zen and the art of strength training

[kopp]

Wednesday June 19

Sled Drag 20 minutes x 160

Early morning on the outdoor turf.

Thursday June 20

Ruck: 50 pounds, 3.7 miles, 17:22 pace

Late afternoon, extremely hot (93 degrees) and humid.

Friday June 21

Sled Drag 1600m x 160

Early morning back and forth along the access road behind the gym. According to my phone, this was actually 1.14 miles.

Sunday June 23

Ruck: 40 pounds, 10 miles

The first 8 miles were at a 16:00 average pace. The 8th mile I ran out of water, which was a problem because it was extremely hot (90+) and the last section is mostly in the sun. I decided to slow way down, rest as needed, stop to pick some wild raspberries, and generally try to get through the end without a heat stroke. Unless there are some cooler days, I'm probably done with long rucks. I will do some shorter, heavier rucks, but the risk/reward of doing 2.5 hour + hikes in 90+ degree weather isn't worth it. I think I can still be prepared for the hiking trip without pushing the long hikes.

No headaches this week. I went to the doctor on Tuesday for a normal checkup and there didn't appear to be anything wrong. I'm getting an MRI on Friday just to make sure that there isn't something wrong with my head.

[kopp]

Tuesday June 25

Sled Push 10 x 40m x 180/205

First half of the workout pushed with 180, then added a 25 pound plate for the back half. The weight doesn't include the weight of the sled. Total time was just under 20 minutes.

Thursday June 27

Sled Push/Drag 10 x 40m x 225

This was on the indoor turf at the gym. Pushed the weight 20m one way, then used a harness to pull it the other direction. Total time was around 21 minutes.

Friday June 28

Ruck: 50 pounds, 3.8 miles

It was a really nice morning, in the high 60s, low 70s. Did this at an easy pace, between 17 and 17:30 per mile. Listed weight is the plates in the goruck pack, doesn't include 2L water.

Saturday June 29

Sled Drag 800m x 180

Early morning, calves were on fire. Could have done more but had limited workout window.

No headaches this week. I got an MRI on Friday, and should learn in the next few days if the headaches were cause for alarm. Assuming the MRI comes back normal, I should start reincorporating barbell lifts back into routine next week. One of the trainers at the gym said that he's trained a couple of people who got headaches doing the leg press, which is when my headaches showed up for the first time. I wonder if it is related; either way won't be doing leg presses any time soon. All in all I feel like I've made the best of the situation, and am confident I'll be in shape for the hiking trip in 2 weeks, which was the main thing I've been training toward.

[kopp]

Tuesday July 2

Sled Drag 1600m x 180 pounds

This took around 40 minutes and was one of my goals prior to the hiking trip.

Wednesday July 3

Ruck: 2.7 miles, 50 pounds
Barbell Row 3 x 8 x 175

Short morning ruck followed by rows. This was my first time touching a barbell in a few weeks. Felt good.

Friday July 5

Deadlift 5 x 1 x 365
5 rounds:
Sled Push 20m x 225
Sled Pull 20m x 225
Suitcase Carry 40m x 70

First time deadlifting in over a month, and this was mostly to feel out the movement. I felt pretty good, but decided not to push it. After the fifth round on the conditioning, my back/obliques were feeling a little off, so I decided to call it quits after 5 rounds rather than push it. I think it was due to the suitcase carries, which I've never done before.

Saturday July 6

Swim 30 minutes

I am considering adding swimming once a week as aerobic work, at least until the weather cools off enough to add long rucks back in. My shoulders were really sore today.

No headaches this week. I got the MRI results back and my head looks normal, so cleared to start lifting again. I am probably going to stay away from benching, which seems to be a headache trigger. But should squat/deadlift/row this week. I am hiking the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop in Colorado from July 18-20. Preparing for the trip has been the focus of the last few weeks/months. I'll train hard this week, take the first half of next week off, and then should be good to go. On home front - wife has been sick, kids have lice. Trying to manage the family while training and doing enough work not to get fired has been a challenge.

[kopp]

Monday July 8

Sled Push/Pull 10 x 40m x 225

Took 20 minutes. Pushed one way (20m), pulled the other way. The sled pulls were backwards. The listed weight doesn't include weight of the sled. My legs were jelly after this and I was pretty winded. The purpose here was to continue working on conditioning and local muscular endurance in my legs.

