Running 3

Assisted Chinups (Average Band): 4 sets of 7
Assisted Decline Situps (Average Bands): sets of 22, 18, 15, 12 reps
Pushups w/Pushup Bars (Feet Inlined High): sets of 10, 8, 6, 5 reps
Treadmill: Hill profile, Level 9, 45 minutes.

Goal for this Navy Physical Readiness Test is a Good Medium. I'll aim higher later. For a 40-year old, that equates to 13:45 1.5-mile run, 51 situps, 41 pushups.

Running 2

Assisted Pullups (Average Band): 4 sets of 6
Assisted Decline Situps (Average Bands): sets of 20, 16, 12, 10 reps
Pushups w/Pushup Bars (Feet Inlined Low): sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
Treadmill: 1.5 incline, 5 intervals of 1.5 min at 6.5 MPH and 1.5 min at 4.0 MPH.

Running

I finally went to the doctor. As soon as I described the problem, she ran my arm through some tests and determined that what I had was Tennis Elbow. So much better news than broken bones, even if it takes a long time to heal. She said to take occasional breaks, and to gradually introduce loads when I begin lifting again. I can live with that. I'm not lifting until I get back from that wedding on May 15. While I'm there, I might run but I'm not going to do chinups, pushups, or situps.

Today was my first day running in over a week. Originally, I was going to do 6 intervals of 1 min on at 7.1 MPH and 2 min off at 4.0 MPH, on a 1.0 incline. I decided to do 5 intervals of 1.5 min on at 6.5 MPH and 1.5 min off at 4.0 MPH, on a 1.5 incline. The chances of me running a 12:45 1.5 mile are slim, and since I'm just getting back in running shape I didn't want to push unnecessarily hard and set myself up for failure. This should get me in the 13s. I will adjust the run/walk portions up each week. I also did this so I could run for more time and since the track I will be running it on mid-April is inclined on one side.

The run was pretty good and was toughest on the last interval. Doable. The did 4 sets of chinups, pushups, and declined situps and called it a day.

Stripped

It's been almost two months since my last entry. Where should I begin?

After my last workout, the pain on my left arm was not going away. Navy PRT was in April, so stopping was not an option. I had/have a suspicion that it was/is a stress fracture of my left upper forearm due to pushing my limits on the bench and deadlifts. But I couldn't quit on account of that, either: I did that when I broke my rib and though I was medically waived from doing the PRT then, they dinged me on bodyfat and that didn't help my case.

First, I cut the deadlifts, every variation I was doing. That helped a bit, now I could sleep through the pain. But that wasn't enough. I ditched all board pressing, then replaced the dead benching with machine benches. No dice. Ditched the shrugs, then all bicep work. Started having less stiffness in the arm, but that's all it did. Not much more I could cut.

At around the same time, I slowly started to run again. My first run was horrible and would have failed me outright. It was a bit better than the month before but that was no consolation. All the elliptical work I was doing was not helping me there. Between being banged up and the bad running, I felt like I was on a downward spiral and stuck.

At around the beginning of March, I stopped lifting. I needed to get my arm healed and my mind right. The PRT was in April, and this had to be my new priority. I knew from boot camp and training for deployment that I could train everyday with bodyweight stuff. So I started to do 3 sets of pushups and situps daily, and added assisted chinups to maintain back strength while relieving the pressure from my forearms. After a week, it became 4 sets. I started running every other day using intervals, and walking using a hill program the other days. This week I just walked: in one of Stew Smith's programs for beginning runners in the military he says to do this because of the high incidence of injuries in the third week.

And here we are. PRT for me is on April 16. I'm getting my "legs". My arm is holding together pretty good. Will do this program until May, then take a week off and go see a doc. That will give me a good aerobic base to keep light while the arm heals, and 6 months until the next PRT. Boring as this might be, I will start logging in workouts. I miss the weights, but this will give me time to think.

Here we go again.

5/3/1: Cycle 3 Wave 1 Bench Press

I got off to a late start on Friday the 11th, and I still had to pack for my 1-hr drive to my drill site for the weekend. I did the dead benches and 2-Board Press with jump rope in between sets, then had some baked salmon and rice before heading out.

