tenaciousglee confers with his Jedi Council

[tenaciousglee]

If there's one thing I miss about the 6 week challenge format, it's the week off between challenges to reflect on my previous challenge and polish up my goals for the new one.  So, here's my somewhat hastily thrown together challenge write-up.

 

 

 

Heed the words of the Rebel Leader: How to Create Your Own Jedi Council

 

I discovered Nerd Fitness 4 years ago and I have definitely learned a lot in that time, but I also think I've spent too much time jumping from one fitness/workout idea to another, trying to find something that really resonates with me.  I've stuck with it for 4 years, but still haven't seen the results I was originally after.  So, I'm preparing to re-dedicate myself to my pursuit of the LGN body and becoming a superhero for my family.  To do that, I'll need the wisdom of my Jedi Council:

 

The Anti-Program-Hopping Master - Anthony Mychal

 

From The 242 Method: â€œYou don’t need a new program.  You need a mindset. A mindset that embraces minimalism, because “basic†and “simple†is what paves the road to solid gains.â€

 

In the 242 Method, Anthony preaches focusing on 4 "marriage" lifts (2 upper body and 2 lower body) as your go-to, never miss exercises.  Make sure you keep doing those, and then you can flirt with anything else that piques your interest.  My goal for this 4 weeks is to really hammer my 4 marriage lifts and also fool around with some accessory lifts that I can regularly include as I build a plan for the future.  I'll be shooting for 8 marriage lift workouts.

 

The Ultimate Sandbag Master - Josh Henkin

 

During my last challenge, I read DVRT The Ultimate Sandbag Training System and convinced myself to invest in an Ultimate Sandbag (USB).  Now, I get to use it!  My goal is 4 USB workouts, providing adequate variety so I get a feel for how the different exercises are performed and which ones I want to make part of my regular rotation.

 

The Kinobody Master - Greg O'Gallagher

 

Greg is ripped.  No question.  He may not be a mainstream "go-to" guy for exercise and fitness, but he has a lot of content on his website, YouTube, and podcasts and he does seem to know his stuff.  I doubt I will ever be in single digit body fat territory like him (and that's fine), but I'm going to take his advice on Aggressive Fat Loss to try and lose an inch off my waist during this challenge.  It will mostly be centered around calorie restriction and Intermittent Fasting.  Because I workout early in the morning, I can't quite follow his exact IF plan, but I'll modify it to work for me.  I also want to be getting stronger each week in my lifts, so I'm not going to get too crazy with my cut.  I just want to shed a little belly fat before I go on Spring Break with my wife at the end of the challenge.  I will probably shoot for eating at maintenance on my workout days, and a deficit on non-training days.

 

The Beast Skills Master - Jim Bathurst

 

I have long admired Jim's skills and reference his tutorials for skills like Pistol Squats and One Arm Push-ups.  I'm going to keep working on those progressions this challenge as well as throw in some work on One-Handed Handstands and Freestanding Handstands.

 

 

 

[tenaciousglee]

Week 1, Day 1 workout (242 A Day)

 

A1 Pull-ups - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x4x25#

A2 Dips - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x4x25#

B Sandbag Bent Over Row - 3x8x50#

C Pistol Squat with 25# counterbalance - 2 sets of dropping into the hole and holding the position for 10-count

D Sandbag Shoulder Squat - 4x5x25#

E Bulgarian Split Squat - 3x5x50# (each leg)

 

Weighted Pull-ups and Pistol Squat are my intended marriage lifts, but I may switch to Bulgarian Split Squat until I can actually do a full Pistol.

[blkhole24601]

The 242 method sounds really interesting, and something that I think I've been kind of doing anyway but definitely something I'll keep an eye on to see how that works out for you! Are there any examples he lists as good combinations?

 

Will be following along~

[tenaciousglee]

The 242 method sounds really interesting, and something that I think I've been kind of doing anyway but definitely something I'll keep an eye on to see how that works out for you! Are there any examples he lists as good combinations?

 

Will be following along~

 

Here's his PDF.  It's a pretty quick read.  He actually tries not to provide any real "programming" because that goes against the idea of the e-book, but he does offer a few suggestions.  Like if your 4 marriage lifts are Squats, Chins, Romanian Deadlifts, and Push Press, then:

 

Day 1 - Squats, Chins, Front Squats, Barbell Rows

Day 2 - RDL, Push Press, Good Mornings, OHP

 

Last Summer/Fall, I was doing Squat + Floor Press + Pull-ups one day and then DL + OHP + Dips on another.  Though, I did wind up adding in DB Curlz and Incline Bench.  Still kept it pretty simple, though.

