WEDNESDAY
BW: 151.4 lbs
waist: 33 3/4"
Strength Skill Circuits
This won’t be the first time I’ve decided to make a sudden switch right before or immediately after starting a new training program …
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I’ve been going back and forth all evening between Alsruhe’s RPM Full Body and Thibaudeau’s 8/6/4 as my training program for the next six months. It’s a tough call, but I think I’m going to go with the strongman from Maryland now for the spring and summer, and switch to Thib’s 8/6/4 for autumn and winter later this year.
Having done squats, horizontal pull, horizontal push with the Strength Skill Circuits today, I’ll start RPM Full Body on Friday, April 1st with deadlifts, vertical pull, and vertical push.
THURSDAY
BW: 151.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.03 miles / 434 calories / 49:02 minutes
Watched a few matches from the latest Who’s Number One no-gi grappling event during cardio. Stream was very erratic, even as a recording. Hard to enjoy.
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FRIDAY
BW: 153.8 lbs
waist: 33 3/4”
Alsruhe’s RPM Full Body: W1 D1
Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
0.76 miles / 99 calories / 13:01 minutes
Deadlift (H)
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
135 lbs x 5
160 lbs x 3
10 minutes EMOM 185 lbs* x 3
Pullups (L)
BW x 5
5 minutes EMOM +15 lbs x 5
4 minutes EMOM +15 lbs x 3
1 minutes EMOM +15 lbs x 2
OHP (M)
bar x 10
60 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 70 lbs x 4
Conditioning
5 Row Sprints
average: 1:06 minutes / 273.6m / 17 cal
First day of Alsruhe’s RPM Full Body Program. Felt pretty good overall. Deadlifts felt about right for the “heavy” session. OHP maybe a little light as the “medium” session. Pullups were overwhelming in the second half - especially for the “light” session. May adjust down to make BW vertical pulls the “light” version and +15 lbs the “medium version”.
Enjoyed the faster pace of the EMOM workout. Also loved the return of bar speed courtesy of submaximal weights.
90 minutes total training time, including warmups. Longer than I’d like. May ditch the treadmill warm up to help get things closer to 75 minutes. I feel like I might get adequate preparation during the warmup sets for the big compound lift of the day (deadlift or squat).
*Accidentally did 190 lbs on the deadlift top set. A ten where a five was supposed to be.
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SATURDAY
BW: 153.0 lbs*
waist: 34"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.03 miles / 433 calories / 49:01 minutes
Alsruhe RPM Full Body, W1 D2
Squat (L)
bar x 10
85 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 100 lbs x 5
Swiss bar row (M)
bar x 10
10 minutes EMOM 70 lbs x 4
Four-count iso-hold at top of each rep
Swiss bar bench (H)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 5
10 minutes EMOM 115 lbs x 3
*Cheated by weighing myself after my workout. Was 154.6 lbs on first waking.
Still getting a sense of this program. Except for the pullups, none of the work feels especially challenging just yet. Adding little intensifiers (i.e., the iso hold in the bent over row) … May just be a case of “starting light.”
Taking a strength-skill approach to this program. Perfect explosive reps with controlled - or even emphasized - eccentrics. Move like a machine.
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SUNDAY
BW: 153.6 lbs*
waist: 34"
Cardio
Row sprints
5 x 2 minutes
Best rep: 2:07 minutes / 30 calories / 496m (14.3 cpm)
Incline treadmill walk
1.89 miles / 186 calories / 23:27 minutes (7.9 cpm)
+break for 45 minutes (talking with trainer)+
Incline treadmill walk
3.15 miles / 482 calories / 53:01 minutes (9.1 cpm)
*Another weigh-in cheat day. Woke at 155.2 lbs. Weight-in is post-workout. Trainer pulled me aside during my cardio to show me a technique thing he was working on. Very friendly guy; we talk lifting from time to time. Jumped back on treadmill afterwards to get an even five miles of walking work in (at an average of 8.7 cpm).
