To Infinity.... and Beyond!

I mean idk if you can blame the nanos if you wore them for an outdoor activity...

There have been quite a few different iterations with some better for different things than others, but I've hit countless PRs in my nanos. ;)
 
I mean idk if you can blame the nanos if you wore them for an outdoor activity...

There have been quite a few different iterations with some better for different things than others, but I've hit countless PRs in my nanos. ;)

I always liked my 7s for frontsquats. Just a taste of a heel, solid sturdy bottom.
 
I always liked my 7s for frontsquats. Just a taste of a heel, solid sturdy bottom.

Ya I loved heavy lifting in my 7s. Some of the more recent ones have been bulkier, the new 13s are pretty stable too.

I loved the 9s the most for all around stuff though.

edit: I think it was actually the 8s I was a fan of for heavy stuff, they were pretty similar to 7s though.
 
Squats
10 x bar
2 x 8 x 135
5 x 185, 235, 275
1 x 305 (easy)
8 x 225

Good mornings
3 x 8 x 135

Front squats
95lbs x 6,7,8,9,10,9,8,7,6,5
EMOTM style

Holy **** that blew up the quads


LISS
25min incline walk



Notes
Decided to go for it and see if movement would make things feel good, it did

Slowly widening squat stance. Feels awesome.
 
So you have talked a lot about cutting, what is your current diet set up now?
 
Last night I was able to hit the golf course on the way home to walk 9 holes as a little extra LISS and active recovery. I think I hobbled all the way to the tee box but finished a little sweaty and feeling much better in the legs...

Sounds like a great time!

In defense of the Nanos…they’re not made for anything beyond gym use. That was a bad move wearing them for outdoors! A trail shoe would have probably served you better.

I mean idk if you can blame the nanos if you wore them for an outdoor activity...

There have been quite a few different iterations with some better for different things than others, but I've hit countless PRs in my nanos. ;)

The best nanos I ever had were the nano sprints, but the Sauconys I think are better for actual running. Nanos were of course largely marketed to the xfit demographic and I think the last pair I bought new was nano 8s. I wouldn't even wear those for gym shoes. they're somehow flatter than my Reebok LTRs I use for deadlifts. I have cheapo boat shoes that have more padding so these nanos have lasted me forever cause I just never wear them but am always trying to figure out where they belong. they're more like a remove the shoelace and wear them around the gym as a slipper when you aren't lifting. I mean the xfit world is going to be a mix of jumping, lifting, running etc in a single WOD and that's a horrible shoe for that combo IMO...

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Sounds like you had a blast with the boy, those are the best times. Enjoying an activity with one of your kids is just awesome!

man... outdoor paintball in the woods is so much fun. I grew up playing "war" or "army" my entire childhood, we were always at the army surplus getting our "supplies", building forts.... paintball is like the extreme version of the games we played as a kid.

So you have talked a lot about cutting, what is your current diet set up now?

very very slow. Biggest difference between now and last month is:

  • slightly lower carbs
  • slightly increased protein
  • decreased alcohol intake (basically zero during the week)
  • added LISS
  • add squats back in, largely for fun but also to reinforce that I'm getting a well rounded training regiment in.
When I get back to 189ish I'll address the scenario and decide what's next!
 
Damn dude, be still my beating heart — some monster gains here over the last year, including 300 lbs bench, most excellent! You put on some weight and most be looking stout!!!

Keep up the great work my brother!
 
Damn dude, be still my beating heart — some monster gains here over the last year, including 300 lbs bench, most excellent! You put on some weight and most be looking stout!!!

Keep up the great work my brother!
thanks broski, I'm not hyde big but I knew the weight was going to the right places when I realized my wife was groping my chest as much as I'm groping hers 😅🤘

it was pretty much a straight 1 year cycle of strength and bulking (albeit controlled and slow) with the exception of 2 weeks of ADF in May when I finally tipped the scale at 200lbs (up from 183 starting point). Sitting at 193 now with a very controlled, slow cut that's mostly just intended to give me a sanity break and improve my conditioning. I have a massive appreciation now for the value of increased calories and really on point nutritional timing around big lifts. I was able to really start planning out my 5lb jumps on bench with a 2-4 day feed leading into each session. But my shirts stopped fitting and I found myself getting winded so easily, definitely craving some conditioning improvement.
 
