Whatever I Feel Like Dept - Squat DE - Aug 29

4 rounds
Extensions x12 @ 135-185#
Hamstring curl x10 @ 125#
45 sec RI
7 mins.

Squat x5's
10x bar/5x 135/185/225
245x5/x4/x5
... on 2.00
14 mins.

8 hours - 2200/0600. 22 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours. 

531 Pull ME - Aug 28

Buy in
4x no count 5-7's Power clean and press @ 115/125/135/145
1:30 RI
7 mins.

Weighted pulls
3x3 @ 25#
8 mins.

BBB
5 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Neutral grip pulls @ 20#/15/10/5/free x3-9
Y-Pulls x12
12 mins.

PM
5x max reps Wide Grip curl @ 80+bar

7.5 hours - 2130/0500. 28 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours.

Cl - Aug 27

4 rounds
Leg Curl @ 110/125///
Extensions x10 @ 135- 195
45 sec RI
7 mins.

RDL 4x10 @ 155#
1 min RI
7 mins.

8 sets, on 1.30
Standing Calf 2x12 @ 225/240
Seated Calf x9 @ 80
Standing Calf @ 255
11 mins.

8 hours - 2200/0600. 26 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours.

531 9a Bench - Aug 26

Missing a day makes me go all catabolic. Had to crack the whip on myself to get there today, even for this.

Shoulda bought in with Y-pulls.

Rx: 3x5 @ 205/235/265
Actual: 5x225/5x240 (5# offset with the cheapass DoucheX bar)/5x260/4x280
Whatever.
8 mins.

BBB
4 rounds in .30 on 1.15
Ring Row x12-10
5x10 Bench @ 190
... one more row.
11 mins.

PM
4xmax reps wide grip curls
...out by the BBQ, whiling away the time.

7.5 hours - 2130/0600. 20 minutes total, PE: 6. 48 hours.

MTB & Cleans DE - Aug 24

Rode the MTB to the Calloway DoucheX via the bike trail. 36 mins there, 35 back.

Buy in
6x15 single KB swings @ 40#, in .30 on 1.15
Alternating hands each set.
9 mins.

5 rounds, same timer
Power Cleans x5-6 @ 140
Front squat x5 @ 155
12 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 96 minutes total, PE: 9. 40 hours.

531 9a Press - Aug 22

Buy in
3x12 Y-pulls
3 mins.

531 Press
Rx: 3x5 @ 125/140/160
Actual: 10x115/5x125/5x145/4x165
8 mins.

BBB, in .30 on 1.15
4x max reps
Chins (6-5's, pretty much)
Press @ 115 (60%) x10-7
10 mins.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 22 minutes total, PE: 6. 18 hours.

Cl & Dead DE - Aug 21

I totally blew off the lunchtime session today. Just tired.

PM
Mixed up rotation on the antagonists tonight. DoucheX and people "working in."
4 rounds x12's, using the HT timer
Hamstring curl @ 110 (I love the Atlantis machine, by the way)
Extensions @ 120-165
Seated calf @ 70
A-frame @ 6+
20 mins.

Deads
225x10/275 x5////
No timer, crackin' the whip on Montre. 14 mins.

7.5 hours - 2230/0600. 34 minutes total, PE: 7. 30 hours.

531 9a Squat n' Leave - Aug 20

531 9a Squat 
Rx: 3x5 @ 175/200/230
Actual: 10xbar/10x135/5x175/205/235
9 mins.

BBB sets, in .30 on 1.15
Standing calf @ 255 x12
4x165 (60% = 160) @ 8ish
10 mins.

Plenty tired going in today. Another exercise in mind over matter, this was.

8.5 - 1.5 hours - 2130/0600. 19 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.

Pull DE - Aug 19

Mixed pulls, in .30 on 1.15
6 rounds, two each x max reps
Neutral, overhand, chins
7 mins.

Cable pull singles
4x max reps @ 90#
8's with left/5's with right - some rotator cuff work is in order.
1 min RI
7 mins.

6.5 hours - 2300/0530. 16 minutes total, PE: 7. 48 hours.

