Assessment of Last Cycle. I let home improvement projects and the holidaze get in the way with lifting, but most weeks the walking was fairly consistent, except several days during the cold snap. Still searching for the best schedule. Ideally I would do each component of the Metabolic Triad three different times of the day, to get three separate metabolic boosts, but it might be best just to do them all at once. Around noon might be the best time slot. The time-restricted eating was easy to maintain, but without more consistent lifting and conditioning, no progress on the weight front. At least I didn't gain any. Using a timer for lifting sets proved useful in keeping the workout humming along, instead of getting caught up in Apple news feeds on my phone and taking too long in between sets. I was already using it for the sled. For the rower, I found it easier to keep track of how many minutes I was averaging to do 500 meters, rather than trying to keep the meters within a certain amount of minutes. I can do 2m30s per 500 meters pretty easily. Goals for this Cycle. More consistency in getting all three Metabolic Modalities--Aerobic, Anaerobic, and Glycolytic (conditioning)--in six days a week. Will also try a little harder to get a daily Mobility session in. Mobility/Balance/Groundwork: 1. Stretching/Sun Salutations. 2. Summersault 3. Turkish getup 4. Stand on one foot for ten seconds. 5. Hang from a bar for 30 seconds. 6. Squat down, hold for 30 seconds, and stand up. Aerobic. Just continue to walk about two miles a day, hitting five of my neighborhood's hills for 200 feet elevation gain/loss. Anaerobic. I'll try once again to at least get everything up to their Target loads in the first training block by the end of the cycle. I was close last cycle, so might be able to progress a couple of blocks if I become consistent. Glycolytic. I'll continue to keep both the rowing and sled work to ten-minute sessions. For the Sled, I'll either try to get up to the second resistance level, or try to reduce the rest periods in between each 100-foot push, which means adding a few more intervals for a ten-minute session. Maybe start with 12 fifty-second intervals. For the Rower, I'll try to get down to 2m25s per 500 meters, or lower. ---------------Week 1: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.01 AFTERNOON Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Monday, 22.01.02 MORNING Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Tuesday, 22.01.03 LATE MORNING Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 1832 total meters, 2:45.4 per 500 meters. LATE AFTERNOON. Aerobic? Shoveling snow. Wednesday, 22.01.04 LATE MORNING Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 1971 total meters, 2:34 per 500 meters. NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 45/95/135/135/135 LATE AFTERNOON. Glycolytic? Shoveling heavy snow. Thursday, 22.01.05 LATE AFTERNOON. Glycolytic? Removing plowed snow from my driveway and two of the neighbors'. How do people in Buffalo do it? Friday, 22.01.06 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155 RW: 3 @ 135/155 I like just doing two lifts per session. Maybe I could either alternate Lower Body and Upper Body, in which case I could alternate Pulldowns and Overhead Presses on one Upper Body Day with Bench Presses and Rows on the other, or do a Lower Body/Upper Body/Upper Body split: SQ,DL / PD,OP / SQ,DL / BP,RW SQ,DL / PD,OP / BP,RW Since I tend to prioritize Squats and Deadlifts for overall strength, I might try the first option first. Plus, it would keep my shoulders on a 48 recovery schedule. Anyway, I guess I may have an experiment for this cycle after all. Saturday, 22.01.07 AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body DL: 3 @ 155/185/185/185 SQ: 3 @ 95/115/135/145 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1113 total meters, 2:17 per 500 meters. I liked the shorter, more intense session. This was close to my current limit. ---------------Week 2: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.08 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 115/135/145/155/160/150/140 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95/85/75 Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Monday, 22.01.09 AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/115/135/155/175 DL: 3 @ 135/155/185/205 The big lifts are starting to feel more solid. Still, going to take it slow . . . Aerobic 2.5 mi walk with dog through woods, fields, and mid-century neighborhood. 150ft. Had to trample through some deep snow for a block with just sneakers and no socks, but it was relatively warm out Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 942 total meters, 2:42 per 500 meters, but last minute was around 2:05. Tuesday, 22.01.10 MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155/160 RW: 3 @ 135/145/155/160 Wednesday, 22.01.11 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/155/175/185/175 I felt a little something in my mid back, so I didn't finish the second ramp down, and skipped the deads. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 12 mins, 2042 total meters, I kept it to just under three minutes per 500m, wanted to make sure my back was OK. Thursday, 22.01.12 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 115/135/145/155/160/155/145 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95/85/75 Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Friday, 22.01.13 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 75/95/115/135/155/175/185/195/185/175 DL: 3 @ 135/185 I felt a little something in my mid back on the last Squat set again. So I just primed the Deadline. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 2 mins, 497 total meters, 2:05.5 mins per 500m. That was pretty high intensity for me. I kept it to just two minutes to make sure my heart was ok with it. