Introduced skipping as a plyo & CV exercise, it did both. Got the rhythm but could be faster, just under a minute per 100. Bye bye deadlift, I love you but my long torso and short limbs do not feel the love back. In comes speed squats, it’s just explosive on the way up and may need to go heavier as I was leaving the ground and having to decelerate is counter-productive. GHR and leg curl to hit the hammies, and abs to kill me off. I got free CLA with my protein powder, once i’ve established a routine again i’ll try it for a month.
Meant to be 42 mins but I didn’t read the workout beforehand just put it on what I felt was a challenge. Will do it 2x/wk and do a tempo session and two squat sessions each week.
Feb 7
Shoulder Press
2 x 5 x 58.5kg
5 x 68.5kg
Chin Ups
3 x 12
Dips
3 x 25
I alternated between OHP and chin ups, didn’t do proper 5/3/1 format as I couldn’t be bothered to change the bar from 58kg down to 52kg just to go back up again so did two at the same weight. Dips are normally alternated with another exercise and three sets in a row was quite a challenge.
Could’ve done more on the back squat but I was dropping recovery on the following exercises as I was pushed for time. RLESS was a bit better, generally seem to progress nicely every few weeks and I don’t have to really push it yet to make gains.
Cut a set of close grip as i’m adapting to the inclusion of shoulder press in my routine. Bench was a struggle, the final rep was a bit laboured and shouldn’t have tried it. Curls are easy now, might increase to 9 reps.
Local track with no markings so marked out a set distance and tried to hit the same times. Meant to do 12 runs but I was fresh today and did four runs with the shorter recovery at the end to see how I handled it. We used to hit 15 seconds for these but 26 for the 200s, so as that’s entirely illogical I think I will be looking to establish a fitness base of around 2-2.5km of total running at 15 secs/100m and then start working my way down to 14s and finally 13s.
Bit longer than usual, I do zero warm-up in this so perhaps need a quick 2 mins as it starts off feeling too fast but by the end it’s a cruise. There’s a kind of natural rhythm to walking and I find that even if it’s a little faster it’s easier if it fits my normal style. With a warm up I think 6.5/6.6 is best and any faster will be an effort.
Feb 14
Back Squat
5 x 105kg
3 x 119kg
5 x 133kg (belt)
RLESS
2 x 8 x 73.5kg
SLRDL
3 x 8 x 29kg
Body Saw
3 x 25 (1 min rest)
Belt wasn’t that tight and I didn’t feel much added tension in my core, but an easy five which would’ve been more but I had 5 in my head as a target. I mention rest period in abs as it’s normally longer and this was very tough on me. Need to include half kneeling cable stuff in one of these sessions, possibly the next squats.
I struggled with OHP, even with a leg drive, so will be repeating this cycle or even dropping down one until it’s challenging but not almost impossible. Chin ups were good, my arms lost some size when I went down to one upper body session a week and i’d like to pack it back on again soon.
Didn’t take my skipping rope over so just did hopping. Took my speed squats out, if i’m going explosive I prefer hang cleans, 58.5kg was a little too easy so I upped it to make sure my legs were involved. Probably going to have sore traps tomorrow…
Incline made it harder (duh!) but I was fine with that. My left hamstring was a little strained from weights and I felt like it was worsening towards the end, though today it’s healed up ok. I’m in socks when I do it but the soles of my feet are still hardening up, as long as they don’t blister I don’t mind tougher skin and foot strength will improve too.
Feb 18
Bench Press
3 x 82kg
3 x 94kg
3 x 106kg
DB Curls
3 x 9 x 20kg
Close Grip Bench Press
3 x 7 x 83.5kg
Rotator Cuff
2 x 2 x 10
I was in an overly relaxed mindset and almost failed the final 3 rep set. Don’t want to get complacent as just because it’s not a 1RM doesn’t mean it won’t be a challenge and doesn’t deserve my full focus and energy. I probably didn’t go to full depth on the final rep as I am capable of putting up 3 reps without a huge struggle, but head wasn’t in the game this afternoon. Picked up my focus for curls and close grip, my left bicep has been hurting from hang cleans as has my left forearm, i’ve no real concern and believe both will heal up before I need them again.
Managed the session quite well although I doubled the rest between sets compared to what i’ve done before. My initial target was 4 sets of 4 runs but I was gone by then and settled for a quick back to back double at a faster pace. First 12 runs were avg 16.5 and the final one was in 15.0. I measured it using the football pitch on the inside field so it could be 95-110m and having run 100m several thousand times i’d say it was about 4 steps too far (108m).
