Thanks a lot for the encouragement. I know there will be days when I can't lift as much as I did the workout before, but at least I will try to hit my goals each workout. This was one of the first since starting NROL that I felt comfortable with each exercises and felt I did them with the best possible form. It seems easier when you actually do the lift with the correct form. Imagine that!!
Slow and steady run. My legs are worn out from yesterday's lifting and run, but it felt so good outside. 53 and sunny!!! so much for a white Christmas, but that's why we are going up North for Christmas.
Warmup 1 mile at 8:38
abs
incline bench 1x5 at 40 lbs
incline bench 1x5 at 45 lbs
Hyp I Workout 6A
Dumbell Incline Bench Press previous max 45 lbs per hand 4x10 at 50 lbs
Cable Seated Row previous max 120 lbs
1x10 at 130 lbs
3x10 at 120 lbs
Dumbell Shoulder Press previous max 35 lbs 1x5 at 40 lbs
1x8 at 35 lbs
2x10 at 30 lbs
Wide grip lat pulldown previous max 100 lbs 1x9 at 100 lbs
1x8 at 100 lbs
2x10 at 90 lbs
Barbell close grip bench press previous max 105 lbs 3x10 at 105 lbs
1x10 at 105 lbs
High Pull previous max 70 lbs 4x10 at 80 lbs
Reverse Crunches 3x20 at BW +25
Cardio
2 miles at 18:28
I think my body really needed a day off before doing this workout, but trying to get all my workouts before we leave town. I improved on some and lost ground on others. I also think since I have been off and busy getting ready for the Holidays, I have not eaten as much as I should have. I weighed today and I am down to 161 lbs. Not sure of this but Its the only thing I can think of. I have noticed a steady fat loss doing Hyp I is this normal? I mean I am not complaining.
I just found out that I can use the Y in each of the cities we are traveling to, so I may not have to take a break during Christmas now. I maybe a bit crazy in the head for feeling guilty of taking a week off in the middle of the program. Everyone says I am addicted to working out. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to.
Squats previous max was 115 for this protocol 3x15 at 125 lbs (+10lbs)
Deadlift Shrug previous max was 115 for this protocol 2x15 at 125 (+10lbs)
1x13 at 125
Bulgarian Split Squats previous max was 15 for this protocol
2x15 at 20 lbs (+5lbs)
1x15 at 15 lbs
Step Ups previous max was 20 lbs for this protocol
2x15 at 25 lbs (+5+ lbs)
1x15 at 20 lbs
Reverse Crunches
3x20
This workout still proves to be the hardest workout I have ever done. This time the deadlifts caused me the most problem after the squats. The BSS/Step up is still from the devil. Well I am now halfway through Hyp I now and I can say I really LOVE it. I am seeing gains in strength and In lean muscle mass. I have burned some fat and feel great. Now on to the great white north for Christmas. May get a few workouts in or I may take a break.
dumbell incline bench press
1x5 at 45 lbs
4x5 at 50 lbs same as last time
cable seated row
5x5 at 130 same as last time
Shoulder Press
4x5 at 40 lbs
1x3 at 45 lbs same as last time
Wide grip lat pull down
5x5 at 110 same as last time
Close grip bench press
4x5 at 130
1x4 at 130 same as last time
High Pull
5x5 at 100 lbs
+10 lbs
Reverse Crunch
3x20 at bw+25
Cardio
3 miles at 23:59
Well 10 days of no lifting and eating like a pig for Christmas made todays trip to the Gym exciting. I was so ready to get back at it. I did some running over the holiday, 17 miles to be exact. But as usual I did gain about 10 pounds, but will lose them fast. This workout was about the same as last time I did this workout, which is getting frustrating that I still can't increase my weight on the incline bench press. I can get 55 pounds up on my right arm, but not on my left. With that aside I feel pretty good being gone a week and just getting back in to the swing of it. Now to New Years!!!
My first leg workout since Dec 21st. I was afraid I was not going to be able to increase the weight. I was and it felt good. The deadlifts got tough at the end of the last set to keep my grip. BBS felt much better then the step ups this time, weird!!
I was going to try to run 3 miles after, but my legs were dead after this workout and did not want to push things.
1/2 Marathon training is going good, the workouts don't seem any harder then what I normally do. Back down to within 3 pounds of my normal weight. So the Christmas gorge does not seem to be going to stay around long!
Warmup
abs
1 mile run at 8:38
pushups
incline dumbell bp 1x7 at 40 lbs
Hyp I 8A
Dumbell Incline bench press 1x15 at 50 lbs (+5)
1x13 at 50 lbs (failed to do all reps at +5 lbs increase)
1x11 at 45 lbs same as last time
Cable Seated Row 2x15 at 110 (+10)
1x15 at 100 same as last time
Dumbell shoulder press 1x11 at 25 (failed to do all reps with a 5 lbs increase)
2x15 at 20 same as last time
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns 1x10 at 90lbs (failed to do all reps with a 10 lbs increase)
1x13 at 80lbs (failed to do all reps with same weight as last time)
1x15 at 70 lbs (-10 lbs)
Close Grip Bench Press 1x15 at 95 lbs (+5 lbs increase)
1x11 at 95 lbs (failed to do all reps with +5 lbs increase)
1x15 at 85 lbs (-5 lbs from last time)
High Pull
3x15 at 70 lbs (+10 lbs increase from last time)
Swiss Ball Crunches
3x15 at 35 lbs (+10 lbs increase from last time)
1/2 Marathon Training
3 miles at 25:35 for a 8:32 pace. This is my goal 1/2 marathon pace.
