Ben Plotnicki

9/23

A1 – Dbl DB bench press x 10, rest 1 min

65-70-75-80

A2 – Single DB on back box step ups x 20 alternating, rest 2 min x 4

1 x 50, 3 x 55

*note – not worried about DB’s touching at top, just ensure they’re locked out

+

EMOM x 20

1 – AMRAP 30 sec toes to bar18-17-16-13

2 – 8 thrusters @ 115lbs

3 – AMRAP 30 sec chest to bar12-9-10-8

4 – 20 wallballs @ 20lbs to 10ft

5 – Active recovery on bike/ski

I really wanted to push for big sets on TTB just to see how it would affect the CTB. I also had this plan but my other plan with CTB was to do a mini set short break and right back up because this is one place I feel I need work on the discipline with that movement and short quick rest breaks. First off, i’m not sure how much the TTB played a role in the struggle with CTB but I also felt that I was trying to “over’ kip the ctb which felt like it was throwing off some of my timing and rhythm. But also after the 3rd time through going into the 4th the fatigue felt very real and that round was a struggle with the gymnastics work. I was thankful for the thruster because i felt strong here and the Wall ball I knew I could knock that out

+

B1 – Single leg parallette L-sit x 10-15 sec/side

B2 – Single leg GHD sorenson hold x 10-15 sec/side

B3 – Banded pallof lateral walkouts x 6 reps/side

B4 – Supine leg whips x 4 reps/side (high hips throughout), rest as needed x 4 sets

done

9/24 – OFF

9/25

Thoracic drills

+

A – Band resisted front squats 8 sets of 3 @ 50%, rest 60 sec

(light bands anchored low to keep you honest on speed/intent, move these well

145 – didn’t feel super strong today because felt a little sore but I did try and jump the bar off my shoulder at the top of each rep so at least some portion of the concentric was fast speed focused

+

B – Clean grip RDL’s from small elevation x 6 reps @ 31X1 tempo, rest 2 min x 4 sets

165 across – there was more there, but the quality of positions and tempo felt really good so stayed right there. 

+

4 sets, rest as needed

C1 – Wide grip strict pullup with lean away negative x 6 reps

C2 – 1-arm overcoming isometric in shoulder flexion x 12-14 sec/side

C3 – Banded top-arm rows from side plank x 8/arm

C4 – Band assisted tucked front lever hold on low rings x 18-22 sec

This was the first time doing the pull up work that I felt zero discomfort from anywhere in any portion in the rep. 

+

4 sets, rest as needed

D1 – Foot assisted segmented strict RMU x 3 + Ring Dips x 5

D2 – (Dbl DB chest fly x 1/Dbl DB squeeze press x 2) * 5 complexes @ 25-30

D3 – Dbl DB pullover x 8-10 (light DB in each hand)

D4 – Alternating shoulder taps from belly to wall HS hold x 7/side

I tried 30 on the flies but it was still too much for a high quality big range of motion so I stuck with 25 – did 6 reps on ring dips. Pumped about that and even did a pause on tension in the bottom of the dip which I’m even happier about. 

+

E – Piked HSPU with feet on box – 6 sets of 8, rest 90 sec

*can start this with feet on ground or weight plates, and then bring them higher as you go to place more weight on hands

Today I wanted to try and rest closer to 75 seconds than 90 and that went well but 6 sets was the max. I wouldn’t have been able to do a 7th set at 8 reps, maybe with 5 or 6 reps.

9/19

#tttTD357

3 Min AMRAP:

30 Thrusters – 95lbs

AMRAP Bar Facing Burpees In Remaining Time

24 bar facing burpee…..I am just a little bitch when it comes to thrusters right now. My goal was to break in two sets, 18/12 was the goal. And around rep 12 I felt as if my rack position was starting to drop and my rep speed felt like it was slowing down. So i dropped as planned at 18 and picked the bar back up and felt really slow and that’s where the little bitch in me convinced my other brain that I needed another break so i did 6/6 to finish. With the highly effected limited time to complete my burpee i at least felt like I did a better job with my burpee than my thruster.

