Perhaps an unexpected rest day?

My HRV is great today. Yesterday I got up early and did a quick jaunt on the treadmill, and 10 on the bike. I cut the intervals, because frankly, my HRV was toileted. 19ms.

Today, I woke up ‘fully recovered’ 27ms (on the low of high). However my energy levels are low, and my back is still a bit sore. As of right now, despite the good rest, I am thinking of taking an extra day. My body adjusting to the different workout, seems prudent to give my upper back a little rest. Plan would be to do my back workout tomorrow, and then Saturday do 75 minutes on the tread! Rest Sunday, and start back up on Monday.

Also, my weight is steady now at 231.

This next workout goes:

• Incline DB Bench
• Bench Support Row
• Dips
• Wide Grip Pull Ups
• Shoulder Width Pull ups
• Shoulder Width Chins
• Back Extension

Weightloss and observations

Just bullets today

• Weight at lowest down 231.1 – Loss of 4.3 lbs in 3 days!
• Cardio went well – the bike is insane for intervals. Only managed 2 60/60 – will work up from this
• Lower body workout Strength
  • All bodyweight lower body exercises, really focusing on moving well. Squats with band, hip raises with band, lunges, calf raises
  • Deadlift I did 280 for 5 sets of 3. I thought about upping the rep range each workout, but then the idea of doing 6 rep deadlifts didn’t appeal. Instead, I will likely add 5 lbs per week on this unless I feel like shit when I hit a certain weight. That would move me to 300 at the end of this block.
• Rest – Sleep and HRV could be better…

Goals are lose weight, cut fat, and maintain strength and muscle as much as possible. Easy right…

Transition block — weight loss

So I started the latest block, I’ve now dubbed ‘Transition Block’. It’s a bit less pure strength biased than Alpha. Most exercises are performed in a higher rep range of 6 to 10. Tempo is less concern here, it’s more 1-1 , or 1-2. I’ll go over the exercises for a little more clarity in this first workout

• Bench Press – So… I got to use the new bar… it’s much harder than I anticipated. There is a balance element to it, and then there is the extra 2 inches or so of range at the bottom. I originally predicted between 200 -215. I started at 203 (the bar is 48 lbs). 7 reps, , but the last one was too much a struggle. I dropped it down to 188, taking 15 lbs off the bar. 7 reps again. No easier. Now I’m spent… 5 reps at 188 with a failed 6th… shit. I rarely fail in these workouts. I will go with 188 next time, and hope my body starts adjusting a bit better to it.
• Pullups – I took a video of my first set. Nice to see my back looking fairly defined. 8 reps at a weight of ~235! At my current weight, I think the strength on this one was there. Successive sets went down. All reps were full… 8,6,4. Tempo was good
• DB Curl and Pres – Started at 30, and settled at 25. 9×30, 8×30, … realized this wouldn’t hold up over the next 4 weeks and doing 6 sets. Dropped to 25, and feel good about that. Lots of momentum in this exercise keeping the weight moving from waist to above head. 9,8 @ 30, 3@ 25. 25 will be the weight
• Incline Hammer – Same thing, Started at 30 went down to 25. Better to know you could get through additional sets. 7,6 @ 30, 8 @ 25… Arms burned!!!
• Pushups – 25 , 3 — failed with pain in wrist on second set. Next go around of this, I need to either use the stands again, or start stretching the hell out of my wrist.
• Back Extension – 15,13 – second set was slow. I was done and a bit burnt.

So this was a tougher workout than anticipated. Next up is deadlift workout tomorrow. Goals of these workouts:

• Lock in bench press at higher reps, before moving back to lower rep.
• Lock in a slightly heavier deadlift at a higher weight and lower rep.
• Do higher rep bodyweight work – Pullup, pushup, dips.
• Something that supports weight loss goals

Do all above, while lose weight. Keep in mind, Bench and Deadlift move in concert some with weight, but probably not enough for me to notice in the first ten lbs. That’s why increasing volume each week, while losing weight at a reasonable weight is probably a pretty good lock in.

