Less Fat, Faster, Same-ish Strength

[OrderInChaos]

Data:
Male
26 years old
6'
245 lbs

5FEB19: Posted lots of frivolous comments in here before, likely of minimal use to others; was more insightful into my psychology than my training. Leaving the training bits here as a cautionary tale of program hopping and inconsistency, going to keep adding entries probably weekly.

29JUN20: Better stats!
Still male
28
still 6'
203-205

Modest lifting, more running, more calisthenics, as much accessory-bro-work capacity shit as I can tolerate in the context of everything else!

16JUL21: Boy that was a shit year
XY
29 going on 30
183cm
107.25kg (blegh)

Still running and not incurring any fractures or long term injuries - an upgrade from 2019, despite having got fat again. Moved, good home gym for big 3 and conditioning, cheap globo membership for bro work and sauna (+ wife jointly-workin' out time). Weekly or fortnightly may post log updates - I prefer paper and end up spending too much time on the site with daily updates.

[Wilhelm]

Welcome, @OrderInChaos!

[OrderInChaos]

Thanks, @Wilhelm! Finally getting to logging some work.

Before that, though, just documenting a few priorities of mine and prospective program hops I'll make depending on the Montana results:

Goals:

• -BW south of 230
  -1.5mi run faster than 10:30 (Currently 12:15-12:30)
  --800M faster than 3:15 (A shorter proxy to the above)
  -450M swim (breast or side) faster than 11:00
  -Keep Push-ups, Sit-ups, and Chin-ups reasonable (>50, >70, >10)
  -Time/energy to train Judo 2-3x/wk
  -200/300/350/400
  -Maximum Jackitude

Programs:

• -Montana (starting this Tuesday)
  -Baker's 5-day Powerbuilding
  -4-day Upper/Lower (accommodate conditioning, PT, and sports work)
  -Bridge?? (or similar with variations, more-RPE focus than MM)

Cardio and Accessories (wedged into MM):

• -1 or 2 HIIT sessions/wk. Day 2 and optional off day. :15/1:45 work/rest, start with 4-5 intervals to reduce DOMS/puke feels.
  -3 or 4 LISS sessions/wk. Day 2 and all off days. 10m incline treadmill, 1-2 800M strides on rubberized track, 20m incline treadmill.
  -Ab Wheel, extremely low volume after all barbell work
  -Pushups and Situps sporadically
  -Some brocessory work later on???

[OrderInChaos]

LOGS FROM 1 APRIL TO 19 APRIL (JUST EFFING AROUND):

20180401
Airdyne (AD6) HIIT
:15/1:45 x 8
198 Cals
4.27 Distance
Situps 5x20, 45s rests
Pushups 5x15, 45s rests
Inverted Rows (Rings), 4x5, 90s rests

20180402
AM
Ruck w/40lbs
30:00
2313M (SmartRunner doesn't track imperial units precisely)
PM
Judo. Effed up wrists.

20180403
AM
Ruck w/20lbs
28:21
2310M
PM
Incline Treadmill, 4% @ 3.5MPH
40min
475 Cals

20180404
~90 minutes of Kayak (Shoulders shot)

20180406
AM
Ruck w/20lbs
30:00
2310M

20180410
AM
Incline Treadmill, 4% @ 3.5MPH
30min
318 Cals
PM
Deadlift - 3:30 Rest
2x5x175
OHP - 2:00 rest
3x5x105

20180411
PM
Squat - 2:30 Rest
3x5x170
Bench - 3:15 Rest
3x5x200

20180412
AM
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
3x5x185
OHP - 2:00 Rest
3x5x110

20180414
PM
Squat - 3:00 Rest
3x5x180
Bench - 4:00 Rest
3x5x205

20180418
Squat - 3:30 Rest
3x5x185
Bench, Wraps - 4:30 Rest
3x5x210
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
2x5x190

20180419
AM
Airdyne
10 Minutes, Moderate
Push-ups, 5x8
Sit-ups, 5x10

[OrderInChaos]

I'm excited to log this because Tuesday I'll be starting the MM 2-week template. I'm planning to do some grease-the-groove chins on non-lifting days as lats DOMS permits, and incline treadmill LISS on all the offdays. Otherwise, pretty much as written until I need to change or am convinced I need to do more bro-work.

