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Unfortunately, I must revisit my strength training program before it’s due date.

The main reason is because I have to treat another injury. According to my doctor, it might be some kind of nerve irritation that brings pain in my right arm. No final diagnosis yet, I still have exam to pass. I also have pain in my upper back (related to the nerve irritation? I can’t tell). For the upper back problem, I’m seeing a physiotherapist. She suggested I stop for awhile one of the exercise in my program: chin-up. Ok, I’ll do that.

The other reason I revise my program is because I’m trying to lower my fat down to 15%. In order to succeed, I decided to increase the aerobic portion of my program… A lot.

Here’s what my new training program looks like.

Sunday: rest day.

Monday: aerobic or rest day, depending on my energy level.

Tuesday: aerobic, usually Fasting Cruise Control Cardio (FCCC).

Wednesday

• Strength training: TrapBar DeadLift, Dip.
• Aerobic: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

Thursday: aerobic or rest day , depending on my energy level.

Friday: aerobic, usually FCCC.

Saturday

• Strength training: upper body in a circuit.
• Aerobic: HIIT.

I still practice yoga, usually on rest days. Or on an aerobic day, if I have time left.

Until next post, lift Consciously

I used to name my training programs according to the season we are in (well, at least the last few). But training is not as predictable as seasons, so I will now on use a numbering convention.

I’m revisiting my program after just a month because I was not able to really kick it off. My left forearm injury was not completely healed and then, Christmas vacations was already there…

With this version, I’m trying yoga… My goal with yoga is mostly stretching. But it may also help develop some small muscles not directly targeted in my training.

Without any further introduction, here my latest revision.

Workouts

Day 1

• Trapbar Deadlift (TBDL), 15 reps
• Dip, 10 reps/to failure
• Interval Aerobic
• Yoga

Day 2

• Yoga

Day 3

• Fasting Cardio
• Dip, 10 reps/to failure
• Dumbbell (DB) Fly, 10 reps
• L-Fly, 10 reps

Day 4

• Fasting cardio
• Chin (aka pull-up), 8 reps/to failure
• Abs work

Schedule

My preferred workout days were week days. But it’s sometimes difficult to fit my training in my work schedule. My weekends, at least mornings, are more predictable. So I decided to train on the weekend also.

Cycling

I cycle training so that the level of intensity slowly goes up. I will post revision each time I change intensity.

Until next post, lift Consciously

After my “incident”, where I fell and injured my left arm, I decided to interrupt my training and let my arm heal. After 2 weeks out of the gym, there is no pain left. So now is the time for me to resume training.

A 2 weeks break is rather long. I cannot just continue where I was in my cycle. I have to start a new one. There is no better time to introduce changes and make modifications! Here’s my New and Improved training program.

Day 1

• Warm-up
• Trapbar Deadlift: 2 sets of 15 reps
• Chin or Pull-up: 2 sets of 8 reps each one immediately after Deadlift

Day 2

• Warm-up
• Dip: 3 sets of 12 reps
• Dumbbell fly: 3 sets of 10 reps each one immediately after Dip
• Accessory exercises (L-fly & ab work)

I will train Day 1 and 2 every week. This is it for weight lifting!

As I will progress in my winter cycle, I will add weight to all my exercises. At some point, I will have to cut volume a little in order to keep my progression. The first thing I will do is to remove 1 set for Chin, Dip and Dumbbell fly. Hopefully, I will stay on this lower volume scheme for many weeks. At that point, I will probably train 3 times every 2 weeks (Monday-Friday-Wednesday). Finally, I will probably train 1 set to absolute failure on Chin and Dip until I can no longer cope with intensity… We should then be in spring 2010!

Around my lifting days, I do aerobic. Currently, I alternate between 22 min jog on the treadmill one day and 22 min intervals on the stationary bike the other day. I usually do aerobic 2 or 3 times per week, depending on my out of the gym constraints.

Until next post, Lift Consciously