—

So on to weight loss. I started a ‘challenge’ with a friend. 20 bucks a lb differential. I started REALLY high. I ate like no tomorrow. My weight ballooned to a high of 235.3 in this last weight in. Holy shit that’s high. Holy crap I’m carrying a fair amount of muscle, but there is a full on spare tire.

This is diet like you did in prior challenges. You know it works. Does it work at 47 year old metabolism. I am always concerned too with different workouts whether the weight training will work contradictory to my weigh loss goals. I usually have cardio to work in this issue, but a little less this time. Hopefully I can maintain a good portion of muscle mass by just doing the ‘walk up a hill’ workouts. I do have planned a bit of interval training per week. 2 very short sessions of less than 10 minutes For instance today’s is 60/60 for 3. So 3 minutes of hard work, 6 minutes total.

Trying to figure out how to do those intervals. I like it at the end because I think at least my body is primed for it, although maybe a bit fatigued so you can’t dedicate enough. But it fits in the whole keep the heart rate down for most of your work.

So back on weight loss. I have till mid February. That doesn’t work so well with the ‘Alpha’ plan, as that would be the test week there. So I may need to adjust everything again to a more PB style workout and see how it goes. Then back to Alpha mid February. I could do another block like this one, and then go to the prep stage on the lifts. I really want to do alpha again, but I know this will also work as long as I avoid burnout.

Rest up… eat up… Retrospective

So I am resting and eating the next few days. If everything trends back to normal by Friday then I’ll start workouts again Saturday. All good.

Next 4 weeks is a pretty standard upper/lower/upper split. An opportunity to do a few intervals (limited). A workout I’ve dieted through in the past, so a good time to watch what I eat.

I did a bit of a retrospective of the last 2 years. I actually had a fair amount of success with 5/3/1 across many lifts. Even able to work in with some running at times. PB last time was decent, but not great.

I feel like Alpha really was a good plan for me, and worth continuing. I can’t expect the same result each time, but a 45lb increase in 1RM on bench. A (relative) 34lb increase in 1 RM on pullup. An 86lb increase in 1RM on deadlift (this one doesn’t really count, as I left some in the tank). Those are really good results, without ever hitting more than 3 reps on the big lifts. I also really enjoyed doing those ‘big’ lifts each workout. Bench/Pullup/Deadlift. If I did half of this on the next go around, I’d be pretty happy.

I do know certain 5/3/1 protocols worked well for me. Especially apparently with the trap bar (late 2021). 310 for 9 reps, is a pretty damn good lift from 2 years ago. Pre all these hip issues. Bench press and press also did well… but squat never fit. I mine as well come to grips with never squatting anything heavy again. I’m REALLY okay with that.

So I like that I have 3 or 4 programs that I can pick from, they are all very strength biased though:

• 5/3/1 FSL – looks like this was one of the better one’s from the past , modified to fit needs. Need to be careful about assistance, and not pushing too hard (jokers) on the heavy ones.
• PB – First one I had massive success with. It’s intense to make it through this 12 week program, and missing some equipment. One you know you can get ‘leaner’ on. Suited for my age group
• Alpha – Strength and leaves room for cardio. Felt a little burnt towards the end… but I think I can say that for all of these as they progress. A 9 week total program – suited for my age group.
• Other 5/3/1 Variants – Prep and Fat Loss – good workout, but leaves little room and energy to meet cardio demands. Only 4 days a week. Awesome 1000, never had much a chance to get through.

Alpha Test Results in…

Bench Press – 215 x 10 (improved 5 reps). Tempo was probably a slight bit faster than the test, but still really good.

Pullups – BW+10 x 8 (improved 3 reps). Tempo was a little more controlled on this. Good failure on last rep, think it was more than just my grip.

Deadlift – 260 x13 reps (improved 8 reps, 5 lbs). This one a little different, as I started low without any lower body work in the routine in a long time. Switched bars, which was good for a rep or two.

