Yup, Q80. That’s right, I remember now.
N24 must be tucked away.
1 Like
Merry Christmas Everyone, wishing you all a joyful holiday.
Visit with the in-laws took a slightly unexpected turn. New sister in law lives in my wife’s childhood home. 1940s work, the actual structure of the place is really solid, but it definitely needs some work. None of the in-laws are handy evidently. Missing outlet covers, door trim falling off, missing base board, small stuff, but beyond what they know how to fix, and I guess money isn’t free to hire it out.
But, I did not spend every weekend of my childhood helping my old man out in the garage for nothing! Two Home Depot runs and many beers later (it was the only form of payment I’d accept) and the kitchen is looking good as new. This is honestly way more what I’d like to do as a Christmas gift anyway, and I really do enjoy working with my hands. That being said, dang if I’m not a special kind of sore just from all the weird angles I’ve been twisting myself in to reach places. Funny how things tax you in ways you don’t expect.
I’ve also think I’ve been drafted to help my father in law rebuild an AR-15, which I can definitely do, but makes me think he has a very skewed idea of what exactly I do in the navy haha.
14 Likes
Update:
Building this gym is a Herculean feat, and the Mrs is being very gracious about lending a hand. Almost complete, still have some work to do on the lat pulldown.
Realized the movers busted it. Smashed a pulley flat, I’m having rep ship me out a new one. Got my move delivered yesterday, those movers really destroyed a ton of my stuff. Multiple bookcases, half my drinking glasses, an old globe, and now my lat pulldown. At least I can salvage the pulldown. Not happy to say the least.
The gym is awesome though, and I’m so excited to start this next training cycle. Hopefully tomorrow, possibly Monday.
11 Likes
Warning: Exceedingly long post
Below is my outline for my next training year. Program critiques welcomed.
Road to Nov 8th, 2025
45 Weeks:
Goal: 585lb deadlift, 495lb squat, 315lb bench, 225lb press, 10 mile run 1:20, 12 mile 45lb ruck- 3 hours.
Overall Philosophy of Training:
- Use a variety of lift variations early on in training to hypertrophy ignored muscle groups and build new neural connections, with variations becoming gradually more specific over time. Build muscle, then maximize that new muscles strength output.
- Build a cardiovascular base using large amounts of LISS cardio. Predominantly Zone 2, allowing for low impact conditioning in the beginning to minimize interference with lifting. Add more intensity to conditioning workouts after several months of dedicated base building, swapping mileage for speed. Slightly less focused on conditioning than strength, as I feel my conditioning goals are much less ambitious given current fitness levels, so a lot of very easy endurance volume.
- Eat at/near maintenance calories throughout, with a very strict focus on diet. No heavy dieting to minimize risk of muscle loss, but no allowable weight gain, to minimize added stress on joints while running. Carb manipulation to assure proper glycogen stores for both endurance and lifting training sessions. RP Diet guidelines will be used here, with changes made on the monthly level to Macronutrient profiles.
- Manage fatigue with precision. This includes 0 Days of inadequate protein consumption, regular sleep schedules (thank god), a limitation on caffeine, and importantly the implementation of regularly scheduled deloads to balance cumulative fatigue from lifting and endurance, while still training with sufficient volume and intensity to allow for progressive overload mesocycle to mesocycle.
- Strict focus on strength and endurance. This year is essentially a year building myself a dangerously high baseline of fitness. After that? I can afford to do side quests, trying out new techniques I find interesting, picking up new fitness challenges. (IE, learn how to do power cleans or muscle ups.) But until these goals are hit, I am leaving the rest of my athletic development on the wayside. No 100m sprints, no box jumps, WODS, etc.
- 2x rest days planned per week. Variability allowed due to life constraints, but goal of 2. Intense cardio sessions performed in AM prior to PM lower body lifting sessions, zone 2 sessions on day after.
Lifting Plan:
3 Blocks: Hypertrophy, Strength, Peak
-
Hypertrophy Block: 2 Mesocycles: 5 weeks, 1 Deload, 12 weeks total.
