TM's Training Journal/Torture Log

[shaneinga]

Thanks Shane! Man, you should've seen some of the metcons I used to do in hotels while I was working my old job. We had a lot more down time, so I got really creative. Overhead Pressing coffee tables, running up and down the steps, dips between pieces of furniture, "suitcase rows," "suitcase power cleans," backpack kettle bell swings, walking lunges, etc. Those were the days...

Nice man! Back when I would travel a lot for work I liked to throw a set of cheap Gold's Gym exercise bands in my suit case. Those work very well if you are wanting to get some work in as well. And they don't take up much space.

Your workouts sound more creative and challenging though. Haha.

[TM79]

6/24/16:

Bench/Variation
Work up to a 5 Rep Max for the day.
5x135, 5x165, 5x185, 5x195, 5x205

Then, one set at 50% for max reps: 22x125 lbs

Pull-ups
Pull-up Pyramid
Start by doing one pull-up and then
add a repetition after resting 10 seconds.
Continue as long as you are able.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Phone Call ~1 Minute, 7, +4. 60 Seconds, 6

Then rest 60 seconds and complete
one set for Max Reps: 6

Time: 17:30

Assistance
4 Rounds:
8 Overhead Press, 40 lb Dumbbells
8 Curls (per arm), 40 lb Dumbbells
10 Good Mornings, 75 lbs
12 V-ups

Time: 11:02

Conditioning: Metcon

J.T.
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Handstand push-ups (Piked)
Ring dips
Push-ups

Post time: 10:00

Comments: 20 hour day yesterday. Finally walked through the door at home at 2:00AM, after tons of flight delays and without my bag (and in the rain). Got about 5 or 6 hours of sleep. Would have normally taken it easy today, but this is the last real workout before my vacation so lets get it done!
Bench: Felt strong but shaky, if that makes sense.
Pull-ups: Got a phone call from the luggage delivery guy after the set of 6. That allowed me to get the set of 7
Assistance: This was fun. Standing OH dumbbell press is always wobbly, but fun and challenging. I liked the superset going straight into curls. First time doing good mornings in a while. Kept them light.
Metcon: Might as well re-name that one, "lots of sets of 5." That was definitely a tricep burner. It would be nuts to be able to do strict HSPUs for that. I couldn't do that many of those in a week so I piked my feet on a 24" box. Still, it was plenty difficult. Good stuff.
Well, that is my last real workout until after vacation. I may do a run tomorrow morning, but all next week will be either rest or light conditioning work. There will hopefully be some surfing in there too. There will be plenty of 12 ounce curls and beach chair sitting. Hope you all have a great day!

[shaneinga]

Killer looking workout TM. Those are some impressive Metcons your are doing. Ring dips, HS push ups and push ups sounds tough.

Especially impressive with the 20 hour day, rain and lost luggage to deal with.

Enjoy your vacation. It sounds like you have earned it.

[TM79]

Killer looking workout TM. Those are some impressive Metcons your are doing. Ring dips, HS push ups and push ups sounds tough.

Especially impressive with the 20 hour day, rain and lost luggage to deal with.

Enjoy your vacation. It sounds like you have earned it.

Thanks on all of the above! I'll definitely enjoy the vacation. It's good to get a break once in a while.

[TM79]

Conditioning: Distance Run, Outdoor, Paved
5K, 24:37, 7:56 Pace, 430 Calories

Comments: A little less than two minutes off of my PR time, but overall, I'm very happy with this run. My legs felt good and fresh and I finished strong. This course is mostly downhill for the first half and mostly uphill for the second so it isn't ideal, but it never hurts to challenge yourself. OK, time to mow the yard and run some errands. Have a great day!