[tenaciousglee]

Sandbag Master Josh Henkin says, "Don't forget the USB when doing Bulgarian Split Squats!"

 

[Sea Level]

Nice goals and counselors! I'll be following along.

[dancezwithkittehz]

AHA!  Someone I have not chatted with! And you are farther along with pistols and pull ups, two things I am working on!  I shall follow your progress and consider you my mentor for the jedi challenge mini!

 

Also WOOHOO you mention Anthony AND Jim. I took multiple classes from both of them at Camp Nerd Fitness last year and they are total awesome badasses. I unintentionally ended up in FIVE separate classes Jim was teaching. I guess Jim's stuff is totally my jam?! His pistol squat progression stuff has been super helpful for me. So. Close. to getting a full pistol!

[tenaciousglee]

AHA!  Someone I have not chatted with! And you are farther along with pistols and pull ups, two things I am working on!  I shall follow your progress and consider you my mentor for the jedi challenge mini!

 

Also WOOHOO you mention Anthony AND Jim. I took multiple classes from both of them at Camp Nerd Fitness last year and they are total awesome badasses. I unintentionally ended up in FIVE separate classes Jim was teaching. I guess Jim's stuff is totally my jam?! His pistol squat progression stuff has been super helpful for me. So. Close. to getting a full pistol!

 

I am generally jealous of anyone who went to CNF, but especially jealous of you for taking 5 classes from Jim.  I would probably have been there with you for each one!

 

Let me know how I can help with the pistols and pull-ups.  I'll start by finding your challenge and cheering you on!

[tenaciousglee]

Week 1 Wrap-up - Survive and Advance

 

I survived Week 1 and am glad to move on to Week 2.  I don't know if I overexerted myself during Monday's workout or if I picked up a bug or if I just didn't get enough sleep, but I had a rough week.  I hadn't done Bulgarian Split Squats in months and probably went too hard last week and wound up with the worst DOMS I can remember.  Anyway, on to the goals:

 

Anthony Mychal 242 - hit both "marriage lift" sessions 2/2

Josh Henkin USB workout - hit it on Wednesday.  Did all of the exercises listed here, but unfortunately that page didn't indicate sets/reps, so I just played around.

Greg O'Gallagher Fat Loss - 1/2" off my belly and down 1.4 lbs on my 7-day average, but I can't claim total victory for this quest because those results don't come from following the Kinobody protocol.  They are probably more the result of not eating much last week due to feeling sick and skipping a couple of meals.  But, more than one way to skin a cat, right?

Jim Bathurst Beast Skills - I put in a minimal amount of effort on pistols and handstands, but didn't really dedicate time to it this week.

 

As I said above, I survived and thus get to advance.  And that is the theme of March Madness, is it not?  I'm changing up my workouts this week to make them a little shorter and thus allow myself a little more sleep.  I'm hoping that will pay dividends.

[dancezwithkittehz]

Sleep is important! Sounds like all in all not a bad week, lack of sleep considered!

[tenaciousglee]

Week 2, Day 1 workout

 

Pull-ups - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x4x27.5#

Dips - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x4x27.5#

Incline One Arm Push-ups - 2 sets of 5 each arm

Assisted One Arm Push-ups - 1 set of 5 each arm

Zottman Curl - 2x6x50#

 

Tried to keep this one stripped down, but I couldn't resist throwing in 2 sets of curls at the end.  Total duration was still under 30 minutes.

 

Week 2, Day 2 workout

 

Front Loaded Sandbag Good Morning - 6x12x25#

Kneeling Sandbag Shoulder to Shoulder Press - 5x12x25#

Sandbag Bear Hug Squats - 10x50#

Staggered Stance Bent Over Row - 8x50#, 10x50#

Rotating Sandbag High Pull - 6x50#

 

This was the "Sandstorm" workout from Push, Pull, Swing.  The Good Mornings and Shoulder Presses were done as a superset, as many sets as possible in 10 minutes.  I was supposed to do 3 circuits of the Squats, Rows, and High Pulls, but I was a little fried and I wanted to keep the workout short.  Duration was about 22 minutes.

[Hazard]

Nice selection of exercises.  Curious to see how this goes.  Stalking.

[dancezwithkittehz]

What do you do for the assisted one arm push ups?  Something like this?

 

 

I need to start training up my one-armed stuff!  I'm already working on one arm hangs (no pulling, just hanging!) from pull up bar, but I have no plan for how to progress to one arm push stuff yet!

[elvenengineer]

I found you! It's been a while

 

Your program looks good, it seems to really be working for you!

[tenaciousglee]

Nice selection of exercises.  Curious to see how this goes.  Stalking.