Rest 1 min

3 Min AMRAP:

30 Bar Facing Burpees

AMRAP Thrusters. 95lbs In Remaining Time

13 thruster, had a good pace on my burpee just no second gear which is what I really needed in this session today and I just didn’t push the way i need to

*Score is total reps completed

Rest as needed

+

A – Hand release deadlifts x 3 reps @ 75-80% of 3RM, rest 3 min x 3 sets

Not sure what my 3 rep is but i did 275-285-295 and felt like it was an 8/10 maybe a 7/10 but felt good and a lot more in the tank

+

4 sets, rest 90 sec bt sets

45 sec AMRAP Double Unders, rest 15 Sec

TNG Deadlifts x 8 reps @ 225lbs – Speed Focus

66-80-84-88 – i clipped on the first set 4 times, I just made the assumption that DU is something I should be able to do out the gate with minimal warmup and i wasn’t definitely wrong today. after the rest were unbroken, but i feel i started slowing down around rep 50 or so

9/20 – OFF

9/21

Part 1

Self directed upper body prep, can bias towards lower volume again if you want, but maybe after the weekend it will make sense to take your time and prep well

+

A – Hang power snatches x 5 unbroken reps, rest 1 min x 4 sets

105 – did not go with a bop bop on either, I was smooth in my lowering and right into position. For this work today on both i was more comfortable with the hang around the knee

B – Hang power clean/jerks x 5 unbroken reps, rest 1 min x 4 sets

135 – first set I thought 135 might get a little spicy but it forced me into better hip extension and the rack/pressing position was key, and then from that point i felt pretty confident

*moderate for A/B this week, and we’ll build from here. These don’t have to bounce off the thighs, just working on some strength and efficiency work with cycling

+

5 rounds for time @ 35lbs/hand

12 dbl db deadlifts

9 dbl db hang cleans

6 dbl db shoulder to overhead

3 wall walks

9:14 – i had a goal to be sub 9 so i was racing for that….i made a decision to break the cleans up more than i needed, my thought process is that i need my wall walks to be done in 30sec or less, really 25 but i was being realistic. The first round no problem, db’s are so light so I fell into the trap of not doing breaking up more than i thought i needed and i took way too long on the 3 wall walks in round 2. So in round 3 i broke 2 really quick times in deadlifts, i think same for clean but i don’t remember at this point and i know in that round I know i did my wall walks under 30sec, i was on pace for the same in round 4, but my wall walk reps got a little sloppy and that took a ton of energy for trying to push the pace there. Overall i thought my intentions to set myself up to push those wall walks was good even though I didn’t execute as well as I needed to. 

Part 2

Self-directed mobility

9/22

Warm-Up

At an easy pace/get sweaty:

1 Min Echo

1 Min Row

1 Min Ski

+

At tough effort/get breathing up:

1 Min Echo – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

1 Min Row – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

1 Min Ski – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

+

At tough/strong, target efforts for workout:

1 Min Echo

Rest 30 sec

1 Min Row

Rest 30 sec

1 Min Ski

Rest 4 Min

Rest as needed

*BEFORE YOU TRAIN – plug in your initial test cal counts into our calculator to get these pace ranges

https://programs.trainingthinktank.com/pyramid-pace-calculator

Training

1 Min Echo @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Echo @ Max Recoverable Pace

1 Min Echo @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Echo @ Max Recoverable Pace

*Rest 1 Min*

1 Min Row @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Row @ Max Recoverable Pace

1 Min Row @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Row @ Max Recoverable Pace

*Rest 1 Min*

1 Min Ski @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Ski @ Max Recoverable Pace

1 Min Ski @ Target Training Pace

1 Min Ski @ Max Recoverable Pace

*Rest 4 Min x 2 sets

Hit all target paces, row and ski were easiest, it was hard AF to keep ski down as low as my range was. I do think on the test i was still in vacay mode so I know there was some struggle on that day that might not be truly indicative of my best ability but that means there are no execuses that i need to hold the high of all paces throughout the progression. Today on the 2nd set, i was top end on row and ski and spent a little time just above. 1st set was same just not as easy as second set as I was truly truly warmed up. I will post a pic of paces and i even measured calories just for own personal management and perspective. 