[TM79]

Comments: Took 9 days off for vacation. It was an incredible trip to the beach. As far as physical activity goes, I surfed twice. Each session was about two hours. I was riding my longboard on waist to stomach high waves. My mother-in-law made a comment that "I'm probably feeling muscles that I didn't know I still had" after surfing. I responded that that it was quite to the contrary. I use way more muscles than that in my regular training routine. Other than surfing, the extent of my physical activity consisted of getting all of our crap a half mile to the beach almost every day. That was just dragging it on the wagon. Once I was to the beach access I had to carry it all down the stairs and made several trips through the scorching hot sand before finally setting it all up (tent, chairs, etc.) Afterwards I would have to take it all down and get it all back up the stairs and then drag the wagon another half mile back to the condo. So I guess I got a little bit of exercise in. Also, we stopped at a friend's house on the way back yesterday. They had a pull-up bar set up in the doorway to the living room. After everyone gave it a shot and got 1-3 pull-ups, they urged me on and I busted out 16 proper pull-ups, with (evidently) very fresh arms. It was a good week. I completely let my diet go and there were plenty of 12 ounce curls. Anyway, it's time to get back to it.

7/4/16:

Squat/Variation
Work up to a 7 Rep Max for the day.
7x135, 7x165, 7x185, 7x205, 7x225

Deadlift/Variation (Power Clean)
Work up to a 3 Rep Max for the day.
3x75, 3x95, 3x115, 3x135

Then, one set of Squats at 40% for max reps: 30x135

Then, one set of Clean Pulls at 185 lbs for max reps: 10

Time: 27:30

Assistance
4 Rounds:
16 Box Jumps, 24"
16 KB Swings, 40 lb Dumbbell
16 V-ups

Time: 11:25

Conditioning: Interval Burpees

20 Burpees Fast: 1:11
20 Burpees Slow: 1:57
20 Burpees Fast: 1:13
20 Burpees Slow: 2:09
*Rest one minute between sets.

Comments: Had the thought of starting with a deload week, but since I'm auto-programming, decided to just get back into it. We'll see how it goes.
Squats: Legs felt super fresh for these. I was feeling the lack of conditioning more than anything. Huffing and puffing on the later reps. Solid sets. My 7RM is 235 so very pleased here. Almost puked during that burnout set.
Power Cleans: My form on these is terrible. I just suck at landing in the front rack position. I stopped at 135.
Assistance: Man, that was so much worse than it looked on paper...
Burpees: Boy did I miss doing these... Another close miss on the puking.
Well, you've gotta love that first workout back after some time off. Glad it's over. Planning to do a metcon tomorrow. Hope you all have a great Independence Day!

[fittofattofit]

Conditioning: Metcon

J.T.
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Handstand push-ups (Piked)
Ring dips
Push-ups

Post time: 10:00

Classic CF: that's a serious metcon for frying your tris! 45 reps total of HSPUs and ring dips had to smash you before getting into the push-ups.

Comments: Took 9 days off for vacation. It was an incredible trip to the beach. As far as physical activity goes, I surfed twice. Each session was about two hours. I was riding my longboard on waist to stomach high waves. My mother-in-law made a comment that "I'm probably feeling muscles that I didn't know I still had" after surfing. I responded that that it was quite to the contrary. I use way more muscles than that in my regular training routine. Other than surfing, the extent of my physical activity consisted of getting all of our crap a half mile to the beach almost every day. That was just dragging it on the wagon. Once I was to the beach access I had to carry it all down the stairs and made several trips through the scorching hot sand before finally setting it all up (tent, chairs, etc.) Afterwards I would have to take it all down and get it all back up the stairs and then drag the wagon another half mile back to the condo. So I guess I got a little bit of exercise in. Also, we stopped at a friend's house on the way back yesterday. They had a pull-up bar set up in the doorway to the living room. After everyone gave it a shot and got 1-3 pull-ups, they urged me on and I busted out 16 proper pull-ups, with (evidently) very fresh arms. It was a good week. I completely let my diet go and there were plenty of 12 ounce curls. Anyway, it's time to get back to it.

