Workout Log for February 20th

Failed today. Rest/pause sets at 8-10RM, 15 total reps with six breaths' pause. No other rest during the workout.

• Bike: 5mins, 110W
• Deadlift: 110kg, 15 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 110W
• Dip: 120kg, 15 + 3 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 110W
• Squat: 90kg, 15 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 110W
• Chin-up: 120kg, 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 reps. <--- I started to lose it here. This is worse than my last workout.
• Bike: 3 mins, 100W
• Push-press: 60kg, 10 reps <- I passed out in the middle of the set and had to stop the workout
• 10 mins rest / recovery
• Shoulder press: 20kg 15 + 15 reps
• Treadmill intervals X 5 + cool-down
• 1 min high intensity
• 2 mins low intensity

This was a real crash-and-burn day. I'm happy with the program, and my conditioning appears to be improving, but not fast enough. We're going to do this workout three more times and alter it starting March 1st.While I failed, Gale killed all three of her workouts. We have another person joining our team starting on Monday.

Daily Workout Log: Feb. 18th

• Bike: 5 mins, 105W
• Deadlift: 90kg, 15 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 105W
• Dips: 122kg, 15 + 2 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 80W
• Squat: 70kg, 15 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 80W
• Chin-up: 122kg, 7 + 3 + 2 + 3 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 50W <-- at this point, I was just trying not to puke
• Push press: 60kg, 10 + 3 + 2 reps
• Bike: 3 mins, 50W
• Circuits X 3
• push-up: 15 sec
• crunch: 15 sec
• box jump: 15 sec
• rest: 15 sec
• Bike: 15 mins, 80W
• Walk: 15 mins, 5.5km/hr

I nearly threw up twice. Squats and deadlifts get heavier next time.

Daily Workout Report: Feb 16th

5 min warm-up on the treadmill. Each exercise is alternated with 3 mins on the treadmill. Cool-down is 15 mins on the treadmill. No rest.

• Deadlifts: 70kg x 15 reps, single set
• Dips: 122kg x 15 reps, single set
• Squats: 70 kg x 15 reps, 10 + 5
• Chin-ups: 122kg x 15 reps. 6 + 4 + 3 + 2
• Push-presses: 50kg x 15 reps, single set

The Most Intense Split I've Ever Planned -- 3-Split + Endurance / Strength Split

Image via Wikipedia

About two weeks ago, I started the most intense workout I've ever done on a regular basis. It's a three-split, but not the way I normally do it. I have trouble doing six-day workouts when all the days are heavy, so I've put three high-rep days in there in addition to the three low-rep days. Since my workouts are short, I need to break the heavy days into two different workouts for each body part.

Wow. That's too confusing. Look at this table instead of reading the vomit I'm spewing:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Body Part(s)	Chest / Shoulders / Triceps	Legs	Back / Biceps	Chest / Shoulders / Triceps	Legs	Back / Biceps
Style	Strength	Endurance / circuit	Strength	Endurance / circuit	Strength	Endurance / circuit
Volume	~200 reps	~500 reps	~200 reps	~500 reps	~200 reps	~500 reps
Number of Exercises	8	8	8	8	8	8
Sets per Exercise	3	4	3	4	3	4
Reps and Weights per Set	10 (15RM), 8 (10RM), Failure (6RM)	15 (20RM)	10 (15RM), 8 (10RM), Failure (6RM)	15 (20RM)	10 (15RM), 8 (10RM), Failure (6RM)	15 (20RM)
Time	1 hr +	40 mins	1 hr +	40 mins	1 hr +	40 mins
Post-workout Cardio	20 mins HIIT	40 mins heartrate	20 mins HIIT	140 mins heartrate)	20 mins HIIT	40 mins heartrate
Example Exercises	Week 1: BB bench press, BB inclined press, weighted dips, BB shoulder press, Butterflies, skull-crushers, tricep kickbacks, tricep pushdowns. Week 2: DB bench press, DB inclined press, weighted dips, DB shoulder press, cable flyes, tricep bench press, tricep dip machine, rope pushdowns.	Available machines on a circuit	Week 1: Overhand BB rows, wide pull-ups, inverted rows, supinated pull-downs, reverse flyes, EZ-bar curls, DB hammer curls, Preacher curls Week 2: underhand BB rows, pull-ups, lat pull-downs, upright rows, shrugs, reverse EZ-bar curls, DB curls, cable curls.	Available machines on a circuit or dumbbells (to reduce time between sets.	Week 1: BB squats, hack squat machine (normal stance), hack squat machine(sumo stance), hack squat machine (close stance), step ups, calf raises, leg extensions, leg curls. Week 2: leg press (normal stance), leg press (sumo stance), leg press (close stance), deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, calf raises, leg extensions, leg curls.	Available machines on a circuit or dumbbells (to reduce time between sets.
Details	The first week, concentrate on barbell lifts. The second week, do dips and dumbbell lifts. Take 1-2 mins rest between sets. You should be sore for two days after this workout.	Take as little rest as possible between sets. Rest one minute between circuits while you drink water. You should be as close to throwing up as possible while still being able to perform.	Take 1-2 mins rest between sets. You should be sore for two days after this workout.	Take as little rest as possible between sets. Rest one minute between circuits while you drink water. You should be as close to throwing up as possible while still being able to perform.	The first week, concentrate on various squats. The second week, do deadlifts and leg presses. Take 1-2 mins rest between sets. You should be sore for two days after this workout.	Take as little rest as possible between sets. Rest one minute between circuits while you drink water. You should be as close to throwing up as possible while still being able to perform.

