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.

Vacation Training

Conditioning:
Steady State - One 25 min. session
Running - One 15 min. session
Hills - One 20 min. session
Hiking -
One light 1 hour trip
One heavy 2 hour trip with climbing

Lifting:

Deadlift Session:

Pause Squats -
BarX6 (looooong pause to stretch)
95, 135X5
155, 185, 205, 225X1

Press -
BarX10
65, 85, 95, 105, 105X5

Deadlift -
135X5, 5
185X3
225X3
275X2
315X2, 2, 2
275X2, 2, 1

Squat Session:

Squat -
BarX10, 10 (long pauses on the first set)
95X5
135X5
155X3
185X3
205X3, 3
225X3, 3

Front Squats - 135X5, 5, 5

Chins - BW 199X5, 5, 4, 3

Dips - BW 199X10, 6, 5, 5, 5

Seated Leg Curls - 100 reps

Band Pull-Aparts - 2 sets of 50

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 2. Week 2. Hills

Hill-Sprints - 25 minutes
Jogged home - 1.2 miles

This was done first thing in the morning, completely fasted (water only).  Last session, I went for just over 20 minutes.  Here, I was nowhere near done, but realized I was going to run late for the follow-up appointment with my chiropractor and massage therapist, so I had to shut it down.  Pretty awesome to know I could have kept going.  Really want to do a session to complete failure soon, but with my folks coming in for a visit this weekend, I'm not sure when that will be.  Maybe I can get out there next week on July 4th.

Had to jog/run all the way home in order to get cleaned up and back out the door to make my appointment.

UB: Strong Week 1. Deadlift

Defranco Mobility and Stretching

Standing Calf Raises - 135X15, 195X15, 225X15

Deadlift -
135X5
155X5
185X5
205X5
225X5

Power Shrugs - 275X11, 6

Chin-ups - BW(205)X9, 5

Cable Crunches - 1/2 stack X25, Stack+40X20X2

Treadmill - Light jogging for 10 minutes

Similar to the shoulder assistance last session, this is the first time I have done direct calf work since I started training for strength.  I've always had big claves, so I kind of expected to work up to the full stack on these, but I only got about 3/4 of the way up.  Nice to have an easy target to work towards.

With the Deadlifts, it's funny that Paul Carter and one of his readers were just discussing that Deadlifting relatively light weights never "feels light" the way it does in other lifts, and that was my experience here.  135 and 185 always feel light, but once I cross 200 things feel "heavy" even if I can lift 50lbs. heavier in that rep range.  Nonetheless, I just tried to focus on form and getting some "pop" in the reps.

5/3/1 Log: Cycle 1. Week 4. Squat and Bench

Defranco's Agile-8 and Simple-6

Squat -

BarX6

135X5

160X3

185X3

210X3

Bench - 

BarX10

95X5

115X3

130X3

150X3

Half Mile Jog X2

Squats felt good.

Bench felt stable but my arms were shaking like crazy on the top set even though the set itself didn't feel too heavy.

BLAB Log: Week 12.Day 3

Simple-6

Chin-Ups (neutral grip) - BWX10

One-Arm Pull-Downs, slow eccentric - 50X10X2
super-set with
DB Side Presses - 35sX10, 40sX10

DB Bent-Over Raises - 30X10, 20X15X2

BB Curl, cheat-up/slow eccentric - 75X5X3

CORE Circuit X2

Push-Ups - BWX25

Last day of the program.  In 12 weeks, I've gone from barely being able to get 1 strict chin to a 10 rep PR.  That is on top of an 8-10 lb. weight gain, BTW.  Results speak for themselves.

Slow eccentric back work sucks hard in the session, and feels uncomfortable the next day. 

Never done side-presses before.  Kind of fun/kind of awkward.

The chrome bar was occupied, so I had to used a regular bar for m'curls.  Where's the love?

Another successful core circuit.  Feeling good about that...

...until I fail to get more than 25 push-ups.  Well, I suppose all the whiskey I drank the night before to celebrate my show opening could have contributed as  I felt like absolute crap today.  I managed to power through with everything except the push-ups.  Oh well, staying humble.

I feel like this program did what I needed it to do.  I've established a new baseline for strength and general athleticism.  I went for my first run in a couple of months yesterday, and had more wind and endurance than I did before the program.  That combined with all the PRs, and that my weight has increased while my waist hasn't all goes to show the effectiveness of this program.  At this point, I still believe I should run it again this time next year.  Regarding the ME movements, I will pick whatever seems lagging at the time between assorted presses, and squat/DL.  On to 531!

BLAB Log: Week 6.Day 2

Agile-8

Kneeling Jumps - BWX5, 5X5X3

BB Squat Warm-Up - BarX5, 65X5, 95X5, 135X5

BB Squats - 150X8, 160X6, 170X10

Hip Thrust - BWX12X3
super-set with
Stability Ball Plank - 30sec.X3

DB Reverse Lunge, front foot elevated - 30X10X2

Kneeling jumps made me nervous, but lo and behold the YouTubes don't lie and they are possible.  I'd still hesitate to do them with a BB on my back as suggested by the program, but you never know.

Jefit says 170X10 is a PR for the Squat.  My first since early June.  Yay!  This was the first opportunity the program afforded for me to PR in the squat and I'm glad I did.  Hopefully I can continue that through the end of the program.

The reverse lunges were odd.  I'm going to search for video of this EXACT exercise being done to see if I am on the right path.

Program called for Tabata jump-rope at the end, but the gym doesn't have one.  I did a one-mile run instead.

BLAB Log: Week 4.Day 2

Agile-8

BB Squat Warm-up - BarX10, 65X8, 95X6, 135X3

BB Squats - 165X5, 175X3, 195X1

Bulgarian Split-Squat Jumps - 10X5X5

Stability Ball Leg-Curls - 3X15
super-set with
Spread-Eagle Sit-ups - 10X15, 25X15X2

60 Sec. Alternating DB Lunges - 30X28, 30X27

Timed One-Mile Run - 9:12

+10% Day, as Paul Carter would say.  I injured myself taking 195 out of the rack a month back.  I tried to tell myself I was nervous about the weight, but I wasn't.  I arched it out of the rack, took a step back with each foot, and it went all the way down and came right back up like bad sushi.  Honestly, if not for the scheduled run, I might have taken it for a few more squats.  But I didn't, because the whole reason I'm following such a rigid program is to protect myself from myself until I know more about what I'm doing.  Regardless, it's nice to ace that weight coming back from the injury and heading into the scheduled deload week.

Just to prove I really am keeping my ego in check, I sure did go right ahead and do those split-squat jumps holding 5 lb. weights, and the timed lunges holding 15's while some of the biggest guys in the gym were doing heavy-ass BB and DB benching all around me.  Fuck it.  My quads felt like they were going to slide off the front of legs after that shit.  Getting the work in.

I felt like crap heading into the gym today after getting no sleep due to house-guests over the weekend, and yet I was able to do the sit-ups with a 25 lb. plate, after having to ditch a 10 lb. plate in favor of BW last week.  There really is no forecasting how you're gonna do in the gym.

Likewise, I knocked 43(!) seconds off my previous best time on the 1-mile run.  Kind of makes me sad that the timed runs are now over.  Oh well, I'm sure Joe D. has something planned that will kick my ass down to humble in whole new ways.  Also, after the first deload week, I'm allowed to max out the reps on my last squat set.  So in two weeks, after the deload, if I can take that last set of 175 to 10 reps, Jefit says that's a PR.  I've been setting rep PR's on my last bench sets, and I hope to start doing that with squats as well.