No worries.
The work stress is real. Previously, if I had picked a more intensive diet/exercise plan I would have absolutely given in today. I’m happy I started with something manageable but I do need to start actively pursuing stress management strategies.
Summary:
Day: 11
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 90.9%
Weight: 108.8kg
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Lifting:
A) dumbbell high pull from hang, 5x3, 30-60s rest, 30kg - 3/3/3/3/3
B) dumbbell Romanian deadlift, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 20kg - 12/12/12/8
C1) dumbbell overhead press, 4x6-10, 0 rest, 20kg - 12/10/10/7
C2) Band assisted neutral grip chin-up, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, Red band - 6/6/4/3
D) Cuban press, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, 2.5kg - 12/11/7
Conditioning:
Dumbbell stair climb, 4x60s, 1 min rest, 15kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Rest periods a little too long tonight but then I’m a little worn out from work. Otherwise pretty happy with the moderate progress but want to focus on better lockouts next session.
Update - Shoulder actually kind of sore… might be the high pulls?
Summary:
Day: 12
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 91.7%
Weight: 108.8kg
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Summary:
Day: 13/14
Training: ✓/✓
Diet: ✓/✓
Lifestyle: ✓/✓
Compliance: 92.3%/92.8%
Weight: 108.1kg/108.1kg
Lifting:
A) Vertical jump, 5x3, 30-60s rest, bw - 3/3/3/3/3
B) Reverse lunge, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, bw - 12/12/12/12
C1) Pushups, 4x6-10, 0 rest, bw - 6/6/6/6
C2) 2 arm dumbbell row, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, 20kg - 10/10/10/10
D) Calf raises, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, bw - 12/9/9
Conditioning:
Stair climbs, 4x60s, 1 min rest, 20kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Right knee a little sore during lunges, perhaps need to warm up more before jumping.
Noticed I was doing too many reps on the row - fixed this and now ready to up weight next session.
Calf raises continue to be tough but have progressed a little.
For the stair walk I seem to be right at the upper end of what I can fit on my dumbbells without destroying the walls on my narrow stairwell. I can probably add a little more weight (5kg) but will then need to look at increasing time, increasing sets, buying more small plates or changing the type of carry. Perhaps I could make some handles using chain, some tubing and a clip?
Summary:
Day: 15
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 93.3%
Weight: 108.4kg
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Weight up the last couple of days but hopefully just the usual fluctuations.
One thing I have noticed recently is I’ve been exhausted during the day time - possibly due to suddenly cutting out endless takeout/icecream but also likely due to sub-obtimal eating patterns. I’ve drifted towards fasting in the morning and having all 3 meals in the evening, consisting of 2 small meals and one large dinner.
Summary:
Day: 16
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 93.8%
Weight: 108.6kg
1 Like
Lifting:
A) dumbell hang clean, 5x3, 30-60s rest, 20kg - 3/3/3/3/3
B) dumbbell Romanian deadlift, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 20kg - 12/12/12/12
C1) dumbbell overhead press, 4x6-10, 0 rest, 20kg - 10/10/10/10
C2) Band assisted neutral grip chin-up, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, Red band - 6/6/4/3
D) Cuban press, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, 2.5kg - 12/9/8
Conditioning:
Dumbbell stair climb, 4x60s, 1 min rest, 20kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Generally good and happy with progress on rdl and press. I swapped out the high pulls for hang cleans today to try and avoid destroying my shoulder - went way too light and need to get elbows higher on the catch. Shoulders were exhausted by the time I got to the cuban press - I’ll make these band no-moneys next cycle. Also need to buy myself some chains or the such for farmers walk to avoid wrecking my walls.
Summary:
Day: 17
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 94.1%
Weight: 108.5kg
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Lifting:
A) Vertical jump, 5x3, 30-60s rest, bw - 3/3/3/3/3
B) Reverse lunge, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 5kg - 9/8/9/8
C1) Pushups, 4x6-10, 0 rest, bw - 7/7/6/4
C2) 2 arm dumbbell row, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, 25kg - 10/8/7/6
D) Calf raises, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, bw - 12/12/8
Conditioning:
Stair climbs, 4x60s, 60s rest, 25kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Upped weight on 3 different exercises today and form was reasonable throughout. Worth noting that many of the exercises are done with a 1s pause (row, pullup, press and calf raise). I am genuinely going to need to stop procrastinating and invest in better equipment for the stair carries today.
Weight fluctuating still between 108.1kg and 108.8kg which is a bit frustrating but I’m trying to remind myself that my main goal right now is consistency. I should get more weight loss when I up the difficulty end of next week.