I am really getting to dread the 3x15 day no matter what it is, upper body or lower. I would have to look through my logs but I don't think since I increased my weights I have ever hit all 3 sets with a increase in weights. Should I care more about increases or hitting all the reps?????? Or is how I am doing it ok! I try the increase on the first rep and then if I hit it try again. If I fail on the second drop down in weight. If I fail on the first I drop down in weight. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. Either way the 3x15 with 30 sec rest SUCKS!!! But it is one heck of a workout. My arms were on fire after.
The pace run was good. My legs are getting tired from the tempo run yesterday and then today's pace run. I was not suppose to do the pace run today, but I have the 5x5 lower body tomorrow and did not think I would be able to run a pace run after that. I will have to keep adjusting my marathon training around the NROL workouts for now. I think the holiday also messed up my schedule a bit, so next week should be a better judge of things.
Warm up 1 mile at 8:38
2 sets of abs
2 sets of squats. 5 reps. at 145 and 155
Hyp I workout 8B
Squats
5x5 at 165 lbs (+10) PR last was 155lbs
Dead lift shrugs 4x5 at 185 lbs (+10) PR. last was 175lbs
1x5 at 195 lbs (+10) PR good weight but I could not have done 5 sets.
Bulgarian Split Squats 5x5 at 40 lbs (+5) PR last was 35 lbs
Step ups
1x5 at 45 lbs (+5) I wont count this as a PR because I felt like I was cheating to much
4x5 at 40 lbs same as last time.
Reverse Crunches
3x15 at BW+ 6 lbs
1/2 Marathon Training 3 easy miles at 28:00 for a 9:20 pace.
I was really not feeling like I had any energy today to do this workout. I did the first round of squats and started to feel good. By the time I finished I was pumped that I actually was able to squat my body weight!!!!! I know that some did not go as deep as I wanted so I think is a good weight for next time. Most of them did though. The Dead lifts felt awesome!! I really love DL's. For the BSS,to use a term others have used before, I am starting to make them my "Bitch"!!!! The step ups have been a source of trouble this week for me. I may need to drop the weight and make sure that I am not using my back leg too much. Overall this proves to be my favorite Hyp I workout and see great gains.
Don't you just love those days when you feel like junk but make yourself lift anyway and are rewarded for it by doing something good or just feeling good? That's one of my favorite feelings in the world. Yay for you!
Don't you just love those days when you feel like junk but make yourself lift anyway and are rewarded for it by doing something good or just feeling good? That's one of my favorite feelings in the world.
Those tend to be my best days.
It's the days I go in feeling like I won the lottery are the days I leave feeling bankrupt and broke off.
6 mile long run. 54:55 for a 9:09 pace.
Avg HR = 164 Max HR = 177
Avg speed = 6.6 Max speed = 8.1
I was trying to keep my pace at around 9:30. I just could not keep my legs going any slower. I don't know if it was the wind and slightly cool weather that made me run faster then I wanted to or what. It did not feel like a real hard pace, so maybe I can push it harder. Although my HR was higher then I thought it should be. I am not sure if this HRM is acting correct or what. I need to some more testing with it.
Any HR experts out there, does this seem correct? I mean by the way the Garmin figures my HR my max is 185. So in a long run I stayed close to 90% of my max HR? This does not seem correct as it did not feel like I was really working hard at all. I did not feel out of breath at all.
My wife wanted me to go to the gym with her this afternoon and help her workout. So I thought I would put her through Break In A. She did a great job, I was so proud of her. We did some intervals to warm up with. 2 min walk, 30 sprint, 30 sec walk x 4. Then a 2 min walk. Then did the Break in A. While she did some cardio after I did the following
Bench press
1x15 at 115 lbs
1x10 at 135 lbs
1x5 at 145 lbs
Arm curls
1x15 at 30 lbs
1x10 at 35 lbs
1x5 at 40 lbs
Dumbell Shoulder Presses
1x15 at 25 lbs
1x10 at 30 lbs
1x5 at 35 lbs
1x5 at 35 lbs
Pull ups
3x5
Dips
3x10
It was really a fun workout. Its been awhile since my wife and I hit the gym together. She is thinking about starting NROLFW. Any thoughts from the ladies on how you like it? She might do Break In until she gets the book.
Warm Up
1 mile at 8:13
sit ups
swiss ball push ups
db incline bench press 1x7 at 40 lbs, 1x5 at 45 lbs
Hyp I Workout 9A
Dumbell incline bench press 2x10 at 45 lbs (-5 from last time)
2x10 at 50 lbs (same)
Cable Seated Row
1x10 at 130 (+10 lbs)
3x10 at 120 (same as last time)
Dumbell shoulder press
4x10 at 30 lbs (same as last time)
Wide grip lat pull down
1x10 at 90 lbs (same as last time)
3x10 at 100 lbs (+10 lbs)
Close Grip Bench Press
4x10 at 105 lbs (same as last time)
High Pull
4x10 at 90 lbs (+10 lbs) Swiss ball crunches
3x15 with 20 lbs dumbells in each hand
1/2 Marathon Training 6 x 800 m at 5k pace 3 miles total.
