Wednesday, August 31 - Heavy Bench

LIFT

Squat (deload weight)

275x5; 275x5

Bench

275x5; 315x2; 275x8

Pullups supersetted w/ Dips 

6; 6

10; 10

Notes

-Working on keeping my squat form extremely tight.  I'm resetting my arch after every rep.  Maybe that means I'm losing a little tightness in the hole.  I'm not sure.  I'll take a video on Friday if I can.  Either way, I feel like my form work will really start to pay off soon.

-The entire football team came in just as I started warming up with 135 on bench.  A dude comes up to me and says, "Are you done?"  I guess he asked me this to let me know it was time for the big bad D3 football players to bench. Lol.  No, I'm not done, I just started warming up. (I'm sure that wasn't obvious, fucknuts). I offered to let him work in.  He took up my offer and before I know it I've got 4-5 dudes swarming over my bench.  The rest of the team continued to give me bad looks as I benched.   Everyone seems to give the football team the benches and shit when they come in, and I guess I was supposed to do the same?  Lol.

-I continued to go about my bench workout.  I was pretty sore from Monday's DB inclines since I havent done those in about 6 months.  I only had 2 sets of 275 planned, but the douchey behavior of the FB team got me adequately fired up to go heavier.  I told one of the dudes to load up 3 plates.  At this point there was a change in attitude and they actually became supportive.  Second rep was a grind, but I finished it clean.  It ended up being a nice bench session.  I had dudes spotting me and loading/stripping my plates.  I plan to bench at this time every Wednesday on a regular basis.

Routine Update and Lift

The past few weeks my training has been all over the place.  The only consistent thing I'm doing is making sure I get in 2 full body strength workouts per week.  Work capacity is always the first thing to go, however maintaining strength by coasting for a while isn't too difficult.  Bar speed is moderately fast and nothing feels overly taxing at this point.

During the next couple weeks I'll be loosely following a full body routine posted by Jim Wendler.  Its simple and pretty hard to mess up.  I like simple.

Monday, August 29 - LIFT

Squat (60% of est. 1rm)

275x5; 275x5

Deadlift

405x5; 405x5

Low Incline DB Bench supersetted w/ Chins

100x8; 100x8; 75x12

6; 6; 6

Notes

-Deads felt relatively easy tonight.  I was a little worried that squats would leave me fatigued, but using deload weight shouldn't really affect too much - and it didn't.

-Incline DB bench was fun as hell tonight.  Felt good to throw something new into the mix.

Thursday, August 25th - Deadlift

LIFT

Deadlift

365x3; 365x3; 365x3

Bench

225x8; 225x8; 225x8

Pullups

5; 5; 8

Curls

70x13; 70x13

Notes

-This was last week after 4 interviews.  I remember being tired as hell and decided not to squat... because who really wants to squat when they are tired as hell?

Monday August 22 - Sprints and Squats

HILL SPRINTS

6 Sprints at ~80%

Zero rest between sprints

Notes

-Need to get back on the wagon with the hill sprints and conditioning.  I haven't lost all my conditioning or anything, but I need to get consistent again and start making progress.  I've remained relatively active, so that helps.

-Going to try zero rest for a while.  That means I sprint up the hill, walk down, and then immediately sprint back up.

LIFT

Squats

365x1; 385x5; 225x8

Bench (strict, 2 count pause, form work)

185x5; 185x5; 185x5

Pullup/Chins

7; 7 

Notes

-Performance and drive was definitely affected by hill sprints before lifting today.  After the 385 set in squats, I was just mentally and physically toast.  My lower back is playing catch up, so I didn't feel like destroying it by going heavy on bench.

Friday, August 19th - Full Body Strength Training

LIFT

Squat

315x3; 365x5; 365x5

Bench

255x3; 275x5; 225x8*

Deadlift

315x5; 365x5; 405x5

*Didn't feel comfortable trying another set at 275 without a spotter, so I dropped the weight.

Notes

-Was unable to workout Wednesday, so I decided to just pretend that I did workout on Wednesday and did my originally planned weight for today.  It was fine.  I'll try to start filling out volume next week.

-I fucking love lifting.

Strength Training - Full Body

LIFT

Squat

315x3; 335x5

Deadlift supersetted w/ Bench

275x5; 315x5; 315x5

225x5; 255x5; 255x5

Workout Time: 24 minutes

Notes

-Contemplated skipping tonight's workout I was so tired from moving today.   As soon as I got going the bar had good pop and speed and my adrenaline made me forget about feeling sluggish..  Nothing heavy, but overall felt solid.

Strength Training

The following was performed as one continuous superset, with no rest between exercises.

Squat
315x5; 315x5

Bench
245x5; 245x5

Chins
6; 6

Dips
10; 10

Notes
-Hamstrings were sore as hell today from basically doing warm-up sets 2 days ago.

-This session took 14 minutes, from warm-ups to walking out of the gym. Quick sesh

Back to Work

My last squat session was exactly 3 weeks ago.  My last real deadlift session was longer than that.  So this is definitely the longest stretch I have gone without strength training... since I started strength training.

During the intersession I stayed busy and active.  I played tons of golf, did hill sprints here and there, hiked mountains, worked construction, hit a bench PR I'm proud of, and also did a few high rep circuit type sessions in an apartment gym.  (DB lunges, DB RDL's, DB Bench, Curls, Lat Pull downs, Abs, etc).  I wasn't lifting heavy, but I also wasn't sitting on my ass.

