamon, salt, and an apple cider drink mix powder (that alternates with some sugar free/fat free jello or basic gelatin depending on the day) and 2 appled slices cut up
-
1 cup of cashew milk
An hour later, Iâm at work and I eat a low carb warp I brought. Todayâs was a salmon filet, some low fat miracle whip, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and fat free feta cheese
Half an hour after that I had a light n fit yogurt. Another 30 minutes after that. 30 minutes after that will be a packet of tuna, and the insanity continues.
My food is so elaborate as a result of the weight gain. When itâs time to drop weight, I make things simple. That wrap will eventually become just meat with maybe some veggies. Fewer mix ins with the yogurt and omelete, fewer celery stalks, lighter spreads, no waffle, etc etc. I honestly find myself frequently FORGETTING stuff to put in. Itâs a lot to juggle.
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Yeah nothing to see here po-po, moving right along. 
Always good to read on the food intake updates, blows the mind. And the bowelsâŠ
Itâs why I wait until school is WAY out of session, haha.
Glad you appreciate the food update. The bowels portion is no joke. Itâs honestly what I look forward to the most when I switch to fat loss. Although I get less reading doneâŠ
Closed the Captains of Crush #2 for a few dozen sets of 4, the 1 for 22 reps, and then walked for 50 minutes with an 80lb vest in the evening.
Kiddo and I have a big day planned tomorrow, to include a trampoline park, lunch at the Golden Corral (their choice) and mini-golfing, kicking off with a 2 mile walk with our dog. Iâm gonna Crushing BtM Week 3 workout 1 in the AM. Looking at the squat weights with zero fear: excitement instead on destroying them. My mind is right.
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Pwnâs big happy Wednesday
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That juggernaut flag must be very empowering. Have fun torturing your legs bro!
@tlgains Heâs always watching. Iâm trying to get a Colossus one too. Strong Guy would be awesome as well. And dude: why are you awake so early?! Haha.
BUILDING THE MONOLITH Week 3, Workout 1
AM WORKOUT (0305 natural wake up)
Chins
100 total
Box jumps
3x3
Buffalo Bar Squat
5xBar
5x140
5x230
5x350
5x390
5x5x435
Axle clean and strict press away
5x151
5x171
5x191
11+4+5x151 (rest pause)
Band pull aparts
5x20
Dips
200 total
Lateral raises
80x5lbs
40 reverse hypers w/50lbs
20 standing ab wheels
25 pushdowns
POST WORKOUT SHAKE
CONDITIONING
Tabata bear complexes w/95lbs
Notes: All over the place with this workout. I wanted to take my time since it was the heaviest day, so I got the first 40 chins out of the way before even getting on the shoes. Then I set up the box and got in some jumps and chins before finally getting around to setting up the axle for cleans. At that point, I ran giant sets of jump-squat-chin-press until I needed to use the plates I set up on the box, so then it was squat-chin-press until I did all the presses, then squat-chin until squat worksets. For chins, I was doing alternating sets of 12 and 13 to get to numbers ending in 5, and finished up with a set of 15 to get my 100.
On the set of squats before the worksets started, I pulled something in my right hamstring. I know exactly what I did wrong; took the eccentrics too fast. I was trying to move quicker on the set to convince my body that the weight was light, but I should know by now that quick eccentrics always hurt my hamstrings. It made the 5x5 after that very interesting, as I had to take the first rep VERY slow to ensure things loaded properly. Extra time under tension is awesome.
After I racked the bar for the final set of squats, I paced around the gym saying the f-word a lot. My right forearm was in agony. Took a while for it to play nice again. 200 dips seemed to help.
On the presses, I was able get the weight off the floor without much issue for the heaviest set, but the weight went forward on me around rep 3 and fighting to regroove it forced me to have to rack between reps 4 and 5. On the plus side, taking the axle out of the rack demonstrated to me that I can get a much stronger position coming out of the rack compared to off the floor, which explains discrepancies in numbers beyond simple fatigue.
Went with bear complexes for conditioning because I wanted to force the hamstring through ROM. One of the things Iâve learned over time: if you baby it, it becomes a baby. I have to keep it from shortening up.
All this to say, I will get up at 0300, eat a keto waffle with some sunbutter, break myself on my warm-up sets and still crush my squats, do 200 dips, and run through a conditioning circuit, because f**k everything.
Full day of activity ahead, to include sparring night at Tang Soo Do.
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PM WORKOUT (1500)
Keg Grace
Time: 2:20 (15 second PR)
Notes: This is just nutty at this point.
Got Tang Soo Do still later tonight.
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gawd, i wasnât sure if this was just looped until about 1:55 when the keg bounced further away. serious props man 
As someone who doesnât do training like this at all - do you ever swap sides with this exercise? itâs probably just my OCD talking, but it looks like a good way to get lop-sided if not.
Regardless, much respect for you and your training.
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Much appreciated dude.
When Iâm training the keg press in particular Iâll train both sides equally, but when going for conditioning/PRs, I keep on the dominant side. The majority of the work is coming from the hips as it is, so thereâs not too much concern with lop-sidedness.
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Another question⊠I saw you posting that youâre waking up around 0300 - are you actually getting 8 hours of sleep most nights?
only asking because i have to wake up by 4 just to make it to work on time so getting a solid 8 hours is a struggle most nights.
I havenât gotten 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep since 2010.
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Started the morning off with tabata burpees over bar, had 1.5 cinamon rolls, then did 365 reps of 135lbs of high handle trap bar pulls
Because traditions.
Actually got to get in a round of sparring last night. Iâm using SO many spin kicks these days because of the limited ruleset, but thatâs good for my flexibility and mobility. Trying to focus on working angles rather than coming straight on. One of the biggest issues is having to remember which techniques Iâve been officially taught and sparring at âmy levelâ. On the plus side, the instructor considers me something of a threat at least, because he clowned the other students while offering me a solid challenge.
We got to work the wavemasters prior to that. One drill was 30 seconds, hands only, flurry of blows. Apparently I was shaking the whole Dojang. We also did a minute of mixed hands and kicks. My whole body is pretty stiff after that. I need to work the BAS more. Power is there, but, in turn, my body isnât used to exploding like that.
In that regard, the burpees over bar in the morning as SUPER restorative.
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Actually got in a 2 mile 80lb weighted vest walk with the dog after Thanksgiving midmeal.
At said meal, I got in both drumsticks and a wing, along with generous servings of mashed cauliflower, air fried green beans, low carb pumpkin bread (oh my itâs amazing) and some stuffing, corn casserole and a crescent roll
Sunbutter pie and keto pudding pie on deck for next. No better time to be gaining.
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Loving that high rep set. Happy turkey day mate.
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