*These are work-work intervals, designed to have you spending more and more time above your initial target pace, but also staying moving during the ‘Rest’. The priority is on being stubborn about the pace for the target intervals, and ensuring that you are working at a slow but steady effort during the ‘Rest’ so that you can push again after.

*Try to spend as much time as possible at the upper end of each of these ranges

9/18

Thoracic drills, self directed

+

A – Front squat build to strong single, leave 10lbs in the tank from daily max

285 – I was about to load up another jump but then I had to remind myself leave 10 in the tank. I’m also pretty happy with this because I did not feel super strong today. 290 woukd be there easily and 295 should be, maybe a little grindy but feel pretty confident I could hit it today. 

+

B – Front squat 5 singles @ 80-84% of best hit from A, rest 2 min

*move these FAST

240 – probably should’ve stuck on the lower end because I do think might speed slowed down and single 4, but definitely did on 4

+

3 sets, rest as needed

C1 – Wide grip strict pullup with lean away negative x 6 reps

C2 – 1-arm overcoming isometric in shoulder flexion x 12-14 sec/side

C3 – Banded top-arm rows from side plank x 8/arm

C4 – Band assisted tucked front lever hold on low rings x 18-22 sec

My first set of lean aways I did not lean away very much, i was still pretty sore from wednesday. 

+

3 sets, rest as needed

D1 – Foot assisted segmented strict RMU x 3 + Ring Dips x 5

D2 – (Dbl DB chest fly x 1/Dbl DB squeeze press x 2) * 5 complexes @ 25-30

D3 – Dbl DB pullover x 8-10 (light DB in each hand)

D4 – Alternating shoulder taps from belly to wall HS hold x 7/side

I tried to turn my thumbs out on a few of the ring dips, I was able to just did not feel as stable but pretty pumped about that. Shoulder taps were good but they always fire up my shoulder girdle and challenge my range of motion in a good way i just need to schedule a massage after or something next time to relax all that muscle tissue

+

E – Piked HSPU with feet on box – 5 sets of 8, rest 90 sec

*can start this with feet on ground or weight plates, and then bring them higher as you go to place more weight on hands

I had a little different set up for my head/hands so I might have gone wider with my hands on a set because it felt too easy but since I was in a new set up i wasn’t as familiar with keeping my normal hand positions

9/15

Warm-Up

At an easy pace/get sweaty:

1 Min Echo

1 Min Row

1 Min Ski

(rest 1 min)

At tough effort/get breathing up:

1 Min Echo – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

1 Min Row – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

1 Min Ski – 30 sec Hard + 30 sec Easy

(rest 1 min)

At tough/strong, target efforts for workout:

1 Min Echo

Rest 30 sec

1 Min Row

Rest 30 sec

1 Min Ski

*Rest 4 Min before starting*

Pyramid Initial test

For total cals on a 33 Min running clock

4 Min Echo 59

4 Min Row 70

4 Min Ski 59

*Rest 1 Min*

3 Min Echo 35

3 Min Row 45 

3 Min Ski 42

*Rest 1 Min*

2 Min Echo 23

2 Min Row 30 

2 Min Ski 27 

*Rest 1 Min*

1 Min Echo 11

1 Min Row 15

1 Min Ski 16

*Your score is the total calories accumulated across all machines.