To the log!

20180424 - 53 minutes
Squat - 3:30 Rest
3x5x195, last set @9
Bench - 4:30 top set/ 3:30 Rest
1x5x210 @8
4x5x185
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
2x5x195

20180426 - 66 minutes
Squat - 3:30 Rest
1x5x200 @7.5
3x5x185
OHP - 3:30 Rest
3x5x115 (too easy to rate)
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
3x5x200 (too easy)

20180429 - 67.5 minutes
Squat - 3:30 Rest
1x5x205 @6.5
3x5x185
Bench - 3:30 Rest
1x5x215 @7.5
2x5x195
2x6x185
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
3x5x205

20180501 - 56 minutes
Squat - 3:30 top set/ 2:30 Rest
1x5x210 @<6 (Bad RPE)
3x5x185
OHP - 3:00 Rest
1x5x125 (Wraps, Easy)
3x5x120 (No wraps, Easy)
Deadlift - 3:00 Rest
1x5x215 @6
2x5x205
Ab Wheel Rollouts from Knees
3x3 (slow)

20180506 - 75 minutes (First Sambas/Flat Squat)

• Airdyne Warmup
  10:00
  15.2 MPH Avg
  2.53 Miles
  83 Cals

Squat - 3:30 top/2:00 Rest
1x4x225 @8.5 (Bar speed sucked, went conservative)
3x5x195
Bench - 3:00 top/2:00 Rest
3x5x205 (Wraps)
2x5x185 (No wraps)
Deadlift - 3:30 top/3:00 Rest
1x5x225 @7.5
2x6x205 @8
Ab Wheel Rollouts from Knees
3x2 (SxR, slow) - I was trashed after last weeks. Going extra conservative.

[EricK]

Welcome, @OrderInChaos!! Good luck with your goals.

[MattNeilsen]

Good luck on your first day of MM today!

[OrderInChaos]

20180511
Squat - 2:00 Rest
6x5x175 - Felt great, flat shoes still a bit odd and may cause some excess depth.
Bench - 2:00 Rest
1x4 (3.5) x 190 -> NOPE
7x5x175 - Felt pretty awesome. New rig/rack, felt odd, and sets 6 and 7 were very tiring (no RPE@9 though)
BB Rows - :40-:20s Rest
10min Density @ 115
Total Reps: 48 (.5)
6,6,6,4,3,3,3,3,(2.5),2x5

Ab Wheel, 2 sets of 3 slow reps, 1 set of 2 slow reps. Progressing this slowwwly in hope of being as badass as @hector someday soon.

Fun story, at a city 'health club/indoor track/basketball gym' I'm a member of (to exploit the track and their sick lat pull down, rows, leg press, and other assorted bro machines), there are a couple of old ass dudes hitting it hard as hell on the light dumbbells (max 60) daily. A couple of them use an ab wheel and will do like half a dozen of these insanely slow sets of 10-20 with full extension. The Jack LaLanne methodology has longevity... no surprise there.

Long story short, I'm chicken shit. But also, got rid of my squat stand and CAP hex bolt bar and replaced with a T-3 and an American Grizzly. Fucking massive upgrade. Also, closing on a house. Also, about to go on 2 weeks of leave and life is nuts beforehand, id est, TL;DR I'm being a bitch and delayed starting MM. So I've done Hypertrophy tonight, will do a truncated HIIT and chins tomorrow, and Strength Sunday. Will start true MM Tuesday upcoming, but I'm loving this much volume, practice on the lifts, and the outright evidence of my out-of-shapeness of density work on stuff other than situps and pushups!