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Saturday, 22.01.14 ---------------Week 3: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.15 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155/160 Skipped the Rows because I'm going to try to push the Deadlifts a bit tomorrow. Aerobic 1.7 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 160ft. Monday, 22.01.16 Tuesday, 22.01.17 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Lower Body DL: 3 @ 135/185/205/225/235 SQ: 3 @ 95/115/135/155/175 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1051 total meters, 2:24 per 500 meters. AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Slush! Wednesday, 22.01.18 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 115/135/145/155/160/155/145 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95/97.5/85/85 Ok, got to the target weight on four lifts, just the lower body ones to go. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Thursday, 22.01.19 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/115/135/155/175/185/195 DL: 3 @ 135/185/205/225/235 Will continue to solidify these loads before progressing. The Squat is now 35 pounds short its target load, and the Deadlift only 25. AFTERNOON Aerobic Shoveling Friday, 22.01.20 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal RW: 3 @ 135/145/155/160 BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155/160 LATE AFTERNOON Glycolytic Torque Tank M1 Push Sled: 6 x [2 x 100 feet] = 1200 feet @ Resistance 1, 50-second intervals. The front wheel didn't grab quite as well in the mild slush. Might have to put some plates on it. Aerobic 1.25 mi walk to shops with dog. 80ft. Chopping ice. Saturday, 22.01.21 AFTERNOON Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. ---------------Week 4: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.22 Mid-AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Monday, 22.01.23 MID MORNING Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/115/135/155, 2 @ 185/195 DL: 3 @ 135/185/205/225/235/245 Put on my belt for the last two Squat sets. It felt a little uncomfortable, so I just did two reps each to see how I feel tomorrow. The belt tends to add some soreness initially, if I recall correctly. Added another 10 pounds to the Deadlift, just 15 pounds off now. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 2015 total meters, 2:29.9 per 500 meters. Tuesday, 22.01.24 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 115/135/145/155/160/155/145 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95/97.5/95/85 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Wednesday, 22.01.25 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/185/185/185; 1 @ 195/205/215/225 Tested my current max, broke form a bit at this training block's Target load, 225, so may try to get up to three reps at 215 in the short term before pushing up to the Target load. Next time I'll start with two reps @ 195 and see how far up I get before going to one rep. Used the belt starting at 195. Felt fine. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Thursday, 22.01.26 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155/160/155/145 RW: 3 @ 135/145/155/160 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Friday, 22.01.27 Saturday, 22.01.28 ---------------Week 5: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.29 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body DL: 3 @ 135/185/215/225/235, 2 @ 245/255, 1 @ 260 SQ: 3 @ 95/135/185 Got up to the Target load for the Deadlift, so now it's a matter of working up to full sets for the lower body lifts. After that, I'll try to use the timer more to make the rest in between sets strict. That should take me to the end of the cycle. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. I began to keep track of frequency for each Metabolic Modality. I'll also try to get better about that in the second half of the cycle. L = Lower Body UH = Upper Body Horizontal UP = Upper Body Vertical Monday, 22.01.30 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 115/135/145/155/160/155/145 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95/97.5/95/85 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Tuesday, 22.02.31 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/155/175/185/185/185/175/155 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 1786 total meters, 2:56 per 500 meters. Wednesday, 22.02.01 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal BP: 3 @ 45/95/115//125/135/145/155/160 Opps I forgot to bring it down ten pounds. Knees have been a little sore since yesterday, so I didn't walk either day. Thursday, 22.02.02 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 0.65 mi One Hill walk with dog. 65ft. Once again, I skipped the late morning/noon time slot due to work obsession, then something came up later in the day. Friday, 22.02.03 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/155/175/185/195/185/175 Right knee was a little sore to begin with, almost bailed, but then it went away, only to come back on the last set, so I didn't do my Deadlifts. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1071 total meters, 2:23 per 500 meters. Saturday, 22.02.04 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical OP: 5 @ 45/65/75/85/90/92.5/85 Decided to see what five reps felt like for the Overhead Press. Felt good. I may go with that, but I think I will stick with three reps for everything else, although I may try just two reps for the Deads. All this talk about Prepilin and Wendler with Abide has got me tweaking once again. So if I set the Squat Target load to what I was able to do yesterday, and do five reps (85%) for the OP, three reps (90%) for the BP, PD, RW, and SQ, but only two reps (95%) for the DL, using a strict 2-3-4-5 Iron Ratio, then I have the following First training block, along with the four next ones: I can already do all these loads, so, once again with reference to discussions with Abide, I will work on bar speed a bit, and getting strict about time in between sets. Once I feel solid about that, I will finally progress to Training Block 2. ---------------Week 6: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.05 MID AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/155/175/185/190/195 DL: 2 @ 225/235/245/255 Yah, two reps for the Deadlifts feels pretty good. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Monday, 22.02.06 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal RW: 3 @ 135/140/145 BP: 3 @ 45/95 | 105/125/135/140/145/140/135 Used the timer for the Bench Press. Hadn't used if for a while. Really helps keep things humming along. Interesting, if I add up the total poundage for each of the three days in this split, using the new rep scheme (5-3-2) and counting all seven ramps (four up, Target, two down), I get: OP/PD = 5687.5 lbs BP/RW = 5550 lbs SQ/DL = 7035 lbs The OP/PD day's total is actually greater than the BP/RW day, while the latter is almost 80% of the SQ/DL day, and the former is a little more than 80%. So the days aren't as imbalanced as I thought they might be. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Tuesday, 22.02.07 Seems like once a week I fool myself into thinking I'll be able to work out at the end of the day. Wednesday, 22.02.08 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/155/175/185/190/195/185/175 DL: 2 @ 195/215/235/245/250/255 I kind of like going back to the 3rd and 2nd Ramp after hitting the Target load, skipping the 4th. I've been putting on my Squat belt when I hit 175-185. Can't remember at what load I used to put the Deadlift belt on. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1056 total meters, 2:24.6 per 500 meters. LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Thursday, 22.02.09 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 105/125/135/140/145/140/135 OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/90/92.5/90/85 Opps, I forgot to do the Overhead Press for five reps. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Lots of ice, my stabilizers got an extra workout. Friday, 22.02.10 NOON Aerobic 1.85 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 180ft. Helped a friend/neighbor move two dryers over icy snow mid-walk. Nice to apply the ST once in a while. Saturday, 22.02.11 LATE MORNING Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/155/175/185/190/195/185/175 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. ---------------Week 7: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.12 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical PD: 3 @ 105/125/135/140/145/140/135 OP: 5 @ 45/65/75/85/90/92.5/90/85 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Monday, 22.02.13 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/155 DL: 2 @ 225/235 Feeling a little sluggish, just primed a bit. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. The snow and ice have almost melted enough for barefooting again. Tuesday, 22.02.14 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal RW: 3 @ 135/145/145/145 BP: 3 @ 45/95 | 115/125/135/145/140/135 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Rain, slush, and ice! Wednesday, 22.02.15 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body DL: 2 @ 135/185; 225/235/245/255/245/230 SQ: 3 @ 95/135/155/175/185/195/185/175 Used my Deadlift belt for the first time in a long time. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1028 total meters, 2:28 per 500 meters. Aerobic Taking a day off from ice. Thursday, 22.02.16 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical OP: 5 @ 45/65/75/85/90/92.5/85/75 PD: 3 @ 105/125/135/145/145 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Friday, 22.02.17 Saturday, 22.02.18 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 45/95/135/155/175/185/195 RDL: 3 @ 95/135; DL: 2 @ 225/235/245/255 I don't know, sometimes I think I should simplified the ramping a bit. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1008 total meters, 2:30 per 500 meters. AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft ---------------Week 8: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.19 NOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Horizontal RW: 3 @ 135/145/145 BP: 3 @ 45/95 | 115/125/135/145 AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Monday, 22.02.20 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body, Vertical OP: 3 @ 45/65/75/85/95 Got in the Overhead Press after getting dinner in the oven. Not enough time for Squats, but this way, I'm prepped for doing the lower body lifts tomorrow and all the upper body lifts together on Wednesday. In a hurry, I just did three reps per set. Hmmn, I do like the simplicity of doing everything at 90%. Tuesday, 22.02.21 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/165/175/185/195/185/175 Yah, this slightly different ramping approach seems pretty Goldilockian. I put the belt on as soon as I got to the first ramp of 165. Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Just when a lot of the ice has melted, it starts snowing again. I was going to do some sled work before the snow really hit, but I let the measly 1-2 inches that had already fallen deter me. Wednesday, 22.02.22 NOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. Just 1-2 more inches of snow overnight. LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body OP: 5 @ 45/75/85/95/85/75 PD: 3 @ 115/125/135/145 BP: 3 @ 115/125/135/145 Thursday, 22.02.23 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic We got 13-16 inches from Tuesday to Thursday afternoon. I started out shoveling, then pied out as my lower back started to get sore because of the high banks, and got out the snowblower. Friday, 22.02.24 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 45, 95/135 The late afternoon time slot had been working this cycle sometimes, but not today. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, fairly leisurely, about three minutes per 500 meters. Saturday, 22.02.25 MID-AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Upper Body OP: 5 @ 45/55/65/75/85/95/85/75 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 165ft. And that's a wrap!
