Cossack squats (alternating) - 3 x 5 ea way
(60s rest between exercises)
Superset:
Single-leg KB RDL - 3 x 8 @ 12 ea leg
Pistol box squats (2.5 holes) - 3 x 8 ea leg
(30s between legs + exercises)
Following on from above, this is my first training session for a while; I’m trying to ease back into things, and also changing the focus slightly from what I had been doing to be more of a bodyweight/skills focus for a while.
I wasn’t pushing the leg curls too deep - probably around 2-3 RIR for all sets. Cossack squats went much better than expected, despite a little tightness along the inner thighs. Main issue with those was getting the right foot placement/width - I was trying to set my feet and then move from one side to the other, rather than starting upright and stepping outwards each time.
The RDL/pistol squat combo was interesting - on the left side it felt like I was way less stable doing the RDLs than on the right, but then for the pistols it felt like it was the other way round. I’m guessing that’s down to weaknesses in whatever stabilising muscles each movement uses, as I was able to get through all reps on both legs, so it’s probably a good thing I am now giving some attention to this single-leg stuff.
Worked the core a bit in this one, but felt better/easier than the previous one had felt. It seems each session in this series is a little different so I think it’ll be a bit hit-and-miss the whole way through re which ones I personally find easier or harder.
Negative chinups - 3 x 5 @ 5s descent
(60s between exercises)
Superset 2:
Diamond pushups - 8, 8, 10
Bar inverted rows (9.5 holes) - 3 x 8
(60s between exercises)
Giant set:
Plank - 2 x 30s
Banded pallof press (L/R) - 2 x 12 ea side @ doubled yellow band
Bent-knee reverse hyper - 2 x 8
(30s between exercises, 60s between rounds)
Decent session - ring support holds are always way tougher than I think they should be, but I wasn’t shaking too much by the end. Negative chinups were fine but it definitely makes a big difference if I pause for a second on the floor before jumping back up vs hopping right back as soon as I hit the ground.
Diamond pushups were pretty simple. The progression I’m following is 3 x 5-8, and then move onto a harder variation, and as noted after 2 sets I could still hit a solid set of 10 reps (and probably more if I wanted to push it), so I’ll try something harder next time. Inverted rows were OK, but a bit tougher than I expected - maybe just down to fatigue from the chinups? I still hit 3 sets of 8 so I’ll probably drop the height by one notch next time.
Core work was fine - I’ll probably stick with planks for the time being until I see how everything fits together, and also stick with 2 sets overall for now. I can go for a thicker band on the pallof presses, so I’ll try that next time. Reverse hyperextensions are only done with the weight of my legs, and bent-legged, but I have to work really hard to keep core locked in while doing these.
Jumped onto this with my other half who wanted to do a session, plus I was trying to make up for no other training over the weekend. This was a super tough session though - seemed to be really hip/glute focussed and I struggled a lot. I’ll probably need to revisit.
This one was much easier on the whole than yesterday’s - focus was on breathing and core work. It was notable how much looser I was doing the warming up exercises yesterday (middle of the afternoon) compared to these morning sessions when I’ve only been out of bed 10 mins.
Scap pullups - 3 x 8 @ 3s holds
(60s between exercises)
Superset 2:
Incline pushups - 3 x 8
Ring rows (horizontal) - 5, 5, 8
(60s between exercises)
Giant set:
Plank - 2 x 30s
Banded pallof press (R/L) - 2 x 12 ea side @ doubled green band
Bent-knee reverse hyper - 2 x 8
(30s between exercises)
Dips felt fine but the scapular pullups seemed to aggravate my right shoulder for some reason. The 3s holds were easy enough for my back to handle but I think my grip will become a factor as I increase the duration of there.
To clarify, the incline pushups are done with my feet up on something, so I’m technically on a decline, but it’s the same movement pattern as an incline press hence I call them incline pushups. In this case I had the safeties set as low as they can go and put my feet on them, and I’ll just bump these up one notch each time.