6RM = six-rep maximum (first week is historical; the other weeks are calculated)
10RM = eight-rep maximum
15RM = fifteen-rep maximum
20RM = 20-rep maximum

This routine keeps your muscles guessing! You have 15, 10, 8 , and six reps. You have endurance weights until you puke, and then you turn around and lift to failure with a relatively heavy weight. My body is screaming at me, and my stomach is, too. I want to eat all the time. Controlling it is hard, but you can see the body changes in just the first two weeks. Eight weeks should be enough for this program, or I'll probably over-train.

For strength days, the last set is to failure based on a calculated 6-rep max (6rm), and the weight and reps are used to calculate the lifts for next time. Don't be afraid to use 2 and 5 lb. weights to get as close as possible to the calculated 6RM weight. If you complete six reps, you'll stay on the same weight the next time. If you complete more reps, the weight will increase the next time.

For endurance days, the goal is as little rest as possible. Be smart. Order your exercises so that you don't use the same basic muscle two exercises in a row. These workouts will totally blow your triceps and biceps to shreds. I prefer to use dumbbells and cable when I can, but the Nautilus machines are good, too.

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Forced Marches

I gave up running because, as usual, I was crushing my ankles and knees, but I started doing forced marches instead since they're easier on my body. I've ramped up from 25 to ~50lbs (22.5kg) now, and can even shuffle-run for short periods to make a traffic light or whatever with no problem.

The 6.5km (~4mi) forced march is in the morning before breakfast with nothing in me but black coffee. This makes it harder than you would think. I'm making the distance in about 50 minutes right now, including down time for a set each of pull-ups and dips, and hope to hit 66lbs (30kg) by next month while keeping the same time. This will be about 28 - 30% of my body weight by then.

Combine the morning march with 3-4 days of endurance lifting and an odd evening march, and you'll spend all day with random cramps just like me.

I'm looking at a ruck sack instead of my backpack to ease the pressure on my lower back and get the weight up higher. That should make the treck less painful. I'm handling the winter with a motorcycle face mask and several layers of sweats, which I sweat completely through every day.

Since I haven't done any real power lifting this year, my lifts are down by 30-40%. I'll fix that in the spring. I want to drop this gut first. Since I'm not losing any real muscle size, I figure I can wait.

Out of Shape but Not Giving Up

I was sick for a couple of months with an ENT infection that wouldn't go away, then I ripped my hamstring and had to take another three months off. I ended the summer overweight and weak.

I've started lifting again, but focusing on warm-up + 3x10 instead of my normal 6x6. I'm also doing 6km forced marches in the morning with an 18kg pack on an empty stomach. That's burning the fat off pretty well.

Halloween wrecked me, though, and I had to take an entire day off to recover from the hangover.

Yes, that's me making an ass out of myself.

Why Squats Rule, and a New Workout

It's been four months since my last blog on this site. The amount of time is excessive mainly because I stopped working out in February and for most of March. I got my chest up to 48 inches before I stopped working out, then went on an extended rest period. I lost 40kg off of most of my lifts during the break and my waist got up to 43 inches (from 40.5 in November).

We ended our gym contract and hd trouble finding something good enough for home use, but we eventually got it.



We bought 140kg of weights and mats for the floor. We were ready to go. The problem was time. We just didn't seem to have more than 45 minutes to work out. That's not much of a seesion, so we had to make them counts. Here's our new plan:

A 6-day rotating schedule over a 7-day week. There are no schedules days off. We can take one or two a week if we think we are over-training. The nature of the rotation helps ensure that we don't lose the same workout every week.

Day 1
Morning: 30 minute core workout with planks, supermans, and other core exercises.
Evening: 40-minute chest workout featuring the straight and inclined chest press.

Day 2
Morning: 30-minute kickboxing workout
Evening: 40-minute back workout with BB rows, deadlift/shrugs, and pull-ups

Day 3
Morning: 30-minute callisthenic workout with push-ups, scissor kicks, squat jumps, and the like.
Evening: 40-minute shoulder workout with seated BBpresses and Arnold DB presses.

Day 4
Morning: 30-minute jiujitsu workout on a mat.
Evening: 40-minute chest workout with DB straight and inclined presses

Day 5
Morning: 30-minute endurance stairs workout carrying weights up and down my front stairs in pyramids
Evening: 40-minute back workout with DB rows, deadlift/shrugs, and pull-ups

Day 6
Morning: 30-minute kickboxing workout
Evening: 40-minute leg workout with squats, cleans, and the like.

Other daily activities:
Workday: Two 15-minute biking sessions going and coming to work.
Saturday: Some extra jiujitsu
Sunday: A forced march with weight.

Needless to say, we're exhausted. Sometimes we don't have time for the full workouts, but we try. For example, we only had about 15 minutes for lifting yesterday, so I just did squats. I figure if you're going to only do one leg exercise, that would be it.

I did five sets of 6-8 reps, with my ass just about hitting the floor. My thighs hit my claves, anyway. The weights were:
40kg
70kg
90kg
110kg
125kg

The funny thing is ... I don't have any knee pain now. Before I started lifting, my knees were shit. I couldn't walk around without problems. If I made a hard right turn, my knee would collapse and I'd go down on the floor like a sack of potatoes. When I started doing squats, I died. I did them the recommended way, stopping at 90 degrees (sometimes not even to there), but mt knees screamed every day.

Now that I drop to the bottom, I don't have knee pain. I only wore braces for that last, heaviest set. Isn't that odd?

Anyway, that one exercise ruined my legs for today. Real muscle soreness. Squats are great that way!