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Always Be Smashing

Love the zercher! Hence my avatar...found it is the sole lift that simultaneously improves both my squat and deadlift. But it certainly is tough!
 
Love the zercher! Hence my avatar...found it is the sole lift that simultaneously improves both my squat and deadlift. But it certainly is tough!

Have heard other folks say the same, hoping I'll see that too. And having iron-clad forklift elbows wouldn't be a bad thing either.


04/26 06:00

60min treadmill walk / run 4.6m

04/26 14:00

Static stretching sequence x1

04/26 21:30

5min jump rope
Heavy bag 1:00 on 1:45 off x6
Burpees 20x3 EMOM
TGU 5x1 x side 40
 
04/27 10:30

Karate practice. Did a lot of backfist strikes in this session, my traps got sore.

04/28 10:30

1100yd swim
25min stationary bike 8.6m
25min treadmill walk / run 2.0m

04/28 15:00

3.5m outdoor walk / run

My son's school does a program where the kids are all supposed to rack up 100 miles of running over the course of the school year, and my son was just slightly short, and had to wrap up this next week. So we got out for a lap around a local lake. Good stuff, but that's definitely a lot of volume on one day for me. Hips feeling sore the next morning.
 
04/29 06:00

5min samurai getups
EYFS +

04/29 21:00

GSQT 3x5 40,48,28 with curl
Halo 3x5 20
Bridge 3x5, elevated feet on 3rd set
KB1HS 10x10 40 EMOM
TGU 5x1 x side 40
Circuit x4
- Pushups x8
- Horizontal pullups x6
- Hanging knee raise x8

S&S will be the strength work for base building cycle. Have definitely loss some of the swing conditioning I used to have when doing this type of session more often. Felt like there are a lot of technique points I could work harder on with the weight for a while - pushing back further into the hamstrings, locking out the standing plank harder. Should be plenty to keep amused with for the next month or so.

For fun, I tried one unloaded "squat" TGU - not even close. Don't have the shoulder mobility to keep upright while trying to swing all the way through to a squat. Someday.

Minimal resting between the bodyweight work. Felt like there's still some gas in the tank for more pushups, but not so with the other movements.
 
No training on 5/1. Been getting slack lately on getting in my flexibility sessions :oops:, but had another day were sleeping in just seemed like a much better idea.

05/02 06:00

5min samurai getups
EYFS +

05/02 22:00

GSQT 3x5 40,48,28 with curl
Halo 3x5 20
Bridge 3x5, elevated feet on 3rd set
KB1HS 10 x10 40
TGU 5x1 x side 40
Circuit x4
- Pushups x9
- Horizontal pullups x6
- Hanging knee raise x8

Late start due to daughter's softball game. And missed my flexibility session yet again due to being anchored to the phone for work today. But felt really good getting this done.

Minor victory for the day: when I was a kid, one of the things I remember being most impressive about my dad was his forearms. It was like he had big old Christmas hams growing out of his elbows. I caught a look at myself in the mirror after today's session - I've got the dad forearms now. :cool: Only took 43 years.
 
See you got bit by the zercher bug as well. I have enjoyed the lift some times recently as well. I haven't done many sessions but it's such a natural movement it feels like it doesn't need a lot of time to groove in so you'll likely get to go heavier than you thought sooner than you thought.

When it comes to the forearms there are a couple of things I think that help. First, I avoid the deepest pit of the elbow, get it a bit on the forearm. I like to rotate my hands a bit so that the palms face each other and squeeze each hand independently. It somehow feels that the rotation and the squeeze create a little meaty shelf for the bar to rest on. I haven't found the exercise to beat on my forearms that badly, but I've done at most sets of three. The damage also depends on the bar, my other powerlifting bar has decent knurling and it bit through my skin even as I had my SBD elbow sleeves on, and I only did six singles that time. But I can't say that I've ever had real aches from the zerchers, just minor irritation and soreness.

Have fun with the zercher... it's a blast!
 
Thanks for the pointers, @Antti . Completely agree about the bar placement; I tried one set with the bar deep in the elbow, and it was pressing down on a tendon in a very unfriendly way. Using the meat of the forearm feels a lot better.

I'm planning to spend most of May doing roadwork, won't start up the Zerchers in earnest until June. Always good to have something to look forward to.
 
