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Matt's Log

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May 21
C&J-18x3 @ 32K

May 22-25
Paving. I am enacting the 6 o'clock rule that I came up withwhen I first started doing asphalt work, about 5 years ago. If I got home before 6 o'clock, I trained. If I got home later, that meant that I had worked a long day, and probably didn't have enough time to train, shower, eat, and get to bed in time to get enough sleep for the next day. After my first full week with this company, I'm realizing that I probably won't work out on my work days. This week was apparently a normal week, during which we worked four days and got about 50-55 hours; I think the earliest I got home was 6:30, and the latest was 11. I actually really like the idea of regular 3 day weekends, and my body seems to be holding up very well. As long as I can get caught up on sleep during the weekends, I'll be fine.

I have next week off, but once work starts in earnest again, I'm going to make a couple temporary alterations to my program. 1) No more loaded carries, since I get plenty of that at work. 2) I'm going to drop my swings sets down from 10 to about 6 reps or so, to make it easier to recover from and so I can focus even more on power. I get plenty of strength endurance and LSD at work, so I really just need to fill in the gaps with some truly anti-glycolytic work a couple times per week. I would also like to note what I consider to be a positive change in my "relationship with training." The last time I did asphalt work was 2014, and I was always a little disappointed when I didn't have time to train. Now, I'm generally unconcerned with how much work interferes with training, since I can recognize that I'm getting a good training effect from the manual labor.

May 26
Rest day.

I should probably also note that I started meditating in the mornings about 3 weeks ago, which seems like it's having a positive, but difficult to qualify, effect. I do a little Super Joints inspired 5-10 minutes of movement prior to meditating (mostly to ensure that I don't fall asleep while meditating), and two weeks ago I began to end each pre-meditation movement session with 4 TGUs (2 singles per side) with the 32K, which really seems to fire up the ol' nervous system.
 
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May 27
KBS-2H-25X6 @ 32K
Note-A little longer session than normal, for obvious reasons. I tried a few 32K snatches at the end of my session. They went up, but definitely not with crisp, hardstyle technique. I'm getting closer, though...
 
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May 28
C&J-20x3 @ 32K

May 29
KBS-2H-17x6 @ 32K

May 30
C&J-10x3 @ 32K

May 31
KBS-2H-12x6 @ 32K
Note: Did swings in between packing, then left with the family and our friend to go up to Glacier park.

June 1
Hiked about 5 miles with my son in the pack (about 35-40 lbs, total)
-later-
Snatch-16x8 @ 40 lbs (sandbag KB)
Note-The sandbag KB is easier to pack than the 32K, and I wasn't even sure I would train anyways. I ended up having time while I supervised the boy napping, and my wife and her friend went on a short hike.

June 2
Hiked 7 miles with the same load as yesterday

June 3
Rest day. Drove back home.

June 4
C&J-16x3 @ 32K
Snatch pulls-4x5 @ 32K
Note-I think I'll start working in some snatch pulls and 1H swings, just a little bit here and there.
 
June 5
KBS-2h-14x6 @ 32K
KBS-1H-4x3 @ 32K

Aaaaaand I was feeling froggy today, so I decided to test my press. Although I haven't been doing any true pressing lately, I've been feeling a lot better about my level of "familiarity" with the 32K. I've been posting lots of C&J's and loaded carries (though I have temporarily discontinued the carries), but I've also been doing 2 press/windmillls on each side during every warmup (press up, windmill, press down), and I've been doing 2 TGU's on each side as part of my morning movement routine. The end result? I stacked my 12K on top of my 24K, and pressed those suckers! Actually, I went right side first and stalled out, then I got it on my left side, then I tried the right side again, crushed the handles real hard, and got it. Then I waited a few minutes and did it one more time on each side, just to make sure. I weigh 71 kilos, so I'm pretty excited that I finally got my 1/2 BW press after having to eliminate serious pressing work for the sake of efficiency.

I also ran (literally) an errand, about a mile and a half, which just felt nice after not having a chance to do much running lately.
 
Nice work, congrats! 1/2 bodyweight press is a big milestone.
 
June 6
Rest Day

June 7-8
Paving

June 9
Yoga with my wife for 20 minutes

June 10
C&J-12x3 @ 32K
KBS-1H-12x3 @ 32K
KBS-2H-10x6 @ 32K
-GTG C&P singles-
C&P-10x1 @ 32K
Note: Did a fair amount of volume today, that way I can take it easy tomorrow, before starting work again.

June 11
Rest day. I was going to do something, but I just wasn't feeling it.

