Monday, April 30, 2018
More Workout Considerations
So I did some reading last night and came across this article Considerations for Beginners. Might lead me to change up my ideas of workouts for summer.
The article had this video embedded
So I'll go light tomorrow and see if I can come up with something between what I had been planning and what they suggest here.
KEEP GRINDING!
The article had this video embedded
So I'll go light tomorrow and see if I can come up with something between what I had been planning and what they suggest here.
KEEP GRINDING!
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Possible Workout
This is what I'm guessing for the next workout. This coming week I'll go really light on accessory lifts, and extra stretching. So all of this would be for the following week. I'm still going to lift 3 times a week with a full-body workout. I'll do a warm-up set and then 4 sets of 5 with the workout weight.
Deadlift 135 warm-up, 175 for sets of 5
Squat 135 warm-up, 165 for sets of 5
Incline Bench 135 warm-up and go up 5lbs each set until I find a set close to failure
Pull-up start with bodyweight and go up 5lbs until I can't do 1 rep
Overhead Press warm-up with 10lb dumbbells, then Barbell (45lbs) for sets of 5, or Dumbbells with 20 pounds
Curls warm-up with 10lb dumbbells, then Barbell (45lbs), or Dumbbells with 20 pounds
I'll add rows, calf-raises, and forearm curls as possible.
I'll go up by 5 or 10 pounds as possible with the Goals I set earlier in mind.
When I can I will get to using the tools listed earlier in the year for progress measurement.
Deadlift 135 warm-up, 175 for sets of 5
Squat 135 warm-up, 165 for sets of 5
Incline Bench 135 warm-up and go up 5lbs each set until I find a set close to failure
Pull-up start with bodyweight and go up 5lbs until I can't do 1 rep
Overhead Press warm-up with 10lb dumbbells, then Barbell (45lbs) for sets of 5, or Dumbbells with 20 pounds
Curls warm-up with 10lb dumbbells, then Barbell (45lbs), or Dumbbells with 20 pounds
I'll add rows, calf-raises, and forearm curls as possible.
I'll go up by 5 or 10 pounds as possible with the Goals I set earlier in mind.
When I can I will get to using the tools listed earlier in the year for progress measurement.
PRs and Goals
I'm going to list some goals and PRs (personal records) here and try to link back when needed.
Health Goals: (Primary reason for this blog!)
Keep A1C below 5.5, best would be to get a 4.6. Check in January 2019 was 5.0, November 2019 was 4.5.
Keep weight below 155, best would be 147 lbs. (I'm still working on 165 again)
Keep blood pressure close to 120/80. (I had 111/65 on Easter, overall I'm still around 130/85)
Lifting Goals
General Goals
"Level 1" (Using 148 body weight approximation)
Incline Bench 165x5
Shoulder Press 105x5
Curls 80x5
Chin-ups with 45lbsx5
I might not ever get past this goal, if I do I'll go for the following arbitrary goals.
"Level 2"
Incline Bench 185
Meet Goals
102.5 kilos on the squat, 92.5 kilos on the bench, and 130 kilos on the deadlift. Were all met or surpassed in December 2019.
Range of goals for next meet in 2020 are:
Lifting PRs
Gym PRs
Outdoor Runs
3.2 Miles 12/13/19
Sets of 3
Sets of 5
Deadlift 275
Squat 235
Bench Press 185
Incline Bench 135
Overhead Press 65lbs
Curls 20lb dumbbells
Pull-Ups; haven't reached 5 reps in the recent attempts
Health Goals: (Primary reason for this blog!)
Keep A1C below 5.5, best would be to get a 4.6. Check in January 2019 was 5.0, November 2019 was 4.5.
Keep weight below 155, best would be 147 lbs. (I'm still working on 165 again)
Keep blood pressure close to 120/80. (I had 111/65 on Easter, overall I'm still around 130/85)
Lifting Goals
General Goals
"Level 1" (Using 148 body weight approximation)
Incline Bench 165x5
Shoulder Press 105x5
Curls 80x5
Chin-ups with 45lbsx5
I might not ever get past this goal, if I do I'll go for the following arbitrary goals.
