So, building on a @T3hPwnisher blog post, and in an effort to keep myself accountable and positive, I’ve decided to try a new take on “rant wednesdays” and “victory sundays”. I’m changing a few things though: I don’t really need more negative so the “rant” will be replaced by “review”. Dan John claims review is the most important part of any process, and I’ve reread a few of my rants from previous logs and I don’t really want to be going down that road again. I also intend to switch the days round, for practical reasons. I’m most likely to lift on a Sunday and Tuesday, and I weigh in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so Wednesday is when I’m likely to have the most victories fresh in my mind. Sunday is the last day of the week for me, so that allows me to do a proper review of the week, nutrition plans etc.
Tldr: Victory Wednesday and Review Sunday. It’s a thing.
I think running would do you good. But do shorter runs.
400 m, 1km and 1M do one of them on a run day. A couple of 100 m’s warmup, then a little stretching.
Time the run. Cool down for a couple a 100 m’s and you’re done.
Keep the records and try to beat the times on good days. Start out quite slow, and you have several PR runs ahead of you.
I like your program. If shoulders is a priority, then one day of heavy pressing and backoff pressing.
Do light high rep bodybuilding stuff on the two days as well. You’re heavy pressing will take a beating and you probably won’t hit any PR’s here. But the shoulders should grow.
I agree, running would probably do me good. I assume there’s probably something in my gait that causes the issues, I don’t know.
The issue I face is simply time though. I struggle to make any time for training, even a few times a week, so devoting time to running is extremely unlikely as it stands. It will likely be possible as little ones become less time intensive over the next few years, but for now I pretty much make do with what little time I have.
That’s what baby joggers are for put them in one and go for your run, do a 400 m for time and then do a walk with them. When you return the missus have cleaned the house, made coffee and a cake.
There’s no way my babies would sit still that long. And I certainly wouldn’t want them to. Name of the game at the minute is to tire the little buggers out. When the weather’s good, that’s easy and fun. I spent much of the evening today running up and down the garden and throwing them about. Awesome time, and probably plenty of basic activity for me. The eldest is nearly at an age where football will be an option, which I’m really looking forward to. Not because I care much about football, but active time with the kids is about as big a win win as you get.
Can you tell I’ve read a lot of Dan John recently? His latest book is also his best in my opinion. Absolute gold from start to finish, I genuinely think you could spend a lifetime mining the wisdom from this book.
I’m also pretty determined to break the 170s by next Wednesday. That’s a lot of extra GPP, and a few extra hundred calories stripped out of the diet.
You’re just going to go ahead and make me say it aren’t you? I don’t run because I hate it with a passion. Always have.
This level of bullshit calling is promising for the ADD challenge though.
Work for today:
“Plyo” push ups 3 x 5
Bench: worked up to 75kg x 8
Then 60kg x 12
Incline Smith machine bench: 3 x rest pause sets.
Cable rows: 5 x 10
Cable lateral raise 21’s x 3 each shoulder.
Squat 8 x 3 @90kg
Notes:
Bench is 2 reps short of a rep PR, felt really unstable today. Had plenty of push left, but mot enough stability. First time for that in a while. Upper backs been pretty tender all day, so might have something to do with it.
By “Plyo” push ups, I just mean I push up as forcefully as I can, to get as much air as possible. I’m aware that’s not an actual Plyo push up, but I know what I mean.
Going to have to make a mental note of the bench incline settings for the Smith machine. First set was too low and I reckon I was probably nearing 30 reps before i started failing.
Those cable 21’s are definitely a keeper, they suck big time. Definitely fun seeing how far I can push these.
8 heavy sets of squats is a lot.
Really enjoyed today’s session, but I’m very aware this calorie deficit is draining me this week. General activity has been upped massively and calories have gone down. I really want to hit 170s consistently before my birthday in September.
Great workout Mate.
You’re in a deficit eating, so that could be one of the reasons you’re not hitting the rep pr on bench. But 2 reps shy is not that far away, strength wise.
Jog 400 m to get warm that’s about 2 minutes. Catch your breath stretch a little another 2 minutes. Run/sprint back start out with 75% effort, track you time. that’s another 2 minutes, walk/jog 100-200 m another 2 minutes: that’s 8 minutes and you’ve just begun your journey to awesomeness.
When you think this is a great way and you would like to invest a little more. run 1km track the time, run jog back about 600 m, run/sprint the last 400 m back, it takes a fair bit longer so wait until you’re ready to commit to it.
But the first 400 m + 400 m is not time consuming and you’ll just feel bloody great when you beat the time again and again.
But if you hate running it’s hard to do. Just a suggestion if you really would like to run.
I’m in a pretty big deficit, yeah. Probably 15-20lbs lighter than when I set that PR, so it doesn’t worry me too much.
Thanks for the input on the running, good to know I’ve got the advice of experienced guys like yourself. I have literally zero interest in running any more than I need to to play with my son though. As long as I can hit my physique and strength goals, I’d happily never run again.
Running is a basic skill, like squatting and jumping.
I would highly encourage anybody to run, don’t have to be several miles or km’s.
You could start just running 2 minutes after a lifting session. 1 minute out, mark the place you reach, beat it back home after a minute rest. Next time beat that mark on the first minute.
Benefits a much improved cardiovascular system, and the ability to play around with your boy as he gets even older.