June 12
Paving

June 13-No paving due to rain
KBS-2H-10x6 @ 32K
Ran a couple miles in the rain just to get out of my head a little
Note: Took it easy, since I worked yesterday and will work tomorrow.

Edit: I also did a yoga class with my wife. It was pretty slow paced, and we really milked each position. Just what I needed :)
 
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June 14-16
Paving

////Warning-Long, wordy post ahead. The TL,DR version is that I'm going to switch back to 24K snatches for a while, and then probably bump up to 2H swings and C&J's with the 40K, before dropping back and tackling snatches with the 32K. All of which will probably take place over the course of 3-6 months.////

After working exclusively with the 32K for 6 weeks, I've decided to switch back to 24K snatches for a while. I have to admit, my primary motivator is that I got a little bored with swings and C&J's, and missed snatches. However, like most decisions made based on what we want, I can justify my decision numerous ways.

  • I will be on reduced training frequency for the next few weeks, and if I have to squeeze in a suboptimal session, I would rather do it with a lighter weight. Also, if I do get a little deconditioned, it will be a lot easier to build back up with the 24K than the 32K.
  • I'm sure there's still a lot of GPP that I can milk out of 24K snatches in an A+A format.
  • In the better snatch=bigger press (?) line of questioning, I'm curious to see if my 1/2 BW press can survive a decrease in working weight (although I will adjust my training warmup and my morning flow to include a little more pressing). If I test my press in a few weeks and can't press 36K, I will be sad, but now that I've hit that mark, I know it won't take much to get back to it if I need to.
I doubt the training effect, with respect to GPP, will be that different between an A+A program with 24K snatches and an A+A program with 32K swings/C&J's. Again, fundamentally, I'm making the switch because I missed doing 24K snatches. I'm sure in another 6 weeks or so, I'll be bored with the snatches and want to bump back up in weight. Man, so much variation. I'm basically just doing Crossfit at this point ;).

It has also occurred to me that I probably should have just gone heavier with my 2H swings and C&J's. I used the 32K with the hope of doing 1H swings and then snatches, but once I realized that was still pretty far away, I should have just bumped it up to 40K. Oh well, I'll do that next time. It looks like 32K snatches (multiple reps and sets of them, at least) are still quite a ways off, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

June 17
Snatch-20x8 @ 24K

I am immediately reminded how convenient it is to be using a lighter weight. I took my fussy, teething son to the nearby park (he HATES being inside in the mornings, especially after about mid morning). I just threw my KB in my pack, my son in the stroller, and cranked out some sets between playing with my son for an hour or so (there's a playground swing and snatches pun in there somewhere). I normally take him outside when I train anyways, but the lawn out back is not nearly as stimulating. Definitely wouldn't have done that with the 32K (I don't know if my frameless packs could really handle a dense 32K sphere).

Also, I walked a couple miles with my son in the baby pack.
 
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June 18
Took it easy, walked a few miles with my son in the stroller.

June 19-22
Paving

June 23
Only paved for 8 hours or so, got home around 5 pm, so:
Snatch-10x5 @ 24K
Not much, but I figure every little bit of volume helps when I have things dialed back so far.

June 24
Snatch-22x8 @ 24K

June 25
Rest day. Did a little walking around with the stroller.
 
June 26-29
Paving

June 30
Snatch-14x8 @ 24K
Pushups-5, 10, 15, 10, 5

July 1
Snatch-10x8 @ 24K
Pull ups-3x 1, 2, 3
Push ups-3x3, 6, 9
Note-I'm going to try adding some low volume push ups and pull ups on most days. As confident as I am that snatches alone will maintain them, I think a little spcificity will go a long way.
My work schedule doesn't allow for much of a program right now, but once things lighten up again, I'm tentatively thinking of rotating 2 days of A+A with 1 day of LSD, and throwing in pull ups and push ups when I can.

July 2
Snatch-16x8 @ 24K
Pull ups-3x 1, 2, 3
Push ups-3x3, 6, 9

July 3
Ran about a mile and a half
-later-
Yoga with my wife for 20 minutes

July 4
Snatch-10x5 @ 24K
Push ups-3x3, 6, 9
Note-Definitely felt like I was under-doing it today, but I know I won't get enough sleep tonight since I have to get up early for work tomorrow. On the plus side though, having this Monday and Tuesday off for Independence Day is pretty great.
 
