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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392 
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10-19-20 04:58 PM - Post#903726
The years that I kept an online log were always my most consistent and productive training years. Keeping a personal offline log is great, but has never provided the same motivation for me. I train alone all the time, and looking back I've realized that keeping an online log helped me feel accountable to a community. The good people here and active community has me excited to start a log, make some goals, and get consistent again. This last year I have really dropped the ball and 'let myself go'. My training background to catch up anyone who wants to follow: -No athletic background growing up except outdoor shenanigans; climbing, running, playgrounds etc. No formal sports. -2005-2009: Started working out in late 2005. Followed mens health nonsense for a few years. Did some running. -2009-2013: Started Crossfit in 2009. Self taught. Got decent. Friend signed me up for a local competition. Got 2nd. Never knew I was good at 'sports' so I was shocked. Got a lot of confidence and competed more. Placed top 3 at several events, went to western canada regionals in 2012 with a team. Missed individual qualification by only 4 places that year. Worked as a CF coach for several years. -Fell in love with olympic lifting during this time. Realized my favorite part of CF competitions was the weightlifting events. -Competed in some olympic weightlifting events. Did this during my crossfit time. Loved it more than crossfit. But I was 'good' at crossfit and it was a struggle to choose between them. In hindsight I should have dumped CF waaaaay sooner and just done Oly. -2013-2015: Moved out of the city, no access to platform, lost touch with weightlifting team I was on. Burned out hard on crossfit. Quit it and decided to move on with my training. Missed oly so much. -Bought my own equipment, did powerlifting routines in basements/garages of various homes I lived in (moved a lot during this time), texas method, 531, etc. Tried all the big routines during this time. Got much stronger than I had ever been. I hit my first two training peaks during this time. -On texas method I worked up to 365x5 squat, 460x5 deadlift, and 265x5 bench. -Later, on 531 I hit 205 press, 275 bench, 405 squat, 500 deadlift. Got up to 205 bodyweight. -2015: got married. Took 8 weeks off. Tried some kettlebell and bodyweight stuff. Did some powerlifting in our apartment. -2016: joined local crossfit gym, but not to do CF. Missed Oly the entire time and so badly wanted to do it. This is my biggest training peak of my life. Competed in weightlifting again. Worked up to 370x5 squat (and it felt light), 360x1 front squat, 250 snatch, 300 clean and jerk, 315 clean. My last competition I went 110, 130. -2016: Bought a house, quit the CF gym (cause going to a CF gym is like having a second mortgage). House projects became a thing. -2017-2019: Went to college to become an engineering tech. Also had our first kid. Trained powerlifting again at college gym. Woodworking became a big hobby. -2020: graduated from college, got a job. Been adrift in a sea of uncertainty most of this year as how training fits into adult life. Wife, kid, house, all that stuff. -Present: Still miss olympic lifting. I have bumper plates and a decent bar. Can't do it in my basement. Took a step back to examine what my goals and motivations are for training. Joined this forum, felt like I was around like minded people who have normal lives. Started feeling better about training, less pressure to measure up to how good I used to be and more motivated to just lift to be healthy. I still don't know how to be motivated without hard goals. It was always easy when I was competing. Snatch more, CJ more, lift more. At 33, with the limited time I can give to the gym, I'm not likely to surpass my lifetime bests. Ultimately I just want to be healthier; but I also really miss being strong. There's a lot of lifts I've never spent time doing that will be fun to try. Things like incline bench, barbell curls. For right now I'm going to start slowly using 531 as a base. I'm going to follow a basic 2x2x2 that looks like this: Day 1 Squat 5's PRO & Pull-ups 3x5 @ FSL Weighted Pushup 5's PRO 3x5 @ FSL Bent Over Cheat Row 3x10-15 Calf Raises 3x20 Day 2 Airdyne 10-20 minutes Day 3 Mobility/Rest Day 4 Deadlift 5's PRO & Pull-ups SLDL 3x5 Weighted Dips 5's PRO 3x5 @ FSL Power Curls 3x10-15 Calf Raises 3x20 Day 5 1 hour of hockey Day 6-7 Mobility/Rest I'll be using 5's progression with a low training max to start (because I'm weak). 5's PRO is just using only sets of 5 instead of + sets for the 531 top sets. This will be followed by 3 drop sets at the first set weight. I'm going to use weighted pushups and weighted dips instead of bench and press. I don't have a bench, and my basement ceiling is too low to press with a barbell. The pull movements I have never done before so those should be fun too - I have done bent rows before, but only strict. It'll be fun to do something a little different. The great thing about this 2x2x2 base is that it can be easily waved between park and bus bench levels of volume by just changing the supplementary work (the 3x5 drop sets). I own 531 forever, so there's countless options to use for that stuff. Planning to start tonight. Starting weights will be... embarrassing. That should give some solid motivation to stay consistent. Here we go. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576 
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 10-20-20 05:34 AM - Post#903743
Welcome to the logs, Jordan. Thanks for the intro/ background. I wish you success on your journey. If you make training your number one priority and explain to your wife why it is important to you she will never give you trouble if she married you for who you really are. Just be clear and determined, quietly focused and do not compromise. You show the family kindness and care also and there will be no problems. Godspeed. And what about OL? Will you just keep missing them or is there something you might do about it when the time is right? You have a lot around you now, naturally, and staying healthy is a good goal at this point in time and all those years ahead. You go! Start slow, build up. Make it work. 
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-20-20 07:48 PM - Post#903777
Thanks Pink Pixie. If the time is right I think I still have some competitions left in me. I would love to find a time period to train hard and try to beat my personal bests in a competition. But for now, it’s just getting back on the horse. Tuesday, Oct 20/20 1A) Back Squat: 135x5, 155x3, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5 1B) Pull-up: 5x3. Tried these with an arched upper back. Very different technique for me so I kept the reps low and focused on form. 2) Ring Pushups: 5, 5, 30x5, 60x5, 12 3) Bent Over Cheat Row: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10 4) Farmers Walk: 53x2 for 3 trips around the basement. Light and easy. I went too crazy with farmers walks over the summer and got some hand pain that I had to deal with the last few weeks. Kept everything pretty light and easy as an intro. I haven’t back squatted consistently in over a year, so this will be fun. Also, I’m trying something new during workouts and just in general. Only breathing through my nose. After reading some articles about it I decided I need to give it a try. I’m not a mouth breather generally, but with any physical exertion I do. I was impressed with the results. I thought I would feel like I was suffocating the whole time, but the reality was my breathing was steady, slow, and I never got light headed after my sets. This is definitely going to be a permanent change. It will be interesting to see if my nose ‘opens up’ as is claimed will happen over the next few months. All in all, I’m glad to finally be lifting some weights again, even if I did have to drop my training max significantly. |
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The Judge Court is in Session Posts 16490 
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10-20-20 09:44 PM - Post#903779
Welcome, Jordan! This site is like a big family. There is much support here. As Pixie said, if training is important to you, you will find a way and your family will support you. I have kept a journal for many decades. I work hard to beat my workout every time. Posting here adds to my motivation, no doubt. Every time someone posts on my log, it psyches me. Again, welcome and get to work!
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Diablo Legal Alien Posts 7355 
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10-21-20 05:10 AM - Post#903787
Strong work buddy, welcome! Looking forward to seeing your progress.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-21-20 06:07 PM - Post#903814
Thanks for checking in guys! Looking forward to being part of an active community. Wednesday Oct 21/20 Airdyne 20:00 307 cals 208 avg watts pace 6.75 miles Pretty happy with that pace having done almost no conditioning for the last while. I’ve had far worse results when getting started again that’s for sure. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140 
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10-22-20 10:05 AM - Post#903836
Welcome! You're still very young at 33, so lots of time to figure these things out. Half the fun is experimenting and figuring out what works for you, and you'll find a lot of folks here who have walked the path you are on now, and lots of different things you can do to make it your own. Wish you luck, man. FWIW, at your age, I did not have kids yet and was still competing in T&F, highland games, training parkour and boxing, etc, but have definitely come around lately to the idea of training almost exclusively for (my version of) health, with some modest "goals" to chase here and there. That said, I'm a decade older than you, and it took me awhile to get to where I am... And for the record, you're prolly pretty far from "weak" in the general pop sense! |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-23-20 07:28 PM - Post#903928
Thanks for checking in Brian! It’s true, even in my current state I still am decently strong. It’s just hard to accept when you know you’ve been capable of much more in the past. Friday, Oct 23/20 1A) Deadlift: 205x5, 230x5, 260x5. 1B) Pullups: 5,4,3,3,3. Getting more comfortable with those arched back pullups. 2) RDL: 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Kept these super light. Focused on a nice stretch instead of loading them up. 3) Ring Dips: 5, 5, 5, 10x5, 20x5 4) Power Curls: 45x10, 75x10, 105x10. Keeping this log is definitely helping for this week. Feeling motivated and consistent. It won’t take long to get a good habit going. I have not been sleeping well however. Taking a long time to fall asleep, waking up at 3 or 4am and taking up to an hour to fall asleep again. Not sure if it’s related to working out or not. It’s weird, working out should help you sleep better. Over the last year it seems to do the opposite for me. When I workout I typically sleep worse. The strange thing is, workouts this light are not challenging at all; so it shouldn’t be enough to affect recovery/sleep especially at only twice a week for weights. I dunno... I’ll have to see how it balances out over the next few weeks. Hopefully the sleep will improve again. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-26-20 08:54 PM - Post#904006
Saturday Oct 24/20 1 hour of rec hockey. My legs were definitely dead after lifting weights this last week. Once I get conditioned it’ll be much better. Monday Oct 26/20 1A) Back Squat: 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 225x5, 250x5. 1B) Ring Pullups: 5x5 2) Ring Pushups: 5, 5, 15x5, 45x5, 70x5, 15x10. Top set definitely felt heavy. Rings add a big challenge especially once the weights get up there. 3) Bent Over Cheat Row: 95x10, 145x10, 195x10. Ended it there for today. |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932 
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10-27-20 09:19 AM - Post#904010
Good to see you here, Jordan. Thanks for taking the time to give us such a complete and impressive history. You're off to a good start. I see some big numbers in your future...should you choose to pursue them. Wishing you the very best.