"Level 2"
Incline Bench 185
Shoulder Press 125
Curls 95
Chin-ups with 75lbs
"Level 3"
Incline Bench 205
Shoulder Press 150
Curls 100
Chin-ups with 105lbs
Meet Goals
102.5 kilos on the squat, 92.5 kilos on the bench, and 130 kilos on the deadlift. Were all met or surpassed in December 2019.
Range of goals for next meet in 2020 are:
Squat 105 kilos to 112.5 kilos (248lbs)
Bench 92.5 kilos to 95 kilos (209lbs)
Deadlift 137.5 kilos to 145 kilos (320lbs)
Lifting PRs
Gym PRs
Squat 235, Bench 220, and Deadlift 285 at 152 pounds on 11/22/17
Squat 87.5 kilos (193lbs), Bench 75 kilos (165lbs), and Deadlift 120 kilos (265lbs), total 285k (628lbs) at 145.6 pounds on 4/28/18
Squat 92.5 kilos (204lbs), Bench 80 kilos (176lbs), and Deadlift 122.5 kilos (270lbs), total 292.5k (645lbs) at 147.0 pounds on 12/01/18
Squat 90 kilos (198lbs), Bench 87.5 kilos (193lbs), and Deadlift 130 kilos (272.5lbs), total 312.5k (689lbs) at 164.0 pounds on 04/27/19
Outdoor Runs
3.2 Miles 12/13/19
Sets of 3
Deadlift 270
Squat 230
Bench Press 200
Incline Bench
Overhead Press
Curls
Pull-Ups (amount of weight added) 5lbs
Deadlift 275
Squat 235
Bench Press 185
Incline Bench 135
Overhead Press 65lbs
Curls 20lb dumbbells
Pull-Ups; haven't reached 5 reps in the recent attempts
Weight and BF
I used this calculator again and it says I'm at 19% body fat this round. So I'm probably somewhere between 19-21%. (Goal is to stay at my current weight and gain muscle. Definitely a challenge!)
Labels: Personal Records
I Entered a Powerlifting Meet
So I entered a powerlifting competition this weekend. I did not post anything ahead of time because you often get detractors when you are trying something new. I wanted to stay as focused as possible.
I joined the Natural Athlete Strength Association and jumped in. I weighed in at 145.6 and went for it. It was stressful, as most new things are, and I didn't know anyone there. I had practiced with commands once and was still nervous about it. You give your weights by kilograms so that was also an added thing to learn. I knew that going in yet didn't really have a plan for that. Lee from The Power Plant gave me my "opener" numbers and I went with that. Openers are your first lift.
I missed my first attempt at the squat because I didn't go low enough. A mistake of nerves. I tried the same weight on second try and felt really good about it. My second attempt went smooth also. My squat opener was 83 kilos and my second attempt was 87.5. However my shoulder was hurting. I think it was more from tensing up than the actual weight.
I opened with 70 kilos on bench and that was fairly easy. I dropped it from the suggested 77.5 just to be safe with my shoulder. I went to 75 and that felt easy as well. I tried 87.5 on the third attempt and could not lock it out. It's a weight I've lifted before and I think it was nerves and possibly just a not a great day.
For deadlift I opened with 100 kgs and that was easy. I wanted to get all three of this lift since I had missed one each on squat and bench. I did 110 on 2nd and someone told me it looked easy. I was tempted to jump a lot and decided to stick to the plan and I did 120 on the third try and it felt heavy yet was a good solid lock out.
So I lifted 282.5 kilos successfully between all 3 lifts combined. Now that I know how commands and competition works I can be better prepared. I think I also need to figure out warming-up a little better.
The category I was in was the 148 category. That's probably a good category for me. The next category is 165 and those guys were just relatively huge. I don't know if I'll compete again. If I do it will be in the "retro powerlifting" category. I was in unequipped powerlifting, this still gives you a belt and wraps. Since I lift completely "raw" (no belt, now wraps, etc.) I figure that's a good category for me.
If I do enter again I will want to hit 102.5 kilos on the squat, 92.5 kilos on the bench, and 130 kilos on the deadlift. That would be 325 kilos total and I think a good goal.
Next week I'm going to lift light and focus on recovery.
What's next overall?
I'll focus on staying in the 145-150 lb range. I'll check my blood pressure and glucose a little more as well.