Have never benched in an R-3 style rack. Felt fuggin' awful on that first set with "projected" weight of 190. Dropped to 175 since I'm definitely not used to the 2 minute rests and that amount of pressing volume. Will continue to lightly modify as my weak ass body requires but this feels productive so far. Will keep posting here for the accountability even though I'm definitely NDTFP right now!

@EricK, thanks for the welcome, man!

@MattNeilsen, thanks for the well wishes, man! A couple days late and scheme's off a bit but slow progress is progress.

[OrderInChaos]

20180513
Squat 5x3x185 (intended 200) - Left hip serious tweak. Right knee slight discomfort. Probably related.
Bench 4x(3TNG, 1 Pause)x205 - First paused work ever. Felt pretty great and easy.
SGDL 4x5x135 (calculated for 142.5) - First SGDL or SG-anything. Loved the feels in the upper lumbar musculature, avoided autosterilization.
Ab wheel 3x3 slow - No god awful DOMS this morning!

45 minute bike ride, gentle hills, etc.

I probably screwed the pooch switch to flats when I did. Why mess with what's working? My old left hip tweak's back. Seems less swollen than it was last night. Will attempt H-day this Tuesday but will do it in heels and with the reduced projected values that correspond to a more manageable S-day. If that re-tweaks this, well... looks like I'll be various pressing and deadlifting for a while.

I think I may be insufficiently conditioned to exploit MM well. Both strength-wise and condition/wind i.e. rest minimally and be generally athletic overall. If my hip heals quick and the 2 weeks of MM trash me pretty hard, I may try mgil's LP from the "MM Novice Methods" thread with the many squat variations incorporated. I need to practice and develop better form...

tl;dr - hurt the old hip injury (which hopefully isn't a minor clone of Hanley's adductor tear) and have severe fuckaround-itis and hoping the damn thing heals quick.

[hector]

Glad no DOMS from the ab wheel! If you stay regular with it then DOMS will not be an issue. But take a vacation, and DOMS will be there waiting for you when you return to the ab wheel.

Hope your hip recovers quickly!

[OrderInChaos]

20180514
Chin-ups Singles and Doubles: Total 13
BW Dips @245: 5, 3x4 (RxS), 2 = Total 19
13:45 jog (1.5 mile -> Better get sub-12 in the next 6 months!)
800M test: 4:03 (was ~RPE@6, not a serious effort to avoid further hip injury)
Incline Treadmill
25 Minutes
153 Cal
1.33 mi

Wife's coping well with alternating incline and flat bench and working on leg press until her mobility improves.

Reread a bunch of Everett's "Olympic Weightlifting" and will probably go back to heeled squatting, but following his description/model for the HBBS instead of my bastardized snowflake LBBS. Will pull, farmer carry, and sled in the Sambas. For now though, seems like I'm back to <BW squatting to tease my hips back into health.

Left adductor felt a little worse during my sedentary office job yesterday. Coached my wife through her lifting, doing the chins and dips during her rest intervals. Felt really good and wanted some act'y so did a light warm-up jog, the 800M test, then the incline treadmill. Thank God for podcasts, haha. Hip pain basically dissolved afterward, undoubtedly runner's high.

Today, both hips are "sore" but in a taxed, not-injured way (I think residual soreness from the Strength-day 185 squats in Sambas). Working till midnight tonight and too much other nonsense so no training today. Likely more chins/dips tomorrow during wifey's rests and some cardio, then light lifting Thursday.

Thanks to @hector and others for the support! Definitely improves accountability, and my commitment to the process.

