M. Phelps, Awesome Log, Great Job!

[MPhelps]

Saturday October 5, 2019

Power cleans 115x3x3

Deadlift 180x3x7

Squat 140x3x3

Reverse hyper and crunches

Fuckarounditis. I keep trying new things. I was so fucked up this week from pushing it last weekend, that I was still feeling it on Thursday. The split stance was causing me problems with my left knee and right hip. So I'm either taking a deload week or starting a new program with low percentages of my training maxes, depending on how I want to present it. No split snatches or split jerks. Just powers for fun.

The thought is to work in the 70%-80% range for triples in lower body, and 5-7 rep sets for upper body. Especially now that ski season is getting close, I'm not going to be pushing weight. Just because I can hit singles doesn't mean I should or that my body can handle it every week. Plus I'm not powerlifting. I feel like I say this a lot.

[MPhelps]

Wednesday October, 9, 2019

Press 75x5x3, 65x7x5

Squat 95x10x2

Bench 90x8x3

Inverted rows 10x3

Reverse hyper and crunches

Felt nice and light after I started pressing. Threw some light squats in there. Spent about 3 hours hiking in the woods today too. This weather is awesome. 50-60 degrees, not too sunny but not raining.

[MPhelps]

Saturday October 12, 2019

Power clean 95x4x2
Deadlift 185x3x5
Squat 135x7x5
Bench 75x10x3
Reverse hyper and crunches.

I continue my descent into volume and I don't care about the weight. Like a permanent deload.

I've been having some weird random itchiness going on for several weeks now. I cant seem to put my finger on it. It just pops up in random places. I think it's work stress manifesting itself. I've been googling food allergies and trying to pinpoint it to something like that. I don't think that's it. I think it's work stress and maybe a bit too much training. Could also be a fall allergy. It definitely has a histamine release thing going on.

If I wasn't looking for a pension and had any interest in looking for employment at 44 years of age, I'd consider leaving my job. I have about 9 years to go until I can retire. So I just have to try my best to mitigate the stress. I hope to leave my supervisory role within a year or so, which I think is 90% of my problem with work. Small pay cut, but less stress. Its not worth it. I have no plans on promotions any further since it means more office time and having to move. Two things that are not worth a bit more money. I didnt get into my career to sit at a desk and do administrative work. Or answer the phone. I hate the telephone and cannot stand being on call.

In the meantime, I'll focus on things I like in a non-stressful way. I have a problem with going too far into my interests. Either lifting too much or doing too much hiking and cross country skiing. I'm trying to find a balance between the two. Lifting needs to take a backseat at this point. I can get some high volume stuff in and not worry about the weight on the bar.

I might log more of my hiking and ski workouts or just keep mentioning them in my lifting log.

Thursday I did 4x4 vo2 training hitting a 200 bpm on my last interval.
Friday I did a 5 mile round trip hike with poles. 1800' vertical in 58 minutes and 32 minutes running down.

In the past year, I've definitely gotten to a point where I can push on hiking and skiing with little to no serious fatigue. Its definitely where I wanted to be when I started lifting barbells in 2014. I'm glad I fucked off the Olympic lifting and trying to put weight on the bar.

[MPhelps]

Sunday October 13, 2019

3x7 min ski erg double poling level 3 intervals
2x15 70 lb walking dumbbell lunges
3x10 box jumps 20" box

Tuesday October 15, 2019
10x1 minute rollerski skate level 3 intervals

Felt good. Really worked on technique and following through on each pole and skate plant.

Wednesday October 16, 2019

Bench 60x5, 75x5, 90x5

Inverted rows 3x10

Reverse hyper 10x3

Crunches 35x3

This is going to get really boring, lifting wise. But I'll log my cardio workouts too, because I don't write them down on paper, even though I use strava to track my skiing workouts.

