RepublicJim

This was my third time doing high-rep squats with 205 pounds. In my second attempt on May 2nd I managed 30 total rest-pause reps before re-racking the bar. The mission today was to use the same weight but get more total reps. When I took my first short rest I knew I had at least a few more reps in me than last time, simply based on my increase in unbroken reps to start off the set. Then I just had to keep grinding, ignore the pain and fatigue, and get it done. By the time I hit 30 reps my quads were trembling quite a bit, I was struggling to get adequate air, and my back was raw from the knurling. That's when I had to dig deep and knock out just one more, and then another and another... There's really nothing I have experienced that I can compare to the full-body agony of high-rep squats. Stairs may be a challenge tomorrow, which makes things interesting, since my office is in a basement. If you want to skip the talking and jump straight to the squats, go to about the 3:20 mark.

Not the squat session that I had planned, but it's the quick set that I actually did. Although life has made it challenging lately to be consistent with training, my conditioning is still gradually improving. Normally I would warm up properly and ramp up to higher weights. I would also wear shorts rather than my office clothes. However, as a preparedness enthusiast I do find value in being able to demonstrate a certain level of strength and conditioning at any time and under any circumstances. To me, that's true "functional fitness." If life throws a curve and I suddenly need to perform hard physical tasks, I likely will not have the luxury of changing clothes, warming up, having pre-workout, etc. I like to know that I can jump in cold while wearing street clothes and do a moderate amount of work. NOTE: as quite rightly pointed out by @oldnatty61 in a previous video, re-racking the bar by backing up can be dangerous, especially when very fatigued. I am aware of the risk and choose to accept it for my own reasons. However, I encourage you to be safe and squat facing the rack.

Some off-the-cuff rambling updates on life and this channel, offered up during my morning commute. This is just some of it; life has been very busy and very stressful lately. I'm cautiously optimistic that things will slow down soon and allow me a little more leisure time, but we'll see how that plays out. Notice the traffic on my commute. That's just one of the many benefits of country living. The drive actually offers a chance to relax, enjoy the scenery, and get away from some of the daily stress. I'm so thankful that I don't have rush-hour traffic to deal with on top of everything else!

These four "reps" made up a large part of my workout today. This was the first time this year I've done this, and yesterday I did a tough deadlift session, and it showed. It's a good thing that it is a fairly light vehicle, even with all the stuff I load in it! Note that all footage is at double speed in order to keep the video shorter; I did not actually move quickly at all. Not shown is the fifth rep that I attempted and failed, as I was too gassed to get the Jeep rolling on the slight incline at the start of our driveway. Also, my feet were too raw at that point to really get any push into the ground. A few take-aways from this session: * I REALLY need someone to steer when I do this. * Our driveway is even more uneven and rougher than last year. * Even a tiny slope greatly increases the difficulty in getting started. * I made a huge tactical error on the fourth rep when I let the Jeep stop with the driver's side rear tire against the edge of a hole. With a little momentum it was easy to roll it over the bump, but I just couldn't do it from a dead stop.

I love when the nettles come into season! This year it looks like we will have more than ever. They are not an undesirable weed at all, but rather a great (free) edible and medicinal resource. I will enjoy fresh greens in salads, cooked in omelets, etc. We are going to have to take the time to harvest a lot more this year and dry a bunch for tea as well. The growing season is relatively short but the benefits can last all year! NOTE: Do not try this at home! I'm what you call eccentric. If you are ever remotely tempted to experiment with deliberate exposure to nettle stings (known as urtication, which is definitely not recommended), start out very cautiously with only one sting to check for any severe allergic reaction, and then build up tolerance gradually. Of course you should probably consult a doctor first. They will doubtless say it's a terrible idea and recommend multiple pills and/or shots instead. Trust the experts.

Here are my thoughts concerning some of the changes to the Army Combat Fitness Test since the last time I discussed it a couple of years ago. The removal of the leg tuck especially grinds my gears. The change in scoring, not so much, but it's still a bit odd (and likely political). Note that after reviewing the footage I'm aware my plank position was not ideal. However, if I had an observer to warn me to lower my butt, keep my knees straighter, etc. then I could adjust my position and continue to hold it with no problem. Also, monologuing while performing a plank does increase the difficulty just a tad, so there's that. My main point in doing the plank in the video is simply to show that I'm not just blowing smoke about the scoring on this event being too easy. If this overweight 56 year old can do it without much effort, there is nothing "rigorous" about this particular event. The official ACFT site: https://www.army.mil/acft/ My original video about certain ACFT events: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyQSD7xLqGI Half hour trap bar deadlift challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPEl2zWitmU Core workout video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HepOIIne8R0

Since I finally reached my goal of 50+ rest-pause reps with 185 pounds at the end of January, it was time to add weight to the bar and work at increasing reps once again. The first time I tried 205 pounds I thought I was dying and I only managed 25 total reps. It turns out an extra 20 pounds makes a significant difference when doing high reps! Who knew? This time I stuck with 205 and just worked at grinding out a few more reps. Some of them were a bit sketchy, but I actually improved a bit after the first 20. However, the longer the set drags on, the more uncomfortable that bar gets on the back. I really wanted to rerack it near the end! There's still a long way to go before I have the strength and stamina to do 50 reps with this weight. Probably I'll need to be able to do at least 15 unbroken reps before I can make a legitimate run at 50 total. We'll see how the next several months go.