[OrderInChaos]

20180521

• Bench 3x7 185 Superset With
• BB Row (Swiss Bar) 3x7 65 90s Rests
• Dips 3x7 (BW 249) Superset With
• Wide Hammer Curls 3x7 65 2:00 Rests
• Lat Pulldowns pronated 3x7 '110'
• Ab Wheel 4x3
• 4x400M ~1:55 1:1 Work:Rest Max HR 190

20180522

• OHP 3x7 115
• BB Row 3x7 115 2:30 Rests
• LTE 3x7 65 Superset With
• BB Curls 3x7 65 2:00 Rests
• Ab Wheel 4x3

20180523

• Airdyne HIIT 1:7 w:r 5 repeats
• Time:9:20
• AvgSpd:16.0
• Dist:2.47mi
• 106 Cal
• Ab Wheel 3x4, 1x2

20180525

• OHP 3x7 115, 1x7 95
• BB Row 3x7 115, 1x7 95 2:30 Rests
• LTE 3x7 85 Superset With
• BB Curls 3x7 45 2:00 Rests
• Ab Wheel 4x4

Missed the squat/deadlift day I had planned due to life, did Airdyne to stay on the path another day. Hip pains are gone, going to probably shoot a bar/95/135 video of LBBS/HBBS/FS each for form checks here for the squat workout tomorrow. I like conventional double over and the SGDL, and may experiment with a lower reps top set conventional and 2-4 back-off SGDL sets at 50-60%. Also, at this point BB Rows feel more like a lumbar extension practice session than a lat workout; will experiment with loading to make them harder. Might sub grease-the-groove chins for the supersets on Day A (Bench Dips) due to lack of pulleys.

[OrderInChaos]

20180525 PM
Airdyne Threshold
12:00
19.2 avg
3.76 mi
177 cal
Ab Wheel 4x4

20180602
Front Squat

• 1x4 135
• 4x4 115

OHP

• 1x8 115
• 4x4 115

DL (Top Set Double OH, Backoffs SGDL)

• 1x4 185
• 4x4 135

Chins - Ten Singles, 90s Rest
Ab Wheel 4x6

20180603
C25K Week 1 Day 1 (30min)

[augeleven]

20180603
C25K Week 1 Day 1 (30min)

Nice!

[OrderInChaos]

@augeleven Thanks! I love blasphemy, haha. Or am addicted to fuckarounditis. I do look forward to regularly running 12-15 LSD miles a week (~12:00 mile pace) and not magically shrinking from 250 to <200 pounds in 8 weeks or completely shitting the bed on squats, though.

[OrderInChaos]

20180608-20180613:
Took leave which extends to 19JUN. Flew to Oregon, packed inlaws' belongings, drove those and two cats in a 26 foot truck 2650 miles back to Aiken and worked out exactly zero times through the period. Gonna work back into it tomorrow...

[OrderInChaos]

I logged a lot of dumb shit in here before.

Figured out what matters most, which I may as well list here to reread and orient myself later on.

Overall Priorities:

1. Weigh 220lbs or less (Retain LBM)
2. Overcome dependence on bike PRT for Good-Hi/Ex-Low scores
3. "Figure out" calisthenics/METCONing e.g. 80/80/20 Push/Sit/Chins year round, good METCON capacity.
4. Run <7:30 mile (anything faster/longer is a pipe dream right now)
5. Get good enough at swimming to do a decent 450M

Point 1 is all health, biggest factor being disciplined eating and tracking. All else help to open up a pretty important career route for me. Lifting will play a significant role in both retention of LBM as well as helping peripherally with calisthenics foundations; it's just not where I can invest full, serious attention without major detriments right now. Actually I should stop being a fucking pussy and finish my LP by GOMADing up to 285 so I can get my deadlift back to a sloppy 405 for 5 /s

Lifting Priorities:

1. Double Bodyweight Deadlift
2. OHP>170lbs
3. 1.5 BW (HB) Squat
4. Learn WL lifts
5. Do a real federation PL meet
6. Do an NAS Novice SM meet

Gear changes due to space changes. Desired weights for "average worksets", so 75ish%? Can't squat on the regular, so going to mess with "Power to the People" or the "Russian Bear" Pavel-style programs. Might front squat a bit from clean position, get bench in at on-post gym occasionally... but with calisthenics and other priorities, I remain unworried about my legs and pecs for the time being.

