June 28, 2010

Day 179

Training

HIIT Cardio:

a. 4 min jogging

b. 8 x 20 sec effort/10 sec easy

c. 4 min jogging

d. 8 x 20 sec effort/10 sec easy

e. 4 min jogging

f. 1 x 1 min effort

g. 1 min jogging

Gym (30 sec recovery between sets):

1. Underhand-Grip BB Bent Over Rows 5 x 4-5RM

2. Overhead BB Squats 4 x 5RM

3. Weighted Dips 4 x 5RM

4. BB Ab Rollout 4 x 5

Post-Weights Cardio 20 min:

a. 14 x 1 min effort skipping/30 sec rest

b. 1 x 1 min effort skipping

Stretch 20 min.


Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: Ok, so I sleep every second or third day, with every other either no sleep or 1-2 hours. Not the most ideal situation, especially for recovery, but since I'm hardly training, then I guess until I settle into something a LOT better, it will do . . .

Mental Focus and Clarity: I have NOT been able to turn my mind off.

Energy: For the lack of sleep, I am surprisingly bouncy.

Mood/Aggression: It can only get gradually better.

Stress: My stress has spiked over the last few days and I am noticing the increase in cortisol.

Libido: VERY responsive.

Joints: Both wrists ache today, for seemingly no reason at all, especially on extension . . .

Endurance: Slowly noticing an improvement in my running.

Strength: An increase of 10 pounds per exercise from last week's numbers, so this is actually improving by leaps and bounds.

Quality of Training: Definitely feeling the extra weight when I am running and it is far from comfortable. Sprints could have been faster, but were as fast as I could make them . . . Resistance training was fine. Passed quickly . . . Feeling the impact in my left shin during skipping, with right calf cramping during the last two efforts . . .

Recovery: I can feel niggles in my body, but nothing serious if I tune them out.

Pump: Painful pump in left bicep and anterior delt during HIIT (not sure why) - so painful that I had to run with my arm in at my side, using my right arm to run only. Pump continued during resistance training.

Vascularity: Vascularity comes and goes throughout the day, depending on what I am doing, what I have eaten, and my body temperature.

Muscle Hardness/Density: There is a definite hardness in my arms now - the muscle gain there making it obvious.

Body Composition and Look: Over the last week, I have increased my arm girths by half an inch - lean mass, since my skinfolds in triceps and biceps remain unchanged from last week.

Overall Sense of Feeling: The last three weeks have not quite gone as planned, but I HAVE slowly been getting back on track and into training again. I am now 15 weeks out from competition and this time, I am NOT going to let anything get in the way!