Brighthouse Bryce BRB - Aug 17

Here's today's ride portion of the workout. Just going easy and accelerating a couple of the mile markers each way. No record segments this day. 24 there, 25 back. 13.5 mi, 16.5 mph.

Met up with Bryce and Sapphire for 11 run-up reps on the hill. First three at 70/80/90%, then all out 100%. Felt good throughout - no increase in fatigue really as the reps counted up. 19 mins.

Taking a day off yesterday was overdue, and a good call. I've got to take one at least every 7, whether I want to or not.

6.5 hours - 2230/0500. 49 + 19 minutes total, PE: 8. 48 hours.

Cl Deload - Aug 15

4x12
Extensions @ 135-165
Hamstring curl @ 115
45 sec RI
4 mins.

4x12
Calves on the A-frame @ 6 
Standing Calves, strip sets 255-210#
1 min RI
8 mins.

Front Squat @ 145, in .30 on 1.15
x5/6/7/6
6 mins.

6 hours - 000/0600. 19 minutes total, PE: 6. 24 hours.

115th Dream Hopbursted Imperial Double IBA v2 : "Deuce Juice"

Doing 10 gallons this time. This is what happened last time. I didn't even read the write-up prior to this batch. Should have!

Didn't steep in anything  - this kit is all extract: 12 lbs. Amber Malt, and 12 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
Bitters: 8 oz. Cluster pellets (7.5%), 24 0z. Hopbursted (proprietary) mix
Yeast: two packets of Safbrew S-05, which I only wetted prior to the boil, last time I started on bottling-sugar water 16 hours prior, and that would have been good.

10 gallons of water, once boiling we put in half the Amber and half the Gold extract (not paying close attn), brought it up to a boil and tossed in 4 oz of Cluster.
30 mins later, the rest of the extract and 4 more oz of Cluster.
15 mins later, 6 oz of hopbursted pellets. 10 mins, 6 oz, 5 mins, 6 oz, flame out, the final 6 oz and 3 lbs of botting sugar. Kept one pound back just because we didn't want the final product to end up too dry.

After chilling, we ran the wort out through a butterfly net into the corneys, then back through the net into the boilkeg, then finally into the corneys through the tight mesh funnel. All the while gleaning off glops of green diarrhea-hop-scrunge. Thus, the deuce juice moniker.
Pitched in the safale (kinda more into one than the other), shook it all up and set it to task in the big industrial sink. This time of year in there, it's going to be about 72 degrees - a little warm, but I'm hoping the yeast just go rabid.

Wort gravity: 1120+ on about 6.5 gallons - yes, that's what you see in the picture above! Added in about a gallon of good ol' Bakersfield tap via the hose for about 4.25 gallons per corney. Added an approximation of that to the hydrometer and we have a bestguess OG of 1084. That's strong medicine, my friends.

Day 7: Looks like fermentation's done, into the chiller before racking. FG: 1032 - which seems like a lot of residual sugar. 7% alcohol in there.

Day 19: No hurry on the racking. Gravity down to 1021, and the color is a nice rusty walnut. Great hop aroma. Transferred as much as possible into the grey-marked corney (4.9 gallons) and the rest was poured over into the lime-marked (2 gallons, say) and racked back after settling. This is to say that both corneys are a mix from the original two, but the low filled got handled a bit rougher - and I didn't de-oxygenate any of the tanks before racking.

Week 10: Carbonated at 30# for a day and a half, then shook the corney and still it sucked gas from the bottle. So left it on for another 24 hours at 30#. It's pretty well carbonated, but I'll shake it one more time when it's on ice this Sunday for NFLredzone and brewing (upcoming: Honey Brown).
Hops are definitely up front, but there's enough residual sugars to assure me that this will be a much mellower beer in 2 to 3 months. We'll drink the first 5 gallons this week and age the second corney. Wins: Enough body to balance out that 8.5% alcohol this one's packin' and a lot of good hop aroma. More notes after the drinking/brewing session. Gravity still at .1021.