*Please try to track your cals/round/machine as best you can. You should have the chance to quickly write down the numbers AND reset the monitors during the 1 min rest window after each level, but you’ll have to really move. Or can have a friend grab the numbers for you and reset monitors so you can just focus on the work. We will run a progression on this over the next 8 weeks, and have our paces built off of these scores

432 Didn’t really know how I was going to pace this, first 8 minutes I hit my targets and felt really good, but getting into the ski and wanting to hit my target effort i kind of felt like I made a bad decision as that was when it hit me, but I fought for it. Then shit got very real when 1 minute is not enough time to rest, write calories down, reset monitors and wonder what the fuck just happened. Those 3 minutes might have been the hardest 3 min intervals and felt much longer than the 4. Somewhere in the 3’s I was wanting this shit to be done. In the 2’s I was just trying to survive, I even felt like I was going to throw up at one point. Just glad to say I survived this one.

9/16

A1 – Dbl DB bench press x 8, rest 1 min

50-60-70-70 if the progression is going to 10, if I just focus on lock out i can get 10, but today if i brought the db’s to contact at the top of the rep 10 would’ve been a grind

A2 – Single DB on back box step ups x 16 alternating, rest 1 min x 4

50 across – a lot more in the tank here I’m just really slow on my rep speed here. 

+

For time

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of

Chest to bar pullups

Dbl Db hang squat cleans @ 50lbs per hand

10:24 – thoughts before I started. A little intimidated with the total number of chest to bars to start the workout… was more concerned with the cleans for the grip to effect the pull up. This is a scenario where I should’ve had a plan, but being in “traianing” i thought just figure it out, but I also think my confidence is down with CTBs right now so i’m always afraid to have a plan when my confidence is lower……workout execution….CTB ub sets in the 10, 8, 7,6 &5….broke the 9’s because i tried to make my fastest transition. Also broke db sets up until the 5’s down. Could’ve been more aggressive there but was a little worried about that carryover and the heart rate went higher with the dbs than it did with the CTB which i am super happy about, normally my heart rate goes through the roof with pull ups. When i got to the 4’s on pull ups, i started going single, and that was mostly to minimize rest/transitions. Had I considered going whole set there I might have taken a little longer to start my set but just thought that route i’ll just grab and go. 

+

A1 – Single leg parallette L-sit x 10-15 sec/side

A2 – Single leg GHD sorenson hold x 10-15 sec/side

A3 – Banded pallof lateral walkouts x 6 reps/side

A4 – Supine leg whips x 4 reps/side (high hips throughout), rest as needed x 3 sets

10 sec on L-sit, 10 the first set on sorenson until i adjusted the ghd set up and then went 15.

9/14 (easier after travel)

Part 1

Self directed upper body prep, can bias towards lower volume again if you want, but maybe after the weekend it will make sense to take your time and prep well

+

A – Power snatch – 1 rep every 20 sec x 4 @ 115-135lbs, rest 3 min x 3

115-135-135

+

B – Power clean and jerk – 1 rep every 20 sec x 4 @ 155-175lbs, rest 3 min x 3

155 across

+

C – OHS @ 31X1 tempo x 4 reps, new set every 2:30 x 4 (moderate loading, can snatch balance into first one if elbow is good for it)

115 – did not feel great, just really tight and grindy

+

4 sets at smooth effort

15 GHD situps

10 burpees to jump touch pullup bar

4-5 bar MU

rest 2 min bt sets

I called it in the 3rd set, my body felt so off and wrecked from the drive and I’m sure some inflammation. Went to get adjusted after that and I felt 100x better. So should be back closer to normal

9/9

A – Thoracic mobility and front rack prep (let me know what this looks like now and what feels best)

+

B1 – 7 thrusters @ 135lbs, rest 20 sec

B2 – 14 thrusters @ 95lbs, rest 20 sec

B3 – 28 wallballs @ 20lbs to 10ft, rest 5 min x 2 sets

Thank goodness there was only 2 of these. I feel great with the 135. I do choose to take a pause and hold overhead on rep 9, it’s the wall balls that get tough. 

+

C1 – 1-arm DB OH walking lunge x 40ft/side @ 35lbs, into

C2 – Dbl DB OH walking carry x 150ft @ 35lbs/hand, rest 3 min x 3 sets

Just mean. 

