Squats, Squats, and More Squats

Today's training session involved squats. Lots of squats.

1) Squat - 165 x 2 singles, 155 x 4 singles, 110 x 20 (that 20 rep set was very tough). Next week I'll only perform 3 singles because the 6 singles I performed made the 20 rep set very, very tough.

2a) Weighted Parallel Bar Dips - 25x5, 10x9

2b) Bent Over BB Row - 120x6, 105x10

3a) Decline Situp - 2 sets

3b) Fat Bar Curls - 2 sets

4) 1 Arm DB Snatch - 30 x 5/4/3/2/1 I did this sort of as a "finisher". I performed 5 reps with each arm, then 4, then 3, etc with minimal rest.

Make sure you check out Progress: One Pound at a Time. In this post I explain how you can improve your strength, lose fat, and improve your body composition one pound at a time.

Hill Sprints & Books

I just got back from running hill sprints.

Today I ran the smaller hill at the park. "Smaller" in this case, however, do NOT mean easier. Since the hill is shorter, I had a shorter distance to walk down, and therefore less rest between sprints. I ran 10.

I can't speak highly enough about running hill sprints. In case you missed it a few weeks ago, I did a blog post about it at The Fat Solutions. Check it out here => Hill Sprints for Fast Fat Loss.

People ask me all the time what training books I read and recommend.

Well, the most recent two I read were Dinosaur Training and Strength, Muscle, and Power. Both are by Brooks Kubik. If you want a no non-sense approach to training, I highly recommend both of these books.

Have you read them? What do you think about them? Tell me in the comments section.

Back to Training

After a wonderful weekend it was time to hit the gym again today.

Well, everything but the deadlifts went really well. I'm going to have to change something up. And that something is probably going to be less volume on the deadlifts.

1) Deadlift - 255x1, 235 x 4 singles. Last week I pulled 255 for 4 reps, and pulling it for a single was a struggle today. That sucked.

2a) Standing Press - 85x5, 70x10
2b) Weighted Chinups - 20x6, bodyweight x 10

3) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 2 sets

4) Farmers Walk - 60 pound DBs, 4 trips

My strength was fine on all my lifts, except my deadlifts. I'll change things up next Monday.

More Hill Sprints

I knocked out today's hill sprint session early this morning, before the temperature reaches 100 degrees.

I did the sprints in the same manner as on Tuesday - moderate sprint up the hill, walk back down, and immediately sprint back up. Did that 8 times. Talk about working the lungs hard!

That's it for today, and now I'm looking forward to a nice, fun, relaxing weekend.

Eat smart. Train hard. Train heavy. Get results.

20 Rep Squats

I have been looking forward to today's training session for the past couple of days, and everything went very well.

1) Squat - 145x6, 105x20 Last week I did 95 for 20 reps, and should have only jumped up 5 pounds, but I felt good and decided to make a 10 pound jump this week. The weekly increases will be much smaller from here on out.

2a) Weight Parallel Bar Dips - 20x2x6 (20 pounds, 2 sets, 6 reps each), bodyweight x 12

2b) Bent Over BB Row - 115x2x6, 100x12

3a) Decline Situps - 3 sets
3b) Fat Bar Curl - 2 sets

Great training session. Time to eat, rest, and recover.

On the menu for tomorrow: hill sprints.

Make sure you check out today's post at The Fat Solutions => Lift Heavy. Get Strong(er) and Look Better. If everyone (men AND women) would apply this information, they would get incredible results. Guaranteed.

Hill Sprints

Yesterday I ran hill sprints, but I did them a little different than usual.

For the past few months I would run the hill sprints focusing on speed, and taking as much time as I felt I needed to be mostly recovered for the next sprint.

Well, since my main focus right now is increasing my deadlift and squat, I am backing down the intensity on my hill sprints.

Yesterday I sprinted up the hill at a moderate speed, walked back down, and then immediately sprinted back up. I did this 8 times. Not sure if it really matters, but the hill I run is quite steep, so I walk down in a zig-zag pattern to take some of the stress off my knees. Just thought you might like to know that. ; )

I'm running the hill sprints right now for a few reasons:

1) I like training outdoors, getting some fresh air and sunshine

2) They're challenging, which I like

3) I want to keep my heart and lungs strong.

As much as I love lifting weights, I want to also make sure my cardiovascular system is healthy and strong. Hill sprints are great for that.