I feel both mentally and physically refreshed.  I'm excited to get back into it.  I do feel a little soft, but all my nagging aches and pains are totally gone.  Most importantly, my knees feel great.   I think this little layoff was good for me.

Moving Forward

The next 1.5 weeks I will use 5x5 style training to quickly get back to into it.  I believe high frequency is the best means to quickly regain strength.  For that reason, volume will be limited to 2 work sets per compound exercise as I increase intensity each session.  Soreness inhibits progress in frequent strength training, thus I will do my best to avoid it.

After that, I'm not sure.  Strength ladders are out until I rebuild work capacity.  I have a ton of interviews, weddings, and I'm moving in the next 3 weeks...soooo I'll figure something out.

STRENGTH TRAINING

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Squat

275x5; 275x5

Bench 

225x5; 225x5

Chins/Pullups
5; 5

Dips
10; 10

Notes
-I didn't feel strong, but I didn't feel weak.  I felt refreshed.
-The weight felt light, but I knew I would quickly fatigue if I tried much more.  Excited to get more in.
-This workout took about 20 minutes.

Hill Sprints and Training Update

Hill Sprints

10 hills at ~85%

Notes

-1st time running hills with decent volume in about two weeks.

-My legs felt strong as hell today up the hill.  I think the hiking helped me a great deal.

Training Update

I did not get to workout as much as I would have liked well I was home in NH.  I hit a great bench PR, but I am a little disappointed I didn't test squat/deadlift.  It is what it is.

Now I am back, but my gym is closed until Aug. 8th.  I have an interview in D.C. the 9th.  That means the first time I can work lower body with a barbell is Aug. 10th.  This will probably be the longest stretch I can remember (years),  without squatting or deadlifting.  Ultimately, I think 2-3 weeks off is going to be awesome for my body.  I never give myself a rest.  Right now my lower back, hips, and knees feel great.  I'm going to use this opportunity to heal.

In the meantime I will keep conditioning up with the hill sprints.  Also, I may do some very high rep pump type work a couple of times... I have friends with little gyms in their apartment complexes.  I don't want to turn into a total softie.  Plus, I just like working out.  It feels good.


When I get back, I will likely do 2-3 weeks of 5x5 or something similar.   I will use it to quickly ramp intensity and volume.  After that, who knows.  Maybe more strength ladders.

Mt. Monadnock Hike - Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Stats

Total Distance Up and Down: 4.54 Miles

Time Up: 01:09:00

Time Down: 01:17:35

Total Time: 02:28:35

Avg. Heartrate: 125 BPM

Total Calories Burned: 1796 

This was a challenging hike.  A lot of negative self talk flew around the first 30 minutes of the hike.  I knew I was capable of completing the hike, however I questioned my overall conditioning.  I just don't do this sort of cardio.  The first half of the hike is in deep wooded forest.  There is little sunlight, and the slope is steep. I soon forgot about my conditioning when the forest thinned and the rock climbing started.  It is fun scaling the rocks.  When the trees begin to break, one can see 60-80 miles in all directions on a clear day.  It is invigorating.

I hiked Monadnock with both of my sisters.  My younger sister is a cross country runner.  Her conditioning level is high enough to run a half marathon any day of the week (seriously).  My older sister is an avid hiker and also in extremely good shape.  She recently climbed Mt. Washington.  Anyone in the New England area knows that sort of hike is no joke.  Only people in great condition can complete it.  The average time to the summit going up our trail is exactly 2 hours.  This includes people of all ages and skill levels.  We did it in 1 hour and 9 minutes.

The summit is absolutely magnificent.  We hung out for about 20 minutes, laying on the rocks and enjoying the view.  We also drank plenty of water, and everyone had one Clif Bar.  I also had  a banana.  This was the perfect amount of calories to refill glycogen and just give a little boost for the descent.

The descent was much harder than I anticipated.  Intuitively, walking down a steep mountain should be easy.  However, this is not the case when you are walking down miles of steep decline.  If  you aren't use to it (I certainly wasn't), this part of the leg can be very challenging.  My legs turned to jello.  They quivered hard with each step. I actually asked the sisters to slow down a little for this.  Descent can get dangerous when your legs become extremely weak.  Being strong (i.e. heavy) works against you if you tumble down huge boulders face first.

This wasn't my typical workout, but I loved every second of it.  It was completely refreshing, and a great way to end my vacation.

Here is the MiCoach feedback.  Notice the heartrate is considerably higher than Gap Mountain.  This was not only longer, but steeper.

The Ascent

The Summit

Gap Mountain Hike - Thursday, July 27th, 2011

Stats

Total Distance Up and Down : 2.69 Miles

Time Up: 30:10

Time Down: 32:45

Total Time: 01:02:55

Avg. Heartrate: 114 BPM

Calories Burned: 696

Gap Mountain is a perfect short hike.  It is under 3 miles, and you can do it in about an hour.  The second half of the ascent is a great workout if you push yourself a little bit.  My heartrate peaked at about 170.  That is about 85% of my max heartrate, so that gives you an idea as to the intensity.  Nothing insane, but I seriously wish I had something like this around me in STL.  Doing this 2-3x a week would incinerate fat.

Here is the MiCoach feedback.  Heartrate is the dark line, and speed is the lighter grey line.  Notice how my speed dropped as the heartrate peaked around the 25 minute mark.  This was the final steep part of the climb. (Click to expand)

The Ascent

The Summit