CONDITIONING
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Heavy Bag-jab/punch x30
50lb Sandbag Clean & Press x10
Heavy Bag-Roundhouse Kick 15 left, 15 right
50lb Sandbag Shoulder & Squat x10
Heavy Bag-Front Kick 15 left, 15 right
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Total 4:48

Took a whole minute off previous time. Time to make this one a bit more difficult.

CONDITIONING
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Heavy Bag-jab/punch x30
50lb Sandbag Clean & Press x10
Heavy Bag-Roundhouse Kick 15 left, 15 right
50lb Sandbag Shoulder & Squat x10
Heavy Bag-Front Kick 15 left, 15 right
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Total 5:52

Headed out early today and spent the day in rehab visiting Dad. Came home in time to do the chores and do a conditioning session.

CONDITIONING
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Heavy Bag-jab/punch x30
50lb Sandbag Clean & Press x10
Heavy Bag-Roundhouse Kick 15 left, 15 right
50lb Sandbag Shoulder & Squat x10
Heavy Bag-Front Kick 15 left, 15 right
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Total 5:50

Weird day today--despite feeling terrible after only 4 hours of sleep and skipping breakfast and lunch I still managed to go hiking, hang up my heavy bag finally and get some conditioning in, go mountain biking, and do my deadlift. Good day in the end. Had solo evening, Sam away at Dog Show, so grabbed dinner at Subway and watched Expendables turned way up and lay on the couch with the dogs.


CONDITIONING
Jump Rope-single unders x50
Heavy Bag-jab/punch 1min
50lb Sandbag Clean & Press x10
Heavy Bag-Roundhouse Kick 15 left, 15 right
50lb Sandbag Shoulder & Squat x10
Heavy Bag-Front Kick 10 left, 10 right
Jump Rope-single unders x50


EXTRA
hilly hike 40min
mtb ride 40min


531 CYCLE 4
Recovery Week
Session 2

DEADLIFT
135 (5)
165 (5)
195 (5)

Back to Biking

FASTED AM
45min mtb ride with Finnabair


531 CYCLE 4
Recovery Week
Session 1

WARMUP
stretching shoulders

PRESS
45 (10)
55 (5)
70 (5)
85 (5)

DB PRESS
25 (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

DB REAR FLY
25 (10, 12)

DB CURL
25 (10, 10)

MACHINE CURL
40 (8, 10)

NECK HARNESS
27.5 (25, 25, 25, 25)

FASTED AM
45min mtb ride with Finnabair

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 3
Session 4

WARMUP
stretching shoulders

SQUAT
45 (10)
135 (3)
185 (2)
225 (5)
250 (3)
280 (2) (rep PR)

LEG PRESS
160 (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

Dad's hip replacement was today. Got chores done in the morning, did my session, went to work, brought my packed meals, drove the 2 hours out to hospital but his surgery had been delayed and he was down getting it done when I got there. Killed 3 hours at Chapters, got a hamburger then sat in the hospital lounge and caught up on podcasts. Dad came out looking great at 8pm just as visiting hours were over. Sat with him for half an hour any way, then drove 2 hours back home and crashed.


531 CYCLE 4
Wave 3
Session 3

BENCH
45 (5, 5)
135 (3)
150 (5)
170 (3)
190 (3) (rep PR)

DECLINE BENCH
110 (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

CABLE PUSHDOWN
70 (10, 12)

NECK HARNESS
27.5 (25, 25, 25, 25, 25)

Felt really ready for some work tonight. Got home, took my BCAAs then lay down for ten minutes. It's nice when I have some time to prepare for a session. Although I got 2 reps on my 1 set and I should be happy I would really have liked 1 or more reps. It felt surprisingly heavy, I thought 310 would be easier. But everything else is in place: diet is good, and sleep has been good the last few nights. And I am putting in real effort too.

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 3
Session 2

WARMUP
hollow rock
stretching

DEADLIFT
135 (5)
185 (3)
245 (5)
275 (3)
310 (2)

PULLDOWN
100 (10, 10, 10, 10)

DB ROW
25 (10, 10)

Diet Rite

Eating was 100% today. Oatmeal, yam, steak, rice, ground beef, and whey shake.