I coached my sons soccer teams about 50 kids, that was together with others not only me.
When they where 14 I outran every single one of them (incl the other coaches) on the 12 min test… not for sprinting though.
I think they were a little impressed by the old man.
I would be exactly the opposite, always been a good sprinter. Never been particularly good at keeping the pace. Possibly more mental than physical. The only time I did any real running as an adult I used to do 5k’s on a treadmill probably every week or two. I could do sub 25mins consistently, I think I went under 20mins a few times, however I could only do it as intervals. If I tried to go straight through at a reasonable pace, I crapped out real quick.
Don’t get me wrong, I do regularly run about with the babies, but I can’t see me running with purpose for a good few years.
Really like the set up I have for lifting. I think 2 sessions in a week is about right, pushing it to 3 regularly would cause issues with recovery. Will text the last session Tuesday, then commit to it until Christmas.
Really “rediscovered” tightness on Fridays squats. I thought I’d been tight before, but Friday definitely opened my eyes. It made the lifts both much easier and more difficult at the same time. I think a bit more practice here is going to be a magic bullet. I must have done this in a previous lifting life and just not realised it, because there’s no way I can believe I was squatting the poundages I was without even bracing properly.
Nutrition has been pretty sharp this week, probably been under target calories more than over.
I feel I’m looking better in the mirror. Now, admittedly, the only mirror we have in our house is right next to the most flattering downlighting imaginable, but I’ll take it.
Conditioning: I’ve done more general activity this week than normal, and even done a conditioning session.
Now the negative:
Still weighing in at 184. Maybe a big meal, maybe over hydrated, maybe I’ve just gained loads of muscle. More likely, I’m just not doing enough diet wise to hit my goal. Need to really push it these next few days if I want to hit 170s
it was perfect for me for over 2 years. train hard and consistently and find other opportunities during the week to add conditioning and body weight work and you should do very well.
I gave up on the idea of doing very well years ago, even when I was younger, resting well, eating well and fairly stress free my results where less than stellar. Progress will do me for now. If it takes me another 5 years to reach an acceptable level of strength, so be it. I’ll be a strong 37 year old. Better than a weak one.
This is actually a really good way to look at it. If you can slowly get stronger over the next 13 years, you will be my age and likely much stronger. All that time under the bar if you do it right adds up.
At my strongest I was lifting 150/120/225, or those kind of ballpark. That took me about 5 years of consistent, albeit stupid, lifting. 5 years is not really that long at my age, even discounting the fabled muscle memory. If I ever decided to devote the time to perfect form, use a belt, etc. There’s even more potential there. That makes it easier to just plug away.
Work for today:
Jumps: 3 x 5
Squat: worked up to 82.5kg x 5
Paused squats: 5 x 5 @65kg, ss. 5 pull ups
RDL: 3 x 15 @ 70kg
Bench: 1 x 3 @ 82.5kg
1 x 3 @ 80kg
6 x 3 @ 75kg
Pull downs, neutral grip: 5 x 10
Seated press: 8 x 3 @ 50kg
Notes:
wasn’t paying enough attention setting up box jumps and last set ended up at 35". That was stupid, but no damage so I’ll take the win.
focussed more on tightness than speed in the squats. Squatting felt easy, real easy. Staying tight felt difficult and was taking most of my mental battery to focus on. This will take some getting used to.
Rdls felt ok. Don’t remember ever doing them before so I had no expectations. I used 70kg because the bar on the platform already had 70kg loaded, so that’s what I used. Could definitely push the envelope more with these over time.
Bench felt weak as shit. Like, really, really weak.i know I’m on a hefty deficit, but this is a bit silly. I want to get below 180lbs because I don’t like leaving the job unfinished but at a certain point I’ll have to call it and start eating to win again.
Press felt fine. Slow and boring, but fine.
Happy with this set up now, only tweak I think I might need to make is sub out the “light” squat day for something more like lunges etc. If my knees start playing up, and maybe swap out heavy press day for some isolation work if 16 sets of heavy pressing gets too much. Otherwise, plenty of volume, plenty of big, basic lifting, fully expect to start making some good progress once the calories come back.
Lifting:
3 sessions, cycled through in order with as many days training as I can fit in a week. Full body every session: legs, back, chest and shoulders every session, plus a few gaps.
B: jumps 3 x 5
Squat: 5s PRO, 5 x 5 FSL paused
RDLs: some
Bench: 8 x 3 @ TM if possible
Pull downs: 5 x 10
Seated Press: 8 x 3 @ TM
C: Powerclean and press: double progression
Seated Press: 5/3/1 drop sets to finish
Wendler Rows: 3 sets
Chest pump work (cable crossover/press/push up superset)
Walking lunges: 5 x 10
Other lifting:
Conditioning on off days, where possible
Abs and pull ups added wherever and wherever possible.
Nutrition: Eat for performance. Aim for slightly over maintenance and quality foods. Weigh in twice weekly to monitor progress.
Exceptions: I have a holiday in the middle of September, and a week off for my birthday right before. Nutrition will be poor during this time, so I will be aiming to add in extra volume to make the most of the extra calories and the extra sleep.
put them in one and go for your run, do a 400 m for time and then do a walk with them. When you return the missus have cleaned the house, made coffee and a cake.