thanks broski, I'm not hyde big but I knew the weight was going to the right places when I realized my wife was groping my chest as much as I'm groping hers

it was pretty much a straight 1 year cycle of strength and bulking (albeit controlled and slow) with the exception of 2 weeks of ADF in May when I finally tipped the scale at 200lbs (up from 183 starting point). Sitting at 193 now with a very controlled, slow cut that's mostly just intended to give me a sanity break and improve my conditioning. I have a massive appreciation now for the value of increased calories and really on point nutritional timing around big lifts. I was able to really start planning out my 5lb jumps on bench with a 2-4 day feed leading into each session. But my shirts stopped fitting and I found myself getting winded so easily, definitely craving some conditioning improvement.

Haha, that’s really awesome and invigorating, I’m sure.

While I miss being heavier and moving more weight, I feel a helluva lot better now that I’m lighter at 175 lbs (vs 188 lbs last year). (I’m walking/hiking 25 miles per week, which makes it easy for me to eat a good amount while maintaining.) That’s probably about equivalent of you at 185 lbs as I’m only 5’8”.

I’m sure you’ll get there in no time, though I’d recommend taking your time so you can keep ahold of those mad gainz! Whenever I cut aggressively, I lose massive strength. All seems to be going well at first, and then it catches me and I take a big dump — and it takes quite a while to rebuild it, for me at least. At any rate, you know what you’re doing!

Keep it up, my guy!
 
Damn dude, be still my beating heart — some monster gains here over the last year, including 300 lbs bench, most excellent! You put on some weight and most be looking stout!!!

Keep up the great work my brother!
@jinxie Dude, great to see you back around!

@Dustin07 So, not fasting or intermittent fasting on this cut, just lower calories a bit and adding in conditioning?
 
@Dustin07 So, not fasting or intermittent fasting on this cut, just lower calories a bit and adding in conditioning?

I am will be doing IF on non lifting days, this week for instance Friday will be an IF day and golf (although carting, not walking) so I won't eat until dinner that night with the wife!

I'm also still adding in some preWO carbs.... but not as much as I had been before
 
Great, this sounds like a solid plan, you should take some before and afters to show us what you accomplished.
 
OHP
10 x 95, 115, 135

Laterals
3 x 10 x 32.5s

Bench
10 x 135, 175
5 x 205, 235
3 x 10 x 185
15 x 155, 135

Tri rope pushdowns
4 x 15

Machine flies
4 x 10

LISS
25min incline

Notes
Since I started taking Triton and epichaos started getting runners highs mid workout. Today I dosed about 90 minutes prior and got the shakes during today's session.

I'm fed, carbed preWO, no other changes to my normal approach so all I can figure is those two products, at least combined, might not be a good fit for me.

Killed time on OHP and laterals waiting for a bench. Just an odd day, but I think I'll double preWO carbs next time just to be safe. Crazy winded on sets of 10 though.

Crazy pump today though. Forgot I also threw in some arginine this morning.
 
Epicatechin lowers my blood sugar faster in training.

That is sorta the sensation that was going through my head and a possibility but I'm shocked at how fast it would occur. I had carbed up about 10:30am and started lifting about 11:15am. I had the shakes on my set of 10 OHP right out of the gate and that's not heavy weight for me. I dosed the apex products around 9:30am
 
Epicatechin lowers my blood sugar faster in training.

which epicatechin products have you used? first few times I used it I thought i noticed better pumps but nothing negative, but since taking it with the triton prewo I noticed more of these symptoms so while I can't tell which one is doing it, I assumed it was the triton
 
which epicatechin products have you used? first few times I used it I thought i noticed better pumps but nothing negative, but since taking it with the triton prewo I noticed more of these symptoms so while I can't tell which one is doing it, I assumed it was the triton

Definitely not Triton - Triton literally gives cellular energy to have on tap, as if you had eaten more food. It raises endurance.

Epicatechin can help endurance, but the couple times I’ve used it orally over the years I definitely had to increase my intra carbs to feel decent on it. Which also helps contribute to its enhanced pumps.
 