Tuesday July 9

Barbell Row 1 x 8 x 180

I had a very narrow window to workout before work, about 20 minutes. I only did one set because my lower back and hips felt terrible. This is the first time I've tweaked my lower back doing this exercise. I think it was the result of rushing the warmups, and generally being rushed and distracted. Fail of a workout.

Wednesday July 10

Sled Drag 1.15mi x 135 (35 minutes)

This included six sets up and down the slight hill along the access road behind the gym. The purpose of this workout was to work on leg endurance and conditioning, and to do something that didn't fatigue the lower back. One thing I've been worried about is that I haven't done any hills, and the hiking trip next week will feature 7000+ feet of elevation gain. I tried to address this by dragging a sled up a modest incline near the gym.

Friday July 12

Deadlift 20 x 1 x 315

Took around 16 minutes. All were double overhand. Would do a single, count to twenty, get set and go again. These all felt really good. I think the bar speed was pretty consistent, no grinders. I felt perfectly fine afterwards, and did 10-15 minutes of stretching and hip mobility work. I was pretty sore the next day though, especially in my upper back. The purpose of this workout was just to get in some quality reps. I didn't want to push it too hard since my low back was still feeling off, though it actually felt solid during the lift.

Saturday July 13

Swim:
6 x 25 yds (on the minute)
6 x 50 yds (every 90s)
6 x 25 yds (on the minute)
6 x 50 yds (every 90x)
6 x 25 yds (on the minute)

I'm not a great (or even good) swimmer, but I am enjoying this. My heart rate was pretty elevated, especially during the 50 yard swims.

This was my last week of training for the hiking trip next week. I feel pretty confident that fitness won't be the limiting factor.

[kopp]

From July 18-20 I hiked the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop near Aspen Colorado with three friends. In total it was around 27 miles and 7,800 feet of elevation, essentially all above 10,000 feet. This was the goal I had been working toward for the last few months. It was very challenging, but worth it. Amazing views, the wildflowers were in full bloom, and great camaraderie. Doing stuff like this is why I train. There are plenty of reviews of the trail elsewhere, but below are some notes on lessons learned for future reference.

Logistics

Altitude. Due to my plane being delayed, I didn't get to Denver until 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. We were at the summit of the first peak by around 11 a.m. The first day nearly killed me, and I'm lucky I didn't get altitude sickness. Above 11,000 feet, I would take five or six steps, and then have to rest. I was not getting enough oxygen, or passing carbon dioxide. My legs burned excessively, I couldn't catch my breath, and I was worried my heart was going to explode. The second and third days were much more manageable, even though the hikes were just as intense. The lesson here is to fly in two days early to give room for travel issues, and to spend at least one night at elevation before doing any intense hiking.

Sleep. For the same reason as above, I got no sleep the night before the hike. I arrived at my friends' house in Denver from the airport around 1:45 a.m., and by 2:45 we were in the car on the way to Aspen to catch a 7 a.m. shuttle to the trailhead. I got a little sleep on the plane and in the car... but not much. In the future I need to get out there early, maybe work remotely for a day, and make sure I get a decent night of sleep.

Food. I ate around 6000 calories total on the trail, which doesn't include breakfast in the car on Thursday or a big meal after getting off the trail on Saturday. If I do dehydrated meals again, I'm going to focus on ones that are dense, meaning they pack a lot of calories without having to eat a large volume of food. I didn't have much of an appetite, and it was a struggle to eat some of the meals. For example, Peak Refuel Breakfast Skillet was a large volume of food that I could barely put down, all for a little more than 500 calories. One of my friends had a bag of sunflower seeds that was like 3000 calories, that he was snacking on the whole time, and which seemed a lot easier to pack in calories. I'm also going to bring more energy gels (I had 2 from REI that were really good, can't remember brand), since they were easy to digest.

Hydration. I just stuck to water, but I think in the future I should bring electrolyte pouches. Again, a few of the guys were putting Liquid.IV in their water and it seemed to make a difference.

