Hello Again.

Training Over 35 Lifter
41

Nearly the end of week 3 of this cycle, end of week 12 of total training.

The increase in base workload in the workouts is proving harder than i expected but then i had become a little comfortable and complacent in previous weeks : adding reps was easy and made me feel that i was doing better than i probably was doing, adding work to the base sets every day consistently is a harder proposition.

Now that the numbers are in i now have to think about what my next priorities are : gaining some lean mass has been a real unexpected bonus but i still want to reduce my overall weight and that is because being heavy does take a harder tolll on my back,knees and ankles, getting weight off would make carrying extra weight (eg BOB) easier and maybe make some running feasible again.
That probably means a change in my next training cycle to maybe just do 2 days a week of resistance training with just 2 main exercises and make the rest of the work primarily higher intensity ‘lactate’ driving circuit training and cardio work.

Needs some thought and more expertise than i have.

As is : i may just continue with what i am doing now given that i am (slowly) getting leaner but at the least retaining lean mass , maybe even putting on a small amount.

Today then :
5,000 pace warm-up around the hills and lanes.
Oly bar warm up.
Then 5 rounds of 5 movements with minimal rest between movements and 10-20 seconds between sets.
5 rounds of :
Deadlift ascending weight : 60,80,90 ,90,90 kg.
Press-ups, sets of 12.
Goblet squats, sets of 6 with the 28kg KB
Chins 3+1 each round
Single leg weighted steps +16kg, 3,2,1 each leg for 12 total each round.

5,000 pace walk to finish.
Afternoon spent moving soil again.

42

My own training took a bit of a hit over the holidays with firstly really needing a break, then lots of project work took centre-stage with a bit of injury time thrown in for good measure, oh, and with the deck at the back being covered in ice for some of the time not a lot got done aside from some decent walks and some heavy work.

My elbow injury keeps flaring up too as soon as i push the volume so long term it looks as though doing heavy training 3 days in a row and 5 days in a week just isn’t going to work but doing some weights i consider essential so i gave it a go today just to see how it would go.

Its always uncomfortable after a break, certainly was today and took a bit of a ‘man-up cupcake’ approach to get through the routine.

So :
Warm up stomp of around 5,000 paces around the lanes with BOB .

Warm up complex with the bare bar, damn thing felt heavy and cold today.

The main work of 5 rounds of :
Deadlift, ascending weights on each set starting at 60kg and going : 70,80,90 over 5 sets (5x5)

Press-ups, sets of 10 per round

Kettlebell squats with the 28kg KB

Chin-ups, back to only getting 2 or 3 with the dodgy elbow.

Weighted single leg step-up to high deck with the light KB

Done pretty straight through but felt pretty ropy at times, took a break after the 5 rounds and had a protein shake and then hit the road and reversed the walking route.
The start of the walk is all uphill, quite steep at first but mainly climbing for the first half and i could really feel the lactate drag today.

43

Third day of training this week and after the shocking first day i must say that the break has done me good, also i think that the day-on…day-off routine seems to be more do-able than 3 days back to back.
Todays routine was very much as before except that i added some volume either in each set : so 6 squats or 12 press-ups or added reps as extras on each round and went at it with a bit of aggression.

Warm up routine was as usual 5,000 paces around the lanes, quite cold in the wind and a much later start as i had to wait for my GF to get in and stop faffing about.

Main work, 5 rounds of : deadlift, press-ups,goblet squats,chins and weighted single leg steps as :

Deadlift starting with a warm-up set of 60kg for 6 then : 2 sets of 80kg with a 5+2 pattern and then 2 sets at 90kg with 5+2.

Press-ups, 1 set of 12 per round for a total of 60.

Goblet squats @28kg and 6 each round

Chins : 2+1 each round and still sticking on the third

Weighted steps with the KB and 3,2,1 pattern each leg each round.

The main thing today was going at it with a fair amount of ‘attitude’ which ramped up the workload density.
Finished with a protein shake and another 5,000 paces around the lanes.