Overall pretty good. Deeper analysis below

Bench press – matched my 40 something PR in estimated 1RM (286.7), My body weight was a bit higher on this, which takes away from this number, but my tempo was slower (not quite 3-1, but closer to that then bouncing off the chest). I would say it was most controlled I’ve done this. Future rounds will use a camber bar, so this will be a different lift, with 2 inches more range of motion. We’ll see how that goes. I wouldn’t be surprised given the new bar and losing a bit of weight, that this doesn’t improve through the next cycle.

Pullups – not what I wanted. Grip is still a problem for me. I feel like pullups work better at BW with more reps, than this protocol. I am gonna stick with it. Drop bodyweight, add weight in the next round and I think we’ll see some more improvement.

Deadlift – kind of what I expected. 13 reps isn’t a PR. It’s not even worth comparing with previous lifts. It was just a good lift that happened after two 4 other sets of very hard lifts. I did use a belt. I did lift slower than I normally would, but the ability to control the weight on the way down started going off the rails towards the end of the set, so tempo sped up some. Just a good overall lift.

So I will do my 4 week interim program, before switching back to this. Focus Focus Focus on diet.

I only need to dial in deadlift and bench numbers… but lets make an estimate…

Bench max 286.7. I will be doing 6 to 8 reps in the next go around — according to 1RM calculator, that puts my 6RM at 246.8, and 8RM 230.9. 10 RM is 215. Seems like 210-215 might be a good weight to do this with… again. Gives some buffer, and a chance to lock in additional reps at this weight. I’ll start with the 210 , bars 48 lbs, + 2x45s, + 2x25s+ 2×10 = 208

Deadlift… calls for triples at 80% of max for the day (which should be 90% of your max). So lets take 90% of my 1RM – 335. Now lets take 80% of that 268. That seems actually a bit on the low side. This is once a week now, so lets try 275-285. A modest jump for 5×3 — likely do 280!

Cardio tomorrow, rest till Saturday and back at it

A bit of recovery … finally!

A 30ms HRV, and slightly lower RHR, woke up feeling refreshed! I took a rest day yesterday, and only walked the dog. Today, I’ll plan do kind of like Sunday. Instead of the inverted chin-ups, I think I’ll just do the underhand rows, and maybe 2 sets of unweighted chin-ups. Crossover symmetry at the start, some wrist rehab work, and a 1/2 hour walk to finish it out. Perhaps 15 more minutes on the bike if I feel it. And some more massage. Tomorow will be a rest day, and Thursday will be test day!

Recovery.. .blah

So I am in Week 9 , test week. My recovery has not been great. I took 2 full days off after the long cardio, then I worked out on Sunday.

I did the weights, which was 17 minutes, and only involved rdl’s and bw squats. I followed that up with 30 minutes on the treadmill, and then beat the hell out of the hip flexor with the gua sha thing. I also did the crossover symmetry stuff as the warmup.

So on the hip. I have less pain when stretching the hip flexor… hooray. I might actually be able to golf. I however have a pinch when I squat that is causing issue. I also have something that feels like it’s not tracking correctly on the left side. So right pinch, left, off track. And the right is feeling very beat up at the moment.

So back to the recovery bit. This only shows it okay… I had a really good 7 weeks of slowly increasing HRV, and slightly decreasing RHR (green box). Since then, I can’t seem to recover right and I’m not sure why. I hit a peak week, and things flew off the rails (Red box).

Even with yesterday’s ‘easy workout’ I’m still not recovered right. Could it be diet.. .yes, could it be sleep efficiency.. .yes. Could it be your overworked… yes. Could it have been that flu shot… yes. Could it be any myriad of things… yes.

Just annoyed, 3 weeks ago I was ‘flying high’, and feeling really awesome, and now I’m struggling again.

