Concurrent Strength & Endurance Training 2020: Cycle I

Assessment of Last Cycle:
Was making OK progress when a spike in my blood pressure threw a wrench into the program.

Goals for this Cycle:
The main goal is to get my blood pressure under control through increased aerobic and conditioning work. For lifting, I will start with a Squat 3RM of 225 and probably microload from there to make sure I'm not taking away any time, energy, or motivation for aerobic and conditioning. I will first try an everyday morning aerobic / afternoon Push/Pull split with conditioning afterwards. I may fall back to, or alternate with, my more established approach of EOD lifting and aerobic.

---------------Week 1: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 19.12.29
Aerobic
20 minutes, Airdyne

Monday, 19.12.30
Aerobic
20 minutes, Rowing

Tuesday, 20.01.31
Doc encouraged me to exercise even if lightheaded, but I don't feel safe lifting while like that.

Indoor aerobic continues to be a challenge motivation-wise.

Wednesday, 20.01.01

Thursday, 20.01.02

Friday, 20.01.03

Saturday, 20.01.04


---------------Week 2: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.01.05

Monday, 20.01.06

Tuesday, 20.01.07
Aerobic
4.7 miles, Cycling

For a few days after New Year's, my lightheadedness had seemed to be passing, but then it came back.

It usually comes on an hour or two after I wake up, suggesting it has a link to my metabolism. Once it happens, I really do not feel like working out, but today I cycled a bit anyway, and that went fine. I've always been a bit hypoglycemic, and it seems worst when I'm out of shape, so perhaps just getting back on a regular exercise routine will clear things up, although this started when I was already starting to get back into shape early December.

So, anyway, now I'm thinking that perhaps I should lift first thing, and then do aerobic later in the day, if I'm going to continue with a Push-Pull split. This would have the advantage of getting me out cycling during the warmest part of the day during the winter, and lifting during the coolest time of the day during summer. In the past, I've always felt like lifting was best late afternoon, but I guess if my priority is heart-health and not strength gains, it really doesn't matter when I lift. The main thing is to optimize the aerobic component. We'll see . . .

Wednesday, 20.01.08
Lifting: Push
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 185
OP: 3 x 5 @ 95
BP: 3 x 5 @ 135

Aerobic
20 minutes, Rowing

Thursday, 20.01.09
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 185
RW: 3 x 5 @ 135
PD: 3 x 5 @ 120
1LM RW: 5 @ 25

Tried a One-hand Landmine Row for the first time, after seeing it in T-Nation. I dunno, I think I like Dumbbell Rows better, but I'll experiment with them for a while. I would like to add a couple of quick sets of finishers to my lifting sessions for a little extra metabolic boost.

Aerobic
1 minute, Airdyne
20 minutes, Rowing

Changed seats on my Airdyne to a normal-sized gel seat, hmmn, felt much better. Will give it a real test run tomorrow.

Friday, 20.01.10

Saturday, 20.01.11


---------------Week 3: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.01.12

Monday, 20.01.13
Lifting: Push
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 185
OP: 3 x 5 @ 95
BP: 3 x 5 @ 135

Aerobic
10 minutes, Airdyne, some moderate intensity. New seat's definitely much more comfortable than the original.

Took a few too many days off with busy-ness, so just primed.

Tuesday, 20.01.14
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 225
RW: 3 x 5 @ 135
PD: 3 x 5 @ 120

Aerobic
20 minutes, Rowing

More priming until the Squat gets up. Spent about five minutes of my rowing at moderate intensity.

Wednesday, 20.01.15
Lifting: Push
SQ: 3 @ 185/195/205/215/225
BP: 3 x 5 @ 155

Ramped up to 225 on the Squat, my base.

Aerobic
10 minutes, Airdyne, more moderate to high intensity, but mostly aerobic. Still getting used to the new seat. It's still a big improvement, but I wonder if there's something a little bit better still. The one I replaced the original one with is off a cheap mountain bike.

Thursday, 20.01.16
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 260
RW: 3 x 5 @ 145
PD: 5 @ 120/140/160

Aerobic
25 minutes, Rowing, low intensity.