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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10-27-20 07:50 PM - Post#904026
I have not been sleeping well however. Taking a long time to fall asleep, waking up at 3 or 4am and taking up to an hour to fall asleep again. Not sure if it’s related to working out or not. It’s weird, working out should help you sleep better. Over the last year it seems to do the opposite for me. When I workout I typically sleep worse. The strange thing is, workouts this light are not challenging at all; so it shouldn’t be enough to affect recovery/sleep especially at only twice a week for weights. Blood sugar level changes at that time just to make you more allert. I dunno... I’ll have to see how it balances out over the next few weeks. Hopefully the sleep will improve again. It is not unusual to wake up at that time but it can become problematic if you can't go back to sleep and when the condition persists. Sometimes it is related to elevated levels of stress or elevated levels of blood sugar. Quote: Your body uses glucose (sugar) for energy and it is important to have enough extra energy to be able to wake up in the morning. So for a period of time in the early morning hours, usually between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m., your body starts churning out stored glucose to prepare for the upcoming day. One can take melatonin-it also resets the circadian rhythm, I believe. But it is important not to take too high dose because it can cause pretty wild and vivid dreams. In that case it is preferable to talk to a doctor rather than experiment on your own even if you can get the supplement over the counter.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-28-20 06:00 PM - Post#904049
Hey thanks for checking in guys! Pink.Pixie, I've always been wary of melatonin or any sleep aids. I do as much as I can naturally - cooler room, dark blinds, etc. The last thing I want is to get hooked on needing a drug to help me sleep. It seems to have balanced out now. It was probably just the adrenaline from that first week of getting back into heavy weights. The last few nights I've been sleeping well; although it's always hard to get up in the morning. Yesterday did some mobility work. Wednesday Oct 28/20 Airdyne 20 mins 210 avg watts; 315 cals; 6.81 miles. Improvement from last time. Nose was a little more stuffed up this time, but I pushed through and didn't resort to mouth breathing. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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10-28-20 06:22 PM - Post#904051
Hi Jordan. Melatonin is more like a supplement. Some docs take it now as a prevention for Covid 19 because it strengthens the immune system. A friend from Canada used it to get rid of jet lag after coming to Europe. Nevertheless, main thing is that you can sleep. Good luck with your training. Keep it up.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-31-20 06:16 PM - Post#904164
The week got crazy, and the power of the forum kicked in to get me in gear. Got after it this afternoon on my second strength day. Playing hockey later tonight so that’ll be so fun after some deadlifts. That’s what I get for putting it off. Saturday Oct 31,2020 1A) Deadlift: 245x5, 280x5, 315x5 1B) Pull-up: 4x5. Not sure what to call these, but they aren’t tactical pullups; I’ve done enough of those in my life. These are more like row pullups with the upper back in extension. 2) Ring Dips: 5, 5, 15x5, 35x5, 11 3) Power Curl: 65x10, 95x10, 115x10 1 hour of Rec Hockey coming up in 3 hours. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-03-20 07:45 AM - Post#904232
Got after it today. After the discussion on the main forum I jumped into front squats today. Ya, its the last week of the cycle, but it really doesn't matter. Monday Nov 2, 2020 1A) Front Squat: 190x5, 215x5, 245x5. These felt so much better than back squats. 1B) Pull-up: 4x5 2) Ring Pushups: 5, 5, 30x5, 60x5, 80x5. These got a little snakey on that set at 80. I'll tighten up the range of weights a bit so I get more practice with heavier weights and drop my training max to dial in form for the next cycle. 3) Bent Over Cheat Row: 115x10, 155x10, 185x10. Dialed in my form on these and rowed into my lower abs instead of my lower chest. I'm so used to pendlay rows that I'm still working on these. It felt a lot better on my top set though. That's it for today. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-06-20 08:47 AM - Post#904311
Thursday Nov 5/20 1A) Deadlift: 260x5, 300x5, 335x5 1B) Pull-ups: 8, 7, 6 2) Ring Dips: 10x5, 25x5, 40x5, 10 3) Power Curl: 65x10, 95x10, 125x10. Didn't get my 20 mins on the airdyne yet this week. Got hockey later tonight (posting this on friday morning). May just skip that conditioning workout this week or try to make up on Saturday. Next week will be a deload week. I don't totally feel that I need one, but I'm for sure taking it. Been down that crash and burn road too many times. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-10-20 10:24 PM - Post#904462
1 hour game of hockey last friday. It'll be the last for a while because our province is locking down for the next 4 weeks. It's a deload week this week. I'm going to adjust my exercise choices a bit for this next cycle. I've had a hard time finding goals for myself to stay motivated, so the last week has been spent reading up on specific weight training towards hockey. The goal right now is to help improve my game so the focus will be more on some unilateral exercises and adding in some explosive work. The program I started will still be the base program I use. I read a particular article from a performance center for NHL players. They use front squats, split squats, and olympic weightlifting as the base of their programming. Those are all my favorite things so lets do it. Tuesday Nov 10/20 1A) Front Squat: 135x5, 185x5, 185x5 1B) Pull-up: 5, 5, 5 2) One Arm Pushup: 3, 3, 3 3) Ring Rows: 10, 10 I also got a fun little stickhandling practice board called super deker. I'm trying to spend at least 10 minutes per day on it. This is going to be great! Focusing on hockey is the perfect solution to my lack of direction in the weight room this last year. Still putting together my list of exercises for this next cycle, but I'm excited to have this down week and get after it hard next week! |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-17-20 08:10 AM - Post#904667
Started a new cycle again yesterday. Took the rest of last week as complete rest for the deload week. Adding in some basic olympic lifts this time around. Monday Nov 16/20 1) 'The Drill' (PS, OHS, Hang Sn, Sn): 95, 115, 135 I have to do this in my furnace room, it's the only place where the floor is just low enough that I can feed my plates between the floor joists and get all the way overhead. Weird thumb pain was shooting down my right arm in the catch position. That's never happened during snatching. Ever since getting serious about farmers walks earlier this year I have had the weirdest pain in my right hand at the base of the thumb. Anyway, these were basically warmup weights just to get a feel for it. 2) Front Squat: 175x5, 200x5, 225x5 3A) One Arm Pushup: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 3B) One Arm Ring Row: 5, 5, 5, 5 Did rounds of stickhandling on a sheet of fake ice between sets. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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11-17-20 09:34 AM - Post#904672
1) 'The Drill' (PS, OHS, Hang Sn, Sn): 95, 115, 135 I have to do this in my furnace room, it's the only place where the floor is just low enough that I can feed my plates between the floor joists and get all the way overhead. Heheh, you are determined, great! Keep up the good work.
Weird thumb pain was shooting down my right arm in the catch position. That's never happened during snatching. Ever since getting serious about farmers walks earlier this year I have had the weirdest pain in my right hand at the base of the thumb. Anyway, these were basically warmup weights just to get a feel for it. Pay attention to it and see where/what is the cause. Do not ignore it. Maybe you just move ahead too fast too quickly. Or it just needs some specific stretching/strengthening, or fixing some imbalance. Do you have some reliable experienced body worker? They are hard to find but if you find one and nearby bribe him/her on a regular basis, hehe.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-20-20 07:18 PM - Post#904863
Ya I definitely won’t ignore it. The likely cause it tight biceps, although I know I overdid it with the carries this summer and my hands have had some aches I’m not used to. Also, my wife has been asking for more massages; I love giving them but man it’s hard on the hands. The last few days I’ve been doing 100 band pull aparts and working on the seated good morning and deep split squat talked about in the calf standards thread. Really getting after some mobility stuff. Friday, Nov 20/20 1) Power Clean: 135x5, 145x5, 170x5, 190x5. Felt good, no dropping in my basement which sucks, kept it a bit lighter to ease back into it. 2) Overhead Press: 95x5, 105x5, 125x5, 140x5. I was shocked how hard this was. No barbell overhead presses in the last year. I thought I was starting light on the weights but this is a great starting point. 3) 2 X KB Press: 24kgx10 4) Pullups: 5x5 5) Split Squat: 106x5, 140x5, 176x5. Done with double kettlebells held at the sides. 6) L-Sit: 30 seconds on rings. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-03-20 02:37 PM - Post#905247
Welp... last workout was almost 2 weeks ago. Crashed and just never got up from it. I did the occasional mobility day with some deep lunges and stretches, but no working out or weights. And I feel great! I'm more productive at work, head is clearer, sleeping and feeling better, mood is better overall. Exercise is supposed to give those benefits, not prevent them. Obviously with where work and life is at for me right now an easy 531 2 day a week template is just not happening. The bar for this needs to be set really low and workouts need to be short and quick (15-20 mins tops) with NO option for going longer and adding more. For the sake of longevity I have to cap myself. So the last week has been spent thinking and reading. This last summer I tried Dan John's easy strength (the EES version) for the first time and I loved it so much I quit doing it. Really. How is that a real thing... after reading it a million times I should know better. So starting this evening I'm going to begin my swim through the easiest of easy strength. No jumping to harder programs because it feels great, no getting distracted, no adding any extras, no caring about load or %'s or even if I make any progress at all. Heck, maybe for fun I'll just lift the empty bar if that's what I have to do! Just a couple lifts for 10 total easy reps with whatever weight I feel like lifting and never struggling. After re-reading the rules and the thread from Kyle and Jordan I decided to start at the bottom end of easy so consistency will be as easy as possible. Starting with 4 movements - 3 of them put together to make it super easy! 3-5 days a week. Workouts don't even need to be workouts, sets can be done throughout the evening if need be if a 'focused' workout session just isn't going to happen. Rest periods 5-15 mins or an hour who even cares. 1-5 rep range. No rigidity, no structure, no progression. Just lift and move and enjoy myself and when the moves are getting stale after 2 or 4 or 6 weeks then pick some new ones and keep on. Easy Strength Cycle 1: Clean, Front Squat, Push Press (all in one) Pull-ups - can weight if desired and is easy Ab Wheel AND THAT'S IT DANGIT. When it feels awesome I will resist the temptation to add more and let those creeping thoughts of 'but what about rows, but what about squats, but what about... NOPE!' This is the work I'm doing and that's it I did it I'm done. Maybe, just maybe I'll stick to this and even easier strength can become my regular program and this endless cycle of running after shiny new objects can end. It's the reason I joined this forum in the first place. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-03-20 07:56 PM - Post#905260
Thursday Dec 3/20 Clean and Push Press: 115x5, 115x5 Pullups: 4x5 Ab Wheel: 5 reps Decided to dump the front squat from the clean and push press. Keeping this super simple to start off. Did this over the course of about an hour while making supper. It’s so nice to break this up like that. I may be starting too light and not doing ‘enough’ but at this point under training is better than overdoing it yet again. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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12-03-20 08:11 PM - Post#905263
Welp... last workout was almost 2 weeks ago. Crashed and just never got up from it. I did the occasional mobility day with some deep lunges and stretches, but no working out or weights. And I feel great! I'm more productive at work, head is clearer, sleeping and feeling better, mood is better overall. Exercise is supposed to give those benefits, not prevent them. Hey ho, tell me all about it....  It's great that you listen to your "total situation" and restart wisely.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-05-20 06:42 PM - Post#905344
Friday, Dec 4/20 Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5 Pullups +20lb: 3,3,3 L-Sit: 20s Saturday Dec 5/20 Decided to do some testing today. Used Dan’s 2 movements for testing. Short warmup and I tried to set a solid number for both to compare again after 40 days. Standing Long Jump: 7’ 5” Farmers Walk 2 x 40kg KB’s: 252’ Set a ‘sorta max’ in each. I also thought about working up with the clean and push press to a sorta max but decided to call it after those two tests. Maybe this next week I’ll go after a sorta max if it’s feeling particularly good one day. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-07-20 09:23 PM - Post#905417
Easy Strength Cycle 1: Power Clean and Push Press Monday Dec 7/20 Day 1: Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 48x5, 48x5 (48 = Double 24's) Suitcase Carry: 24x59m each side Gonna use the double kettlebell front squat to keep a light squatting motion going. I won't be adding any weight through the whole cycle, I just want to use it as maintenance. I'll also be rotating through loaded carries every workout; type, distance and load. 40 days cycle 1 here we go. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-08-20 08:56 PM - Post#905449
Day 2 Tuesday Dec 8/20 Clean and Push Press: 135, 135 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24 Double KB Rack Carry: 40m with 2x24 |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-09-20 08:43 PM - Post#905487
Day 3 Wednesday Dec 9/20 Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 155x3, 175x2. Not much of a struggle. Pull-up: 5, 20x3, 35x2 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24 Waiter Walk: 24kg. Did each side separately. Walked around upstairs not sure how far. Definitely felt a bit tired today, but because everything was so short and easy I had no problem getting it done anyway. My wife is excited about what I'm doing. Made her a quick easy strength program and now she's following along. At the end she says, "that was so easy!" Yup... that's the idea. The point is to show up again tomorrow. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-11-20 10:31 PM - Post#905561
Day 4 Thursday Rest Day Day 5 Friday Dec 11/20 Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5. Easy peasy Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24kg Farmer Walk: 100m with 2x24kg I can't remember the last time I did a workout at 9pm in the evening. After 7pm is my absolute latest cut off, if it's not done by then it ain't getting done. It's been at least 5 years. This is brilliant. This is why easy strength is actually going to work for me. Consistency trumps intensity at this point in my life. An intense program won't work if you don't actually get in there and do it. But this? Doesn't matter if the results aren't spectacular because if it's this easy to get done and I can actually stay consistent on this I know at least I'm gonna get something out of it. This is awesome. I was completely dead after a week of work, on the couch shut down on a Friday evening. But after sitting there for a bit, I figured you know what, I can get this done quick. Bam, got up and did it. This is what I'm talking about. Also, I should note because it's my log and it's activity. I started biking to work this week. It's a dual purposed attempt to save money (by uninsuring a car and saving some gas) and to boost my base level of activity to counteract all the desk work. Interesting time to start it with canadian winter and all but it just came to me the other day. It's been interesting with icy roads and low temps (and it's only gonna get worse), but I just dress appropriately and it's actually been really fun so far. It's the easiest way to get some activity and cardio in - not sure why I never thought of it before. Bike instead of drive. I live about 3km from work, it's about a 12 minute bike ride at a reasonable pace. So I've been getting almost 25 mins of bike riding at a good pace every day now on top of my workouts. Not sure why I never took a big interest in cycling before, but it's actually really fun and it wakes me up nicely for work. Especially when its below 0 C. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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12-12-20 02:24 PM - Post#905570
I can't remember the last time I did a workout at 9pm in the evening. ....... This is brilliant. This is awesome. I was completely dead after a week of work, on the couch shut down on a Friday evening. But after sitting there for a bit, I figured you know what, I can get this done quick. Bam, got up and did it. This is what I'm talking about. Splendid! Keep talking . Keep doing....even when you do not think you can do or will do... ..and sometimes it is legit to take a break, too. Roll with it. Cool.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-12-20 09:29 PM - Post#905590
Saturday Dec 12/20 Wow how is it the 12th of December already... Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24kg One KB Rack Carry: 32kgx40m each side |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-16-20 08:25 PM - Post#905765
Missed Monday. Some life stuff happening. Tuesday Dec 15/20 Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24kg Suitcase Walk: 80mx24kg each side Wednesday Dec 16/20 Clean and Push Press: 135, 155, 175, 185, 195, 205 Pull-up: 1, 20lb, 35, 53, 70, 80 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 with 2x24kg Double KB Rack Carry: 60m with 2x24kg Today was good. Weights felt really good. The last pullup was definitely harder, I would say almost 90% effort. The clean and push press wasn’t too bad. I went a bit higher than I thought I would, the final rep I would say felt like 80% effort. Again left those front squats as easy. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-18-20 08:43 AM - Post#905805
Thursday Dec 17/20 Clean and Push Press: 95x10 Pull-up: 10 Double KB Front Squat: 10 with 2x24kg Nice and easy tonic day. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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12-18-20 08:52 PM - Post#905828
Wow how is it the 12th of December already... I don't know..... it is the 19th all of a sudden! It's spinning out of control for sure.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-20-20 10:54 AM - Post#905851
It really is! Especially since having my son I can’t believe how fast time goes these days. Saturday Dec 19/20 Clean and Push Press: 135x5, 135x5 Pull-up: 5, 20x5 Double KB Front Squat: 1x10 with 2x24kg Farmer Walk: 80m with 2x24kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-22-20 09:05 AM - Post#905879
Week 3 now, doing some same but different. Changed some of the explosive moves for grinds. Monday Dec 21/20 Double KB Clean and Press: 5, 5 with 2x24kg Deadlift: 245x5, 245x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 5, 5 Suitcase Carry: 24kg x 60m each side. Switched up to double kettlebell clean and press. Keeping the kettlebell cleans in keeps a bit of explosive work in, but went down to a strict press instead of push press. Added in the deadlift as a big hinge movement to replace the barbell clean. Started getting headaches from tight neck and traps. Likely from the almost daily practice of ballistic movements like the barbell clean and push press. Gonna have to work on getting some of that tension out of there over the next few weeks. Hopefully the stricter movements will help with that. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-26-20 06:02 PM - Post#906022
Been keeping up with workouts this week. Just forgot to post. Tuesday Dec 22/20 Double KB Clean and Press: 5, 5 with 2x24kg Deadlift: 245x5, 245x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 5, 5 One Side Rack Carry: 32x60m Thursday Dec 24/20 Double KB Clean and Press: 24x5, 32x3, 32x2 Deadlift: 245x5, 285x3, 335x2 Double KB Front Squat: 24x5, 32x3, 32x2 One Side Rack Carry: 32x60m each side Saturday Dec 26/20 Double KB Clean and Press: 24x5, 24x5 Deadlift: 245x5, 245x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 24x5, 24x5 Farmer Walk: 32x80m Been doing OS resets regularly since tuesday and I am feeling really good. Still get a bit dizzy from some of them but it's getting better. The 335 deadlift was not hard, but it has been a while since I hit a weight even close to that. Friday I spent the day feeling pretty sore in places I hadn't been sore in for a long time. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-28-20 10:09 PM - Post#906096
Monday Dec 28/20 Deadlift: 245x5, 245x5 Double KB Clean and Press: 24kgx5, 24x5 Pullup: 20x5, 20x5 Suitcase Carey: 32kgx60m each side |
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Diablo Legal Alien Posts 7355
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12-29-20 03:25 PM - Post#906124
Sweet work going on here, brother! You and me both on the soreness. I fixed my pullup situation and got sore pecs! lol Cheers and merry new year!
