Been a Punisher comics fan since I was 9. Got the skull tattooed on me at 19. As I grow, I find different ways I relate to the character. At first, I appreciated how black and white he was, and how he had a permanent solution to crime compared to other comic book heroes. I also appreciated how he had no powers, and was relying purely on his ability, skills and training. As I got older and went through some rough patches, I related to him as someone suffering and in sorrow, and could experience catharsis through his perspective. At this stage, I appreciate the existential perspective he offers of engaging in a mission that he knowingly recognizes as fundamentally meaningless and doing so willfully with full pursuit and passion because it is HIS meaning in a meaningless world. Rather amazing how in depth the character is, especially depending on the writer. Garth Ennis took him in a great direction.
The ironic leetspeak handle permutation of it was just a bought of silliness in my early 20s that stuck. Made the name 10 years ago. I kinda wish I knew how seriously Iād be taking lifting, as Iād have chosen a slightly more serious name, haha.
Good luck on starting the blog. I found writing very helpful in getting my ideas sorted out.
@oldbeancam Yeah, some sort of rule for the site. Makes discussion a little difficult at times.
Fitness Test
Height: 5ā9
Weight: 196
Waist: 33"
1 minute push-ups: 57 (max score)
1 minute situ ups: 54 (max score)
1.5 mile run: 11:32
Notes: Ran my fastest mile in training at 7:14, but meant I peaked a little too early. This is 33 seconds worse than last yearās time, but I was running a LOT more then. Gonna try to get some lifting in later this evening.
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I thought maybe you adopted The Punisher handle for this site because of how you treat your body through trainingāyou accept suffering and pain and actually bring it on yourself. That seems like a personality trait The Punisher might share. After reading your blog about being an oaf it almost seems even more applicable.
It can definitely go in that direction, haha, but no. When I first started posting here, I wasnāt quite as crazy as I am now.
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AM WORKOUT
Axle bench press
5xAxle
5x66
6x136
5x186
5x211
5x246
15x281
18x211
Notes: Those training max resets are so good to me. That topset was a strong effort.
DB hammer curls 45
5x8
DB laterals/rear laterls 20
3x11
2x10
Notes: Iām going back to something I used to do, where it was light work between the benching and then doubled up back work on the giant sets. Iām liking it more; think it might stay.
GIANT SETS
Log clean once and press away 135
4x8
Pull ups w/35
5x8
DB rows
4x5
1x10
Notes: Solid circuit on these. Left elbow getting a little upset from all the pull ups.
General notes: Woke up at 195.0. Body comp seems to be holding well around this weight.
AM WORKOUT
(4)Axle mat pulls
5x136
5x226
1x276
1x366 (mixed grip)
1x456 (mixed grip)
15x506 (straps, touch and go, rest pause)
10x456 (straps, dead stop)
20 second DOH hold 276
Notes: Awesome showing today. Hit 4 reps on the 1st rest pause, and everything else just felt smooth and strong. My left oblique has been hurting for the past few days, so I was shocked that this went as well as it did.
GHR sit ups w/25lb plate behind head
1x8
2x6
Notes: Just trying to bring this back.
Buffalo Bar Squat
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x290
1x320
1x370
1x410
1x460
STRIPSET
10x320
20x230
30x140
Notes: Been chasing this workout for a while, and today it seemed to pan out. Totally exhausting.
General notes: Woke up at 196.0. Cheat meal yesterday was some Taco Bell.
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Prowler (high handles) w/90lbs
20x60ā
Notes: Did this EMOM. Wasnāt terribly challenging, but a little taxing at the end. Mainly did this to get my legs to recover from that squat workout and help me break back in to strongman.
Woke up at 196.4 this morning. Appetite has been up past few days.
AM WORKOUT
Axle strict press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
3x151
3x181
6x201
5x201 (push press)
3x151 (continental and strict press)
Notes: Still not moving quite as well as Iād hoped post TM reset, but Iām thinking a deload might go a long way.
Pull ups
5x13
Band pull aparts
5x20
Notes: Between sets of pressing. Still doing the super hardcore pull ups.
Axle rows
2x34
Notes: 17 without straps, 17 with, then rest.
Dips
150
Notes: 120 in the first, 30 in the second.
Axle curls
1x100
General notes: Woke up at 195.4 this morning. Legs are sitll killing me from Saturday.
AM WORKOUT
Buffalo bar squats
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x280
5x10x320
Notes: Been wanting to do that for a while. Actually seem to be sticking to my ME-RE alternate each week approach. I think itās a viable way to go about things. This wasnāt super challenging, but still taxing in itās own right. I might throw in a widowmaker at the end.
GHR
4x10
Standing ab wheel
4x8
Neck harness 45
4x25
Notes: Performed between sets of squats.
General notes: Woke up at 196.2. No reverse hyper today; donāt know if I cut it out to save my lower back for Murph or just a lack of motivation.
Hey man, I donāt remember where I saw it, but I vaguely remember you saying you ran Dogg Crapp awhile back and had really good strength gain off it? How did you run it and such? Iām thinking about doing it, but not exactly sure yet.
Hey dude,
I pretty much stuck with how it was outlined here
I was making it a policy to run it exactly as written to try to get out of my comfort zone. It was back in 2010, so I could try to run through my old logs and find the specifics if you want, but for the most part the article details it very well. Danteās forum of intense-muscle still has a lot of great stuff in it.