-
Volume Guidelines: 12-30 <4 RIR sets weekly per body part
1. Mesocycle 1: 4-6 sets of 10 (8 for deadlift). 60-78%
1. Squat: SSB Squat
2. Bench: Incline Bench
3. Dead: High Handle Trap Bar Deadlift
4. Press: Seated BTN Press
2. Mesocycle 2: 4-6 sets of 10 (8 for deadlift), 60-78%
1. Squat: SSB Squat
2. Bench: Incline Bench
3. Dead: High Handle Trap Bar Deadlift
4. Press: Seated BTN Press
-
Strength Block: 5 Mesocycles, 4 weeks, 1 deload. 25 weeks total.
-
Volume Guidelines: 10-20 <4 RIR sets per body part.
1. Mesocycle 3: 4x6, 70-85%
1. Squat: Low Bar Squat
2. Bench: CGBP
3. Dead: Deficit Deadlift
4. Press: Seated Press
2. Mesocycle 4: 4x6, 70-85%
1. Squat: Low Bar Squat
2. Bench: CGBP
3. Dead: Deficit Deadlift
4. Press: Seated Press
3. Mesocycle 5: 5x5, 70-88%
1. Squat: SSB Squat
2. Bench: Spoto Press
3. Dead: Low Handle Trap Bar Pulls
4. Press: Seated Press
4. Mesocycle 6: 5x5, 75-88%
1. Squat: Low Bar Squat
2. Bench: Competition Bench
3. Dead: Conventional Deadlift
4. Press: Standing Press
5. Mesocycle 7: 6x4, 75-90%
1. Squat: Low Bar Squat
2. Bench: Competition Bench
3. Dead: Conventional Deadlift
4. Press: Standing Press
-
Peaking Block: 1 6 week Mesocycle:
-
Volume Guideline: 5-10 <4 RIR sets per week
1. Mesocycle 8: 85-95% (additionally light days added here)
1. Squat: Low Bar Squat
2. Bench: Competition Bench
3. Dead: Conventional Deadlift
4. Press: Standing Press
2. Taper: 2 Weeks
3. Test Week:
Outline for Execution of Hypertrophy Mesocycles:
- 4x a Week lifting. Plan is roughly Lower-Upper-Lower+Back-Upper
- Begin with 4x10 at approximately 60%/4 RIR for main movement.
- Over subsequent weeks, add 5-10lbs per week to main movement, gradually adding sets up to 6x10, overall goal of weeks 1-4 being 4,3,2,1 RIR Respectively
- On 5th week, go for a weight/rep PR on the first set, followed by 5x10 at ~2 RIR.
- Large compound movement in same vein of main movement, alternating on lower body. IE, SSB and RDL, Trap Bar Dead and Leg Press, Press and DB Bench, etc etc.
- Finish with accessory work to meet volume goals. No % tracking, beginning at 4 RIR and adding weight/sets to raise total volume over mesocycle.
- True “Failure” reached only once a Mesocycle, but these sets will be full psyche up failure training.
- For volume tracking, I am not intending on doing 30 sets of separate exercises for 9 different tracked muscles. That is madness. Nor do I plan on working up to 30 sets for all body parts, that is an upper limit I won’t allow myself to cross. Rather, I am tracking all the muscles largely targeted in a movement. IE, Bench counts towards Pecs and Triceps, Squats count for Quads and Glutes, Deads count for Hamstrings and glutes, etc etc. 30 is more of a limiter to not go crazy on triceps work or glute work, as those both get hammered pretty frequently. On the other hand, volume is key for this phase, so 12 sets WILL be a minimum.
- Note that Core is going into its own category. I don’t believe core should be trained with the same volume parameters, nor can the passive effects of compound movement really be accounted for. A core exercise will be added at the end of lower body days.
Outline of Execution for Strength Mesocycles:
- Starting with Mesocycles 3-4-5
- Maintaining the Lower-Upper-Lower+Back-Upper Split
- Main work will be done for 4 sets of 6 or 5x5 respectively. Beginning at approximately 70%, working my way to or upwards of 85%. Intention is to keep working sets at constant volume, and add weight throughout the mesocycle, again building from a 3-4RIR starting point to a 1RIR on week three. Week 4 will again be a testing week, with a PR attempt as my first set of the main movement, followed by sets of 6/5 at 1-2RIR.
