Assessment of last cycle. Not as consistently consistent as I would've liked, but OK. For the lifting, I started to do three straight sets across instead of my ramping protocol, and that felt better/more beneficial. As a result, I simplified the ramping/warmup sets even more, and I finally got to the second training block. Now all the warmup sets are in increments of 10 or 20, to make the plate loading easier. Only the Overhead Press will use the 2.5-pound plates, and only for the Target sets. Each training block's loads are based on the Squat increasing by 10 pounds, and the other lifts increasing in proportion to the Iron Ratio 2:3:4:5 -- Overhead Press = 2 Bench Press, Pendlay Row, Pulldown = 3 Squat = 4 Deadlift = 5 -- rounded up to increments of 5 or 10, except for the Deadlift. The latter will progress by 10-pound increments, just as the Squat does, disregarding the Iron Ratio, so that over time, the ratio between them will decrease, from 1.25 to 1, DL to SQ, to 1.15 to 1 if I ever get to the fifteenth training block. This is mostly a convenience, to avoid using 2.5-pound plates for 15-pound increases, but it also conforms to my experience of wanting a stronger Squat as the loads increase to sort of bullet-proof my posterior chain while doing heavier Deadlifts. Goals for this cycle. Improve consistency and for lifting, hopefully graduate from the second to the third training block. I'll do the Target sets 2-3 times. I probably won't ramp down after the Target sets. I will continue with an Upper/Lower split, but if either my knees or shoulders begin to feel cranky, I'll go to a Lifting/Aerobic-Conditioning split so that each pair of joints has 47 hours to recover instead of 23. The prioritization for the Upper Body, on days when I'm pressed for time or have low energy, is: OP > PD > BP > RW. For the lower body sessions, it's SQ > DL. ---------------Week 1: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.04.23 LATE MORNING Aerobic 1.7 mi walk around Como Lake with dog. 57ft. AFTERNOON 1.1 walk with daughter in Stillwater to look at St. Croix River flooding. Monday, 23.04.24 NOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 105/135/155/150/150 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/85/85 I realized with my simplified increases, there's no reason to make the Pulldowns end in fives. Tuesday, 23.04.25 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/155/175 RDL: 3 @ 135/185 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 1835 total meters, 2:45 per 500 meters. Wednesday, 23.04.26 NOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160 RW: 3 @ 135/155/155 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/95/100/100/100 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Thursday, 23.04.27 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/165, 2 @ 185/195 RDL: 3 @ 135/185, 2 @ 225/245 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1035 total meters, 2:25 per 500 meters. LATE AFTERNOON 1 mi walk with daughter and dog to park and back. Friday, 23.04.29 Saturday, 23.04.29 ---------------Week 2: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.04.30 NOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160/160 RW: 3 @ 135/145/155/155/155 Monday, 23.05.01 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/165/185/195/205/205 RDL: 2 @ 135/185, DL: 2 @ 225/245/255 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1083 total meters, 2:21 per 500 meters. Tuesday, 23.05.02 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/95/100/95/95 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Wednesday, 23.05.03 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/165/185/195/205/205/195 RDL: 2 @ 135/185, DL: 2 @ 225/255/255/255 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 10 mins, 1698 total meters, 2:59 per 500 meters. Thursday, 23.05.04 EVENING Aerobic 1 mi walk with dog & daughter. 85ft. Friday, 23.05.05 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/95/100/100/100 BP: 3 @ 45/95/135/155/155/155 RW: 3 @ 135/155/155/155 Aerobic 1.75 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Saturday, 23.05.06 ---------------Week 3: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.07 EVENING Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Monday, 23.05.08 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 2 @ 45/95/135/165/185/195/205, 3 & 205 RDL: 2 @ 135/185, DL: 2 @ 225/255 Back felt a little funny, so I held back on the sets. Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1095 total meters, 2:20 per 500 meters. Tuesday, 23.05.09 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic RW: 3 @ 135/155/155 PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/100/100/100 Aerobic 1.65 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Wednesday, 23.05.10 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 85/135/165/165/165 Still felt a little instability in my lower back, probably from sitting all day, so I shut it down. Plus I was interrupted three times at 165 Thursday, 23.05.11 MORNING Aerobic 1.8 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Friday, 23.05.12 EARLY MORNING Aerobic 1.8 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 185ft. Saturday, 23.05.13 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/75/85/95/100/100 Aerobic 2 mi Six Hills walk with dog. 225ft. ---------------Week 4: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.14 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 2 @ 45/95/135/135/135/165 RDL: 2 @ 135/185 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 1085 total meters, 2:21 per 500 meters. Monday, 23.05.15 LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155 and interrupted . . . I've recently been having good luck with the late afternoon time slot. Tuesday, 23.05.16 LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1.62 mi Four Hills walk with dog to Post Office and regular route. 180ft. Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/100/100/100 RW: 3 @ 135/155/155/155 Wednesday, 23.05.17 Thursday, 23.05.18 A bit of a sore throat. Friday, 23.05.19 Saturday, 23.05.20 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body DL: 2 @ 155/185/205 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 2 mins, 335 total meters, about 3:00 per 500 meters. Was going to warm up on the Rower before getting to the heavier Deadlifts, but decided to go on a walk instead. Aerobic 2 mi Six Hills walk with dog. 225ft. Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/95 ---------------Week 5: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.21 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/165/ Just priming before an afternoon of yard/patio work. EVENING 1 mi walk with daughter, son and dog to park and back. 35ft. Monday, 23.05.22 Tuesday, 23.05.23 NOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/75/95/100/100/100 Wednesday, 23.05.24 NOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 95/135/165/175/185 RDL: 2 @ 135/185, DL: 2 @ 225/245 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 5 mins, 989 total meters, 2:36.5 per 500 meters. Did the last minute at 2 minutes per 500 meters. I kind of like slowly revving it up. LATE AFTERNOON Aerobic 1 mi walk with dog and daughter to Post Office and back. 90ft. Thursday, 23.05.25 NOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/95/100/100/100 BP: 3 @ 45/95/115/135/145/155 Friday, 23.05.26 Saturday, 23.05.27 ---------------Week 6: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.28 Monday, 23.05.29 Tuesday, 23.05.30 Wednesday, 23.05.31 Thursday, 23.06.01 NOON Aerobic 1.7 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 170ft. Wow, got hit with a massive head cold, starting last Friday. I was sleeping most of the day until yesterday. Felt good to get out on a walk again. Friday, 23.06.02 NOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 100/120/120/120 OP: 3 @ 45/65/65/65 Just a little priming after a week of inactivity. Saturday, 23.06.03 ---------------Week 7: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.06.04 Monday, 23.06.05 MORNING Aerobic 1.7 mi Four Hills walk with dog. 170ft. LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic: Lower Body SQ: 3 @ 65/95/135/155 Glycolytic: Pull Concept II Rower: 6 mins, 1013 total meters, 3:00 per 500 meters. Tuesday, 23.06.06 EARLY MORNING Aerobic 1.85 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Wednesday, 23.06.07 LATE MORNING Aerobic 2 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 225ft. I think I've found the optimal route for maximizing elevation gain over distance. Thursday, 23.06.08 Friday, 23.06.09 Saturday, 23.06.10 ---------------Week 8: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.06.11 MORNING Aerobic 1.7 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Monday, 23.06.12 EARLY MORNING Aerobic 1.85 mi Five Hills walk with dog. 215ft. LATE AFTERNOON Anaerobic PD: 3 @ 120/140/160/160/160 OP: 3 @ 45/65/85/85/85 Tuesday, 23.06.13 Wednesday, 23.06.14 Thursday, 23.06.15 Friday, 23.06.16 MORNING Aerobic 1.75 Five Hills walk with dog. 200ft. Saturday, 23.06.17