800 m rest pace in between
cool down 1 mile.
I am not sure why I can not gain anything on the 4x10 incline bench or dumbell shoulder presses. Maybe I have reached my max level right now with the cardio, or maybe I am not eating enough. I feel I am gaining muscle, not on the scale but in the mirror. Any suggestions or insight???????????????????
Not sure what you mean by that? I was thinking that with the Marathon Training I am doing more cardio and not building more muscle, so I would assume that I will hit a level where I can't advance with my other training. But I could just not be there yet or am missing something.
I was wondering about that myself. I may need to lessen my warm up sets. I guess I should not get so caught up in hitting the 55 dumbbell in each arm on the incline bp, but its like a goal that I just can't hit yet and its driving me mad!!!
For a food note I counted my calories for the first time in awhile and I am horrified to see that I only ate 1,980. According to my calculations I thought I should be at around 2,630 so I had a deficit of about 650!! This could be part of my problems. I guess I will start eating right before working out and see if that helps. Maybe a peanut butter sandwich or some eggs or something.
Keeping that food intake up is definitely a requirement when you're putting in the amount of workouts you're doing (nice work, btw) but not progressing (or even back-sliding) for a week or two is not big deal. Stress and/or lack of sleep can play a bigger role than many people expect as well.
Many people here have gone through various NROL workouts and I don't think they've failed anyone yet. Even with the running I was doing through NROL I still managed to gain some muscle.
Thanks for the encouragement! It feels odd to me that I felt all I do is eat and snack. Last night may have been off by like 150 or 200 calories as I am not sure the size of the chicken I ate. But I was shocked that I did not hit my count. Maybe I need another protein shake or so. I eat like 6 meals a day. The snack meals average around 150 to 200 calories. I will just have to keep monitoring it for a week or so.
I have made gaines in NROL no doubt about it. I think though most of it us lean muscle mass and fat loss, which I will never complain about!! The strength will come I am sure as I get more used to doing this heavy of a weight training program.
oh and in the 1/2 marathon training I wrote it down wrong and now can't edit it. it was 1/4 mile runs at 7:50 with a 1/4 mile recover jog not 1/2 miles!
Warm Up
abs
2 sets of squats 1x15 at 45 lbs, 1x7 at 115 lbs
Hyp I Workout 9B
Squats
3x15 at 135 (+10 lbs)
Dead Lift Shrugs
2x15 at 135 (+10 lbs)
1x12 at 135
Bulgarian Split Squats
3x15 at 25 lbs (+5 lbs) each hand
Step Ups
3x15 at 25 lbs (same as last time)
Reverse Crunches
3x20
Well I tried to eat more today and ate about a 1/2 hour before the workout. I felt really good doing the squats. I could have done 10 more pounds I think. That last set of dead lifts kill me. I just don't have the grip strength. BSS were tough, and I knew I could not increase the step ups. I was sweating a river of sweat and my breathing was way out of control. Had many people shaking there head at me at the gym. I felt like saying, Hey you try this devil workout and let me see how you look!!
One more round of each set of Hyp 1 then I am done!! I still don't know if I will jump right in to Hyp 2 after the break or what. With the 1/2 marathon training I don't want to push both things at the same time. I will have to take a close look at Hyp 2 and see how bad it is.
total calories from yesterday was 2299 with 36% fats, 39% carbs, and 25% protein. The fat is higher due to the peanut butter sandwich, almonds, and salmon I ate. I may need to try to cut that back a little bit and add just some more less fat protein. I did get some 100% Whey protein yesterday so I can try out. I had been using a combo of Soy, Casein and Whey from EAS. Felt great this morning after the dreaded 3x15 leg day.
Average HR = 155 - Max Hr = 173
Average speed = 6.7 mph - Max speed = 8.7 mph
I must say I love the garmin!!! But I think it makes me run to fast when I just want an easy run. I guess I am always trying to go faster when I see how fast I am actually running. I think the HR monitor may still not be 100% accurate but who knows. I may try a new battery in it.
Yesterday's food totals:
Calories = 2057
Carb% = 46%
Protein % = 30% for 143 g
Fat % = 24% for 52 g
Fiber = 46g
I tried to eat the most I could. I still did not hit what I calculated by the book. I just could not put any more food in my body. I guess I need more calories in my snacks.
I tend to push harder when I run with my gps too. Just can't stop checking my pace.
__________________
We don't know all the answers. If we knew all the answers we'd be bored, wouldn't we? We keep looking, searching, trying to get more knowledge. Jack LaLanne
Thanks Chris. I have lost a bit of my base while lifting, but not as much as I thought I would have. How fast do you run those 800m on the crossfit? those times are sick. Really impressive workouts.
Linear Mode