Dead Benches (Clustered, 15 seconds between reps): 65x3, 85x3, 100x3, 120x3, 140x3x5.
2-Board Press: 175x5, 185x5, 195x5.

Did not get a chance to complete the workout this weekend. No computer network set up at our new building yet, so I had to drive back close to home to work. Also had to study for the Chief Petty Officer exam on Sunday morning, so there went that.

February 14th was my son's birthday and we were taking him to dinner, so I had time to finish Friday's workout:

Warmup and Cooldown: 8 intervals on Jacobs Ladder, 45 seconds on, 30 seconds off.
T-Bar Rows: 90x10, 10, 8, 6 reps
Assisted Wide Grip Neutral Chinups (Light/Monster Mini Bands): 4 sets of 4
Nautilus Nitro Bench Press: 80x15x3
Behind The Back Shrugs: 125x10x4
Nautilus Nitro Bicep Curls: 40x10x4.

5/3/1: Cycle 3 Wave 1 Deadlift

Sumo Deadlift (345)(Working Max 310): 135x5, 155x5, 180x5, 210x3, 230x5, 245x5, 265x7 (Rep Out Set). I brought back a deadlift as the 5/3/1 movement vice the good morning. As I look at that spreadsheet I have, I could be doing 400+ for reps and mid-4s max by year's end if all works out. With the good morning and no DL, I would have to wonder at the end what my DL would be like. I also didn't want to waste all that deadlift work I did. My sumo's were solid, strong off the bottom and my back was in the perfect position all the way through. I'm gonna keep the GM as an accessory movement.

Hoist Roc-It Leg Curl (225): 135x10x4

Arched Back Good Morning (225): 135x10x4

Seated Calf Raises (75): 65x5x5

Bulgarian Split Squats w/Front Foot Elevated: BWT x 7 x 3

Pallof Press Isometric Holds: 15 x 30 secs x 3, 20 x 20 secs x 1.

Warmup and Cooldown: Jacobs Ladder, 15 minutes, 45 secs on, 30 secs off.

5/3/1: Cycle 3 Wave 1 Military Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Nautilus Nitro Laterals: Started from 50 pounds for 5 reps then kept adding 15 pounds until I either failed to hit 5 reps or just barely made it to 5 reps. BAely got 130x5, calculates to about a 150 max.

Hoist Military Press (139)(Adjusted Max: 135): 40x5, 55x5, 70x5, 80x3, 95x2, 100x5, 110x5, 115x7 (Rep Out Set).

Assisted Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 5 sets of 4

Hoist Seated Shrugs: 70x10x4

DB Preacher Curls (37): 20x10x3

Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Interval Program, Level 6, 30 minutes.

5/3/1: Cycle 2 Deload Squat

Ah, today was relatively easy. I even ditched the SSB and just did Bulgarian split squats, and tried a suggestion Jim Wendler mentioned on the Elite FTS Q&A and jumped rope between sets of the last two exercises for cardio.

Warmup: LifeFitness Elliptical, Random program, level 5 for 20 minutes.

Bulgarian Split Squats w/Strength Shoes: 3 sets of 6 each leg

Cossack Squats w/Strength Shoes: 3 sets of 6

Assisted GHR (Average Bands): 4 sets of 6

GHR Reverse Hyper (Light Bands): 4 sets of 2. Might try to use lighter DBs for spread on the bands, the 75 pounders may have been too strong.

Jumped rope in between sets of GHR and reverse hyper instead of resting.

5/3/1: Cycle 2 Deload Deadlift/Bench Press

I wasn't able to do the full workout Wednesday so I appended it to Thursday's deadlift workout. I didn't do the good mornings, and I just did 3 sets of 15 for just about everything. Was a good cardio workout if nothing else, though my muscles did get worked: I was so tired this morning that I woke up 25 minutes before I had to get to work.

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Leg Curls: 115x15x3
Nautilus Nitro Bench Press: 95x15x3
Nautilus Nitro Low Back Machine: 70x15x3
T-Bar Rows: 75x15x3
Bulgarian Split Squats w/Front Foot Elevated: BWT x 6 x 3 per leg
Behind The Back Shrugs: 105x15x3

Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical: 30 minutes, Interval program, Level 5: all the seated calf raise machines and the Nautilus Bicep Machine were taken so I did aerobics rather than wait. This sucked either because of the time off from the week before or, more likely, the high rep work had tired me out. But I got it done.

