Fossil's Training Log

[DCR]

Top set was surprisingly easy. Thanks holiday calories.

One of these days I’ll actually try out carb cycling so that I can feel like an animal on training days while being less fat than I am.

[Fossil]

Top set was surprisingly easy. Thanks holiday calories.

One of these days I’ll actually try out carb cycling so that I can feel like an animal on training days while being less fat than I am.

I've tried it in the past but I would inevitably turn every day in a carb day lol.

[Fossil]

Was definitely not feeling up to this tonight but I don't want to get in the habit of pushing sessions.

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 3

Farmer's Walk:
115 L/R x 40 yards, three re-grips

As much as I dislike doing farmer's walks, there's no denying their benefits; yesterday I noticed that my left shoulder set square, and not internally rotated at rest - something that has never been possible until now.

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
30 x 5 L/R
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
52 x 5 L/R
59 x 4 L/R

Farmer's Walk:
115 L/R x 40 yards three re-grips

Started rough but after I sat them down the second time I gripped like it was going out of style and had such a strong hold through the last leg, I purposely slowed way down for the final 10+ feet and did a static hold for twenty or so seconds. Finished strong.

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 2

Poor sleep last few days. Really need to get this damn lift back on track. Extremely annoying.

Farmer's Walk:
115 L/R x 40 yards

These felt strong. Grip never faltered. Got pretty wobbly towards the end but that usually happens.

[Fossil]

The shoot I was directing got pushed from this weekend and thankfully so - felt off last few days and it culminated to a sore throat, a slight fever and aches all over. Meant to do this yesterday but as mentioned, felt like trash. I feel almost 100% today. Weird.

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
52 x 5 L/R
59 x 5 L/R

I moved up the first set because frankly, messing with all those plates for one set is annoying to me. It's like starting a deadlift with 25s for your first warmup set.
Top set wasn't too difficult.

Farmer's Walk:
117.5 L/R x 40 yards

Went with a smaller weight increase this time around. Glad I did. Having said that, I think I'm gonna stay at this wait and slow down a little bit.

[DCR]

One-Arm Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
52 x 5 L/R
59 x 5 L/R

I moved up the first set because frankly, messing with all those plates for one set is annoying to me. It's like starting a deadlift with 25s for your first warmup set.

What tool are you doing these with? I had been assuming DBs, with magnets for the odd weights. No?

[Fossil]

One-Arm Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
52 x 5 L/R
59 x 5 L/R

I moved up the first set because frankly, messing with all those plates for one set is annoying to me. It's like starting a deadlift with 25s for your first warmup set.

What tool are you doing these with? I had been assuming DBs, with magnets for the odd weights. No?

You are correct about dumbbells but for the microloading I use baseball bat training weights; much cheaper than the fractional plates they sell online and they slide fit perfectly on a 2in diameter barbell or dumbbell sleeve.

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 2

At this point I'm going to keep doing this lift out of spite. If it keeps sliding backwards, so be it.

Farmer's Walk:
117.5 L/R x 40 yards, two re-grips

Same weight but walked slower and maintained good posture throughout.

I see now that I made an egregious mistake by swapping the order of sessions. My weekends are often fairly chaotic compared to weekdays since I have a consistent office job with few variations in my days and nights, but weekends? That's a whole different story...
Front squats will go back to the end of the week. And no more full grip on the bar - I think it creates unnecessary tension in the upper body. I could be wrong but we'll see...

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
55 x 5 L/R
60 x 3 L/R

Not too difficult.

Farmer's Walk:
117.5 L/R x 40 yards, one re-grip

Almost made it through the whole 40 yards without re-gripping but those damn turns make the weights wobble and run into my legs.

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 3

Farmer's Walk:
117.5 L/R x 40 yards, one re-grip

Both of these lifts do little more than annoy me at this point. Having said that, rack position feels great.

Note to self: never again attempt to use a full grip rack position.

[DCR]

And no more full grip on the bar - I think it creates unnecessary tension in the upper body. I could be wrong but we'll see...

Note to self: never again attempt to use a full grip rack position.

I laughed at this because it tracks my experience with a number of movements / techniques.

"Don't do this again."

"No, really, stop."

"Come on, man, quit it with this shit."

"Godamnit, never again!"

All with like weeks in between.

[Fossil]

And no more full grip on the bar - I think it creates unnecessary tension in the upper body. I could be wrong but we'll see...

Note to self: never again attempt to use a full grip rack position.

I laughed at this because it tracks my experience with a number of movements / techniques.

"Don't do this again."

"No, really, stop."

"Come on, man, quit it with this shit."

