Week 9 begins.
Change of pace today and instead of the 5x5x5 routine that i have been using for the time so far did a short but high intensity workout just using to movements, total of 100 each deadlifts and press-ups in sets of 10 alternating.
I did the deadlifts quite light : mainly around the 70-80 kg mark for a total workout load of 7,200 kg.
The whole thing done ‘at pace’ quite fast and concentrated.
Did somebody mention cross-something?
Second day of fast and light with a 300 move workout, again quite simple.
100 press-ups in sets of 10
100 push press
100 step to high deck with kb.
Done as 10 rounds of a set of each, working continously as i was a cold and wet day out on the deck and i would have struggled to keep warm with a slower conventional workout.
Not much left in the tank today.
Third day of high intensity weights out on the deck.
Today was a lot nicer to be outside, not raining, little bit of sunshine but a cold wind which meant i had to keep on the pace to stay warm.
Todays work ;
100 deadlifts in sets of 10, ascending and descending weight sets.
100 press-ups
100 single leg step to high deck with the 16kg kb.
About an hour of fast loaded walking around the lanes and hills here after.
One of this weeks tasks is to order some more plates so that i can get more weight on the bar when i go back to the heavier weights and shorter sets next week.
Took a break yesterday as it was blowing a gale and sluicing with rain yesterday. The one direction we are most exposed to was exactly where it was blowing from too.
Locally there were gusts up to 75mph and a 93mph max recorded just down the coast a bit, spent most of the afternoon sorting out minor damage and clearing up after that.
Today back to it with a continuation of the circuit training style work of this week, today i modified things to have 4 movements instead of 3 and that allowed for a lower body movement to be followed by an upper body one.
So : 8 rounds of 4 movements in sets of 10, working pretty continously until i ran out of gas about half way through and had to ease up or throw-up !.
Totals :
Overhead push press (light) 80
Press-ups 60
Goblet squat 80
Step up (weighted) 60.
Had some odd pains in both wrists, different place each side, both suggest a bit of tendonitis which i was always prone to getting in my climbing and sailing days where i often did high volume training.
Also this week i have returned to the same practice that i used when i was training in the gym : then i pretty well always walked the 35-40 minutes to the gym and back and my training journal shows pretty steady and consistent weight loss, with working at home i haven’t been getting that amount of low intensity work and it might be why my weight is being sticky this time. I did get some flak from at least one coach last time for the low intensity stuff but i must say that it seems to work well on slow weight loss for me and improves my day as well…i live in a nice part of south-west england in a rural setting so its just a nice place to tread the lanes and hills here.
Damn.
Totally crocked-up with severe back pain, can hardly even walk in a straight line today.
Old problem, never really goes away , but a horrible end to a good week of training.
Couple of days just doing back recoveryt.
Almost there, not in severe spasm but aching like a bastard.
Out for a walk later, if that is good will do a warm-up with the bar and see how it goes.
Last week in retrospect :
All week spent doing a back recovery regime at first and then a series of longer and longer loaded walks as the pain started to ease up.
About mid-week something click/snapped back into place and although still locally sore my mobility improved.
Today then is the first day of a week 10 re-run.
The funny thing today is that i was all revved-up to get back on the metal, as some of you know from my first posts i work-out at home and on the deck of the back garden, when its raining which it does a lot here i often work out under the lean-to roof of the utility area that i built in the summer, when its nice i move out into the sunny area of the upper deck/garden.
Today was just not a joke, first frost of the year made the grooved wooden deck lethal. even kept well scrubbed the ice formed perfect little ice rails and i was sliding all over the place just setting up and eventually moved everything up onto the upper deck that was at least getting some sun. Then instead of starting off i went for a good stomp around the lanes to give the ice more time to melt while i had a walk.
When i did get going i did :
Warm up complex with the bar just to see what my movement would be like.
Then 5 rounds of :
Deadlift , 5 reps each set with increasing weight each set, set off gently with just 60kg but building up to 90kg by the last set
Press-ups sets of 10
Kettlebell goblet squats (28kg) 5 reps per set
Step-ups onto the garden bench with the 16kg kb, 10 per set.
After that , stripped the bar down to 30kg and did 5x5 of overhead push press with planks in-between sets.
To finish i had a couple of scoops of MAG10 and a longer loaded walk to cool down.
Bit rough and ragged but not too shabby.
Second day. week 10.
Sometimes training hits a sweet spot in terms of effort and output/workload, sometimes its a painful grind and today was one of those days.