Two weeks later: Honey Oatmeal Brown brew session/brats/NFLredzone Sunday. Yeup, kept the Rosa's milk jug half full all day long, and that 8.5% kicked me in the head. We floated the 5 gals, but I had enough at the end of the night to send a bomber to Rabideau (which got its own proprietary label, but FedEx won't allow me to ship). This is a well-balanced Imperial - balanced between body and the alcohol, sugars and the hops. They're still at opposite ends of the teeter-totter though. They're both there in balance, but distinct. We'll give the second 5 gals a few months to see if they come back into line in combination.

8 month mark, to the day: The second five gallons disappeared amongst the wreckage of hot wings and montecristo. Clarity was great to the bottom of the corney; color darkened to complete Halloween black. 
Tapped the bottle up next to our Honey Oatmeal Brown from November (which kinda transformed itself into an IPA), and between the two, the Deuce Juice tasted downright hops-neutral. Half of that is saying that the Brown sprouted an additional hop-kick from nowhere, but also that the additional conditioning time for the Deuce Juice allowed the hops to dovetail into the malt to balance out (most of) the alcohol, with only the alcohol coming out slightly stronger than the others. Never would have predicted that. After shoveling two pounds of hops into the batch, I would have laid money down that this was going to be the hoppiest beer ever. Time heals all wounds, and, like a wine, barrel aging brought an insane amount of hops into line with residual sugars from a perfectly stopped fermentation - good thing the Safale petered out (something an aggressive Nottingham might not have done). Holding back on the second dose of bottling sugar was a good call as well. Maltywine trumps barleywine everytime.

H Pushpull Deload - Aug 14

Man, I'm feeling flat. Forgot my phone so using the second hand on the clock for 1 min RI throughout today.

Buy in
4x12 Y-pulls. 

DB recline press
5x10-8 @ 75's

Bent over row, underhand grip
4x10-9 @ 135

8 hours - 2200/0600. 23ish minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.

Cl n' OvSqt - Aug 13

Buy in
4x 15 
Extensions @ 120-165
Reverse Hypers w/ 25# 
8 mins.

4 rounds
x10 RDL @ 135/155///
Seated calf @ 70 x12
8 mins.

Overhead Squat 
3x10 @ 45/65/75
6 mins.

PM
Mowed the lawns, dug a ditch to find the broken sewerline, and denuded the pond.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 23 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours. 231/15.

Death by Pull Ups - Aug 12

Death by Pullups
11.6 rounds. If I could just grit my teeth and dig in, I could do more. But I'm weary, and beat up, and sad, and old with very little to fight for anymore. So my performance is just the tip of the rotten ice iceberg.
13 mins.

Cash out
Power clean @ 115 x7/8/9/10
1 min RI
6 mins.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 20 minutes total, PE: 9. 24 hours.

S Run 220's - Aug 11

Form running 220's at the park in Fresno. Really felt pain on the first rep, felt like quitting. Rolled some circles around the left ankle and after the correct click, felt good as gold. There's gotta be something loose floating around in there.

10x 220 in .69-.47 on 2.00

8 - 1 hours - 2330/0730. 19 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.

AR Vernal Falls - Aug 10

Is exercise a compulsion when you describe a hike in Yosemite as an active rest day?

Hiking with the girls, and feeling the over-reach in the legs from squatting two days ago. Just a relaxing day-hike up above Vernal falls halfway to Nevada, where we broke from the trails and crowds and did a little swimming and sketching and bow-making. Making up for lost time with these kinds of experiences.

Dang, good barbeque on the way back - be sure to stop by Todd's Smokehouse every time you pass through Oakhurst.

DE Push - Aug 9

Buy in
3x12 Y-Pulls
5 mins.

Bench Press
...widening grip each set.
10x225/250 (5# offset for the cheapo DoucheX bar) x8/7/6/6
8 mins.

HT PushPull Quad
4 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Underbar underhand grip pulls x12
Bar dips x8-10 (got stronger as the rounds went on)
Pull ups x4 + 3 Neutral
Ballistic Push ups x5 + 3-4 wide
15 mins.

Not a lot of commentary on these set-ups. Starting the "531 Texas," where the 531 and BBB days are separated by DE work and sporadic conditioning/metcon days. What's to say? Not every session is a new foray worth describing. I'm sore, and wrung out, but still setting 5 RM PRs and feeling strong. The knee is just about completely recovered from Scottish Games. Now to just solider on.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 29 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours.