Training

In order from what I did well, to what I did poorly:

Sled Work. I credit the sled work 100% with how well I held up on the trail. When I was training for the marathon, I felt like the more I pushed a sled, the better I rucked, and I think it carried over a lot to hiking up and down mountains. Doing a backward sled pull feels very similar to the stress on the quads that comes from walking down a steep decline. Similarly, there were quite a few times on the hike that I felt like pushing or dragging a sled imposed similar demands to going up a hill, whether in the quads, hips, or calves. I also felt like pushing a sled in some ways mirrored the conditioning demands at the top of steep incline, where you walk for 30 seconds to a minute, and then rest to catch your breath, and repeat until you reach the top. In the future I could use the same benchmarks to gauge trail readiness.

Rucking. The rucking I did leading up to the hike was pretty ineffective. All my rucking was on flat paved ground. The trail however was mostly steep incline and decline. Furthermore, walking on rocky or uneven ground is a completely different experience. You have to place each foot, your stride is varied, you can't get into a rhythm, it is just generally way more taxing than walking on even ground. The rucking prepared me to have a pack on my back for a few hours (my shoulders and back felt good the whole trip), but otherwise wasn't very useful. In the future I should get at least 3-4 hikes in along the Appalachian trail near my parents house, especially focusing on some of the areas where there are really steep inclines. Spending an hour or two going up and down uneven, very steep terrain with 50+ pounds will be way more useful than rucking on flat pavement.

Lifting. I didn't really lift at all in the 6 weeks or so leading up to the trip as a result of severe headaches, so this one wasn't really my fault. In the lead up to the marathon in April I focused mostly on getting a strong back (deadlifts/rows), largely because the goruck pack places most of the weight on the shoulders. The hiking pack is pretty easy on the shoulders, the vast majority of the weight is on the hips. During the trip, my back felt totally fine, but my legs, and quads in particular, were extremely sore. In the future, I should prioritize squats in the months leading up to the hike, since leg, and particular quad strength, seemed to be my weak link.

[kopp]

Sunday July 21 - Wednesday July 24

Off. Took four days to recover from the hike. On Tuesday/Wednesday I felt a little sick, and completely exhausted. Interestingly, all three of the guys I went hiking with also felt mildly sick mid-week. I don't know if it was due to exhaustion, or coming back to germy kids, but sort of interesting.

Thursday July 25

Swim 30 minutes

Swam a length, rested 10-30 seconds, repeat. Pretty easy, just trying to ease back into moving my body.

Friday July 26

Deadlift 1 x 365, 5 x 1 x 325
Squat 2 x 5 x 135

Didn't feel great. The squats were basically a light warmup weight, but my groin and hamstrings felt tight and sore. This always happens when I first squat after a long break. At the bottom of the squat in particular I feel a deep stretch where my hamstring connects to my glutes, and which always leaves me sore the first few times I squat.

Saturday July 27

Swim 40 minutes

Same basic setup as Thursday

Sunday July 28

Squat 4 x 5 x 135
Lat pulldown 3 x 10 x 120
Stretching

Felt a little better than Friday. Groin is still bothering me.

[kopp]

Goal By End of Year

Main Goal: Squat 1 x 365 (35 pound improvement over November 2023)
Reach Goal: Squat 1 x 405 (75 pound improvement over November 2023)

Plan

2-3x a week: Squat 3 x 5; rotate: Deadlifts, RDLs, Sandbags, barbell rows, sled push/pull

Focus on getting my body used to squatting again, and practicing the movement. Going to do 3 x 5, two to three times a week. I will periodically start the workout by lifting up to a heavier single. Going to start light and add weight each time. My main issue is that I am not used to squatting, so I think I'd benefit the most from frequently practicing the movement. Afterwards I'll do some other barbell or sled/sandbag movement, but the focus is going to be on getting in lots of quality squat reps. By end of September I should be squatting around 3 x 5 x 280 (I was squatting 4 x 4 x 280 last November). I have just as much, if not more, muscle in my legs/hips/back now as I did last November, so it should just be a matter of getting used to the movement again to get back up to around 330+ for a single.

Once the 3 x 5 slows down, I'll start adding in a little variety. But will wait until that happens to decide how to switch things up. I have basically neglected squats the last 8 months, so going to remedy that by focusing on squat strength for the rest of the year.