- A Supplemental lift will then be chosen based on the antagonist muscle group of the main movement, with an identical rep pattern chosen. (IE, Low Bar Squats and Stiff Leg Deadlift).
- I am intending to have a slight hypertrophy influence on top of the overall strength goal for these three mesocycles. “Powerbuilding” If you will. Not looking to put on size, but keeping in some accessory work to prevent adaptive decay. In this regard, I will utilize the accessory lifts. Working towards the higher end of the volume goals. Maintaining constant volume throughout the mesocycle, focus on overload via weight and relative intensity increase, with slightly higher reps than the main work. Imagine lots of sets of 8-10 (With some obvious exceptions, IE Facepulls or lat raises)
- For Mesocycles 6-7
- Focus will shift away from any sort of hypertrophy development and now solely focusing on strength development and technique optimization. All Main work will be competition lifts, with a day dedicated to each lift. Supplemental lifts are dropped at this point, with dedication to practice of the competition lifts.
- The mesocycle progressment will be similar to earlier strength mesocycles.
- At this point, moving to a more full Body routine, with plans to squat 2x weekly, bench 2x weekly, press 1x weekly, deadlift 1x weekly. (Potential for added light sessions with a focus on technique development., particularly for deadlift)
- Accessory work will be included in a lighter, less fatiguing fashion, maintained at 4-2 RIR throughout the mesocycles so as to minimize recovery drains from the main work. Will drop volume on less essential body parts. (Biceps, side delts, etc.)
Outline of Execution for Peaking Mesocycle
- Almost entirely barbell work at this point. Sets of 1-3 at 85-95% for 3 weeks, followed by a 2 week Taper, then a testing week to hit my new maxes.
Body Parts Tracked for volume purposes:
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
- Pecs
- Lats (including all back work vice spinal erectors or traps in this category)
- Shoulders (to include rear belts)
- Triceps
- Biceps
- Core (Lower Volume)
Supplemental Lifts: (Heavier, similar weight tracking to main lift)
- Squat
- Paused Squat
- Box Squat
- Front Squat
- Deadlift
- RDL
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Good Morning (Straight bar and SSB)
- Bench/Press:
- Larsen Press
- Board Press
- Floor Press
- Pin Press
Accessory Lifts: (Lighter weight, higher repetition work. Sets of 10-12 in hypertrophy phase, sets of 8-10 in strength phase)
- Quads:
- Lunges
- Split Squats
- Heels Elevated squat
- Leg Press (If purchased)
- Hack Squat (If purchased)
- Hamstrings:
- Glute Ham Raise
- Dumbbell RDL/ light RDL
- Cable leg curl
- Glutes
- Glute Bridge
- Cable Pull Through
- Split Squats
- RDL/DB RDL
- Reverse Hyper (if purchased)
- Nordic Curl (If Purchased)
- Rear Back Raise
- Pecs:
- DB Bench (various angles)
- DB Flys
- Dips
- Lats:
- Lat Pulldown (Various Grips)
- Seated Cable row (Various Grips)
- 1 Arm DB Row (Various Grips)
- Chinups/Pulldowns
- Chest Supported Row
- Shoulders:
- DB Press
- DB Lat Raise:
- Rear Delt Fly
- Face Pull
- Upright Row
- Triceps:
- Dips
- JM Press
- Overhead extension
- Triceps Pushdown
- Skullcrusher
- Biceps:
- Barbell Curl
- Cable Curl
- DB Curl
- DB inc bench Curl
- Core:
- DB Side Bend
- Weighted situp/GHD Situp
- Cable Crunch
- Hanging leg raise
- Ab wheel
Conditioning Plan:
Three Phases. Base Building, Speed development, Taper
-
Base Building: 3 Mesocycles, to align with the lifting Mesocycles. 17 weeks total.
-
Mesocycle 1: 5 weeks, 1 reload
1. 2x zone 2 running sessions. 30 minutes to start, building to 45 minutes over the 5 weeks
2. 1x ruck, 45 minutes
3. 1x rower HIIT
4. No increase in load/speed over mesocycle.
- Mesocycle 2: 5 weeks, 1 reload
1. 2x Zone 2 running sessions, 30 minutes to start, building to 45 minutes over the 5 weeks. Increase speed from last mesocycle
2. 2x incline treadmill ruck: 45 minutes to start, building to 1 hour over the 5 weeks. Increase Load in ruck from last mesocycle.