Ring rows were easier than expected, with the rings set as low as they can go without me touching the floor, and my feet up propped up by a few inches, so I’m pretty much horizontal. Pushed the last set to see what I could do and was pretty pleased with 8 reps there.
Core work was fine - I dropped the rest time between rounds so it was just 30s between everything all the way through, which I think worked better. The doubled green band was also much tougher for the pallof press, so that feels like the right call too.
Cossack squats (alternating) - 3 x 6 ea way
(60s rest between exercises)
Superset:
Single-leg KB RDL - 3 x 10 @ 12 ea leg
Pistol box squats (1.5 holes) - 3 x 6 ea leg
(30s between legs + exercises)
Decent session again - I’m not pushing the leg curls too hard, but I got a few more reps in total than last time which is good. Cossack squats felt pretty good, although by the end my groin area was feeling the stretch a bit.
Got more reps out of the single-leg RDLs too an felt only a little wobbly. I think next time I’ll bump these up to the 16kg KB instead. Dropped the height by one notch for the pistol box squats which didn’t feel as hard as I expected. I’ll bump up the reps a bit before the next drop, and then I think after that one I can’t go any lower so hopefully I’ll be able to hit them free-standing at that point…
Banded pallof press (R/L) - 2 x 12 ea side @ doubled green band
(30s rest)
Bent-knee reverse hypers - 2 x 9
(30s rest)
Tough session this - ring support holds started off well but they become tiring really quickly and I couldn’t make it to 35s on the last set. Negative chinups were tough too, going for 1 rep extra than last week. I think I hit 6 on the last set but I lost count so I’m not totally sure.
The pseudo-planche pushups went much better than expected - I was pretty surprised to manage 8 on the first couple of sets. It’s also a challenge to keep the same positioning throughout, and not slide backwards into a regular pushup position. Rows were OK too, but just one notch lower than last week so a bit tougher.
Core work went OK - I was really shaking on the first set of planks, which I guess is due to all the other stuff I’d done, but the second set was better. Starting to increase reps on the reverse hypers as well as I get used to those.
33m total w/ 20m running. 3.29 miles/5.26km covered in total.
Not too bad given once again there’s been a bit of a gap since my last run. I was feeling it a bit in my lungs to begin with but by the end it was legs that were struggling more.
This one was a bit awkward more than anything - there were a couple of movements that involved swinging your arms and legs out to the sides and I’m slightly space-limited that was annoying.
I think I’ll repeat sessions 3-6 of this series and they seemed to be the better ones, and then after that I might look for some different ones to try out instead.
Negative bar dips - 3 x 6 @ 5s descents
(60s rest)
Scap pullups - 3 x 8 @ 4s holds
(60s rest)
Superset 2:
Incline pushups (0.5 holes) - 3 x 8
(60s rest)
Ring rows (horizontal) - 3 x 8
(60s rest)
Giant set:
Ab wheel - 2 x 8
(30s rest)
Banded pallof press (L/R) - 2 x 12 ea side @ doubled green band
(30s rest)
Bent-knee reverse hypers - 2 x 10
(30s rest)
This sessions went OK - negative dips were straining shoulders at the bottom a little bit, but no pain or anything. Scap pullups were bugging the right shoulder to begin with but then that passed on later sets. Main issue there is my hands seize up a bit from gripping the bar for an extended period of time.
Incline pushups were a bit awkward, and I struggled on the last couple of reps - I think the main issue here is getting my hands in the right position as the movement path is a little different to regular pushups due to the angle. Ring rows were OK, although I only just got the last rep of the last set.
Core work was OK, swapping in ab wheel rollouts for the plank. The second set of these was way harder than the first and it felt like my abs were really straining, but I got through it. Pallof presses were still fine and can probably be made harder, and the reverse hypers were OK although these are a bit uncomfortable because you’re lying on your stomach while waving your legs around.