[kopp]

Tuesday July 30

Squat 3 x 5 x 165
Deadlift 15 x 1 x 325

Deadlifts took just under 8 minutes. On Wednesday and Thursday we drove to my in-laws house in Massachusetts. On Wednesday we stopped in NYC and stayed at a hotel in Manhattan. Took the kids to the C. Park zoo. Then Thursday morning took them to the Plaza, since they've been into the Eloise books. I developed a nasty sore throat and generally felt exhausted. Tested negative for strep throat, and didn't have other symptoms. Felt off the entire vacation.

Friday August 2

Squat 3 x 5 x 185
Pullups BW x 8,5
Assisted Pullups

This was at the YMCA near my in-laws house. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get 8 solid deadhang pullups, given how little I've trained pullups the last few months.

Monday August 5

Squat 3 x 5 x 195
Lat Pulldowns / Cable Rows

Wednesday August 7

Squat 3 x 5 x 205
Assisted Pullups / Cable Rows

Thursday and Friday we drove home. Long days in the car, lots of crappy food and poor sleep. Body felt pretty crappy.

Saturday August 10

Squat 1 x 275, 3 x 5 x 215
Deadlift 15 x 1 x 335
Pushups / Assisted Pullups / Cable Rows

The 275 squat felt smooth, good depth, solid. The deadlifts took 7:45, all were double overhand.

The last few weeks I've been easing back into lifting, not pushing it. I think moving forward I should be in a position to start working a little harder.

[kopp]

Monday August 12

Squat 1 x 295; 3 x 5 x 225
Leg Extensions

I had less than 30 minutes to squeeze this workout in. After squats I wanted to do some assistance work that didn't further fatigue my back, which was still tight from Saturday deadlifts. Decided to do a set on the leg extensions. Did a set of 10, waited about 10 seconds, did 5, and then repeated a handful of times. This was my first time doing leg extensions since maybe high school. Not sure if it is related but I had considerable pain in my right groin/hip flexor area for the next few days.

Wednesday August 14

Deadlift 15 x 1 x 345
Assisted Pullups
Cable Rows

My hip flexor/groin issue prevented me from squatting, but deadlifts felt fine. The deadlifts took around 7:20, all were double overhand hook grip. This is a considerable improvement since last time at this weight in April.

Thursday August 15

Swim 30 minutes

This was before work. Tried to keep a 1:1 work to rest ratio.

Friday August 16

Squat 1 x 300; 3 x 5 x 230
BB Row 4 x 10 x 135
Leg Extensions

Everything felt good. Was in and out of the gym in less than 50 minutes.

Sunday August 18

Squat 1 x 305; 3 x 5 x 235
Sandbag-to-Chin: 20 x 150

Squats felt good. On the sandbags, I had initially intended to do sandbag to shoulder, but my biceps were killing me. I could lift it to my chin without any issue, though. The sandbags were basically a deficit sumo deadlift followed by a zercher squat. Took around 10:30 to do all twenty reps.

[kopp]

Tuesday August 20

Deadlift 5 x 1 x 355

This quickly turned into a light day. I had no pop, felt really tired. My hips and back felt tight and off. I'm not sure what the issue was, but it may have been that I've put in a few weeks of hard work and needed a light day. I may also have been battling a virus. My wife's throat has been sore and she's had a headache, so there's a chance I was fighting off the same thing and felt off on that basis.

Thursday August 22

Squat 1 x 285; 3 x 5 x 240
Barbell Row 4 x 10 x 145
Leg Extensions

Saturday August 24

Squat 1 x 310; 3 x 5 x 245
Deadlift 15 x 1 x 355

I smoked 310, and felt solid throughout the squats with the exception of my biceps, which felt pretty sore. The deadlifts took almost exactly 10 minutes. I probably could have gone faster, but decided to err on the side of getting in perfect reps. All in all a solid workout.

Good week overall, progressed on the squats. I've been getting a ton of sleep, not drinking very much, and I think my diet has been good. Have added in creatine as a supplement. My plan is to push hard the next three weeks, at which point I'll be taking a week to hike in Zion National Park in Utah. Once I get back I'll probably switch things up. But until then, I'm going to focus on progressing the squats.