July 5-7
Paving

July 8
Snatch-18x8 @ 24K
Pull up-3x1, 2, 3
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

July 9
Walked about a mile and a half with my son on my back
Pull up-3x1, 2, 3
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
-later-
Snatch-10x5 @ 24K
 
July 10-14
Paving. Got 60 hours in this week, which is a great way to cap the season. While the rest of the crew will keep at it for a few more months, I'll be starting in on my medical education. The next two weeks will be spent in a neighboring town (well, two hours away), where I'll be familiarizing myself with the hospital and community, in preparation for the next couple years of working with that hospital. As for training, it's going to be A+A snatches, mixed with LSD running (until it gets cold, at which point I'll probably switch to rucking), and I'll probably be doing some push ups and pull ups as well.

July 15
Snatch-10x5 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
Note-I'm going to try dropping the reps from my usual 8 down to 5, and start doing more of an overspeed snatch (which I do to some degree anyways, but I'll start emphasizing it more). The goal is to find an intermediate level of force production that will allow me to transition to the 32K.
 
July 16
Hiked a couple miles (2.5 maybe?) with my son. After listening to a Katy Bowmen interview on Barbell Shrugged, I decided to leave the baby pack at home. I brought some diapers, wipes, and water in one of those little drawstring gym bags, and just carried the boy. A little more than half the time he was on my shoulders, but whenever my neck got tired of being pushed forward I moved him to some kind of front or side carry. It wasn't really difficult (he only weighs 25 pounds), and I noticed that he seemed to enjoy the increased interaction quite a bit. I think I'll keep doing that for shorter walks.

July 17
Snatch-22x5 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

July 18
Snatch-18x6 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
-later-
MAF run-3.5 km in 20 min
Note-I like 6 snatches more than 5. Something about that 6th rep is so inviting...

July 19
MAF run-4.3 km in 27 min. It was hot when I went for this run (hot for MT, mid 80's), and I could definitely tell it made a difference.
 
July 20
Snatch-20x6 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

July 21
Snatch-10x6, 6x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
Note-I brought the snatch reps up to 8 again. I just can't quite get the knack of doing a good overspeed snatch with a 'bell that's more than about 20K. I think I just need to bump the reps until I get stronger.

July 22-"Play day"
I have decided that it would be beneficial (mostly mentally) if I took Saturday or Sunday on most weeks and just had some fun. I started thinking about this a couple weeks ago, when I realized that I would have access to all the fun toys on the campus gym once classes started. Due to my schedule, it's unrealistic to expect to be able to go there more than once a week, but it would be nice to take a break from puttering away and do some heavy work, like rack pulls, quarter squats, farmer's carries with actual bars, etc. Maybe even do some more glycolytic work every once in a while, just to remember why I enjoy not doing it ;).Since I wasn't feeling particularly motivated, I decided to try that today, even though I only had access to my 24K.

Pistol Squats-2x1 @ 24K
Pistol Box Squats (on the park bench)-2x3 @ 24K
Pull up-3x1, 2 @ 24K
Mil Press-3x2, 4 @ 24K
KBS-1H-100 swings for time-3:50
Note-I over estimated my pistol a bit. I though I could do half a dozen good singles, but after the first two I realized it was a bad idea. Next time I'll remember to start with the box pistols. Everything else was fun.
 
July 23
Hiked about 3.5 miles (1000 ft elevation gain) to a really neat mountain lake with my son. I just carried him again, mostly on my shoulders. Definitely easier to stop and put him down when he wants to eat, or just take a few breathes while he toddles around. He was pretty worn out by the end (he played a lot at the lake), so I just ended up carrying him while he napped for the last quarter mile or so.

July 24
Snatch-12x8 @ 24K
Push up-2x3, 6, 9
Note-The Boy kept was teething, so I was about 3 hours short of sleep. Did about 100 snatches, some pushups, and went to bed at a reasonable time.

July 25
Snatch-20x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
 
July 26
Rest day

July 27
MAF run-4.8 Km in 30 min

July 28
Rest day. I started a multi-day fast today, so I wanted to take it easy. I'm posting my fasting log here if anyone is interested.

July 29
Walked 3+ miles while carrying my son (running errands around town)
GTG-a chain of 2 swings (1H) and then a C&P with the 32K-12 times over the course of the day.
Note- For the duration of my fast, I'm just going for just really short, heavy stuff with plenty of rest, and then good ol' walking.
 
July 30
Just walking. About 4 miles.

July 31
Snatch-16x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

Aug 1
Snatch-12x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

Aug 2
Rest day.

Aug 3
Snatch-12x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9

Aug 4
Snatch-14x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x3, 6, 9
-later-
Pull up-3x5

Aug 5
Sprint-4 x 60m
Push up-3x4, 8, 12
Pull up-3x2, 3, 5
Note-I'm trying to do more running, but I'm just having trouble getting into long, slow runs. Today I ran about 1/2 mile to a park, did some "easy" sprints and then pull/push ups. Much more enjoyable, and I still got abut a mile of running practice in during the commute. Compromises...
 
