Decided to check this place out and nice log.

As I got older the back tweaks happen more regularly with more workload. When I was in my 20s I could squat 3x a week + add in a deadlift session. Forget about that in my 30s.

The tweaks happened as you described it except I've had 3 minor back tweaks in the last 2 months that take a few days to heal. The last time I had a back tweak it was doing a 135lb deadlift, normal warmup lift.

I'm gonna spend the next few months doing lots of accessory workouts to strengthen all the muscles around the lower back and at higher reps. No 1 rep maxes. I'm even considering scrapping deadlifts for just rackpulls.

McGill Session

I just had a session with a McGill Method Master Clinician. It was 3 hours long. I'm not going to write it up in a lot of detail, but will gladly answer any questions. There was a lot of tests, some involving trying to replicate back pain. There was a lot of squatting and deadlifting.

The problem he found was tightness in my left hip compared to my right. He saw it in the beginning when I air squatted when my weight shifted to the right. When I go down when back squatting, it is fine until a certain level and then my weight goes right automatically. This puts extra pressure on my back and causes the back pain. He said my back itself is one of the best he has ever seen! He said it was very rare that he couldn't reproduce any pain during the tests for a 34 year old. There is nothing structurally wrong.

Here are some of the things I need to do going forward -
1. Deadlifting off blocks (3 inches or so). When I deadlift from the ground, my weight goes to the right and messes up my back.
2. He said back squatting was like fitting a square peg in a round hole for me. He said front squats suit me way better. So front squats it is.
3. 1 hip mobility and stability exercise and the McGill big 3 modified for my particular needs. Do it as a warm up and choose 1 or 2 based on what I'm doing that day. He taught me how to do them and someone said they could do 1000 bird dogs. No way. I could barely do 5 the way he taught it.

There might be some other things I forgot but I will get a comprehensive email soon. None of this is in absolutes, he said I am fine to deadlift from the ground for competitions or if I really want to, but deadlifting off blocks will treat my back well. He said my hips are genetically what they are, and I may never be fine to back squat below parallel ever, without my weight shifting to one side or maybe I will based on how the hip stuff goes. Let's wait and see. loco 1/2 (wrong on the weak core, right on deadlifting off blocks a few months ago).

Overall, I would highly recommend it. I feel really confident going forward and I finally know why all this nonsense with my back has been happening.

Sounds like a very productive and helpful session. Agree with pulling off blocks. I’ve been doing 2 inches for conventional and 1 inch for sumo. I can pull from the floor without pain but I think those are the best heights for me for optimal back position.

Regarding the bolded, I get what you’re saying. If you just stick an arm and leg out and go back and forth you can bang out a ton of reps. But if you do them properly, slowly and deliberately with a pause, they are much harder. Same thing with the curl-ups. Quality reps over quantity

Crossfit Linchpin - D188

Main
Deadlift: 5-5-5-5-5

100, 105, 110, 115, 120 (from blocks, 20s)

Accessory 1
Single Arm DB Row: 22.5x12x4 (per arm)

Accessory 2
Single Leg Stiff Legged Deadlift: 15x12x2, 22.5x12 (per leg)

Accessory 3
50 Burpees for time: 2:24

-----------------------------------------------

That was my first time deadlifting from blocks, and I like it. It's so easy to get into a good starting position. I realized while warming up for a metcon last week that I was straightening my back but not bracing completely. Today, I braced as hard as possible for every single rep. There was not even a hint of back pain or any back soreness. 120x5 was really easy, but I decided to be smart and not go up.

The burpees were brutal. I was about 9 seconds ahead of 2:30 pace with 10-15 left and crawled home. A 1 second PR and upto 82nd percentile. A nice little finisher.




Thanks, start a log!

It really was so helpful. He suggested sumo, but I think I need to pull conventional just because of crossfit. So for me, he said to do the big 3 during warmups only to prime my core and back to remain stable for squats and deadlifts. He wants a 10 second pause for bird dogs with no resetting between reps. That's so hard! He modified the side plank where I hip hinge in and out of it. And he completely got rid of curl ups and replaced it with plank shoulder taps with absolutely no movement of my body.