3. 1x rower HIIT
- Mesocycle 3: 4 weeks, 1 reload.
1. 2x Zone 2 running sessions, 35 minutes to start, building to 50 minutes over the 4 weeks.
2. 1x interval run. 5x400m to start, building to 8x400m, slow speed increases.
3. 1x Incline Treadmill Ruck. 60 minutes to start, building to 90 minutes over the 4 weeks.
-
Speed Development:
-
Mesocycle 4: 4 weeks, 1 reload
1. 1x interval run. 5x.3 miles to start, building to 8x .3 miles, slow speed increases
2. 1x tempo run, 3 miles, focus on practicing pace
3. 1x Zone 2 run: 40 minutes to start, building to 50 minutes over the 4 weeks
4. 1x incline treadmill ruck: 60 minutes to start, building to 90 minutes over the 4 weeks. Increase weight from last mesocycle
- Mesocycle 5: 4 weeks, 1 reload
1. 1x interval run. 5x.35 miles to start, building to 8x .35 miles, slow speed increases
2. 1x tempo run, 3 miles, focus on practicing pace
3. 1x Zone 2 run: 45 minutes to start, building to 55 minutes over the 4 weeks. Increase speed from last mesocycle.
4. 1x incline treadmill ruck: 60 minutes to start, building to 90 minutes over the 4 weeks. Increase weight from last mesocycle to goal weight.
- Mesocycle 6: 4 weeks, 1 reload
1. 1x interval run. 5x.4 miles to start, building to 8x .4 miles, slow speed increases
2. 1x tempo run, 3 miles, focus on practicing pace
3. 1x Zone 2 run: 50 minutes to start, building to 60 minutes over the 4 weeks
4. 1x incline treadmill ruck: 60 minutes to start, building to 90 minutes over the 4 weeks (May attempt 12 mile ruck at this point)
- Mesocycle 7: 4 weeks, 1 reload
1. 1x interval run. 5x.45 miles to start, building to 8x .45 miles, slow speed increases
2. 1x tempo run, 3 miles, focus on practicing pace
3. 1x Zone 2 run: 55 minutes to start, building to 65 minutes over the 4 weeks
4. 1x incline treadmill ruck: 60 minutes to start, building to 90 minutes over the 4 weeks (Note: May attempt the 12 mile ruck at this point, during reload week, if not already done)
-
Taper
-
Mesocycle 8: 3 weeks
1. 1x interval run, 4x.5 miles
2. 1x tempo run, 3 miles
3. 1x LSD run, 45 minutes
- Test (10 mile run)
Nutrition Plan:
- Unlike the other plans, Nutrition will not follow a mesocycle approach, but will instead maintain relatively constant over the year. Broad Reaching nutrition guidelines listed below:
- Protein: 1g/lb of bodyweight
- Fat: 0.35g/lb of bodyweight
- Carbs: Remainder of daily calories
- Carb Cycling approach: Baseline maintenance calories will be eaten on non-training days. Training days will be adjusted by the increase of carbohydrates alone. Planning to largely use fruit, honey, and other natural pure carbohydrate forms to make up the calorie difference. 400 calories added daily per conditioning session. (IE, extra 100g of carbs)
- Minimal processed foods. As close to none as possible. Protein will come from beef, chicken, turkey, and eggs. Carbs will come from rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Fats from Eggs, cottage cheese, nuts, avocado, etc. Eat like a farmer. If it comes in a plastic wrapper, I don’t want it.
- 2x weekly cheat meals a week. 1, an event out, for date night, friends activities, etc. 1, an cheat meal in, by which I mean my wife and I will cook a dinner together on a non-work night. Cheat meals, not cheat feasts. Enjoy some good food, but still hit protein goals and don’t eat like an asshole.
- Alcohol: No alcohol on weekdays, no more than 2 drinks a week. Going to go straight edge from January until March when my wife moves in, but after that I will have a glass of wine while cooking with my wife or a bourbon while out with friends.