The actual routine followed my new pattern :
Walk to gym : ok so the gym is 10 yards from my back door but i take the scenic route (about 2 miles) to get there.
Warm up for the movements with the bare olympic bar, note to sweep the remaining ice slush out of the deck grooves first.
The main workout was once again based on 5 big compound movements :
Deadlift in ascending weight, sets of 5 reps @ 60, 80, 80, 80 and 90 kg.
Press-ups as sets of 10
Goblet squat with the 28kg KB , sets of 5
Chin-ups, should have been sets of 5 but i seemed to be curiously weak today and was only getting doubles !
Step-ups onto the garden bench with the 16kg kb, 5 each leg.
5 rounds of the above with just 10-20 seconds between rounds.
At the end i was unhappy with only getting 2 chins per set so i set-up the oly bar with 30kg and did sets of 5 push press with a single chin in between sets to make up the missing reps.
2 scoops of MAG10 (BCAA’s) as recovery drink.
One hour fast ‘push’ walk around the lanes with BOB.
Third of the new workouts.
Yesterday was such a grind that i was worried that maybe i am not giving myself enough recovery time or maybe pushing a bit too hard/too early, in contrast today was ‘smooth’ (for a painful workout) and seemed to hit the sweet spot just right : hard enough to give a solid workout and not so hard that i am pushing into failure.
My intention this week is to complete 5 sessions done as : 3 days on, 1 off, 2 on and finish with sunday off. Because tomorrow is a day off i ramped things up a bit today with a sets+ principle eg do 5 repetitions (or 10) of a movement , set the bar down, rest 5 seconds and then do one more or 2 more reps thus :
Deadlift : warm-up set of 10 @ 60 kg and then 5 sets of 5+1 but all at 85kg.
Then similar for each of the 6 main moves ; somehow without planning i also did 6 main movements instead of the 5 planned so my workout was actually rounds of :
Deadlift : 5+1
Press-ups 10+2
Goblet squat 5+1
Chins : variable but either 2+2 or 3+1
Step-ups 10
Then push press sets of 5 at the end.
As usual my warm up was a stomp around the lanes and with a longer walk with BOB after the resistance work.
Something i noticed today is that the step-ups are giving me a lesser training effect ie that i am less out of breath doing them and getting less lactate ‘burn’ or i am clearing it faster, to push myself back into the zone i will have to make that exercise harder.
Day 4.
Quote of the day (Henry Rollins) “200 lbs is always 200 lbs”.
This week has been a real rollercoaster in terms of the feel and difficulty of similar workouts : monday was hard, tuesday a real grind, then wednesday which was by far a harder workout was ‘sweet and smooth’ although i must add “200 lbs is still 200lbs”.
I know that my biggest problem in training is ‘mind’ mine wanders all over the place usually looking for a way out when i am suffering a bit, also when its going well i tend to wander off the plan,today i decided to neither add or drop any exercise…just do it absolutely straight and according to the plan : as scuba divers say “plan the dive and dive the plan”.
The workout i will just quickly detail below but the main part was just pure concentration on form and pace, in each movement just trying to stay focussed : good example today was that in the deadlift i did every set after the warm-up at 85kg and did every set as a reset…so no advantage in using momentum and bounce to start the next rep, also concentrating on a fast concentric phase and a good strong slow lower. As i start to loosen up a bit i also noted that my goblet squat is going a bit deeper.
Result : a good, strong and consistent workout…i will take that to the mental bank : just knowing that i can do that on even a bad day gives me that little bit more confidence.
So :
Warm up stomp of about 40 minutes.
The last day of the training week and my intention was to make it a good-un.
Earlier in the week i used a principle in training of just adding to the workload by doing extra reps of a movement after a short pause on each set : so doing say 5 deadlift’s …pause…and then do 1 or 2 more.
Today i pushed things even more by doing some of the movements at increased load, increased ‘added’ reps (+ reps) and then in the last round doing the main set and then an extra set to failure. This wasn’t a flat-out eye-popping and pain-face measure, much more controlled and clinical than that and to find out where the failure point is on the main movements.
The idea then is that i can ‘reset’ my main movements to new weight loads or workout density (volume) where i don’t have the additional weight to work with. So the day looked like this :
Breakfast including bacon and eggs (protein load) and potatoes for carbs.
Walk 1 of 35 minutes to warm up.
Main workout : rounds of deadlift, press-ups, goblet squat, chins, weighted steps.