Crossfit Linchpin - D189

Main
15:00 AMRAP:
30 Double Unders
15 Air Squats
10 Toes-to-bars
5 Ring Dips

6 rounds

Accessory 1
Front Squat: 7-7-7

80, 80, 80

Snatch S4 - C
Snatch Pull: 60x3x5

------------------------------------------------

I'm a bit disappointed with the metcon. I wanted 7 rounds and was willing to suffer for it, but my ring dips gave way. That was the limiting factor and not my lungs. Double unders were unbroken for 5 rounds, then 15+15. No trips! Toes to bar were in 2 sets for 3 rounds, then 1 large set and singles. Ring dips were unbroken for 3 rounds, then down to singles. My round times were 1:46, 2:04, 2:12, 2:45, 3:16, and 2:56. I was on pace for 7 rounds but the wheels fell off in round 4. Some of the scores posted are all fake because nobody does proper ring dips. There were so many videos with half reps.

Front squats RPE was low, but good to get some squats in. I was still shifting my weight to the right, so I need to cut depth a bit more.

Snatch pulls were k. Waiting on my coach for feedback because I don't know if they are good or not.

Crossfit Linchpin - D190

Main - Joe Mills 20/20 Workout
20 minute EMOM - 1 Squat Snatch per minute
Minutes 1-5 - 70%
Minutes 6-10 - 70% +5kg
Minutes 11-15 - 70% +7.5kg
Minutes 16-20 - build to a heavy single

45x5, 50x5, 52.5x5, 55, 55, 55, 57.5, 60

Accessory 1
Snatch Balance - 40x3x4

Acessory 2
Max Cal Bike in 90 seconds: 34

----------------------------------------------

Typed it all up and lost it. So here we go again. Phenomenal day. I was a bit nervous going into today to see what all the snatching practice has led to. It felt so good! I was catching it lower than ever before and not using my arms as much. Some of my reps were good, and some bad. The good ones were when I was patient, held the bar loosely, didn't bend my elbows, and brought the bar higher up to my hip. Nice and relaxed to my hip, then boom. Video at 55 was my best rep, and 60 was heaviest but not as pretty.

Snatch balances were k. I got more comfortable dropping under faster as the sets went on.

Bike cals is a nice little PR. 40th percentile to 64th! And it was my legs that gave way and not my lungs, so there is a lot of room for imrpovement there.

Crossfit Linchpin - D191

Main
75 Pull-ups
75 Push-ups
75 Front Squats, 34kg
75 Hang Power Cleans, 34kg
75 Push Press, 34kg
75 V-Ups
75 Double Unders

46:59 - 32.5kg barbell (no small plates at gym)

Accessory 1
Push-up: 75 reps (5x15, lots of rest)

------------------------------------------

I certainly underestimated that one. I thought the barbell stuff would be easy because of how light it was, but this was one of the harder workouts I have done. Everything spiked your HR except for push-ups and V-ups. Do 3x10 front squats when already tired, and 45 to go!! It was a mental and physical grind. I started the workout 10 minutes into class and kept doing the mental math to make sure I could finish before the class ended. 3 minutes to spare!

Pull-ups - 8:05. I started off doing sets of 6 every 30 seconds, then down to sets of 5. I stayed at 5s until the last 15 or so where they became really sloppy. My form was good in the beginning. Lats on fire.

Push-ups - 6:14. All in sets of 5 or 6 until the last 15 where I did quick 2s and 3s. This was probably the easiest part of the day.

Front Squats - 8:55. No fun at all. This was the worst. HR through the roof. I think I did 11, 9, then sets of 6-8. Oof.

Hang Power Cleans - 7:05. This seemed to easy on paper but no fun again starting at HR>180 with a lot of tired muscle groups. Sets of 10 down to 7 maybe. IDK.

Push Press - 8:27. This surprised me and was harder than I thought. Grinding here and just wanted to be done. I think I did 4x10, then smaller sets.

V-ups - 5:41. Finally something easier. All in sets of 7 and 8 and HR back under control.

Double Unders - 2:28. I think I did 13, 22, 20, 20 with the 1 trip after 13. They felt pretty good under the obnoxious circumstances.

I decided to only do 1 accessory (skipped DB box step ups) and did push-ups because that's a weakness. I found a GOAT place for food near my house. There is a food market that is open Fri-Sun and I've tried 4-5 stalls which were fine but not great. Yesterday I had an arepa with 3 portions of chicken, beans, and avocado. Tastes incredible and so much protein. I had one for breakfast today after crossfit!

Crossfit Linchpin - D192

Main
Front Squat: 2-3-5-10-2-3-5-10
Use the same weight for each set.

