Training overhaul

Yesterday did: deads 3 reps x 5 sets

followed by burpees 30 secs on/off for 10 mins. Usually 13 burpees for each 30 sec period, so a total of 130.

Today: barbell complexes 4 rounds, then above burpees protocol.

Haven't lost any conditioning whatsoever despite not concentrating on it for what seems like ages. Strength going up as well. Only problem is my beer consumption. It's about 40 degrees so every afternoon before my siesta I knock back a fair bit and after running the mutts at midnight I put another few bottles back. It might start adding up on the waist when I head into my forties but at the mo I'm a steady 83 kgs so I don't give a ****

 

Deadlifts, overhead barbell presses and weighted chins on Mon/Wed/Fri. Singles, doubles and triples. Never to exhaustion. Strength going through the roof. Tag on some burpees or sprints on other days for a bit of conditioning and then some work with my new favourite kit, a foam roller, and everything's good. After using the foam roller today I went for a wee nap at 6 pm and woke up 6 hours later, lazy **** that I am-it really is like a good, deep massage.

 

Some basic barbell lifts every other day: dl, squats and ohp. Hoping to get a strict bodyweight (83 kg) press soon. Not exactly an earth-shattering lift but it'll be a good strength base for somebody from my conditioning background. Not far off at the moment. Daily foam rolling and barbell complexes just to get the blood flowing throughout the body has been a good little addition to my regime.

 

The temperatures here are forcing me to get up at 5 am to walk the dogs. Usually spend about 2 hours with them either walking, running or cycling cos after a brutal day there's no way I want to get them out a second time at night.

At about 9 am I either DL and OHP or do a bit of conditioning work. If it's the latter it's usually a mix of burpees, db swings and snatches and bb or db complexes. My hip needs a couple of weeks rest from squats so I'll be concentrating on getting decent no's on the 2 lifts mentioned earlier.

pm A mix of mobility work and foam rolling. Only a week into using it and I've only really got to work on my thighs as everywhere else has improved a lot.

 

Deadlifts going up well but I've only got 150 kilos so will have to get buying more.

Weighted pressups with my missus on my back (the chubster's put a few pounds on recently so she's probably about 59 rotund kilos at the mo)as I haven't got a bench.

Then played around with some 1 arm 1 leg press-ups just for something different to do.

Daily mobility work and foam rolling.

 

80 kg OHP no prob today, and that was after a breakfast of beer (the heat's my excuse). Then did some weighted chins and a very quick finisher: 10 burpees at the top of each minute for 10 mins. Total 100 burpees. Not killing myself with conditioning workouts means my strength's going up very quickly. 100 kg OHP is my next aim lol

 

Enjoying my training more than ever, although my hip's giving me a few probs so the heavy squatting's out.

Deadlifts, OHP and weighted chins and pressups for strength (1s,2s and 3s)and just having fun with everything else: gymnastics, supersets, jogging, biking etc.

Once again, gotta mention the foam rolling. Years of niggling probs seem to be receding after just a few weeks of foam rolling (with the exception of my *******ing hip)

 

Training has to take a back seat at the moment as we've started a new business up, so I'm picking one lift and doing ladders. 1,2,3 x 3 for deadlifts today at 150 kg with 30-60 secs rest

 

Crazy schedule for one reason or another: 4 am 2 hour fasted light cardio aka dog walk

9 am Above mentioned ladders for any 2 of the following: DL, OHP, weighted chins and pressups, squats

5 pm Brisk conditioning session. At the moment I like 5 right snatches with 20 kg db, 5 left, 5 burpees x 10 rounds. All done and dusted in 10 mins or so.

 

Getting stronger, slowly.

A mate brought 30 kilos round to make a total of 180kg and I deadlifted it no problem x 5singles.

Got a strict 85 kg OHP and a good chin up with 50 added kilos, as well as 25 dead hang bodyweight chins.

I haven't got a bench still, so the little lady put a 20 kg backpack on and climbed on me (80 added kilos more or less)and I did 6 sets of 3 reps weighted press ups. No idea how or if that'd transfer to benching.

I can't squat with my hip still dodgy so that's all my strength feats taken care of for now.

Conditioning-wise, I love the DB snatch/Burpee combination and have discovered that, even at a bodyweight of 83-85 kg (as a diminutive 5'9"er) my conditioning is spot-on:

100 burpees in 3'52 (with press-up and jump, but not overhead clapping)
3 mile flat run in 17'39. Intervals and slow mountain jogs over the last few months made it very easy. Sub-6 min miles as I'm approaching 40 means I'm well chuffed.

Gonna get back into the circus freak gymnastic stuff for a while now, while still doing all the usual lifting and conditioning work.

 

Greasing the groove with gymnastic stuff 2-3 times a day.

This past week I have broken a few of my PBs:

3 mile run in 17'12
100 burpees 3'39

Deadlift 185 kilos x 5 singles

Buying a kettlebell to mix up my conditioning a bit as well

 

A lot of fasted hiking (90 mins every morning), ladders (1-3 x3) with deadlift 180kg, OHP 82 kg and chins 40 kg.

Hill sprints twice a week (50 m x 10) are the only brutal conditioning sessions I'm doing because the calmer high rep kb swings (approx 500 a day) have got rid of the bit of blubber this old codger was carrying(that and a dip in temperatures that means I'm no longer swigging 3 or 4 litres of beer every day).

Enjoying my training a lot, even though I'm not training for owt in particular these days.

 

Loads of kettlebell swings have taken me down to 81 kg, thus facilitating a sub-17 minute 3 miler. Very surprised that I'm so comfortable at this pace. No negativite effect on my strength either, still upping the weight on the ladders format nicely:

Deadlift 185 kg
OHP 84 kg
Chins 42 kg

Plus the usual hiking, mountain biking and kayaking

 

I haven't been updating my log recently but I've been training more than ever; like a daft old **** I went chasing big gym numbers (and got them on the deadlift and OHP) but noticed a huge loss of athleticism and conditioning (not to mention an injury that has curtailed serious barbell work for a while:-().

I've gone back to daily kettlebell complexes with 20 kg while I'm healing along with weekly hill sprints, car pushes and lots of gymnastic work on the bar and rings as well as a couple of hours of hiking most days. Also, bits and bobs of kayaking, mountain biking and jogging to keep enjoying the outdoors.

 

Setting a few targets for my 40th birthday in May, such as:

200kg DL
18 min track 5km
100 burpees in 3'40
1 arm chin-up
45 kg 1 arm db snatch

Mainly because I'm not competing in anything I need to have a few objectives to aim for, and although I've achieved a few of the above challenges this past year, I'm aiming to do them all on my birthday just to show a decent, balanced level of fitness...and because I'm bored shitless with life