05/04 10:30

TSC

DL 405x1, 435x1, 465x1 (PR, old PR 445)
Pullups x13 (PR, old PR 12)
KB snatch 24 x127 (PR, old PR 121)

:cool:

Might have had a few more pounds in me for DL, but form broke down a little too. Not quite at 2x BW (weighed in at 239# today), but pretty dang close.

Pullups were a grind as always. At about 6 I was worried that I was burning out, but managed to keep pulling.

Never set the bell down during the snatch! Hamstrings were smoking, but my grip stayed strong.

I know at some point I'm not going to be able to come to these things and PR every time. But for the time being, this shows I'm accomplishing something in training.
 
Much thanks, @Philippe Geoffrion @Kiacek and @Phil12


Took Sunday off, figured I had earned it.

05/06 06:00

5min samurai getups
EYFS +

No training Monday night either. We had our first little league game of the season, ran pretty late due to rain delay. Fun stuff, came away with a win.

05/07 06:00

60min treadmill walk / run 4.6m

05/07 13:00

Static stretching sequence x1

05/07 21:00

Circuit x8
- Cardio
-- Rounds 1,7,8: 0.5m treadmill run 5.0
-- Rounds 2-6: 6min stationary bike
- KB snatch 2x5 28
- Pushups x5
 
05/09 06:00

5min samurai getups
EYFS +

Balance has come a long way on the SLDL. Thinking I might start loading them in a week or two.

05/09 13:00

Static stretching sequence x1

05/09 21:00

GSQT 3x5 40,48,28 with curl
Halo 3x5 20
Bridge 3x5, elevated feet on 3rd set
KB1HS 10x10 40
TGU 5x1 x side 40
Circuit x5
- Pushups x9
- Horizontal pullups x6
- Hanging knee raise x8
 
05/11 10:30

Karate practice.

Sensei says it's time to re-test in a couple weeks.


05/12 14:00

6.3m outdoor run 1:15
- Average HR 144, peak 165

Running on a dirt trail near the house. A bit of up-and-down to it, but nothing too aggressive.

My endurance training lately has been focused on building heart capacity, staying in zone 3. This is my first outside run of the year, and I wanted to keep the pace low, but keep running the whole time, HR be damned. Bit of an eye-opener. I think the heart capacity training has been effective, I certainly felt like my lungs & heart could have keep going. But, most of the run ended up in zone 4, and it's clear I haven't built up the muscle endurance I'd need to come anywhere close to the pace I'd like to be running at this distance. My hips and ankles were really whimpering after the run even though the I kept the pace pretty low, and I had a pretty wicked energy crash (feel asleep on the floor for 15 minutes). Seems like I'm faced with a couple of options.

A) Stick with the heart capacity training, and accept that the pace I want just isn't going to come along for a long time (or ever, maybe...)
B) Replace some of my other work with more tempo runs

Being strong first points solidly to option A - the zone 3 runs I've been doing leave plenty of recovery room for strength training, I think to some degree they are even restorative. Compare that with the soreness I'm feeling the next morning from this run - this puts a lot more demands on recovery.

Maybe I'm overreacting, and this is just an artifact of needing to shake the rust off a little. It's just a little discouraging.
 
05/13 06:00

5min samurai getups
EYFS +

05/13 13:00

Static stretching sequence x1

No training in the evening, combination of being sore from yesterday's run and a late softball game for my daughter.

Spent some time reading about lactate threshold and soreness from running, and the general consensus seems to be that sticking with the lower-intensity endurance work is the smart thing to do. It may just be that I'm not getting enough volume to improve at a rate I would like. The "easy" 57min 10k may just be further away than I hoped. May have to make a choice - do I want to get more endurance volume, or keep trying to work on being faster and jumping higher.
 
Another week of broken training due to baseball games and travel...

05/14 06:00

60min treadmill walk / run 4.7m

Good run despite still feeling a little soreness. Maybe just had some extra energy from skipping training last night.

05/14 14:00

Static stretching sequence x1


05/16 06:00

Crazy claustrophobic hotel gym session

Circuit x6
- 0.5m treadmill run 5.0
- Burpees x3
Circuit x10 (movement EMOM)
- DB swing 2x1 50#
- Lever pushups 2x3
 
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