Squat ME - Aug 8

Buy in
4 rounds, .30 RI
Extensions x12 @ 120/135/150/165
Hamstring curl x10 @ 125
6 mins.

Just a touch of phantom pain at 165 for that right knee. We're inching our way back from the grave. In other news, sore hamstrings today from the RDLs two days ago on Dead day.

Squat ME
Just thinking that I'd like to shoot for a better number on the grid next month. Not feeling particularly powerful today, but feeling determined.
10x 135/185x5/205x5/245x5/255x4 - the last one at 255 was ugly, but it went all the way back up and onto the rack, which is what counts. Not a PR, but get to tick up the numbers after all.
14 mins.

BBB
4 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Squat @ 185 (175 was week 3's 70%) x8
Calves on the A-frame @ 6 x12-10
... one more calf for 5 of those, I think. Not all there, mentally, come the end.
11 mins.

8.5 hours - 2130/0600. 32 minutes total, PE: 9. 24 hours.

ME Press n' Some Pulls - Aug 7

Buy in
4x max rep pull ups (8ish)
4 mins.

OH press
just going by feel, no timer
135x6/155x5/185x2/195x1 
... looks like that's a new 1 RM for me.
10 mins.

5 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Press x10-8 @ 115/125///115
Kipping pulls x10-8
12 mins.

8 - 1 hours - 2200/0600. 27 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours.

CL n' DE Deads - Aug 6

Buy in
4 rounds, no timer
Hamstring curl @ 125
GHD w/ 25# x15
Extensions @ (light) 125
10 mins.

RDLs
3x10 @ 135/155//
1 min RI
5 mins.

Main set
5 rounds, in .30 on 1.15
Deads @ 225x7/245x5/265x5/6/7
Standing calf @ 270
14 mins.

Deads feel like hell for the first rep, first 3 inches off the ground. I also need to get gut-checked for a hernia. Something in there tells me this isn't an abominal strain.

8 hours - 2100/0500. 30 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.

DE PushPull - Aug 5

Buy in
3x max reps (3's) Chins
5 mins.


Main set
5 rounds in .30 on 1.15
DB recline presses @ 70's x10
DB Croc row @ 95 (Rx @ 90, but those bells weren't available) x7's
13 mins.

Cash out
4x max reps (10-7)
Cable singles @ 75
7 mins.

7 hours - 2200/0500. 26 minutes total, PE: 8. 30 hours.

Sunday Wild Horses BRB - Aug 4

Biked to Beach park, did 8 rounds of underbar horz pulls/chins on the Horse rail before Dew showed: 19 mins of stretching, drinking water and with 10 mins doing those pulls. The ride was 27 mins total to Brighthouse hill, 24 mins back in Dew's bubble. 13.8 mi, 49 mins moving time, 16.8 ave.

10 run ups on 1.40. Felt great today, light and fast.
17 mins.

8 - 1 hours - 2200/0700. 68 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.

531 8c Press - Aug 2

Feeling torn up and tired, weak and sore. A good day to shoot for a double in week C.

Buy in
Bent over chingrip row
10x95/10/115/7x135/8x135
5 mins.

531 Press
Rx: 5/3/1 @ 135/155/175
5x135/3x155/2x175 - win.
6 mins.

BBB
4 rounds, max reps on the HT timer, in .30 on 1.15
Underbar undergrip horz pulls x10
Press @ 130 (x8-6)
... one more row.
11 mins.

8 hours - 2200/0600. 23 minutes total, PE: 7. 24 hours.

DE Cleans n' Front Squats - Aug 1

Main Set
6 rounds of the couplet
Cleans 10x135/5x155/3x175///8x135
45 sec RI
Front Squat @ 135# x10-8
2.00 RI
22 mins.

The front squats here felt great today. Bang bang bang, just hitting rock bottom and powering back up out of the hole. I love this workout - heavy, dynamic movement followed by just enough weerd work to add volume and keep the legs in a groove for next squat day.

Cash out
3x10+
Seated Calf @ 70
Standing Calf @ 255
5 mins

7 hours - 2300/0600. 27 minutes total, PE: 8. 24 hours.