Epicatechin can help endurance, but the couple times I’ve used it orally over the years I definitely had to increase my intra carbs to feel decent on it. Which also helps contribute to its enhanced pumps.
that makes sense to me, I had contemplated getting something from the vending machine intraworkout. I'm not used to feeling like a blood sugar crash sensation but that's likely how I would describe it
 
that makes sense to me, I had contemplated getting something from the vending machine intraworkout. I'm not used to feeling like a blood sugar crash sensation but that's likely how I would describe it
That is one of the worst sensations during a workout too. Part of why I love my intra drinks, plus they help me get my nutrition in easily while doing IF on training days.
 
I'm thinking like anything else, I'll study it, go light, and work my way into it like I did bench. My bench is a LOT wider than it was a year ago, but that's a year of me moving my width like a nails thickness out each session. a wide grip used to really irritate my shoulders, as did incline, but working at it at low weight and building up has eliminated all pain in those movements. Hopefully I do the same thing with squats.

BUT I've spent the last year studying deadlifts and bench. a wide stance on squats is a little perplexing in my head as I think about knee angles etc. so it will take some practice and probably watching a lot of other's doing it to really understand it.
Yeah definitely start light. Life sucks when you over cook your adductors!
 
If you are looking for minimal sole trail shoes, I highly rate these:

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Im told they take a little getting used to (for me everything took getting used to after broken leg) but everyone I know who run or hike in these love them.
 
If you are looking for minimal sole trail shoes, I highly rate these:

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Im told they take a little getting used to (for me everything took getting used to after broken leg) but everyone I know who run or hike in these love them.

Ironically my feet seemed healthiest when I was using vibrams a lot. I started out with about 100 yards at a time in terms of distance but eventually got to a full trail run distance of X miles. This was at least 10+ years ago, but as I recall it's not just the foot itself, but also the achilles and calf that has to learn/stretch around this shoe. it teaches you a lot about staying off your heels, that's for sure! I still have an old pair but never wear them anymore.
 
Bench
3 x 10 x 95
3 x 135, 185, 205
2 x 6 x 225
2 x 6 x 230
12 x 185

EZ bar curls
4 x 15

SS with tri push downs
4 x 15

DB laterals
12 x 25s, 30s, 35s
15 x 30s

CGBP
3 x 10 x 135

Cardio
15 min LISS
15 min HIIT
(1:1 sprints)





Notes
Last Thursday and Friday had all day work engagements. Went 20:4 IF Friday. Saturday sore throat, runny nose, beat to hell, so I did yard work and medicated with elderberry and bourbon. Sunday, felt great and had an early round of golf. Have a work thing today again at 10am so slamming out an a.m. session, well fed.

Weighing in at 196lbs this morning after a weekend of Mexican food with my wife so probably up a few lbs in water.

Awesome pump today though.

Only supps at the moment:

Alpha Gel
Lean Edge by SNS
CLA by redcon (finishing old bottle so I can toss it )
 
194lbs this morning.
Yesterdays work thing post gym was a tournament with 2 customers (golf). 6hrs in the absolutely torrential downpour of rain, which is good cause we've had a drought all summer. Feet are beat to hell lol. Been wearing my Sauconys much much more which i think is helping. Might stagger my plan this week and make today a hard back day to let my feet rest and come back to squats/pulls Thursday/Friday. working in the HIIT springs yesterday I think was quite effective, but it's effective cause it's hard on the body. something I've always known and it's why I've tried to make more use of LISS and fasting instead.
 
RDLs
10 x 135, 185, 225

Superset with
Bb curls
6 sets

BB rows
3 x 10

DB curls
3 sets
+ 1 dropset

Superset with
DB rows
3 x 12

Lat pull downs
3 x 12

Cardio
10 min LISS
10 min HIIT
(Short on time)
 
Be very careful when adding in sprints. Your feet ain't ready for all the new torque your legs can provide now. Break into them in the 80% intensity range or something. Last time I picked up sprinting again around the 3rd time I was out I messed something up in my foot that had me in a boot for 9 months. It definitely was not worth it so if your feet are already feeling beat up just remember they are far more out of shape than your legs and glutes powering them.

Secondly, like you said sprints take a lot out of you, and are really going to hit your recovery ability so if you are adding in volume via sprints you need to be cognoscente of that and remove some volume from your leg training if you want to keep making progress in both areas.
 
