crusting the uncrustable

[psmith]

12/12
Jog 61:00 at average HR 142--careful now (but some of this had to do with a full bladder)
BW 187.6
Regular gym now has a couple of manual treadmills--very nice!

12/13
Easy jog 60:00 @ avg hr 141
strides x 3
BW 188.4

12/14
OHP 135 x 1, 145 x 1, 120 x 3r x 3s
TBDDL 315 x 5, 5, 6@9ish--e1rm 385
BW 189.6 ok....

12/15
Easy jog 61:00 at average 141
BW 187.8

12/16
Contralateral RDLs 30 x 5, 5, 8
90:00 low-impact medley (stairs, bike, rower) at average HR 139
BW 187.6

12/17
AM: yoga (DDP YRG don't @ me)
PM: jog 75:00 at average HR 140
Implemented longer walking warmup before the run, not bad

12/18
jog 45:30 at average HR 141

12/19
AM: 45:00 at average HR 140--HR all over the place tbh
PM: OHP 105 x 4r x 9s
TBdiddly 335 x 3r x 4s
contralateral rdl 30 x 5, 5, 12
BW 188.6

wanted 335 x 5r x 3s but it was not to be

12/20
AM yoga
PM jog 76:00 avg HR 140
Pushups/chins 8/4 on 00:30 x 20
BW 186.6

12/21
AM yoga
PM jog 75:00 avg HR 140, felt good but slowed down for visibility reasons (it was getting dark) on the way back
Overate

12/22
OHP 135 x 1, 140 x 1, 120 x 3r x 3s
TBDDL 265 x 5r x 5s harder than I hoped
Contralateral RDL 35 x 5, 5, 8
BW 190.2 yikes, guess I did overeat after all
Probably only gonna do 4 sets for next "volume day"

12/23
AM(ish) walk 168:00 avg HR 100--good, add a little weight next time
PM: pushups/chins 30/14, then 8/4 x 15--00:30 clock at first, had to bump it up to 00:45 for last 3, not good
Assorted fucking abut with step-ups and kettlebell swings

[psmith]

12/24
Jog/walk 90:00 at avg HR lolfuckifIknow, HRM was jumping around like a mad cunt
First time trying MAF in hilly terrain and it was pretty hopeless. Good (?) news is that I have a group workout/tryout involving a run coming up in a couple weeks anyway, so limiting intensity is less important for now. But will probably go back to MAF when I get back to the flatlands after the tryouts.
Fast feet drills, pushups

12/25
70:00 ish run/walk? No HR, time approximate. Too hard--felt like a lot of added impact for little added conditioning benefit. Maybe need to dial in HRM after all.
And strides x 6ish, getting ~33 footfalls in 8 sec, very good

12/26
AM: OHP 105 x 5r x 6s
TBDDL 315 x 1, 345 x 1, 315 x 3r x 3s
Contralateral RDL 35 x 5, 5, 8
KB fuckabout

PM: 15:00 easy jog on flat with HRM.
The good: might have just been the weather (it was cold), but felt fast as fuck (relatively speaking) with HR falling off the bottom end of the range.
The bad: some pain in left medial tibia that didn't go away after ~5 minutes. Shut it down, will probably row or ride tomorrow too. Crazy how intensity do dat. It's fine, will take down week early and then have a full 5-7 days of running going into tryouts.

12/27
Pushups/chins 8/4 on 00:29 x 20, then 20/10
Rower: 25:00 at avg 144, then 25:00 at avg 172ish (but DF 41 then 61, clean your ergs globogyms)
Some kettlebell snatches, grip started crapping out
Shin pain feels a bit higher than the narrowest part of the tibia where MTSS typically presents. Not sure what if anything to make of this (sartorius? surely not), but John Davis' articles are great and very calming, see e.g http://www.runningwritings.com/2012/10/ ... tress.html

[psmith]