So :
Deadlift 60kg 1x5 +2, 85kg 1x5 +2 , 90kg 1x5 +2, 90kg 1x5 +2. Then 90kg 1x5 and then sets to failure which worked out as 90kg 1x3 and 1 x3, at that point i could feel my back complain a bit.
Press-ups 4 sets of 10+4 and then 1 set of 10 and failure at 7.
Chin-ups (bicep dominant) 4 sets of 3+1 and 3+1 with failure on 5th attempt.
Goblet squat 4 sets @28kg of 5+2 and last at 5+4.
After the main set i reset the bar at 30kg for 5 sets of 5 push press.
Post workout recovery drink of 2 scoops of MAG-10.
Post workout walk of 40 minutes with 25lb pack, felt particularly hard today after the workout and on the hills which is all of the first third of the walk, could really feel the drag in my glutes and hamstrings.
This one didn’t leave much in the tank but does tell me that i can safely handle more weight and greater volume.
Frustration.
Just when i thought i was well set up for solid week.
On sunday i had the day off training but was doing some jobs around the house, in the afternoon i continued with a job of breaking down old scrap timber to make kindling for the woodburner and mainly just splitting down with the axe, about half an hour in i noticed my right elbow giving me some pain and was finding it more difficult than usual to cut accurately with the axe : seemed to be cutting off to one side which was weird because i know i always tend to pull the axe in slightly as i chop.
Rapidly got more painful and after a few minutes couldn’t grip the axe properly at all so had to stop.
Later that night i had a real local sore spot just behind my right elbow and very poor grip strength, partner had a look and thinks its bursitis.
Been out walking just to get some exercise but the only way i can get my arm comfortable is to hook the thumb on that side into my rucksack waist strap to give that arm some support.
Wednesday…less sore but not a full grip yet !!.
Frustrating when i am just getting into it again.
Good to see you back at it also Nurse. Look forward to seeing the training.
Hey thanks Dude.
I think i am back on track with the training.
Todays work :
Warm-up around the back lanes, just around 5,000 paces.
Main workout :
Warm-up complex with the bare olympic bar (40lbs), 3 movements of 10 reps each : deadlift, overhead push-press and rear squat. The overhead push press is the one that seems to be the problem so i have dropped that from the weighted sets this week.
Then 5 rounds of the main exercises :
Deadlift with ascending weight each set : 60,80,80, 90 and 90kg
Press-ups, sets of 10 each round
Goblet squat, sets of 5 with the big KB (28 kg).
Chin-ups, aiming for 3 each round but getting 2 1/2
Weighted step-ups with the small KB , sets of 10 each round.
The main work i do with hardly any break between movements except resetting the weight and a 10 second breather between rounds.
Post exercise supplement (2 scoops of BCAA’s)
Much longer post training walk of around 12,000 paces.
Grey claggy day, sitting at the keyboard with coffee and a big slab of bread and PB now.
Felt really sluggish and slow this morning, didn’t sleep well last night which is an occasional problem, hence i was slow to get going and i have only just finished my main routine for the day.
Today then :
First walk around the lanes of 5,000 paces was a bit on autopilot and i can’t remember a single thing about it now except trying to get myself into the right mindset for the main work.
Main workout.
For some reason i was completely not with the programme so instead of first doing some movements with the bare oly bar i immediately set it up with my starting weight for deadlift (60 kg) and just started straight off with that.
So today the main workout was 5 rounds of 5 main movements at 5+ reps per set : i use the ‘add one or add two’ reps to increase the volume and training density.
Each round today then was :
Deadlift with ascending weight : 60, 80, 90, 90, 90 kg and 5+2 reps on every set.
Press-ups, sets of 10+2
Goblet squats with 28kg KB 5+2 each set
Chins, aiming for 3 +1 per round but sticking on the third rep each set.
Weighted single leg steps using a 3,2,1 pattern on each leg and with 16kg kb.
Working ok physically but not really on the ball mentally with it today.
Todays post workout was a scoop of banana whey protein in a pint of whole milk.
Post workout main walk in 2 stages of 7,500 paces each stage with a cafe stop in the middle, coffee and a big slice of vic sponge as a treat.
Total walking in paces so far today : just over 21,000.
“Look to windward.”
I am now just entering week 12 of my fitness programme.
Week 12 was always an important personal milestone as i thought that if i could hang on in this far then i should be able to : 1.see some tangible results and 2. be able to carry it through into the next 12 weeks when we should be well into spring and working outside again.
With the current programme , based around a 5x5 idea on the main lifts, working ok i decided this week to increase the base workload by changing to a 6 reps per set from 5, later in the week i will probably add the extra reps that i have been doing before but this time they will be 6+1 (or 2) rather than 5+.