Feeling a little DOMS in my quads today. Must be the squats from Saturday. Grateful for it.
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MONDAY
BW: 156.7 lbs
waist: 34"
So much for my attempt to grade my BW on a curve … Going to have to pull back hard this week.
Alrushe RPM Full Body, W1 D3
Row Sprints
5 x 2 minutes
Best rep: 2:06 minutes / 27 calories / 474m
Deadlift (M)
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
135 lbs x 5
10 minutes EMOM 152 lbs x 4
HLRs
10 minutes EMOM BW x 3
Pullups (H)
BW x 5
10 minutes EMOM +25 lbs x 3
HLRs
10 minutes EMOM BW x 2
OHP (L)
bar x 10
10 minutes EMOM 55 lbs x 5
added 5 band over-and-backs after each set
Total training time: 90 minutes. May add sets of HLRs to the first two exercises to save a little time. Would do the same to add some more core work to SRB day while keeping the session as short as possible.
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TUESDAY
BW: 156.0 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.01 miles / 445 calories / 48:01 minutes
Current diet is low-to-no carbs Sunday through Thursday. High carb low protein day Friday or Saturday (most likely Friday now that I’m training on Friday and Saturday).
Watched the semi-finals of the ADCC West Coast trials while listening to Meshuggah’s latest.
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WEDNESDAY
BW: 155.2 lbs
waist: 34"
Alsruhe RPM Full Body, W1 D4
Squat (H)
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
135 lbs x 5
10 minutes EMOM 150 lbs x 3
Swiss bar row (L)
bar x 10
10 minutes EMOM 55 lbs x 5
Five-count iso-hold at the top of each rep
Swiss bar bench (M)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 95 lbs x 4
First week of the program done. Glad I made the switch. This training has a lot of what I wanted with Thib’s Strength Skill Circuits, while being much easier to manage in a commercial gym. Volume is higher, weights are lighter. Increases will happen every 12 sessions instead of every 14 …
That said, It’s nice to perform consistently strong reps with good form and bracing. Will do core work (HLRs and crunches) and conditioning (row sprints) on alternate sessions; twice a week each - which is pretty much what Alsruhe recommends …
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THURSDAY
BW: 156.4 lbs
waist: 34"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.02 miles / 434 calories / 49:02 minutes (8.8 c/m)
FRIDAY
BW: 156.4 lbs
waist: 34"
Alsruhe RPM Full Body, W2 D1
Row sprints
5 x 2 minutes
Best rep: 2:07 minutes / 28 calories / 484m
Deadlift (L)
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 122 lbs x 5
Pullups (M)
BW x 5
10 minutes EMOM +15 lbs x 4
OHP (H)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 77 lbs x 3
Total training time: 80 minutes.
I’ve been spending some time with Thibaudeau’s neurotype work and realizing more and more why I like this kind of training.
Ideally, by the end of summer, this workout will be at least 35 lbs heavier in the lower body work and 17-18 lbs heavier in the upper body work. That would make the (H) versions of each lift:
Deadlift: 220 lbs
Squat: 185 lbs
Bench: 135 lbs
Row: 105 lbs
OHP: 95 lbs
Pullups: +45 lbs
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SATURDAY
BW: 157.6 lbs
waist: 34 1/2"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.0 miles / 274 calories / 33:03 minutes
Alsruhe RPM Full Body W2 D2
Squat (M)
bar x 10
85 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 5
10 minutes EMOM 120 lbs x 4
Abs crunches
5 minutes EMOM +25 lbs x 10
Swiss bar bent over row (H)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 85 lbs x 3
3-count iso hold at the top of each rep
Swiss bar bench (L)
bar x 10
10 minutes EMOM 65 lbs x 5
Diet totally out of control again. I do more damage to my waistline between the hours of 9pm and 11pm … it’s as crazy as it is predictable. Protein has been far too low, as well, in an effort to keep overall calories lower.