It sounds like you needed your break after putting in a load of hours at work lately ... all that palaver of setting up puts me off going to the beach but it sounds like you had plenty of activity each day to keep your fitness edge. Nice to knock out 16 rep pull-ups in front of the friends .... I hope they made suitable ooh and aah comments for you
I'm pretty part to 12oz curls myself
Really killed those squats today: I'm not surprised you felt like throwing .... widow maker squats + 80 burpees is way above and beyond the call of duty!

[mirroroferised]

Sounds like an awesome trip man. Welcome back!! Good session to kick things off.

[TM79]

Thanks for the comments on yesterday's session! I was definitely feeling it today! Speaking of today...

7/5/16:

Conditioning: Metcon

For Time:
50 Pull-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell
50 Push-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell
30 Pull-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell
30 Push-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell
20 Pull-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell
20 Push-ups
25 SDHPs, 65 lb Barbell

Time: 19:17

Comments: 95 degrees with a heat index of 107 for this one. I scaled this one to roughly 2/3 the reps of a crossfit main site workout from last week. Would have tried it as written, but it was taking people 45 minutes and I didn't really feel like doing a 45 minute metcon in this heat. It was still tough. Not the fastest flowing metcon because of all of the pull-ups, but still challenging. 100 pull-ups and push-ups and 150 SDHPs. I've still resisted the temptation to turn on the box fan while working out but will probably cave in soon...
Probably a rest day tomorrow. Hope you have a good night!

[Hammerhagen]

great journal TM. I'll be lurking along. I like your workouts, great balance of conditioning thrown in the mix too. Awesome work man, keep it up

[TM79]

great journal TM. I'll be lurking along. I like your workouts, great balance of conditioning thrown in the mix too. Awesome work man, keep it up

Thanks so much man! I guess we all have our goals with training. Like some people, mine have changed quite a bit over time. My workouts used to look very similar to yours. Nowadays, I have an aging body that still needs to be able to perform very strenuous work, sometimes in extreme temperatures and with very little rest, to earn a living. A solid mixture of strength training and conditioning, in outdoor temperatures seems to work well for that. I like your program a lot too. I'll be lurking over there and hope the new training partner and meet go well.

[Hammerhagen]

Thanks so much man! I guess we all have our goals with training. Like some people, mine have changed quite a bit over time. My workouts used to look very similar to yours. Nowadays, I have an aging body that still needs to be able to perform very strenuous work, sometimes in extreme temperatures and with very little rest, to earn a living. A solid mixture of strength training and conditioning, in outdoor temperatures seems to work well for that. I like your program a lot too. I'll be lurking over there and hope the new training partner and meet go well.

I can see my goals changing over time too. I'm still relatively new to lifting so my main goal is to build up some reasonable strength for now. Once I hit some half way decent numbers on my lifts i could see transitioning to a different style of training. For now i'm chasing some strength numbers and having fun along the way. Sounds like you have a very physical job and i could see how that would factor in to your training.

[TM79]

I can see my goals changing over time too. I'm still relatively new to lifting so my main goal is to build up some reasonable strength for now. Once I hit some half way decent numbers on my lifts i could see transitioning to a different style of training. For now i'm chasing some strength numbers and having fun along the way. Sounds like you have a very physical job and i could see how that would factor in to your training.

Man, I never would have guessed that. You have solid maxes and your goals definitely seem attainable. I really look forward to watching your progress!

Yes, the job is really tough at times. Usually we are carrying really bulky or oddly shaped equipment up to the top floors of commercial construction sites. That usually means taking the stairs and not the lift and sometimes we are carrying it half a mile to the job site before going up the steps. Good times... Not all days are like that though and I look forward to sitting at my desk today.

[fittofattofit]

That's a deadly metcon ... 150 SDHPs
On Monday I did 20 SDHPs at 88lbs and I could feel the fatigue setting in, and then went straight onto the pull-ups and could only manage 10 reps. Your shoulders and arms must've been smashed and you had to be gasping so that was huge volume to be finished in just over 19 minutes

[PtReyesGreg]

Nice workout yesterday TM. That is some serious work to get done in under 20 minutes...in 95 degree heat nonetheless! Way to blast the body.

