Hybrid Training. Week 2. Tempo Run

Tempo Run - 1.5 miles @ 19:48

Target here was 19:00 even. Not sure what happened.  I was on pace all the way through, and didn't slow, but I seemed to lose time in the 5th 1/4 mile.

Hybrid Training. Week 2. Heavy Lower

BW - 227

Squat -
up to 305X2
then 255X6, 6

Deadlift - up to 255X3, 3, 3

Hanging Leg Raise - 3X10

Squats went very well.  No issue with the low back.

Deadlifts were supposed to be sets of 5, but something on the 3rd rep of the 1st set said "Whoa," so I whoa-ed.

Got 10 all 3 sets of hanging legs.  These actually didn't feel great on my back.

Hybrid Training. Week 2. Intervals

Hill Sprints - 10

A buddy from the gym wanted to check out my hill, so I went out and did some sprints with him instead of the longer, slower, flat sprints called for in the program.

June was pretty full of travel, and social activities that made it a challenge to fit in training consistently.  I'm hoping July will be better, HOWEVER, I found out last week that I have to travel for a week in July to conduct training.  I'll look around for a gym and try to figure something out for that week.

Hybrid Training. Week 2. Heavy Upper

BW - 228

Bench -
up to 185X2
then 155X6, 6

Press - up to 110X5, 5

Rows - up to 165X3, 3, 3

Chins - BWX8, 6, 5, 5

Solid day.  Everything moved really well.

Chin strength was really high on this day. 8 reps @ 228 is the most reps I've done in a set since last September when I did 10 @ 213.  Hope that's a sign of things to come and not just a random strong day.

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Long Slow "Run"

Walking - brisk; 60 minutes

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Light Upper

BW - 228

Bench - up to 155X5, 5

TUT (3/0/3) CG Bench - 145X6, 6, 6

DB Laterals - 30sX6, 6, 6

BB Curls - up to 65X8, 10

Solid session.  Upped the weight by 5 lbs. on the TUT close-grips, and the last set was pretty tough.  The tempo work is interesting, and I'm curious to see how it pays off.

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Tempo Run

Tempo Run - 1.25 miles @ 15:45

Tried using an app last time to track my run live, but the results were shit.  I pre-planned the route this time, and used my trusty digital watch to establish this new base line to progress from.

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Heavy Lower

BW - 228

Deadlift -
up to 285X3
back off sets - 265X6, 6

Front Squats - up to 145X5, 5

Hanging Leg Raises - bent kneesX10, 10, 5

Was very nervous coming in today because my low back had gotten so aggravated late last week.  My back still didn't feel 100%, but I wanted to see what was what.

I approached every set with laser focus on form.  This resulted in both slower reps and rapid "mental" fatigue.  However, I worked up to 285X3 with no issues at all.  On the back-off sets, I had programmed for sets of 8, but on the 6th rep of the first back-off set, it was becoming more difficult to keep the bar against my legs, etc., so I decided to stay at 6 reps.  No other apparent issues here.

Moved on to Front Squats, and was feeling really burnt, mentally.  Programmed for sets of 5 here as well, but again I felt form starting to break down at rep 5, so I stopped it there.  The reps were moving even slower as I focused everything I had on keeping good spinal position.  After the first set, my back was feeling a bit "off."  I did another set, and I could feel it starting to "pulse," so I stopped.

Went with slightly bent knees for all the ab work.  These were all paused at the bottom, and my abs were starting to cramp half way through the final set.

All in all, while I may have slightly re-aggravated my low back issue, I'm glad I was able to get through most of the workout.

Hybrid Training. Week 1. Heavy Upper and Intervals

BW - 226

Bench -
up to 175X3
back-off 145X8, 8

Press - up to 105X8, 8

BB Rows - up to 145X8, 8, 8

Chins - BWX5X5

Intervals - Jog 2 blocks, walk 3 on the way home from the gym.

Pretty solid session.

175X3 was pretty easy as it should be, but I felt the volume on the back-off sets a bit.  Then the Press sets were pretty challenging to get that many reps after the bench volume.  Basically, I'm saying something that looked fairly easy on paper, was a bit more challenging put together, and I'm happy about that.

Rows were no big deal, but 5X5 on chins is an improvement.  Still no shoulder issues with them.

Lengthened the intervals and  bit.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Light Lower and Long Slow "Run"

BW - 227

Tuesday:
Squats - Up to 255X5

Wednesday:
Fast Walking - 60 min.

Back felt like shit beginning with 135 on my 2nd warm-up set.  By the time I got to 255X5, I had to call over a spotter just in case.  I re-set to the empty bar and tried to work back up.  I got to 255X1, and shut it down.  Super frustrating.  All I can think right now is the weird pulsing I felt during the heavy RDLs on Friday were a sign of something that then got aggravated.  I keep swearing off RDLs for this very reason, but they were in the program so fuck it.  If things feel okay by my next heavy lower day, I will try subbing in light deadlifts.