Nautilus Nitro Bicep Curls: 25x30x2
Seated Calf Raises: 30x25x2
Decline Situps: Sets of 11, 7, 4, 3 reps.

Dead Benches: Test

Dead Benches: 65x1, 85x1, 105x1, 125x1, 145x1, 165x1, 185x1, 205x1 (PR). On October 4, 2010 I tested at 175 for a clean single. 122 days later, I got a 30 pound PR.

Part of this was "learning" the movement. It's not like I never benched this much, I just took the stretch reflex out of it. I won't make too much light of that fact, though. In the beginning it was a 50-pound gap between a dead bench and a full bench (225 at the time), no wonder I couldn't move past 240 for the longest time. Now, I have narrowed that gap.

The other part of it was a gradual loading of volume. I did about 6 weeks for every 10 pounds, and I did the sufficient amount of reps to get stronger. The clusters work like a charm: I used a rep range per set of 2-3, to maintain speed. The only thing I will change for the future is to use sets of 1 rep when going above 90% 1RM.

All that said, I got the 205 launched with a good degree of effort and then, a few inches up, it was like I hit a brick wall. I just kept straining and straining until it budged. It made for one painfully slow rep, even with it being just singles. So I don't think I have another 10 pound gain in me. 5 maybe.

What I'm thinking of for the next cycle is a 4-week wave vice 6, with the last week being a deload. So week 1 would be 75% 1Rm for 5 sets of 3, week 2 would be 85% 1Rm for 5 sets of 2, and week 3 would be 95% 1Rm for 5 sets of 1. And to get it moving again, I might reset it to 90% of 205 to start with (about 185) and add 5 pounds each cycle. Maybe use chains every other cycle. This ought to get things moving again. Remember, it's speed I'm after with this movement.

5/3/1: Cycle 2 Military Press Deload

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Lots of people on the Internet who discuss workout programs to death, or dwell a little long on forums to find out shit. Or jump from program to program to program until something works. I'll stick with a program or whatever it is I try, tweak it, write it down, take my chances. Sometimes, in that quest, I don't know when to back off. Or I need to see it coming sooner.

My program was working. I was hitting my numbers on time. I was getting stronger. I was even losing weight slow and steady. I was also sore a lot, my back was not recovering as quick, I was getting tight in the hips, my squat was starting to get slow, my left elbow was banged up. I was skipping aerobics workouts to get through the weight workouts, forgetting that my other career (military) requires me to be lean.

Warrior ethos would dictate that, since I was gaining, that I should soldier on, eat more, pop more supplements, get on pain pills, etc. Or to not mess with something that was working. And I wanted to keep going to see my grand experiment through. I decided to change, while the choice was mine to make. Lesson here is to not screw around too much with well designed programs, and that I should balance my stresses. I'm not a snowflake, the rules of overtraining will eventually apply.

So I dropped the leg presses and the deadlifts: do the math, that's a lot of extra tonnage gone. Adjusted the rowing more for reps than 5/3/1: throw in the bench presses, and that was a lot for my elbows to bear. I am sticking with the good mornings for a DL movement: I want to build a base for my first 400 squat and bigger DLs. I went through the Westside for Skinny Bastards III template and used it to make my template leaner and more effective.

I downloaded a really cool 5/3/1 spreadsheet at T-Nation: https://docs.google.com/...hNDA5&hl=en for the .xlsx version or https://docs.google.com/...2YzYw&hl=en for the .xls version. Looking at the 12 cycles, I could have my goals by year's end if I stick to it and stay healthy. So I started to look at the long haul a little closer.

I hate to abandon a cycle before it is finished but I thought a deload made the most sense, and I'll just restart Cycle 3. Today's workout was refreshingly easy.


Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 135): 80x12x4

Hoist Roc-It Military Pressss (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x5

Assisted Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 1 set of 5, 3 sets of 4

Hoist Seated Shrug: Worked up to a 110 pound single.

Nautilus Nitro Bicep Curl: Worked up to a 60 pound 5RM and a 70 pound single.