[shaneinga]

Great workout TM. I was curious as to what those Metcons were in your journal so I googled them. Those are impressive numbers. The Metcon Murph sounds brutal. Haha.

Somewhere down the road I will probably give these type of workouts a go to see how I like them. I imagine with recovery, it takes some thought to get them scheduled in with a lifting program, but for over all fitness they sound awesome.

[TM79]

That's a deadly metcon ... 150 SDHPs
On Monday I did 20 SDHPs at 88lbs and I could feel the fatigue setting in, and then went straight onto the pull-ups and could only manage 10 reps. Your shoulders and arms must've been smashed and you had to be gasping so that was huge volume to be finished in just over 19 minutes

Thanks man! Don't be fooled, there were plenty of broken sets in there. Especially the pull-ups. I tried to think of the SDHPs as rowing (that's what I subbed them for) and just pretended like I was rowing a boat. It was going to be repetitive and it was going to suck, but I had to "keep rowing."

[TM79]

Nice workout yesterday TM. That is some serious work to get done in under 20 minutes...in 95 degree heat nonetheless! Way to blast the body.

Thanks! Yes, it's that time of year in the South. I don't like the heat, but it sure makes everything easier once it finally cools off in a few months...

Great workout TM. I was curious as to what those Metcons were in your journal so I googled them. Those are impressive numbers. The Metcon Murph sounds brutal. Haha.

Somewhere down the road I will probably give these type of workouts a go to see how I like them. I imagine with recovery, it takes some thought to get them scheduled in with a lifting program, but for over all fitness they sound awesome.

Thanks Shane! I schedule them very carefully. For example, this week, I did lower body (Squats and Power Cleans) on Monday. I did this metcon on Tuesday and will take a day off today (Wednesday). That gives me plenty of recovery time and I should be good to go for Bench/Pull-ups on Thursday. I'll do a short metcon after Bench/Pull-ups, but nothing too taxing. Then Friday is a rest day and Saturday is a long run. It's all scheduled to maximize efficiency and recovery.

Murph is a brutal workout, but I partition the pull-ups/push-ups/squats into 20 rounds of: 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Squats. That makes it go by a lot faster (but also makes it harder). Cindy is basically as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of what I just mentioned. They are both pretty brutal metcons.

In my opinion, metcons can be a good form of conditioning, when done very carefully (as to avoid injury). However, they are not very effective at developing strength, at least as a function of your true genetic potential. And they can wear down your joints. That's why I program them in sparingly (two per week) as conditioning workouts, and give myself a day of recovery afterwards. Metcons made training fun again for me. Before these, my conditioning consisted almost entirely of running, which gets pretty old. I like the variety of metcons and enjoy using my entire body for conditioning instead of just my legs. I'd say give them a shot if you have the flexibility to adjust your schedule in order to provide adequate recovery.

[shaneinga]

Thanks! Yes, it's that time of year in the South. I don't like the heat, but it sure makes everything easier once it finally cools off in a few months...



Thanks Shane! I schedule them very carefully. For example, this week, I did lower body (Squats and Power Cleans) on Monday. I did this metcon on Tuesday and will take a day off today (Wednesday). That gives me plenty of recovery time and I should be good to go for Bench/Pull-ups on Thursday. I'll do a short metcon after Bench/Pull-ups, but nothing too taxing. Then Friday is a rest day and Saturday is a long run. It's all scheduled to maximize efficiency and recovery.

Murph is a brutal workout, but I partition the pull-ups/push-ups/squats into 20 rounds of: 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Squats. That makes it go by a lot faster (but also makes it harder). Cindy is basically as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of what I just mentioned. They are both pretty brutal metcons.

In my opinion, metcons can be a good form of conditioning, when done very carefully (as to avoid injury). However, they are not very effective at developing strength, at least as a function of your true genetic potential. And they can wear down your joints. That's why I program them in sparingly (two per week) as conditioning workouts, and give myself a day of recovery afterwards. Metcons made training fun again for me. Before these, my conditioning consisted almost entirely of running, which gets pretty old. I like the variety of metcons and enjoy using my entire body for conditioning instead of just my legs. I'd say give them a shot if you have the flexibility to adjust your schedule in order to provide adequate recovery.