Friday I spent the day feeling pretty sore in places I hadn't been sore in for a long time.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-29-20 08:12 PM - Post#906133
Hey thanks for checking in Diablo! Ya, things are going well! I’m keeping it light enough that if I need to I can jump in no warmup and get it done. The consistency is just happening. Easy strength works! Tuesday Dec 29/20 All singles today Double KB Clean and Press: 24, 24, 32, 32, 40, 40. Deadlift: 245, 275, 305, 335, 385 Double KB Front Squat: 24, 24, 32, 32, 40, 40 Pullup: 20, 35, 53, 70, 88x2 Warmed up by shoveling the driveway. I was in a bit of a mood today, feeling tired and short fused. Got downstairs and saw my weights. ‘Eff it’ I thought to myself. No warmup, just got started and worked through it. Surprised myself. The clean and press was a struggle, but not as much as I expected. Forgot to do my last deadlift and I’ve already unloaded the bar so whatever. The pullup really surprised me. Last time I worked up to 80 and it was kinda hard. I did a rep with my 40kg kettlebell and it was kinda so easy I did a second one without dropping off the rings. The second rep was definitely hard. Easy strength really really works. Even if I never improve on the numbers I hit today, who even cares. To maintain numbers like this on this little work feels like cheating. Probably gonna be in a bit of a fog tomorrow. In my slightly frustrated state I took my mood out on the weights and went a bit harder than I maybe ‘should’ have. But the therapy was worth it. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-31-20 05:27 PM - Post#906183
Thursday Dec 31/20 Deadlift: 245x5, 245x5 Double KB Clean and Press: 24kgx5, 24x5 Pull-up: 5, 5 Double KB Front Squat: 24kgx5, 24x5 Farmer Walk: 24kg for 120m Wow. Felt a little extra heavy today. Moved through it easily. Obviously fatigued from going hard on Tuesday. |
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Diablo Legal Alien Posts 7355
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01-01-21 04:21 AM - Post#906191
Solid
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-05-21 09:27 AM - Post#906347
Thanks! Friday Jan 1/21 And then it was 2021... Deadlift: 275x5, 275x5 Double KB Clean and Press: 3x5 @ 24kg bells Pull-up: 2x5 @ 20lb Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 32kg Monday Jan 4/21 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 275 Double KB Clean and Press: 3x5 @ 24kg bells Pull-up: 3x5 Front Squat: 2x5 @ 185 Bumped up my base level deadlift to 275. It feels the same as 245. Added a 3rd set on my half body lifts: the clean & press and pullups. I have felt the last little bit that I might not be doing enough 'work'. Lastly, switched up the double kettlebell front squats for regular front squats. All the double kettlebell work plus deadlifts and carries has given my upper back a beating, and my legs just aren't getting enough work from such light squats. A barbell front squat will shift the focus more onto the legs. It felt really easy after 4 weeks of double kettlebell front squats. All front squat sets will be cleaned from the floor. Sure... it only amounts to 2 or 3 power cleans, but it allows me to keep 'practicing' that movement in a very minor sense. Limiting myself to 'from the floor' will really help keep the squat weight in check. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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01-05-21 10:23 AM - Post#906355
Nice work in here, Jordan. "From the floor" is a great choice (although so are double KB front squats; it sounds like you've seen that the bar doesn't feel as heavy as it "should" after only doing such light double KB squats for awhile). |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-05-21 08:19 PM - Post#906404
Tuesday Jan 5/21 Double KB Clean and Press: 3x5 @ 24kg Pull-up: 3x5 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 275lb Front Squat: 2x5 @ 185lb L-sit: 15s Switching loaded carries out for some direct ab work for the next few weeks. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-08-21 10:01 AM - Post#906494
Thursday Jan 7/21 Double KB Clean and Press: 24x5, 32x3, 40x1 Pull-up: 20x5, 53x3, 70x2 Deadlift: 225x5, 275x3, 315x2 Really feeling it today. Pushed it too much at the beginning of the week. So I'm dropping back down to 10 reps for the clean and press and pullups. Also gonna drop the deadlift back down a bit. I got that achy trained too hard feeling. I'm considering going back to the double KB front squats, just to keep the barbell loading to a minimum. We'll see how I feel for my next workout. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-09-21 06:43 PM - Post#906539
Saturday January 9/21 Double KB Clean and Press: 2x5 @ 24kg Pull-up: 2x5 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 32kg Push-ups: 10 One Arm KB Row: 32x10 L-sit: 15s Back to the KB front squats. Lighter deadlifts again. Still ‘feeling it’ today, a little run down. Gonna enjoy tomorrow off. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-16-21 09:31 PM - Post#906830
Time to update this. I took a few days off this week to climb out of the hole I dug myself into. Started working out again thursday. Gonna be strict about the 80% hard upper limit this time around. Going over that a few times with deadlifts didn't do me any favors. Also, it's week 4, and in the spirit of freshness I'm going to cycle out a few moves. Thursday January 14/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Double KB Clean and Press: 2x5 @ 24kg Pull-up: 2x5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg Friday January 15/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Double KB Clean and Press: 2x5 @ 24kg Pull-up: 2x5 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg Saturday January 16/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 155 One Arm Row: 2x5 @ 32kg Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s Settling on sumo deadlifts to take the load off the lower back - and I haven't ever really focused on them, incline bench, and I wanted a change from pullups for a bit. Not sold on one arm rows, I may switch that up to Dan's favorite, the barbell curl. We'll see what I decide on Monday. Feeling much better already, I really didn't get myself in too deep of water as recovery came quick. And, my favorite thing about this program is switching up the movements. When I get a little bored it's easy to freshen up and keep going. I don't have to do the same 4 big moves forever on repeat. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-23-21 04:35 PM - Post#907110
Monday January 18/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 135 Barbell Curl: 2x5 @ 65lb Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s Tuesday January 19/21 Sumo Deadlift: 3x3 @ 225 Incline Bench: 3x3 @ 135, 145, 155 Barbell Curl: 2x5 @ 65lb Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s Saturday January 23/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 155 Barbell Curl: 2x5 @ 75lb Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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01-24-21 09:58 AM - Post#907124
When I get a little bored it's easy to freshen up and keep going. I don't have to do the same 4 big moves forever on repeat. Important. Then the WO gets done and it doesn't feel like a chore. Keep up the good work, man!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-28-21 08:40 PM - Post#907288
Thanks! Tuesday January 26/21 Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 155 Barbell Curl: 2x5 @ 65lb Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s Wednesday January 27/21 Sumo Deadlift: 3x3 @ 225 Incline Bench: 3x3 @ 155, 165, 175 Bodyweight Row: 2x8 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg, 32kg L-Sit: 15s Barbell curls are firing up the elbows, so I'm switching them out for bodyweight rows on my rings with feet elevated. Performed nice and slow to make them harder. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-29-21 11:14 PM - Post#907327
Friday January 29/21 Warmup: stretches, 20 push-ups, 10 pullups Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 245 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 155 Inverted Row: 2x10 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 24kg L-Sit: 15s |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-31-21 03:26 PM - Post#907365
Saturday January 31/21 Warmup: stretches, 20 push-ups, 10 pullups Sumo Deadlift: 2x5 @ 225 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 155 Inverted Row: 2x10 Double KB Front Squat: 1x10 @ 24kg L-Sit: 20s |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-08-21 07:24 PM - Post#907611
Did 2 workouts last week (31st and 3rd). Both were easy strength style. But its time to break my way out of this. It's been a good run. 8 solid weeks of consistent training. There's a program I found by a guy named John Christy - who I have never heard of before. Looks really good, and easy strength seems like a great springboard right into his program. I've also been doing a lot of reading on programming, namely single double and triple progression. Anyway, to avoid this going too long I've figured out why I seem to burn out all the time. I have often wondered how much of my burning out and 'overtraining' is really just underpreparedness. After I finished crossfit, basically any strength program I did was laughably easy. 531 - including boring but big - texas method, juggernaut. It was all not too bad. Over time as I have gotten more and more minimalist when I try to jump to those programs I am jumping up instead of down, so I tend to crash and burn. Anyways, basically what I've realised is that doing minimalist programs I don't build the necessary base to successfully run those programs. Because I'm already relatively strong, jumping into those programs can spell disaster. Now I know why. Often to go from a minimalist program up to one of those programs is a big jump in volume. More sets, more reps, and more weight all at once. I can do it, but I'm just not prepared enough to be successful. So this time, I'm doing a really slow ramp up from where I'm at in easy strength to get up to speed on John Christy's program. No more massive jumps like that. It's time to build up capacity slowly. I forget last weeks workouts, they weren't much. I started back squatting again, but really light this time. Mostly they were just prep workouts building up to an official start today. Monday Feb 8/21 Abmat Crunch: 1x10 (wow these hurt) Back Squat: 2x5 @ 155 Stiff Leg Deadlift: 1x10 @ 65 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 160 Weighted Pullup: 2x5 + 10lb Farmer Walk: 70s @ 2x24kg kettlebells |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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02-09-21 05:30 PM - Post#907637
I've figured out why I seem to burn out all the time. I have often wondered how much of my burning out and 'overtraining' is really just underpreparedness. After I finished crossfit, basically any strength program I did was laughably easy. 531 - including boring but big - texas method, juggernaut. It was all not too bad. Over time as I have gotten more and more minimalist when I try to jump to those programs I am jumping up instead of down, so I tend to crash and burn. Anyways, basically what I've realised is that doing minimalist programs I don't build the necessary base to successfully run those programs. Because I'm already relatively strong, jumping into those programs can spell disaster. Now I know why. Often to go from a minimalist program up to one of those programs is a big jump in volume. More sets, more reps, and more weight all at once. I can do it, but I'm just not prepared enough to be successful. Interesting. These times when we think honestly about what we do and don't and why and when(our patterns) are gold. What, when, how, why, why not, how long? Where? Like a storyteller. So how will you prepare/"tell your story"? Meaning-what is 'slowly'? I am sure you can do what you want and build up a lasting success and satisfaction but as you say, maybe not all at once. It's good to shock the body in a good way now and then because the body strives for energy economy aka survival all the time, but you can't scare I- pump it out and expect more because the body takes over and says 'enough is enough, no more'.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-15-21 05:11 PM - Post#907856