I'm kind of looking to just lift a bit twice a week just to maintain something through hunting and XC skiing season. I've been feeling really shitty lately and stressed out. Lifting has to go. Rather than keep going backwards, I'm just going to stay deloaded for awhile. I'm going to cycle through Wendler's deload schemes in Beyond 531 for awhile. Sets of 5 one week, sets of 10,8,6 the following week. Go up in percentages and repeat 5s and 10,8,6. Just high bar squats and bench. Then RDLs after squats and inverted rows after bench.

The good news is that I figured out where the random itchiness was coming from. I have been eating a ton of homemade soup lately. Since low salt soup is bland, aka super gross, I threw a ton of salt in it. So as soon as I hit on that, I cut it out. Random itchiness gone.

[broseph]

Wait a sec. You think the extra salt was making you itchy? That’s a thing?!? And now you’re eating bland soup!?!?!

We’ve been hitting home made soups hard lately. I’ve even been drinking broth as a finish to light meals (low calorie diet hack).

Also, what kind of hunting you doing?

[MPhelps]

Wait a sec. You think the extra salt was making you itchy? That’s a thing?!? And now you’re eating bland soup!?!?!

We’ve been hitting home made soups hard lately. I’ve even been drinking broth as a finish to light meals (low calorie diet hack).

Also, what kind of hunting you doing?

Yes. I do think too much salt was fucking up my shit. I stopped the soup, because bland soup is gross. Broth plus the extra salt I put in was probably around 1800mg for one big ass bowl. Either that or I was allergic to cabbage, mushrooms, onions or peas.

It stopped almost immediately. My job still sucks and I don't think anything else changed.

Deer hunting. Only kind of hunting I really care about. If I feel like it. Haven't gone in 4 years now.

[broseph]

My dear friend, I too only really deer hunt, but have not done so for 3 years (except for one weekend spent in the woods watching squirrels last year).

Compound bow. Public land that’s over an hour away with low deer density. I just can’t justify a month and half’s worth of weekends away from the family and possibly never even have a shot present itself, not even accounting for being picky about what I’m shooting.

[MPhelps]

My dear friend, I too only really deer hunt, but have not done so for 3 years (except for one weekend spent in the woods watching squirrels last year).

Compound bow. Public land that’s over an hour away with low deer density. I just can’t justify a month and half’s worth of weekends away from the family and possibly never even have a shot present itself, not even accounting for being picky about what I’m shooting.

I still hunt with a rifle. I'm actually more into the pursuit than killing anything. I'd love venison for months, but getting it butchered and finding freezer space for meat that only I like (not even really, but it's "healthier than beef") it's like why. And I'm not spending time away from my kid.

I also am all caught up with On Cinema and Decker. Such a different world than Tim and Eric. Except for some of the long Oscar specials, the trial and now Mister America, I've probably seen everything they've done.

[MPhelps]

Thursday October 17, 2019

Running in the pouring rain up a mountainside for 30 minutes. It may have snowed a bit. One 4 min and four 2 minute level 4-ish intervals. Not sure how much I hit targeted heart rate with my 100% accurate finger on the chest feeling my heart beat for 15 seconds after I end the interval.

Friday October 18, 2019

Four 2 minute intervals on ski erg, mixed with a bunch of random ab work, and some bounding with poles.

I've started doing hollow body ab work 2-3 times a day everyday. Saw a video from a cross country ski guy that knows what he's talking about (and isn't trying to sell a workout program). Former world cup skier and Birkebeiner winner. (50km ski race in Wisconsin). He basically said that core work is the most important fitness metric for skiing. Arms, legs and back are less important to work in the gym than the core. Because I've been neglecting it a bit, I'm doing it as much as possible. I've never really heard of hollow body position, but apparently it's important. It's also not easy. I mix those with planks.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Front squat 85x5, 105x5, 125x5, 105x5, 85x5

RDL 95×5, 115x5, 135x5, 115x5, 95x5

Back and abs

So I did a pyramid so at least I had some volume in there. I haven't front squatted or RDL'd in months, so doing it light was key. Hopefully I'll be able to work out some of my nagging upper back pain by not putting a bar across my back. And the low back soreness from conventional deadlifts. Strength is the most important thing in life. Haha, yeah.

