It’s time for a new log and I thought I’d follow the T-Nation tradition of titling this one with a quote from my favourite book. Seems to fit with the kettlebell theme too.
A little background: I’m 24 years old, 6’2" and I’ve been training for 7 years. The first 4 years were barbell based but for the last 3 I’ve primarily trained with bodyweight and kettlebells.
I don’t have a specific set of goals, I just simply want to stay uninjured and continue to improve the way I look, feel and move. During the course of my previous log I heavily prioritised kettlebell lower body movements to the detriment of my upper body so my primary focus at the moment is upper body work.
This was a decent session. My shoulders felt under a lot of strain for the first two sets of dips but I didn’t really warm up (just some dislocates between the pull-up sets). The complex felt really good, so next time I think I’ll start with that to get everything warmed up and then do the pull-ups and dips. It definitely seems that pull-ups have a greater carry-over to rows than the other way around. When I only did pull-ups for back I maintained my rowing strength, but having just rowed for the last 10 months my pull-ups have really suffered.
Another good lower body day. 2x28kg squats and 40kg swings are reasonably challenging, but I can get all reps without sacrificing form, which is exactly where I want to be right now. I’ll push myself on these later, but for now I feel like I’m in a good place. I’ve got some nice DOMS in my shoulders but otherwise my upper body feels fine, which is already an improvement from my last upper body day.
I thought I should upload a few progress pictures as this is the first page of my new log and it will be good to have a frame of reference to look back on. The one taken in the home gym is from February and the other 3 are from April.
I watched Apocalypto yesterday and really enjoyed it. I found it very motivating - the whole tribal/primal thing really pumps me up. I’m very excited about this new log and I look forward to making some progress. Priority number one is getting my upper body stronger and then it will be time to get serious about cardio. I have always neglected it and I’d make a pretty terrible tribesman if I couldn’t run a few miles.
You’ve made some really good progress!! Your statement about cardio sounds about like my mindset with it right now. We know we need to do it but seems like we always put it on the back burner compared to everything else. Keep up the good work!!!
Awesome stuff, Furo! Your back and shoulders look awesome in that shot of you wading out into the waters. Lean and powerful.
Where were you, by the way? Looks cold and, well, perhaps somewhat primal.
And cool stuff on the cardio. I feel like over the past few years there has been a lot of cardio bashing. But more recently I’m seeing people approach it differently and maybe more holistically in fitness. And I think taking the super well rounded approach to fitness is pretty cool.
Thanks a lot guys! Yes I think cardio is definitely important and I need to stop messing around and get on with it! I’m not sure how I’ll do it, but I feel like running is the simplest and most useful option and it would be easy to enter a small event (like a 10k) for some extra motivation.
It’s Loch Ness booksbikesbeer, and yes it was damn cold lol! I’ve attached the full photo, there is snow on the mountains although I’m not sure how clear it is in the photo.
Awesome. I love the Highlands. When my wife and I were there we did not quite make it up to Loch Ness. She had been on a previous trip, but I’ll have to wait until we can get back there. Maybe next spring.
But I’m not sure I’ll be jumping in. Those lochs are frigid!
Furo, what makes you wan to do cardio so much? I think 10 km is almost too far. Have you considered doing sprints for cardio? Nothing gets me more fitter than hill sprints and 400m repeats. Sprinting preserves more muscle as well.
Well if you come bbb, let me know for sure! :). Hey uncle Bird, it’s a difficult one but I guess it boils down to the fact that I enjoy steady state more than interval type stuff, so I think I’ll be more motivated for it. Yeah 10k might be further than necessary, 5k might be a better distance. I just really like the idea of running from a natural primal movement sort of way. We’re designed to be able to cross vast distances and run animals down and so I’d like to build up some sort of basic proficiency. Also from a weak point perspective I have some speed through weight training, but I have absolute no stamina. So I think it would be worth working on.
[b] Week 1: Upper Body Day
Warm-Up [/b]
Machine chest press
Dips
BW: 5x5
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 5x5
Barbell Rows
45kg: 20
65kg: 3x8
Bodyweight: 92.4kg
This was a good session. I was feeling a little sluggish and the final reps were a bit of a struggle on both the dips and pull-ups, but with a thorough warm-up on the chest machine my shoulders felt great.
Training: 2 upper sessions and 2 lower sessions, the squats and swings felt solid and the dips and pull-ups are beginning to feel more comfortable. No cardio this week.
Nutrition: Poor overall this week, but that’s a good sign as I’m managing to maintain my weight.
I was absolutely shattered today for some reason, and my appetite is through the roof. The reps felt solid though. Tomorrow is a rest day then I plan on hitting it hard on Monday. I’m going away for 4 days at the end of the week so I might do a couple of full body sessions to get more total volume in.
I ended up going the first way lol, ate far too much this weekend. Also slept a ridiculous amount.
[b] Week 2: Upper Body Day
Warm-Up [/b]
Front raises (10kg plate: 3x20)
Dips
BW: 3x5; 2x10; 1x5
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups
BW: 5x5
Stationary Bike
30min
Bodyweight: 93.2kg
This was a great session. Something really clicked with the dips and I managed 2 sets of 10 after the first 3 sets of 5. The front raises did a really nice job of warming up my shoulders and the last couple of weeks of “easy strength” style practice have really paid off. I’m pretty confident I’ll be hitting 5x10 soon, which I feel is a good baseline level. The pull-ups sadly didn’t see the same kind of improvement, but I’m happy to take it slowly.
This was a good session. As with the above session I’m really happy with dip progress but pull-ups are being stubborn. The complex at the end was pretty brutal.
This was a slow session, everything felt a bit harder than usual and I didn’t have much energy. I’m going away for a few days and should be ready to hit things hard when I come back (although I’m well aware I said that earlier and didn’t hit things very hard lol).
My plan going forward is to continue to train like this for 2 more weeks focusing on improving my dips and pull-ups and then I’ll go back to a calorie deficit and begin to add in some cardio. I don’t want to jump into that right now though, as I need to prioritise my upper body first.