This is part two of two videos showing some of my inexpensive improvised, repurposed, modified, and/or DIY gym equipment. Note that I have actually purchased several items, but may be using them in unusual ways or as part of some other system. Most things that I build or cobble together from assorted components make use of items I already have laying around from other projects or used/damaged items given to me by friends, family, or customers. I realize this is quite long, but I didn't want to skip over relevant details in order to cut the length. I really enjoy some of these items, and it's very satisfying to be able to add such equipment to my gym at minimal or no cost. I hope it helps someone to improve their own gym equipment on the cheap. If the video is too long, or you don't want to listen to my rambling, feel free to simply fast forward or skip ahead to whatever items interest you.

This is part one of two videos showing some of my inexpensive improvised, repurposed, modified, and/or DIY gym equipment. Note that I have actually purchased several items, but may be using them in unusual ways or as part of some other system. Most things that I build or cobble together from assorted components make use of items I already have laying around from other projects or used/damaged items given to me by friends, family, or customers. Pardon the mess in my barn. Rest assured the section I don't show looks much worse. Also, note that I need to "install new flooring" (break open a new straw bale) in my gym. If you or anyone you know is looking for a project Grand Wagoneer, feel free to leave a comment. I have to admit I'm never going to get around to it, and I could sure use more gym space. I'm open to offers. Stay tuned for part two, outdoors with smaller, portable items.

Another workout moving weights from point A to point B. I did a little bit of warmup and other movements too that I didn't bother to film. This was the meat of my session though. None of it was especially heavy, but everything I did worked multiple muscle groups and general conditioning. The outdoor carries are 2x speed just to limit the length of the video and hopefully keep it from being too tedious. It isn't noticeable on camera, but on the second set of carries there were a few light snowflakes drifting down. Now - a few hours later - it's snowing hard. Springtime in Republic!

So, I recently saw a short video by @BattleBunker where they were challenging people to squat with 135 for a dollar per rep. A guy who was either 53 or 54, wearing work clothes, stepped in and managed 23 reps. Many of the comments made it sound like it was amazing someone that old could do many reps, even if they were questionable depth. And many comments mentioned the work clothes, as if that's a big handicap. Since I'm a couple of years older than the guy in the short (practically ready for a retirement home), naturally I couldn't resist testing it out when I got home from work. To make it more comparable, after I parked my Jeep in the barn I just headed for the squat rack in my slacks, polo shirt, and "tactical" boots. I did take keys and pocketknife out of my pockets, but did the set cold with zero warmup. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be straight reps or a rest-pause style, so I did a near-maximal straight set of reps, then limited myself to only one additional cluster after a pause. Because I've fairly recently managed over 50 rest-pause reps with 185, I'm certain I could do quite a bit more than that with 135 before racking the bar, but who wants to sit through that? I think it's obvious that 56 years old isn't completely over the hill. And, if I ever run into a challenge like that on the street, I could pick up a decent amount of gas money!

I was even sleepier than I realized! Until I reviewed my videos the following day I had no idea that I had I filmed two segments in portrait instead of landscape. Sorry about that. This was a very quick overnight campout just to practice a few skills and remain accustomed to sleeping in an improvised shelter. I had planned to test out a few other items and skills, but was just too tired and short on time. Hopefully I'll be able to get away more often in the near future. While it wasn't an especially comfy night (especially with the gear failure), it certainly could have been much worse, and I gained some worthwhile insights. Outings like this are great preparation to endure the elements in any actual emergency situations. NOTE: Be safe! I encourage people to get out and practice skills and test equipment, but start out in a relatively controlled environment and decent weather. Build skills and resistance to discomfort before doing anything extreme. It's always better to test one's limits when safety is not too far away or help is reachable by phone and/or radio.

Just a quickie from this evening's workout. Of course I carried the barbell there first, then took a breather before making the return trip. I also did suitcase carries, some time on the ski machine, and a kettlebell swing Tabata session all inside the barn, but this outdoor segment was all that I bothered to film. The snow is melting fast now (though we got some fresh snow overnight and this morning), so it is very uneven and treacherous. Finding solid footing was actually harder than walking with the weight. Carrying weight in front of the body really works the core muscles hard. It is also one of the most practical things to do for real-life applications. Of course, doing it in snow may not be the wisest thing to do, but I love getting outdoors.