Did some manual labor this morning, cleaning out the gutters. I'm glad to get it done, and it wasn't hard at all. I remember trying to do manual labor while doing liftinf programs and just worrying about it affecting my lifting and vice versa. Not a problem when you've got 60% front squats planned! Took a short walk with the fam too.

[MPhelps]

Sunday October 20, 2019

7-8 miles walk/run up 1700' elevation gain

Attempted ski up the Whiteface Mountain toll road. I got to the gate and realized I left my boots at home. I could have gone home and got them and been back in 30 minutes or less, but I thought I was on a time crunch which turned out to be not and I was home waiting for 3 hours. Plus I wasn't too psyched about carrying skis for 2-3 miles up 1000' elevation. Ended up fast walking with some jogging uphill. Ran all the way down. It got warm, snow's all gone now. Fuck it. I'll be on skis soon enough.

Tuesday October 22, 2019

3x7 ski erg intervals
3x90 air half squats with resistance band
3x10 dips
3x10 pushups
3x15 walking lunges wit 35lb dumbbells
Ab work hollow body

Wednesday October 23, 2019

10x1 level 3 threshold intervals roller skiing skate style. Best times in awhile.

Thursday October 24, 2019

4x4 level 4 intervals and bushwack up small mountain 1200' elevation gain

These were uphill bounding with poles. Fucking hard. Around 190 bpm heart rate on last 2 intervals. Then kept going up to the top without a trail. Tiny 2100' mountain kicks my ass every time I hike it.

Friday
4x15 resistance band triceps extensions and bicep curls. Mostly for elbow aids relief. Maybe a bit of vanity. It is ok to look like you have some arm definition.

Saturday October 26, 2019

Squat 105x5, 125x5, 140x5, 125x5, 105x5

Bench 75x5, 85x5, 100x5, 85x5, 75x5

RDL 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 115x5, 95x5

Reverse hyper and abs

Yes. Program hopping. So back to 531 5s pro again with pyramids. One day a week with barbells. Focus on speed sets. No grinding or any work up before lifting.

Doing some resistance band stuff and pushups and dips on 2 other days to get some work in. No progressions. Just using what I've got. Bodyweight, bands and 35 lb dumbbells. Doing hollow body ab work daily. Not tracking any of it because I don't want to become obsessed with progressing on any of that stuff.

[MPhelps]

Sunday, October 27, 2019
10x1 double pole level 3 intervals
Pushups and dips 3x10
Pull ups 15 singles
Walking lunges 3x15 35 lb dumbbells

Tuesday October 29, 2019
Hike one hour
Rollerski 30 hour level 3

Wednesday October 30
Pulldowns and curls 3x15
pushups and dips 3x10
box jumps 20" 3x10

Thursday October 31
Hike one hour and trick or treat in the pouring rain one hour

Saturday November 2
Squat 110x5, 130x5, 145x5, 130x5, 115x5
RDL 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 115x5, 95x5
Bench 80x5, 90x5, 105x5, 90x5, 80x5
Reverse hyper 3x10 and abs

So I've been eating lower carb all week and trying to experiment with trying to get rid of my body itching. More Google searches, more chick websites, less food choices, more frustration. So white potatoes are out due to nightshade intolerance, butter is out due to dairy, salicylic acid acne wash is out, and the itch is now gone. I'm also keeping tabs on my training and not pushing the level 4 into 100%+ of my max heart rate.

Which leads me to...keto?
I'm keeping carbs to a minimum and eating mostly fatty cuts of beef, and small amounts of berries, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Rather than seeing it as an elimination diet, I'll just jump on the keto bandwagon.