New year, new post

12/28
Easy walk 110:00
Icing shins, we'll see if this works

12/29
Contralateral RDL 35 x 5, 5, 10
Single leg BW calf raise x 8r x 3s
OHP 135x1, 145x1, 125 x 2r x 4s
TBDDL 275 x 3r x 6s
KB swings
Just about the right dose of stress on the lifts imo

12/30
AM: pushups/chins 8/4 x 20 on 00:28 clock
PM: ride ~90:00, avg HR 150 but this is somewhat misleading as I was on a singlespeed and it was hilly (maxed around 184)

12/31
AM: pushups/chins 8/4 on 00:28 x 20, then x 22/12 while maintaning position for 1 min each
Jog ~15 minutes + strides x 5 on grass in Escalantes; ~40 footfalls in 10s

1/1
Hike about 150:00 at average HR about 106; added a couple of bricks to the pack

1/2
Flat one-leg calf raises BW x 8r x 3s
Contralateral RDL 35 x 5,6,12
OHP 105 x 4r x ?s, at least 6--cut it off at 10 minutes
TBDDL 315 x 1, 345 x 1, 315 x 3r x 3s
KB snatch 20kg x 100 in 10 minutes, hard--mirin GS guys!


1/3
Pushups/chins 8/4 x 20 on 00:28
Run/walk 57:30 at avg 142--bloody hills, but apparently it will my improve my performance on the flat?
Tryout has been indefinitely postponed on account of furlough; back to base building until morale improves

1/4
Jog 60:00 at average HR 141, not too bad; tights are comfy

1/5
Flat one-leg calf raise BW x 8r x 3s
Contralateral RDL 35 x 8r x 3s, stay here and practice for a few sessions
OHP 125 x 1r x 2s, 135 x 1, 145x1, 120 x 3r x 3s--single was a little too hard
TBDDL 265 x 4r x 6s, good
Airdyne while reading x 45:00

BW 190.4, feh

1/6
Pushups/chins x 8/4 on 00:28 x 20
Jog/walk 60:00 at avg HR 144; had some trouble bringing it down, at first on the track and then on the manual treadmill
Strides: 1 on treadmill, 2 on track, left ham/calf felt a bit tweaky, shitcanned it
BW 189.8

1/7
Jog 62:00 at average HR 144; not bad, spent a lot of time in the 145-150 range ("a lot" relatively speaking) but not about to beat myself up over it

1/8
OHP 105 x 4r x 9s
TBDDL 315 x 1, 345 x 1, 315 x 2r x 5s
Calf raises bw x 8r x 3s
Contralateral RDL 35 x 8r x 3s
Step-ups to a box of unknown height x 10:00, x 15:00
(keeping HR below about 160 and letting it recover to about 120 between intervals)--this is taken from Joel Jamieson's notion of HICT but I'm not entirely sure if it makes sense, guess we'll find out. If nothing else it should help with hiking up hills.

BW 188.4 a meal or two lighter than usual but not bad

[psmith]

1/9
Noticeable tibial pain when walking in AM, subsided in PM
Pushups/chins: 8/4 on 00:28 x 20, then 20ish/10ish with 1 minute holds
Row 5k in ~21:00, surprisingly hard

1/10
Low-impact medley x ~75:00, tried to keep HR in the 145-150 range

1/11
Low-impact medley 80:00, HR avg 147

1/12
Grip
Foot exercises (toe taps/supinated toe taps)

later:
Low-impact medley 91:00 at avg HR 148
Contralateral RDL 35 x 8, 8, 10
BW calf raises x 9r x 3s

1/13
Grip
Foot exercises
later:
Airdyne 65:00 at avg HR 149
BW 188.8

1/14
Surprise fitness test lmao (on 2 cups of coffee and ~4oz plain greek yogurt)
1.5 mile on road course 10:16
Chins 21
Pushups 35 (JUST)
Situps 82
Better than I had feared (well, except on pushups, but exceeded the relevant legal standards throughout), worse than I had hoped. At least now I know--kind of a monkey off my back.
later:
foot exercises
grip (just a couple singles with the #1)

[psmith]

Same shit, pretty much. Returned to running with a 20:00 jog (plus low-impact medley to make up another 40:00) yesterday; felt fine, kinda heavy in the legs but that's coming off a layoff for you. Some intermittent right medial knee pain, feels kinda like the semitendinosus insertion.

