BWare's Intermediate Training Log

[Bruce Ware]

6/13 Measurement Sunday -- first one in a few weeks, with being away on travel etc.

Total weight -- (spot) 195.8 (-2.0 from 5/23); (week avg) 197.5 (-1.2); (long avg) 197.7 (-0.3)

LBM -- (spot) 176.9 (-2.4 from 5/23); (long avg) 179.1 (-0.4)
Fat -- (spot) 18.9 (+0.4); (long avg) 18.6 (+0.1)

Yields an est BF of 9.4% (spot for today was 9.6%).

Don't really know why things are going this way. Since the end of March, my body weight has fallen off a cliff -- I hit 203.0 on Sunday 3/21, and since then, it has been an almost un-interrupted loss of over 7 pounds -- about a pound-and-a-half of fat, and the rest of it non-fat (LBM) mass. Since my skeleton probably hasn't changed, I have to consider that most of the loss would be against my muscle mass and also some water-weight, sure. Walking more outdoors, getting a few on-the-water rowing days in the heat, and so on probably contributes. But I gotta wonder how much is this peak phase (high-intensity/low-volume) strength training affecting my mass?

Eating-wise, things have been pretty good, and I aim to be rigorous in my tracking, even when away from home so there may be some gaps or missed meals, but here's what the last 3 week records looked like:

5/23 to 5/29 -- 102/234/69 for 1965 kcals (yeah, that's pretty light eating, a lot of time on the road driving or in an airplane)
5/30 to 6/5 -- 124/270/92 for 2400 kcals (better and more in-line with my norms)
6/6 to 6/12 -- 122/279/95 for 2460 kcals

So, today starts the 2x3's week on the bench press, which should take me thru Friday, then start the 2x1's week. I'm getting a very good idea of a legitimate 1RM, which I should nail down before taking off for my annual camping trip. I will be trying to accelerate my training weeks to get 'em all in before that.

[Bruce Ware]

6/13 Session 22-1, Bench Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 3
135 x 3

working sets:

175 x 3, 3; 5 mins rest between; attempt at 4th rep on set 2 didn't get far enough up to count, so I stopped; next week's lift will go at 178 for 2 sets of 1, second set AMRAP; best thing that could be said at this point is I am getting a real solid notion of what my honest 1RM bench press capability is, and we'll see how it all pans out in a few weeks

Close-grip Bench Press -- 135 x 6 x 3; 2 mins rest between; no problem, go to 6 x 2 next week at 140

3-way Pull-ups -- 10 each

Duration -- training 31 mins; I didn't track this session as including any C&V, the extra exercises are auxiliary work

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/14 Session 22-2, Deadlift

Just for kicks, I elected to warm-up using the "pop-n-drop" technique; it worked nicely, had good bar speed and felt very solid. For my last warm-up and working sets, though, I went back to the standard set-up, since the pop-n-drop trial was to test how well I "packed" my scaps/lats/traps, and I feel that these have never really been a problem for me.

warm-ups:

135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 2

working sets:

340 x 3, 3; 5 mins rest between; no extra reps, but felt pretty good; next week will go to 345 for 2 sets of 1, second set AMRAP.

Romanian Deadlift -- 235 x 6 x 3; 3 mins rest between; no problem, 6 x 2 next week at 245

Standing BB Calf Raises (3-way) -- 135 x 40 x 3

Duration -- training 31 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/15 Session 22-3, Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
65 x 3
95 x 3

working sets:

135 x 3, 3; 5 mins rest between; no extra reps so I will do 138 for next week's 2 sets of 1, second set AMRAP

Seated Pin Press -- 105 x 6 x 3; 3 mins rest between; go to 110 for 6 x 2 next week

Duration -- training 23 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/16 Session 22-4, Squat (late entry)

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 3

working sets:

340 x 3, 3; 5.5 mins rest between; whatever the knee issue was last week is gone, so I was able to get to depth on these with no problem; no extra reps on second set, but my next weight will be 345 for the sets of 1

Leg Extensions (r-p) -- 155 x 18, 15, 8, 9

Seated BB Calf Raises (3-way) -- 205 x 40 x 3

Duration -- training 34 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/18 Session 23-1, Bench Press

Week of 2 sets of 1, with second set being AMRAP. I was going to do this yesterday, to push on ahead, but then realized that yesterday's session would have been my fifth consecutive training day, and elected to take a day rest instead. Felt solid and ready to go for today.

