I have been following along on a few logs and decided I should join the party.
Years ago, I was a wanna-be triathlete. I enjoyed it but was never fast enough to do more than win a few age group medals. One day, my husband had me pick up a weight. I didn’t enjoy it. Barely touched a bar on and off for a year.
After years of triathlons, mid-race, I stopped loving it. I emerged out of a nasty lake on a beautiful summer morning, ran up the boat ramp to my bike, and just, stopped. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I went home and decided to get a new hobby.
Sold the road bike and picked up a mountain bike. Got a climbing gym membership. The climbing gym has weights. Started tinkering with those. Used an old spreadsheet hubby had for a program – turned out to be BBB he and his buddy had adapted.
Without continuing too deep into a life story, lifting fits me. It’s kept me from land sliding into looking like my overweight siblings and parents. I want to be able to do anything physical that life calls for. Ride my bike 20 miles a day for ten days on a trip? Done. Be able to pick up and move furniture? Done. Help your husband off of a mountain after a bike crash? Done.
That is where the unicorn magic comes in.
Currently, I am in a cut. My pants were getting tight, and I cannot stress enough how much I don’t want to let that get out of control. Also working on building more explosive power. Something I have always lacked should lend itself well to mountain biking. 50 and sunny today. Biking season cometh.
This week:
Monday
Done as a circuit
Deadlift
6x3x175
Dips BW
6x5
Power Clean from Hang
6x5x95
Pull-Up
2-2-1-1-1-1
Tuesday
All done with a 45# Sandbag
6x8 Swings
SS
Push Press
6x3
Mini-Circuit
KBS, 35#, 6x10
Power Clean
6x2x105
Barbell Row
6x3x105
Trap Bar DL
6x3x210
SS
Incline Bench
6x3x95
Front Rack Carry
4x60sec x 30# DBs
Power cleans are new for me, I started doing them about 3 weeks ago. I feel like they are coming together, going to start upping the weight. DB front rack carries are surprisingly hard. By set 3 they probably looked sloppy.
Morning
4x20 Sandbag squats w/ 45# bag
5x15 Pushups
Afternoon
1x10 24" box jumps
Deadlift
3x4 x 215
-SS-
Press
3x3 x 95
Squat
3x8 x 165
-SS-
Box Jump, 20" box
3xAMRAP, 60sec = 13, 15, 7… On rep 8, my left foot missed the box and I nailed my shin on the way down. Finished the 60s with step ups. Rocking a nice gash and a huge goose egg.
Farmer’s Carries
4x60sec w/ 35# KB
I was so focused on making the rep number go up every round on the box jumps that form and force clearly lacked. I struggle with jumps as it is, lesson learned. Everything else went well, but felt heavy. Had a ton of energy going in, I was hoping the weights would fly, but we got it done.
Full disclosure, this log will be two parts training and one part food log.
I have a case of food ADD. Every week I scour the internet and cookbooks for new recipes. I almost never make the same thing twice. If a recipe does make it to the “Good Enough to Make Again” list, it’s amazing. There is a spreadsheet involved… it’s a thing.
Here was this week:
Sunday:
Taco style salad, chicken instapot cooked in a green salsa. Creamy greek yogurt dressing.
Monday night meal prep:
Starting at the bottom, Pistachio crusted pork chops, 3lbs of Meatloaf (that goes with those lonely salads), Teriyaki Chicken and veggies, Lemon white wine chicken.
In this case, I marinaded in the green salsa for 30 mins right in the Instapot insert. Then cooked on high pressure, 20 mins. Quick release. Let your meat rest out of the pot for 10 minutes! Shred, then add about 1/2-1 cup of the cooking liquid back to the meat.
Tuesday
Not much, went home for lunch and decided to play with the sandbag before I had to head back to the office.
3 rounds, 10 Reps each, 45# bag
Rows
Pushups
Lunges
RDL
Only planned two gym sessions this week. Taking tomorrow off work for a three day weekend. Headed down to play in my backyard. Hubby and I are meeting up with two new friends and doing our best impersonation of a hike/tour guide, as they have never been there. I have the “greatest hits” picked out. Many miles of hikes to ensue. The excitement is real.
Thursday PM
Opted for conditioning instead of driving to the gym.
30 mins, made it 17 rounds of:
10 sandbag swings (25#)
5 pushups
10 front squats (45# sandbag)
8 dips
I know you said you’re cutting right now, but can you explain your programming a bit?
Oof, that sounds unpleasant. I had a similar incident almost two years ago, except I missed the jump on not a box but rather a stack of cement bricks. It cut my shin so deep that I saw my bone afterwards. I had to get stitches. Don’t ever be like me.
That is a great question. I have been at a bit of a loss with what program to run. I was running BBB until the end of 2021, but stopped when I started the cut. For the last few weeks, I did my sliced and diced version of Athlete Lean, Athlete Strong. I know it’s not awesome to modify a program, and I don’t for a second think I know better than CT, but I had to make it fit my schedule and adjust expectations accordingly. Long story short, I am not running a very specific program while cutting.
That sounds awful, way worse than mine. Noted, I will not perform cement brick jumps.
It’s only not awesome if you whine that a program doesn’t work for you, other people try to help, and then you admit that you totally changed the program, especially its principles. Dan John always laughs when people claim to do the “one lift per day” program but add assistance exercises afterwards. I think most of the posters here are intelligent enough to adapt a program to their needs while maintaining its spirit.
I agree, I went into the modification knowing that I wouldn’t get nearly the same benefit from the full program. That said, I have been happy with how well it fits in a cut.
Close! Sticking with it four more weeks. I have yet to fully decide what comes after.
Saturday
9 Miles of hiking. Found some places we hadn’t yet explored. I could spend a lifetime in this place and never see the same thing twice, and that would be a good life.
Sunday
Shorter day, about 5 miles of hiking. Got up early to watch the sunrise at the Arch. I have never seen this much snow here, the color constrast is stunning.