87.5

Accessory 1
Medicine Ball Clean: 75 reps (20, 20, 20, 15 with 9kg ball)

Accessory 2
L-Sit: 2 minutes (4x30s, tried getting legs closer to horizontal)

---------------------------------------------

Today was actually back squats, but I think I have bid farewell to them. I might do it every now and then for a change or if it's prescribed in a workout I don't want to change, but most of my squatting is going to be front. I just feel so comfortable doing it and am able to go heavy without hurting my back.

I've been doing all the exercises as a warmup that the McGill guy prescribed. There was still some shifting of my weight towards the right as you can see in the video. The first set of 10 was horrible and a real grind. I had doubts if I could finish the second set of 10, but it ended up being easier. I think I stopped bracing my core during the first set, but made sure to do it in the second. 76th to 78th percentile. Doing this at 90kg next time would be cool.

Med ball cleans were no fun after all the squatting. I hope my legs are growing.

Crossfit Linchpin - D193

Accessory 1
1 Power Snatch + 1 Overhead Squat + 1 Hang Squat Snatch + 1 Squat Snatch: 1-1-1-1 (rest 2 minutes)

45, 45, 45, 45

Main
3 rounds of:
9 Power Snatches, 60% 1RM | 37.5 kg
9 Assault Bike Calories

- Rest 5 minutes -

3 rounds of:
9 Power Cleans, 50% 1RM | 45 kg
9 Assault Bike Calories

5:06, 4:01

Accessory 2
Bike: 5x10 seconds, 1' rest

~5 cals per round from a standing start. Would roll over to 8 cals after the 10 seconds

--------------------------------------------------

Today was good and fun. I moved the snatch complex earlier so that I can keep grinding snatch technique. I didn't force myself to keep my arms straight like I did earlier, because I was thinking of other things. I need to do that next time. My coach said it looks pretty good and to keep drilling this. He said to be more aggressive again. I guess that will come with time because right now I need to be pretty mindful of what I'm doing and it's hard to be aggressive while thinking a lot.

The metcon was really, really fun. I did this back in January at 36kg and 43.5kg and with the rower. My times were 5:11 and 4:00. That's a decent improvement because I'm a lot worse cal for cal on the bike vs the rower. Plus, I did it at a heavier weight. Snatches were unbrokenish in round 1. I did 5 touch and go, then 4 singles while resetting on the ground. My hands never left the bar. Rounds 2 and 3 were similar. The cleans were all unbroken and actually really easy. I was actually trying to cycle them quicker. Weird. That just made the bike more painful because it meant I had to pedal harder. The short sprints at the end were fun too.

I've completely reshuffled this week. I took an extra day off last week because of my bicep and that's meant I am a day behind. I am only going to do 3 of the 5 Linchpin days this week and I'm going to a crossfit class on Friday to do Helen. That will put me back with the schedule for next week. I'm also debating doubling up on Saturday and doing an extra snatch session. I'm starting to love it! I'm already plotting my Helen strategy, it will be fun to do a class again!

Crossfit

Helen
3 rounds for time of:
Run, 400 m
21 Kettlebell Swings, 24kg (American)
12 Pull-ups

13:04

-----------------------------------

I went to a class after a while and was excited to test Helen. I've done it 4 times over the years. I wanted sub 12, but completely fell apart in the 3rd round of pull-ups. I had like 10 reps left at the 12 minute mark, so at least it was an improvement on 2 years ago. Still, really really weak sauce. I'm very disappointed with this.

Round 1 in 3:40 - Swings 13/8, Pull-ups 7/5
Round 2 in 4:15 - Swings 13/8, Pull-ups 6/3/3
Round 3 in 5:09 - Swings 8/7/6, Pull-ups 1s and 2s

I started slipping off the bar in the last round of pull-ups which is where I lost a chunk of time. I even failed a pull-up! I think that last set of 12 took me 1:20, whereas it probably took 30 seconds in round 1. A bit of chalk might have helped me. This test is 50% cardio, 50% grip strength for me. I couldn't feel my forearms afterwards. We did some L-sits and I couldn't hang on to the rings!

Our gym also has stairs, so each run adds 20 seconds or so. It's closer to 12 minutes with a proper blowup in round 3. I'm making these excuses to feel better. We move on and keep training. The odd bad day every now and then is fine. I guess when zooming out, it's pretty decent gains over 5 years.

