My BodyBlog

The month definately did not go as planned!  I couldn’t continue the 5×5 training program that I started in October, for reasons I talked about in a previous blog.  I also did not get in as many workouts as usual.  The good news is that overall I was more active than during a ‘normal’ month due to the fact I’m working on a house extension most evenings and weekends.  I am using most muscles just about every day while lifting, bending etc, etc.  My days off from the gym haven’t been days off from physical activity, meaning that I often felt tired and sore when I went to the gym.  I still had some great workouts, but instead of following a set split I just worked out whatever body part I felt was up to it.  I also slacked off on post-workout HIIT cardio due to my legs being sore more and time constraints.  Instead, for cardio I started jumping rope between sets and that really made me work up a sweat (and I’m starting to get pretty good at it!)

My diet is still consistently good, very clean with several small meals most days.  I’ve been eating this way for a year now and it is really paying off with slow but steady body fat loss while I’m still gaining muscle mass.  Dare I say I can see my upper abs starting to be defined a little…I think so!  Noticed today that the size 36 jeans I bought in the spring are felling very loose.  They have drawstrings, and even when I tie them as tight as I can, they still feel baggy and start to slide down after I move around a little…I guess it’s time to get some new clothes before I have a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ in public!

Tomorrow will be the last workout for the month, and I’m planning to do legs, but since I spent a couple of hours painting this afternoon, getting up and down like I was squatting, I don’t know how the legs will feel tomorrow.  If not legs, then something else, along with abs for sure.  Things will start to improve in December since we are in the last stages of our building project, and my wife and I are looking forward to a nice break from all work over the holidays….I’m looking forward to some intense workouts, but that’s a pleasure, not work! 

As a follow up to my last post, I’m glad to report that I’ve had a chance to recover from the outdoor work.  Our part is on hold because of the rain we’ve had for three days.  I did go to the gym on Friday evening, and I worked on abs, back, biceps and traps.  I used lighter weight than usual and focused on slow reps with a full range of motion.  I kept the sets in the 12-15 rep range and I could really feel the muscles working.  After lifting I did 20 minutes incline walking on the treadmill at a moderate pace.  It was a nice change after 5 weeks of 5×5 training. So where do I go from here?

I have more outdoor work ahead of me but I don’t think it’ll be as strenuous as before.  I’ve decided not to give up completely on the 5×5, I just won’t make it the primary part of every workout like I was doing before.  I’ll decide how and what to train based on how I feel each day.  I guess this is true ‘instinctive’ training.  For my workout later today, my lower body is feeling good so I’ll probably do 5×5 squats.  Shouders feel good so I’ll probably do some work there too.  Hope everyone has a great day! 

Sometimes life just throws some things at you that force you to change your plans.  You have to accept less than what you were hoping for, and make the best of what you have.  That is what is now happening to me with my training plans.  My desire was to follow a 5×5 training program from October to December, but today I’ve decided to suspend that because it just wasn’t working for me right now, in spite of my best efforts.

Doing 5×5 using compound exercises for every workout was pushing my body in a way that I’ve never experienced before…and I loved it!  The effort I was giving made me feel great, and I know I was gaining strength and growing….the down side was that I needed extra recovery time, which I was expecting.  Lifting such heavy weight each workout was taking a greater toll on my body that any way I’d ever lifted before.  In October I made the mistake of doing too many other exercises after I’d finished my compound work…this was making my recovery time longer, so I planned to reduce the length of each workout in November….what I didn’t plan for however was that my rest days wouldn’t be rest days anymore….

We are having an addition put on our house.  We have a contractor, however to save money my wife and I have been doing as much of the site prep and clean-up work as possible.  The work is now in full swing and since the start of November I have spent many many hours outside doing a variety of things.  I’ve been bending, lifting, carrying, dragging, shovelling, pushing and pulling for hours on end!  I work behind a desk, so apart from walking and yard work, most of my days away from the gym are days when I can rest my muscles.  But now, doing all this extra physical work on top of my workouts is taking a heavy toll on my body.  When I go to the gym I feel like I don’t have the same energy or strength that I’m used to.  I’ve been hoping to do 5×5 deadlifts all week, but my hamstrings and lower back have been working all week and I’m already sore.

Bodybuilding for almost 5 years has taught me to listen to my body, and at this point my body is telling me that I can’t do the 5×5 training and the physical work at the same time.  After what I’ve been through this week, doing anything with the lower body at the gym is out for several more days.  I have a lot more clean-up work to do next week too.  So although I hate to give up something once I’ve started, I know the sensible thing for me to do is to put aside the 5×5 training until I can get back to a more normal routine.  I’ll use my gym time to work whatever muscle group I feel is up to it, and I’ll do lots of abs and cardio.  Here’s where my 5×5 training is stopping:

Overhead Barbell Press - Did 120 lbs and feel like I can do more.

Squats -  Did 260 lbs with excellent form and feel like I can do a lot more.

Deadlifts - Did 290 and feel like I can do more.

Bench Press - Failed by only one rep at 205 and know I can improve if I keep working at it.

Looking at the big picture, I’m steadily getting leaner, and my strength and mass are increasing.  I’m very happy with where I’m going, and I’ll try 5×5 training of some sort again sometime down the road!