Assessment of last cycle - last cycle went well, towards the end of the cycle I did start dropping down to 1 rep for the 95% days. Last week I was feeling very worn down so I ended the 7 week cycle early and took a easy week in week 2. No weight loss happened in the cycle, well I didn't actually weigh myself so I have no idea. Goals for this cycle. I am going to swap the next 6 weeks around and do some higher reps for some hypertrophy work and I am also going to get diligent about weighing myself and trying to limit calories, hopefully to start intermittent fasting again. I also wanted to start running this cycle more now that the weather is nice although the ankle issues are still 100% there... my next approach is to see if weight loss helps them. I will follow up with an updated plan. I think for the rest of the cycle I may just keep the lower lifts at 3 and 5 reps at 75% and 85%. Then increase the upper reps to 6 or 8 reps and try 60% or 70% of max loads. ---------------Week 1: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.04.23 WU Squats/PU ROllouts - 3x10 Squats - 3@195, 225, 2@245, 265, Worksets - 5x2@275 Power cleans - 3x3@175 Push press - 3x3@175 Tuesday, 23.04.25 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Prows - 5@135, 155, 175, Worksets - 5x4@195 Bench - 5@135, 3@205, 225, Worksets - 5x3@245 Calf raises - 8@345, 3x5@450 Thursday, 23.04.27 WU Fsquats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Fsquats - 4@175, Worksets - 5x4@195 Press - 10@45, 3@135, 155, Worksets - 5x1@165 Pulldowns - 8@160, 160 Thursday, 23.04.28 WU SLDL/PU Planks - 3@40sec PC - 3@135, 2@155, 1@175, 185, Worksets - 3x1@190 fail last 2 PP - 3@135, 2@155, 1@175, 185, Worksets - 5x1@190 ---------------Week 2: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.04.30 WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Squats - 5@185, 185, 185 Press - 8@115, 115, 115 Rotationals - 3x10@80 Farmers - 3x60m@70pa Sit ups - 3x20 Thursday, 23.05.04 WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - 4@185, 185, 185 PRows - 5@135, 185, 185, 185 Bench - 5@205, 205, 205 Saturday, 23.05.06 WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 Squats - 5@ 185, 205, 2225, 225 Press - 8@115, 3x5@135 Pulldowns - 3x10@160 GHD SU - 3x10 SLDL - 3x8@225 ---------------Week 3: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.07 Monday, 23.05.08 Tuesday, 23.05.09 Wednesday, 23.05.10 Thursday, 23.05.11 Friday, 23.05.12 Saturday, 23.05.13 ---------------Week 4: Cycle III--------------- Here is the updated plan, I did make some tweaks as I have been going to increase some of the weights. 5x6 reps at 65% 5x4 reps at 75% 5x2 reps at 85% Sunday, 23.05.14 Monday, 23.05.15 WU Squats/PU Roll Outs - 5x10 Squats - 4@185, WS 5x4@215 Pull downs - 12@145, 8@160, 8@160 Bench - 10@135, WS 5c6@185 GLutes - 3x5@270 Tuesday, 23.05.16 Wednesday, 23.05.17 Thursday, 23.05.18 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec DL - 6@135, WS 5x6@225 Prows 6@135, WS 5x4@185 Friday, 23.05.19 WU Fsquats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 Fsquats - 2@135, 195, WS 5x2@205 Press - 10@45, WS 5x4@135 PC & PP - 5x4@155 Saturday, 23.05.20 ---------------Week 5: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.21 Monday, 23.05.22 Tuesday, 23.05.23 Wednesday, 23.05.24 Thursday, 23.05.25 WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 Squats - 5@225, WS 5x2@245 Bench - 10@135, 5@185, WS 5x4@225 Friday, 23.05.26 Saturday, 23.05.27 ---------------Week 6: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.05.28 Monday, 23.05.29 WU Fsquats/PU Fsquats - 5x6@155 Pulldowns - 5x10@145 Press - 5x2@150 GHD SU - 5x10 Tuesday, 23.05.30 WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 3x10 DL - 6@135, 225, WS 5x4@275 PRows - 6@135, WS 5x6@155 Wednesday, 23.05.31 Thursday, 23.06.01 Friday, 23.06.02 WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - WS 5x6@185 Pull downs - 4x8@160 Bench - 10@135, 5@185, 2@225, WS 5x2@245 Glutes - 3x5@270 Saturday, 23.06.03 WU Fsquats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 Fsquats - 5@135, WS 5x4@175 Prows - 5@135, WS 5x4@175 DL - 5@135, 225, 2@275, 295 WS 5x2@315 Press - 8@115, WS 3x6@135, 6@115 ---------------Week 7: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.06.04 Monday, 23.06.05 Tuesday, 23.06.06 MORNING WU Fsquats/PU Planks- 3@40sec SLDL - 3x10@135 PC/PP - WS 5x6@135 Wednesday, 23.06.07 Thursday, 23.06.08 MORNING WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 Squats - 5@135, 185, WS 5x4@225 Bench - 10@135, WS 5x6@185 Glutes - 5@225, 2x5@315 Friday, 23.06.09 MORNING WU Fsquats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - 2@185, WS 5x2@205 Press - WS 5x4@135 PRows - 5@135, 3@185, WS 5x2@195 Saturday, 23.06.10 MORNING WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 PC & PP - 2@135, 155, WS 5x2@175 DL - 6135, 5x6@245 ---------------Week 8: Cycle III--------------- Sunday, 23.06.11 Monday, 23.06.12 MORNING WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Squats - 2@225, 245, WS 5x2@255 Press - 2@135, WS 5x2@155 GHDSU 3x10 Twist - 2x10@25, 6@50 Tuesday, 23.06.13 MORNING WU Fsquats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 DL - 10@135, 2@225, 245, 265, 285, WS 5x2@305 Prows - 6@135, WS 5x6@155 Wednesday, 23.06.14 Thursday, 23.06.15 MORNING WU Squats/PU Planks - 3@40sec Fsquats - WS 5x6@155 Bench - 5@135, WS 5x4@225 Friday, 23.06.16 MORNING WU Squats/PU Rollouts - 5x10 PC & PP - WS 5x4@155 Saturday, 23.06.17