Summary:
Day: 18/19
Training: ✓/✓
Diet: ✓/✓
Lifestyle: ✓/✓
Compliance: 94.4%/94.7%
Weight: 108.1kg/108.6kg
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Away this weekend to celebrate a birthday which means I’ll likely be deviating from the diet tomorrow. I don’t intend on binging and, provided I don’t fall off the wagon again week, I should still be able to meet my 90% goal. On the subject of compliance, I’m still working on figuring out a better way to track this that won’t introduce too much slack… perhaps keep the approach aligned with what I’m doing right now but track diet/exercise/lifestyle separately?
Summary:
Day: 20
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 95%
Weight: 108.2kg
Lifting:
A) dumbell hang clean, 5x3, 30-60s rest, 25kg - 3/3/3/3/3
B) dumbbell Romanian deadlift, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 25kg - 8/8/8/8
C1) dumbbell overhead press, 4x6-10, 0 rest, 25kg - 9/7/7/6
C2) Band assisted neutral grip chin-up, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, Red band - 6/6/4/3
D) Cuban press, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, 2.5kg - 12/12/8
Conditioning:
Dumbbell stair climb, 4x60s, 60s rest, 25kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Celebrated a birthday this Sunday and enjoyed some cake, a few glasses of wine and some chocolates. Felt rotten today as a result and the subsequent workout was far from ideal. I was unable to weigh myself the last two days also. Still on track however!
Summary:
Day: 21/22
Training: ✓/✓
Diet: ✗/✓
Lifestyle: ✓/✓
Compliance: 90.4%/90.9%
Weight: ?/?
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Pre-emptively logging today as I don’t envisage any issues. I also ordered some chains, snap clips and d-candles last night for a different setup when performing loaded carries in tight spaces - fingers crossed!
Summary:
Day: 23
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 91.3%
Weight: 107.8kg
Lifting:
A) Vertical jump, 5x3, 30-60s rest, bw - 3/3/3/3/3
B) Reverse lunge, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 5kg - 10/10/10/8
C1) Pushups, 4x6-10, 0 rest, bw - 8/7/6/4
C2) 2 arm dumbbell row, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, 25kg - 10/9/7/6
D) Calf raises, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, bw - 12/12/9
Conditioning:
Stair climbs, 4x60s, 60s rest, 25kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Not bad! Weight still slowly dropping and have made some modest improvements across the board with the lifting. Form could definitely be improved - especially better lockouts and less assistance from the supporting hand with calf raises.
Chains should arrive today which will enable me to try an alternate setup for the stair climbs. I also have a set of dip bars on the way which will give me a long term means of progression for horizontal pressing.
Summary:
Day: 24
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: 91.7%
Weight: 107.1kg
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New setup for the loaded carries! I have one for each hand. Handles are a little fat but that should help my grip. Only minor grumbles are the noisy chains and the fact they will likely bump into my legs when in use. Should be rated to 150kg or so each (limited by handles) however i will definitely not be doing this in my flat!
Lifting:
A) dumbell hang clean, 5x3, 30-60s rest, 30kg - 3/3/3/3/3
B) dumbbell Romanian deadlift, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 25kg - 10/10/10/8
C1) dumbbell overhead press, 4x6-10, 0 rest, 25kg - 10/10/7/7
C2) Band assisted neutral grip chin-up, 4x6-10, 60-120s rest, Red band - 7/6/4/4
D) Cuban press, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, 2.5kg - 12/12/9
Conditioning:
Dumbbell stair climb, 4x60s, 60s rest, 25kg - 60s/60s/60s/60s
Comments:
Reasonable progress for most lifts however increasingly paranoid that my form is slipping a little - will keep an eye on it. First day using the new setup for loaded carries and, although it was a lot more taxing on the grip and slightly too long so it occasionally bumped into the stairs, it was great! I’ll reduce the slack next time and see if that improves the situation, otherwise I’ll buy a smaller set of D handles.
Minor observation here - for a long time I was taking the approach of trying to hit an equal number of reps on an exercise before going for slightly higher reps. E.g. working up to getting 6/6/6/6 then working to 7/7/7/7. This seemed to work initially but quickly stagnated. I changed my approach to pushing a little closer to failure on all sets and that seems to have nudged things along a little bit. It’s hard to describe - but it felt like I was trying to accumulate “filler” volume rather than pushing for a little intensity on every set.
Tomorrow the plan is to firm up on what mini-goals I want to set myself for the next 4 weeks.
Summary:
Day: 25/26
Training: ✓/✓
Diet: ✓/✓
Lifestyle: ✓/✓
Compliance: 92.0%/92.3%
Weight: 106.9kg/107.6kg
Woohoo! Initial goal met of 4 weeks with 90+% compliance.