More fun times and variety in my training. The first ladder set was six reps with 90 pounds in hand. The second set, four reps with 90, and an added 40 pound vest. I followed that with three rounds of alternating loading a 126 pound natural stone and a 175 pounder. By the final rep my grip was just about gone, and my legs felt a bit weak. On a positive note, the 126 pound stone that I used to struggle with felt quite light in comparison to the other. It would be fairly easy if it wasn't for the jagged edges on it. After these sets I did some slow cardio on the cross-country ski machine, and split a bunch of firewood. It may not be a very conventional workout but I'm enjoying myself (and really hammering my core stabilizers)!

The day was gorgeous and I felt the itch to get out in the sun for some conditioning. The only drawback was that it was nearly 40 degrees, so the snow was soft and slippery. My snowshoes are excellent though, and provided ample traction to safely complete the session. First, I needed to get the large stone out of the weather and back in the barn for future workouts. Picking it up from the soft snow and snowshoeing with it took a lot out of me. The carry/jog medley was the first of two sets. The second set was even slower and more painful, but I got it done and then hauled the implements back inside the barn. On the final farmer's carry segment I completed most of it in one run before I had to drop and reset. After I made it back to the barn, one of my hands cramped. Though it was tiring and uncomfortable, I'm glad I had the opportunity to soak up some sun and play in the snow. My work capacity continues to slowly improve and fortunately my pain tolerance is already good. Later in the day I topped it off with a two-hour skating session and some firewood splitting. That's a good all-around day of "functional fitness"!

Here is some footage that I used in my welding blanket video, but only the fire-building part, and at actual speed. No talking, just fire on snow. This is a graphic example of how little prep work is needed when starting a fire on the welding blanket. I used some commercial tinder and a little birch bark to light it off, but the stuff on my left was just a collection of small dead branches and bark scavenged from under nearby trees and dumped in a random pile on the snow. Everything except my tinder was a little damp, but not enough to make it too challenging. At the point where I stopped, I could have easily continued building the fire up with larger pieces until it produced a substantial amount of heat. When I finished I simply folded up the welding blanket and put it back in my pack for the next time. From now on it will always be part of my standard gear.

It was time to test my muscle endurance and mental toughness again. I had done the challenge before, doing the published two reps every minute on the minute (EMOM), but I wanted to ramp up the difficulty this time. With my strength level still not all the way back where I would like it to be, adding weight on the bar didn't seem to be a good option. How about THREE reps EMOM for thirty minutes straight instead? I realize that the footage gets rather repetitious (for some reason) and tedious, so feel free to fast forward or skip ahead. Just be sure to stick around for the dramatic conclusion! Note that I don't recommend this challenge for most people. It's something you generally need to work up to gradually. However, if you already do other high-rep sessions, or if you are strong enough that 315 is an easy warmup weight for you, this may be a good one to try out. If grip is a concern, consider using straps in order to focus on pulling without any worries of dropping it. The rest of this month I'll be focusing on moving with weights (loaded carry variations, sled pushing and pulling, weighted ladder climbs, etc.). In April I'll return to some occasional high-rep lifting and see how my conditioning is at that point.

A quick video about a couple of lesser-known carries for improving core strength and stability. The barn was quite chilly (even for my current level of cold adaptation), so I couldn't spend too much time expounding on variations or form cues.

For anyone unfamiliar with dirt roads in snow country, this is the typical road condition for late winter/early spring. Four wheel drive and good traction tires are essential to make the daily half mile drive to and from the county road. Even in the Jeep it can be a bit challenging creeping downhill on ice and making a hard right into my driveway. And, as the ice gradually melts away over the next month (or two), our road will transition from a bobsled run to a mud bog. If you are not comfortable driving on ice or in deep mud, don't plan to visit anyone out in the hills of Ferry County anytime soon!

This was the meat of today's workout, although of course I warmed up and did other sets of throwing and ramp-up sets of squats. I'm getting back to heavier and more cold/uncomfortable stuff, in an attempt to improve my strength and mental toughness. Yes, I completely suck at throwing, as I have virtually no fast-twitch muscle, but I'm trying to get a little more explosive anyway. The Zerchers felt surprisingly good. If I can stay healthy and consistent, look for the weight to increase substantially over the next few months. I've talked before about the synergistic nature of exercise and cold exposure, and this was another good session for that. It was 25 degrees when I started, and had "warmed" to 29 degrees by the time I finished. My hands and feet got a little cold, mainly while in the snow, but my torso was warm (and even a little sweaty) the entire time. The brown adipose tissue (BAT) is activated and effective!