Did the chores in the morning and a solo hike. Worked all day and came home for solo evening as well. Sam out on Dog errands. Got to lift at my own pace and cook my own dinner. Just steak and yam.

FASTED AM
45min hilly hike
barn chores


531 CYCLE 4
Wave 3
Session 1

WARMUP
stretching shoulders

PRESS
45 (5, 5)
105 (5)
115 (3)
130 (8) (rep PR)

DB PRESS
25 (10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

REAR DB LAT FLY
25 (10, 12)

DB CURL
25 (10, 10)

MACHINE CURL
40 (8, 8)

NECK HARNESS
27.5 (25, 25, 25, 25)

Stuck Inside Part 2

Not much to say here--another day stuck in front of the computer for 10 hours.

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 2
Session 4

SQUAT
45 (5,5)
135 (3)
205 (3)
235 (3)
265 (4)

LEG PRESS
160 (10,10,10,10,10)

Stuck Inside

Spent almost the whole day inside catching up on work for the dog rescue. Miserable grey day any way. We went for a slow hike with all 6 dogs around lunch time. Hit the gym in the evening for a much needed break.

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 2
Session 3

WARMUP
stretching shoulders

BENCH
45 (5,5)
140 (3)
160 (3)
180 (5)

DECLINE BENCH
110 (10,10,10,10,10)

CABLE PUSHDOWN
70 (10,12)

NECK HARNESS
27.5 (25,25,25,25)

Not Enough Sleep

I've been up very late and up fairly early finishing some last things on DFP. I think it's having some effect on me.

Yesterday I broke out the bike for the first ride of the season. Took Finnabair for a tour of the backwoods. It was her first time going and she had a blast. I kept the ride short and hard. A long rough-terrain hill climb. Of course we got to bomb on the way back home. This is one fast dog--she passed me going down hill.

Today's session got cut short because of some DFP stuff I had to do after work. But I got down to the gym and did my Deadlift. No time for any accessory stuff and no Conditioning work either.

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 2
Session 2

DEADLIFT
135 (5)
185 (3)
225 (3)
260 (3)
290 (4)

Program Change?

Woke up this morning still considering changing my programming. Maybe I should give it more thought. Specifically what is on my mind is the running 3 times a week on top of 4 days of weightlifting, frequency method on pushups and chinups, 2 days a week of heavy conditioning, and my hikes. Not to mention that I'll be starting mountain biking again soon.

It seems like it's too much--even more so considering my farm life, work life, and developing my comic book. Thank God I have no social life. I'm targeting the running specifically because it is the least fun. Perhaps even NO fun at all.

So what I was considering when I woke up this morning was to remove the 3 days of running and substitute it with one day of hill sprints. And considering the other obligations in my life I even wondered about programming the sprints in place of one of the heavy conditioning workouts. Even while I'm typing this out I'm starting to feel good about this idea. I'm still going to wait a few days on this before I make a decision.

Felt pretty good today going into the gym.


531 CYCLE 4
Wave 2
Session 1

WARMUP
Stretching shoulders

PRESS
45 (5,5)
95 (3)
110 (3)
120 (10)

DB PRESS
25 (10,10,10,10,10)

REAR LAT FLY
25 (10,10)

DB CONCENTRATION CURL
25 (10,10)

MACHINE CURL
40 (10,10)

NECK HARNESS
27.5 (25,25,25,25)

Hay Day Part 2

2nd load of hay first thing this morning again.

Another busy day today and I slept poorly last night again--only about 4.5 hrs.

Was gunning for 6 reps on the last set of squats today. Totally ready for it, reps 1 to 4 were good I felt I had it, but 5 went up crazy, my breathing went out of whack and I felt light-headed so I reluctantly had to bail.

FASTED AM
throw and stack 100 bales of hay
Farmer's Walk 2 jugs of water 100m


531 CYCLE 4
Wave 1
Session 4

SQUAT
45 (5,5)
135 (3)
190 (5)
220 (5)
250 (5)

LEG PRESS
160 (10,10,10,10,10)

Hay Day and Vegetable Garden

Hay delivery first thing in the morning--100 bales thrown to the loft and stacked. Same again tomorrow. 200 bales should get us through to the fresh cut in July.

