Slow steady progress, Monday tried to throw me off, but I stuck with it. Really wanted to pull heavier, but used my brain instead of my ego.
Squat
2×5 @ 45
95×5
135×3
3×5 @ 175
Press
2×5 @ 45
3×5 @ 75
Deadlift
135×5
225×5
Chins
3×3
Pullups
3×3
Stretching
6:30AM-7:15AM
Performance enhancers: Corrosion of Conformity, Monster Absolute Zero, Vitaminwater, Sticking it to Monday.
Continuing the slow steady progress.
Squat
2×5 @ 45
95×5
3×5 @ 165
Bench Press
2×5 @ 45
95×5
3×5 @ 145
Row
45×5
95×5
3×5 @ 145
1:00PM – 1:45PM
Performance enhancers: Powerade, Pasta
Another pretty easy day. It was a huge struggle to get going when the alarm went off at 4:15 this morning, but I’m glad I did. Fighting off another cold, but not feeling that bad today.
Squat
2×5 @ 45
95×5
3×5 @ 155
Press
2×5 @ 45
3×5 @ 70
Deadlift
135×5
205×5
Pullups
6×3
Stretching and out. 6:20AM to 7:05AM
Performance enhancers: Black Label Society, Monster Absolute Zero, Powerade
BTW, Zakk Wylde does Ozzy better than Ozzy.
After a little over three months, I’m back to it. Easy one today. Every journey starts with a small step, today’s step was getting there, figuring out how long the routine takes (both getting out of the house and showering, etc at the gym), and moving a little weight.
For the first several weeks, I’ll train three times a week using something very similar to what’s in Rippetoe’s Starting Strength.
Squat
45×5
95×5
3×5 @ 135
Easy, felt good, form was pretty solid, which is unusual for me after a long layoff.
Press
45×5
3×5 @ 65
Deadlift
135×5
185×5
Chins
5×3
Stretched.
Training time: 6:10AM – 6:55AM
Performance enhancers: Monster Lo-Carb, Anthrax, watching the TRX straps come loose and drop the guy using them to the floor (further proving that anything you can do on them can be done just as effectively and more safely with something else.)
You probably noticed I took some time off.
Because of that, I’ve screwed up hitting some goals I had for this year, so I’m moving on to putting together some for next year. Since the primary goal is still a total, getting strong is number one. But now I’ve got some time to play with, and I need to improve my conditioning and work capacity. I also need to drop a little bodyfat.
I can’t just jump in to prowler pushing and sprints and running hills; I’ll overtrain and hurt myself. So it’s a slow and steady build up over a couple of months. The good thing is that conditioning tends to be something you can gain (and lose) pretty quickly.
For the first 4 ‘weeks’ of training (I train using an 8 day week), I will add a 20-45 minute AM walk on non lifting days. On lifting days, I will add 20-30 minutes of steady state cardio. This work will be monitored as best I can, with two days of work in the ‘fat burning’ or ‘recovery’ heart rate, and two days in the ‘aerobic’ or ‘cardio’ heart rate.
The lower of the two is 60% of max, which for me is about 110 to 120. The higher is about 70% of max, 130 to 140 bpm
Typically, I can get to 110 on a treadmill. To get up over 130, I need to use an elliptical machine or a bike (or, FSM forbid, run).
The next 4 ‘weeks’ I will add in a 20 – 45 minute walk in the morning every day. I’ll also shift all of the cardio after lifting to the higher heart rate.
The next 4 ‘weeks’ I’ll continue with this work, but add in at least one session of much harder work. That work will be sprinting, running hills, pushing a prowler, pulling a sled, etc. The added session will be on a non lifting day (probably a weekend day), and will replace the AM walk. I may also add in a second day of this work in place of the post lifting session.
At that point, we’ll see where I am and what I need to do.
I’m going to couple this work with paying more attention to what I’m eating, so I would expect a nice slow change in body composition. Lifting will continue on the Westside/Conjugate style using the template I’ve been using.
Frustration is the word, although I do this to myself.
After taking what should have just been a couple of days off, I got swamped, distracted, and then had my SI joint flare up (from driving and sitting, not from lifting).
The SI joint is now much better after some stretching, etc.
Was planning to head back today, but there are some work things going on that I need to address today, I’m on the road tomorrow, and then have planned Wednesday afternoon off for beers and Slayer.
So, I’ll be back to training on Thursday. It’s been just long enough that I’ll need a week or two to ease back in to heavy training.
Also, MD State PLing meet is scheduled for Nov 20. We’ll see.
Yesterday was supposed to be an ME Squat day, but I decided to skip it and back it up to tomorrow.
One of the things Ive learned over the years is to listen to my body, and that’s even more important as I get a little older. I’m having some aches, I’m unmotivated, and I’m sleeping too much, which tells me my body needs a little extra recovery time.
I think my capacity to recover will improve, so I don’t think I’ll go to training 3 days a week, but instead stick with training every other day with deloads every 4th ‘week’.
Conditioning work starts more in earnest tomorrow as well. I find improving my conditioning through a variety of training helps with recovery.
The conditioning plan is as follows:
Squat/Deadlift training days: High(er) intensity lower body work, like sprints, hills, climbing stairs, pulling a sled, or pushing a prowler.
Bench training days: High(er) intensity upper body work, like swinging a sledgehammer, throwing a medicine ball, or farmers walks. Maybe rowing.
Off days: Walking, from 20 – 60 minutes, depending on how much time I have and how I’m feeling. I’ll probably increase this to a walk every morning at some point. I also might include some higher intensity work on some days if I’m feeling spry.
The important thing here is to not over do it, but work hard enough that this work compliments the strength training. I’m not trying to get leaner, I just need to be able to better execute my strength training, and improving my conditioning will increase my work capacity. I find the LSD work facilitates recovery, I usually feel better after these sessions.
I’ll also include a lot more mobility and foam rolling (think Defranco’s Agile 8 and upper body work you can find on the internets).
Right now I’m still on track to total 1200+ in November at the USAPL MD Championships. Still don’t have a date set (I think they are still trying to sort out a location), but it should be right around Thanksgiving. I’m planning to go to Napa the first week in November, so that might work out perfectly as the beginning of a deload for the meet, but regardless, I should be ready to hit 1200 (400+, 300+, 500) and move on from there.
Bench Press
45×15, 15
95×3
3×3 @ 135
3×3 @ 155
2×3 @ 175
speed dropped a little on the 175. 3 grips.
Close Grip Bench
185×5
225×3
Hammer Strength Iso Row
90×12
180×8
270x 6,6,5
DB tricep ext
20×10
40×5
Hammer Curlz
2×12 @ 30
22 mins treadmill
I dig the new gym. Looked like a serious crowd, and didn’t see the typical commercial gym stupidity.
Windy Recycling Day 