Cossack squats (alternating) - 3 x 7 ea way
(60s rest)
Superset:
Single-leg KB RDL - 6, 8 @ 16, 10 @ 12 ea leg
Pistol box squats (1.5 holes) - 3 x7 ea leg
(30s between legs + exercises)
Slept badly last night and woke up feeling tired as hell. Then I got to clean up some cat sick after getting up. Really didn’t feel like working out, but I got it done.
Leg curls were OK, but didn’t manage as much as last time, presumably due to tiredness. Cossack squats went OK and always seem to feel better on the last set, maybe because I’ve limbered up a bit by that point? The garage floor is a little slidey from dust, which is useful at the start of each set to get your feet in the right place as you drop down, but by the end it’s annoying because they keep wanting to slip further apart.
I tried bumping up the wright on the single-leg RDLs and that was super tough - I could particularly feel it around my ankles/up my shins from trying to stabilise on one foot. Ended up dropping the weight again for the last set. Pistols felt OK but I feel like there’s going to be a sudden increase in difficulty once I try to get to under parallel (at the moment I’m probably stopping a couple of inches above parallel still).
My abs are still super sore from the core work done on Tuesday, probably due to bringing in the ab wheel, so that made some of this session pretty challenging. Other than that it wasn’t too bad though - definitely slept better last night and generally feel like I have way more energy first this morning (compared to yesterday), despite soreness.
Another bad night’s sleep meant I came into this super tired again. Ring support holds were tough, and I couldn’t make the last set so I took a short pause and went for an extra 10s to try to round it off. The negative chinups started well, but on the very last rep my strength went and I dropped like a stone.
The pseudo-planche pushups and inverted rows were tough as well. I got one extra rep on the pushups compared to last time, but that was a real struggle and it’s hard to know if I was keeping them as strict as needed. I put ‘ish’ for the inverted rows because towards the end of the first two sets I wasn’t sure I was actually pulling my chest as close to the bar as I should be.
Core work was OK but my abs were still sore as anything from the other day, so I subbed in planks instead of hitting ab wheel rollouts again, which I think was a good call. I had planned to do side planks anyway, and will probably keep those in to alternate with the pallof presses. On that note, I have felt the pallof presses sometimes put a little strain on my lower back, which can then be felt on the reverse hypers, and it was noticeable today that my lower back felt absolutely fine doing them - something to bear in mind.
Weighed in on Sunday morning @ 13st 3.6lbs, waist measuring 88cm/34.5".
Had company for the long weekend, so no more training done (after the run), but we did a lot of walking, particularly on the Monday, and it’s only a pilates session that was missed which is pretty low intensity anyways so I think it all balances out in terms of overall activity.
Negative bar dips - 3 x 7 @ 5s descents
(60s rest)
Scap pullups - 3 x 8 @ 5s holds
(60s rest)
Superset 2:
Incline pushups (1.5 holes) - 8, 8, 6
(60s rest)
Ring rows (horizontal) - 3 x 8
(60s rest)
Giant set:
Ab wheel - 2 x 8
(30s rest)
Side plank (R/L) - 2 x 30s ea side
(30s rest)
Bent-knee reverse hypers - 2 x 11
(30s rest)
This session was pretty solid. The negative dips were making my shoulder feel a bit tetchy whenever I was approaching the bottom, but were fine otherwise. Scap pullups were fine, and I’ll progress these onto negative pullups now.
Incline pushups are still much tougher than expected, and as noted I didn’t manage 8 reps on all sets. I think a big part of this is just keeping everything tensed while you’re doing them, with that downward angle, which seems way harder than a regular pushup. The rows felt solid, and I felt pretty comfortable getting 8s on all sets this week so I’ll progress those to wide rows (basically progressing from having elbows tucked close to the sides, to having them stick straight out).
Ab wheel felt crazy difficult once again, almost painfully so. The side planks were fine though and I think this pairing works better than having the pallof presses here (which will be moved to the second session in the week instead). Reverse hypers continue to progress well as well so I’ll soon be doing straight-leg variants.