"Godamnit, never again!"

All with like weeks in between.

Lol
Whats even funnier is that since that post, I've once again "figured it out." It always works with light weights...

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

One-Arm DB Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
55 x 5 L/R
60 x 4 L/R

Outside of my thigh has been numb for a week. Google says it's some nerve getting pinched or inflamed. I wanna say this happened to me before, sometime during grad school I think...
Suspecting it may be from the farmers walks; Uneven arms yada yada...
I think I did something to the musculature around where the IT band passes over the hip - more than likely trying during a turn.
Avoiding taking the handles outside at all costs since loading them to begin with is already a hassle.

Anyway, did this...

Suitcase Carry:
55 L/R x 40 yards

Using the farmers handles makes these interesting.

[DCR]

And no more full grip on the bar - I think it creates unnecessary tension in the upper body. I could be wrong but we'll see...

Note to self: never again attempt to use a full grip rack position.

I laughed at this because it tracks my experience with a number of movements / techniques.

"Don't do this again."

"No, really, stop."

"Come on, man, quit it with this shit."

"Godamnit, never again!"

All with like weeks in between.

Lol
Whats even funnier is that since that post, I've once again "figured it out."

I expected nothing less.

As I write this I’m about to head to the gym to try out a new squat technique tweak that occurred to me, on a non-leg day, and with my knee pissed off. Swore I’d stop this shit… a thousand times…

[Fossil]

And no more full grip on the bar - I think it creates unnecessary tension in the upper body. I could be wrong but we'll see...

Note to self: never again attempt to use a full grip rack position.

I laughed at this because it tracks my experience with a number of movements / techniques.

"Don't do this again."

"No, really, stop."

"Come on, man, quit it with this shit."

"Godamnit, never again!"

All with like weeks in between.

Lol
Whats even funnier is that since that post, I've once again "figured it out."

I expected nothing less.

As I write this I’m about to head to the gym to try out a new squat technique tweak that occurred to me, on a non-leg day, and with my knee pissed off. Swore I’d stop this shit… a thousand times…

Lol the answer is always *just* out of reach...

[Fossil]

1/2lb Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Used a full grip rack position lol
Felt great. Approaching the bar high then setting the hands and getting under seems to work pretty well.

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 4

Difficult, but good.
Arched my low back. Helps on the way down and tremendously and prevents me from getting out of position. My upper and lower back are pretty rigid so being a little more active isn't a bad thing, I wouldn't think. I know it helps my shoulders a ton to flex and bend my T-spine.

Farmer's Walk:
117.5 L/R x 20 yards, one re-grip

Right elbow cracked pretty loud picking the weights up then grip started to fail pretty shortly after the turnaround and after setting the weights down I felt a mild, dull pain in the elbow that cracked so I called it there. Felt fine after a few minutes, but not taking any chances...
The FWs are too heavy to be useful given my current space limitations.
Will probably go lighter and maybe ditch the jump rope, or do less of it. Or even dedicate a block of time once a week.

[Fossil]

One-Arm DB Overhead Press:
35 x 5 L/R
40 x 5 L/R
45 x 5 L/R
55 x 5 L/R
60 x 5 L/R

Felt good. Heavy, but not unbearable.
I can kind of feel this program coming to a close. I have a backup planned that's *might* have variation. But not much...

Farmer's Walk:
65 L/R x 88m (4.5 trips)

Not perfect and set the weights down because I left a chair out a little too far which made one section of the trip a little weird. Need to work on the initial pick up to get my upper body more rigid. The lift feels completely different depending on how you start.
Also probably going to do these once a week, on the OHP day since they feel more upper-body-centric.

[Fossil]

Jump Rope:
5 minutes

Front Squat:
105 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 3

Faster than last weeks. A trade-off I'm fine with. At least that's what I'll tell myself.

Getting a new piece of equipment sometime next week... I've wanted one since the beginning of covid but they were custom and only produced in extremely limited supply, so I had to wait a few years to make the purchase.
Won't affect my FS at all but it will be used for pressing, and since both of these lifts are feeling pretty heavy, might just be the time to jump ship on this program.

The basic template is ramp up with a "control" variation - 3-sec pause front squats and 1-hand military press (heels together) and do a high rep back-off set. My goal is just to get as many reps above 85% in as few sets as possible.

[DCR]

Getting a new piece of equipment sometime next week... I've wanted one since the beginning of covid but they were custom and only produced in extremely limited supply, so I had to wait a few years to make the purchase.
Won't affect my FS at all but it will be used for pressing, and since both of these lifts are feeling pretty heavy, might just be the time to jump ship on this program.

What is it?