+

Every 3 min x 16 sets (4x through)

1 – 2 min echo

2 – 2 min row

3 – 2 min ski

4 – Walking rest

*consider these strong working efforts. probably 62-63 RPM bike, 1050-1100 cal/hr row, 900-950 cal/hr ski

First on echo was good, then the row was hard and I was about to mail it in and start functioning on vacation made. But I mentally locked in and wasn’t going to settle for half ass work. Ski and echo were good hitting target numbers. Row I hit them but had to work a little to get there. 

9/8

TTT Running Gait Prep – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfzaIRyY8I

+

3 min easy jog

+

3 sets @ building intensity

200m run

8 bar facing burpees

rest 1 min bt sets

+

Cycle Re:Test – (compare to 7/21, 23:03)

For time (25 min cap)

600m Run

10 Bar Facing Burpees

600m Run

20 Bar Facing Burpees

600m Run

30 Bar Facing Burpees

600m Run

40 Bar Facing Burpees

21:24 – I really wish I hadn’t seen the score in parentheses but that didn’t actually change my plan. I had a goal for each 600, and it was smooth consistent, and just start running but not too worry too much about my first 150-200m, then settle in, and pull back a little in the last 100-150m so I could settle into my burpee pace. That is where I felt the biggest difference today. My burpee felt so steady and consistent. All along in these progressions i was getting frustrated because I didn’t feel I was progressing enough, but getting into this today when I got into each set of burpee I just felt in control and comfortable at the pace I was going so when I realized where I was finishing the last run going into the burpee I knew I was going to crush my time, so my goal was to find a spot where I could “kick” and there wasn’t much of a kick but with 15 left, which was my goal was to just try and find a way to speed up even if it was only .001 of a second, just deal with the fatigue and finish. 

+

5 min backwards walking cooldown

This is once again humbling

9/5

I wanted to try something a little different this morning. We’ve had so much warm up/movement prep to work on thoracic extension/shojkxer/front rack which I know is so valuable and important for my performance and long term health. But I think I’ve kind of lost the ability to be ready quickly, so today I wanted to try and get prepped as quickly as possible, tried to take the best of what we have been doing and be time efficient and effective. Some sacrifice of true overall preparedness but thought it would be a good exploration for when I might be put in a position that I have to. 

On a 40 min running clock

Starting at 0:00

For time (7 min cap)

21-15-9

Thrusters @ 75lbs

Bar Facing Burpees

5:54 – I tried to stay smooth here and not go all out and hold a little back for the middle piece. Also goal with that was to not slow down in burpee, was decent but finishing the last set of thruster into burpee had a bad transition as I let the bar bounce  and roll too much and wasted at least 7-8 seconds to get that first burpee on the last round. 

+

Starting at 10:00

7 Min AMRAP:

21 Double Unders

7 Toes to Bar

21 Double Unders

7 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups

4+22 – in warm up I did no gymnastics pulling prep, just wanted to trust myself and see what happened. I didn’t force transactions as fast as I need to but I actually I’m pleased with the execution of the movements. The first round I kind of wanted to feel it out and was conservative on transitions there but after that I knew I was ok so was a little tighter with things. 

+

Starting at 25:00

15 Min AMRAP:

25 Cal Row

30 Power Cleans – 95lb

25 Cal Row

25 Power Cleans – 135lb

25 Cal Row

20 Power Cleans – 185lb

25 Cal Row

AMRAP Power Cleans – 205lb

8 reps @ 185 – first off I didn’t just man up and row. I felt like a little bitch when it came to rowing effort, so to try and combat that, I used a break on the rower to make a plate change. I don’t know if this saved any time but it made me feel I could row harder in shorter intervals. Wildly enough I felt the 95 barbell crushed my soul and took way more energy than it should and actually felt much better at the 135….i didn’t video so not sure the actual splits but internal perception during felt that way. 