Spent the rest of the day pulling out Sumac and other shrubs from a 2 tier garden at the front of the house. We're converting these nice gardens over to vegetables and herbs since we lost our vegetable garden over the winter by building the garage right on top of it. Pulled most by hand but had to pull a few out with the truck.

Cooked a half week's worth of chicken on the BBQ and cooked a roast too. Beautiful weather, awesome rest day!

FASTED AM
hay delivery 40min
Farmer's Walk 2 jugs 100m


EXTRAS
Yard work 5 hours

Tree Planting

As part of our Forestry Management Plan at the cabin we agreed that we would start an oak plantation in a clearing that was made and left by a previous logging operation. Today was the planting day. Didn't seem like a big deal.

Wife picked up the oaks from the Ministry on Friday and they were just tiny saplings. Couple hours tops. We combined a planting party with Mother's Day and I figured it would take just a few hours. For whatever reason it took us, in the end, 4 hours and I was wiped right out after. It was just about 200 1 foot deep holes but I was zonked in the afternoon.

I started second guessing my programming, like maybe I was overtrained or something. I think though that maybe I am a bit over-trained but just this week only. There's been a shit-load to do at the farm and at work, my sleep hasn't been good, and I just layered in running three days a week and I'm no runner by any means. I'm counting today and tomorrow as rest days and I'm starting fresh after that.

FASTED AM
20min hilly hike with Finnabair
Farmer's Walk with water jugs 100m

EXTRAS
tree planting 4 hours
hiking 40min

FASTED AM
no time for hike
Farmer's Walk 2 jugs of water 100m
threw a lot of hay then stacked

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 1
Session 3

WARMUP
Stretching shoulders

BENCH
45 (5,5)
135 (5)
150 (5)
170 (6)

DECLINE BENCH
110 (10,10,10,10,10)

CABLE PUSHDOWN
80 (6)
70 (10)


RECOVERY
Previous Night's Sleep: Poor (5hrs, awake then 1 hr)
Food: Shake (3 scoops oats, water, ice, half banana, 3 scoops whey protein, half cup blueberries, 2tbsp peanut butter, 2 raw egg whites), oatmeal with pecans, 1lb ground beef, apple, diet root beer, ribs, 2 Steamwhistles, cheese

FASTED AM
No time this am, no hiking no chores

FREQUENCY METHOD
chinups 1

RUNNING
21 minutes
(90 sec on, 2min off)

3 Glorious Scheduled Days Of Rest Accidently Became 4

Thursday, May 5, 2011

The 4th of May was supposed to be my return to programming, starting my 4th cycle of 531. I did my run in the morning then went to work. Got home ate and fell asleep on the couch. Couldn't even lift my head up. Probably should have rested on my rest days but I took advantage of my brother-in-law being up for a visit. We took down a highway sign for my business, did some dump runs, wrapped some maple trees, built a new corral area for the horses, and built a bridge over a stream up in the bush, at the cabin we did some hiking on the trails to see how they survived the winter, and did some Spring chores there.

So to keep my programming schedule for May I took the first and second 531 session and combined them. Press and Deadlift on the same day, and I took out the accessory work so I would have time to hit the programmed Conditioning workout. This catches me up with my schedule.

531 CYCLE 4
Wave 1
Session 1 & 2 combined

WARMUP
stretching shoulders

DEADLIFT
135 (5)
210 (5)
245 (5)
275 (6)

PRESS
45 (5,5)
90 (5)
105 (5)
115 (10)


CONDITIONING
Greyskull #8 50lb Sandbag Clean & Press x50 4:03
I picked this one to punish myself for missing yesterday's session. A clean and Press movement on the same day as Deadlift and Press oughtta smarten me up. Thing is I actually improved my time from the last attempt (April 15) by 55 whole seconds. Not the best time universally speaking but I gave it my all and most importantly I am improving.

SUMMARY for April

Weight: Started month at 227, finished at 227
Waist: Started at 43, finished at 41.5. Lost 1.5" off waist.
Hike: Total of 16.2 hours. Fasted hike 23 days out of 30.
Running: Total of 1 hr. Terrible pace.
Weights: 17 sessions during the month. Did not miss one session.
Conditioning: 8 sessions. Did not miss one session.
Pushups: 350
Chinups: 36
Best Squat: 270x3
Best Bench: 185x3
Best Deadlift: 300x3