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
Comments:
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Impressive. It's cool to see how you've progressed the past year or so. Proof that it's never too late!
I tried resistance training HIIT style routine before, the Spartacus Workout (https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19547311/spartacus/), about 10 years ago. I sweat more then than ever! Rough, but paid off.
I just finished my first successful bulk. Gained 13-14lbs in 3.5 months, while adding 0.25% body fat. Way more than I ever thought possible. I'm gonna do a final progress check on Tuesday to confirm.
Today I start the transition to Intermittent Fasting. Following the work of Martin Berkhand. Hoping to finish this transition in to the program in the next couple of days.
What's next for you?
I tried resistance training HIIT style routine before, the Spartacus Workout (https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19547311/spartacus/), about 10 years ago. I sweat more then than ever! Rough, but paid off.
I just finished my first successful bulk. Gained 13-14lbs in 3.5 months, while adding 0.25% body fat. Way more than I ever thought possible. I'm gonna do a final progress check on Tuesday to confirm.
Today I start the transition to Intermittent Fasting. Following the work of Martin Berkhand. Hoping to finish this transition in to the program in the next couple of days.
What's next for you?
Wow! That's amazing! I can't wait to hear how your progress check comes in.
This weekend I definitely challenged myself. I will talk about that and answer the "what's next?" question in the post I'm working on today.
This weekend I definitely challenged myself. I will talk about that and answer the "what's next?" question in the post I'm working on today.
Nice. I gained 12 pounds over 3.5 months, with 0.8% body fat. Crazy! I'm hoping to find that sweet spot of macros/calories with intermittent fasting quick. I'm very motivated to burn off as much fat as possible in these next 6 months.
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