Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum | 531 and Other Stuff

Random side note. Was watching some old elitefts archives after training, and realised i have been doing GHRs as nordics, with my knees on the pads that your thigh should go on smh.
No wonder I needed band support to get reps.
Also, how egotistic of me when I got my GHR to think I just knew how to use it, like I’m some training sensei.

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I just found a thing in my training notebook from 12.5.23

It was a bit of an epiphany.
My TMs in May 22 were what they were for cycle 4 '23.
Where did i go wrong?
We had our first child. Thats something. Love her of course.
I tried Crossfit again :roll_eyes: That’s my shiny object syndrome again.
I ran two bulking programs without conditioning.
My job travel increased a lot, and as a result my diet got worse and I conditioned less so i got fatter (+5kg) after staying fairly consistent for a year.

So excuses aside, I’m weaker than 1 year ago. Ok, let that sink in.
Ao in the light of 1 more rep, 5 more pounds (Great Jim article), its time for the rebuild.

Goals for the remainder of 2023.
Take TMs
From → To:
Squat: 120. → 140 (yep, where i was May '22)
Bench. 100. → 110
Press. 65. → 75
Deadlift 170 → 180
Front squat 90 → 110

There are a few jumps of 20kg there, but lets add 10kg. I know my legs have that in them, hence the more ambitious goals there.
This is a call to action for myself.

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Hell yeah! Let’s get after it.

Cheers @SvenG ! Means a lot from you, your log is an inspiration.
Just sometimes you need to see the numbers to confirm the gut feel that you’ve got.

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Bit quiet in here, took Sunday off with the family, as this week is hectic with travel.
Day trip today, so just did aome stretching to stop the back cramping up. Booked my chiro to level me backout tomorrow and will be be start cycle 4.1 properly then.

Pretty sure this is the same low back/hip issue ive had before rearing its head again after a year or so, just exacerbated by some recent lifting.

In short my ankle reconstruction means one side is marginally less mobile than the other. In deep squats etc I can subconciously favour the more mobile side, and after a year or so my whole hips literally are out of whack. Travel etc doesnt help. I’m lucky i have a good chiro who isnt one of those quacks who robs you with weekly visits to get you right, they make the adjustment, tell you to stretch more and maybe come in 6 months before it hurts as some preventative maintenance. Hopefully tomorrow he does the same again.

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Do you work extra mobility on the other side before squatting? Calf stretch and holds, etc?

Gotta love a good chiro and adjustment.

Yes, mostly, they just are the first to get dropped when I run short on time. I have a few things the physio gave me, and well as a coupl of squat university drills.
It’s a bit of a build up issue, where it takes 6 to 9 months before it rears up, which is normally after a really busy period where I neglect that stuff.

Chiro app went great. Usual suspects, hips a bit out of whack, lower back got a few cracks and did a bit of tissue massage on mid back and hip flexors. Told me to look into 10 min yoga on Youtube, so did exactly that.

Drove to Sydney this afternoon, 4.5hr trip, did 10 min “power yoga” flow, felt really good by the end of it. Will get my first proper workout of the week in tomorrow.

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Yuk !

Haha welcome to my (work) life!

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C4.1 W1 D1&2 combined
Agile 8
SL box jumps 5x3
Power cleans 57.5x 5x3
Front squats 57.5x5, 67.5x5, 77.5x5, 57.5x 5x5 (FSL)

Press 42.5x5, 47.5x5, 55x8, 42.5x 5x5 (FSL)

Dbell row 35x 10,10

Called it a day, did some low back stretches, bridges etc

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So I did something I’ve been tossing up doing over and over.
Bought a trap bar second hand

Im pretty happy given i got it second hand, fair price.
I think this may feature in my training over front squats after this cycle I’m eyeing off Krypteia in the future, i have tried in before with normal deadlifts but it beat me up a bit (was badly conditioned).

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Love the trap bar, reminds me I should the movement in one of my next blocks. You can def make it a quad heavy movement, should honestly be a good substitute for front squats

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Thanks!
I am thinking I’ll sub it for the back squat to start with, just to give my lower back a bit of time (1 or 2 months) to get stronger and build back up a bit, then sub the back squat back in but keep the trap bar. Give the barbell deadlift a 6 month break.
At least thats the plan haha

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Hex all the way here, fwiw - I haven’t touched the straight bar for heavy deads in years. Best to avoid angering the back, etc for sure. Nice purchase.

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Cheers! Interesting, I was listening to a Jim Podcast, Table Talk or maybe Mark Bell’s, and he said he thinks the trap bar was the lift they could train the lightest and get the best strength gains.

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C4.1 W1 D3 Bench
Agile 8
8kg med ball throws x 10

Bench
65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 65x 5x5

Alternating supersets with
GHR 5x10

Bulgarian split squats, 20kg (goblet hold) x 5x10

Did this work in 21:52!

Then tacked on
Band pull aparts med band x 15,20,20
Rollouts 3x10
Neck harness 5kg x25
All done in 31mins

This is sort of structured like the Krypteia Prep program, albeit using different assistnace, so not “as written” but I’m fairly sure it meets the intent of the program.
The split squats were light, could have pushed them a bit. Feel good on the hip flexors with rhe loaded stretch.

Not sure how a 100kg TM will go on the 5x10 with Krypteia!

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If you’re not using Krypteia to gain you’ve got 2 options here, I personally used an 80% TM on Krypteia on the upper body stuff and used FSL weights for all the volume work or you just pick a a lighter weight and go for it. If you’re using the template to gain I’d stick the TM out and go for it.

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Cheers!
I want to hold some top end strength, so im thinking ill use 55/60/65% as this seems to fit Jims recommendation in Forever.

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Finally back on here after a weekend of family time, 1st birthday for the little princess so present were opened and played with, cake was eaten, etc.

C4.1 W1 D4
Too lazy to write it out, see below

I know Krypteia Prep is supposed to be 5s PRO but wanted to play with the trap bar. I like it! Feel it in my upper back more, maybe because the weight has me right back on my heels.

Need to push the sessions in this week as travel is limited and bit behind from last week. Will keep assistance light and push it.

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