[Titan's Battle Log] - Let's go Geddit'

[El Titano]

Welome one and all..

 

.. To my humble Battle Log.

 

 

 

It's here that I'll be posting my daily workouts and routines (if I'm following one) here to keep myself accountable - I'll endeavour to keep it entertaining and informative as well as holding me accountable. I'll be posting any tips and tricks I stumble across on here, even if they're nonsensical ramblings.

 

 

STATS:

Height: 6ft

Age: 23

Weight 183lbs/83kg (Starting weight 83kg)

 

CURRENT GOALS & PROGRESSIONS:

Max pullups in a single set ( 11 / 20 )

Max muscle-ups in a single set ( 1 / 5 )

10% BF (Currently sitting at ~16%)

Max L Sit ( 0 / 10s )

 

ACCOLADES / PERSONAL HALL OF FAME:

+45kg Dips x 6

+15kg Pullups x 6

 

 

 

My current focus is calisthenics, I'm currently setting my foundation and working towards some more complex/exciting movements. I'm slowly cutting weight with the hope it'll make the progressions easier, even if it doesn't - I'll look better whilst doing them .

 

 

  Feel free to question, follow my grind and comment as I go

.. Or just pop in and say hi !

 

Leggo'

 

 

[El Titano]

DAY ONE :

Cardio / Abs

 

Standard warmup :

5 Min Jog (9.5 km/h)

Shoulder resistance band circuit

Wrist and shoulder mobility circuit

 

First I did a... Circuit:

1.  2 Minutes freeform skipping
2.  Max length hollow body hold, drop setting down to easier varients at the end of each set <SS> 10 Hollow body hold crunches

Repeat 5 times with 30s rest per loop

 

Then I did some... Hanging (from a pullup bar, pronated grip) - Max length hang with a pronated (palms facing away) grip:

 

(50s) (50s) (50s) (50s) (50s) (50s)

 

Notes (to self):

Bring feet forward and hold a hollow body position whilst hanging to engage core

Protract scapula to work it and kill two birds with one stone

Hands weren't chalked up

 

It's a niche exercise / movement to incorperate into your training, but I've found since I've begun my shoulder stability has improved substantially, as has my grip - Which is currently the limiting factor in me getting my pull-up numbers higher.

 

Then I wandered over to the other corner of the gym and... Did some mountain climbers

( 4 x 1 minute ) with a 30s rest inbetween sets.

 

Et then... I played around with some primal movement patterns in the empty studio room, mainly just bear crawling and leapfrogging around the place like a maniac.. All good fun.

 

Standard cooldown:

5 Min Jog (9.5 km/h)

Full body static stretching ( Hips, Glutes, Compression, Lats, Neck, Shoulders, Chest, Forearms, Calves, Core )

 

I was considering taking today off, and I'm glad that I didnt - I need to target my forearms and core, they're limiting my progression in most movements (namely pullups and the L sit).

 

Extras done out of the gym:

Walked about 8km throughout the day for what it's worth.

 

[El Titano]

DAY TWO:

Circuits & Plyometric work

 

Standard warmup

 

1. PLYOMETRIC WORK

5 x Plyometric pullups - Trying to pull the bar as low as I can, currently managing at the top of the ribcage

< Superset with >

5 x Plyometric pressups

3 Minutes rest

Repeat 3 times

 

[ Repeat all of the above, except decreasing reps from 5 to 3 ] : Repeat 3 more times

 

2. FRONT LEVER

Tuck front lever hold for maximum duration then controlling the eccentric.

(3) (3) (3) (3) = Total (15) : Sets of 3

 

Notes to self:

• Really tuck the knees high to make the hold easier until I'm strong enough to progress to straight legs.
• Keep arms straight and in line with hips (Centre of mass)

3. CIRCUIT A

2 Minutes skipping

20 Strict pressups : {Tight core - no slacking, turning elbows in, pressing through palms, full extension, drop to touch nose on floor, control eccentric}

20 Mountain climbers, bring knees to the outside of the elbows

10 Hip flexor leg lift

2/3 Minutes rest

Repeat 4 times

 

4. CIRCUIT B

15 Strict pressups

Pullup with knees tucked, and hold the top position for max time - Keeping back flat (Perpendicular to the floor, and knees perpendicular to knees)

20 Crunches

 

Notes to self:

• Don't jut neck forward when crunching
• "Bring torso up" to engage core more
• Exhale at top position and hold contraction for 1s

 

1/2 Minutes rest

Repeat 3 times

 

Stretch

 

EXTRAS:

Total steps : 14,000

My supp' order arrived , First time I'll be using a good amount of BCAAs, will be sure to note on how it's working (Taking 10g pre and post workout), stacking it with a Joint supplement and multivitamin.

 

[El Titano]

DAY THREE

Rest

 

Taking today off in preparation for my return to deadlifts tomorrow. 

 

Im looking to build that RAW strength that only heavy primal movements like the DL & Squat bring to the table (Props to the standing overhead press as well, I've not forgotten about you)

 

Note to self / Reflection:

It's important to allow yourself very deliberate time to recouperate. Even when you want to go full throttle. 