Be very careful when adding in sprints. Your feet ain't ready for all the new torque your legs can provide now. Break into them in the 80% intensity range or something. Last time I picked up sprinting again around the 3rd time I was out I messed something up in my foot that had me in a boot for 9 months. It definitely was not worth it so if your feet are already feeling beat up just remember they are far more out of shape than your legs and glutes powering them.

Secondly, like you said sprints take a lot out of you, and are really going to hit your recovery ability so if you are adding in volume via sprints you need to be cognoscente of that and remove some volume from your leg training if you want to keep making progress in both areas.

Kinda funny you say that. My wife and I were talking about cardio and she's like, why not throw in sprints? I said because that's going to open me up to a whole slew of potential injuries. She didn't agree with me, but she's tiny and built like a little runner sorta lol.

Since yesterday was my first effort throwing HIIT back in I did the long warm up on an incline then i think it ended up being 6-8 sprints over 15 minutes. 30-60 seconds on, 45-60 seconds off. I ran at speeds of like 6mph, 6, 6.5, 7, 7, 7.5, 8. Pretty sure I only hit 8 on the last lap.

10mph on a treadmill is a reasonable sprint for me but I have to be at a minimum of 6 to be able to open my gait at all. Today obviously was only like 5 interevals of 1:1 (min on, min off) and it was I think 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 7.5)

In addition to watching how my feet, calves, achilles, hamstring, and psoas responds (LOL) I was also watching my heart rate to see how high it got on high efforts and how fast it came down. The theory of course being that my max would be around 180bpm (220 - 40). whether anyone takes it serious or not it gives me a measurable baseline to work with.

I usually hit about 170 on the max effort sprints and would try to relax enough to get down to 120s before picking it up again. I want to watch that and see how fast I can recovery, and how my max speed / bpm ratio change with each other over time.

I also want to get my resting heart rate down. last time I checked was june around 60bpm I think (?) but that's much higher than when I was an xfit competitor. lowest I remember seeing was like 47bpm in the ER haha
 
Yeah especially when you have been primarily strength training, returning to dynamic movement presents a terrific opportunity to injure yourself. Between performing in planes of movement you haven’t been utilizing, lack of specific skill in the motor patterns you’re now taking up, and generally lacking stabilizers that haven’t been relevant…not to mention, the increased risk that would be present just from having increased strength alone vs previously. Then there can be increased bodyweight causing higher impact to joints as well.

Torn hammy, torn foot, sprained ankle, injured knees…that’s just moving fast. When you add in combat sports like boxing & bjj, it gets even more ridiculous. Or strongman moving/carry events.

You just have to start light/easy intensities and work technique. As sessions progress, ramp up the throttle thoughtfully so you have time to accommodate soft tissues over some weeks.
 
Between performing in planes of movement you haven’t been utilizing, lack of specific skill in the motor patterns you’re now taking up, and generally lacking stabilizers that haven’t been relevant

it's also not nearly as useful in real life to simply be able to run away 😅
But I have to admit when coming back to some semi-intense cardio after a long break it feels very good on the system. Feels like the lungs and heart and everything are being "cleansed". sorta hard to explain but it feels very healthy even though I honestly do not like running much. (this from a guy who ran many many 5ks, but I think mostly just to compete more than because I wanted to run. I realized later that if that 66 yr old guy was going to beat me by 2 minutes this wasn't my sport lol)

I did love racing BMX though, and that essentially is a sprint sport. That, wrestling, football, baseball. I do miss the athleticism of quick movements I guess, just hate long distance running.
 
I also did not realize you were doing this on the treadmill. Far less forces at work here. The treadmill does the bulk of the work for you, you just have to keep up with the belt. The forces created from propelling yourself across the ground are much higher than just keeping up with a belt. So you are probably a bit safer than I was originally thinking. By the way not saying these are not challenging, just that I think the risk of tearing or spraining something goes down so long as you don't get to failure during the sprint and the belt takes you for a ride or sprains your ankle from a misstep.
 
By the way not saying these are not challenging, just that I think the risk of tearing or spraining something goes down so long as you don't get to failure during the sprint and the belt takes you for a ride or sprains your ankle from a misstep.

almost exactly why I prefer running on a treadmill. Ironically, I do believe it's like the smith machine of the cardio. It does limit your gait vs being able to have full rom outdoors, but it also eliminates uneven surfaces, is slightly softer on the feet, and keeps me out of the rain and traffic since we are now in the "9 months of rain" season here in the PNW lol
 
Ugh... 9 months rainy season... No wonder you get hit so hard when the daylight fades. You are already getting minimal exposure to the sun with the rainy season then add in shorter daylight hours. YUCK!!!! At least you have great fresh seafood!
 