Day 6 on the program is supposed to be an LSR (long-slow run) starting off very sub-pace and at race distance and increasing to 60-90 minutes.  Because my Tempo Run was the slowest I could possibly run, I just did a 60 minute brisk walk.  My back felt great afterwards.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Light Upper

BW - 228

Bench - up to 155X5, 5

TUT (3/0/3) CG Bench - 140X6, 6, 6

DB Laterals - 25sX6, 6, 6

BB Curls - up to 65X8, 8

Light and easy as expected.

I did learn on the CG Bench that it's more comfortable for me if I use more of a "medium" grip (one hand-width in from competition grip), and don't tuck my elbows as hard.  My right shoulder is still bothering me a bit from something that happened over vacation.  I went in and tried to do CG bench the way I used to do them, when that was the only way I benched.  And I found that having my hands at "press grip," that is, touching the smooth, and keeping my upper arm parallel to my torso through the movement made the shoulder hurt like hell.  It reminded me a lot of the feeling I got when I injured my shoulder benching in 2014.  Makes me wonder it that technique was really the underlying issue somehow.  Moving out the grip and letting the elbows angle out a bit completely eliminated any discomfort in the injured area.  And the movement just felt more "right" somehow.

Only thing that felt heavy today were the curls.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Heavy Lower and Tempo Run

Friday:
BW - 229

Squats -
up to 305X2
then 255X6, 6

RDL - up to 225X5, 5, 5

Hanging Legs -
BicyleX10
Knee RaiseX10
Bent Leg RaiseX10

Sunday:
Tempo Run - 1.3 miles @ 20 min.

Squats all moved well.

I was very, very careful with the RDLs as I've aggravated my low back issues being too aggressive with them in the past.  I walked them out instead of picking them up, and I was facing a mirror so I could keep an eye on my chest position.  After the 2nd set, I felt a kind of pulsing feeling around where I've had issues, so I did one more set and quit while I was ahead.  No lingering back issues afterwards.

In the past, I've tried to jump right into full, straight-leg hanging leg raises and been frustrated.  So I'm going to do a bit more of a progression here and try to work up to a quality straight-leg raise.

The tempo runs are supposed to be "slightly sub-pace," and varying between under- and over-distance.  I haven't done any running besides intervals since June of 2014, and until this week, I hadn't even done intervals since August of '15.  So I don't know what my pace is, and under-distance is my max without walking.  I decided to get in the water "a toe at a time," and just did a loop around the park with the slowest possible gait that wasn't walking.  Frankly, that I did it without having to stop and walk seems like an achievement.

My plan for this day right now is to alternate increasing the distance with increasing the speed.  The "race pace" I will likely shoot for is a basic 10 min. mile.  My best ever 1 mile time is 7:58.  That was in 2012 @ ~205 BW.  So I will work first on getting to 2 miles at a non-stop shuffle alternated with getting my mile pace closer to 10.  Then I will put those together, and when I can get 2 miles in 21-25 minutes, I will start on increasing distance at that pace.

Hybrid Training. Week 0. Heavy Upper and Intervals

BW - 228.8

Bench -
up to 185X2
then 155X6, 6

Press - up to 110X5, 5

Rows - up to 162.5X3, 3, 3

Chins - BWX5, 5, 5, 4, 4

Intervals - alternated jogging and walking every block from gym to home

Starting to get the feel for the Powerlifting + 5K program from Alex Vida's Hybrid Athlete manual.  I took a nasty fall while on vacation and my shoulder has been bothering me, and so I wasn't sure how this would go.  Between that and having company this weekend, I knew I wouldn't be able to jump fully into the programming, thus "Week 0" of getting acclimated to it as time allows.  Also, I need to read the full manual in depth to understand progression.

Despite the shoulder injury, I had no issues on any of the lifts here.  Everything moved nice and easy.  It's a percentage based program, and I used what I call my "Lifetime" Every Day Max (LEDM) as the basis.  This is a bit different from  Paul Carter's EDM concept where the # is sort of instinctual.  I've always kept track of my lifetime rep maxes from 1-20.  I average those out and take 90% for my LEDM.  For example, on Bench, my best single is 231, and my best set of 20 is 135.  Together with all the other rep records from 1-20, that averages out to a projected max of 225-30, and 90% of that is 205.  So when I need a good starting point for something on bench, I take 205 as my LEDM.

The program calls for 3X10 on pull-ups.  As I've been coming back from the previous shoulder injury that impaired my vertical pulling, 5 reps have been about max, so I just did 5 sets of 4-5 here.

Intervals felt good.  Although it's been since August '15 since I did any running, and my gait felt a bit awkward being out of practice and carrying an extra 20-25 pounds.