Assessment of Last Cycle. Kind of took a rest cycle, strength levels seem to have leveled off a bit lower and my weight also has remained level at the 204 level so missed the 200 mark. Goals for this Cycle. Keep the weight loss going, I would like to keep the weight loss in the range of 0.5 - 1 pound per week. Lifting wise I might shuffle things up for a cycle, maybe add some intensity. I need to think about this but for now I will likely just keep doing what I am doing for the first week. I would like to slowly reintroduce running into the mix, like 3 times a week for 30 min. I will use the treadmill initially to minimize any achilles issues. That's pretty much it, although the pieces to the above are much more complicated. ---------------Week 1: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.01 Snowboarding day, hit it hard for about 3 hours. Monday, 22.01.02 WU Fsquats/Pu Planks - 3@40sec FSquats - 3@155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215, 1@225 Pull downs - 10@160 Pull ups - 8,8,7,8 Press - 5@135, 135, 135, 8@95 Box jumps - 3x5@20" The gym is busy, and equipment is at a premium so I had to shuffle some lifts around. I took my time today and added some squat reps. Tuesday, 22.01.03 5min Walk/ 5min Run - 0:30 Wednesday, 22.01.04 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40secs Squats - 3@185, 205, 225, 235, 245 Low pulls - 15@145, 3x10@160 Bench - 10@135, 5@205, 225, 225,225 Glute machine - 10@90, 90, 90 Thursday, 22.01.05 Friday, 22.01.06 WU FSquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - 3@185, 185, 185 Pull downs - 10@145, 145, 145 Saturday, 22.01.07 ---------------Week 2: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.08 Monday, 22.01.09 WU Squats/PU Planmks - 3@40sec Pull ups - 8 Squats - 3@185, 205, 225, 225, 225 Bent rows - 8@135, 155, 175, 5@185 Bench - 10@135, 5@205, 225, 225, 225 Glute machine - 10@90, 8@90, 90 Tuesday, 22.01.10 Wednesday, 22.01.11 Thursday, 22.01.12 WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec FSquats - 5@135, 3@155, 175, 195, 215 CG Pull downs - 10@145, 160, 8@190, 5@205, 220 Press - 8@95, 115, 115 Friday, 22.01.13 Saturday, 22.01.14 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - 5@185, 205, 3@225, 225, 225 Bent rows - 3x10@135 GHDSU - 3x10 Box Jumps - 3x5@24" Calf raises - 8@330. 10@330 ---------------Week 3: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.15 Took a couple longer walks, slept like a baby. I really need to more walks/runs/bikes going Monday, 22.01.16 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Box Jumps - 24" @ 5,5,5 DL - 10@135, 5@225, 3@275, 3@295, 5x1@315 Press - 8@95, 5@105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 1@155 Tuesday, 22.01.17 Wednesday, 22.01.18 Thursday, 22.01.19 Friday, 22.01.20 WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec FSquats - 5@135, 155, 175, 2@195 Pull downs - 10@130, 145, 145, 145 Box Jumps - 5@ 24", 24", 24" Bench - 10 @135, 185, 185, 185 Calf Raises - 225@ 15, 15, 12 Saturday, 22.01.21 ---------------Week 4: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.22 Monday, 22.01.23 Tuesday, 22.01.24 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - 5@160, 180, 7@205 Low pulls - 3x15@145 Bench - 5@155, 175, 9@195, 5@225 SLDL - 10@135, 185, 185 I am switching plans, I am going to run the official Wendler 531 program, This will be a 2 day a week Tue and Fri listing plan. Excluding deadlifts, however I might work them in there once in a while. Tue - Squats/Bench Fri - Front Squats/Press Then the other days I will plan 2 conditioning days or VO2 max days and then two longer cardio days. Wednesday, 22.01.25 Thursday, 22.01.26 AM Lift WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Abb rolls - 3x10 Fsquats - 5@135, 155, 8@175, 5@155 Box jumps - 24"@5, 5, 5 Face pulls - 20@90 Low pulls - 10@130 Press - 5@ 95, 100, 1515, 8@115, 5@125, 4@135 Friday, 22.01.27 Saturday, 22.01.28 Row 20mi - 4500m DL - 8@135, 5@225, 275, 295, 315 Farmers - 3x60m@70pa Sleds - 60m @ 270/3, 270/3, 270/3 Walk - 0:50 ---------------Week 5: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.01.29 Morning 4 Walk : 0:50 AM Lift WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - 3@170, 190, 5@220, 3@245 Bench - 3@185, 195, 8@205, 3@225, 245 Low pulls - 3x10@160 Monday, 22.01.30 Ok here is the general plan starting this week, it's stolen from wendlers advanced lifting but basically fits the prepilin chart. All back work will be assistance and probably supersetted. Increases every 3 weeks are 5 pounds except 2.5 for presses. Tuesday, 22.02.31 Morning 4 AM Lift WU Fsquats/Press Ab rollouts - 3x10 GHD SU - 3x10 Fsquats - 3@155, 175, Work Set 5x3@205 Pull downs - 10@145, 160, 8@175 Press - 5@95, Work Set 5x5@125 Face pulls - 3x10@90 I like this layout of having 5 work sets at a straight weight. I might have started a bit too high weight, but I think it should be ok. I think the overall lifting week will look like this Day 1 Main Squat