How was the first full cycle of god is a beast? Did you make gains?

I really enjoyed the leader programs. I probably enjoyed the anchors even more mainly due to the change up of switching to sets of 3 reps plus some AMRAPs but I had problems with the anchors which go full body. I am fully assuming my left arm issues are related to going full body for 4x per week for a number of weeks in a row. I eventually just switched it up to get back to upper/lower but still haven't managed to reel in the elbow/tricep issues. I will stick to upper/lower only for the next cycle.

Given that I started with pretty low TM's I was bound to make gains over the course of a full cycle. In the the last couple weeks of the last cycle I was hitting PR's in every lift for the last several years. So a clean slate of new age 50+ PR's was made along with some gains.

Felt like I was hitting a ceiling due to strength (plus nagging pain) on upper lifts and a form ceiling on lower at the end. Rolling back the TM by 10lbs on upper and 10lbs on lower and will try to do another four cycles of 2xLeader and 2xAnchor. I enjoyed it much and will sign up for another 18 weeks. Enjoyed God is a Beast enough that I may never get back to BBB. I did enjoy a few sets of 10 on the deloads though but mostly because the weight was so low.

Wednesday May 19 – 143.4 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W1D2 – Bench TM 125

Bench – 10x45lbs, 8x65, 10x5x80
DB Rows – 3x10x60lbs
DB Lat Raises – 3x10x15lbs

BB Curl – 2x12x55lbs
Seated DB OHP –2x8x25lbs
Incline DB Press – 2x12x25lbs

Swim – 25 mins

2121 cal/148 carb/97 fat/194 protein/38 fibre

Thursday May 20 – 143.2 lbs

8k run – 48:21
Swim – 15 mins

8k or 5.6 miles depending on which device I look at. My running timer app I use got paused somewhere along the way but seemed to capture the data at just over 8k despite giving me an audible 8k interval reading about a minute before I checked it and advanced it to the cooldown. Fitbit said 5.61 miles but I find it to be reasonably inaccurate. So, probably a bit over 8k but not much.

1992 cal/175 carb/85 fat/158 protein/37 fibre

Friday May 21 – 143.6 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W1D3 – DL TM 215

RDL – 10x45lbs, 8x95
DL – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 5x150, 5x170, 5x185, 5x160, 5x185, 5x205
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x15

Calf raises – 3x20x125

Swim – 20 mins

2972 cal/207 carb/140 fat/245 protein/40 fibre

Saturday May 22 – 144.4 lbs

Easy run – 15:00, 2.55km
Swim – 30 mins

2240 cal/189 carb/92 fat/200 protein/46 fibre

Pretty lazy Saturday. Did a minimal amount of work, picked a couple weeds on the way to and from the pool and lounged around a bit.

Sunday May 23 – 144.3 lbs

5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W1D4 – OHP TM 85

OHP – 8x45lbs, 10x5x55
NG Chins – 11, 11, 10
Facepulls – 3x15x45lbs

DB Incline Bench – 2x12x25lbs
DB HC – 2x10x25lbs
Pullups – 10, 9

Swim – 15 mins

2224 cal/180 carb/89 fat/206 protein/42 fibre

May 17 – May 23 Daily Averages: 144.0 lbs/17.3% bf/2217 cal/167 carb/97 fat/196 protein/6:53 sleep

Left elbow pain really flared up during hammer curls in particular as well as on pullups to a lesser degree. Light lat raises earlier in the week were the biggest problem. Have been going easy on accessories but I guess even easier may be required.

Monday May 24 – 144.6 lbs

2.95k intervals run – 15:00, 10 x 30 sec run/1 min jog
Swim – 15 mins

2348 cal/221 carb/87 fat/200 protein/41 fibre

Tried to take shorter and quicker strides during the intervals. Definitely helped for striking closer to mid-foot instead of heel in addition to going faster. Calves are pretty sore as of the next morning despite lots of rolling.

Tuesday May 25 – 144.9 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W2D1 – Squat TM 205

Squat – 10xbw, 10x45lbs, 5x95, 10x5x135
Ab rollouts – 5x20

Calf raises – 3x20x125lbs
GHR – 5, 5, 5

Swim – 15 mins

1906 cal/184 carb/86 fat/131 protein/39 fibre

As of Wednesday morning my calves are still jacked from the intervals run on Monday morning. Went for a short walk later in the day on Tuesday as well to try to help - felt fine during.

Wednesday May 26 – 143.5 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W2D2 – Bench TM 125

Bench – 10x45lbs, 8x65, 5x90, 5x100, 5x115, 5x95, 5x105, 5x120
DB Rows – 2x10x60lbs
Front Plate Raises – 2x10x35lbs

Seated DB OHP –2x8x25lbs
Barbell Curls – 2x12x55lbs

1924 cal/183 carb/75 fat/158 protein/44 fibre

Did a short easy jog afterwards as well, walked about 1K, jogged 800M and walked 800M just to try to relieve my calves a bit. Left elbow still getting angry on accessories.