Thursday Feb 11/21 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 245 Press: 2x5 @ 115 Barbell Row: 2x5 @ 135 One Leg Calf Raise: 1x10 Starting light on everything. Forgot to post this last week. Monday Feb 8/21 Abmat Crunch: 1x10 Back Squat: 2x5 @ 175 Stiff Leg Deadlift: 1x10 @ 75 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 165 Weighted Pullup: 2x5 + 15 Farmer Walk: 90s @ 2x24kg kettlebells |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-15-21 05:14 PM - Post#907857
I agree pink.pixie. Sometimes a shock is good, but you also have to be ready to handle it. Life is too short to just keep doing all the time. You gotta stand back and ask is it doing what I want it to? Well why not? That’s the only way we learn. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-19-21 08:16 PM - Post#907979
Friday Feb 19/21 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 265 Press: 2x5 @ 125 Barbell Row: 2x5 @ 140 One Leg Calf Raise: 1x10 Barbell Wrist Extension/Curl: 1x10/1x15 @ empty bar |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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 02-20-21 12:35 PM - Post#907998
You gotta stand back and ask is it doing what I want it to? Well why not? That’s the only way we learn. Right. Sometimes I just know what I do not want
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-23-21 07:41 PM - Post#908081
Tuesday Feb 23/21 Abmat Crunch: 1x15 Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 170 Back Squat: 2x5 @ 195 Stiff Leg Deadlift: 1x15 @ 75 Weighted Pullup: 2x5 + 20 Farmer Walk: 60s @ 2x32kg kettlebells |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-26-21 11:50 PM - Post#908203
Friday Feb 26/21 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 285 Press: 2x5 @ 130 Barbell Row: 2x5 @ 145 One Leg Calf Raise: 1x15 Barbell Wrist Extension/Curl: 1x10/1x15 @ empty bar Ab Wheel: 15 reps from the knees |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-01-21 10:47 PM - Post#908367
Tuesday Feb 23/21 Abmat Crunch: 1x15 @ 10 lb Incline Bench: 2x5 @ 175 Back Squat: 2x5 @ 215 Stiff Leg Deadlift: 1x15 @ 85 Weighted Pullup: 2x5 + 25 Farmer Walk: 70s @ 2x32kg kettlebells |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-06-21 10:15 AM - Post#908561
Friday Feb 26/21 Deadlift: 2x5 @ 305 Press: 2x5 @ 135 Barbell Row: 2x5 @ 150 One Leg Calf Raise: 1x12 + 10lb Barbell Wrist Extension/Curl: 1x10/1x20 @ empty bar Ab Wheel: 15 reps from the knees |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-09-21 10:43 AM - Post#908667
Back to easy strength. Gonna try something this time. Focus more on squat as the big lower body move and replace the hinge movement with KB swings. Lets see how they pair together. The last run of easy strength the deadlifts built up too much. I just don't like deadlifting with a high frequency. In future cycles maybe I'll try clean or snatch pulls and stay away from deadlifts. Monday March 8/21 Front Squat: 2x5 @ 175 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 155 Pull-up: 2x5 + 20 Kettlebell Swing: 2x15 @ 24kg Abmat Crunch: 1x10 + 16kg Sticking with incline press cause it's fun. And cause if I want to do shoulder press I have to carry my bar into the furnace room. Not up for that right now, maybe in a few weeks. Eventually I want to make myself a flat bench so I can start benching again. This time instead of doing loaded carries and abs every workout I'm gonna try rotating them, so abs twice a week and weighted carries twice a week. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-11-21 08:29 PM - Post#908758
Tuesday March 9/21 Front Squat: 5,3,2 @ 155, 185, 225 Incline Press: 5,3,2 @ 145, 165, 185 Pull-up: 5,3,2 @ 20, 35, 53 Kettlebell Swing: 2x15 @ 32kg Thursday March 11/21 Front Squat: 2x5 @ 205 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 160 Pull-up: 2x5 + 35 Kettlebell Swing: 2x15 @ 32kg Abmat Crunch: 1x15 + 16kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-13-21 06:11 PM - Post#908803
Saturday March 13/21 Warmup: 2 rounds With empty bar, no breaks: MuSn x 8, BS x 8, GM x 8, DL x 8, Row x 8, then 15 push-ups, 8 pullups, 5 KB Press w/ 24kg Workout: Front Squat: 2x5 @ 185 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 155 Pull-up: 2x5 + 20 Kettlebell Swing: 3x15 @ 24kg One Arm Bottoms Up KB Walk: 1 min right side, 50s left side with 16kg. My warmups have always been terrible. A few quick moves and I go to it. I was reading some of Dan’s material that I hadn’t read before and for EES he was talking about practicing all 9 human movements in the warmup. So I did a barbell complex as recommended and then filled out with basic body weight moves and a one arm Kb press for the vertical. It was amazing. The workout itself felt completely different, like I was actually prepared for it. I even got a little sweat going, pulse went up to 120-130. This is definitely a key that’s been missing for me, and who knows maybe it’ll help cut down the midsection a bit. Then during the workout I felt solid and tight for all moves. I could really generate good tension. And I forget who on this forum I read about it from, but that bottoms up kettlebell walk is a sick sadistic beautiful move. Using a 35 pound kettlebell it was surprisingly hard. Love it. Gonna keep it up with these warmups, it just might transform my workouts. It added a good 10 mins to it though. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-15-21 07:03 PM - Post#908855
Monday March 15/21 Warmup: 2 rounds: Complex C x 8 reps with empty bar, 15 push-ups, 8 pullups, 8 KB Press w/ 16kg Workout: Front Squat: 2x5 @ 185 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 165 Pull-up: 2x5 + 20 pounds Kettlebell Swing: 3x15 @ 24kg Abmat Crunch: 10 + 16kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-16-21 09:37 PM - Post#908881
Tuesday March 16/21 Warmup: 2 rounds: Complex C (with sotts press) x 8 reps with empty bar, 10 push-ups, 5 pullups Front Squat: 2x5 @ 165 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 155 Pull-up: 2x5 Kettlebell Swing: 3x15 @ 32kg One Arm Bottoms Up KB Walk: 1 min right side, 1 min left side with 16kg. Feelin it today. Time change is a dirty bee. Couple of rough nights lately. So I dropped the weight a bit today. Felt good during the workout though. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-20-21 06:22 PM - Post#908967
Saturday March 20/21 Warmup: 2 rounds: Complex C with press from split x 8 reps with empty bar, 10 push-ups, 5 pullups Workout: Front Squat: 2x5 @ 165 Incline Press: 2x5 @ 165 Pull-up: 2x5 + 20 pounds Kettlebell Swing: 2x25 @ 24kg Abmat Crunch: 15 + 16kg Neck is getting pretty fired up from the kettlebell swings. I’ll need to start getting a lacrosse ball in my traps again to loosen it up. I was also up till 1am last night watching the Snyder cut of justice league. Totally worth it, but I’ve been running on 5 hours of sleep all day. The workout was slow going. Thankfully it’s easy. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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03-23-21 06:35 AM - Post#909007
Good job. The time change is brutal. In the spring it shines a torch straight into my face, in the autumn it dips me mercilessly into a bucket of darkness. I find it unkind to say the least! Warm ups are time-consuming but important, do not skip them. The lacrosse might even add more stress. Maybe add some dynamic exercise and also stretches when the muscles are warm to keep them elongated. It may feel like a ballerina work to you but it is inevitable. When the thoratic spine/ neck are out of balance you loose strength in arms but it is also the other way round- too much prolonged load and the muscles need to tighten in order to cope and the trigger points become a fact. Also the smaller muscles that are 'deployed' with the lats can make 'noise', plus the balance front/ back needs to level out. You know your body best but by paying attention to details you prevent unnecessary injuries.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-23-21 08:11 PM - Post#909046
Hey thanks for checking in! Ya time change is terrible. Thanks for the advice on the neck stuff. Lacrosse balls do provide temporary relief, but you’re right, I’ve been learning from this forum that it’s way better to mobilize the joint than just smash it. I guess the sudden change in volume really built up quick. That’s a good point too about form. I always felt I had good KB swing form. But after reading some of Dan’s cues, like silverback, zipper, and lats I’ve been analyzing my form. Using all 3 cues has really changed my form. I’ve always taught to snap with the hips not pull with the shoulders and traps. But once I started turning my lats on I realized how much tension I was still holding in my trap and necks during swings. Really packing those shoulders seems to turn off the traps quite a bit. I was being good with my OS drills but they’ve fallen off the last bit. I gotta start doing those neck drills again. They helped a lot. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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03-24-21 04:34 AM - Post#909050
Generally, all prehab can feel tedious. But when you sense some discomfort just mix things upp a bit. All movement is functional and meant for survival. That is how the body is built. It will always try to adapt to any condition and circumstance but the adaptation itself-when kidnapped by mind- may become dysfunctional. Pain is a sign of dysfunction (in both physical and psychological realm.)
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-24-21 08:42 PM - Post#909087
Switch things up hey? Well... it just turns out that I had the same feeling and after seeing how close summer is to coming I decided to switch to a program that's more flexible in frequency. Easy strength is great, but I'm realizing it's main drawback, at least for me, is that sometimes the movements can be repeated with too high of a frequency. It's great for short stints, like the 40 day, but I think I jumped back into it too soon. I tend to do a little better with a greater variety of movements throughout the week. Spring and summer mean lots of outdoor projects and things to do. So, I'm going to run a 531 2x2x2 for a while. I was really enjoying the back squats I was doing and would like to work on barbell press again. Setup is 2 lifting days, 2 assistance circuit days, 2 conditioning/mobility days: Day 1: Squat, Incline Bench 531 Day 2: bodyweight/kettlebell circuit Day 3: conditioning (running, airdyne) Day 4: Deadlift, Press 531 Day 5: bodyweight/kettlebell circuit Day 6: conditioning (running, airdyne) Day 7: Rest Since I bike to work and back every day my conditioning needs are well filled. But I would like to do some running this summer, so I may do a few 400's and 800's. I haven't run in a very long time. Monday March 22/21 Back Squat: 165x5, 195x5, 220x8 Incline Press: 135x5, 155x5, 170x10 One Arm Row: 10x24kg, 15x32kg And that's day 1. Could have pushed a bit harder on the plus sets, but I'm smarter than that. Tuesday March 23/21 4 rounds of the circuit: 15 pushups 15 inverted ring rows 15 kettlebell swings, 24kg Didn't time myself cause this isn't crossfit. Just get the work done. Did 10 reps for inverted rows on the last 2 sets. After a year experimenting with Dan's programs I see 531 in a whole new light. It's like Dan roped me in and pulled me back to reality, and now my approach to 'working out' is completely different. Much more of a healthy and balanced approach. I'm looking forward to spending the next few months on this and see where it gets me. Eventually I also want to start flat bench again but I don't have one. I'll have to build one. My incline bench is homemade and rigid, so it can't adjust downward. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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03-25-21 04:06 PM - Post#909118
Nice work -- healthy and balanced is the way to go for us adults... |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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03-26-21 04:30 AM - Post#909133
Eventually I also want to start flat bench again but I don't have one. I'll have to build one. I just read about it the other day. It is important to add a "good padding on top". If the bench is too hard it can compress the nerves in the area of the thoracic spine. On Youtube I found: One way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuKh9YGRdfE " Da 3 musketeers Dudes speaking da speak" have built themselves not only a bench but also a wooden power rack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuWRid86W40 They posted also a follow up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhqHkRdBerg The proof is in the pudding. 