Other Priorities:

1. Get as epic-jacked as possible without boning myself on my 1.5mi run
2. Get a freestanding handstand back
3. Get my full pancake/pike back
4. Do a little boxing with the local PAL gym
5. Find a place to wrestle/help coaches/get beat

Feed the vanity, look/feel better, happier wife, all the good yet without becoming a shite runner. Get some skills and mobility, regrow some mental toughness.

Approaches:

1. Track food; start with Baker's easy tracking to get stabilized in an all home-cooked diet. Move to MFP-system later
2. Nuckols-style DUP applied to Pavel programs. 8/6/4 and 3-day weeks. When stalled, move to 1-lift a day, Big But Boring-METCON/MEBB style program.
3. Do Murph, Cindy, and more regular PRT mocks. Figure out work capacity, rest-between sets, integrate asdf's awesome advice.
4. Crush Airdyne intervals and threshold till sub-220. Start short, gentle pace runs no longer than 10min now, incorporate intervals and greater distances once lighter.
5. Once big goals are coming together better, re-email Hanley for coaching and programming; find a decent local WL coach; get involved in the tertiary things like swimming, boxing, etc.

Not going to add logged work since June that I never posted here. Will get some weekly habit system of quickly writing out and post a week's work here. This is plenty long at that.

[OrderInChaos]

Got some decent barbell work in for the first time since early August, late July. Starting with a perverted modified Russian Bear-Nuckols Novice approach. 3 sets each of OHP and Deadlift, Day 1/2/3 are 8/6/4 reps, with a rep max for the third set. Will start with 4 weeks of 2-day/wk, and likely up that to 3-day/wk at W5D1. I've got north of 400 pounds between bumpers and iron, my newly bought AB Cerakote Training Bar (which is wicked!), and my trusty AD6. Going to run 12 weeks of OHP-Dead only to see if I can be responsible and fight fuckarounditis. If I win over the course of those 3 months, I'll get some kind of squat rack (leaning toward SML-2C or a Fringe equivalent) and add that into the mix, along with Bench. If not... more slaving at OHP and deads!

W1D1(20180818) The Lifts:

Lift	Sets and Reps	Weight	Rep Max	Rest	Prescription
OHP	2x8, 1x8+	95	13	2:00/3:00 Rep Max	Add 10lbs
Deadlift (Hook Grip)	2x8, 1x8+	145	11	3:00	Add 10lbs

Week 1 Calisthenics:

Exercise	Total Reps	Sets and Reps	Rest	Prescription
Chin-ups (Weekdays Only)	6	Singles or Doubles	15+ minutes (GtG)	Add/Plateau/Reduce
Push-ups	20	2x10	15+ minutes (GtG)	Add/Plateau/Reduce
Sit-ups	30	2x15	15+ minutes (GtG)	Add/Plateau/Reduce
Lunges	16 (Per Leg)	2x8	15+ minutes (GtG)	Add/Plateau/Reduce/Swap Exercise

• Adding conservatively to OHP to retain progress and avoid overzealous, 'new program' injuries.
• Considering rotating in SGDL on 8s or 6s days.
• Starting extremely conservative with deadlift weight because performance at reps>5 is brand new on this lift. Already felt pump or otherwise weird in low back on the rep max set.
• Will include a half-Rx version of platypus's calisthenics prescription-per-day for chins/pushups/situps/(lunges) after successful week two of this.

[OrderInChaos]

W1D2(20180823) The Lifts:

Lift	Sets and Reps	Weight	Rep Max	Rest	Prescription
OHP	2x6, 1x6+	115	7	2:00/3:00 Rep Max	Add 2.5lbs
Deadlift (Double Over)	2x6, 1x6+	165	8	3:00	Add 10lbs

• Was dramatically underfed; had several black coffees between 0600-1300, a handful of cashews at home, lifted around 1430. Super weak throughout, lightheaded after the DL Rep Max.
• Very gentle tweak of right adductor (my long term nemesis thanks to LBBS) from deadlifting. Addressed next session, was stance.