Today I'll rest up and prepare for tomorrow's workout.

Deadlifts, Presses, and Chins

I had a great weekend. I played tennis (if you can really call what we did "tennis") and enjoyed the summertime sunshine.

Today's training session went incredibly well.

Here's what I did:

1) Deadlift - 255x4 (all time PR; before this it was 250x3), 230x5, 195 on 4" step x 8

2a) Military Press - 85x5/4, 70x9

2b) Weighted Chin-ups - 15x2x6 (bodyweight + 15 pounds, 2 sets, 6 reps), bodyweight x 9

3) Farmers Walk - 60 pounds dumbbells - I did a few trips with these and my forearms are still screaming

Great training session.

Make sure you check out today's post at The Fat Solutions => And Then There Was One.

Squats, Dips, and Barbell Rows

Today's training session went incredibly well.

Along with the recent change in my training, I am also training in the middle of the day like I used to months ago. I have noticed that when I train in the early evening I have problems falling asleep. My training partner, on the other hand, trains better in the evening and falls asleep without any problems. This is just a difference between us.

After a thorough warm-up, here's what I did:

1) Squat - 145x2x5 (145 pounds, 2 sets, 5 reps), 95x20 (I haven't done high rep squats in a long time, and those were very tough).

2a) Weighted Parallel Bar Dips - 20x2x5, bodyweight x 11

2b) Bent Over BB Row - 110x2x7, 95x12

3a) Decline Situps - 3 sets

3b) Fat Bar Curls - 3 sets

The whole workout took about 45 minutes, excluding the warm-up.

Hill Sprints in the Hot Summer

This morning I went to the nearby park and ran 8 hill sprints up the large hill. This time I sprinted the hill at a more moderate pace, but I kept the rest period between sprints shorter.

Good times in the hot Summer sun. : )

I mentioned in my last post about my new training program. Well, make sure you check out today's post at The Fat Solutions => High Intensive Training.

I share a little more about what I experienced with my previous training program.

Walking the Line of Overtraining

Well, I got dangerously close to overtraining over the past few weeks, which I'm sure is because I was using too much volume combined with intensive training. (I'll talk more about this soon). I got a nice little cold last week, and my strength was completely zapped. It was tough just to walk up stairs, and my legs felt heavy and bodyweight movements were difficult.

So, that means it's time for a change.

I didn't train from last Thursday to yesterday, which gave me 5 days off.

I'm going to try something different. The one thing I have been learning a lot about over the past year is how my body is reacting and responding to training. Since I'm stronger and now an advanced lifter, I have to do things differently than I did when I was a novice and intermediate trainee. What I could get away with then, I can't get away with now without quickly burning out.

Here is how my current training program is going to look. I'll admit, this could change if I absolutely hate it and/or don't progress on my main lifts.

Monday: Workout A (deadlifts, military, chins, etc)
Tuesday: Sprints
Wednesday: Off (easy walk)
Thursday: Workout B (squats, dips, rows, etc)
Friday: Sprints
Saturday: Sprints or fun activity
Sunday: Off

That obviously means I'm only going to be lifting weights twice a week. I'm hoping this produces good results because I don't feel like my body can fully recover from three hard weight workouts per week.

With that in mind, I had to perform yesterday's workout today because of a family issue that was far more important than training.

Today's workout:
1) Deadlift - 225x4, 195x5 (I haven't deadlifted in a couple of weeks, and so I eased back into it today)

2a) Military Press - 80x2x5 (80 pounds, 2 sets, 5 reps), 70x8
2b) Weighted Chins - 10x2x6, bodyweight x 8

3a) DB Bench - 40x8, 35x8
3b) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 3x6

4) Cable Pressdown - 80x10, 70x10

The deadlifts felt heavy considering 225 is probably a 12 RM for me, but I assumed the weights would be down after not pulling for a couple of weeks, and after getting over being sick.

Other than that every other lift felt good. I expect a much better workout next Monday.

As for my eating today:

Breakfast: 3 scrambled Organic eggs (organic eggs are not only better for you, they taste better to), sweet peas, fresh local grown tomato, and watermelon. Yes, it was a random meal, but very tasty. : )

Post workout: fruit and kale shake - frozen mixed berries, frozen blueberries, banana, some fresh pineapple, pea and rice protein, and a few kale leaves. Yummy goodness. And then I had a bowl of frosted mini wheats with almond milk.