Friday, 20.01.17
Lifting: Push
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 225
OP: 3 x 5 @ 95
BP: 3 x 5 @ 160

Saturday, 20.01.18
Right shoulder felt a little cranky, so I blew off my Push workout.

---------------Week 4: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.01.19
Family stuff then NFL football blocked a good workout.

Monday, 20.01.20
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 161
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 226
OP: 5 @ 95/95/100

Overhead Press is the last lift to bring up in alignment with the Iron Ratio. Should be 107. Anyway, back on the microloading bandwagon.

Aerobic
Airdyne, 15 minutes low intensity.

Tuesday, 20.01.21
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 262

Wednesday, 20.01.22
My mother passed away peacefully after suffering a stroke Tuesday.

Thursday, 20.01.23

Friday, 20.01.24
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 162
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 228
OP: 5 @ 95/100/105

Saturday, 20.01.25
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 264
RW: 3 x 5 @ 150
PD: 3 x 5 @ 160

---------------Week 5: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.01.26

Monday, 20.01.27
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 163
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 229
OP: 3 x 5 @ 108

Tuesday, 20.01.28
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 265
RW: 3 x 5 @ 151
PD: 3 x 5 @ 160

Wednesday, 20.01.29

Thursday, 20.01.30

Friday, 20.01.31

Saturday, 20.02.01


---------------Week 6: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.02.02
Aerobic
30 minutes, Rowing

Monday, 20.02.03
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 165
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 230
OP: 3 x 5 @ 95

Tuesday, 20.02.04
Rearranged a good deal of the house and garage. Felt surprisingly sore the next day.

Went skating with my kids in the evening. It has been decades since I last skated. I remember being better . . . my almost nine-year-old son has already surpassed me.

Wednesday, 20.02.05
Lifting: Push
BP: 3/5 @ 166

Aerobic
25 minutes Rowing, last few minutes moderate intensity.

Feel like I'm getting sick . . . too tired for Squats in any case.

Thursday, 20.02.06
Aerobic
Walked my daughter to school: 1.6 miles.

Friday, 20.02.07

Saturday, 20.02.08
Lifting: Push
SQ: 3 @ 225/230/233
OP: 5 @ 45/65/85, 3 @ 105/110

This was kind of a getting back on the bandwagon session. I still have two weeks to reach my goals, as dictated by my laminated sheet of Iron Ratio Percentages, which microloads the 1RM Squat by one pound per session:



Each pairing represents the 1RM and then either the 3RM, for lower body lifts, or the 5RM, for upper body lifts. The pairs alternate in clear and shaded pairs of columns. Three paired columns represents one week (3 sessions per week). So there are four weeks across, or eight weeks total, a cycle. I'm at the end of the sixth week, so the Squat 1RM is 259 and the 3RM is 233, which I worked up to today. Tomorrow I'll do the Push lifts, or a Deadlift 3RM of 270.

Should be in a good state for Cycle II in a few weeks.

---------------Week 7: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.02.09
Lifting: Pull
DL: 1/2/2 @ 275
PD: 5 @ 120/130/140

Wow, kind of out of shape on the pulls.

Aerobic
30 minutes, Rowing

Sorry Abide, listened to jams instead of the podcast, but I'll get to it for sure.

Snow shoveling . . .

Monday, 20.02.10

Tuesday, 20.02.11
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 167
SQ: 3 x 3 @ 235
OP: 3/4/5 @ 111

Wednesday, 20.02.12
Lifting: Pull
DL: 3 x 3 @ 275
RW: 3 x 5 @ 155
PD: 5 @ 140/150/160

Aerobic
20 minutes, Rowing

Everything's about where it should be/caught up. Hopefully now I can really test the high frequency, Push-Pull approach.

Thursday, 20.02.13
Moving some furniture up and down and around the house.

Friday, 20.02.14
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 168
SQ: 3 @ 185, 1 @ 225
OP: 5 @ 45

Hmmn, tweaked my right knee a bit on my last squat warmup set, so moved on to the Overhead Press. Hmnn, knee didn't like that either, so I shut it down. This weekend I have to move a bunch of books down and up stairs, so I can't risk having sore knees.

Aerobic
33 minutes, Rowing

Rowing is so much less painful mentally than the Airdyne.