I keep threatening to take the Queen Cobra and ejones1 approach to caloric accountability. May be time to make good on that threat … especially with less than two months to go in the Transformation 2022!
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SUNDAY
BW: 156.8 lbs
waist: 34 3/4"
Cardio
Row sprints
5 x 2 minutes / 130 calories
Best round: 2:06 minutes / 28 calories / 484 m
Incline treadmill walk
3.03 miles / 435 calories / 49:01 minutes (8.8 c/m)
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MONDAY
BW: 157.6 lbs (good grief …)
waist: 34 3/4"
Alsruhe RPM Full Body W2 D3
Deadlift (H)
bar x 10
95 lbs x 8
135 lbs x 5
160 lbs x 3
10 minutes EMOM 185 lbs x 3
HLRs
5 minute EMOM BW x 5
Pullups (L)
6 minutes EMOM BW x 5
4 minutes EMOM BW x 4
HLRs
3 minutes EMOM BW x 5
2 minutes EMOM BW x 4
OHP (M)
bar x 10
60 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 70 lbs x 4
Nothing says you’re too damn fat like being unable to finish BW pullup and BW HLR sets. Strained my neck trying to finish the pullups - it was that kind of session.
Calorie accountability: 1575 cal = P149 F59 C28.
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Nice to see someone else doing a Neversate program, excited to see your progress
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Thanks! I’m just doing one of his “starter” programs. But I’ve wanted to try one of his programs for months.
Checked in on your log … interesting that you train at a gym that focuses on Neversate programs. Very cool!
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TUESDAY
BW: 156.0 lbs
waist: 34"
Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3:04 miles / 433 calories / 49:02 minutes
Felt a little heavy and slow. Second day of <50g carbs to blame?
Given that my late-night eating problem is at least 70% dread (or, more charitably, “anti-longing”) of the day to come, I’ve been testing out my diet discipline during my week-off solo staycation when my “dreads” should be at a minimum. Last night went pretty well (binge watching the fifth season of Breaking Bad didn’t hurt).
I’m trying out a bunch of things - intermittent fasting, low carb, and low food variety. Maintenance on Mon/Wed/Fri (strength days) and as deep a deficit as I can tolerate on Sun/Tue/Thu (cardio days). Saturday is a flex day. If I end up eating out Friday night and reach a significant calorie surplus, then Saturday is more like Sunday. If not, then I’ll have a dessert and an extra cocktail Saturday night.
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Good stuff, brian’s programs are the real deal.
Not sure you want to do RPM for 6 months! maybe deload after 8 weeks and do a short sharp blast with something like Powerbuilder or Dark horse or even just another “easier” template like Deja Vu
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Thanks! I was thinking about that a little bit earlier today. I’ve got Deja Vu and have been thinking about his latest program, The Minimalist, also.
One thing I like about Dark Horse is that you get to train the big four twice a week each. I’ll take a look at that one, as well.
How long would you do the “short sharp blast” before returning to RPM? I think Darkhorse is nine weeks (plus deload and testing weeks) …
WEDNESDAY
BW: 155.6 lbs
waist: 34"
Alsruhe RPM Full Body, W2 D4
Warmup
2 min row sprints + 5 box jumps superset x 3
Squat (L)
bar x 10
85 lbs x 8
10 minutes EMOM 100 lbs x 5
Ab crunches
5 minutes EMOM +25 lbs x 10
Swiss bar row
bar x 10
10 minutes EMOM 70 lbs x 4
4-count hold at the top of each rep
Ab crunches
5 minutes EMOM +25 lbs x 10
Swiss bar bench (H)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 8 (accidentally did three additional reps)
100 lbs x 3
10 minutes EMOM 115 lbs x 3
Total training time: 80 minutes.
Experimenting with warmups and activation work. Liked today’s modifications.
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