Aug 6
Snatch-12x8 @ 24K
Push up-3x4, 8, 12
Rucked 3.5 km w/ 45 lbs

Aug 7
Went to a Globo gym with my wife. She wants to get back in shape, but she has trouble getting motivated, especially if she's not in the right environment. We finally decided that being in the right environment was worth $35/month, and they have daycare at the gym, which makes things quite a bit more enticing. Today we just went to check out the facilities and she what was available, before we decided to buy the membership. They had a decent weightlifting setup, which is great, because she wants to do some barbell work. The plan is for her to go about 3x/week, and do deadlifts and farmer's carries. Then just whatever kind of cardio or class she feels like. So today I just did deadlifts and farmer's carries with her. I worked up to a 315x1 sumo DL, and since we had a rack there I did a few rack pulls (maybe 6" ROM?) and worked up to an easy 405 double. Then just did a couple farmer's carries with 55 lb dumbbells.

Aug 8
Rest day, sort of. Every once in a while, I try to snatch my 32 K, just to see where I'm at. The idea is, when I can string together 2 or 3 good, crisp snatches, then I can start doing my A+A training with it. The last few times (for quite a while, actually) my grip has been my limiting factor. It's seemed like everything else would be fine, but I would have to dial things back so the bell didn't fly out of my hand. Not only is the 32 heavier, but the handle is thicker, and it is the smoothest handle I've ever worked with. It's like oily glass. Today I thought "You know what, I'm gonna cheat." I took the roughest grit sandpaper I had to the handle, chalked up, and waddaya know, it went right up without a hitch. All I had to do was play dirty ;). I did a few sets of 3 or 4 "clean-drop snatches," and now I think I'll switch over to these for a lot of my A+A work. A clean-drop snatch is my name for snatching the bell up, then doing a reverse C&J to get it down. I think I'll do this for at least a couple weeks before I do a full snatch drop. No reason to get all excited and pull a bicep. Some day I'll have to sand the handle smooth again, but that can wait...
 
Ok, one thing I forgot to mention was that I was getting a little golfer's elbow going on, so I'm not going to jump right in to heavier snatches. It's actually the lockout position that gives me pain (resisting wrist extension), not the grip portion of the movement.

Aug 9
Rucked 4.7 km with 45 lbs

Aug 10
Sprint-3x55m
Push up-3x 4, 8, 12

Aug 11
KBS-1H-10x5 @ 32K
KBS-1H-5x10 @ 32K
Push up-4x 4, 8, 12
Yoga with my wife at the yoga studio- 60 min
-later-
Rcuked 5.2 km w/ 45 lbs

Aug 12
Sprint-5x50m
Push up-5x 4, 8, 12
Rucked 3 km w/ 45 lbs

Aug 13
Clean-drop snatch-10x3 @ 32K
KBS-2H-5x10 @ 32K
Push up-3x 4, 8, 12
Note-My elbow was feeling pretty good, so I did some snatches to see how they feel, then finished things off with some swings. The elbow still isn't 100%, but the snatches felt good. Each set went up smoother and faster than the last. I like the mix of snatches and 2H swings, it lets me get in a little more moderate intensity volume, so I might keep doing that for a while, until I'm confidently doing a little more volume on the snatches. Classes start tomorrow, and the first few weeks are pretty busy due to all the admin stuff we have to do, so I'll probably have a pretty low training volume for a while. Not ideal, but at least it will give my elbow a chance to get better.
 
I'm switching to a little more abbreviated format for my log. I'm still keeping a detailed paper log, but I don't want my online log to become a chore as things get busier with school.

Aug 14
Rest day

Aug 15
Sprints-65 m
Push ups
Also, one set of 15 pull ups. I went to a local brewery, where they let you earn a discount on your first beer by doing pull ups. Every pull up is 25 cents off, and with beers at $3.75, it only takes 15 reps for a free beer. Being the thrifty meathead I am, I think this should be standard practice.

Aug 16
Push ups
Snatches and swings-32K
Elbow is feeling a little better, still not quite where it should be

Aug 17
Push ups
Deadlift off blocks, about 5 heay reps. I just happened to have 20 minutes in the gym...

Aug 18
Push ups
Sprints-65 m

Aug 19
Hiked 4 miles (over 1,900 feet of gain) with 45 lbs. I went with some friends, and it was a good challenge, since about half of them were faster than me. Granted, I was the only one with a child to carry o_O
 
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