Tonight's dinner: I haven't eaten it yet, but I made vegan Louisiana Red Beans and Rice.

More Hill Sprints & Upper Body Workout

Yesterday was an excellent day, training, eating, and everything else.

AM Conditioning:
Hill Sprints - ran the large hill at about 70% intensity 7 times

I much prefer to run hill sprints on an empty stomach. Having run hill sprints the night before reaffirmed that fact. : )

PM Strength Training:
1a) Floor Press - 110x3x5 (110 pound, 3 sets, 5 reps)
1b) Weight Chinups - 10x3x5 (bodyweight + 10 pounds)

2a) Weighted pushups - 25x2x10, 15x3x10
2b) Bent Over BB Rows - 100x3x10, 95x2x10

After that I did a few sets of curls and triceps extensions.

Okay, as far as what I ate yesterday:

Morning after sprints - fruit and spinach/kale shake: mixed frozen berries, mango, blueberries, banana, spinach and kale. I also ate some scrambled eggs.

Afternoon - same shake that I had in the morning and some cashews and almonds. It's definitely time to go to the store. : )

Dinner post workout - leftover Jamacian Picadillo and frosted mini wheats with almond milk. Yummy goodness.

This morning I went for an easy 45 minute walk.

Training is going very well. I'm getting stronger which is the goal, so everything is working just fine.

Hill Sprints

Yesterday I ran hill sprints. It was quite tough because it was very hot and humid outside, and there was absolutely no cloud coverage. That was probably the closest I've come to puking while training.

Hill Sprints - Large Hill 6 times

If you want more information on hill sprints, check this out => Hill Sprints for Fast Fat Loss

As far as what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast - fruit and spinach/kale shake: frozen mixed berries, fresh pineapple, banana, pea protein powder, and spinach and kale. I also had a handful of cashews

Lunch - this was completely random: strawberries, grapes, plum, peas and corn

Dinner - Jamacian Picadillo, grapes, and some cashews

Today I'll run some hill sprints again this morning, and then I train upper body tonight.

Squats and Deadlifts

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend. I had a great time hanging out with the family and enjoying some good food.

I was going to run hill sprints this morning, but since I stayed up later than usual last night I decided to go for an easy 60 minute walk instead. I'll do the hill sprints tomorrow.

Today's workout went very well:

1) Squats - 135x5x3 (135 pounds, 5 sets, 3 reps), 115x5 I kept the weight lighter than usual because I'm running hills 3 times per week, and I'm really focusing on my form and speed.

2) Deadlifts on 4 Inch Step - 155x2x10, 145x10, 135x2x10 Nothing too crazy here. Just did lighter weight with a higher volume for a change of pace.

3) Hanging Leg Raises - 4 sets

I'll go ahead and share what I ate today too.

Morning meal after walk -- fruit and spinach shake: frozen mixed berries, fresh pineapple, banana, a scoop of pea protein powder, and a couple large hand fulls of fresh spinach. Tasted awesome. I promise you can't even taste the spinach.

Afternoon -- two bananas, fresh strawberries and blueberries, handful of cashews

Dinner after workout -- Jamacian Picadillo (I might post this recipe soon) This is made with various spices, blackeye peas, brown rice, tomatoes, red bell pepper, jalapeno, green peas, almonds, onions, and raisins. It sounds weird, but it's delicious.

I also had a small bowl of frosted mini wheats with almond milk, simply because I'm addicted to it.

That was it for today. Time to rest up, enjoy the evening with my baby and my dog, and get ready for hill sprints tomorrow. : )

Military, Chins, and Dips

Yesterday was an overall wonderful training day. The deload week did was it was supposed to.

AM Conditioning:
Hill Sprints - 6 sprints. I ran the large hill at the park

PM Strength Training:
1a) Chinups - 43 total reps
1b) Military Press - 75x3x5 (75 pounds, 3 sets, 5 reps), 65x2x9

2a) Parallel Bar Dips - 4x8
2b) DB Row - 65x10, 60x12

Quick workout, but I got a lot accomplished.

Today I'll run hill sprints again and take tomorrow off.

It's been suggested that I also post what I eat on a daily basis. Is that something you want to know about? Just tell me in the comments section.