 

Welcome aboard! Want to be mini-challenge allies?  I'll stalk back!

 

What do you do for the assisted one arm push ups?  Something like this?

 

 

I need to start training up my one-armed stuff!  I'm already working on one arm hangs (no pulling, just hanging!) from pull up bar, but I have no plan for how to progress to one arm push stuff yet!

 

Yep, that's it.

 

I found you! It's been a while

 

Your program looks good, it seems to really be working for you!

 

ohai!  The program (or anti-program as Anthony Mychal would call it) has been good.  And I supposed you could say it's working from the standpoint that it keeps me coming back each week.  I still feel like I'm bouncing around a bit and could be more consistent.  But every time I try to do a stripped-down, just-add-more-weight type of routine, I get bored or plateau.

[Hazard]

Welcome aboard! Want to be mini-challenge allies?  I'll stalk back!

Sounds good!

[Waldgeist]

And you young tenaciousglee....

[tenaciousglee]

Week 2, Day 4 workout

 

Sandbag Floor Press - 10x75#, 8x130#, 10x115#

Incline DB Bench Press - 5x100#, 8x70#, 8x70#, 3x70# (tried rest-pause after the 3rd set)

Dumbbell Row - 5x5x50# each arm

[tenaciousglee]

Hey gang.  Still here, but not much to report.  I guess I'll report my workouts from Friday and Monday:

 

Week 2, Day 5 workout

Bulgarian Split Squat with 35# sandbag

-5 reps each leg with bag overhead

-5 reps each leg with bag cleaned-to-fist

-5 reps each leg with front hold

Front Loaded Sandbag Good Morning - 6x8x35#

Pistol Squat practice

-2 sets of 2 each leg partial ROM (sitting back to a 14" bench)

-1 set of 3 each leg full ROM with TRX assistance

 

Week 3, Day 1 workout

Pull-ups - 5xBW, 5x10#, 4x30#, 4x30#, 2x30#

Dips - 5xBW, 5x10#, 4x30#, 4x30#, 2x30#

Incline One Arm Push-ups - 2x6 each arm

Assisted OAP - 1x7 each arm

Zottman Curl - 2x6x50#

 

Week 3, Day 2 workout - skipped

 

I did like doing 4 shorter workouts last week on M-T-T-F as opposed to 3 longer ones on M-W-F.  If I hadn't been out till midnight with my buddies last night, I would have gotten up and done a sandbag workout this morning.  Sleep prevailed, though. No regrets.

[blkhole24601]

Nothing wrong with taking an impromptu day to sleep, because sleep is a crucial part of being healthy and getting stronger! Always listen to your body, etc. Besides, after being up until midnight, it likely might have hurt more than helped if you did your workout.  

 

Glad to see you're going strong!!

[tenaciousglee]

Week 3, Day 4 workout

Sandbag Floor Press - 10x75#, 5x132.5#, 7x120#, 9x105#

Incline Bench Press - 3x8x70# + 4x70# + 3x70# (rest-pause style)

Dumbbell Row - 4x8x50# each arm

 

Week 3, Day 5 workout

Bulgarian Split Squats - 3x5x40# each leg, changing holding position with each set

Front Loaded Sandbag Good Mornings - 3x8x40#

Pistol Squat practice - 1 each leg partial ROM, 2 each leg TRX assisted negatives

 

I had a "well, duh" realization after today's workout that I should do my pistol squat practice at the beginning of the workout rather than the end when my legs are fried.  Duh.  I'm also thinking I need to schedule some daily practice if I really want to progress.

[tenaciousglee]

The new forum layout is confusing me.  But let's do this!

 

Week 4, Day 1 workout

Pull-ups - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x35#, 4x30#, 4x25# (switching to Reverse Pyramid style on Pull-ups and Dips)

Dips - 5xBW, 5x10#, 3x35#, 4x30#, 4x25#

Incline OAP - 2x5 each arm

Assisted OAP - 1x8 each arm

Zottman Curl - 2x6x50#

 

Week 4, Day 2 workout - Mini Challenge Final Battle!

Assisted One Arm Pull-ups - 2 each arm

Balance Assisted Pistol Squat - 5/5, 2/2

Forearm Leg Raises - 10

Assisted One Arm Push-ups - 12L/10R

 

I did indeed make some progress on these from my initial test in February, so that's good.  It looks like I'll need to hit these a couple more times this week to keep the Sith at bay!

[Waldgeist]

Don't jeopardize you results by overtraining!

[tenaciousglee]

Don't jeopardize you results by overtraining!

Sounds like a Sith mind trick...