I’m going to do the same again but increase the difficulty and modify how I am tracking compliance (will elaborate on this tomorrow). The modifications for the next 4 weeks are:
- 45 min walk
- 7:15 sleep
- 2 palm sized portions of protein in at least one meal
- Eat slowly and until 80% full (will post more on this tomorrow) for at least one meal
- Explosive movements now 5x4 (extra rep), vertical jump swapped with box (stair) jump
- Pushup/row superset now 5x6-10 (extra set)
- Stair carry 5x60s (extra set)
Summary:
Day: 27/28
Training: ✓/✓
Diet: ✓/✓
Lifestyle: ✓/✓
Compliance: 92.6%/92.9%
Weight: 107.4kg/106.8kg
Mobility:
x10 leg swings, x30s hip flexor stretch, x30s squat stretch, x10 band dislocates, x10 windshield wipers
Lifting:
A) Stair Jump, 5x4, 30-60s rest, BW - 1st stair, 4/4/4/4/4
B) DB Reverse Lunge, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 5kg, 11/11/10/9
C1) Pushup, 5x6-10, 0s rest, BW, 9/7/6/4/3
C2) DB 2 Arm Row 5x6-10, 60-120s rest, 25kg, 10/9/6/6/6
D) Calf Raise, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, BW, 12/12/10
E) Stair Climbs, 5x60s, 60s rest, 25kg, 60/60/60/60/60
Comments:
Ok so first day of my new 4 week block. Training was pretty good and slightly tougher than the last 4 week block:
- Added extra set on the pushup/row
- Added window wiper mobility drill
- Changed vertical jump to stair jump
- Added extra rep to explosive exercise
- Added extra set to stair carries.
I had my first go at “eating slowly and to 80% full” based on one of the core Precision Nutrition principles. I’m prone to rushing my meals and eating to the point of being stuffed so this is a really important skill for me to develop. Given the subjective nature of this habit, I’m going to tick it off if I take at least 20 mins to eat a meal, eliminate phone/tv/laptop distractions and stopping when I’m no longer hungry and/or I feel some slight tightness/discomfort. This is probably going t be my biggest challenge over the next 4 weeks.
Eating two palm sized bits of protein feels like it will be pretty easy but will require me to start planning my meals ahead. I started this morning off with two cups of fat free greek yoghurt with a sprinkling of nuts and seeds… yum!
Finally I’m going to try tracking compliance for each category (lifestyle, diet and nutrition) separately, still aiming for 90+% compliance on each. The rationale is to discourage the approach of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” when I have a minor slip-up. Compliance tracking will restart at 0 also.
Will probably update the first post so I can have a little dashboard tracking current goals & progress.
Summary:
Day: Day 1, Block 2
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: Training = 100%, Diet = 100%, Lifestyle = 100%.
Weight: 106.6kg
This is an absolute game changer for me.
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I’ve never managed to make it work long time with social commitments etc. which generally causes all round misery! I’m hoping this slow but flexible transition will make it easier.
This “eating slowly until 80% full” malarkey is both more enjoyable and more challenging than I originally anticipated. I’ve just finished off 1 and a half peanut butter sandwiches that I spread over 25 mins or so, taking the time to indulge my senses and really dial into the experience of eating the food. The only thing that’s tricky is gauging when I am nearing “full”. I felt like I was just about on target by the end of the meal but when I stood up I suddenly felt uncomfortably full/stuffed. I realise this isn’t a particularly exciting, lifting orientated post but I feel this is an important step towards improving my relationship with food and all round wellbeing.
Summary:
Day: Day 2, Block 2
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: Training = 100%, Diet = 100%, Lifestyle = 100%.
Weight: 106.0kg
Mobility:
x10 leg swings, x30s hip flexor stretch, x30s squat stretch, x10 band dislocates, x10 windshield wipers
Lifting:
A) DB Hang Clean, 5x4, 30-60s rest, 30kg, 4/4/4/4/4
B) DB Romanian Deadlift, 4x8-12, 60-120s rest, 25kg, 12/12/12/9
C1) DB OHP, 4x6-10, 0s rest, 25kg,10/10/7/8
C2) Band Assisted Neutral Grip Pullup, 5x6-10, 60-120s rest, Red Band, 8/6/4/4
D) DB Cuban Press, 3x8-12, 60-120s rest, 2.5kg, 12/ 12/10
E) Stair Climbs, 5x60s, 60s rest, 25kg, 60/60/60/60/60
Comments:
Not much to report today - didn’t up weights as I had increased volume on a couple of lifts. Managed to squeeze in a couple of extra reps here and there. Self conscious (as always) about form but not too bad, just need to watch rep speed a little.
Summary:
Day: Day 3, Block 2
Training: ✓
Diet: ✓
Lifestyle: ✓
Compliance: Training = 100%, Diet = 100%, Lifestyle = 100%.
Weight: 106.1kg