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-26-21 09:56 AM - Post#909142
Thanks Brian, as much as I want to fight it sometimes and pretend I'm still 20, I'm just not anymore. And thanks for the videos pink.pixie. It's always good to see how other people do stuff. I've built a bunch of my own gym equipment. My wood squat stands I've had for 7 years. They work great. People freak out about wood stuff, but wood is excellent at handling compression. For my incline bench I upholstered it with 2" of rigid styrofoam so it's got a bit of cushion to it. I bought a cheap leather jacket from the local MCC and cut it up for the fabric. I would do the same for a flat bench. I also have a wooden prowler I built but, shame on me, I hardly use it. Maybe I should make a topic in the main forum of some of my homemade equipment. With gym equipment prices the way they are it can be nice to know you can DIY a lot of equipment with the most basic of construction skills. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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03-26-21 11:01 AM - Post#909146
Sounds great, Jordan. It all looks bright!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-27-21 09:37 AM - Post#909170
Friday March 26/21 Press: 105x5, 120x5, 135x10 Deadlift: 210x5, 240x5, 275x10 One Arm Rows: 18x32kg each side |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-27-21 05:58 PM - Post#909177
Saturday March 27/21 4 rounds of the circuit: 10 Pullups 10 Ring Dips 10 Abmat Sit-ups First set I actually did 20 pullups in a row. I havent done a max set in a long time and wanted to see where I was at. I did 2 sets of 10 after that for the last two rounds. Feels good, I actually really like these body weight/kettlebell circuits. I’ve never done a 2x2x2 run of 531 where I actually did these assistance days so I’m excited to see how this will go. Yesterday I was really surprised to get 10 reps of both my top sets, especially the deadlift cause it was actually easy, I could have kept going but decided to cap it at 10. With my numbers this week it looks like I picked my starting weights well for 531. If easy strength has taught me anything this last year, and it’s taught me a lot, it’s that I don’t need to be scared of ‘losing’ anything if I lift lighter weights. It’s all about consistency and just showing up and working within your capacity. Great first week I would say. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-30-21 11:11 PM - Post#909285
Tuesday March 30/21 Back Squat: 180x3, 205x3, 230x8 Incline Press: 140x3, 160x3, 180x8 One Arm Row: 10x32kg, 20x32kg Back squat was surprisingly easy. Could have kept going but just called it. Legs are building up quick. I’ve been sleeping better. Less screen time at night, and I started taking vitamin D again. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-01-21 09:28 AM - Post#909334
Wednesday March 31/21 4 rounds of the circuit 20 Pushups 20 Kettlebell Snatch, 16kg 30 Walking Lunge I really enjoy these BW/KB sessions. Untimed, so I can just go at the pace of the day. The movement and overall volume feels really good. If I keep going with this it'll be a good justification to finally get that weight vest and join Wendler in some of his walrus challenges. But... I have a ways to go yet. Used the baby kettlebell for the snatches today and put all the effort in exploding it up. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-02-21 09:01 PM - Post#909379
Friday April 2/21 Press: 110x3, 125x3, 142.5x8 Deadlift: 225x3, 255x3, 290x8 One Arm Row: 15x32kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-03-21 07:05 PM - Post#909396
Saturday April 3/21 5 rounds of the circuit: Push-ups 10x20lb Pullups 5x20lb Abmat Sit-ups 10 Used a backpack with 20 pounds of weight in it and strapped a wide leather belt around it and my waist to keep it down. Worked pretty well as a low tech diy weight vest. It dug in a bit in the armpits on pullups but it was ok. Really enjoying these little body weight circuits. Just get through it untimed at a good pace. It’s a great break from just barbell training. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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04-04-21 07:15 AM - Post#909408
Really enjoying these little body weight circuits. Just get through it untimed at a good pace. It’s a great break from just barbell training. Super!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-05-21 09:03 PM - Post#909444
Had a day at work today, so blew off some steam on my top sets. Monday April 5/21 Warmup: 1 round of Complex C + Shoulder Press x 8 reps with empty bar, 10 Pushups, 8 Pullups Training: Back Squat: 195x5, 220x3, 245x6 Incline Bench: 155x5, 170x3, 190x6 One Arm Rows: 25x32kg both arms Pushups and pullups felt crazy easy today. Those body weight circuits are really making a difference. Actually all my lifts felt really solid. I spent the afternoon on Saturday upgrading the gym in the basement. I have 3/4" 6x4 rubber mats. Till now they've just been over the carpet. I placed them down and arranged them then cut out the carpet underneath. Then I took down the drop ceiling in that area. The mats feel really solid right on the concrete and don't move around, and I can finally shoulder press in the gym area. The plates have to be threaded between the floor joists, but it works! |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-07-21 08:41 PM - Post#909508
Wednesday April 7/21 5 rounds of the circuit: 10 Ring Dips 10 Kettlebell Swings, 32kg 10 Ring Rows Edit: Did a Suitcase Walk 32kg x 40s each side after the circuit |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-10-21 11:51 AM - Post#909567
Friday April 9/21 Press: 120x5, 135x3, 150x6 Deadlift: 245x5, 275x3, 305x5 And that was it for today. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-20-21 12:39 PM - Post#909748
Ended up taking a whole week off for the deload week. I was really burned out all last week. Not gonna go back to easy strength at this time, but I am going to make things easier. Gonna play around with some body weight and kettle bell movements again for strength days. The BW/KB circuit days were really fun, so those will stay. Monday April 19/21 One Arm Pushup: 3x3 One Arm Row: 3x3 Double KB Front Squat: 2x5 @ 2x32kg Hanging Leg Raise: 10 slow reps Bottoms Up Carry: 45s each side @ 16kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-21-21 10:45 AM - Post#909777
Got my plate carrier in the mail. For 50 bucks, it's not bad. I also nabbed 10x12.5 inch 3/8 steel plate from a local steel yard (for free!! Didn't expect that). The steel weighs 13.5 pounds each, then the vest is 3 pounds so it ends up being 30 pounds of weight. Ya... I felt that. Now this was a much better experience than a backpack that's for sure. Tuesday April 20/21 4 rounds of the circuit with 30lb weighted vest: 10 Pushups (elevated) 5 Pullups 5 Ab Wheel Rollouts (from knees) 10 Goblet Squats, 32kg Took me about 20 mins. Now that was something. Thing with a weighted vest is that it's not the same as just gaining weight. All the extra weight is up on your torso. They 'number' is that your torso has about half your bodyweight. So an extra 30 pounds on the torso would mean an extra 50-60 pounds of body weight as an equivalent. At least for some of the upper body exercises. The ab wheel rollouts were something else even from the knees. But all that mass is added right in the middle of the whole movement. Pushups were hands and feet elevated to get full depth. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-24-21 12:08 AM - Post#909856
Friday April 23/21 3 rounds of the circuit, with 30lb weighted vest: 5 Push-ups 5 Pullups 5 Double Kettlebell Cleans 5 Double Kettlebell Front Squats Then 10 Hanging Leg Raises 1:00 Suitcase Walk 32kg each side |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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04-28-21 05:36 PM - Post#909969
Good job!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-04-21 12:59 PM - Post#910131
Well it's been another week since working out. I've been under a lot of stress lately and last week it was all piling up. Stress levels are going down this week so that's good. Last night was really bad though. But I managed to strap up and get a short workout in finally. May 3/2021 3 rounds of the circuit, with 30lb weighted vest: 5 Push-ups 5 Pullups 5 Double Kettlebell Cleans, 2x24kg 5 Double Kettlebell Front Squats, 2x24kg And that was it. But it was something. For the rest of the summer it's gonna be short DMPM style body weight/weight vest and kettlebell workouts. Can't handle much more than that right now. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-05-21 09:17 PM - Post#910158
May 5 Ring Dips: 3x5 + 30lb vest, 2x5 body weight Inverted Rows: 3x5 + 30lb vest, 2x5 body weight Kettlebell Swings: 3x15 @ 24kg One Leg Squat: 3x5 body weight And that’s that. Doing my one leg squats up on a stool and keeping my leg straight down. These are not pistols. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-08-21 10:27 PM - Post#910223
May 8 Clean and Press: 4x5 @ 2x24kg, 1x5 @ 2x32kg KOT Split Squats 3x5 with 3s pause at bottom One Arm Rows: 3x5 @ 32kg Dead bugs: 15 reps |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-11-21 10:08 PM - Post#910305
May 11/2021 5 rounds of the circuit, with 30lb weighted vest: 5 Push-ups 5 Pullups 5 Double Kettlebell Cleans, 2x24kg 5 Double Kettlebell Front Squats, 2x24kg Finished with 10 hanging leg raises |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-18-21 06:17 PM - Post#910466
Well. Summer is here, and with that comes yard work and many many projects. I spent a few days trying to decide whether I wanted to have a workout routine at all over the next few months. After the 5BX prince phillip thing was posted I got inspired. There's no reason to quit working out entirely. If the 5BX can keep a guy mobile until he's 100 then I can surely do something low effort (mental and physical) and high on return. I made some constraints and came up with a plan I like. It's easy, basic, and under 15 mins start to finish. If I follow the timer it's 12 mins including a warmup movement and 3 stretches. Not bad. This should be sustainable no matter what's going on over summer. Plus, I only need 1 kettlebell and my rings. It's 2 days, A and B style. It can be done 4 days a week or 6. Whatever I have time for. May 17, 2021 Day 1 Warmup: 1 minute - Toe Touch to Saigon Stretch to Standing Stretch. Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each for reps A) Ring Pushups B) Ring Rows C) Goblet Squats, 24kg D1) Ab Wheel(knees) D2) Suitcase Carry, 24kg *D1 is done round 1, D2 is done round 2. Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (didn't make it a full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Reps: A: 18, 10 B: 15, 14 C: 18, 18 D1: 13 D2: 30s each side |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-18-21 06:19 PM - Post#910467
May 18/2021 Day 2 Warmup: 1 minute - Spiderman Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each for reps A) Clean and Press R B) Clean and Press L C) Pullups D1) Superman D2) Bottoms Up KB Carry, 16kg *D1 is done round 1, D2 is done round 2. Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (didn't make it a full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Reps: A: 10, 10 B: 10, 10 C: 10, 10 D1: 10 D2: 30s each side |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-21-21 11:58 AM - Post#910528
I did train the last two days and it was awesome, though a bit toned down. I came out hard the first two sessions, better to build up over the long haul. Also tweaked the warmup to various crawls. Crawling is a great warmup. Wednesday May 19/21 Day 1 Warmup Bear Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each exercise A) 10, 10 Ring Pushups B) 10, 10 Ring Rows C) 10, 10 Goblet Squats, 24kg Skipped the D exercises today. Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (didn't make it a full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Thursday May 20/21 Day 2 Warmup: 1 minute - Spiderman Crawl wow that is hard to do for a minute. Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each for reps A) 5, 5 Clean and Press R B) 5, 5 Clean and Press L C) 8, 8 Pullups D1) 10 Superman D2) 30s each side Suitcase Carry, 32kg *D1 is done round 1, D2 is done round 2. Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (didn't make it a full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Felt good taking a few steps back. Focused on form and just got the reps in. I'm thinking some days will be max reps focused and some will be form focused with a couple reps and a break for the rest of the minute. But I am loving this focus on time per exercise rather than having set reps. It really keeps the workout moving. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-25-21 06:01 PM - Post#910648
Worked out last Friday, then got pretty sick over the weekend. Still a bit sick today but felt good enough to get back at it today. Thankfully, it's easy! Friday May 21/21 Day 1 Warmup Bear Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each exercise A) 10, 10 Ring Pushups B) 10, 10 Ring Rows C) 10, 10 Double KB Front Squat, 2 x 24kg D1) Dead Bugs 10 reps D2) Bottoms Up Suitcase KB Walk 16kg x 30s each side Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (didn't make it a full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Tuesday May 25/21 Day 2 Warmup: 1 minute Bear Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each for reps A) 7, 5 Clean and Press R B) 7, 5 Clean and Press L C) 10, 10 Pull-ups D1) 10 Superman's D2) 30s each side dumbbell end carry, 20lb Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang (made it the full minute) 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-26-21 09:31 PM - Post#910673
Wednesday May 26/21 Day 1 Warmup Crab Walk Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each exercise A) 13, 13 Ring Pushups B) 13, 13 Ring Rows C) 10, 10 Double KB Front Squat, 2 x 24kg D1) Dead Bugs 20 reps D2) Bottoms Up Suitcase KB Walk 16kg x 30s each side Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Starting to feel better. Today was just some minor cold symptoms. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-02-21 07:51 PM - Post#910856
Wednesday June 2/21 Day 2 Warmup: 1 minute Bear Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, 1 minute of each for reps A) 10, 10 Clean and Press R B) 10, 10 Clean and Press L C) 10, 10 Pull-ups D) 20, 15 Kettlebell Swings 32kg Cooldown: 1 minute bar hang 1 minute bretzel stretch 1 minute stoney stretch Yup, it’s been a full week since I worked out. Lots of yard work has kept me busy. Finally had the time and energy to get back at it today. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-04-21 08:31 PM - Post#910900
Wednesday May 26/21 Day 1 Warmup Crab Walk/Bear Crawl Workout: 2 rounds, untimed A) 15, 15 Ring Pushups B) 15, 13 Ring Rows C) 10, 10 Double KB Front Squat, 2 x 24kg D1) Dead Bugs 15 reps D2) Farmers Walk 2x24kg No Cooldown today. Also did not follow the timing structure strictly. Today was just a get it done anyhow day... sit in a chair as needed. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-14-21 07:53 PM - Post#911077
Did a few more of those short workouts the last week but didn’t record them. Also did some running. It’s been a while since throwing a barbell around. I love doing Olympic lifts for part of the summer. Gonna try out Dan’s minimalist 2 day template, but not the powerlifting one. The Olympic lifting one he offhand mentions. Starting super light. Lighter than good taste would suggest. So light that once upon a time I would have laughed at my future self because these aren’t even warmup weights. But it’s been a while. And I’m training in the basement with limited space. Monday June 14/21 Snatch: 4x5 @ 95 Push Press: 3x10 @ 95, 115, 135 I did make one change to dans program. I’m doing push press instead of bench because I don’t have a flat bench and I gave away my squat stands to a friend. Everything is from the floor. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-17-21 09:30 PM - Post#911159
Thursday June 17/21 Power Clean: 5x135, 5x155, 5x155, 5x155 Front Squat: 10x115, 10x135, 10x155 One Arm KB Press: 2x10 @ 16kg, 24kg Pull ups: 10, 10+20lb Those front squats definitely got the legs burning. My legs have gotten a lot smaller in the past months so it makes sense. Felt good to move some barbell weight around. |
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JonZ California ex-patriot in Idaho Posts 1021 
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06-17-21 10:23 PM - Post#911161
Your workouts are excellent.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-28-21 08:39 PM - Post#911406
Thanks JonZ. I'm surprised to hear that honestly. This has easily been the worst year for staying consistent to a schedule and random program jumping. I just can't find my groove. But I'm trying to find something that motivates me. Thanks for checking in! Mon June 28/2021 Hang Power Snatch: 95x5, 115x3, 135x3 Press: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5 Inverted Rows: 3x10 Yes... it's been over a week. Went camping last week with my wife and forgot all about exercise for the week. Gonna stick with the rough template I'm using right now, but made a few small tweaks to make it more 'low ceiling basement friendly'. Switched to hang power snatches. Less chance of failure and I can stay consistent with my position. I have to thread the plates between floor joists. With the snatch I moved around too much and when standing up would hit the floor joists, throwing me off balance. Same story with the push press. Press and Hang Power Snatch are easier to control, but still get the work done. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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08-10-21 07:47 AM - Post#912510
Spent 6 weeks with Armor of War. It's a good little program. The volume climbs up especially with more difficult movements. But, as happens to me so often with programs that have you repeat the same exercises over and over with no variation, I got bored. I think it's time for some DMPM... for a while. Got started with something very simple. Monday August 9/21 Pull Up: 10, 8, 6 Goblet Squat: 10, 8, 6 @ 32kg True Push Up: 10, 8, 6 Called it there. I'm going to try something new. It can be summed up with: Do whatever the heck I want to do. So often I've tried to turn park bench routines, like the DMPM, into programs with progression built in so that I feel like I'm still going 'somewhere'. It's time to take the metaphor one step further. On a park bench, you aren't anxiously trying to get somewhere - even if it's very slowly - you are simply there enjoying the view. So, if I want to deadlift I'll deadlift, if I want power cleans or bench press or row then I'll do them whenever I feel like it. Kettlebells, barbells, bodyweight? Whatever catches my fancy that day. No thought of progression or progression. Just do. The DMPM will be the constant foundation. As Dan Martin says, you can do more, but you shouldn't do less. Let the fun begin. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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08-11-21 08:47 PM - Post#912527
Wednesday, August 11 This is exactly what I felt like doing today, so I did it. Ring Dips: 10, 8, 6 Deadlift: 3x3 @ 275 Kroc Rows: 18 reps each side @ 32kg kettlebell |
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JonZ California ex-patriot in Idaho Posts 1021
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08-14-21 08:47 PM - Post#912574
"Spent 6 weeks with Armor of War. It's a good little program. The volume climbs up especially with more difficult movements. But, as happens to me so often with programs that have you repeat the same exercises over and over with no variation, I got bored." That happens to me as well. I will be working a program and this thought will sneak in: This is getting stale. Sure enough, a few weeks later the program has run its course. In time I might return to it, or maybe not.