Crossfit Linchpin - D194

Main
Row: 3x1000m, 5' rest

11:23.8 3,000m 1:53.9 236 1113 30 185

3:44.8 1,000m 1:52.4 246 1148 29 180
3:49.3 1,000m 1:54.6 232 1099 30 186
3:49.7 1,000m 1:54.8 231 1095 30 190

-----------------------------------------

Another bad day. My best 4x1000 from last year was at 1:50.4. I wanted to start off at 1:53 and work my way down because I have no idea where my rowing is at. The first interval was simply terrible. I set my DF at 108 (which is where I did the 4x1000 last year) and my HR would stay low but my body was aching. I lowered it for the next 2 intervals and it felt smoother, but more aerobic.

I guess rowing 250k a month to rowing 20k a month means my rowing has become worse. I sort of hoped it would remain the same because of all the cardio, but nope. I've also subbed in running for rowing the last few times it has come up, but I suppose I should just follow the program as written for now. It's disheartening, but I still think my overall crossfitting is way stronger than before. I need a solid benchmark workout soon, to put my mind at ease.

On the brighter side, I did 4x1000 5 times during my 6 months of rowing. This effort puts me somewhere between the 3rd and 4th effort. So I guess I'm still way better at rowing than before W1D1 of Pete's Plan on day 1 of lockdown.

Accessories were side planks (done in warm up for my back stuff), and double unders. I skipped double unders because I'm snatching this evening.

Snatch - S5

A
Hang Muscle Snatch: 4-4-4-4-4 (50-60%)
32.5, 35, 35, 37.5, 37.5

B
Hang Snatch: 2-2-2-2-2-2 (60%+)
40, 42.5, 45, 45, 45, 47.5

C
Behind the Neck Snatch Grip Push Press: 3 rep max
70

---------------------------------------

A double after a long time. I actually liked working out in the evening. Cues for today were straight and relaxed arms until my hip, then explode. Snatches felt really really good until 42.5, then became more of a battle. I'm making progress though, these look so much better than before.

Crossfit Linchpin - D195

Main
3 rounds for time of:
100m Dumbbell Farmers Carry, 2x22.5kg
55 Double Unders
35 Sit-ups
25 Goblet Squats, 22.5 kg
6 Shuttle Runs, 50m

22:28

Accessory 1
Pistols: 3x8 (alternating, per leg, WL shoes)

Accessory 2
Hollow Rocks: 70 reps (4x15, 10)

-------------------------------------

A nice day after a couple of bad ones. The reps were just small enough that I could keep moving with minimal rest. Farmers carries were in 2 sets. Double unders in 3-4 (so much harder after the carries). Squats were 15+10. Round times were 7:36, 7:38, and 7:13 so there was plenty of room to go faster.

Crossfit Linchpin - D196

Accessory 1
Hang Power Clean + Hang Squat Clean + Jerk: 1-1-1-1-1 (rest 2')

60-65-70-75-75

Main
For time (or not):
10-8-6-4-2 reps of:
Clean & Jerk, 60-70% 1RM | 60 kg
Bar Muscle-up

24:54 (not for time)

--------------------------------------

Another excellent day. I think I enjoyed every minute of today. I moved the complex to the beginning so I could do it when fresh and make technique gains. I did 72.5 last time (after DT though) and 75 felt really easy today. I only repeated it because I lost my hook grip for the second clean. I think I need to bring the bar higher up to my hips with cleans. My jerks felt really solid after a tweak from my coach (I was moving my weight forward before driving up).

The metcon was so fun. I took my sweet time doing it. Clean and jerks were all singles. They were mostly push jerks. Muscle ups were 4-3-3, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 2. No singles at all! 30 muscle ups in a day is a world record as well. I got some tips from the coach on how to clean up my form. I am getting so high up there that I don't even need to dip. But my legs are all over the place, so I need to sort that out.

Crossfit Linchpin - D197

Main
Run - 5x50m, 3x400m, 1x800m (rest as needed - 1:15 after the 50s, 2:30 after the 400s, 5:00 before the 800)

7:58 - (8.1, 9.0, 9.1, 8.7, 9.1), (1:17, 1:22, 1:26), (3:09)

Accessory 1
Landmine Twist: 30x12x3

----------------------------------------------

More running gains! I did this at a track with a coach at our gym and that made it so much more fun. I didn't use the exact rest periods as last time because someone had to stay to watch our stuff. I rested less after the 50s, and a lot more before the 800. This workout has gone from 54th percentile to 74th to 80th! I have been swapping some rows for runs and that has paid off. Now it's time to slowly get back to where I was at rowing. I am really intrigued by my mile pace. I know a sub-3 800 will be trivial. I think I could hold that pace for 1200, but definitely not for 1600. I would guess my mile time is 6:20-6:30, so sub 6 in a year would be cool, without any specific running training.