Notes:
Icing shins tentatively seems to help with shin pain. Toe taps tentatively also seem to help. I think it's a bone stress injury, so some combination of 1) something to do while waiting for it to heal on its own, 2) making the area feel "different" via icing or a pump (per the painscience guy), 3) waves hand at increased blood flow, 4) (only relevant to the toe taps) something to do with leg stiffness? idk lol

[psmith]

Same shit, introducing some rucking. The Girevoy Sport After 40 pushup program is going OK. Reintroducing deficit tbdl and dropping or deemphasizing the single leg stuff, I think it was starting to bother my knees. May want to throw in some RDLs for that eccentric hamstring loading--went for a hilly hike recently and I was pretty damn sore afterwards. Still not up to full running volume or down to goal weight, but heading there. NB Beacon a comfy.

[psmith]

update: more of the same shit for the rest of february--easy cardio, upper body bw work, and tbddl 2x/week

last week was first week of a slightly modified version of rob shaul's afghan predeployment program. a little running, a little loaded hiking, a lot of step-ups, some sandbag getups, while continuing the upper body bw programming. weighing in around 180. it's all good so far, sore but that's fine. sandbag getups suck. shuttle sprints suck. sick grip pump from sets of 50-80 stepups holding 25lb dbs, which I didn't really expect but that's cool. superfeet green have helped with foot/shin issues.

[augeleven]

I was looking at that afghan predeployment program as a kind of peaking program before my yearly big hike in June. I dont want to stop barbell stuff though. Are you doing the calf raises? I have had foot issues too, and I wonder how much is related to having underdeveloped lower leg muscles and tendons.

[psmith]

For calf stuff I've been doing what Andrew Read writes about here 3x/week on flat ground: https://www.dragondoor.com/calf_work/ also toe taps until anterior tibialis pump whenever I'm sitting at a desk. i've done the prescribed "calf tabatas" once and I'm not sure I like them. Might be better on a ramp than off a step and I personally wouldn't try them without a reasonably supportive shoe. Agree that there's probably a connection to foot/lower leg injury history.

I think the key points for a big hike are probably the step-ups 1-2x/week and a hike with a pack. I don't know about making that work with squatting, but I think it should be compatible with a decent amount of pulling volume.

[psmith]

Last week (first week of modified Afghan program, though I did 6sx80r step-ups a week or so before this):

3/3
Step-ups: ~50lb pack and boots to 18" bench x 100r x 6s--was completing these in about 5:45/set, too slow!
Airdyne x 30:00
Foot exercises

3/4
Foot exercises
Grip Coc#1 x 3 ladders ish
Airdyne x 15:00
walk/run on curve treadmill (2:30/2:30) x 3
Pushups BW x 30r x 4s on 1:45
walk/run on curve treadmill (2:30/2:30) x 3
Pushups BW x 30r x 4s on 1:45
walk/run on curve treadmill (2:30/2:30) x 3
Ankles to bar x 12, 10, 10
Calf tabata x 3, wicked cramping
Airdyne x 20:00, still cramping
BW 180.0

3/5
Foot exercises
Grip CoC#1 x 3 ladders
Chins x 81 in 8:00, not bad

3/6
Foot exercises
Step-ups: 50r x 6s, 25lb DBs, 16" bench, running shoes
Scotty Bobs 25lb x 10r x 6s
300m (actually ~336m) shuttles x 4
Ankles to bar x 10r x 3s
Andrew Read calves x 25r x 3s
fuggin hard
BW 180.0

3/7
Hike: local trail (~0.5 mile warmup/cooldown, 5.2 miles main) in 92:45 with 45 lbs weight, stuffing, sledgehammer
Foot exercises
Chins EMOM 10r x 5s