- Supplements: Creatine, hydration powder, vitamin D3, and fish oil daily. Ashwaganda, melatonin, and Magnesium as needed to help sleep. (The years of rotating shift work have my circadian clock pretty well broken, it may take some real effort to fix.)
Beginning macronutrient profile:
-
Base Day: Calories 2150, Protein 220g, Fat 77g, carbohydrates 145g
-
Training Day: Calories 2550, Protein 220g, Fat 77g, carbohydrates 245g
-
Notes: I will run this for 1 week, with 100% compliance to get my body adjusted to eating real food again. After that, I will spend 2 weeks at 100% compliance, with daily weigh ins. If weight varies more than 1lb in those two weeks, macros will be adjusted to increase/decrease carbs.
Recovery Plan:
- In terms of recovery, the most two crucial aspects for me are also the two that I have had so little control over in recent history. Sleep, and food.
- Food will follow the nutrition plan above. Eat at maintenance, making sure to eat as many nutrients as my body can burn, leveraging my higher workload to eat a wider range of micronutrients.
- Sleep will be sacred. A minimum of 7 hours a night. Blackout curtains will be installed, no television in the bedroom, no electronics used in bed. No alcohol before bed. If establishing a regular sleep cycles proves difficult, may look into limiting blue light exposure and establishing a wind down routine to better establish healthy sleeping patterns.
- 1x a week epson salt bath. I think it is probably 100% placebo affect, and any actual affect is more likely from the water immersion than the epson salt, but I find them amazingly relaxing.
- Stress will be minimal. I won’t be in charge of sailors anymore, finances are fat. Wedding planning is a bit of a pain, but its also exciting, and my wife and I are both committed that we won’t let any part of this process be a burden, its just a celebration. Grad school applications for me won’t start until the next year, we aren’t planning children for the next few years.
- Years of hard work and insane hours are culminating themselves in a pretty relaxing 1-2 years for me. Never had an opportunity to commit myself to training on this level, and I am not going to waste it. Its my year to focus on me, and my own personal development, and I can not be more ready for it.
Plan is subject to change as I see how my body responds and adapts, but the goals are constant. I finally have the freedom to chase the goals I’ve dreamed of, and I’m taking full advantage.
A life of sea is behind me. Burning the Boats, let get to work.
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Let’s go! Excited to keep following along this year
29dec24: Cycle 1 Week 1 Day 1
SSB squat:
205x10 5RIR
205x10 5RIR
215x10 4RIR
215x11 4RIR
RDL (no belt)
135x10
135x10
135x10
145x10
Db BSS:
Bwx10
15 x10 4RIR
15x10 3 RIR
15x10 3 RIR
Nordic curl: 30 incline, hand assist
Bwx10
Bwx10
Bwx10
Superset:
Face pull:
45x12, 45x12, 45x12
GHD sit-up:
10, 10, 10
Conditioning: 30 min jog
Totals:
Quads: 8 sets
Hamstrings: 7 sets
Glutes: 8 sets
Core: 3 sets
Shoulders: 3 sets
Notes:
- God this felt good. SSB moved well. Definitely starting light, but the volume got me, legs were absolutely pumped.
- I am going to be doing lots of lunges and Bulgarians. This will be very good for me. I still hate them.
- Holy hell are Nordic curls humbling. Basically face planting all these reps, even with the incline.
- So far I’m happy with the hyper pro. Shakey, but gets a bit more stable when you are actually on it. Definitely not a commercial piece, but using it for the nordics, the BSS, and the GHD sit-ups, it felt great.
- Holy hell am I fat from the holidays. Probably a good 1.5-2 inch gain on my waste. Mainly bloat, but still.
- Lifting with the Mrs. Lots of fun, but made it a little slower pace. I joked that she is ruining my angry workout vibe. You can’t be happy and jacked, ya gotta pick one haha.