[MPhelps]

Sunday November 3, 2019
10x1 double pole interval
3x15 walking lunges with 70lbs
28 box jumps
3x10 pushups And 3x10 dips
3x15 pulldowns and curls

Tuesday
Hang power clean and front squats 65x5 85x5, 95x5, 115x5, 95x5, 85x5, 65x5
3x10 pushups
3x15 pulldowns and curls

Wednesday
42 minutes roller skiing. Best times in awhile. Zero-ish carbs.

Friday
Running with poles and walking too. No plan

Saturday November 9. 2019
Squats 125x5, 140x5, 155x5, 140x5, 125x5
RDLs. Same as squats
Bench 85x5, 100x5, 110x5, 100x5, 85x5

Sunday, November 10, 2019
10x1 double pole intervals, 5x10 sec "sprints"
3x10 box jumps 20"
3x15 walking lunges 70lbs
3x10 pushups
3x15 pulldowns and curls

Still going strong on keto. Felt nauseous during this morning's workout between sets of sprints and box jumps. May be because I had some MCT oil beforehand. Or maybe just because I did it fasted. Had a couple rounds of loose stool too. I'm probably still adapting.

[MPhelps]

Monday 11/11/19
First ski of the year. Felt pretty good climbing up. Skiing down I was kind of sore and felt weak in my arms.

Tuesday 11/12/19
Yard skiing. 30 hour.

Wednesday 11/13/19
Yard skiing 40 minutes

Thursday 11/14/19
Golf course. 1:08. Felt kind of weak like I was on auto pilot. No power uphill. Kind of wobbly downhill.

Friday 11/15/19
Same deal. I think I'm fat adapted. I have no energy to do anything but shuffle.

Saturday 11/16/19
Was supposed to lift but I ended up doing a bunch of bro stuff with dumbbells, bands and leg extension attachment on my bench. No barbell touched.

Keto ended. Made it about 2 weeks. Ate some sweet potato. Officially grossed out by oil.

Sunday 11/17/19.
-5°F/-19°C last night. A little early for that.

Went skiing on my brand new racing skis today. Just took the plastic off this morning. Kind of thin conditions and also very icy. It felt like taking a Porsche out for a drive on dirt roads when you've been driving an automatic Ford on the interstate for 6 months.

I didn't fall but I put a nice little gouge in the P tex hitting some gravel or something mixed in the snow. I knew I should've brought my training skis and just worked on getting settled into skiing on snow, but fuck me. I don't think it's a big deal performance wise, but c'mon.

So I'm not sure I'm going to do much logging. I might pop in but I think lifting barbells is on hiatus for a bit. I don't really want to log bro stuff because I don't want it to become an assistance lift progression, where I'm trying to up numbers on the kind of stuff that'll destroy joints.

I'm currently drinking all of the Gatorade in the house, and eating fruit snacks trying to replace glycogen. What have I done. It was actually a good experiment and it helped me realize that I think grains, dairy, potatoes and legumes are all on my shit list for problem foods. Plus I've upped my salt and fat intake to where it probably should be.

[broseph]

Well, rats off to ya for pursuing your dreams and may the luck of the irish smile on ya for your future endeavors.

[MPhelps]

And Rats of to you! too @broseph in this holiday season!

I pretty much came in to drop that quote in the title because it popped in my head while skiing the other day.

Ive been skiing all week. Classic instead of skate mostly. I havent really been able to get skating off the ground much. Shitty conditions for it mixed with being detrained a bit in it.

So today I did
Squat- a bunch of sets of 10s ascending up and then 145x5x3
Bench-same. Sets of 10s ascending then 100x5x3
RDL- same as squats.

Then some rows, leg extensions, leg curls, arm curls, tricep extensions, abs, back, wrist curls and calf raises.

I like the bodybuilding stuff. It's way less mental stress and I don't feel like a pile of goo afterwards.

[MPhelps]

Saturdays. A couple of them. Lifted some weights. Squats, bench, RDLS. Some arms and legs and abs. Sets of 5s. Maybe sets of 10s, or 3s. Been skiing 3 days a week at least.