BenchAssistance Low pulls Glute or Calf raises Cable rotations Day 2 Main Deadlift Power cleans (maybe?)Assistance Farmers Sled push Day 3 Main Front Squats PressAssistance Pull downs Face pulls Ab work Wednesday, 22.02.01 Thursday, 22.02.02 Afternoon lift WU PU/Ab rolls - 3x10 Squats - 10@45, 5@135, 155, 3@175, 195, 215, 225 Work Sets - 5x3@235 Cable Rotations - 10@ 40, 60, 80 Pendlay Rows - 5@135, 155, 175, Work sets - 3x5@195 Bench - 5@135, 185, Work Sets - 5x5@205 Calf raises - 10@ 275, 5@335, 390, 405 So I added pendlay rows as a main lift. I will update the sheet with them, although I am not sure about a 1RM. The 5@195 wasn't terribly difficult but there was some instability in my AC joint from prior injuries. Anyway my back is sore now... I really like the straight 5 sets, and keeping focused on speed. Oddly enough the 5th lift is usually the fastest and easiest and the first the hardest? Friday, 22.02.03 Ok here is the reorganized plan with rounding to 5 pounds and pendlay rows added in. I may swap the row day to the press day, but I like the combining them with bench as they are direct opposites. I will start with the squats again on Sunday and then the first 3 weeks will coincide with the rest of the cycle. Saturday, 22.02.04 WU PU Roll outs - 3x10 Squats - 10@45, 5@135, 155, 3@175, 195, 205, Work Sets 5x3@235 GHD SU - 3x10 PRows - 3@135, 135, 2@185, 185, 205, 205 Work Sets - 5x2@225 Bench - 10@135, Work sets 5x4@205 Glutes - 5@90, 180, 180 ---------------Week 6: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.05 Monday, 22.02.06 Tuesday, 22.02.07 WU Squats/SLDL/PU Planks - 3@40sec Power cleans - 5x3@135 Rotationals - 10@ 50, 60, 70 Box Jump - 3x5@24" DL - 4@135, 225, Work sets - 5x4@265 Wednesday, 22.02.08 Thursday, 22.02.09 WU Fsquats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Pull downs - 3x10@130 Fsquats - 5@135, 2@185, 205, Work Sets - 5x2@225 Press - 10@45, 5@95, 3@115, Work Sets - 5x3@140 Friday, 22.02.10 Saturday, 22.02.11 ---------------Week 7: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.12 WU - Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - 5@135, 185, 2@205, 225, 245, Work Sets - 5x2@260 PRows - 4@135, 135, 155, Work Sets 5x4@175 Bench - 10@135, 3@205, Work Sets - 5x3@225 Pause Calf Raise - 5@ 375, 430, 450 LM Twist - 15@95 Monday, 22.02.13 Tuesday, 22.02.14 WU Squats/PU Roll outs - 3x10 DL - 10@135, 3@225, 245, 265, 285, Work Sets 5x3@295 Power Cleans - 2@95, 115, 135, Work Sets - 5x2@155 Sleds - 3x 60m @360x3 Farmers - 3x 60 @ 90pa Wednesday, 22.02.15 Thursday, 22.02.16 WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - 4@135, 155, Work Sets - 5x4@175 Press - 8@95, 45, 2@135, Work Sets - 5x2@155 Rotationals - 3x10@70 per side Friday, 22.02.17 Saturday, 22.02.18 AM Lift WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Squats - 5x 135, 155, 4@ 175, 195 Work Sets - 5x4@205 P Rows - 10@45, 3@135, 155, 175, Work Sets - 5x3@200 Bench 8 @185, 2@225, Work sets - 4x2@250, 2@255 Calf Raises - 3x5@450 It's been too long since I updated this. So far the program is working well. It's always hard but always doable too. I never feel close to failure although there is much more soreness now. Having a day off between lifting days has been very important. I also don't feel the need to lift on the off days. Just taking a couple of walks is more than enough. On off days I have also been doing the morning 4 as a warmup mobility 10 squats 10 pushups 10 sit ups 10 pull ups Last iteration of the plan with power cleans ---------------Week 8: Cycle I--------------- Sunday, 22.02.19 Monday, 22.02.20 WU Squats/PU Roll outs - 3x10 DL - 5@135, 225, 2@275, 295, 315, Work Sets - 5x2@330 PC - 10@45, Work Sets - 5x4@135 PP - 4@135, 3@155, 2@175, 185, 190, 195 Pull ups - 3x6 Tuesday, 22.02.21 WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - 5@135, 3@155, 175, 195, Work Sets - 5x3@205 Farmers - 90m@70, 90M@70, 60m@70 Wednesday, 22.02.22 WU Press/Squats GHD SU - 3x10 Press - Work Sets 5x4@135 Push Press - 2@155, 175 PRows - 5@135, 155, 2@175, 195, 215, Work Sets - 5x2@230 Thursday, 22.02.23 WU Walk 60 min Bench - Worksets - 2x4@205, 3@4@225 PC - 3@95, 115, 135 - Work Sets - 5x3@155, 2@185 Friday, 22.02.24 Saturday, 22.02.25 WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Squats - 3@175, 195, 215, 235 Work Sets - 5x3@240 Pull downs - 10@145, 8@160, 7@175
Looks like you are building up well, how are you feeling? Your comment about snow is funny, I was thinking the same thing. We had a 14" snow overnight a couple weeks again and it took a good hour to shovel. I was really sore the other day especially my shoulders. I can't imagine 3-6 feet of heavy snow... I am reading over Wendler's book again for a plan. It's funny how much I have forgotten about lifting plans and how much I have been riding the recent plan. I have been thinking about dropping weight some and trying to get more reps in and doing more of a wendler lift plus assistance work 3 days a week.