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30dec24: Cycle 1 Week 1 Day 2
Incline bench:
145x10 5RIR
145x10 4.5 RIR
145x10 4 RIR
145x10 3 RIR
Chest support Db row:
45x11 4 RIR
45x11 4 RIR
45x10 4 RIR
45x10 4 RIR
Db bench:
50x10 4 RIR
50x10 5 RIR
50x10 5 RIR
50x10 5 RIR
Single arm cable hi row:
45x10 5RIR
50x10 4.5 RIR
50x10 4.5 RIR
Rope Tricep pushdown:
40x12 4 RIR
40x12 4 RIR
40x12 3 RIR
40x12 3 RIR
Cable curl:
40x10 4 RIR
40x10 4 RIR
40x10 4 RIR
40x10 4 RIR
Hammer curl:
25x10 4.5 RIR
25x10 4.5 RIR
Totals:
Chest: 8 sets
Lats: 7 sets
Triceps: 8 sets (count incline, not db)
Biceps: 6 sets
Shoulders: 4
Notes:
- incline bench felt good. No shoulder pain with the full ROM, and the setup felt great with the home gym.
- Rep bench is awesome, but just wide enough that the chest support rows are a bit awaits. I still love it.
- Pilonidal cyst causing some problems again, I think I have a recurrence. Had a very hard time rolling back for Db bench.
- Gotta explain the hi row. Face my incline bench to the lat pulldown, hook up a single cable handle, face lat pulldown and pull my elbow to my hip. Get a crazy lat contraction, little blend of a row and pulldown. Love these.
- God this is a ton of volume. Super low intensity this week so it wasn’t bad, but week 5 will bury me.
11 Likes
02jan25 Cycle 1 Week 1 Day 3
Hi handle trap bar: 75x10, 165x5, 255x5, 345x5
395x8 4 RIR
395x8 4 RIR
395x8 4 RIR
395x8 4 RIR
Belt squat:
45x10
90x5
180x10 4 RIR
180x10 4.5 RIR
180x10 4.5 RIR
180x10 4.5 RIR
45 degree db back raise:
15x10
15x10
15x10
Superset:
Face pull: 45x12, 45x12, 45x12
Ab wheel: 10, 10, 10
Totals:
Quad: 4 sets
Hamstrings: 7 sets
Glutes: 7 sets
Shoulders: 3 sets
Core: 3 sets
Notes:
- first time doing any sort of dead in a good while. Definitely feeling a little rough with the movement. Weight still moved fine, I just felt awful doing it.
- Belt squat is super nice. Takes some getting used to, but definitely getting some good volume in without taxing the back.
- The back extension function is awesome and I’m really gonna use that a ton.
- Months since my last ab wheel, those felt rough.
10 Likes
04Jan25
Seated BTN press:
95x10 4 RIR
95x10 4 RIR
95x10 4 RIR
95x10 4 RIR
Wide grip lat pulldown:
120x10 4.5 RIR
120x10 4.5 RIR
130x10 4 RIR
130x10 4 RIR
Db 10 Inc bench:
50x10 4 RIR
50x10 4 RIR
50x10 4 RIR
50x11 4 RIR
Seated cable row:
110x10 4 RIR
110x10 4 RIR
110x10 4 RIR
Lat raise:
20x11 4 RIR
20x11 3 RIR
20x10 4 RIR
Straight bar tricep pushdown:
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 4 RIR
Barbell curl:
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 3.5 RIR
55x10 3.5 RIR
55x10 3 RIR
Totals:
Chest: 4 sets
Shoulders: 7 sets
Lats: 7 sets
Biceps: 7 sets (count row, not lat)
Triceps: 8 sets (count press, not db)
11 Likes
That was a great game for us. Wild how bad the Army looked, we ran all over them haha
Got rid of my Iron membership since most of the gyms went 24hr. Works been nuts they’ve had me on 3 different shifts since the end of November. hope you are doing well man, glad to see your training hard.
3 Likes
Work for today:
15 min row: 14 minutes LISS, 1 minute sprint
Notes:
- first time trying longer duration stuff on the rower. More of a test than anything, but it felt good. Will be a novel stimulus.
- any sort of sprint on the rower is murder, in a good way.
Fiancee/Wife flew back to Seattle today. 2 months until she moves out here with me. Sad day, but it’s the last time we do long distance, and we are both very excited for that.
Meal prepped. Sort of loose vertical diet, plan to start it strict next week. Just don’t have my kitchen unpacked yet, so can’t really be 100% compliant, but I got some stuff going.