So on to this upcoming test. I am still ‘feeling out’ the week. Today I could cardio 30-60 minutes. I could even combine with the chin-ups and rows (although this does not seem wise). I think a good likely scenario for this week:

• Mon: 30-45 minute of walk/bike
• Tuesday – cross over stuff + weights
• Wed: Rest
• Thursday or Friday: Sleep in, Test

Tests could be anywhere… still have my head at 8-10 both pull up and bench, and 10-15 on the deads.
I’d like to do a set of each at a higher tempo (not fast, more like 2-1 instead of 3-1). I am supposed to do two max sets. Tempo/time under tension matters…

Continuing to plan my next block

So here is what I have on the next block. It’s a 4 week block, with some modifications from the last go around of this one. I always found this block easy at week 1, and really tough at week 4. After this will be back to alpha for another round, and then likely something like this again … rinse repeat.

• Day 1 Strength Upper 1 – Increase sets each week on exercises 1-4, from 3 to 6 through 4 weeks
  • 1. Bench Press 6 to 8 reps
  • 2. Pull Ups – AMRAP
  • 3. DB Curl and Press – 8 to 10 reps
  • 4. Incline Hammer Curls – 6 to 8 reps
  • 5. Push ups – Max/ 30sec rest
  • 6. Back Extension – 15

• Day 2 – 45 minutes MAF cardio (tread climb) ,60/60 Intervals (starts at 3 – ie, 6 minutes, finishes at 6 – 12 minutes) air bike

• Day 3 – Strength Leg Day – 3 sets each, except 5 sets of deadlifts. Essentially an extensive warmup + some heavy deadlifts
  • 1A. Single Leg Hip Raises
  • 1B. Reverse Lunges
  • 2a. Deadlift – 3 rep @ ~70-80% 1RM
  • 3A. Wall Holds or Squat
  • 3B. Standing Calf Raises
  • 4. Ab Wheel or other Ab

• Day 4 – 45 Minute MAF cardio, 30/30 intervals (starts at 4 – 4 minutes, and finishes at 7 – 7 minutes) air bike

• Day 5 – Strength Upper 2 – Increase sets for exercises 1-2 from 3,4,5,6
  • 1. Incline DB Bench press
  • 2. Bench Supported Rows
  • 3A. Dips
  • 3B. Wide Grip Pull Ups
  • 3C. Shoulder Width Pull Ups
  • 3D. Shoulder Width  Chin Ups
  • 4. Back Extension

• Day 6 – 60-75 Minute MAF Cardio – Tread climb and air bike

• Day 7 Rest

I like how I’ve planned this one out as a variation on things I’ve done in the past. My ‘interesting’ changes here are , remove close grip shoulder chin-ups , and work dips ahead of pullups. Move deadlifts towards the middle of the workout. Back extensions on upper body strength days… perhaps adding a bit weight to these (thinking 25 lb plate). Intervals on the bike.

I thought about adding in RDLs slow and higher rep. That seems to have been a good hamstring exercises for me as of late, but think it makes leg day too much. We’ll wait and see how I feel after deadlifts. 6 to 7 exercises each day, higher rep/lower weight than what I’ve been doing.

Rest day… resting kind of week

Yesterday was long cardio. I did 85 minutes. 75 on the tread, 10 or so on the bike. Good work, but I’m exhausted. Was feeling a little better yesterday, and spent more time at 6% than I thought I would.

I went out last night, which involved walking for almost another hour, plus walking the dog, that’s like another 90 minutes. Add 2 beers. Suffice to say , my recovery is totally toilet today! 19ms hrv, resting heart rate like 64… I won’t be doing much but walking the dog today, some stretching and maybe massage.

So the next few days of strength are basically, do a higher volume accessory only workout. Tomorow will be , rdl’s 5 sets of 12-15. And 5 sets of wall holds or other quad work (likely will be slow raised squats)

Then 60 minutes of cardio… then it’s 5 sets of inverted pullups, and 5 sets of bent over rows. Another 60 minute cardio session… then test day (as scheduled that would Wednesday, but could take an extra rest day and do it Thursday, or just however the week ends up working out).