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 2

working sets:

178 x 1, 3; 5 mins rest between; felt very good getting 2 extra reps at this weight; next week's one set of 5+AMRAP will be at 174, which is 12 pounds heavier than my first week of 3x5 (I got 5, 5, 7 at 162) and 3 pounds heavier than my second 5's week of 2x5 (I got 5, 5 (no extras) at 171)

Close-grip Bench Press -- 140 x 6 x 2; 3 mins rest between

Lat Pull-downs (3-way) -- 80 x 15 x 3

Duration -- training 37 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/19 Session 23-2, Deadlift

warm-ups:

135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 2

working sets:

345 x 1, 2; 5 mins rest between; next week's 5+ will be at 338, which is 14 pounds heavier than my first week of 3x5 (324) and 3 pounds more than second week 2x5 (335)

Romanian Deadlifts -- 245 x 6 x 2; 3 mins rest between

Standing BB Calf Raises (3-way) -- 135 x 40 x 3

Duration -- training 32 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/20 Measurement Sunday

Tot wt -- (spot) 198.0 (+2.2); (week avg) 197.1 (-0.4); (long avg) 197.7 (nc)

LBM -- (spot) 177.9 (+1.0); (long avg) 178.9 (-0.2)
Fat -- (spot) 20.1 (+1.2); (long avg) 18.8 (+0.2)

Yields an est BF of 9.5%.

Body-part measures are still within usual range. Pinch tests also. I am glad I have recovered some of the poundage lost; the daily chart shows a nice flattening of the curve from the early part of the week, and these small drops indicate that things are stabilizing and possibly reversing trend.

Eating for the week -- 146/275/98 for 2565 kcals. Nice gain in protein uptake and will try to keep that trend going.

[Bruce Ware]

6/20 Session 23-3, Press

warm-ups:

45 x 5 x 2
95 x 3
115 x 2

working sets:

138 x 1, 3; 5 mins rest between; next week's 1x5+ weight will be 134

Seated Pin Press -- 110 x 6 x 2; 3 mins rest between

Seated Cable Row (3-way) -- 80 x 15 x 2 each way

Duration -- training 29 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

[Bruce Ware]

6/21 Session 23-4, Squat

warm-ups;

45 x 5 x 2
135 x 5
225 x 3
295 x 2

working sets:

345 x 1, 5; 5 mins rest between; super solid on the lift; watched my video afterwards, great depth and I looked very well braced; there was one rep on set 2 where I went a bit back on my heels, but I was able to drive out of it, get some good breaths to recover and continue; getting 5 reps on a 1+ AMRAP set means that I have to go to 350 for next week's 1x5+ single set. Also, I will correct my training weight for deadlift next week to 340, not the 338 that the math derived, just to push a bit harder.

Leg Extensions (18+ and 3 AMRAP r-p) -- 155 x 20, 12, 11, 10

Seated BB Calf Raises (3-way) -- 205 x 40 x 3

Duration -- training 32 mins; no C&V

No HR data collected.

NOTE for tomorrow (Tuesday): It will be the first day of the rowing club's "Raw Knuckles" camp for novices to join, and I volunteered to be one of the "expert" rowers for the camp. We're scheduled to do Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening, and Saturdays in the morning for 2 weeks. I expect to be rowing for 5 of the 6 sessions, taking Saturday 7/3 off.