Gym and Swim
Went to the gym for the first time in…ooh, 6-7 weeks. Wanted to see how much of my strength I’d retained in the ‘big three’ since following Pavel’s ‘Power to the People’ program. My best results are below.
Deadlift: 105KG / 231 Lbs x 3 (-7 reps PB)
Bench Press: 65KG / 143 Lbs x 4 (-1 rep PB)
Squat: 70KG / 154 Lbs x 5 (-15KG / 33 PB)
My Bench has fared quite well, only dropping the one rep (I thank all the pushups I’ve been doing). My deadlift reps are slightly down, but then getting 10 reps at the end of PTP was the culmination of 3 months hard work, and I’d rested specifically to tackle such a task. My Squat is dissapointing. I like to think I have strong legs. It’s understandable though, as I did these at the end of the workout, so I didn’t have as much to throw at them.
Also, all the above were reached by the 5 x 5 method, rather than the PTP method (one 100% set and one 90% set), so while the weights/reps are down, the overall volume was way up - in a way, I’m pleased I did so well when such high volume (for weight training) is so unusual for me. I’m also 7 Lbs lighter than when I last attempted these maxes, as well as three weeks out of hospital, rather than three months! Good effort I’d say.
It also demonstrates Pavel’s belief that strength is a skill. I shall meditate on how I can fit this truism into my own ‘instinctive, naked warrior’ way of training.
I also tested how good my barbell curl was (it wasn’t - 25KG / 55 Lbs x 5!) and, after a set of dips to failure, went for a swim. I’m a big fan of the breaststroke (urge to make inappropriate comment…rising…), but this time I mixed it up with front crawl, which I deployed every 5th lap. I only did 20 laps total - I’m hoping to work up to 100 in this format.
Felt good to attack the weights again!