Crossfit Linchpin - D198

Accessory 1
Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + Squat Snatch: 1-1-1-1-1 (rest 2')

45, 45, 45, 47.5, 47.5

Main - Isabel
For time:
30 Snatches, 61kg (power)

4:56 - 43kg

Accessory 2
30 minute run/row/bike at moderate pace

Row - 6370m, 2:21.2, 19spm, 77DF, AHR 165, max 177

------------------------------------------------------------

Another really enjoyable day. The snatch complex was k. I'm still drilling technique. I've gotten a bit lazy with keeping my arms straight as I noticed in the video. I need to make that my sole priority again. It is still way better than before though.

Isabel was really fun. Average HR 175, max 187. I started off doing sets of 3 every 30 seconds to finish under 5 minutes. After 15 or so, I started doing 1s and 2s. And then I did the last 4 in 20 seconds. After 20, my lower back started letting me know something was up. I then lowered the bar with my back completely straight and it went away. I really need to be mindful of how I lower it, even with a lighter weight. I would be a lot quicker on this if I could drop the bar. I dropped a few onto my crash pad, but I waste so much time rolling it back out. Doing this sub 5 at 50kg would be cool at some point.

The row was quite enjoyable. I started less than 10 minutes after Isabel, so my HR was at 150 very quickly. It hit 170 after 15 minutes and then stayed there, while I got slightly quicker. I remembered straight arms and higher arms at the catch and that seemed to work. I'm pretty pleased with this pace and HR 40 minutes into a session.

Crossfit Linchpin - D199

Accessory 1
Front Squat: 1-1-1

100, 105, 110

Main
7 rounds for time of:
7 Burpee Box Jump Overs, 24 in
7 Thrusters, 42.5 kg
7 Pull-ups

16:42

Accessory 2
Strict Pull-ups: 3x8

--------------------------------------------

Lots of ups and downs today, but I feel good about it. Front Squats felt way heavier than they should. My back did something weird on the way up at 110, but no pain. There are heavy singles front squats next week and I wanted to hit a PR at 120, but I might be sensible and not do that. 110 still moved up pretty fast though.

The metcon is my worst nightmare and the type of crossfit metcon I am the worst at. Every movement jacks your HR and it just becomes a downward spiral where you have to rest longer and longer to get it under control. Still, I thought I had a shot at the recommended finishing time of 12:30 and if not then 14:00. I was very wrong. My round times were 1:48, 2:09, 2:29, 2:25, 2:38, 2:42, and 2:27. Everything was unbroken, but with more and more rest. Looking at the results, some of the better guys finished in around 11 minutes, so I don't feel too bad about my time. I think Pat was way off with his finishing times for this. I didn't have my HR strap, but I'm pretty sure I hit 185+ after 2 rounds. It was suffering.

Strict pull-ups after that were surprisingly fine with not much rest after the metcon. I practiced kipping after the strict ones and had a huge AHA moment. I wasn't getting my chin directly over the bar (it was behind) because my kip was too big and too loose. I tightened and shortened it and it felt so much easier! I knew brute forcing these by lots of reps was the way to go. That's the big win for today.

I've outdone my jar of nutella after dinner day. My cousin brought over 2kg of plain cashew nuts last week. I have finished them in 6 or 7 days while watching TV after dinner. That's 300g a day and 1500 calories a day! I felt horrible waking up today. I'm back at 75kg but the last time I was there 4 or 5 months ago, I felt fat. Now, it looks like I've done a mini recomp. I definitely need to lose a couple of kgs, but I look and feel much better at this weight. The cashew nuts were my final straw. My big leak is to want to eat something while watching TV just before I sleep after a long day. That's so easy to stop. The easiest cut in the world is coming up. Pics after.

My bro loves his nuts. Everytime he buys a big jar i multiply # of servings times calories per serving. I get some outrageous number and think, wow i could live off of this container and water for a few months.

Its definitely one of the few health foods you can overeat. My guess is the fat n sodium create a powerful snacking 1,2 punch.