Ugh... 9 months rainy season... No wonder you get hit so hard when the daylight fades. You are already getting minimal exposure to the sun with the rainy season then add in shorter daylight hours. YUCK!!!! At least you have great fresh seafood!

😅😅😅😅😅 my wife and I talk all the time about how crazy it is that there isn't more of a seafood presence in our area. we literally live in a fishing town and I only know of one "seafood" restaurant!

headed to mexico for work Nov 1st, then for our annual vacation in Feb so those trips will help break it up a lot! Dec/Jan is when it's super dark out here though .

Years ago, I moved our company from traditional 8-5pm hours to 7am-4pm. (you can see why on this chart below)
That helped a lot. I tend to go in more like 6-3 so you're hitting the road (hopefully) before dark. But today it's 10am and very dark. After a super dry and droughty summer I expect a very very wet winter to rebuild the snowpack.

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Oh man that sucks! I would never be outside in the sun other than lunch time. That would be horrendous for me personally. I can feel the depression sinking in just looking at it.
 
Oh man that sucks! I would never be outside in the sun other than lunch time. That would be horrendous for me personally. I can feel the depression sinking in just looking at it.
That's how we made grunge

But I got bad news for you, there's no sun at lunch time either lol

I think last year or year before we had something like 9-11 days of sunshine from Nov 1 till May.
 
That's how we made grunge

But I got bad news for you, there's no sun at lunch time either lol

I think last year or year before we had something like 9-11 days of sunshine from Nov 1 till May.
Now I need that "Hell to the No!!!" MEME I would have to fly people in to hug my blues away... LMAO!
 
Now I need that "Hell to the No!!!" MEME I would have to fly people in to hug my blues away... LMAO!

I remember when I raced BMX and we had the Nationals Event locally. everyone comes in from Cali to race cause it's a pro event and the announcer is talking about how because we've had 111 days straight of rainfall they tried to bring the dirt into the arena far in advance to dry it out early for the track but it was still a bit like wet weather riding indoors lol
 
I remember when I raced BMX and we had the Nationals Event locally. everyone comes in from Cali to race cause it's a pro event and the announcer is talking about how because we've had 111 days straight of rainfall they tried to bring the dirt into the arena far in advance to dry it out early for the track but it was still a bit like wet weather riding indoors lol
I imagine that gave you a little edge over the Cali boys who only see rain right before a mudslide.
 
I imagine that gave you a little edge over the Cali boys who only see rain right before a mudslide.
You know you can move, right?

its a work in process.... your hometown is your whole world when you're a kid. next thing you know you're at a desk with a kid in school. My boy will graduate in 4 years and that's when my wife and I are preparing to take the shackles off. our long term plan is to retire to mexico though.

but I also have a business here with Dad and 70 employees so up and moving would be quite a ripple in the water.
 
its a work in process.... your hometown is your whole world when you're a kid. next thing you know you're at a desk with a kid in school. My boy will graduate in 4 years and that's when my wife and I are preparing to take the shackles off. our long term plan is to retire to mexico though.

but I also have a business here with Dad and 70 employees so up and moving would be quite a ripple in the water.

I also know you’ve mentioned your house is an ancestral family home, so even that is tougher. Like you have some duty to keep it going or some BS that doesn’t really affect other people. But it’s a social pressure.
 
But it’s a social pressure.
very much so, it's about a 100+yr old family homestead, our house in particular built in the 30s but our water lines fed the parks down below us until my plumbing project and our only neighbors are her aunt and uncle who also inherited some land on the plot. we are the 4th generation in this house. There is the potential of renting it out when we cut loose but WA politics and taxes have grown so ridiculous there are times when my wife wants to just sell it all, give the middle finger to the state and zip off. The downside, is we do have water views and from July-August Puget Sound is about the driest and most beautiful place to be in the lower 48... blessing and a curse (but mostly blessing)
 
Yeah, but there are water views in a lot of places with out 10 months of rain and gloom. ;)
 
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