W2D1(20180826) The Lifts:

Lift	Sets and Reps	Weight	Rep Max	Rest	Prescription
OHP	2x4, 1x4+	125	6	2:00/3:00 Rep Max	Add 5lbs
Deadlift (Double Over)	2x4, 1x4+	165	8	3:00	Add 10lbs

Airdyne

Airdyne	Intervals Total	Total Time	Distance	Watts Avg	Speed Avg	Calories
HIIT 1:7//15:105	2	4:01	1.13	166	16.9	47

• Much better session today. Last week sucked! Had CQ Wednesday, which killed my plan for a possible 3 day week. I'll try that some time soon. Had a lot of other afternoon appointments and intrusions that kept me out of my garage, but today was outstanding.
• I took a narrow stance for my deadlift, and pointed toes straight forward. I was rushing a bit Thursday, but in general had slid into nasty LBBS type stance habits; wider than necessary toes, and avoiding the quads as much as possible. 20# heavier felt like therapy on the adductor that's been a constant nag. Going to stick with double-overhand until that gets prohibitive due to heavy, then try hook grip again. Hook causes some crazy calluses at very light weights.
• Going to move deadlifts to the start of the workout so the Airdyne isn't so harsh right after the DL Rep Max.
• Being gentle with the Airdyne volume to start so it feels easy and becomes a positive, fun finisher rather than a nut buster.
• Robert Sapolsky is a badass, and Behave is an awesome book for anyone with an interest in neuroscience, psychology/behaviorism, and rigorous thinking in general.

Week 1 Calisthenics:

Exercise	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Chin-ups (Weekdays Only)	N/A	Complied	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	N/A
Push-ups	Complied	Complied	Complied	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
Sit-ups	Complied	Complied	Complied	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL
Lunges	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL

• Poor showing. The CQ got me a bit, but otherwise I was piss poor with compliance. I'm going to drop numbers a bit to see if I'll comply with 7 days of like 1 set, something like 3 Chins/15 Pushups/20 Situps/10 Scotty Bobs.
• The name of the game is compliance. I'm trying to take a page from psychology and make the calisthenics work as kind to myself as I can while being additive overall to eventually achieve a nice volume to prepare for more rigorous, mixed modality work. For now, trying to achieve and repeat small successes.
• asdf is right and I need a chin-up bar with easy access; I don't do them at work.
• Pushups are the easiest to comply with. Can do in uniform at work without issue.
• Situps in fatigues with a seam right on my tailbone are the recipe for destruction and literal ass pain. Have to push those to PM in gym shorts.
• Lunges kind of suck, add to my hamstring soreness in a deadlifts-only, higher volume program than I'm used to, and I don't like getting stupidly sweaty doing them at work. Will probably use work gym dumbbells to do Scotty Bobs instead.

[OrderInChaos]

Last week wasn't so hot; low compliance, shit week, but our rental's finally off our hands. Only one house to care for, I'll have time again.

Migrating up to 3 days a week. Slightly changing sets/reps; instead of 3 across for 8/6/4, 8x2/5x3/3x4/rxs. Not for fuckarounditis, but because 8's on deadlifts are weird as hell, and 6s feel too close to 8s. (Dropping 8s to do Hanlesque 6x4 will be lovely!) Deadlifts first now. Airdyne after OHP, just a few reps for true HIIT. Added the RPE column because I'll likely add a smaller top set to begin rating an "overwarmup" set, just for practice, more tools in the box. Calisthenics sucked last week, but I'm doing better this week. Will log that at end of the week, meanwhile enjoying the process and relearning deadlift.

Lift	Sets and Reps	Weight	Rep Max	Rest/RM Rest	Prescription	RPE
Deadlift (Double Over)	2x8	155	12	3:00	10+	N/A
OHP	2x8	105	10	3:00	5+	N/A
Airdyne	Intervals Total	Total Time	Distance	Watts Avg	Speed Avg	Calories
HIIT 1:7 Ratio // 0:15 to 1:45	3	6:03	1.52	139	15.3	56