Much appreciated man. GETTING there is the battle, haha.
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BUILDING THE MONOLITH Week 3, Workout 7
AM WORKOUT (0310 natural wake up) FASTED
āBREAKING THE LAWā
Odd rounds: 5 KB front squats w/45lb bells, low handle prowler push (prowler loaded w/90lbs) 60 paces/backwards drag prowler 60 paces
Even Rounds: 5 KB thrusters, low handle push, high handle push
19 rounds in 57 minutes
Daily work
Notes: I was sweating today, despite the cold temps and berserker attire. Moving a little slower with the buggy hamstring. Downright ravenous too when it was all said and done. Prowler is a hunger machine.
I just want to comment that my back looks gigantic in that widowmaker squat video. Iām also too f**king lean despite my best efforts. Added 2 slices of toast, 1 with PB and 1 with almond butter, on top of my already gigantic breakfast this morning.
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I hear you there, man. I feel the same way.
Those first 20+ squats on the Widowmaker were a sight to behold. Seems like you were totally locked in, just a machine pumping out reps.
Edit: not negating the badassery of the remaining reps, just blown away at the āeaseā of the first million you did.
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Very much appreciated dude. Itās TOTALLY by design. If I try to take them slow, Iāll run out of gas. You basically gotta outrun your legs, lungs, and brain when it comes to those mega high rep sets. Itās also why the breathing squats of Super Squats are crucial. Dudes will just pump out 20 reps like I did and say āThis program doesnāt workā No dude: 3 DEEP breaths between each rep: good luck.
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My favorite is to watch the Olympic sprinters (up to 400M) finish the race, look ok for the first few seconds after, then collapse on the ground in agony when the brainās messages finally gets through to their bodies. Awesome.
(not apples to apples, obviously)
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Ya know, itās not but itās pretty damn close! You can watch the satellite delay when I rack the bar vs when my body collapses on these videos in a similar way. Itās like the fight or flight runs out, the body goes āOk, cool, weāre not in danger anymore: now we dieā
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I stand (no pun intendedā¦) corrected. Oh, the insanity, lol.
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What I think is also a pretty important distinction is, for all those kids out there that SWEAR up and down on a stack of Bibles that they ALWAYS train to failureā¦
NONE of my widowmakers have been to failure. ALL have been racked under my own power. And THEN I collapse and die.
Ccould you imagine the sheer insanity of doing MULTIPLE sets of squats MORE intense than what Iām posting? FFS, can people just be real with themselves?
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When I read ātrain every set to failureā, I automatically assume they donāt train any form of heavy lower body work for exactly this reason.
Thereās always one more Squat.
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Iāll admit iāve trained ~3 sets of squats to failures over the last 12 years and all of them wound up with me being hurt under a weight that was too heavy 
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I did breathing RDLs yesterday.
FML. 0/10, do not recommend.
Just kidding, I totally recommend it.
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my hands, forearms and hamstrings cramp reading that
I can feel the room spinning already. Can i just do them like this
?
I am kind of sad I a took a break from supersquats to join the rock climbing gym (even though I know itās the right decision for the family). Those breathing sets are brutal.
Apparently I still have an active anytime fitness membership so I think itās time to start pushing myself to the brink.
I donāt know how much food I will need, but I am assuming a crap ton.
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@dagill2 Iāve managed to fail on squats, but it takes some doing. And itās pretty taxing when you do it, haha.
@Andrewgen_Receptors been there for sure. Tore something in my groin last year coming up from a set. Bar was fine, but bent the pins in the rack.
@kdjohn Thatās gonna expand the rib cage for sure! Haha.
@cyclonengineer The food struggle is real! At least the holidays are here to help.