Thursday May 27 – 143.6 lbs

5k run – 25:02

1941 cal/155 carb/78 fat/172 protein/32 fibre

That was a substantial improvement over my fastest time this year of 28:32 and I think my fastest time ever was 27:40. I may still be barely into double digits on number of 5k runs so there is a lot of improvement left to be had. I was targeting under 26 mins with a stretch goal of under 25 mins. Calves have been a problem all week and I don’t think this run is going to help. Did lots of stretching afterwards and calves aren’t feeling much worse then they did earlier in the week as of the next morning. Think I will cycle back through a little 5 week training plan to improve 5k time and re test it to see what improvement can be made over that time frame.

Friday May 28 – 143.9 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W2D3 – DL TM 215

RDL – 10x45lbs, 8x95
DL – 5x95lbs, 5x125, 10x5x140
Hanging Knee Raises – 5x15

Calf raises – 3x20x125lbs

1945 cal/114 carb/89 fat/197 protein/37 fibre

Calves get magically fixed with myofacial release. Spiky ball and calf rolling stick are good. But usually I just end up using my thumb. Just stick in there really good, especially up and down the shin area, both inside and outside.

And it's always faster running, where you start landing on forefoot that gets them sore. For example, barefoot running no way you ever land on your heel.
So you gotta be careful when you add that type of running in.

+1 to what loco said.

I was going to post that foam rolling my calves has worked wonders (I have had on and off calf issues), and then I thought wtf do I know about this and sample size of 1 and didn't post.

Whats your water intake like? Do you mess with any herbal anti inflammatory stuff like turmeric?

Have you just tried telling your calves to stfu?

Thanks both. I have been foam rolling my calves quite a bit lately but in a fairly lazy manner on a soft surface, couch or bed. Jammed a rolling ball into my shins for a while last night and loosened some crap up a bit more. My calves felt better following the 5k on Thursday compared to the couple days following the first time intentionally running with quicker strides and landing more on forefront of the foot. It was a bit of a shock how sore I was after that, especially as I was doing 30sec on/1min off intervals so only 15mins of total running. So, definitely have to be careful and ease into that.

Water intake is never where I intend but I still probably get somewhere near a couple liters of water a day on top of the water included with several coffees which either adds somewhere between another 1 or 1.5 liters.

Vitamin D, C, a multi, and calcium with magnesium is about all I take. I always mean to take fish oil but seldom. I'm pretty sure we do have turmeric in the house somewhere but I have never tried it. Perhaps I should.

Saturday May 29 – 143.1 lbs

5k run – 27:46

Swim – 30 mins

2131 cal/141 carb/102 fat/176 protein/32 fibre

Took it nice and easy for the first km, felt good and picked it up a little for kms 2 and 3, picked it up a little more for km 4 and backed off a bit for 5. Not sure if that is a tempo run or just a failed easy or long run.

Sunday May 30 – 144.4 lbs

5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W2D4 – OHP TM 85

OHP – 8x45lbs, 5x60, 5x70, 5x75, 5x65, 5x70, 5x80
NG Chins – 10, 10
Facepulls – 2x15x45lbs

DB Incline Bench – 2x12x25lbs
Pullups – 10, 10

1963 cal/140 carb/78 fat/193 protein/25 fibre

May 24 – May 30 Daily Averages: 144.0 lbs/17.1% bf/2023 cal/163 carb/85 fat/175 protein/7:07 sleep

This was a sluggish session. Feeling a bit tired and my left arm is still acting up, this time the main lift was being impacted in addition to accessories. Just dinged past 550 days in a row of working out a couple days ago. Plenty light days in there for recovery I think but this workout was feeling like a complete day off with nothing may be welcome.

What Would Cal Ripken Do

Chew on sunflower seeds and eat another chicken? Maybe I’m thinking of Wade Boggs. I guess Cal would just shut up and put in another 2,100 days or so without making a fuss!

Monday May 31 – 144.4 lbs
Faster 5K Plan – W1D1

Easy run – 20:00, 3.28km

Swim – 15 mins

2102 cal/191 carb/90 fat/166 protein/44 fibre

What is the faster 5k plan?

Some crap I plucked from some random article somewhere along the way. Just three days a week of running with one easy run, one intervals run and one long run.

Tuesday June 1 – 143.8 lbs
5/3/1 God is a Beast C5W3D1 – Squat TM 215

Squat – 10xbw, 10x45lbs, 5x95, 5x135, 5x155, 5x175, 5x145, 5x165, 5x185
Ab rollouts – 5x20

Calf raises – 3x20x125lbs
GHR – 3x5

Swim – 10 mins

1862 cal/154 carb/64 fat/193 protein/36 fibre

Let my core get way too loose on the second rep of the second last set and gave myself a pretty good scare. Thought I did myself in but everything seems to be hanging in there. Took much better care to brace on the remainder of the reps, which probably still leaves a lot of room for improvement as this has tended to be a bit of a forever problem.

I swear floppy needs his own theme music.

I cant think of the right song at the moment. But its out there. Oh I got it. Iron man by Sabbath. Just the name is perfect. I dont even particularly like the song but it fits.

Same core looseness happens to me when I get 1/2 way down and my chest drops a little. After that its a much harder lift than it should be.

The other day I got stuck at the bottom for a moment because I wasnt focusing on the bounce. This could prove to be the most important focal point for me going forward because my natural tendency is to hold the squat position because of baseball. If I'm not focused on bounce then I lose all of the benefits of the bounce.