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’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

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

My diagnosis: I was in overtraining.

That being said, I decided to trade some intensity with volume. Here what my new program looks like.

Day 1 – Full body workout in a circuit

Warm-up

• Trapbar Deadlift: 15 reps
• Dip: 12 reps
• Chinup: 10 reps

Repeat the above once. I take almost no pause between exercises in the circuit.

Day 2, 3 – Aerobic workouts

20 min jogging (heart rate at around 65-85%) on the treadmill one day and 20 min interval (alternating high intensity/active rest) on the stationary bike the other day.

Day 4 – Upper body workout again in a circuit

Warm-up

• Dip: 12 reps
• Flat bench Dumbbell Fly: 10 reps
• Chinup: 10 reps

Repeat the above twice. And again with minimum pause between each set.

L-Fly: 3 sets of 10 reps.
Ab work.

That’s it!

I do all 4 days in a week, on weekdays. Even if I make more sets, it takes me roughly the same time in the gym. The reason is, pauses are much shorter than before. And I get a bonus: some cardio effects.

The reps listed above are, except for Deadlift, Dumbbell Fly and L-Fly, the target reps. This means that if I can make the target reps for all my sets, I will add some weight in the next workout for that exercise.

As I will progress in my cycle, I will certainly have to chop off some volume. This will go on until I’m back in a to-failure approach. Ultimatly, in some future time, I will have to stop, take a break and resume with a new program/cycle.

A final note: I only do leg or lower body once per week. I get enough training with my aerobic workouts; which are all legs.

Until next post, Lift Consciously

Exercises

I have included only compound exercises that use many muscle groups simultaneously.

• Legs: Trapbar Deadlift, Calf Raise.
• Chest & Triceps: Dip, Flat Bench Dumbbell Fly.
• Back & Biceps: Chin-Up.

(That’s it!)

Workouts

I always do warm-up sets with roughly half the targeted poundage.

Workout #1

• Trapbar deadlift: 2 sets of 12 reps each.
• Calf raise: same as deadlift, after each deadlift rep.

I don’t go to failure for deadlift and calf. For some reason, I don’t see me dropping the bar half way through a lift…

Workout #2

• Dip: 2 sets of 10 reps each to failure.
• Flat bench dumbbell fly: usually 1 set of 12-18 reps.
• Dip again: 1 set of 10 negative reps.

For fly also, I don’t push myself to failure.

Workout #3

• Chin-up: 2 sets of 8 reps each to failure and 1 set of 8 negative reps.

Schedule

I do 2 training sessions per week. It is usually on Monday and Thursday. But I may move a day if I have a schedule conflict. If I train Legs on a Monday, I will not train them again before Thursday of the next week. So I train each muscle group every 10 days.

Each workout last about half an hour. I always train in the morning, after breakfast and taking care of the little family.

Until next post, Lift Consciously