3/8
Foot exercises
Grip CoC#1 x ~3 ladders
Pushups (33r x 3s on 2:15) x 2 on 10:00
Sandbag getups x 18 (3/3) in 10:40
Then superset mini leg blasters x 10r with
sandbag getups x 2/2 x 4

3/9-3/10
Off, some walking

[psmith]

3/11
Foot exercises
Grip CoC#1 x 3 ladders
Pushups (33r x 3s on 2:15) x 2 on 10:00+--this was still pretty hard
Dot drill 5 rounds
Step-ups: ~50lb pack and boots to 18" bench x 200r x 2s, x 100r x 2s--this sucked, IDK whether it was the weekend's drinking catching up to me or what but no bueno
Sandbag getup x 5r/side

3/12
Foot exercises
Grip Coc#1 x 2 ladders
Chins ~69 in 7:00
Run 30min steady
Sandbag getups x 5r/side

[psmith]

3/13
Foot exercises
Pushups (33r x 3s on 2:15) x 2 on 7:30
Mini leg blasters x 10
Sandbag getups x 5/3/4 in 10:00, then x 5/5/5
(all intermingled)


3/14
Stepups 18" bench, pack, boots 80r x 8s on 6:00 clock
Foot exercises

3/15
AM hike Wildhorse in 83:45 with 40 lbs weight, stuffing, sledgehammer; did 1st and last mile fast
[mountain] tactical autism pr: cops called

At desk:
Grip CoC#1 x 3 ladders
Foot exercises

PM:
Pushups 33r x 3s on 1:45
Shuttle ~300m (might have been a bit long) x 3 on 2:30, then rest an extra minute because this was killing me (heavy shoes + grass?)
Pushups 33r x 2s on 1:45
Shuttle ~300m
Pushups 33r
""""""1/4 calf tabata"""""" x 3

BW 186.4 oh shit lol, gonna start tracking waist measurements in the AM because lol no scale

[psmith]

3/17 - 3/20: same shit

3/21: localized shin pain on DOT drill aka hopscotch for the college weight room, shut it down

3/22: body temperature PR (as adult)

off for a while

4/1: stepups boots and pack x 400, back on my shit for several days

4/7: chins/dips/pushups x 5/10/15 x 8 rounds, hard

4/8: step-ups boots/pack x 800, hard! Slower than last time! for next big straight set just do 10s x 90r without taking the pack off, should be quicker

4/9
Warmup: leg swings/sledgehammer swings/duck walk
Leg blaster: 2 mini, 4 regular interspersed with
Sandbag x 50r
Small left hamstring tweak, decided to shut it down there
"1/2 calf tabata" x 3

4/10
chins/dips/pushups x 5/10/15 x 8, ride my bicycle, some good mornings and single-leg hip thrusts and shit for the hamstring

4/11
Trying out new gym and trying to load the hamstring
Warmup: skierg x 1k in ~4:00
DL up to 265 x 5r x 2s, try trap bar next time?
Seated unilateral leg curls 20 x 20r x 3s meh
Unilateral calf raises 25lb x 8r x 4s
Stepups x 25lb DBs x 50r to 18" box / Scotty Bobs 25lb x 10r x 6s--hard but a decent way to get some extra uphill volume in; may need to strap in for this, grip starts giving out. Embarrassing but whaddaya whaddaya.
BW 184.6

All done in wrestling shoes, we'll see whether this was a good idea. (Later: seems to have been fine, nice.).

4/12
Brisk walk 1/2 hour no shin pain--start loading next week.
Chins/dips/pushups x 6/9/15 x 4, break for nosebleed, x 5. This rep scheme is better--numerically pleasing but adds a little pulling volume.
Tried a mini leg blaster, no go--but poor man's leg curl x 10, 10, 15 works well with a high enough bench

Notes:
Thorne Vit K drops seem to help a lot with the shin pain.