I’ll start the next program shortly after that. It’s lower volume to start, so will hopefully be able to just jump right in 2 or 3 days after test.

I’ve been trying graston/gua sha technique on my hip as of late. My hip is a bit achy today, but I feel like it’s doing something. I do notice the right has not been hurting while stretching after beating the hell out it. Mess with it, and then test. All the other various ailments are slowly getting better. Left hip, left elbow, left ankle, right pinky finger… yikes I am a walking train wreck.

Up next…

Still not recovered fully… RHR and HRV still not optimal – like 5 days going now. I did my full cardio session yesterday after a rest day. The HRV improved none, infact went down some. It 50 minutes tread @ 5% (a week ago I was doing 6-7%), and 10 minutes bike.

I think this is likely a combo of just being a bit beaten down, and changing sleeping habits adjustments. I don’t tend to think it is related to the flu shot at this point. I did forget to mention I started taking ostio bi-flex– aka, glucosamine and chondroitin and whatever else they put in there. I really think it’s my movement from the basement to back upstairs to sleep, and using the breath right strips again. I think my weight and diet are also playing a role. Could be cleaned up for improvement. Could just be an end of cycle thing. Paying close attention this time… we’ve seen this pattern before.

Today is the ‘last’ of the 1,2,3,2 workouts.. .and the last really of this cycle of lifting where I am working on things. All that is left is that test and accessory work.

I got my rogue bar yesterday. Lots of TBD’s around this one. I won’t get to really use it for another couple weeks. Glad I’ll have a week or so to adjust to using it before running another test. IT’s heavy btw. I only have one handle, and I think it comes in a bit over 45. I think adding the other handles moves it closer to 50… So far, feels a little less stable. Rogue released a new version basically the day I received. It only appears to have some minor upgrades, and comes with additional black handles at an angle. I purchased the stainless one for a 2nd, and happy with that, and glad I got the 20 degree. Heavy lifting will prove out if that is the right one. The standard handles I haven’t installed yet, but likely will throw in the middle. A little pissed that rogue already hid the old reviews on this bar. The reviews had some recommendations on placing handles for stability. Look forward to using it, it just feels better compared to the old bar… and happy to have saved nearly 200 on it.

The shoulder bands so far have been fun, need to codify the workout in to my brain so that I can run through it in under 10 minutes. I like this hip and shoulder as a routine every day.

The titan db hooks come today… another we’ll see moment, but at least those have a use today and should have feedback. Won’t get to use again for a couple weeks after that kind of like the bar… all good though.

So far two workouts with the Rogue trap bar, and loving it. I feel so incredibly solid using it, I think at least 260×10 is likely this next go around… leaving me around 305 5 RM. I could see this going as high as 345 this next go around. Rah…

Bench and pullup I think the goal should be 8. At 8 on bench… a 225-235 range on the next go around sounds good. Increase by 10-20 lbs is decent. The next go around the movement will be slightly different, so this could actually be 215 or even lower next time, but imagine progress will be similar.

Pullups @ 8 likely leaves you in a range of adding between 10-20 lbs also on this lift for the next go around.

Now lets just say that this was a fairly linear progression with these lifts… Say you throw 10lbs on upper body lifts every 10 weeks, and 20 lbs on lower body every 10 weeks.

That would leave your 5 RM for bench to 265 in ~ 1 YR. That’s about a 300 lb bench 1 RM

A 5RM of 60 lbs on the pullup – that’s wildly good

For the deadlift, it gets you to around 405 lbs 1 RM , or 360 5 RM.

These are secondary goals… keeping those increases up (especially on the bench) while dropping weight will be a challenge. Doing all of this at 215-220 would be the goal. Keep walking riding… 6 days a week… I like this challenge. After this current round is all set and done, I’ll start looking at a 1 year plan to include moving the incline to 9-12 degrees, and some bike intervals. Try to do all this , and get all the messed up chains cleaned up in my body.