Warmup and Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Hill Interval Program, Level 5, 20 minutes.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Bench Press

Evening (All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets ):

Dead Benches (195) (clustered, 25 seconds between reps): 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x2, 175x2x5. Done at 90% 1RM. On the last 2 sets of the last 5, the second rep was lower and tougher at the top. So, either I have to adjust the volume or I might be close to hitting the wall on this movement.

1-Board Press (235.5 Projected Max)(Adjusted Max 225): 185x3, 195x3, 205x3 (Rep Out Set). Got the required 3 reps on the last set, not the desired 5.

Superset:
Rack Pulls 2" Below The Knees (365): 275x6x3. Done at 75% 1RM.
DB Rows (Elbows Out): 45x7x4. Form was good on the rack pulls, but 6-rep sets sucked me dry. Didn't make the rows easier.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Deadlift

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Seated Leg Curls (214): 120x12x4

Arched Back GM (Straight Bar)(215 max)(215 adjusted max): 65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 155x2, 175x3, 185x3, 195x5 (Rep Out Set).

Hoist Leg Press (741 max)(687 adjusted max): 345x15x3. With 1 heavy squat day and deadlifting each upper body day, I was starting to feel that running 5/3/1 on leg presses as well was starting to wear on me. That, and I want to lose weight. So I thought of just using it as a repetition movement, instead. Today was a sobering reminder that reps are no walk in the park, either: more like a crawl in the park afterwards.

Seated Calf Raises (70): 65x4x7

Planks: The goal was 4 holds of 45 seconds each, as best I could.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 2 Military Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 135): 125x4x6

Hoist Military Press (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x3, 100x2, 115x3, 120x3, 130x5 (Rep Out Set).

Assisted Wide Neutral-Grip Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 6 sets of 4

Deadlifts w/35s (325): 230x5x4. This represented 70% of my 1RM.

Warmup: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Interval Program, Level 5, 20 minutes. After this, I felt sleepy. So every exercise just made it worse. As soon as I got home, I ate dinner and napped for 2 hours. On the plus side, my left elbow didn't do too badly but I dropped the curls just in case. May just replace it with ab work.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Squat

12" SSB Close Stance Squat (295)(Adjusted Max 290): 90x5, 120x5, 145x5, 175x3, 205x2, 220x5, 235x5, 250x7 (Rep Out Set). I felt strong today, the reps were smooth, and even hours later my back felt fine. I played my cards right the last time.

Single Calf Raises: Supersetted with squats

Assisted GHR (Average Band): 5 sets of 6. Sad, I used to do more than this without bands. Neglect will do that.

GHR Reverse Hyper: BWT x 6 x 5. I wanted to get used to a more controlled motion first with a hold before bringing the bands back. Without the band setup, I gave up the tractioning effect at the bottom.

Side Planks: 4 holds per side, longest hold was 25 seconds and the shortest was 11 seconds.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Bench Press

Lunchtime:
T-Bar Row: tested 1-rep with 155, cold, and it was a shitty rep. Last week, my 145 triple seemed kind of slow and with my calculated max to start this wave being 160 (I've been experimenting with 10-pound increases for this lift each wave), I've been wondering if this was foolhardy. So I drew up a proper test for this evening's workout.

Evening (All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets ):

Dead Benches (195) (clustered, 20 seconds between reps): 85x3, 105x3, 125x3, 145x3, 165x3x4. Done at 85% 1RM.

1-Board Press (235.5 Projected Max)(Adjusted Max 225): 170x5, 180x5, 195x7 (Rep Out Set)

T-Bar Row: 50x5, 65x5, 80x5, 95x5, 110x5, 125x5, 140x4 (4RM). This calculates to about a 152 max, rounded down to 150. Funny how I thought that the shitty 155 rep done earlier would have been perfect at 150. Funnier still, with 5 pound increases, 150 is what it would have been for an adjusted max. I could reset but I don't want to slide back. So I will continue on using 150, and repeat what I did last wave.

Rack Pulls 2" Below The Knees (365): 265x5x4. Done at 72% of 1RM. This starts 6 weeks of the Prilepin Cycle (Development). Less sets than Activation, but more reps up to a maximum of 6 reps per set, 24-18 reps total.