In general feeling a bit "lost in a dark wood" with my training right now. On one hand, I might have been seduced by the power of tacticool and the allure of high intensity ("feeling like you got a workout") and maybe a perverse fascination with minimal equipment training. A potential impediment to achieving my goals, but it's happened to better men than I. The goal is to perform in the field and not get hurt, not to be the best at working out, and things that get in the way of my goal should be discarded or de-prioritized. And I'm the dumbass with the pulled hamstring and aching shins. And the Afghanistan plan (which I've dialed up a little bit, admittedly) is relatively modest in its demands; I have no idea how anyone gets through the Peak Bagger plan or Backcountry Hunting, to name two examples, and I'd really like to see a detailed log with times to completion and maybe videos and so forth for some people who did them. Or say from the poster in italics here: https://mtntactical.com/question-and-an ... s-6042015/

On the other hand, the argument for loaded step-ups in a highly sport-specific season prep cycle makes a lot of sense to me. It's just a hill--except more convenient, way more boring, steeper than most, and easier to titrate volume and intensity. Leg blasters, well, I could go either way there. A couple test hikes makes it seem like they might doing what they're supposed to (relative to squatting, pulling, trap bar work, etc). But they're not as obviously specific as stepups are. But Rob Shaul is the deployment prep/mountain guy anyway, and one of the big lessons of Exodus has been that the Dodo Bird verdict is pretty applicable to training (specific details aren't nearly as important as volume and consistency over time, even to the extent that you can get jacked with things I would have called silly at one point). And my quad teardrops sure look bigger. But then, Rob doesn't strike me as being all that smart. But how much does being smart matter?

Iono kings, it's a tough one.

[augeleven]

Thanks so much for the write up. Are you training for a specific trip or event?
I’ve been doing step ups but in circuits with incline treadmill at 17ish%.
I’m thinking of switching from a step-up to a step-over, for the eccentric downhill type loading. Is that what the leg blasters are for?

[psmith]

Thanks so much for the write up. Are you training for a specific trip or event?

No problem, man. I'm about to start a job working in the woods in a couple weeks, so the plan is to wrap up the program and roll right into that.

I’m thinking of switching from a step-up to a step-over, for the eccentric downhill type loading. Is that what the leg blasters are for?

Yeah, that's the idea, see e.g. here and here for Rob's take. I can definitely see where step-overs would be more specific, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[psmith]

4/13
Poor man's leg curls, bunch of walking

4/14
Hella walking and shit, leg curls in AM

4/15
Leg curls; hamstring feelin OK
Prisoner complex x 9

4/16
900 step-ups in about an hour clock time, but with a couple of untimed breaks
CoC trainer x 2/4/6 x 3

4/17
Mini leg blaster x 2 on 00:30
Untimed break
Full leg blaster x 4 on 00:30
1:00 break
Mini leg blaster x 2 on 00:30

Sandbag getups x ~53 in 20:00, hamstring felt fine

Prisoner complex x 9 on 00:30 (with 2:30ish rest after round 5)
1/2 calf tabata x 4

4/18
CoC trainer x 2/4/6 x 3-4

Ruck 1 hour flat

4/19
Step-ups boots/pack/18"" bench x 100 superset with dead stop pushups* x 10
This took about 92:00 and absolutely sucked. I don't know whether relatively small changes in parameters are having a more than additive effect ("use a 15"-19" box/bench/whatever" for step-ups, mine is 18"; "use a 40lb ruck,; mine has 45 plus some towels and stuff for structure; once a week plus shuttle sprints and running vs twice a week) and I'm super fatigued as a result or whether I'm just really out of shape. But the program pdf says try to do your 1,000 step-ups in the last week in under 50:00 and I'm pretty sure that kind of performance is quite a ways off for me, and I thought I was in decent shape. We'll see, I guess.