Normal warm-up around the lanes, touch over 5,000 on the pedometer.
Then bare bar warm up complex.
Main work : 5 rounds of .
Deadlift 5 sets of 6 reps at :60,80,90,90,90 kg
Press-ups, sets of 12 (from 10)
Goblet squats with 28kg KB sets of 6
Chin-ups, sets of 3+1 as i just can’t get that 4th in the set.
Weighted step-ups with 16kg 3,2,1 on each leg for 12.
Whey protein shake after workout.
6,000 mile weighted walk (25lbs) to finish.
Love the volume. The 600 mile walk was over the top, you might want to back that off a wee bit.
Ha, my mistake.
I did of course mean 6,000 paces on the pedometer
12/25.
Workout 12 of 25 in this cycle.
For the main workout i did the same as yesterday ie either 6 reps or 12 for the main movements and tried for 4 chins.
Today seemed to be very hard going and i felt heavy and slow throughout, ok so 6 reps rather than 5 or 12 rather than 10 is a 20% jump in workload per round but i have done that (nearly) before when adding a rep or 2 after the set. One thing do notice is that the second of the 3 days (mon/tues/weds) always seems the hardest even when i ramp things up on day 3 prior to rest day on day 4.
Week 12 and i am generally re-assessing how things are going : intend to post in more detail at the end of the week but my general impressions are :
Initial weight drop of around 10kg in the first 3 weeks that then plateau’d.
Waist dropped from a bit over 40’ (pushing 41) to being comfortable in a 36’ now, need a new ‘thin’ hole in my belt.
Weight is now gently increasing : up about 1.3kg in the last 3 weeks.
Upper arm girth is increasing, ditto upper thigh.
Face and neck noticeably thinner.
Begining to see major break-up of my abdo fat with hollows appearing each side.
Well : its nearly the end of the week 12 and time to see where i have got to.
Quite a bit to explain because the results aren’t simple to explain.
First then : weight.
I started in on this well over 100kg, i won’t say just how much because even i was embarrassed. My weight dropped fast for the first 3 weeks until i hit a lowpoint of 93.5kg, then plateau’d for a few weeks and then climbed again.
Right now i am hovering around 95kg.
If pure weight loss had been my only or main goal i would now be severely unhappy given the work i have put in and i can just imagine the long faces if was a member of something like weight-watchers.
Happily this is by far not the case and in fact its a huge plus.
Weight taken alone wouldn’t be telling me very much and even in my own very basic assessment i also note :
Second, waist circumference which was over 40’ and heading towards 42 is now down to a much more comfortable 36’ in fact i am now off the range of my everyday working belt and need to punch a new ‘thin’ hole as i am losing i reckon about 1/4 inch a week consistently.
So just on those 2 measurements i am initially lighter but now getting heavier but clearly still getting leaner in the waist, so something else is going on.
Now onto other measurements.
Initially i didn’t do skinfold measurements because i couldn’t find my calipers but i did take some muscle girth measurements :
Maximal thigh circumference
Maximal calf circumference
Maximal upper arm circ taken under tension.
Initially i lost a small amount of circumference everywhere which i now suspect was subcutaneous fat because a subjective skinfold ‘pinch’ tells me that i am losing fat from below my tricep, now all those measurements 3 have jumped up again and there is a visible difference in the thickness of my quads, calfs and upper arms, depth in my upper arms is very noticeably different.
With skinfolds subjectively being thinner (i can’t even pinch a skinfold on my thigh) combined with a larger muscle circumference, leaner waist, and slightly overall increase in weight all suggest that i am putting on lean mass and still losing fat.
Without photographs its hard to describe (and not pretty) but my belly fat instead of being a large and solid mass is all breaking up into distinct and wobbly blocks, one, just below my sternum is now thinning out and a measureable pinch there is definitely reducing.
Finally and even more hard to describe is that i can now trace the line of my ‘housemans’ vein much further up my forearm which is also indicative of subcutaneous fat loss.
So…lighter but with a heavier lean mass, change in body composition with peripheral (subcutaneous) fat, abdominal fat loss and i presume visceral fat loss, increase in muscle girth in the major large muscle groups.
Given that my 2 major goals were global muscle hypertrophy and fat-weight loss i am doing fine on one and maybe doing ok on the other, i would like to be lighter overall which would make other parts of my fitness plan easier, at this stage though my general feeling is to go with the lean muscle gain as that is said to be the harder thing to achieve at my age.