Superset:
DB Biceps Curls (42): Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4, 3 reps
Steep Decline Situps: Failure at 10, 8, 6, 4, 3 reps

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Deadlift

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Hoist Roc-It Seated Leg Curls (214): 90x25x2

Arched Back GM (Straight Bar)(215 max)(215 adjusted max): 65x5, 90x5, 110x5, 130x3, 155x2, 165x5, 175x5, 185x7 (Rep Out Set). I was going to just do the recommended reps today. But after warmups, I felt pretty strong so I repped out on the last set.

Hoist Leg Press (741 max)(687 adjusted max): 210x5, 280x5, 345x5, 415x3, 485x2, 520x5, 555x5, 590x7.

Seated Calf Raises (70): 60x6x5

Planks: The goal was 4 holds of 45 seconds each. The longest I could hold it was 38 seconds, the least was 18 seconds.

No aerobics today. My wife had a ride in to work, but I had to get her at 5:30.

PRT/PFT Stuff

Pushups: I attempted 4 sets of 30 seconds, the last two sets I could only go 20 seconds.

Decline Situps: I attempted 4 sets of 30 seconds, 3rd set was 20 seconds, 4th set was 15 seconds.

Played basketball for aerobics. My lower half feels beat up from Saturday's workout. And yesterday's workout was tough, especially the deficit deads. Took it easy, since I have Arched Back GMs and Leg Presses to do tomorrow.

I ate pretty smart today, I think. I had the last slice of thin-crust veggie pizza and a chicken breast for breakfast, soup and yogurt for lunch and a 12" Subway Ultimate Turkey, Bacon, Avocado sub with a cup of chocolate milk. May have a glass of whey before bed to help me recover.

5/3/1: Wave 3 Week 1 Military Press

All Notation: Weight x Reps x Sets

Nautilus Nitro Laterals (115)(Adjusted Max: 125): 105x6x5

Hoist Military Press (139)(Adjusted Max: 140): 45x5, 60x5, 70x5, 85x3, 100x2, 105x5, 115x5, 120x7 (Rep Out Set).

Assisted Wide Neutral-Grip Chinup (Light/Mini Bands): 1 set of 5, 4 sets of 4

Deadlifts w/35s (325): 255x6x3. This represented 79% of my 1RM.

DB Preacher Curls (37): 20x10, 8, and 6 reps

Warmup and Cooldown: Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical, Hill Interval Program, Level 4, 20 minutes.

5/3/1: Wave 2 Week 3 (Not So Slight Return)

This drill weekend for PT, our Command Fitness Leader (CFL) had something fiendish cooked up for us. I knew it the moment he had us grab a few sets of kettlebells, some jump boxes and an aerobics step, and some medicine balls. Once we got to the upstairs rooms with the padded floors, we set up the stations medley-style and jumped from station to station in teams of 2 with no rest until the last exercise was done (60 seconds rest). Each station was 45 seconds of work:

Side Shuttles using a step (I sometimes used the 12" box)
Medicine Ball Pass (Back to Back w/Partner)
Kettlebell Jump Lunges
Medicine Ball Overhead Slams (Sometimes I did them diagonally)

After this, I was beat. And after the kettlebell jump lunges, I just didn't have it in me to do a heavy squat workout - - - my ass and quads were on fire. So I just did the support work:

Reverse Hyper: No weight for 5 sets of 5. This gym at Ft Lewis had an actual reverse hyper with the Westside Barbell bulldog logo. Sweet, but I kind of prefer the GHR in my house for this, the rounded pad being easier on my gut.

LifeFitness Seated Calf Press: Worked up to 190x2, then dropped to 110 and went down to 50 pounds in 20 pound increments. All sets were rep-outs.

GHR: 5 sets of 5

My squat workout would have been 210x5, 240x3, 270x3 (Rep Out Set) for the last 3 sets. Did I miss anything by not doing it? Nah. One look at the last 3 sets for workouts going as far back as October 31, and you'll see that I covered it. Possibly too many times. Maybe, this workout would have pushed me over the edge:

October 31: 225x3, 255x2, 275x2
November 17: 215x5, 245x5, 275x3
November 29: 210x3, 240x3, 285x3
December 13: 235x5, 265x3, 295x1, 315x0