Yah, New Year's was a useful now-or-never mark. I didn't get much lifting in the first week, what with the snow storm and having my son home two days and my daughter four, plus taking her to her orthodontic appointment, then my brother to two orthopedic appointments, one during the white-out phase of the storm. He hurt his wrist while playing hockey with my son. Fractured in four spots. Ouch! But last week went well. The late morning-to-noon time slot works well most days. And I'm enjoying just doing two lifts, 5-10 minutes of conditioning, and then 30-40 minutes for the walk. That's just about an hour total per day. My only goal remains consistency, although of course it would be nice to eventually get my lifts back up there a bit, with a minimal goal of 3 reps @ 115 for the OP, 195 for the BP/ RW/PD, 275 for the SQ, and 315 for the Deadlift. Then bonus points for 3 reps @ 135/225/315/365, respectively. I’m pretty sure the former are doable, not sure I can still get to the latter at my age, we’ll see. Definitely feels great to be able to push things a bit again, in any case. And it's amazing how that extra effort contributes to sounder sleep. Still, once I get more in the swing of things, I may go back to an alternating Upper/Lower split, or even my Push/Pull split. Just depends on whether I can progress the Overhead Press only hitting it three times over two weeks. But two lifts per day is very easy mentally, and I like doing the exact same routine each day, making everything mindless. Perhaps I could hit the OP and PD twice a week, and the BP and RW just once. The latter two have usually been my best/easiest lifts. Yah, it’s kind of hard to follow your log as a “program.” But it’s obviously working, you have good loads. I guess for me the tendency over time has been to simplify things as much as possible. I just look at my chart and progress the ramps, everything at three-rep sets. It’s also feels better to have gotten rid of the HIIT and just do moderate to high (for me) intensity steadily on the rower for 5-10 minutes. The sled still lends itself to HIIT though. I’m starting to get better about stretching in between sets, but still not near where I’d like to be. I can’t believe I used to be able to do the splits.
I like your idea of the 3 x 315, 275, 225, 135. I think at this point I could probably do them all except for the squat. However I am wondering if this level is good enough from a strength standpoint? I was listening to this podcast about testing various aspects of fitness. I'll write the tests up in a bit to give a better idea. And yeah need to get on a better plan that allows flexibility but has some direction. I have the base down and I might add some tweaks from some various tweaks Wendler wrote about in later books more to follow. I was thinking with the sled work to do walking with exaggerated strides rather than running, and then doing some rows like 2 min hard, 1 min rest for the VO2 max conditioning. That's unfortunate for your brother, 4 fractures, ouch.
No upper body pulls for assistance? It will be interesting to see how you progress. That's very minimalist. But your upper body presses are already pretty strong.
I am thinking to do them as assistance work only, after pulling that muscle the other day doing heavy rows I am going to keep the rows to reasonable loads for now and keep them at higher reps. I have also been doing a quick morning warmup thing with 3x10 squats, push ups, ab rollouts and pull ups so I am getting some decent volume of back work. I think I may scratch the initial Wendler plan and do something similar but not pushing reps and slowing loads down. There was a reason I initially stopped chasing higher rep sets before, my form breaks down too much after the 4th rep. I will put together a plan in a bit, I also might add some deadlifts to it. I like your tracking list, makes it very easy to see consistency.
Yah, I always fried my lower back doing rows until I discovered the Pendlay Row. It really helps to release tension after each rep. Rows are the only one of the six main ones that has a long moment arm throughout the lift. But I also suspect the upper body pulls might be better candidates for higher reps. Not sure why. Maybe because the form is easier? Yah, it's hard to maintain form with higher reps. I think I've transferred whatever benefit I might've achieved with higher reps to more conditioning work. Not exact equivalences, but close enough for my purposes. Anyway, this week I think I'm going to try a strict Iron Ratio of 2-3-4-5, except the Deadlift which may be a little less than 5 units: This will make the Overhead Press harder and the SQ, BP, and RW easier. I read an article yesterday advocating for the importance of the Overhead Press: https://generationiron.com/overhead-press-important-bench/ So perhaps the best weekly routine would be: M SQ & DL Tu OP & PD W SQ & RDL @ same loads as SQ Th BP & RW F SQ & DL Sa OP & PD or M OP & PD Tu SQ & DL W BP & RW Th SQ & RDL @ same loads as SQ F OP & PD Sa SQ & DL To make sure I get in the Overhead Press twice a week.
