[b] Week 25: Run 2
Run [/b]
1 mile
Bodyweight: 95.7kg
Again I planned on running 2 miles but this time I was stopped by calf cramps. I’m not too bothered as I’m progressing steadily. Bodyweight is still up which I can’t really account for.
[b] Week 25: Summary
Bodyweight: [/b] 95.5kg
Nutrition: Poor
Training: Good
[b] Week 26: Upper Body
Warm-Up [/b]
Push-Ups
Kettlebell Floor Press
2x28kg: 4x12
Kettlebell Row
40kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Run
2 miles
Bodyweight: 95.0kg
Great session today. The run was particularly good: 2 miles on my third consecutive running day, and I maintained my 1 mile pace. The floor press was a PR and the rows felt good.
[b] Week 26: Gym
Bench Press [/b]
100kg x1
80kg x10
Front Squats
80kg x4
50kg x20
Pull-Ups
BW: 3x5
T-Bar Row
Light: 3x15
Back Extensions
BW: 2x20
Bodyweight: ?
I was hoping for more from the front squats, but overall this was a good session.
My internet was down for a while there, so that’s me caught up. I’m taking a rest day today - got some pretty brutal DOMS from all of the running and the gym session. Unfortunately this week I’m on 12 hour night shifts and then next weekend I’m going away so I’m not going to get much done, but things have been going well. When I’m back I’ll continue my current routine: upper body/lower body/run - I hope to progress to 3 mile runs quite quickly. In terms of the kettlebells I want to get to sets of 20 on the floor press and 10 on the rows and squats, but I think it’ll take a little while.
Week 26: Active Recovery
These nightshifts are really screwing me up. Nutrition has been horrible and I’m gaining weight, as well as feeling really stiff. Today I just did a bunch of bodyweight squats, light rows and static stretches and now I feel a fair bit better.
[b] Week 26: Summary
Bodyweight: [/b] ? (technically it would be 95.0kg, but I feel that isn’t representative - I was probably a fair bit heavier)
Training: Ok - only 2 proper training days, but I did train everything I wanted to.
Nutrition: Terrible.
This week wasn’t great, but considering my shifts it could have been a lot worse. More a damage-control week than anything else.
[b] Week 27: Run
Run [/b]
1 mile
Bodyweight: ?
This was done as a race, so I went faster than usual. I also played some squash.
[b] Week 27: Upper Body
Warm-Up [/b]
Push-ups
Kettlebell Floor Press
2x28kg: 3x15
Kettlebell Rows
40kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Kettlebell Press
10kg: 3x20
E2MOM
Kettlebell Curl
10kg: 2x15
E2MOM
Bodyweight: 96.9kg
I hurt my lower back setting up for the push-ups - it’s the first time in ages that I’ve hurt it doing something so lame, but I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting and that always makes it more vulnerable. This session was otherwise really good - that’s a pretty solid PR for the floor press and the rows felt the easiest they have in a long time. The bodyweight is a shocker, but I’ll deal with it quickly. Nights really screw up my nutrition.
[b] Week 27: Lower Body
Warm-Up [/b]
Hip circles and goblet squats
Kettlebell Front Squats
2x28kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Kettlebell Reverse Lunges
2x28kg: 10
Kettlebell Swings
40kg: 3x10
E2MOM
Bodyweight: 96.8kg
This was a really good session. The squats felt heavy, as did the lunges (which I was hoping to do more of). The swings felt very good though.
[b] Week 27: Run
Run [/b]
2 miles
Bodyweight: 95.9kg
Bodyweight is coming down steadily, but it’s pretty shocking that it jumped so high so quickly. Really need to get back to cutting. I’ve had some good ideas for a cutting routine, but I’m going to stick with my current one for 3 more weeks while my rota is so hectic. I’m thinking of two whole body days and two longer runs per week.
Week 27: Active Recovery
I felt pretty stiff today, especially my neck, so I did a heap of haloes, body weights squats and bodyweight lunges. Now I feel fantastic.
Bodyweight: 96.1kg
[b] Week 27: Summary
Bodyweight: [/b] 96.4kg - appalling.
Training: A solid week - a ‘fast’ one mile run and a comfortable two mile run, good upper and lower days and an additional active recovery day.
Nutrition: Good this week, but I’ve got a way to go to undo the previous week.