Saturday, 20.02.15


---------------Week 8: Cycle I---------------

Sunday, 20.02.16

Monday, 20.02.17

Tuesday, 20.02.18

Wednesday, 20.02.19
Lifting: Push
BP: 3 x 5 @ 165
SQ: 3 @ 225/235/235
OP: 3 x 5 @ 95

Aerobic
10 minutes, Airdyne

Thursday, 20.02.20
AM: Aerobic
30 minutes, Rowing, last two minutes moderate intensity.

Listened to much of Abide's podcast. It was perfect programming as I attempt to habitualize early morning aerobic exercise in between dropping off my son at elementary school (7:30am start) and my daughter at middle school (8:30am start). It's been a hard time slot to use productively, but a half hour of light aerobic work fits in perfectly, with minimal recovery time needed afterwards.

PM: Lifting: Pull
DL: 2/3/2/2 @ 275
PD: 5 @ 150/160/170

Friday, 20.02.21
AM: Aerobic
15 minutes, Airdyne

Saturday, 20.02.22

 

Thanks! I'll give that a try. And welcome back!

 

Here's a podcast my brother sent me on the evils of fructose:https://peterattiamd.com/rickjohnson/

A good holistic approach, with a single genetic mutation to back it up.

 

Yah, buzzkill.

And my morning espresso misses its sugar . . .

 

Trap bar opinion from Rippetoe: https://startingstrength.com/video/why-the-trap-bar-is-completely-useless

 

Yah, I used to be really good about staying hydrated, but the last few years I've kinda lost a taste for it. Now, feeling better already with more deliberate waterings.

 

Thanks Abide. She had been declining for years, so it was merciful. Both my parents almost made it to 90.

 

Hey, you're definitely asking the wrong person with me. Anyone else? I've been having a devilish time staying motivated. Now with the health scare, I know it's non-negotiable, but I still find stuff coming up. I think I've resigned myself to having workouts feel like work rather than adventure, but in order to be consistent, I think I have to try a late morning schedule. That's about the only time when nothing can happen unexpectedly, and then even if it does, I'll still have a good chunk of the day left to try to fit a workout in.

Of course, whenever I do get a decent workout in, the quality of the other 23 hours of the day are greatly enhanced. Especially sleep, but also mood, concentration, vitality, and so on.

Thanks for the podcast, I've downloaded it. I'll listen to it during my next indoor aerobic torture session.

Funny, for me, squats kind of bulletproof me against injury on deadlifts. Since developing and following my Iron Ratio, I've had zero injuries working out. Everything follows the Squat load. I think maybe it's because Squats are the most technical lift, and Deadlifts perhaps the least technical. So if you have the strength to perform a squat, despite the technical difficulty, then you definitely have the strength to do the other lifts without risk even if your technique is a bit off, as long as the loading ratios are correct.

 

Are you doing low-bar squats? Seems like high-bar squats, if you're doing them, would put more stress on your lower back, with a greater moment arm. Also, is your spine completely neutral?

I normally assume your technique is better than mine, but I thought I'd raise these questions just in case they help.

 

Yeah, well, Rippetoe's analysis of the low bar squat seems right to me. Although I haven't taken the 'where you look' part that seriously. Maybe because I've been stuck in middling loads at best for years? I still don't get why he thinks upper body pulls are accessory lifts though. Seems to me that some kind of row and some kind of chinup/pullup/pulldown are just as necessary as the upper body presses.
If you're prone to ionic modulations, maybe try grounding? Just kidding . . .

 

Yah, with the deadlifts, farmers, and bodyweight squats, I wouldn't sweat the loaded squats--or maybe add some goblet squats at the end of your bodyweight squats?

I count squats and deadlifts as my ab work, especially when I get over 225 on the squat and start using my lever belt. My abs feel sore the next day. But I should get better about some isolation stuff, like rollouts.

 

Yah, I have a limited capacity for podcasts in the first place, but Rippetoe is definitely best appreciated in a textual medium for me. It's truly frightening how many stupid and angry people there are out there. It's obvious he's discovered his gruff and ornery old man brand has an audience. Still, I think Rip's analysis of the physics and anatomy of lifting is the gold standard, so yeah, worth cherry picking.