Ha now you have me rethinking the pendlay rows for heavy weights. I have been listening to this podcast about strength training and I am rethinking my rep counts to tweak it more to strength related so 1-4 reps per set following the perilipins chart. I am trying to calc out the iron ratio, I think mine is way out of whack if you base my press at 2. I was thinking at some point this year I could target the following: Press - 185 Bench - 285 Squat - 305 DL - 375 That gets me the following 2.0 3.1 3.3 4.1 I guess it's a goal for the year, in addition to being able to run again for 2 hours. Looks like a good routine to get in pretty decent volumes. I am assuming you are keeping reps around 15 per day?
Yah, your presses are a lot stronger than your lower body lifts, but the ratios on the internet are mostly averages I think, along with some experienced trainers' observations of their clients. Who's to say what the ideal ratio really is for each individual? I just go by what has worked for me, in terms of structural balance, for which the only real evidence is the fact that I don't get injured any more. But that could also be due to added experience. Who knows? Yah, so far the two-lifts-per-day approach has been working. It's hard to invent excuses when it's just two lifts, or today, I was pressed for time so I just benched because I know I already have the Rows in the bag for a while. I also currently only have two harder lifts, the Overhead Press and the Squat, and since I suspect these might be the most important, it's good to focus on them out of necessity. Yah, with my ramps, I basically get in seven sets for each exercise, not including whatever warmup sets preceded those, so that's about 21 reps per exercise, but only three sets, or nine reps, are at a challenging load. That's an interesting layout for your program. Good luck!
Looks like a nice program. If/when my lifts get back up there, I may have to think about assistance too. I think for the Pendlay Row, there may be a weight limit, based on your bodyweight and anthropometry, due to the long moment arm, after which it might make sense to just treat it as assistance, or increase reps. The last two days I fooled myself into skipping the late morning/noon time slot, only to find the late afternoon slot diminished or gone after the unexpected expectedly came up.
Well your consistency has been great, missing one or two is ok. When I wait till later morning/afternoon as well I have to occasionally bail on the lifting due to work or family life. Mornings are hard too, I have been placing more emphasis on sleeping. I realized having a strict wake up time to get to the gym really influences sleep quantity. Yeah I am curious if there is a weight limit too, the good thing about them is you can drop the weight from the top and cheat a little with momentum. The only issue I have with them is the grip and the position in my shoulders. I do much better in a neutral grip for higher reps loads. Anyway here is an updated chart for the loads and reps I think I will follow based on prilepins chart in the link. https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/sports-performance/prilepins-chart/ I am also going to drop the 5 set to a 4 set, to really focus on pure strength for now and keep all the reps moving fast. This podcast is long but it kind of reiterates the style of lifting we do. Although he simplifies it push, pull, hinge and rotation. https://hubermanlab.com/dr-andy-galpin-optimal-protocols-to-build-strength-and-grow-muscles/ The last thing is on the last lift or two of the 5x2 day I might cut it to 3x2 and then work up to a 1rm max to test every 6 weeks or so. And then increase the program based on that.
I still think my best time slot is end of afternoon, 4-6 hours before going to bed, but with kids it just doesn't happen enough, and I've habituated to the earlier slot. And it's nice to have it taken care of before lunch, not have anything else to think about before dinner. Yah, I've been a little dogmatic about only doing the big barbell lifts. The one-hand dumbbell row uses a neutral grip and allows for more loading because of the opposing support hand. I think I got up to 120 pounds or so last time I did them, maybe more, which would translate into a 240-pound Pendlay Row, which doesn't seem possible with good form. But who knows? I don't think I've ever pushed beyond 180-200 lbs with the Pendlay Row. That's an interesting conception. It's kind of reassuring to see my approach is more or less in line with theirs. I'm really enjoying the low-rep approach. It's a lot easier mentally. I like the idea of pushing the pace too. Right now I'm still being easy on myself and just getting everything up to speed, but then bar speed might be the next thing to improve before increasing the loads. I'm all for quick, efficient workouts. I really like the two-lift approach. I should use my timer more often too. It works fine for the upper body lifts, but until I nail the lower body ones, it doesn't make sense to decide how long the rest should be, but it'll definitely be a bit more than the upper body lifts' rest periods. Anyway, like you say, I'm starting to optimize consistency, and that's all that really counts, whatever progress I make will follow from that.
They talk about rest periods a bunch in that podcast, but basically it sounds like 2-5 minutes is fine, but there has been recent research that would indicate you can go 90 sec - 2 minutes without any detriments to strength. Funny I am the opposite and why I like to superset, I get bored quick and without supersetting I would be back under the bar in 60 seconds or so. I like your two lifts a day actually. It reminds me of Dan Johns rule of ten and easy strength. I guess I am fundamentally only doing 2 main lifts a day but only 3 times a week with higher volumes. https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-40-workout-strength-challenge/ THANKS for the reminder about dumbbell rows, if my shoulder bothers me with pendlay rows I will absolutely switch over. I appreciate you hashing these things out with me, sometimes you miss the forest from the trees when you look at this stuff on your own. I will think about your timing, they say that early afternoon is the optimal time to lift but that is difficult for me I wonder if a 3-6pm time might be doable?