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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08-15-21 08:54 AM - Post#912578
It's hard not to try to build some "progress" into park bench training. Ask me how I know... I like the look of that first "whatever I want" session. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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09-13-21 09:27 PM - Post#913310
So here we are, a month later. I got in a whole lot of body weight work over the last month. Lots of the basics: squats, pushups, dips, pullups, rows. I spread them out throughout the day shooting for 25-100 total reps depending on the category. It was really fun. Recently, I got into a discussion with another forum member and we talked about Dan's sleepless in seattle standards. It provided good goal setting, and a solid definition for when one is 'done'. That's the conclusive problem with barbells, there is no end. One can, theoretically, as recovery and capacity allows, just keep going. It's never enough. So, to get on track towards Dan's game changer goals I'm going onto a 2 day a week 531 with an optional body weight basics day in honor of WaLRUS training. It's hockey season, so I don't want to do much more than that. To keep things easy in the beginning I low balled my training maxes and I will be doing 5's PRO to resist the temptation to do 15 reps in the final plus set and consequently burn up on re-entry. Upon completion of the game changer goals, maintenance mode will start with the barbell lifts and other goals will get explored. Glacial progress will be the goal. I made a deal during our conversation. I have to do the program for 3 months. No adds, no changes, no bailing. 3 months of 531 2 days a week with 1 optional body weight training day. If I bail he gets to start a topic on the forum about how I'm a program hopping dork and everyone gets to shame me for an undetermined amount of time for not being able to stick to a freaking program. So it'll be 3 months of: Day 1: Squat 5's PRO (paused) Bench 5's PRO (paused) Kroc Rows 1x10, 1x20+ Day 2: Deadlift 5's PRO Press 5's PRO Kroc Rows 1x10, 1x20+ (Or pull ups if no body weight day is done that week) Body Weight Fitness Day (optional) Pushups or Dips 50 reps Pullups or Inverted Rows 25-50 reps Squats 100 reps Starting training maxes are: Squat: 225 Bench: 205 Deadlift: 275 Press: 165 Already completed 2 days over the last week. Started mid week last week but with only 2 days should be able to slowly shift it over. Thursday Sept 9 Squat: 145x5, 170x5, 190x5 Bench: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5 Rows: 24kg x10, 32kg x18 each arm Monday Sept 13 Deadlift: 180x5, 205x5, 235x5 Press: 110x5, 125x5, 140x5 Rows: 24kg x10, 32kg x20 each arm Also trying to stay on top of daily mobility work. Currently doing steve maxwells daily dozen. I'll try to keep the log updated regularly. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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09-15-21 10:21 PM - Post#913355
Wednesday Sept 15 Back Squat: 160x5, 180x5, 200x5 Bench: 155x5 (misload), 165x5, 185x5 Pullups: 10, 7 Squat and bench were paused. Feeling good. I completely forget my barbell math. I had to stand there counting and still got it wrong for my first set of bench. Feelin good. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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09-19-21 03:09 PM - Post#913423
Well, I won't shame you no matter what. This forum IMHO is not like that. Ask for help and suggestions *how* if you need it, better so. But I actually think that you can make it happen- so don't let me down please! It's good that you stay accountable. Log also how you deal with the mental part. Stay aware. It can be tricky at times, we always think we need to do more and more but so many times 'more is less'. Good luck.
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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09-19-21 03:12 PM - Post#913424
I just can't find my groove. But I'm trying to find something that motivates me. I sign under with my blue blood.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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09-19-21 09:13 PM - Post#913439
Thanks for checking in pink.pixie! Ya I wouldn’t expect people here to shame me. But, similar to the alpo challenge, it’s motivating to not want to let people down. It’s a good tool to leverage when you really want to commit to something. I’m really trying to not end up on the one program a day program. Sunday Sept 19 Deadlift 190x5, 220x5, 250x5 Press 115x5, 130x5, 150x5 Kroc Rows 24kg x 10, 32kg x 23 each arm Week 3 is usually where it falls apart. But I started light enough that things are feeling really good. Mobility has been a big push these last few weeks. Doing lots of stretches to unlock my really tight hamstrings. I’m amazed what’s all happening. My back isn’t sore in the mornings anymore, even my knees are starting to feel better. The main stretch for the hammies has been a simple forward bend for time. Tilt the pelvis to load up the hamstrings and protect the back, straighten the knees then just lean over, embrace the pain and hang out for a few minutes. I typically go up to 3 minutes at least twice a day. Deadlifts were a new experience today. Things just felt, right. I should note the last, oh 3-4 years or so, I’ve had intermittent back pain. Occasionally pretty debilitating where it affects my ability to function normally. Not often. More often it’s just a tightness that appears every morning getting out of bed. An hour later it’s worked out. Since attacking the hamstrings this way it’s almost entirely disappeared. Now I just need to find a similar magic exercise for my traps/shoulder blades area. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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09-21-21 10:33 AM - Post#913474
Tuesday Sept 21 Might do a workout today yet, might not. We'll see. Just here to log how tired and sore I am. Definitely not used to the barbell. Getting up in the mornings has been harder and my mobility work went from making good progress in my mobility to a hard stop. At this point mobility work has become active recovery from weights as everything tightens up. Maybe my starting weights are too high. They're more than doable and not a high level RPE. I dunno. I find myself wondering why I made this challenge for 3 months when I was enjoying bodyweight centered exercise so much and feeling good. The barbell fog has crept in for sure, I forgot how much I have grown to dislike it in recent years. But a challenge is a challenge. I'll push through this week, take my deload week, and re-evaluate starting weights. Maybe drop them down a bit to ease off on things. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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09-21-21 12:49 PM - Post#913484
It worked so well, you stopped doing it! This little hobby of ours gives lots of lessons along the way, and it sounds like you're getting a couple from this particular challenge, and learning from experience is (almost) never a bad thing. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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09-21-21 01:29 PM - Post#913485
Isn’t that how it goes? Suddenly I feel good, now that I feel good I should go back and do X thing that didn’t make me feel so good. We’ll see, I might bail on this. I’m at the point now with work and family that exercise needs to add, not subtract from, quality of life. There’s too many other important things, but I keep wanting to live in the past. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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09-21-21 03:34 PM - Post#913489
Mobility has been a big push these last few weeks. Doing lots of stretches to unlock my really tight hamstrings. I’m amazed what’s all happening. My back isn’t sore in the mornings anymore, even my knees are starting to feel better. I'd imagine it will really help you. Diablo started yoga and he begins to see improvements. There are older threads from times when Laree brought up the subject of prehab. She was usually before her time with information.