Grip: CoC trainer x 2/4/6 x 4

*Rob Shaul calls these "hand release pushups" huehuehuehue

4/20
Chins x 7:00
Sandbag getup x 60r in 20:00

Hike (unloaded) 5mi/~1300ft

[psmith]

4/21 off

4/22
Prisoner circuit x 10 rounds--tried to do this on 2:00 clock but ran way over by the end

4/23
Step-ups boots/pack/18" bench x 1,000 in 77:14 total time
(did first 676 straight through in 47:15ish, which meets Sawtooth IHC standard for elevation/load/time, though obviously not linear distance)
Pretty far from 50:00, but then again it's a tall step (18" from a suggested range of 16"-19") and a slightly overweight pack, and big heavy boots (relative to your traditional oper8or footwear of Merrell Moabs and such), so whatever

CoC #1 x 1/2/3 x 2

4/24
Flat ruck 74:34--10lb db in hand, faster back than out

Prisoner circuit x 5 on 2:00, 6:00 rest, x 1, tweaked left lat/tricep--poo! Should be fine in a few days, but irksome.

4/25
Off (some light db rows for rehab)

4/26
Warmup: light DB rows/2 mini leg blasters
5 full leg blasters on 00:30--quite hard

~60 sandbag getups in 20:00--also quite hard, left tricep/lat held up ok tho

Knees feeling a little cranky

4/27
Off, moved house

4/28
75:00 hilly ruck
CoC #1 x 1/2/3
Rehab rows

[psmith]

4/29
off

4/30
Step-ups boots/pack/18" bench x 432 in ~31:00, shitcanned it

5/1
Easy walking about town

Rehab rows 40lb x 30r x 3s/pushups BW x 30r x 3s
Ruck: cut short, left shin started pinging--not sure if this was a good idea but erring on the side of caution, I guess
Weighed pack
68lbs
Uh....
(started with 45lb of filler plus assorted towels and whatnot to give it some structure back in March or whenever. then dropped to 40. then went back to 45. then said fuck it and went to 50. this is a big beefy pack, so ~10lb of stuffing and ~8lb of pack makes 18 plus 50lb of weights makes 68. bear in mind, I'm not going to afghanistan--regular load will be much closer to 40lb than 70lb let alone the 90-110lb combat loads you hear about occasionally. afghanistan plan says 40lb ruck, is not ambiguous about filler vs total weight as I had thought...huh...and rob suggests elsewhere not to go over 40lb for step-ups. mfw



so maybe I need to undick myself here. at any rate, this is supposed to be an easy week, so there you go.).
(of course, @asdf says he was using 80lb, the absolute lad)

Dropped to 40lb, carried sledge, easy hour

5/2
Leg blaster x 1 as part of warmup
Untimed break
Leg blaster x 5 on 00:30
Sandbag getups x 30 in ~7:30, left glute/ham/adductor tie-in was feeling not so good
Untimed break
Tried another sandbag getup, still feeling not so good
"Full calf tabata"

5/3
AM:
Rehab rows 50lb x 40r x 3s
Pushups BW x 40r x 3s
Sandbag getups x 10, 20, 30 (switching shoulders every 5; last set took right around 7:00)
Glute/ham felt fine. Conclusion? Don't do sandbag getups right after leg blasters (recall: that was how you pulled the hamstring a couple weeks ago, too.).
(Also: wrestling shoes are good for sandbag getups, big squishy shoes are bad.).

PM:
Hike ~2 hours with 40lb pack

5/4
Step-ups 50r x 6s with 25lb DBs--first and last sets to 20" box
Some pushups and rows since no hex dbs for scotty bobs, re-tweaked lat
Left hip feelin a little fucky, will probably be fine tomorrow but b careful!
(Hip improved, knees were feeling it--stay away from the 20" box, at least for now.).

5/5
Sandbag getups x 50r in ~12:00--left hamstring started feeling a little rough on literally rep 48, being very careful after this
Leg blasters x 5 on 00:30, being very careful (lol) (but for real this was playing with fire)
(also wrestling shoes on shooting mat appear to work decently well for this)
(but some left first metatarsal pain, so mayb not!)