I programmed my GymBoss mini-MAX timer (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BR380O2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for a one-minute interval between Ramp 5 and 4, then 1:15 between 4 and 3, 1:30 between 3 and 2, 1:45 between 2 and 1, 2:00 between, 1 and 2, and 1:45 between 2 and 3. Seems about right for the upperbody lifts, at least at current loads. It keeps me rolling efficiently. I also have a program starting at 2 minutes instead of 1, again with 15 second increments per Ramp change, for the lower body lifts or when the weights get heavier. Nonetheless, I like the meditative quality of a less-rushed workout. Just spacing out until the urge to do another set arises. You're doing bigger loads and I think as you do so, intensity takes over frequency. Yah, I think Dan John's Easy Strength was at the beginning of our exchanges. And likewise, thanks for looking over my ideas and offering suggestions. It's that gym-rat camaraderie without having to drive to a gym. Do you recall where you read that about early afternoon being optimal? That might work for me too. I keep my lunches lite, so perhaps I could do my walk first afterwards, then hit the weights and conditioning. I do like getting as much possible done in the morning, that's when my brain is at its best.
It's interesting your/Prepilin's use of varying reps per set. I used to do a weekly wave as you may recall, with five reps (85%) on Monday, seven (75%) on Wednesday, and three (90%) on Friday. I made a lot of progress that way. I've also been toying with the idea of doing all the upper body stuff at five reps, squats at three, and Deads at 2 (95%). Maybe next cycle. The goal for this cycle remains consistency and getting everything comfortable and efficient at my first training block's loads.
Looks like a good system (except you skipped week 7!). I've been enjoying my two lifts per day, but I'm worried that the volume for the upper body lifts isn't enough, especially for the Overhead Press, my weakest lift. So I may try an Upper/Lower Split, and allow for another day off during the week once in a while if it starts to be too much. In my current program, for each cycle, I can get a maximum of just 12 upper body vertical or horizontal sessions in, but 24 for the lower body. If I combined the four upper body lifts into a single session using an upper/lower split, then, if I take a day off in between each split, I'd get in 18 lifts per each half of the split, or 24 if I get in six sessions a week. So, realistically, either programmatically or accounting for interruptions, I could get in between 18 and 22 sessions for each lift. That's 50-100% more volume for the upper body lifts than in my current routine. Here's a diagram of a half-cycle (four weeks): To compensate, I may simplify the ramping a bit, take out a ramp, and make the last one a bit less before the target load. Something like this: Here, for all the lifts, each ramp uniformly goes up by 10 pounds and there's just three of them after the last warmup set (at a 25- or 45-plate intervals--45/95/135/185/225 etc.). I will try to repeat the last two ramp sets after the Target set, but it can remain optional on days when I not feeling that gung-ho. Since I started using the timer sporadically, I've noticed how much more time in between sets I need for the lower body lifts compared to the upper body lifts, so even doing all four upper body lifts in one session, it shouldn't take much longer than the lower body session.
You could also superset the uppers, you are doing Press, bench, rows and a pull down right? I like your timer idea, I have been sitting down and using the clock on the wall, usually I take 2 minutes rest between work sets. It seems like a good compromise of resting but not getting bored. The overall session does take a while though like you say with ramp up sets. Only working 3 days a week has been helpful though. If my son keeps wanting to go at night I may decouple lower/upper from morning to evening or possibly switching over to evening lifting. I guess I could even do a Sun am - lower Mon pm - upper Tue am - lower Wed Pm - upper Thu am - lower Fri/Sat Pm - upper Actually that's exactly what you are thinking about. Yep skipped week 7, I am using it as a deload week. I should probably annotate it in the program. Yesterday I also maxed out push presses and will add them in as well, then each day will be 3 big lifts. I hit 195 too. Are you doing any core work? The roll outs you encouraged have been going well. I am slowly working up to doing a standing one. Should get there in 5 years or so.
The problem with supersetting, for me, is having to change gear around in between sets. Maybe if I had a dedicated bench and a dedicated lat-pulldown that might work, but I'd still have to buy a separate bar and, eventually more plates. I like my super-simple setup these days. Yah, I still think my ideal routine would be a Push/Pull split, but when I tried it, my shoulders got a little cranky. With the Upper/Lower split, they have a passive day with the lower lifts. I also kind of like putting the two heaviest/hardest lifts together. With the timer, I started at one minute then added 15 seconds for each Ramp, culminating at two minutes after the target set. But now I've taken out a ramp, so I'll have to tweak the program, or maybe start it with the last warmup set. I still haven't found the right intervals for the lower body lifts. Three minutes for the target sometimes seems like it's not enough. So I'll experiment with three and a half or four. I don't do any core work, I figure the squats and deadlifts accomplish that. But if I did, then yah, I'd either do the ab rollouts or the hanging knee raise. Standing rollout? You mean start standing bent over with the wheel by your feet? That sounds hard, so five years sounds about right!