For May, June, and July I will probably go back to doing 4 sets of 6-10, after a warm-up set, with minimal rest to build more muscle. August and September will likely be sets of 5-8 transitioning into functional muscle strength. October until the end of the year will probably be sets of 3-5 focusing on strength and weight maintenance. I think doing sets of 2 and sets of 1 may have been counterproductive. It's a lot of wear and tear on joints and neurological system to work out that way.
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. March 2018 test came back with 5.2 A1C. I'm happy for all of the people who enjoy and appreciate this blog, and even for the people who spend more time on the blog than I do.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
I joined the Natural Athlete Strength Association and jumped in. I weighed in at 145.6 and went for it. It was stressful, as most new things are, and I didn't know anyone there. I had practiced with commands once and was still nervous about it. You give your weights by kilograms so that was also an added thing to learn. I knew that going in yet didn't really have a plan for that. Lee from The Power Plant gave me my "opener" numbers and I went with that. Openers are your first lift.
I missed my first attempt at the squat because I didn't go low enough. A mistake of nerves. I tried the same weight on second try and felt really good about it. My second attempt went smooth also. My squat opener was 83 kilos and my second attempt was 87.5. However my shoulder was hurting. I think it was more from tensing up than the actual weight.
I opened with 70 kilos on bench and that was fairly easy. I dropped it from the suggested 77.5 just to be safe with my shoulder. I went to 75 and that felt easy as well. I tried 87.5 on the third attempt and could not lock it out. It's a weight I've lifted before and I think it was nerves and possibly just a not a great day.
For deadlift I opened with 100 kgs and that was easy. I wanted to get all three of this lift since I had missed one each on squat and bench. I did 110 on 2nd and someone told me it looked easy. I was tempted to jump a lot and decided to stick to the plan and I did 120 on the third try and it felt heavy yet was a good solid lock out.
So I lifted 282.5 kilos successfully between all 3 lifts combined. Now that I know how commands and competition works I can be better prepared. I think I also need to figure out warming-up a little better.
The category I was in was the 148 category. That's probably a good category for me. The next category is 165 and those guys were just relatively huge. I don't know if I'll compete again. If I do it will be in the "retro powerlifting" category. I was in unequipped powerlifting, this still gives you a belt and wraps. Since I lift completely "raw" (no belt, now wraps, etc.) I figure that's a good category for me.
If I do enter again I will want to hit 102.5 kilos on the squat, 92.5 kilos on the bench, and 130 kilos on the deadlift. That would be 325 kilos total and I think a good goal.
Next week I'm going to lift light and focus on recovery.
What's next overall?
I'll focus on staying in the 145-150 lb range. I'll check my blood pressure and glucose a little more as well.
For May, June, and July I will probably go back to doing 4 sets of 6-10, after a warm-up set, with minimal rest to build more muscle. August and September will likely be sets of 5-8 transitioning into functional muscle strength. October until the end of the year will probably be sets of 3-5 focusing on strength and weight maintenance. I think doing sets of 2 and sets of 1 may have been counterproductive. It's a lot of wear and tear on joints and neurological system to work out that way.
KEEP GRINDING!
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. March 2018 test came back with 5.2 A1C. I'm happy for all of the people who enjoy and appreciate this blog, and even for the people who spend more time on the blog than I do.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
My lifting approach was to gain muscle to help with insulin sensitivity so I focused on compound exercises mostly (deadlift, bench, squat, overhead press) with some other things to round out such as pull-ups and bicep curls. I'm currently still doing full body workouts and on a strength routine.
May into the summer will be focused on building some muscle, trying to get some speed on my HIIT sprints, and watching health markers like glucose and blood pressure. Fall will be probably go for functional strength. Winter will be a power phase though I don't think I will work out with "doubles" and "singles" in the future.
May into the summer will be focused on building some muscle, trying to get some speed on my HIIT sprints, and watching health markers like glucose and blood pressure. Fall will be probably go for functional strength. Winter will be a power phase though I don't think I will work out with "doubles" and "singles" in the future.
I did 1 rep max testing with Lee from the Power Plant and here is what I pulled on 11/22/17 at 152 lbs.
