Glad you’re on the mend!
Glad to see you back man
Hope you had a good Christmas mate.
Okay, actually got back in the gym today. My cough has continued to linger, and my lungs feel pretty raw when I go out in the cold, so I’m still not entirely convinced I didn’t have COVID. Hopefully not, since the long term effects can be nasty and still aren’t fully understood.
Anyway:
1/17/21 Warm-up weeks prior to going back into a program
Warm-up.
Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
Superset with chin-ups: 1/2/3/4/5
I’ll try to do some sort of conditioning tomorrow, then do a Deadlift/press day, repeat that a couple times then get some new training maxxes and get back to work.
8 Likes
Welcome back!
My wife caught something and tested negative for the Vid. As it progressed, it moved to her lungs and brought on a cough that sounds like she’s smoked her whole life.
It’s been three weeks and she’s still coughing at night. But it’s not the Vid…
One thing I’m bearing in mind is that the tests aren’t 100% accurate. Even a 90% accurate test leaves a pretty high margin for error.
Anyway, day two of returning to training, and my hamstrings are still wrecked from squatting Sunday. Always happens after a layoff, but I appreciate the reminder that my muscles are still alive!
1/19/21 Warm-up day 2.
Warm-up
Deadlift:
5x45# +2 power cleans
5x95# +2 power cleans
5x135#
5x185#
5x225#
Superset with pull-ups 1/2/3/4/5
Press:
5x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x105#
Superset with front squats 3x the same weights.
Didn’t do any conditioning yesterday except for walking the dogs, and running around with them a little, but not enough to account for much. Taking 2 days off to recover, and then another round on Friday and Sunday.
4 Likes
1/22/21 Warm-up day 3
1 mile slow run/walk with the dogs.
Warm-up.
Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
5x225#
Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
5x155#
Superset with chin-up 1/2/3/4/5/6
Body weight dips 10/10/10
Superset with Zercher squats 135# 3/3/3
Barbell curls 45# 10/10/10
Superset with barbell tricep extensions 45# 10/10/10
Felt really good today, so decided to go ahead and start working accessory stuff in. Feeling strong, and been eating better for the last week, as well as not coughing nearly as much.
4 Likes
1/23/21 Conditioning
Walk to dog park with the dogs.
8x 100m (too slow to be reasonably called a)sprint, 1:00 rest in between
Walk home from dog park with the dogs.
Took it easy, just easing my muscles and joints back into the idea of running. Pretty sore from yesterday’s session.
4 Likes
1/24/21 Warm-up day 4
1 mile slow run/walk with the dogs.
Warm-up.
Deadlift:
5x45# + 2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185#
5x225#
5x275#
Superset with pull-ups 1/2/3/4/5/6
Press:
5x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x105#
5x125#
Superset with front squats 3x with same weight
Accessory:
1 arm DB press 45# fat gripz - 10/10/10 per arm
Superset with BB row 135# - 10/10/10
Still a little sore from Friday, but didn’t slow me down appreciably. Now going to rest for 2 days, and test for a training max on all lifts over the next 2 sessions, then start a new 5/3/1 cycle.
5 Likes
1/29/21 1RM calculation day 1
Warm-up.
Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
12x225#
Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
15x155#
Superset with chin-up 1/2/3/4/5/6
Body weight dips 10/10/10
Superset with Zercher squats 135# 3/3/3
Barbell curls 45# 10/10/10
Calculated 1RM for squat = 315#
Calculated 1RM for bench = 230#
I took more days off than I intended, work was busy this week and I wanted to spend some time with the family, so I’m fine with it. I could have done more reps on both so it’s a conservative 1RM, which is as it should be for 5/3/1. Deadlift and press on Sunday.
4 Likes
1/31/21 1RM calculation day 2
Warm-up.
Deadlift:
5x45# + 2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185#
5x225#
12x275#
Superset with pull-ups 1/2/3/4/5/6
Press:
5x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x105#
12x125#
Superset with front squats 3x with same weight
Accessory:
1 arm DB press 45# fat gripz - 10/10/10 per arm
Superset with BB row 135# - 10/10/10
Calculated 1RM for deadlift = 385#
Calculated 1RM for press = 175#
So now that I’ve worked my way back up from being sick and laying off, it looks like I didn’t lose much strength, if any. New cycle 1 of 5/3/1 starts this week after a couple days off.
6 Likes
Okay, so I just put my 1RM numbers into my spreadsheet, and looking at the last cycle I did back in November/December, my 1RM is the same on press, 5# less on squat and deadlift, and 20# heavier on bench, so I am concluding that my time off didn’t negatively impact my strength at all.
