Training overhaul

Gym was shut today so went and did some sprints but after 4 intervals a few deer came tearing through the forest and my dog went ****ing nuts trying to get at em so it was time to curtail the session. In other words, a rest day.

 

Put 30 kg backpack on and did ring dips 5 x5, L-sit chins (super slow eccentrics) and decline ring press ups 5 reps x 3 and then just fannied about with various weighted chins

 

Super rápido

Goblet squats 40 kg dumbbell 5 x 5
L-sit chins very controlled 5 x 5
20 kg db presses 12 reps x 2 sets

Cos I haven't been to the gym this week I just fancied a 15 min blast on the patio

 

20 mins conditioning:

20 kg db snatches 30 secs on/off for the duration

 

Sprints up my favourite mountain 50 metre intervals x 10

 

Due to work, family and shitty Spanish opening hours I can't get to the gym more than once a week so am forced to fall back on weighted chins, press-ups, dips, db work etc.

40kg goblet squats 10 reps x 3
Weighted press-ups on rings (decline, with feet on chair)30 kg 5 reps x 4 sets
L-sit chins 5 x 5

This mini-session is, of course, in addition to my daily 90 mins hill-walking with the mutts

 

Forgot to keep track of training recently, mainly cos I'm not doing anything too interesting. Just picking a couple of big movements most mornings (eg Goblet squats, weighted dips and chins, OHP, weighted press ups) and doing 3-5 reps x 5 sets, then doing lots of hiking each evening, with maybe wee bits of running and sprinting.

Funny thing happened yesterday: as it's 30 degrees or so now so I had to revisit my summer wardrobe and I discovered that, although I've lost a fair few kilos since last summer, there is no way I can get into my shirts from last year. Chest, arms, neck, back, basically everything seem to have grown a lot, so I have physically grown out of my clothes. Quite shocking cos since starting my log I've been doing a lot of metabolic conditioning and only recently started with the strength work seriously (and even then I haven't been in the hypertrophy rep ranges). Added to that I have cut all grains out of my diet and only eat twice a day usually so I have drastically cut my calories. Anyway, it was an interesting finding for me at the grand age of 39

 

Goblet squats 40 kg db and 30 kg backpack 8 reps x 3
Weighted pressups 50 kg 5 reps x 3 sets
Chins/pulls- various ladders

 

The last week I've continued with same stuff as above. The progressions are having to come with more reps rather than an increase in weight as I haven't got more weights and I can't get to the gyms around here. Kind of an enforced hypertrophy phase, even though I'm far more interested in strength gains.

Upped the Goblet squats to 11 reps x 3 sets with 40 kg db and 30 kg backpack. This exercise has been a blessing for my knees, hips and lower back and considering I was only doing 3 x 3 not long back, I'm pretty chuffed at my ability to bang out 11 x 3 only a few weeks later. I did have to have a lengthy lie down afterwards though, as I felt like I had done 100 burpees or 10 x 400 m intervals or something equally intense.

My weighted press-ups have gone up to 6 reps x 4 sets with 50 kg on my back. Nursing a bit of a gammy shoulder so I'm not pushing it.

Variety of weighted chins(2-3 reps), L-sit chins and ladders have seen me able to do 15 dead hang chins without training with high rep numbers for a long time. I was pleasantly surprised cos I haven't really been banging out more than 5's for quite some time. Also, when I say dead hang I do mean a 1-2 sec pause at the bottom of the rep.

Not done any ohp as, like I've said, my shoulder's ****ed up a wee bit so I've been limited to body rows (on rings, feet on chair with 30 kg weight in my back pack) and dips (high reps as I don't fancy stressing the shoulder).

Daily walking, biking and a bit of jogging and sprinting to round off the week.

 

Good start to the morning when a delivery bloke turned up with 80 kg of discs for me. It was a birthday prezzie from the little lady. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd need a bar as well cos these are York discs and don't fit on my db. Also, it might have been an idea to buy a few light discs (she bought 8 x 10 kg discs)to facilitate incremental increases in strength but, bless her, she knows I ****ing hate the gyms round here and prefer training outside in the mountains, so it was a considerate purchase.

Got cracking on: Goblet squats (50 kg backpack and 20 kg db) 8 x 3 sets
50 kg Weighted pressups 8 x 5 sets
20 kg weighted chins 2 x 8 sets
Chins/Rings dips ladders

30 mins run last night to get some blood in my legs after doing Good Mornings the other day. Hamstrings feeling a bit delicate and I needed to stretch them out a bit.

Every morning I've started getting out on my bike for 30 mins or so and last thing at night I get a 1 hour-90 mins brisk walk in. Getting tempted to booze a bit with the hot weather here and keeping busy with a bit of light, non-impact cardio is just the ticket to keep me away from the bottle.

 

Goblet squats 40 kg db and 40 kg backpack 5 reps x 3 sets
Weighted pressups but a strap broke on my backpack so did some dips/pressups supersetting just with bodyweight.

Squat stands and barbell should be arriving tomorrow so I'm going to concentrate on the big lifts, often taking the gear up in the mountains to really enjoy my training (back squats, DL, OHP, rows and good mornings-a real no-nonsense period of 2 months or so to get stronger).

 

Easy life at the moment. I just get under the squat rack a few times a week and then add in a couple of heavy presses and rows/chins. A bit of relaxed biking and jogging and loads of walking means that I'm not doing any real conditioning work for a while(although the higher rep squats feel every bit as bad as burpees challenges etc.). Might throw in a race to 50 burpees or some hill sprints from time to time to mix it up a bit.

 

Absolutely sweltering here so I'm getting out on the kayak a lot more these days, also early mornings out on the mountain bike and every other night doing some kind of running. Mixing up the heavy barbell work with anything that comes to mind; complexes, gymnastics, high rep db swings/snatch conditioning work, hiking, bag work, climbing, everymother****ingthing basically. Eating well, sleeping well, limiting the booze and I'm finding myself in better shape every day.

 

Been overdoing it on the heavy squatting since I got the squat stands last month. Gotta knock them on the head cos my hip's giving me a bit of gip while coming up from the rock bottom position. Deads are fine though so I'm going to see if I can just replace them for the squats while my little problem rights itself, at least for a few weeks.

It's mid 30s here so I'm finding it easier to split my training up into weights in the am and a short conditioning session in the afternoon. Cos I'm busy with work, family etc I limit myself to 2 big lifts and no ancillary stuff in the morning and then 10-20 mins intense conditioning when I get a little break later in the day.

Also, up at 5 am before the ****ing sun comes up, to walk, jog or cycle with the dogs and been getting out fishing on the kayak as well to relax a bit while still being active.