Squat 235
Squat 235
Bench 220
Deadlift 285
Deadlift 285
I entered a powerlifting meet on 4/28/18 and completed 7/9 attempted lifts. Here are my competition "PRs" (personal records)
Squat 87.5 kilos (193lbs)
Bench 75 kilos (165lbs)
Deadlift 120 kilos (265lbs)
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Last Week of of 2018 Strength Cycle #2
A challenging week yet still able to get in the workouts for the week. This week finished up the 2nd strength cycle of the year. I'm thinking that in May I will go back to sets of 8-12 for 2 months or more.
I did the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with the bike set on 25 for the sprints. I could get to 90 rpm a couple of times yet couldn't keep that consistent. I'll consider either adding one more sprint, going to 4 instead of 3, or to stay at 3 and try to get to 90 rpms more consistently.
There are many ways to do HIIT and you can check that out here and here. I also found an interesting abstract on HIIT and resistance training.
I was able to lift 3 times this week. Since it is the last week I ended with a day of singles.
Tuesday:
Deadlifts 135lbs for a set of 5 reps, 225 for a set of 2, and 2 sets of 260 for 2
Squats 135lbs for a set of 5, 185 for a set of 2, and 2 sets of 215 for 2
Bench press 135 for 5, 175 for 2, and 2 sets of 200 for 2
Pull-ups 3 sets of 4 repetitions
Stretched throughout the workout
Thursday
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. March 2018 test came back with 5.2 A1C. I'm happy for all of the people who enjoy and appreciate this blog, and even for the people who spend more time on the blog than I do.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
I did the High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with the bike set on 25 for the sprints. I could get to 90 rpm a couple of times yet couldn't keep that consistent. I'll consider either adding one more sprint, going to 4 instead of 3, or to stay at 3 and try to get to 90 rpms more consistently.
There are many ways to do HIIT and you can check that out here and here. I also found an interesting abstract on HIIT and resistance training.
I was able to lift 3 times this week. Since it is the last week I ended with a day of singles.
Tuesday:
Deadlifts 135lbs for a set of 5 reps, 225 for a set of 2, and 2 sets of 260 for 2
Squats 135lbs for a set of 5, 185 for a set of 2, and 2 sets of 215 for 2
Bench press 135 for 5, 175 for 2, and 2 sets of 200 for 2
Pull-ups 3 sets of 4 repetitions
Stretched throughout the workout
Thursday
Deadlifts 135lbs for a set of 5 reps, 225 for a set of 3, and 2 sets of 260 for 2
Squats 135lbs for a set of 5, 185 for a set of 3, and 2 sets of 215 for 2
Bench press 135 for 5, 175 for 3, and 2 sets of 200 for 2
Pull-ups 3 sets of 4 repetitions
Stretched throughout the workout
Saturday
Deadlifts 135lbs for a set of 5 reps, 225 for a set of 3, 275 for a set of 1, I tried 285 and it didn't feel like I locked out correctly, so I tried 280 and completed that for a set of 1
Squats 135lbs for a set of 5, 185 for a set of 3, 220 for a set of 1, and 225 for a set of 1
Bench press 135 for 5, 175 for 3, 195 for a set of 1, and 200 for a set of 1
Stretched throughout the workout
Next week is a deload and I will only do HIIT. I'm guessing I will lift singles next Saturday and also try to develop the next hypertrophy routine between now and next Tuesday.
KEEP GRINDING!
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. March 2018 test came back with 5.2 A1C. I'm happy for all of the people who enjoy and appreciate this blog, and even for the people who spend more time on the blog than I do.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
My lifting approach was to gain muscle to help with insulin sensitivity so I focused on compound exercises mostly (deadlift, bench, squat, overhead press) with some other things to round out such as pull-ups and bicep curls. I'm currently still doing full body workouts and on a strength routine.
Between now and the end of April I will be focusing on strength. I will be lifting heavier with sets of 5 or less for the most part. I may go up to 4 "sprints" for cardio at some point.
Between now and the end of April I will be focusing on strength. I will be lifting heavier with sets of 5 or less for the most part. I may go up to 4 "sprints" for cardio at some point.
I did 1 rep max testing with Lee from the Power Plant and here is what I pulled on 11/22/17
Squat 235
Squat 235
Bench 220
Deadlift 285
Deadlift 285