Thanks for the detailed description and for the additional explanation for how you program them and view them as part of your program.

Great info.

When I get to the point that I get a place to program them in, I will come to you and Andrew for ideas on them, as you 2 are about the only ones that I have seen that are actually doing any metcon work in their journals. Though I am sure there are more.

[TM79]

7/7/16:

Morning:
Pull-ups
5 Rounds for Max Reps:
*Rest 90 Seconds between sets.
Round 1: 8
Round 2: 10
Round 3: 12
Round 4: 9
Round 5: 8

Bench
Work up to a 7 Rep Max for the day.
7x135, 7x155, 7x175, 7x185

Then, one set of bench at 40% for max reps: 26x115

Then, one set of bent rows at 40% for max reps: 24x115

Time: 19:58

Assistance
4 Rounds:
20 Push-ups
20 Ring Rows
10 Reverse Hypers

Time: 9:06

Evening:
Conditioning: Metcon

4 Rounds for Time:
50 Single Unders
30-lb. Dumbbell Squat Cleans, 15 Reps
15 Burpees
50 Single Unders
Rest 2 minutes

Post time: 27:05

Splits: 4:45, 5:00, 5:30, 5:30

Comments: Our daughter woke us up at 5:00AM today, so I figured I'd go ahead and get something in before work.
Pull-ups: Pretty happy with these sets. Felt fairly strong. Good burnout set of rows.
Bench: Decent sets here too, especially for not doing bench in two weeks. My current 7RM is 195 lbs, so 185 is a respectable showing. The burnout set was a little dissapointing. I was hoping for 30+ reps. Probably another case of not having done this lift in two weeks...
Assistance: Was definitely sweating after that. Not terribly difficult, but I was feeling it a little more this early in the morning.
Metcon:
Before: Brought two dumbbells and my jump rope to the office today. We have one of those hotel room air conditionings in the warehouse in the back and we keep it running all day. It isn't an ice box back there by any means, but it is certainly a lot cooler than my garage so I'm going to go for it! This one is scaled from the crossfit main site.
After: Well, that was horrible. Glad to get it done and especially glad that my coworkers didn't come back here and find me laying on the floor dead. The squat cleans just killed me. Oh well. DONE. Rest day tomorrow and then a run on Saturday. Have a good night!

[shaneinga]

Great workout TM. Good idea moving that metcon to an air conditioned environment. It sounds like a tough one.

Nice benching put in!

[TM79]

Great workout TM. Good idea moving that metcon to an air conditioned environment. It sounds like a tough one.

Nice benching put in!

Thanks Shane! Yeah, as it turned out, that may have been wishful thinking. By the afternoon/early evening time, the sun had moved over to that side of the building and really heated it up back there. It probably wasn't outside temperature, but it was probably in the upper eighties and every bit as humid as it was outside. Oh well, it was good to get it in.

[Hammerhagen]

Holy mackerel TM you get a lot of work done in a short time frame. Thats a lot of volume in less than 30 min. In my current program i'd be just finishing my warm up sets in that timeframe

[TM79]

Holy mackerel TM you get a lot of work done in a short time frame. Thats a lot of volume in less than 30 min. In my current program i'd be just finishing my warm up sets in that timeframe

Thanks man! Yeah, I try to move fairly quickly though the sets. If I were really trying to go heavy/set new PR's, I would take more time, but right now it's more a function of just getting it done. I hate that, but it is what it is.

[TM79]

7/9/16:

Conditioning: Distance Run, Outdoor, Paved, HOT
5K, 25:39, 8:16 Pace, 426 Calories

Comments: Intentionally waited until it was warmer outside to do this run. It was 86 degrees, humid and the heat index is 93. The first mile and a half was easy. The last mile and a half (the uphill portion) was terrible. Still, that's better than my attempt a few weeks ago where I had to keep stopping to walk. No walking at all on this one. I must be getting used to the heat, but I tell you what, this battle keeps getting harder as the years go by. Hope you all have a great day!