9/6 – OFF

9/7

Expedited the warm up today, was on the road driving back from spending the labor day weekend with my father who was in knoxville for the weekend and Kelsey wanted to get some pool time so I still wanted to get in the session but game myself a hard stop time limit

Part 1

Thoracic drills + Banded activation with your Macgyver setup

+

3 sets of lightly loaded movement work, rest as needed

Medball/Dball bear hug hold alternating get ups x 10 steps (5/side)

Bottoms up KB high windmill x 3/side

Prone snatch grip BB liftoffs with training bar x 3-4

25ft forward seal walk + 25ft backward seal walk (feet on slider)

+

A – Empty bar burgener snatch prep x 2 sets

B – Empty bar burgener clean and jerk prep x 2 sets

C – Dbl DB z-press x 12 reps, rest 2:30 x 4 sets

*stick at 30

Next week if we keep this progression I am going to get a set of 4-6 @ 35 for a pre-set/warm up set just to see how it feels with control and position overhead

+

D – Every 90 x 6 – Squat clean x 1

*3 sets at 235, then build to 245

235 felt strong, was confident with 240 and I think to the expedited warmup the 245 was more tough mentally through the pull off the ground than it actually was with my internal perception. 

(rest 2 min)

E – Every 90 sec x 6 – Hang Power Clean x 3 reps @ 195lbs

Felt a little spicer than last week but, if I go to the knee or just above the knee I feel pretty confident and strong with it, it’s the 3rd rep I don’t trust the bop bop and end up pulling under more than expressing powerful hip extension. 

+

F – Push press x 1 strong rep/Split jerk x 2 reps, new complex every 2:30 x 4

*lets go 155-165 here if moving well

Stayed at 155

+

G – Back squats x 6, rest 120 sec x 6 sets @ 235lbs

Done – did the super set set up to be time efficient

Part 2

Self-directed mobility

Skipped today

9/4

1 set current thoracic ext/rot drills

Tall kneeling thoracic extensions against wall x 3-4 reps with 3 breath cycles/rep

2-way half kneeling thoracic rotations against wall x 3 ‘reps’/side

1-arm KB snatch to high windmill x 3 reps/side

+

Additional thoracic extension drills

A1 – Hanging cobra stretch with bar in j-cups x 20-30 sec with controlled breathing (don’t hold your breath!!), rest 30 sec

*I like this setup as you can control the intensity by adjusting the height of the bar

A2 – Blocked thoracic extensions on GHD pads with hands behind head x 8-10 reps, rest 60-90 sec x 4 sets

*Picture trying to segment the flexion/extension movement as much as possible, one spine segment at a time. Try to set this up where you isolate the movement JUST at upper back, everything below sternum stays still. This hopefully allows us a way to ‘own’ the ROM by actively turning on the spinal erectors in that segment

+

A – Front squat build to strong double

*I LOVED the numbers from last week, lets see if we can build just slightly on that but really make sure that you are coming into this with confidence

280 – confidence was there and there was a few more pounds in the tank today. 

+

B – Front squat 4 sets of 2 @ 80-84% of best hit from A, rest 2 min

235 – why do these doubles feel harder than the heavy set

+

3 sets, rest as needed

C1 – Wide grip strict pullup with lean away negative x 5 reps

C2 – 1-arm overcoming isometric in shoulder flexion x 10-12 sec/side

C3 – Banded top-arm rows from side plank x 7/arm

C4 – Band assisted tucked front lever hold on low rings x 15-20 sec

done

+

3 sets, rest as needed

D1 – Foot assisted segmented strict RMU x 3 + Ring Dips x 5

It feels so fucking good to be able to do dips again 

D2 – (Dbl DB chest fly x 1/Dbl DB squeeze press x 2) * 5 complexes @ 25-30

30-then to 25 I liked have greater control from a deeper range of motion at the 25

D3 – Dbl DB pullover x 8-10 (light DB in each hand)

D4 – Alternating shoulder taps from belly to wall HS hold x 7/side

Done – and upper body felt smoked by this point

+

E – Piked HSPU with feet on box – 6 sets of 6, rest 90 sec

*can start this with feet on ground or weight plates, and then bring them higher as you go to place more weight on hands

Felt better than last week but man i was tired by this point.