Zen and the lifting of heavy things.

15/15/12/12/24 == 78.

Nice. The difference, of course, is no Boot Camp this morning.

So I would be confused, at this point in the program, about the exhaustion test. A Mon/Wed/Fri schedule, plus “rest well in between” plus “Do a set to exhaustion a couple of days after the last day of Week 2″ means a set to exhaustion the day before day 1 of week 3. Which seems suboptimal. Anyway. I would be confused, but I know damn well I can do enough in a set to put me at the top of the chart, so I don’t need to do the test.

Next week is going to kick my arse all over again, though. 25/17/1715/25+ on day one? On lifting day, with a new routine? And then pushups on boot camp day? Oy.

jai.
.

Actually, I lie. There was no boot camp today, because I stayed home to make coffee and breakfast in bed for my wife. But after Boot Camp, Ji the boot camp trainer and Olympic Silver Medallist came over to give me a personal routine. Herewith recorded:

DB squats. Easier to load up than the barbell, given that I lack a squat rack, and working arms as well.
DB lunges. Following on from the squats, just a step forward and dropping into the back knee.
DB Rows. A classic!
Kettlebell lift. Done with a dumbell, but Jess and I were just talking about the awesomeness of kettlebell routines the other week. Full body intensity.
Bench press, if I trust the coffee table.
More shoulder raises, but he tweaked my form – makes the exercise harder and more controlled.

Also, a note on sets – Ji reckons anything over 10 reps means it’s too light. One warmup set, then crank the weight so you can only do 8 reps, 2 sets. Apparently that’s the sweet spot for building strength and mass.

So that’s more exercises, but fewer reps, and a bit more intense.

Also, he recommends Cardio. *sigh* Always with the damned cardio. Personal trainers are obsessed, I swear. Skipping and burpees/jumping jacks are a valid replacement for running, so long as I do 100 of them. Tabarnac….

jai.
.

Or perhaps lack of progress.
Bicep Curls: db, 3×12 @ 22.

Shoulder press: db, 3×12 @ 22.

French press: bb, 3×12 @ 22.

Squats: 3×12 @ 44.

But I’m completing the sets in good form now, just. Might add a few pounds on Sunday. And it’s probably time to mix up the routine a little.

jai.
.

16/13/11/11/21 = 72

Huh. Plus 30 this morning. It was actually 16/13/11/21/11, because I forgot the second set of 11, and had to do it last. Or possibly it was 16/13/11/11/21/11 and I did too many. Who knows? But still, getting there. Taking tomorrow off is awfully tempting – I have to work early and I’m rather weary in the upper body area. We’ll see.

jai.
.

Test day!
Last boot camp of every month is test day. Starts with a hill run, then 2 minutes of pushups, 2 minutes of squats, 2 minutes of situps, so we can see improvements every month. In theory.

Shaved 30-40 seconds off the hill run, from 7.10ish to 6.34. Nice! I am not a runner – so not a runner – so that was nice to see.

Pushups, the only other thing worth recording, I managed 32. Last time was 29, but …. I should be well up, given the number of pushups I’ve been doing. I may be a little tired, given that I lifted yesterday, and certainly the hill run does rather stress the CNS, but I was a little disappointed.

Ah well. It’s about sustainable long term trends, not one given test day.

jai.
.

Bicep Curls: db, 3×12 @ 22.

Shoulder press: db, 3×12 @ 22.

French press: bb, 3×12 @ 22.
Squats: 3×12 @ 44.

Crunches: 50/40.

Holding steady, still. Getting easier – I’m not failing on the last curls or presses, and the French Press could go up if I had small weights to fit the Barbell So it’s getting there. Rest days on Saturday and Monday helped, I’ll keep the pushups on Sunday instead.

jai.
.

Going backwards. Not surprising, after this morning, but also, the program seems designed that way. Day 3 of week 1 is 15/13/10/10/max, where max is “at least 15″. So that’s 63. Day 1 of week 2 (today) is 12/12/9/7/max, where max is “at least 10″. That’s 50. So the program expects fewer pushups today, but with 60 second gaps instead of 2 minute gaps.

Anyway. Still ahead of the program, rest day tomorrow. Also, having circus freaks stand on my shoulders yesterday may not have helped. See also: hungover.

jai.
.

Bicep Curls: db, 3×12 @ 22.

Shoulder press: db, 3×12 @ 22.

French press: bb, 3×12 @ 22.
Squats: 3×12 @ 44.

Crunches: 2×45.

Holding steady. This is an obvious side-effect of the hundred pushups – one rest day a week, boot camp *and* pushups on the non-lifting days. I’ll live. I’m thinking of moving the pushups to Sunday so I get Monday back as a rest day – might slow the pushups down, but that’s ok too.

Also, hungover today. That can’t help.
jai.
.

Up only 5 from Wednesday. It’s like I lifted yesterday, did 50 pushups in boot camp today, did pullups on the straps at work and climbed 5 flights of stairs carrying 35 kilos of lead shot bags or something. Tabarnac.

Tomorrow is a rest day. On Sunday I will not increase weight for my lifts. On Monday, I will rock these bloody pushups.

jai.
.

Was kicking my arse before I even got out of bed.

And I did something like 50 pushups in the course of boot camp, which I’m sure will leave me in awesome shape for tonight’s 100 pushups session.

Again, the only thing that kept me going was the thought that tomorrow is a rest day.

jai.

.