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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 10-08-21 02:30 PM - Post#913839
Derksen! Report back to base. AWOL.Trenches are awaiting you.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-25-21 01:49 PM - Post#914199
Ha ha, thanks for checking in pink.pixie. Well to update, Jordan D and I both have bailed on the 3 month 531 challenge. It's been a very stressful time for me, so I just can't handle the barbell fatigue right now. I have however been following the swingtober challenge and it's working very well. I've followed for all of October so far. I missed 3 days early on and was consistent until last week. I got brutally sick last week, along with my wife and kid, and we all just stewed at home for an entire week. I missed 4 days last week from that. I have made the switch the 24kg kettlebell now, most of October I was swinging 16kg. Some days I add some bodyweight work, some days it's just swings. I'm enjoying this so much I'm going to keep it going. Starting this week I figured it's time to start recording in my log proper. Will update again later today once I get my workout in. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-25-21 05:46 PM - Post#914204
Monday Oct 25 Swings: 5x10 @ 52kg One Arm Press: 1x15 @ 16kg Pullup: 2x5 Prying Goblet Squat: 3x5 @ 24kg Did this all jumbled and super setted together. |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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10-26-21 09:20 AM - Post#914219
Whoa! If I tried to do swings with a 52k, I'd launch myself into the stratosphere! Glad you're logging again, Jordan. I always learn from the stuff you share here and on DJ's forum.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-26-21 06:35 PM - Post#914233
Ha ha WHOOPS! Supposed to be 24kg. Must have been thinking 53 pounds and wrote kilograms… and somehow wrote 52 instead of 53… I was sick for a week. Still not right in the head. And thanks! I really appreciate the comment. It’s always good to hear when people can draw something out of what I post. There’s so much experience on this forum I’m just so happy I can learn from you all. Today was a lighter day. I have learnt how much power and technical practice you can get out of going lighter than your ego can handle. Tuesday October 26 Swings: 2x25 @ 16kg One Arm Press: 15, 10 @ 16kg Pullups: 2x5 One Kettlebell Front Squat: 10 L, 10 R @ 24kg This has been slowly morphing into a kettlebell easy strength. I like the one arm stuff, it keeps the load on the body down and works each side nicely. I may work in shrimp squats here and there. This year I really want to focus training on exercises that will benefit me on the ice for hockey. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-28-21 08:47 AM - Post#914264
Wednesday October 27 Swings: 2x25 @ 24kg Just swings today. Still fighting off that cold, this one is really lingering. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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10-29-21 09:37 AM - Post#914295
Thursday October 28 Swings: 5x10 @ 24kg One Arm Press: 1x25 @ 16kg Pull-ups: 1x10 Skater Squats: 3x5 Farmer Walk: 45s with 2x24kg Skater squats were a fun change. Squats will be a rotating bag of exercises to keep things interesting. For the majority of the time since picking up hockey in my mid 20's I've done the classic back and front squats. I mistakenly thought it was all I needed to have a strong lower body. All it really did was make my legs tired and immobile. This year I want to keep the bilateral stuff light with basic goblets and kettlebell front squats. I want to challenge my legs unilaterally with strength/stability exercises like skater squats, skater lunges, cossack squats, and split squats. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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10-29-21 10:37 AM - Post#914297
Good work in here, Jordan. Skater squats are a good move, and for my money are the best bodyweight leg exercise that's not a sprint. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-01-21 09:04 AM - Post#914376
Ya I would agree Brian. I can do pistols and can load up split squats fine, but skater squats challenge hip and ankle stability in a unique way. It's a struggle to complete 5 clean reps in a row. Friday October 29 Swings: 5x10 @ 24kg Saturday October 30 1 hour of ice hockey I spent saturday and part of sunday tiling my bathroom. About halfway done so there is a lot more work to do. Tiling is hard work so workouts will be a little less consistent this week as I work to wrap up that project. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-09-21 09:03 AM - Post#914605
Took a full week off. Finished tiling my bathroom over the week/weekend. All in all I spent about 24 hours putting up tile. No hockey last weekend. Picking up where I left off in a sense and starting up with a kettlebell easy strength. The kettlebell swing experiment last month was a real eye opener for how I can never stop improving form in any lifts. So a big goal with kettlebell easy strength is to improve form and lock things down. I thought about picking up the barbell again, but I'm really working on posture and mobility gains, so I don't want anything to work against me on that. This is going to be really simple. Monday November 9 Kettlebell Swing: 10, 20, 20 @ 24kg One Arm Press: 3x3 @ 24kg Pull-ups: 3x3 unweighted Goblet Squat: 3x5 @ 24kg Kept things easy after the week off. I would love to rebuild my press and concentrate on locking down that lat and not compensating with traps. Same thing with pullups, initiate with locking the scaps down and pinching the shoulder blades together at the top. I'm working a lot on opening up my chest and T-spine, so I picked movements to encourage posture, not make it worse. I've been on a regular regimen of YTWL's, 30s hold for each pose a few times a day. Good things are happening. Squat movement will be regularly rotated to challenge the legs in different ways and keep things fresh. The mainstays for the next month at least are swings, pullups, and presses. The goal is to do a full 40 days but spread out longer than 8 weeks. This will likely be 3-4x a week frequency, especially with the birth of my daughter coming up in December. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-23-21 12:50 PM - Post#914839
Just checking in. I have not worked out since the 9th. Yup. It's bad. Tiling and grouting the bathroom basically put me in the grave. Maybe a whole month of swings caught up with me as well. My wife is a few weeks away from giving birth to our second (yay!) and I have been on house duties for months already. Her pregnancy is not good, she has been off work for most of it. But it's almost over. At this point, I'm just trying to hang on until the baby is born, then it'll be a few weeks recovery. Maybe I will start working out again in January. Still playing hockey. That 1 hour a week is about all I got right now for sport/fitness. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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11-24-21 08:44 PM - Post#914878
I dug deep for this one. After my post yesterday I figured... what the hey. I recall a really fun little DMPM style program I did back in summer. Easy, simple, under 15 mins. I'm sold. Wednesday November 24 Warmup: 1 minute bear crawl Workout: 3 rounds through the circuit: 30 on/30 off Pushups: 15, 15, 15 Pullups: 10, 9, 8 Goblet Squats: 15, 13, 15 @ 24kg Plank: 30s, 30s Cooldown: Farmer Walk 1 minute @ 2x24kg Bar Hang 1 minute Couch Stretch 1 minute each side Yup. I did it. Hopefully I can keep this going for the next bit. I enjoy these short under 15 min workouts. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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11-25-21 03:25 PM - Post#914890
Nice little wo! Super! Just to keep your spirits up. Stay present. I am sending all my love to all of you to get nicely through the birth. January sounds fine. Take care.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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12-05-21 08:47 PM - Post#915181
My wife and I welcomed our daughter into the world yesterday. She’s healthy and perfectly precious. I’m in love. We named her Georgia Lynn Derksen. I’m very tired and recovering from being an emotional wreck for a day. Her birth went much better than my sons did, so I’m not a complete disaster. I have two weeks off of work now to help around the house while my wife recovers from her c-section. Who knows if I’ll get any training in. I’m not too concerned about it. All I want to do is hold my daughter. The kettlebells can wait. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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12-05-21 09:56 PM - Post#915184
Woohoo -- congrats, man. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-24-22 10:23 AM - Post#916343
Over the past 7 weeks I've taken stock of where things are at right now, where I want to go, and the absolute minimum required to get there. I've lost 20 pounds in the last 2 years. I feel weak. Where I'm at: Weak and slow. Summarized as "I've lost my armor". Armor as defined by Dan John: the protective strength buffer and hypertrophic toughness. Where I want to go: I want my "armor" back. Minimalist Path: Marty Gallaghers One Day a Week Program I've tried a few barbell programs over the last 2 years and it has often led to burnout. Maybe it can be chalked up to too much intensity too soon. Even easier strength works well, but the frequency is too high. 531 also works well, but the AMRAP sets don't provide enough control to allow a long slow ramp back into lifting. One thing in all my 15 years of lifting I have never tried is a laid out periodized plan. So I set some goals, laid out the 12 weeks and here we go. The plan is one workout on sunday, or a two day split on saturday/sunday. This is true weekend warrior which is also something I've never done. I will use the core 4: bench, squat, deadlift and press. Rows and pullups will be sprinkled in between sets. I picked reasonable goals and starting weights are low. The weekdays will be basic cardio goals, going for walks or spend 10-20 minutes on the airdyne. I got started on Saturday and ran into a surprise. Saturday, January 22/22 Back Squat: 135x6 Bench: 135x8 Called it there. I wanted to do all 4 lifts but I didn't even hit my week 1 numbers on squat or bench. My legs cramped up on the 135 set for back squat. Week 1 goal was 155x8. So I called it there. I can't even believe how much strength I've lost. This is eye opening. It's now Monday and my legs are quite sore. Deadlift and press will get finished this evening or possibly tomorrow. So instead of redoing the whole 12 week plan I will just be adding in a 2 week intro to get me to the starting weights. So to lay it out clearly. The plan is: One day a week on the weekend: Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Press up to single top set as per planned 12 week cycle. 1-2 backoff sets at 85% can be used if feeling super awesome. Can be split into 2 day squat/bench and deadlift/press if time is a factor. A few days during the week: Walk, airdyne, jog on treadmill, whatever is motivating that day. Basic low intensity cardio. Do some very low intensity movements like DMPM and mobility work. Hopefully after 12 weeks I've built up some strength reserve again and improved baseline cardio. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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01-24-22 01:01 PM - Post#916345
I feel you on losing strength! I also know you have a lot going on. So we just do what we can, when we can, where we are. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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01-24-22 08:28 PM - Post#916358
Thanks Brian! Today went much better. Monday January 24/22 Deadlift: 215x6 Press: 115x8 Pullups: 3x5 Managed to hit my week 1 weights today. It was just squats that was a gong show. My legs are SO sore. More than they have been in a long time. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-07-22 03:19 PM - Post#916926
Here we go, 2 weeks later. Monday February 7/22 Back Squat: 155x8 Bench: 155x8 Deadlift: 215x6 Press: 115x8 Barbell Row: 115x8 Despite being two weeks things went ok. Legs aren’t totally fried from the squats. Got this all done in about 45 mins. I’ve decided to erase all history in my brain of what I used to be able to do in each lift. Going forward each week will be judged by the last, and each cycle by the last. Not by last year, or 5 years ago. It’s too defeating. Everything from here on out is progress. My body really has forgotten, so I will too. I’m happy with today. I’ll shoot to have the next one actually one week later, not two. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-08-22 02:57 PM - Post#916973
Tuesday February 8/22 Airdyne: 20 mins 6.24 miles, 166 avg watts, 251 calories I want to do at least 2 airdyne sessions per week at 20 mins each. I recall reading recently that cardio should be done between 60-86% of max heart rate. Using a finger to check pulse (no monitor) I semi frequently checked. It's surprising how fast heart rate shoots up there. At a reasonable but not difficult pace my HR was in the 140's steadily. At 34 my max is 186 bpm. 85% is 158 and 60% is 112. I used to just go as hard as I could, always pushing further and further to get as many calories as possible. No wonder I would always crash and burn adding in some cardio. Need to get a HR monitor, that would help a lot. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-11-22 07:07 PM - Post#917052
Friday February 11/22 Airdyne 20 mins 6.22 miles, 162 avg watts, 246 cals MAF heart rate is 140. Tried to keep it below but as close as possible to that. Checked HR every few mins with finger. I need a HR monitor. I love this kind of cardio. It lifts the mood and feels good. I feel better once I’m done than before I started. |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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02-13-22 08:37 AM - Post#917074
Good to see you getting it done in spite of all you've got on your plate. How are Georgia and momma doin'?
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-13-22 10:19 PM - Post#917099
Hey thanks for checking in! Yes I feel like I’ve really got something going here. This feels really sustainable for me. The easy cardio using my maffetone HR is super helpful. Keeps me from getting too wild with it. And the lifting workout isn’t much, but it’s enough to be enough, not too much not too little. They’re doing better, but still some rough patches. Naps during the day are still a work in progress, but thankfully the nights are much better. She usually gets up once maybe twice for a feed so that has been great. She definitely cries more than my son did, but it’s still not enough that it would be considered colic. My wife is recovering and slowly getting back to her old self. The physical pain is almost gone so that has been really good. We picked up a used (barely) treadmill and she’s doing daily walks on there. That’s helped her a ton. It’s a long road back after so long of being sedentary but she’s motivated. Got at it again today. No hockey this week. Sunday February 13/2022 Back Squat: 165x8 Bench: 165x8 Deadlift: 225x6 Press: 120x8 Row: 125x8 |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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02-14-22 09:19 AM - Post#917110
Glad things are moving forward, Jordan. Wishing you and your beautiful family the very best.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-16-22 08:19 PM - Post#917203
Thanks a lot! Got on the airdyne today. I really like this maffetone cardio. I finish and I feel, well… happy is the best way to describe it. I think I went over my MAF heart rate today though. I need a real HR monitor to keep me in check. Went 5 mins longer today. As my cardio gets better it’s gonna be easier and easier to go ‘too hard’. Wednesday February 16/22 Airdyne 25 mins 7.66 miles, 158 avg watts, 299 calories |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-23-22 06:51 PM - Post#917404
Saturday February 19/22 Ice Hockey for 1 hour. Started building a new bathroom vanity and it got all consuming so no workouts for a few days. I ended up working on my knees quite a bit and my right knee is very fired up and achy right now. Wednesday February 23/22 No back squats today cause of the knee. Never had knee pain before. Hopefully in a few days it’ll loosen up. Bench Press: 165x8 Deadlift: 235x6 Press: 125x8 Barbell Row: 135x8 Pullups: 2x5 |
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Diablo Legal Alien Posts 7355
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02-23-22 09:14 PM - Post#917408
That's a pretty sweet whole body sesh!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-25-22 08:37 PM - Post#917469
Thanks! It’s about as basic as it gets. Eventually I may have to break it into 2 workouts with an A and a B, but for now the weights are light enough I can get it all done and actually feel pretty good after. Friday February 25/22 Airdyne 20 mins 161 avg Watts, 245 cals, 6.24 miles Yeesh its like my cardio is getting worse. Heart rate monitor is coming next Tuesday. So that’ll be really nice. My results may drastically change because I’ll actually be following my MAF heart rate at that point. I’m still just checking in every 2 mins or so with a finger on the pulse. Thursday, the next day after my weights workout, my knee was magically healed. Maybe it was the deadlifts. In any case, now squats will be behind a week but I’m glad I didn’t push it. Better to heal up than make things worse by pushing through. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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02-28-22 07:33 PM - Post#917534
Saturday Feb 26/22 Right shoulder was really hurting. It was hard to lift it. It felt like it used to feel back when I benched regularly. Knee first, now shoulder. Gah. Ice hockey for 1 hour. Monday Feb 28/22 5 rounds: 15 kettlebell swings, 24kg 10 push-ups 5 goblet squats, 24kg 5 pull-ups Pivoting to a DMPM for a while. Knee and shoulder are feeling a bit better, but this is the main reason I left the barbell behind. I was tired of getting these little injuries. I haven’t had any with body weight and kettlebell work. In fact things just feel better all around. Not sure where this is gonna go for now, I’ll just rock the DMPM circuit style and keep doing my airdyne work. I’m excited to get my HR monitor soon, and I plan to use HR to manage my circuits and cardio work. So the goal will be DMPM at least twice a week, maybe 3x, and the airdyne cardio another 2x a week. That should fix things up and give a good cardio base. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-01-22 07:53 PM - Post#917556
Got the heart rate monitor today! Polar H10 here we go. Finally I can get some feedback and know how ‘hard’ to go without the guess work. Tuesday March 1/22 Airdyne 20 mins 175 avg watts, 263 cals, 6.40 miles. Heart rate max was 144 briefly, I stayed in the 137-141 zone for 15 mins, the first 5 was the climb upwards. Maybe it was from the HR monitor that I could push my limit better or I got a big jump in cardio today. I went quite a bit harder than previous weeks with, what felt like, less perceived effort. I breathed through my nose the whole time. Afterwards the recovery was instant. I got off the airdyne and felt great. The monitor definitely makes this more fun. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-03-22 11:42 PM - Post#917621
Thursday March 3/22 5 rounds: 15 kettlebell swings, 24kg 5 Ring Dips with turnout 5 Double Kettlebell Front Squats, 2x24kg 10 Ring Rows feet elevated Took me about 40 minutes start to finish. I used my HR monitor and wow does heart rate spike easily. This is my first time seeing this kind of data in a workout. I’m amazed how variable heart rate is. I tried to keep it in that maffetone range, so there was a lot of recovery time between exercises. The max my heart rate got to was 150, but I mostly kept it around 120-140. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-04-22 11:38 PM - Post#917662
Friday March 4/22 Airdyne 20 mins 179 avg watts, 267 calories, 6.44 miles Was able to go a little harder this time. My true MAF HR is 145 so now that I’ve got a couple weeks of cardio under my belt I figured I would let it climb up above 140 but I still kept it under 145. I breathed through my nose the whole time and didn’t feel like I had overdone it. 2 DMPM and 2 airdyne workouts in this week. That’s a good week. The ideal one really. Now I just need to sustain it and not change anything. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-08-22 08:39 AM - Post#917730
Saturday March 5/22 Hockey for 1 hour. Wore my HR monitor. HR average: 134 bpm, Max: 168 bpm. 885 cals burned. I was surprised my max HR wasn't higher considering the intensity. Recovery was really good between shifts. HR would drop to approx 110 between shifts within a minute. Monday March 7/2022 5 rounds: 15 kettlebell swings, 24kg 5 ring pushups 5 single arm kettlebell rack squats, 32kg 5 pullups Farmers walk 40 yards, 2x24kg |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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03-08-22 08:47 AM - Post#917732
Nice circuit, Jordan. Are you timing your rest periods?