@taylortooswift absolutely great game, and i totally approve of any game where I see a lineman running the ball lol. That’s good to hear about the gyms, they still had schedules on em last time I was there, definitely a benefit giving out working schedules. Sorry about the shifts, I know exactly the struggle that entails. Glad to hear you’re still pushing strong!
Gym pics
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Love the gym!! You built a good one!
1 Like
Thanks! I absolutely love it. Still would like to pick up a treadmill at some point, but the pocketbook would appreciate me taking a pause on the gym equipment lol. Still have that wedding to pay for. Maybe I can sneak a treadmill onto the registry…
1 Like
Great gym you have put together, this is awesome!
I especially like how you have to enter the gym through a squat rack, something almost symbolic about that sort of entrance! Lol
1 Like
Just catching up and excited to read your plan for the year. This is pretty much how I set up my blocks with some variation in terms of movement and rep ranges.
Couple of comments that you are welcome to ignore.
- Consider some slightly lower rep tenge heavier weight movements in your Hypertrophy blocks. Doesn’t have to be for all movements but i find that my body likes something to be heavy and hard. Very heavy Bulgarians for sets of 6 for example after squats are like growth hormone for my legs. Heavy sets of deadlifts at the 6 rep range also seem to work better than sets of 10 for me.
- I noticed you will switch to squats and bench 2x a week in your peaking phase. Which I love. You may want to also consider this in the strength blocks. For me having a heavy day (4-5 reps) and a more volume day 6-8 reps works great for bench and squats. I bench volume on heavy squat day and do volume squat on heavy bench day. Might not fit with your programming but may be something you can build into your last strength block before you peak, like a transitional block.
3 Likes
06Jan25: cycle 1 week 2 day 1
SSB:
215x10 4 RIR
215x10 4 RIR
225x10 3.5 RIR
225x11 3 RIR
RDL:
145x10
145x10
150x10
150x10
Db Bulgarian split squat:
15x10 4 RIR
15x11 3 RIR
15x11 3 RIR
15x11 3 RIR
Assisted 30 Nordic curl:
Bwx10
Bwx10
Bwx10
Bwx10
Superset:
Face pull: 50x12, 50x12, 50x12
GHD situp: 10, 10, 10
Conditioning:
rower intervals: 500m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m, 60 seconds in between intervals
Conditioning part two:
Lots and lots of snow shoveling
Totals:
Quads: 8 sets
Hamstrings: 8 sets
Glutes: 12 sets
Abs: 3 sets
Shoulders: 3 sets
Notes:
- today felt great. SSB moving well, relearning how to adjust with the camber.
- Freaking cold in the garage. My little space heater isn’t doing shit against this blizzard. Plus side, I had a snow day off of work. I didn’t know those happened as an adult, but i definitely felt the same excitement I did as a kid lol.
- (Side note: Costco was selling these Orvis flannel shirt jackets for $14.99, absolute win)
- Keeping RDL light and focusing on the stretch.
- Bulgarians felt a bit better balance wise today.
- rowing intervals are murder. I like it.
In other news, I think I’m going to start a YouTube channel later this week. Nothing big, not trying to actually get a following on anything, I just think it would be a fun project to document this year of training. Something to look back on.
@simo74 I dig both your ideas. I’m already sick of sets of 10 lol. Going to stick with those for a few weeks as part of my bigger “let your body fully heal” deal I’ve been doing since deployment, then may start implement a bit heavier come next mesoscale. As for the 2x a week bench, I think it’s worthwhile. I listed out my “primary” movement for each day, but will probably throw bench in on my press day as a supplemental lift to get the higher weekly volume during those strength blocks
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@QuadQueen after years of putting off meal prepping potatoes because it was more difficult than rice, I am finally working a job that has me actually going home every day, which means it is time to implement the daily potato. Made a sort of chicken chili (kind of. Funny story, while the movers lost a lot of my stuff, somehow they did give me about 40 jars of stuff that were NOT mine, which I didn’t notice until after. So grabbed some beans and tomato sauce to make a very quick and dirty sorta chili), and then just microwaved a potato and mixed it in. Easiest potato ive ever cooked, I see a lot of these in my future
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#lifehack
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Back when I ate sweet potatoes, the ONLY way I knew how to cook them was by microwave…and they were amazing, haha.
Home gym looks outstanding! What a great training environment.
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