Feb 20
Treadmill Walk
6.4kph, 3 deg inclince, 47 mins
Meant to be 45 mins but 46:59 took me to 5km and in future I can see how long it takes me to 5km to take my mind off the tedious walking. I have the radio on and have dabbled with the idea of taking my laptop and watching an episode of something but i’ll see how much more boring it gets.
I have a list of conditioning exercises from sprints, they come as a set of three exercises normally split into upper/lower/core and the idea is to do 30 secs on 30 secs off. I normally pick and choose but I just did all 12 of them (36 exercises) and got it all done in 48 mins. Took the final 12 mins to do myofascial stretching and i’m pleased with that as a nice one hour workout.
I’m looking to do this on the 4th week of my 5/3/1 lifts as until now i’ve just been skipping the deload weeks because I didn’t feel I had the training effect to warrant a rest. I have two leg sessions a week plus track work and my OHP and bench rest weeks don’t line up so there won’t be any instance where there’s a whole week off lifting.
I moved my elbows up and forward in shoulder press in a kind of front squat start position and pushed the max rep from there, so I don’t know if that qualifies as push press or a jerk but it’s definitely not a strict press and I apologise if I label it as such in future. Either way, it’s the most i’ve held overhead and felt fine. My mate’s 90kg and I lifted him overhead before so I know if I use my legs I can drive up a lot more. Bodyweight moves were fine, chin ups were too easy so maybe a few more reps on those. Cable raise was so tough, I did it off 1 minute recovery so I guess the simple thing to do is increase that.
The hops will eventually progress to hurdle hops once I move house and can get to an athletics track, for now I reduced the volume and increased the height of the hops. Hang power cleans were awkward, my technique isn’t strict when I can upright row the weight and the final set was much improved. Hamstring felt overworked in the GHR but I shook it out and the remaining sets were fine.
Incline doesn’t bother me, this seems easier than the faster speed.
Feb 26
Bench Press
5 x 88kg
3 x 100kg
2 x 112kg PB
DB Curls
3 x 9 x 20kg
Close Grip Bench Press
2 x 7 x 83.5kg
Rotator Cuff
2 x 2 x 10
I had to cover someone at work so did extra long shift and had no energy for weights yesterday. I planned to do track & bench today but it’s raining so i’m just shifting everything forward a day. Very pleased with my bench, my previous 1RM was 110kg and to do a double today was exactly what I was looking for. I am increasing the portions of my carbs by about 20% at breakfast and lunch as my weight is only just holding steady.
The wind made it difficult to keep pace and out of frustration I refused to try as hard running into it. Overall it was tiring but at no point did I need to lie on the floor or crouch down to catch my breath. I think my training lacks long term goals so starting with this session I intend to write down what i’d like to be able to do and then break it down into weekly progressions to get me there. This is really just a base fitness improvement and late March onwards i’ll have access to a proper running track and it’ll be warm enough to start doing speed sessions.
Short rest between these, had to be off to work but 90 secs was fine and I can tweak the weights to make pressing harder and maybe do more press ups. I’m away for the weekend but knowing my mate we’ll either go for a track session or do some weights. As of Monday i’m re-shuffling the entire frequency and structure of things in an attempt to turn it into a more sprinter friendly workout.
After Bench on its own the rest were done as a circuit with 90 seconds rest. Pretty tough workout, probably the hardest of the year so far and my arms have a crazy pump.
Under-estimated how much the cleans took out my legs and could only muster a light squat. My muscles are currently twitching and I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes me an extra day or two to recover from this even though it was quite a brief workout.
3 x 10 x 29kg - it was 29kg last time not 31kg, poor adding up by me
Had to work a double shift on Monday and Tuesday as two members of staff were let go. My legs are still suffering from Sunday and so it’s probably a good thing I didn’t have time to gym. I started optimistically at 98.5kg, which I did four of, then 96kg for 5, 93.5kg for 5 and finally 88.5kg for 5, all four sets were a struggle but for consistency i’m writing 3 x 5 reps of the same weight. My diet has been poor the last few dys and I can feel the lethargy flowing through my body from shitty carbs and lack of protein.
On reflection those are a nice series of times in the conditions (rain, gravel track, trainers) and with the level of effort I put in. The first two runs were probably too slow, I was making sure not to overdo it and could have comfortably taken a few seconds off my 250m without affecting the rest of the session. I’m a little stiff from weights and with me promising to myself i’ll get back on top of yoga and stretching i’d be more confident to push it to top speed. Particularly pleased with my acceleration on the final two runs and my technique wasn’t too shabby.