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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03-09-22 06:17 PM - Post#917796
Hey thanks! It’s just the simple DMPM with a few variations. Definitely not my brain child. I’m not timing rest periods. I am using my HR monitor to keep track of recovery though, I try to keep it below 145 so when it gets there I rest until I drop to 120ish. I woke up sick today unfortunately. Got the aches real bad. Took the day off work. I wonder if I overdid it last week with training. At this point it’s recovery mode, maybe I’ll get another circuit in Friday. |
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pink.pixie watch your step and wear the shoe if it fits.... Posts 5576
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 03-23-22 06:36 PM - Post#918267
What happened in March?
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-25-22 09:14 AM - Post#919176
What happened in March? Well I got sick for a week and that knocked me back a bit. Then home reno's dialed up and I haven't exercised since. Made a post on the main forum about the knee and ankle issues I was having. Decided not doing anything was silly. A forum member reached out privately and suggested a program called simplefit. I really like the look of it. Instead of jumping into a program for now I'm going to try to GTG some body weight exercises throughout my day just to move and experience that full range of motion. Some days I'll do more, some less, but the hope is to do it everyday at least a bit. Hopefully with the added movement some mobility work will find it's way in there too. A few days of squats and basic stretching and my knee and ankle feel loads better already. No ankle issues now, and my knee is only tight at end range in full flexion. Sunday April 24 10 Squats 7 Pushups 4 Pullups Completed 5 rounds throughout the day. |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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04-25-22 03:11 PM - Post#919182
Good to see you're feeling better, Jordan.
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-26-22 11:59 PM - Post#919205
Monday April 25 10 squats 7 push-ups 4 pull-ups 5 rounds Tuesday April 26 10 squats 7 push-ups 4 pull-ups 5 rounds and feelin good. 100 yard farmers walk with 2x24kg kettlebells thrown in for good measure. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-28-22 08:58 AM - Post#919230
Hey thanks Al! Wednesday April 27 10 Squats 7 Pushups 7 Inverted Rows 5 Rounds Switched up to rows today. I'll be occasionally rotating movements or adding in little extras to keep things fresh and keep imbalances away. But this log is about to get real dull cause I basically just plan to do the same workout everyday. I keep planning to have a good day and up the rounds but it's only day 4 of this and my body is still getting used to it. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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04-28-22 11:10 PM - Post#919239
Thursday April 28 10 Squats 7 Pushups 7 Inverted Rows 5 Rounds The rows feelin really good. In a lot of ways I feel like they balance things out a lot more than pull-ups do. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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04-29-22 09:27 AM - Post#919246
Thursday April 28 10 Squats 7 Pushups 7 Inverted Rows 5 Rounds The rows feelin really good. In a lot of ways I feel like they balance things out a lot more than pull-ups do. Agreed on rows. I feel (just my own issue) that I *should* do pullups, but I often think rows are/would be just as good or better. |
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AAnnunz Uncle Al Posts 24932
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04-29-22 01:13 PM - Post#919253
Thursday April 28 10 Squats 7 Pushups 7 Inverted Rows 5 Rounds The rows feelin really good. In a lot of ways I feel like they balance things out a lot more than pull-ups do. Agreed on rows. I feel (just my own issue) that I *should* do pullups, but I often think rows are/would be just as good or better. Since inverted rows are the perfect antagonist to pushups, I'll put you in for a special Papal dispensation for the pullups. Just this once though!
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-01-22 08:45 AM - Post#919281
Ha ha. Ya rows hit the whole back with none of the anterior shoulder involvement. Too many pull-ups and my shoulders want to dump forward. Friday April 29 10 squats 7 push-ups 7 inverted rows 5 rounds Saturday April 30 10 squats 7 push-ups 4 pull-ups 5 rounds Felt really good on Saturday. Recovery caught up and this is getting really easy. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-02-22 10:58 PM - Post#919307
Sunday rest day Monday May 2 10 squats 7 push-ups 4 pull-ups 5 rounds |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-04-22 09:12 AM - Post#919329
Tuesday May 3 10 squats 7 pushups 7 inverted rows 5 rounds |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-04-22 11:56 PM - Post#919344
Wednesday May 4 10 Kettlebell Swings, 16kg 7 Inverted Rows 4 Ring Dips 5 rounds Changed things up a bit today with KB swings and dips. Nice to have some alternatives to keep things fresh. I was swinging my wife’s 16kg bell. That’s how scared of weights I am. Things are going extremely well. Energy levels are high. Recovery is good. Sleep is as good as it can be with a baby. No soreness. I want to keep this up and not make any major changes. This feels infinitely sustainable. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-07-22 11:34 PM - Post#919384
Thursday May 5 10 Squats 7 push-ups 3 rounds Cut all the branches off a really tall pine tree in the back. Used a long extension ladder and built myself a tree fort so I could get higher. It was a tall tree and it’s time had come. Dragged them all to my back lane. It was a backwards walking drag. Pile a stack, grab the bottom branch and drag it all. That was my rows. Friday May 6 Took a rest day. Hurting everywhere from Thursday. Saturday May 7 Did a lot of yard cleanup. Cut down the pine tree and cut it all up so it can dry out for firewood. Lots of loaded carries. Loaded carries might be the most useful exercise in the gym. Still got my work in today though. Only managed cause it’s easy. 10 squats 7 push-ups 4 pull-ups 5 rounds Something is going on with the push-ups and pull-ups lately. Especially today. It must be the daily practice along with switching between rows and pull-ups. My back is really engaging during the exercise though. Especially being able to pull my shoulder blades back and down. They aren’t getting overpowered now. It feels really good. The movements are really solid with good control. I’m loving this daily practice thing. I missed Friday but for the most part no matter how tired I am I can still get this in. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-10-22 11:14 PM - Post#919437
2 weeks in now. Gonna bump things up the tiniest smidge. And add 5 rep sets of KB swings. Monday May 9 Squats 12 reps Push-ups 8 reps Pullups 5 reps KB Swings 5 reps, 24kg 5 rounds + Farmers walk finisher with 2x24’s. Just did 3 laps in the basement. Tuesday May 10 12 Squats 5 Ring Dips 8 Inverted Rows 5 KB Swings, 24kg 5 rounds +One KB rack walk 24kg. 2 laps around basement each side. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-13-22 10:29 AM - Post#919476
Wednesday May 11 12 Squats 8 Pushups 5 Pullups 5 KB Swings, 24kg 5 rounds Thursday May 12 Took a rest day. Got my wife doing this with me now. It's been really fun doing it together. Sometimes I won't have done any sets during the day at work and after I get home she'll suddenly stop what she's doing and do a round. That gets me motivated so I quickly do a round. Once you get started and have done a round or two it gets easier to finish before the day is over. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-16-22 09:17 AM - Post#919507
Friday May 13 12 Squats 8 Pushups 8 Rows 5 rounds Saturday May 14 12 Squats 8 Pushups 8 Rows 3 rounds Did quite a bit of work outside. Got a chance to weigh myself on Sunday for the first time in a long time. Came in at 180 on the nose. My buddy is an elite competitive power lifter so his scale is calibrated. Lighter than I've been in over a decade. Not sure how I feel about that. The original goal was to drop down to 190 from 205. 180 though... It's tempting to haul the weights out and try to gain back some but I know how that's gonna go. Not well. On my way up in my early 20's I was very lean on my way past this weight. Things are a bit different around the middle on the way down. |
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BrianBinVA Carpal tunnel from posting! Posts 5140
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05-16-22 10:44 AM - Post#919510
Sadly, most things are different when we aren't in our early 20s anymore! Just keep doing what you can, when you can, where you are, with what you have. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-17-22 02:11 PM - Post#919534
Ya I never imagined things would feel so different already in my mid 30’s. But it is what it is and I’m just tryin to do what I can. Monday May 16 15 Squats 10 Push-ups 5 Pull-ups 5 rounds Dumped the KB swings. Don’t want to make too many changes at once when this is actually working for me. Upped the reps this week. I’m now doing full rounds of the original crossfit workout ‘Cindy’. This’ll be where I’ll park for reps now and I’ll look at just adding rounds if I want to do more. But let’s be honest, that probably won’t happen. 75 squats, 50 push-ups, and 25 pull-ups is a good amount of work when done daily. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-19-22 12:53 PM - Post#919585
Tuesday May 17 15 Squats 10 Push-ups 5 Pull-ups 5 rounds Couldn't sleep for most of the night Tuesday night. Wednesday took a day off work and didn't do any exercises. Slept much better. Gonna really tone things down, this has suddenly snuck up on me. It's been a good run of this, but I want to transition to an easy strength run now. I'll round out the week with a bit more of this, but keep the sets low, maybe 2-3 at most just to move. Then next week will be easy strength. Planning on KB one arm presses, deadlifts, and pull-ups. But we'll see, I may do dips instead of KB presses, it's just been a while since I put something overhead. Then rotate swings and loaded carries to round it out. Planning to make this the easiest of easy strength runs. I want to fail by going too easy. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-24-22 11:20 PM - Post#919659
Alrighty, back at it. Had to dig myself out of that recovery hole but finally feeling pretty good again. Yesterday (Monday) I helped my in laws collect sand bags. They ranged from 50-70 pounds I would guess. We moved a couple hundred, tossing them into trucks and then back out again. There was a lot of flooding in the area a few weeks ago, so it was cleanup time. It was such a good workout. I figured why not just sell all my weights and I’ll take some sand bags home. Anyways, getting back at it now. Gonna keep the reps a bit lower and do some easy strength. I probably won’t go all 40 days and shoot for 20 then maybe change things up depending how it’s going. I think there could be something here. The higher rep body weight stuff did a lot for me and felt really good. Maybe do 2 or 3 week rotations of higher rep body weight work then easy strength? Could be something there. Tuesday May 24 Weighted Pullup: 2x5 + 20lb KB One Arm Press: 2x5, 24kg Goblet Squat: 2x5, 24kg One Leg DL: 2x5, 24kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-28-22 12:09 AM - Post#919705
Ok so not gonna do easy strength right now. DMPM it is. Not sure what I was thinking. I just burned out on body weight exercises, now is not the time to go for it. I’ll do this for a while, and make sure I cap my reps so I don’t go over the limits. Resist the urge to do more… Friday May 27 10 Swings 24kg 5 Goblet Squats 24kg 5 One Arm KB Presses 24kg 5 Inverted Row 3 rounds Suitcase Carry 100 yards each hand, 24kg Ya that feels good. 5 rounds is the cap so no more than 50 swings and 25 total reps of squat/push/pull. But 15 is also good. Loaded Carries will rotate through. |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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05-31-22 08:31 AM - Post#919735
Monday May 30 10 Swings 24kg 5 Goblet Squats 24kg 5 One Arm KB Presses 24kg 5 Inverted Row 4 rounds One Arm KB Rack Carry 100 yards each side, 24kg |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-01-22 09:48 PM - Post#919763
Wednesday June 1 10 Swings 24kg 5 One Arm Rack Squats 24kg 5 One Arm KB Presses 24kg 5 Inverted Row 5 rounds Bottoms Up KB Rack Carry 100 yards each side, 16kg PUPP 1 minute DMPM forever |
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Jordan Derksen At home here Posts 392
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06-04-22 11:58 PM - Post#919796
Saturday June 4 10 Swings 24kg 5 Goblet Squats 24kg 5 One Arm KB Presses 24kg 5 Inverted Row 4 rounds |
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