But its also a pretty facking good way to replace some saturated fat in the diet with some good fats. Less fatty animal, more nuts equals way better lipids and cvd reduction.

Cashews are one of the foods I eat that weighing serving sizes really helps me with as they are so easy to go crazy on. 300g a day is super solid! I can at least envision eating that many cashews in a day, maybe not every day for a week though. But I still can't imagine a whole jar of nutella all at once.

I assume you used the lone UK McGill Master Clinician?

I did, Floppy. I highly recommend him. He's passionate about it and knows his stuff because he has actually experienced a bad back. He's had multiple surgeries and was a patient of McGill, I believe.

Calories in cashews really are outrageous. I can't quite comprehend it. Lowest calorie to satiety ratio ever?

Crossfit Linchpin - D200

Main
For time: Run 5k

25:24 - average HR 179, max 194

KM1 - 5:23, Ending HR 173
KM2 - 5:09, 179
KM3 - 5:07, 185
KM4 - 5:02, 188
KM5 - 4:38, 194

Accessory 1
Farmers Carry: 3x100m with 22.5s, 1:30 rest

Accessory 2
L-Sit: 4x30s

-------------------------------------

200 days of Linchpin! I'm really pleased with today. My PR of 22:30 is a way off, but that was done with 10-15 miles of running a week and I was a lot weaker and 5kg lighter then. I've accepted the fact that longer distance running and rowing PRs will be really hard with this all round programming and I'm okay with that because I'm fitter. I just don't have enough miles of running or rowing to set longer distance PRs.

Anyway, I had no idea what to expect so I did the first km really slowly. 5:23. My legs still felt pretty heavy and I wasn't sure if I could speed it up. Somewhere in the middle of the 2nd km, I noticed I was running at 5:10 and it felt easier. I guess I just hadn't warmed up well. My HR was 179 with 3km to go and I knew this was a fairly easy pace for me. I decided to gradually speed it up. After 4k, it felt like a moderate tempo run. It was still enjoyable and very much in control. With 500m to go or so, I sped up just because. The last km of 4:38 was closer to 5k PB pace.

I think a true max effort would be around 24 minutes. I also think I nailed the RPE today. Enjoyable, but difficult. It would be cool to inch my way back towards 22:30, with this low volume of running. I really love this programming.

No, no, no.

They are actually somewhat filling and research shows that.

Like i said before, I think whats happening is the salt fat bomb is highly palatable and causes addicton like qualities where you are stuffing them in your face without thinking. But 100% chance if you eat 500 calories of nuts for breakfast, your day would look better than eating 500 cals of toast, butter, and jelly. And science proves that.

Dont hate on my nuts bro, they are so key in replacing donk fats.

I was eating unsalted nuts. I believe you and the research, but I don't think there is another food I could eat 2500 calories in one sitting after a meal (the 6-7 days were not evenly distributed). That's like 2.5 tubs of your dog poop ice cream. I suppose I don't really know how full I get afterwards because I go to sleep soon after.

Crossfit Linchpin - D201

Main
Front Squat: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105, 105

Snatch S6 - A
2 Snatch Pull + Snatch: 1-1-1 (65-75%)

42.5, 45, 47.5

Snatch S6 - B
Snatch Pull + 2 Snatch: 1 rep max

55

----------------------------------------

Squats good, snatches bad. I decided to be sensible with front squats and not go anywhere close to my 1RM of 118. It was a really good decision as I dialled in my form at comfortable weights. I was falling forward in the first few reps. I then realized that I was letting go of my big brace at the bottom. I held it, and the squats felt so much easier (duh). I actually started resting less and less as they became easier. It's promising how light 105 felt.

I wanted do just do part A of snatches and then some accessories (lunges). But my snatches felt bad today. I think I was doing most things the same, but not exploding enough. It felt slow and off. So I decided to do part B to see what I could get. It's probably not wise to snatch more on a bad day, but I was stubborn. A double at 55 is probably a PR, but I'm not loving how slow they look. I'll see what my coach says.

I asked Greg Doucette about nuts on my consultation with him. I love nuts, and eat monkey nuts; cashews; almonds; Brazil nuts etc. I always weigh them, though, as they are an absurd amount of calories.

His take was they are fine if you know what you're doing. They are definitely sub-optimal if you want below 10% body fat, but if you just want healthy body fat, they can play a role.

He tends to rage against them (and other calorie dense food) in his videos, as most people don't know what they are doing.