I finally exceeded my rep goal with 185! Way back in late April of 2022 I posted my last high-rep squat video, doing 45 total reps with 185 pounds. I stated then that I expected to hit 50+ reps soon, and that my goal by the end of the year was 50 reps with at least 200. In May I was feeling strong. I set a new PR in deadlift, and squats were going well also. Then, unfortunately, the bottom fell out. First my feet began hurting badly, apparently due to the pounding they were taking from running and jumping. Then I got sick. When I recovered, side jobs ate up all my spare time and energy. I also continued to have lingering pain and other health issues at the same time. My sleep was disrupted frequently, leaving me feeling exhausted. Training became very sporadic and much lower intensity. Basically, I got fat and lazy. I didn't do ANY high-rep squats for several months. When I finally did try squatting again in September, I struggled to hit 20 reps with 135. By October I was feeling slightly stronger and more rested. I began doing frequent kettlebell swing sessions and long, slow cardio to build my fitness back. I managed to squat 20 reps with 185, and I also started slowly working to lose the extra flab I had accumulated. As snow hit in early November and never went away, I began doing primarily snow shoveling, firewood splitting, and snowshoe rucks for my workouts, but occasionally threw in 20-rep squat sessions. Gradually my strength and conditioning has been returning. I finally felt ready to take on the high-rep challenge again. Although my strength level is still not close to where it was last May, my stamina is improved, and I have also been building my mental strength. Since squatting with 185 is not about maximal strength, but rather conditioning and pain tolerance, I was determined to reach my goal anyway. This time I didn't bother setting a timer. I knew it would be a long slow grind. I just had to keep doing reps for as long as it took without racking the bar. This is the result of my stubborn refusal to stop. It was painful and it was ugly. But, I finally got it done. The next step will be to do 50+ reps with more than my bodyweight on the bar. I've currently plateaued at about 188 pounds, while targeting an eventual bodyweight of roughly 180. For my next high-rep squat sessions I will go slightly heavier (probably 195) and begin building up reps again. Hopefully I can stay healthy this time and continue to improve both my strength and my overall fitness level. I really want to hit 50+ reps with over 200, especially if I can complete it in a shorter time. For now I will enjoy my success in overcoming the previous goal, and try to ignore the exquisite pain that such a taxing squat session provides.

Here I present basic information about fire blankets and welding blankets, followed by some unconventional uses for them in camping / bushcraft / survival settings. Note that these are simply a few ideas that I dreamed up, and the manufacturers of any of these blankets likely would not endorse all of the suggested uses. I'm personally fine with that and am quite happy with using gear in unintended ways. Your mileage may vary, depending upon your own comfort level in coloring outside the lines. Use any of these ideas at your own risk. If you prefer to skip all the talking and just want to see one practical application in action, jump to about the 16:10 mark. Other unconventional gear use videos: Gladius - https://youtu.be/ZbxE13UX7aY Emergency Stretcher - https://youtu.be/NU3m0iprlVM

Here are some realities that many people probably never hear before venturing out on snowshoes for the first time. Snowshoeing is fun and it's an awesome way to get to places that are otherwise unreachable during the winter in snowy regions, but you need to have reasonable expectations. I hope some beginners will be able to benefit from this advice and get into snowshoeing safely and with maximum enjoyment. Also, I forgot to mention it, but it is best to snowshoe with others, especially if you are going into backcountry or on a difficult trail. Companions will be able to assist regaining one's feet, and can greatly improve the odds in case of emergency or extreme weather.

This was an overnight experiment with a different shelter and bed setup, as well as a chance to practice skills under lousy conditions. While it was actually a bit of a luxury having the extremely warm sleeping bag and a lot of extra gear, it was still challenging gathering wood and starting fires in the wet snow. Cooking dinner and breakfast in cast iron over a campfire is always a pleasure, as is sleeping in a comfortable bed outdoors. The great workout of snowshoeing up a hill while pulling a heavy sled was just a bonus!

This is a very simple system using stuff I had on hand. For those who don't have fall arrest lanyards laying around, it wouldn't be hard to rig up similar length sections of rope with carabiners or other hardware on the ends to achieve the same effect. I'm not sure how much weight I had in the sled here, but it was a substantial amount of gear. A really light sled won't self-brake quite as well, since it doesn't dig the rope and hardware into the snow as deeply, but it still works okay. The key is that the more rope gets sucked under the sled, the more friction it creates, and it also pulls the nose of the sled downward into the snow. It is a little tricky negotiating tight corners, but that will be the case with any sled pulling. Steering is fairly simple by grabbing the rope and re-aiming the nose of the sled. Once on track, release the rope and let it go back to autopilot. I'm confident enough in this system now that I never even bother to look back when I hear the sled accelerating, as I know from experience that it will not run into me.