Week 4, day 1

I took BCAAs at 4:15 and trained 18+ hours fasted.

• Below-parallel concentric only squats + red bands (3:00 rest)
• 185 x 3
• 205 x 2
• 235 x 1
• 255 x 1 x 4
• 225# front squat - 10" box (3:00 rest)
• 5 + 1
• 4 + 1
• 3 + 1
• Metcon - 5 rounds
• 5 towel pullups
• 10 wall-ball shots (18# med ball to 10' target)
• 15 KB swings (45#)
• 20 double-unders

The squats were a little tougher today because I tightened the bands from last time. Hard to measure progress but I'll do it the same way next time. My wrists were a little sore from all the cleans Friday night so I decided to do 3 sets of front squat to max reps at 225. It felt lie a better workout so I'll keep that the same next time as well. The metcon was fun, but my legs and my lungs were screaming for oxygen. I finished in exactly 9:00.

In other news, I found a $10 bill on the floor of the gym after my workout. Being the honest gentleman I am, I asked if anyone had asked about lost money. They said nobody had. I was fully ready to go buy a nice grass-fed sirloin with it, but just as I was leaving the locker room I heard a man ask at the desk if anyone had by any chance returned $10. It felt good giving the money back to him even though it meant having chicken for dinner again. He was legitimately grateful and surprised that someone would have the courtesy to even ask about 10 bucks - it's a shame that there are so few people out there who would. In my opinion, respect and a good steak belong in the same category: "better when you earn it."

Anyway, I had a whey shake on the way home at 5:45, and I finally snapped a pic of the PWO potato:

 6:15PM - 1 white potato (no skin), microwaved and quartered, topped with a dollop of greek yogurt, Frank's, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.

 7:15PM - (Left): 2 cups egg whites cooked in coconut oil, mixed with a large sweet potato, a large banana, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and a scoop of apple butter. (Right): Steamed cauliflower and red bell pepper with Frank's.

9:15PM - Buffalo-steamed (butter and Frank's - loving that stuff) broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes topped with 1 large chicken breast and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I had a can of beets (not pictured) and that apple for dessert.

I did my 6 x 400m running intervals this morning. I decreased the rest from 3 minutes to 2, and also jacked the speed up to 11mph for the first 3, and finished up at 11.2, 11.4, 11.6. I'm very happy with the improvement. We'll see if I can man up on the press the same way this afternoon. Git 'er done.