Thursday 3/18
Op I/A 85%
Plan on taking Friday and Saturday off, starting Grey Man on Sunday.
VenomousCoffee's Training Log
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Sunday 3/21
Grey Man Week 1
My S1 is RDL, PU, Dips
S2 is FS, PU, Dips
Whoo buddy, it's been a while since I went over 5 reps on PUs.
Grey Man Week 1
My S1 is RDL, PU, Dips
S2 is FS, PU, Dips
Whoo buddy, it's been a while since I went over 5 reps on PUs.
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
I'm still not sure how I feel about the book's using the British spelling of "grey."
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Monday 3/22
Devil's Trinity x5
Devil's Trinity x5
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Tuesday 3/23
Grey Man Week 1
Oh Lordy .....
Grey Man Week 1
Oh Lordy .....
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Hi VenomousCoffee
What are your impressions about about GreyMan Template? I’d really like to do it after OP I/A (now strength is my priority).
I’d also see your S Cluster (PU and Dips above all) and it’s exactly the same I’m planning for the future. Are you keeping PU and Dips purely Bodyweight or Weighted? Did you fear some lack of strength in WPU training them Bodyweight with high reps?
Last question, if I can, what do you think about the reduced frequency (and volume) alternating BP/OHP and SQ/DL respect 3x of Operator?
Sorry for the long message, I’d really like your log!
What are your impressions about about GreyMan Template? I’d really like to do it after OP I/A (now strength is my priority).
I’d also see your S Cluster (PU and Dips above all) and it’s exactly the same I’m planning for the future. Are you keeping PU and Dips purely Bodyweight or Weighted? Did you fear some lack of strength in WPU training them Bodyweight with high reps?
Last question, if I can, what do you think about the reduced frequency (and volume) alternating BP/OHP and SQ/DL respect 3x of Operator?
Sorry for the long message, I’d really like your log!
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Wednesday 3/24
GC 6
GC 6
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Hey Stefano!
My thoughts on GM, overall:
Positives
It's a 3 day mass plus sculpting program, or at least you can run it like that, depending on your S's. So you can do conditioning stuff on other days too, a la Operator. (I realize the books warn against this. I wanted to try out doing full fledged HICs with it just to see how it goes. I'm already quite large plus I'm recreational, so no harm done if it doesn't work!)
I like the alternating A/B/A B/A/B thing. Makes sense to me.
(Possible) Negatives
Man, the workouts can run long--and intense. I nearly picked one of the 4 day programs for this reason.
KB refers more than a few times to folks who don't handle DLs well. If that applies to you, then Grey Man is not for you. I used 345 for my DL weight yesterday (which was actually conservative), and it's a lot at that set and rep count, esp. to then do OHP and FS afterward.
Actually, that would be my one real warning about running GM. If you're already strong, then the %s and rep counts can be pretty rough. I realize that "I'm already big" is a dumb complaint about a mass building protocol, and I don't really mean it as a criticism. Just saying it's something to be aware of. I ran 3 weeks of Grey Man last summer (I needed a mental break from Operator with COVID lockdown, working from home, etc.), and that's what I found then.
On the dips and pull-ups:
I'm using bodyweight for both. But I weigh 235, so that's more than what a lot of people would do for WPU on this protocol. I'd use +70lbs for WPUs for the 3 rep days on Operator, for example, so yeah, that's more weight. But I'm seriously considering running 3 weeks of regular Operator after 3 weeks of GM, and perhaps alternating back and forth like that if things work out. So I'm not really worried about a loss in back strength, esp. since I'll be deadlifting for the first time in ... 9 months, I think?
And for a similar reason, I'm not worried about a loss in overall strength with the drop in frequency compared to Operator. When I was at my strongest (this was many years ago now, sigh), my leg workout was once a week I'd do back squats for as many sets as I could stomach, and later in the week I'd do the same with front squats. And again, if I'm not happy with how it's going, I'll just go back to regular old Operator, I think.
My main concern for the S's I picked is that it's going to overdo it for my elbow. A few years ago I gave myself tendonitis (tennis elbow) doing too many pull-ups, and it is miserable.
The other element to this is that I'm trying to do HICs with heavy kettlebells in the hopes that they would add to the effect with Grey Man. I've definitely noticed in the past my physique improves a bit when I do a lot of swings. This week I've done Devil's Trinity with a 40 kg bell and GC 6 with a 56 kg bell.
Let me know if I missed anything!
My thoughts on GM, overall:
Positives
It's a 3 day mass plus sculpting program, or at least you can run it like that, depending on your S's. So you can do conditioning stuff on other days too, a la Operator. (I realize the books warn against this. I wanted to try out doing full fledged HICs with it just to see how it goes. I'm already quite large plus I'm recreational, so no harm done if it doesn't work!)
I like the alternating A/B/A B/A/B thing. Makes sense to me.
(Possible) Negatives
Man, the workouts can run long--and intense. I nearly picked one of the 4 day programs for this reason.
KB refers more than a few times to folks who don't handle DLs well. If that applies to you, then Grey Man is not for you. I used 345 for my DL weight yesterday (which was actually conservative), and it's a lot at that set and rep count, esp. to then do OHP and FS afterward.
Actually, that would be my one real warning about running GM. If you're already strong, then the %s and rep counts can be pretty rough. I realize that "I'm already big" is a dumb complaint about a mass building protocol, and I don't really mean it as a criticism. Just saying it's something to be aware of. I ran 3 weeks of Grey Man last summer (I needed a mental break from Operator with COVID lockdown, working from home, etc.), and that's what I found then.
On the dips and pull-ups:
I'm using bodyweight for both. But I weigh 235, so that's more than what a lot of people would do for WPU on this protocol. I'd use +70lbs for WPUs for the 3 rep days on Operator, for example, so yeah, that's more weight. But I'm seriously considering running 3 weeks of regular Operator after 3 weeks of GM, and perhaps alternating back and forth like that if things work out. So I'm not really worried about a loss in back strength, esp. since I'll be deadlifting for the first time in ... 9 months, I think?
And for a similar reason, I'm not worried about a loss in overall strength with the drop in frequency compared to Operator. When I was at my strongest (this was many years ago now, sigh), my leg workout was once a week I'd do back squats for as many sets as I could stomach, and later in the week I'd do the same with front squats. And again, if I'm not happy with how it's going, I'll just go back to regular old Operator, I think.
My main concern for the S's I picked is that it's going to overdo it for my elbow. A few years ago I gave myself tendonitis (tennis elbow) doing too many pull-ups, and it is miserable.
The other element to this is that I'm trying to do HICs with heavy kettlebells in the hopes that they would add to the effect with Grey Man. I've definitely noticed in the past my physique improves a bit when I do a lot of swings. This week I've done Devil's Trinity with a 40 kg bell and GC 6 with a 56 kg bell.
Let me know if I missed anything!
-
VenomousCoffee
- Posts: 1960
- Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 pm
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Thursday 3/25
Grey Man Week 1
Friday 3/26
Off
Grey Man Week 1
Friday 3/26
Off
Re: VenomousCoffee's Training Log
Thanks again for your time and for the detailed answer...I learn some really useful tips and I’m considering to start GM next week...Let’s see how goes the OP workout I’ll do this evening!