Okay, thanks man. Donāt worry about looking back. I was planning on running it this way if I decide to, I was just curious if you noticed some things didnāt work or any changes you made, etc. I appreciate the response. Also, what kind of strength gain did you notice from it and did you gain much, if any, weight?
But how much muscle did you build though?
@oldbeancam Yeah, no changes from the formula. I REALLY wanted to give it an honest shot as the creator designed it before attempting any modifications, and then, after 2 months, I competed in my first powerlifting meet and hung it all up. Amazingly though, I benched the most I ever had in a meet after DC, and ended up turning in 2 poorer performances for my next 2 meets, so thereās something to be said about that.
Hard to say about strength gains. I wasnāt at a point in my training where I was consistently measuring them. I was at the tail end of a 3 year back injury recovery, and thought I was done with strength. And with it only being 2 months worth of training and the movements constantly shifting, itās hard to capture.
@Benanything Didnāt really have a reliable way to measure. Wasnāt getting bodyfat measured before or after. My weight went up a bit from what I remember, but weāre talking 7 years ago and for a 2 month training cycle.
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Murph Hero WOD
1 Mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
54:43
Notes: Ran it in order, not broken up, and no kipping. No tac vest (none offered), so I figured I could make it suck more by not breaking it up. A solid challenge. The final mile HURT. I was running like the Frankenstein monster.
Ran the first mile in 7:58. Took me 10 minutes to do all the pull ups, 10 to do all the push ups, 13 to do the squats, and then finished the final mile in 9 minutes and some change.
Woke up at 194.0, so at least I came into this light. Now to find a new challenge.
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AM WORKOUT
Axle Bench Press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x186
3x231
3x261
7x296
17x231
Notes: Apparently Iām still fatigued from Murph. Couldnāt find a decent groove.
DB hammer curls 45
4x9
DB lateral/rear laterals 20
5x11
Notes: Performed between sets of bench.
GIANT SETS
Log clean once and press away 135
4x9
NG chins (various grips)
5x10
DB rows 105
4x5
1x11
Notes: Took the chins light due to yesterday. Lats are pretty torched.
General notes: Woke up at 193.8. Need to establish a new purpose for my training soon.
AM WORKOUT
(3) Axle Mat Pulls
5x136
5x226
1x276
1x366 (mixed grip)
1x456 (mixed grip)
13x506 (straps, rest pause, touch and go)
5x456 (straps, touch and go)
24 second DOH hold of 276
Notes: In-laws are staying over, so I didnāt want to wake them with the deadstop set of 456. Meant I kept it for touch and go, which was awful. I was surprised at how well I did on the topset, because my body is still rocked from Murph. Lotta pain.
GHR sit ups w/25lb plate behind head
1x8
2x7
Buffalo bar squats
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x280
1x320
1x370
1x410
1x460
STRIPSET
12x140
12x230
12x320
12x230
12x140
Notes: After 300 air squats, I had little faith in my ability to move heavy weight. The 460 was a total grinder. This up and down stripset was a good way to maximize small weight.
General notes: Woke up at 196.0. Eating out more this weekend; lot more sodium.
AM WORKOUT
Axle strict press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x166
3x191
3x211
4x211 (push press)
9x166 (continental and strict press)
Notes: Mostly recovered at this point, but still just sore and beat. I will see how pressing goes after the deload. If itās still not in a good way, I might try a different 5/3/1 approach for it.
Chins (various grips)
14,13,12,11,10
Band Pull aparts
5x20
Notes: All performed between sets of pressing. Going back to switching up the chin grips, but sticking with the super hardcore style still. Seem to get some decent training effect from it.
Axle rows 186
2x36
Notes: First 18 per set without straps, next 18 with.
Dips
150
Notes: 70 unbroken in the first round. 130 with rest pause, then a break and 20 more.
Axle curls
1x100
General notes: Woke up at 196.4. Almost out of the woods with the celebratory weekend.
PM WORKOUT
3 mile run w/ Mrs
Notes: Wife wanted to get in a workout and I figured why not. 86 degrees out and I havenāt run more than 2 miles in over a year, because Iām really stupid. No idea on time, but it sucked.
AM WORKOUT
SSB Squat
5xBar+chains
5x115+chains
5x155+chains
3x205+chains
1x245+chains
1x295+chains
1x335+chains
1x385+chains
4x425+chains
5x335+chains
Notes: A repeat of my last effort. Time to switch things out a little. No regression though, which is a positive. Things was a massive undertaking.
Reverse hyper 360
4x9
Standing ab wheel
4x8
Neck harness 45
4x25
Notes: All performed between sets of squats
Viking squats 135
1x20
General notes: Woke up at 196.0. Right lat and hamstring got a little tweaked from this today; Iāll see how it pans out.
Hey man really enjoyed your new blog post!
Iāve actually made my rest times be 1.5-2 min for working sets and it leaves me gassed in the last few weeks and itās definitely showed me I need to improve my conditioning even more!
You know a few years ago I use to workout for 2+ hours. I had no idea how little I was actually doing. Now when I work out Iām already feeling gassed at about 45 minutes because Iām pushing myself so much harder (and my conditioning needs improving). Thanks again for another insightful article man!