AM WORKOUT (0325 natural wake up)
Chins
100 total
Box jumps (2 45s, a 25 and a bunch of mats, highest yet)
4x3
Axle clean and press away
5x141
5x161
5x181
13+5+5x141 (rest pause)
Buffalo bar squats
5xBar
5x140
5x230
5x325
0x375 (called it)
Dips
200 total, transition immediately to
82 lateral raises w/5lbs, transition immediately to
2x50 pull aparts w/25 pushdowns in between
POST WORKOUT SHAKE
CONDITIONING
Death by SSB squats (unloaded SSB)
Started at 10 reps, died on the 11th round at 14 reps, so got up to 20 reps total. For those unfamiliar, ādeath byā EMOM workouts have you go up 1 rep each round, so I started at 10 reps on round 1, 11 on round 2, etc, up to 20 on round 10.
Notes: This was supposed to be the first day of week 4 of BtM, but body wasnāt playing nice this morning. The hamstring was a known issue, but I was dealing with some nerve pain in the forearm yesterday that really came through on the buffalo bar squats. I was in agony, seriously wondering if I broke my forearm after racking that set of 375, and found unloading plates from the bar to be challenging. Were it JUST the forearm or JUST the hamstring Iād be alright, but itās tough trying to compensate for both at once on a set of heavy squats.
This tends to happen when I squat with a barbell vs SSB for too long, and when I factor in all the kettlebell work Iāve been doing, Iām sure itās all been adding up.
One again, an abundance of available solutions. I brought out the SSB and made it part of the conditioning just to get in some squat work, and itās very forearm friendly. I may just scrap BtM for the final 3 weeks, freewheel it with the things I CAN do and get back on schedule. Iāve got nothing to prove: Iāve run the program twice and I know it works, but Iāve also been pushing the body QUITE hard for a while now, and i may be time for a little variety. Iāve also got some training gear that can help with the hamstring, to include gateway briefs and a reverse band set up.
Appetite is through the roof. Good signs all around. Those box jumps were amazing: really seeing some good there.
Forgot to log yesterday that I got in a 40+ minute walk with the 80lb vest on. Got Tang Soo Do tonight, and probably keg grace later.
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Widowmaker was as thing of beauty! Rubbish about the forearm and hammy, Iām sure it wonāt slow you down at all though!
Thanks man; you arenāt wrong!
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The puny keg stands no match for The Punisher!
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Keg Stands! Hey-Oh!
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@tlgains Itās about the only time I get to show dominance on a keg.
@FlatsFarmer Hah!
AM WORKOUT (0315 natural wakeup) FASTED
80 minutes of walking with an 80lb vest on
Daily work of
50 chins
20 standing ab wheels
25 GHRs
40 reverse hypers w/50lbs
50 pull aparts
25 pushdowns
Neck harness
Notes: Taking it easy on the hurt parts. Itās nice getting out early in the morning and being out in the elements. The vest takes away from the ability to really be āmindfulā, but I still appreciate it. Going to just go conditioning heavy until I feel ready to push the squats again. Iām honestly pretty excited about going āoff planā at this point, which is most likely a sign itās time to do just that. I learned a lot from this cycle, and Iāll be able to carry these lessons forward. Big thing is I was letting ego get in the way and a bit too worried about weight on the bar, but the other thing is I learned just how valuable jumps are before squats. Definitely carrying that forward.
At Tang Soo Do last night, we worked basics and then broke out sais for everyone. We worked through some forms using sais. It was a nice way to re-think movement mechanics. My wife loved it: said it tapped into her TMNT fantasies from childhood. She no joke wants to eat a slice of pizza off a sai: I feel like itās my husbandly duty to obtain sais for her now to make that happen.
On the subject of injury: whatās cool about being strong is, even when youāre āinjuredā, you can STILL do so much stuff. I just have to be willing to deviate from the plan.
On the subject of eating: my nutrition is becoming more and more instinctive these days, which is awesome. I basically re-wired my instincts when it comes to eating. I instinctively gravitate toward whie meat vs red, toward nut butters and nuts instead of cheeses, toward avocados instead of sour cream, etc. Not about cravings, but more just about auto-piloting.
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