[shaneinga]

7/9/16:

Conditioning: Distance Run, Outdoor, Paved, HOT
5K, 25:39, 8:16 Pace, 426 Calories

Comments: Intentionally waited until it was warmer outside to do this run. It was 86 degrees, humid and the heat index is 93. The first mile and a half was easy. The last mile and a half (the uphill portion) was terrible. Still, that's better than my attempt a few weeks ago where I had to keep stopping to walk. No walking at all on this one. I must be getting used to the heat, but I tell you what, this battle keeps getting harder as the years go by. Hope you all have a great day!

Nice run TM. 8.16 mile pace on hot asphalt with a 93 degree heat index, sounds like fun.



Not srs.

Good for you for knocking it out and holding down the fort in for all us non runners.

[TM79]

Nice run TM. 8.16 mile pace on hot asphalt with a 93 degree heat index, sounds like fun.



Not srs.

Good for you for knocking it out and holding down the fort in for all us non runners.

Thanks Shane. I like your wording better. Thanks for "being that guy that people see running in the heat and wonder if he is just going to die" would be more accurate, but yours sounds much better.

[mirroroferised]

That's a good clip for hot weather. Good job.

[TM79]

That's a good clip for hot weather. Good job.

Thanks man. Usually by the end of the summer I'm used to it, but it's never as easy as it is in cooler weather.

[fittofattofit]

Thanks man! Don't be fooled, there were plenty of broken sets in there. Especially the pull-ups. I tried to think of the SDHPs as rowing (that's what I subbed them for) and just pretended like I was rowing a boat. It was going to be repetitive and it was going to suck, but I had to "keep rowing."

The SDHPs surprised me in that the biceps fatigue was what killed my pull-ups. Something for me to put more work into

Evening:
Conditioning: Metcon

4 Rounds for Time:
50 Single Unders
30-lb. Dumbbell Squat Cleans, 15 Reps
15 Burpees
50 Single Unders
Rest 2 minutes

Post time: 27:05

Splits: 4:45, 5:00, 5:30, 5:30

Comments: Our daughter woke us up at 5:00AM today, so I figured I'd go ahead and get something in before work.
Pull-ups: Pretty happy with these sets. Felt fairly strong. Good burnout set of rows.
Bench: Decent sets here too, especially for not doing bench in two weeks. My current 7RM is 195 lbs, so 185 is a respectable showing. The burnout set was a little dissapointing. I was hoping for 30+ reps. Probably another case of not having done this lift in two weeks...
Assistance: Was definitely sweating after that. Not terribly difficult, but I was feeling it a little more this early in the morning.
Metcon:
Before: Brought two dumbbells and my jump rope to the office today. We have one of those hotel room air conditionings in the warehouse in the back and we keep it running all day. It isn't an ice box back there by any means, but it is certainly a lot cooler than my garage so I'm going to go for it! This one is scaled from the crossfit main site.
After: Well, that was horrible. Glad to get it done and especially glad that my coworkers didn't come back here and find me laying on the floor dead. The squat cleans just killed me. Oh well. DONE. Rest day tomorrow and then a run on Saturday. Have a good night!

That was great work on the pull-ups .... nice to get 12 reps on the middle set, and very cool on the benching. I was very impressed at 26 x 115 as I'd be good for only 10 atm
Really good job on the metcon ... I was working out n my head what a good split would be before I saw the times and I figured 4 minutes would be a cracking pace so you did great to keep it to 5:30 on the last split

I end up doing all my metcon work in my garage or at JP's place which is a tin roofed warehouse ... the hottest day I've trained was 114ºF and I'd drink 2 litres in half an hour. Cold here would be like this week when it was 37ºF in the morning. I prefer the cold because it doesn't take long to warm up whereas you just can't escape the heat