Overall this was a good week. My priority has to be getting leaner - I’ve almost undone all of the work of my previous cut. I’m progressing steadily on low frequency training, and I’m getting a lot more DOMS than I’m used to (particularly in my lower body, but also in my triceps which is encouraging). Unfortunately I’m on nights again for the next 3 shifts, but after that I’m 9-5 so I’ll be able to get everything done. I’m determined not to let everything go to pot on these nights: I’ve stocked up on zero calorie energy drinks lol, because having two 350kcal drinks per night is certainly not something I can afford!
[b] Week 28: Upper Body
Warm-Up [/b]
Push-ups
Kettlebell Floor Press
2x28kg: 3x18
Kettlebell Row
40kg: 5x5
20kg: 20
E2MOM
Kettlebell Press
10kg: 20-20-10
EMOM
Kettlebell Curl
10kg: 15-15-10
E2MOM
Bodyweight: ?
Followed by some lower body stretching. Weekend nights were rough, but nutrition was ok. The rows felt really strong today, and the floor press was a PR. The press and curls suffered slightly, but that doesn’t matter. Good session.
[b] Week 28: Run
Run [/b]
2 miles
Bodyweight: 96.7kg
Good run today. I was feeling pretty tired and nauseous from my night shifts, but I maintained my best pace yet. I haven’t had any calf DOMS from my last few runs, which is good. Bodyweight still shitty.
[b] Week 28: Lower Body
Warm-Up [/b]
Hip circles and goblet squats
Kettlebell Front Squats
2x28kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Kettlebell Swings
28kg: 30x10
EMOM
40kg: 10
Bodyweight: 96.6kg
I felt like doing a tonne of volume today (literally), to help with weight loss. The 30x10 28kg swings every minute on the minute worked really well, as an exhausting but sustainable form of conditioning. Needless to say the 10 reps with the 40kg at the end felt very heavy!
My squats are entirely stagnant - they haven’t improved in months and months. Every time I do them I manage 5x5 with good form, but it’s always a struggle. I think the key to improving them will be to increase the frequency, but I don’t feel like doing that right now. I want to focus more on the running.
[b] Week 28: Run
Run [/b]
1 mile
Bodyweight: 96.1kg
If anything it was slightly less than a mile today, but I went very fast (by my standards). It’s getting pretty cold here now.
[b] Week 28: Summary
Bodyweight: [/b] 96.5kg
Training: Pretty average this week.
Nutrition: Average. Probably around maintenance, which isn’t enough.
Measurements: 15.3in/25in
Just an average week. The days I trained were better than usual, but I didn’t really do much more than the minimum I suppose. Just those high volume swings and the extra short run.
Next week is going to be difficult - I’m visiting friends on the Sunday and I’m on 09:00-21:30 days from Monday to Thursday. I think I’ll combine the upper and lower body days tomorrow and do a run before I leave on Sunday, so that I’ve got all of the main stuff out of the way before the work week starts.
[b] Week 29: Whole Body - Strength
Warm-Up [/b]
Hip circles and goblet squats
Kettlebell Front Squats
2x28kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Kettlebell Swings
40kg: 3x10
E2MOM
Kettlebell Row
40kg: 5x5
E2MOM
Bodyweight: 96.7kg
I’m really fucking frustrated about my bodyweight. I’m going to head to the gym later for a pump session.
[b] Whole Body - Continued
Dumbbell Chest Press [/b]
2x30kg: 5x10
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 3x5
Plate-Loaded Leg Press
Built up to 160kg x10
Machine Row
Light: 3x20
Tricep Extensions
Light: 3x12
Lat Pulldown
Medium: 3x10
Dumbbell Curls
2x12.5kg: 3x10
I joined an Anytime Fitness today and it seems pretty good. The only thing it doesn’t have that I’d like is a back extension, but I can live with that. These exercises all felt reasonably solid, apart from the leg press which gave me sharp pains in both of my knees. I’d say all exercises are down by about a quarter to a third from their prime - I used to press 40kg dumbbells for sets of 10 and comfortably curl 17.5-20kgs. But they all felt like they’d come back quickly.
For a long time I’ve thought that the most effective way for me to train would be to use dumbbells/machines for my upper body and kettle bells for my lower body, and I think it’s finally time I did that. The only thing putting me off is the strange idea that it’s not sufficiently consistent and that I shouldn’t use different modalities on different body parts, which is frankly dumb. Kettlebells are both effective and safe at training my lower body, which is a combination I haven’t found with anything else. However, they’re grossly inadequate for my upper body.
I think that from next week I should switch to a 3-day push/pull/lower split with the push and pull sessions done at the gym and the lower done with kettle bells at home. I’ll continue to run once a week.