2 Likes
2/1/21 Conditioning - 1 mile run/walk with dogs. I let the dogs set the pace, which was a little faster than I was comfortable with, but I kept up mostly, and they stopped to sniff enough stuff to give me time to catch my breath.
2 Likes
2/3/21 5/3/1 Cycle 1 day 1
Warmup:
Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
5x215#
10x240#
Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
5x155#
8x175#
superset with pull-ups: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Dips: 10/10/10
Superset with Zercher squats 135# 3/3/3
Barbell curls superset with tricep extensions 50#: 10/10/10
A good first day back on the program. Squat felt strong, but I may have been a bit overambitious with where I set my 1RM for bench. I only did 15 reps on my test day because I had a spotter for a change, and I don’t always have that luxury. I still got 8 reps at 175# but the last couple were a grind, and I always intended to keep bench relatively light due to my previous pec injury and the aforementioned not having a spotter. I think I’m going to go ahead and drop my bench training max 15-20# to be on the conservative side.
5 Likes
2/5/21 cycle 1 day 2
Warmup.
Deadlift:
5x45# + 2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185#
5x225#
5x265#
10x295#
Superset with chinups 1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Press:
5x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x105#
5x105#
5x120#
10x135#
Superset with front squats 3x 45/65/85/105/105/120#
1 arm DB press 45# fat grips 10/10/10
Superset with bent over BB row 135# 10/10/10
Another good workout, good start to the weekend. I slept a huge amount last night (crashed around 5 pm, woke up at 11 for a couple hours, crashed back out until almost 8 am), and still woke up sore from Wednesday’s training, so I obviously needed the recovery. I was planning to train again on Sunday, but we’ll see how I feel. 1 day between full body sessions probably isn’t sustainable for me in the long term, especially once the weights get up to respectable numbers.
Edit: I forgot to comment that it’s not a typo that I repeated my press set at 105#. I spaced out and forgot to load the next weights, realized it as I picked the weight up, and decided that as long as I had it in my hands anyway, might as well knock out the set. You can never have too much warm-up when you’re training in a 25F garage gym. My body and joints warmed up just fine, but the bar is NEVER not cold!
3 Likes
2/6/21 Conditioning
1/2 mile slow run to the dog park with the dogs.
8x100m semi-sprint, about 2:00 rest between intervals.
1/2 mile slow run home.
Conditioning felt good today. It’s even colder than yesterday was, but without having to freeze my hands on the bar I was a lot more comfortable. My lungs are definitely doing a lot better than they were in December, I’m able to exert myself in freezing temperatures without going into a coughing fit.
I’ve decided tomorrow is a full rest day, I don’t want to neglect recovery. I also got a good night’s sleep again last night, which definitely helps.
4 Likes
Do you have a space heater in your garage?
Nope, and a little 1500w electric jobbie wouldn’t make a dent in the cold out there anyway. I do have access to one of those flame space heaters that attaches to the top of a 5 gallon propane bottle, but it’s at my other house out in the country, and it doesn’t actually belong to me so I have been hesitant to bring it over to this house. I should just bite the bullet and ask if I can ‘borrow’ it long-term…
2 Likes
2/13/21 5/3/1 Cycle 1 day 3
Warmup:
Squat:
10x45#
3x95#
3x135#
3x185#
3x205#
3x230#
3x255#
Jokers
3x275#
3x295#
Bench:
3x45#
3x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
3x175#
Jokers:
3x185#
3x195#
superset with pull-ups: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9
Dips: 10/10/10
Superset with Zercher squats 135# 3/3/3
Barbell curls superset with tricep extensions 50#: 10/10/10
I didn’t intend to take an entire week off in the middle of a cycle, but it’s been cold as balls here all week, with highs in the single digits. I did go out and get the propane heater from the other house on Tuesday, but it ended up getting redirected into my basement to thaw the water lines for the laundry room so we could do laundry. I finally got it out to the garage today, and it does make a difference with the garage door closed. I had the temp up to maybe 30F in there. I also wore some knit gloves to avoid frostbite from forceful pressure against 0F metal bars. It didn’t hinder me too much, except that it made pull-ups on my 2 inch pull-up bar a definite grip challenge…
5 Likes
2/14/21 Conditioning
Run ~3/4 mile with the dogs. I didn’t want to go further today because 3 F temperature with wind and fresh snow is pretty miserable. If had just been Shadow and I, I might have gone for a full mile. Connor and Dawn are short-haired dogs, though, and even when exerting themselves they get cold quickly in this weather. Shadow would happily stay outside 24/7 even in this weather.
3 Likes