[psmith]

5/6
Rehab rows 40lb x 30r x 3s superset with
Pushups 30r x 3s

5/7
Step-ups 43lb pack + boots + 18" bench x 1000 in 67:45
Goal for next year: this plus sledgehammer in 50:00
How to do: ???? lol

PM: hike with lunch load ~3 hours

5/8
Lat/tricep is feeling fucky when I attempt pullups
Lat pulldowns (instead of rows) for rehab: 85 x 20, 25, 25

5/9
Sandbag getups 56r in 12:57
Rehab pulldowns 85 x 25r x 3s
Leg blasters x 3.75 or so on 00:30--left glute/ham started feeling tweaky, shut it down

5/10-5/11
Rehab pulldowns

5/12 off

5/13
Pack test, jog a mile

5/14
Hike with pack ("Huff 'n' Puff" in about 23:00), occasional tempo pullups

5/15
Weight room circuit, TBDL 185x20 and pretty near puked

5/16
Hike with pack and dolmar 0.75 x "Don Street". Hard! Rocks in 23:32, whole thing in about 28:50.

5/17
Rehab pulldowns 110 x 25, 120 x 25 x 2
couple sets of scotty bobs @ 25lb dbs

5/18
Stepups 45lb x 60 superset with Scotty Bobs 25lb x 10 for ~40:00
Was planning to go for 90:00 but tbh this started sucking. Might have just been soft surface on the step-up box, IDK.

Some overall thoughts on training like this:
I'm doing OK up the hills--hanging with the guys in front, but not blowing past them, and starting to really struggle around the 25:00 mark (though, in fairness, this was on an average 70% grade and with a ~67lb load). Leg blasters seem to have taken care of downhill soreness, as intended, though doing them and sandbag getups in the same session beat the hell out of my medial hamstrings--I straight up pulled one a while back and it started feeling pretty bad again last week, better now. Which is a pity, because they got to be kind of fun--sick quad pump from the leg blasters, and the sandbag getups are also pretty fun. Shuttle sprints have some obvious specificity if you anticipate gunfights but otherwise, meh. Genuinely a pretty slick way to train for my goals with minimal equipment.

Downsides: beat me up good. I mentioned hamstrings. Knees hurt a fair bit. Hydrolyzed collagen and Hookgrip sleeves helped, and seemingly better now, but still, wew. Lat/tricep is on me for trying to jump into high-volume dips, but a muscle pull is a muscle pull. Was pretty far off from Rob Shaul’s recommended times, and the Afghanistan program is relatively modest in volume and overall loading compared to, say, Backpacking Pre-Season, Backcountry Hunting, and Peak Bagger--I have to wonder how many people actually complete those as rxed with times in the neighborhood of what Shaul suggests. Or maybe I’m just out of shape, who knows.

Time to move to one-lift-a-day in-season barbell programming? Or wait till we add project work to PT? (For now, mostly hanging around the shed sharpening tools and getting various classroom certifications.). Or keep pushing step-ups and whatnot (lol, no) or try to add in extra low-intensity rucking (hmm, maybe)? Either way, won’t be an issue for long.

And how to prepare for next season? Well, barbell work plus LISS. Progress volume gradually--don’t get shin splints and stuck with low-impact again. Keep front squats as a main lift--hopefully will help with all the knee flexion next year, greater strength → less knee and medial hamstring tweakage--and maybe do some sandbag getups/step-ups/lunges as assistance or whatever before the pre-season cycle starts. (And note that starting with a manageable 300 step-ups per session and adding 100/week is pretty close to the 1.0-1.3x arbitrary units sweet spot that the Barbell Medicine lads bring up.). IDK what else, maybe experiment with box height and loading. (I'd think heavier weight/lower box would be the place to turn, see e.g. first question here: https://mtntactical.com/knowledge/qa-10-11-18/)

[augeleven]

Thanks for the detailed write up.