 

Use the time off the gym to pursue another constructive endeavour, you've got the extra free time - Actually use it. 

[dayzee84]

Awesome progress so far!

[El Titano]

31 minutes ago, dayzee84 said:

Awesome progress so far!

 

Thanks bud, it's still early days! Hope your training is going well

[WhiteGhost]

Hey, I like your style!  Will be following along because you are working on a lot of the same stuff I am

[El Titano]

29 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Hey, I like your style!  Will be following along because you are working on a lot of the same stuff I am

 

Welcome aboard   

[El Titano]

DAY THREE:

Deadlifts & Dips (DnD)

 

This is the first time I've deadlifted in the past few months, I'm easing myself back into it.

Also - I'm using an over/under grip, I'm using the deadlift primarily to develop my posterior chain - I'll happily forgo more specific grip training with the double overhand in favour of being able to increase the load.

 

WORKOUT:

 

Standard warmup.

 

1. DEADLIFTS

Reverse pyramiding up to:

(140kg x 5) 3

 

Stiff legged deadlifts

(60kg x 15) 3

 

Notes:

- Lock out quads to stabilise knees

- 'Explode' through the hips and glutes

 

2. RING DIPS <SS> PLYOMETRIC PULLUPS

(12 Ring rips) <SS> (3 Plyometric pullups)

Rest for 2 minutes

 

Note: Ring turnout at the top of each dip rep.

 

Repeat 5 times.

 

3. WEIGHTED DIPS

(+ 15kg)

60 Total reps

Using as many set/breaks needed.

- This took me around 8 Minutes

 

4. EVEN MORE DIPS & SOME L-SIT WORK

Bodyweight dips

40 Total reps

- Took about 5/6 minutes

 

Hanging leg raises, using some momentum to bring my legs up - Keeping toes pointed and body tight. Controlling the eccentric. Aiming to work through reps like this and use less momentum as I go.

 

Notes: Keep scapular retracted and lats engaged through fatigue, stay tight.

 

Cooldown and stretch.

 

Todays steps : 12,000

 

FUN FACT:

Total dip reps: 160

 

Setting a total number of reps as a goal is a nice way to add more volume to workouts whilst keeping it fresh and exciting. It's also a different type of mental challenge.

[WhiteGhost]

4 hours ago, El Titano said:

Total dip reps: 160

 

That's a lot 'o dipping

[El Titano]

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

That's a lot 'o dipping

 

It is indeed. I love me some dips 

[El Titano]

DAY FOUR

Rest

 

Yesterday left me a bit battered (in a good way), decided to take today off.

 

 

[El Titano]

DAY FIVE

Mobility...

And the day I did my first ring muscle-up

 

Today was an interesting one - I was planning on taking a rest day to fully recover from the pounding of Deadlifts and Dips (Trademark) day. Pushed through it and decided on going for some active recovery, ended up being a very good decision.

 

WORKOUT:

 

Standard warmup.

 

1. HOLLOW BODY HOLD

(Going from a dead hang to a tight hollow body x 6 reps ) x 12 Sets

 

Inbetween doing squat and hip flexibility drills.

 

2. PRIMAL MOVEMENTS

Bear and Monkey movements, working specifically on the transition from one movement to the other. (For those of you interested, I'm following GMB fitness for primal movement work) .

 

Move for 20 minutes.

 

3. CORE

Hollow body hold (max time)

Hollow body hold + 10 kg (max time) - [ Holding a 10kg barbell over my centre of mass whilst in the hollow body hold ]

 

< I then begun timing my hollow body holds, so I can more accurately track progress >

 

Hollow body hold + 10kg - 1 Minute total (Broken up with v. short breaks) x 2

 

Banana hollow body hold - Placing emphasis on raising the shoulders up the floor as high as possible x 1 Minute

 

Straddle banana hollow body hold x 1 Minute

 

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING...

I was planning on cooling down, stretching and calling it for a good recovery day. Then this gent walks into the gym, I had seen him doing some pretty advanced gymnastics movements before, Handstands, planches, front lever - He's an older guy, which only makes it more impressive.

 

He walks in and we get talking, he invited me to train with him and show me the technique and some unique progressions that I'd not seen before.

 

This truly was an offer I couldn't refuse.

 

So we go through the whole loop - Handstand work (which I'd never done before), Planche work, Floor work etc. It was a great learning experience, but far from a rest day. He also propped me on my strength, ego boost ftw - This took about an hour all in all.

 

Then we get to muscle up work, now I've always really struggled with bar muscle ups - I find the timing on the kip/swing quite difficult. So we're working up the ladder of muscle up progressions on the rings - It concluded up with me getting my first few ring muscle ups. I found it to feel a lot more natural, there's no need to kip on the rings as they've got more degrees of freedom. I think I'll be working on ring muscle ups for the time being.

 

Cooldown and stretch.

I have a feeling tomorrow will be an active recovery day - This time minus the full workout at the end of it.