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The holidays are quickly approaching, and this week’s training schedule has been very sporadic. While I missed two training sessions (Wednesday and Thursday), I am hitting deadlifts today! The fitness lifestyle has to be dynamic, and you have to be both accountable, committed, and flexible. If you’re in it for the long-haul, this is an important consideration to have, so that you aren’t frustrated with yourself when life tends to get in the way.
9:20am | Dec 23
I’ve been awake for about two hours now…cleaning up the blog and developing content for this post. As I said in the article preview, I missed a few training sessions this week. Since I can’t go backwards, I plan on getting to the gym around 10:30am 1:30pm for a deadlift session at the Hartford YMCA.
Today’s deadlift session is as follows:
warm-up:
my warm-up routine, then deadlifts at
95 x 5 | 120 x 5 | 145 x 3 |
5/3/1: 170 x 3 | 190 x 3 | 215 x 3+ |
boring but big:
deadlifts: 5 x 10 at 120
hanging leg raises: 5 x 10
For those of you who may not know, I have my own set of warm-up exercises I like to perform prior to the barbell warm-up sets. I’ve written a separate post on this warm-up routine as well as my 10-minute cool-down routine. While warming up and cooling down are “boring”, they are necessary to a successful training program. Warm-ups routines, when designed and executed properly, prevent injuries. Cool-down routines, promote recovery. Over time, injury prevention and proper recovery will help you get to the next level with your training.
So just do them.
11:30am | Dec 23
goal-setting and a look at 2017
I have a tendency to get sidetracked or distracted while I’m on a training program. That is why in 2017 I want to focus on being more mindful and living in the present.
#1: Do a little less planning of the future, and a little more commitment to now.
Of course, I also want to take my strength and hypertrophy training to the next level. By that, I want to achieve “elite” for all of the “big 4”.
#2: Hit the “elite” weight targets for my current weight. At a bodyweight of ~150 lb, this means a 1RM of 168 lb for bench, 237 lb for squat, 303 lb for deadlift, and 100 lb for overhead press.
Mar 2017:
Bench: 130 | Squat: 185 | Deadlift: 245 | Press: 70June 2017:
Bench: 145 | Squat: 205 | Deadlift: 260 | Press: 80Sept 2017:
Bench: 158 | Squat: 225 | Deadlift: 280 | Press: 90Dec 2017:
Bench: 168 | Squat: 237 | Deadlift: 303 | Press: 100
Body recomposition/fat loss always makes my list. I think the biggest reason why it’s been an “incomplete” goal for all these years, is my lack of consistency with diet and lack of programming my nutrition to complement my training goals.
#3. This year, I want to work on being more consistent with my nutrition and train to match my goals.
Here’s what the first half of 2016 will look like:
January: finish up 5/3/1 (strength block)
February - March: body recomp (blended hypertrophy-strength)
April - June: Cut for 10-12 weeks (hypertrophy training)
As much as I want to start cutting in January, I think it’s too soon to do so. I’d rather wait and put more weight on my lifts and start cutting early spring. Then if I decide I want to continue cutting in July (make it a 16 week cut), I’ll have the added time to do so. (Somehow cutting and summertime go hand-in-hand, so why not?) Plus, this go-around, I want to end up being ~18% and down about 15-20lbs (~130-135). Ideally, I want to set up a quicker, 8-10 week cut, and that’s certainly a possibility down the road, but for now, I’ll factor in 10-12 weeks.
food, training, more food
pre-workout nutrition
Even though I planned to train fasted today (and I like training fasted), I wasn’t able to get to the gym for 10:30am, and my stomach was very grumbly around 11am. Today’s pre-workout meal consisted of 5g of ON Gold Standard BCAA’s and a bowl of 1c. cinnamon chex with ~5oz of plain greek yogurt, 8g natural peanut butter, and 1/4c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
hitting deadlifts at my old gym
The Downtown Hartford YMCA brings back a lot of lifting/fitness memories. It’s where I had horrible back pain, some of my heaviest deadlifts, and good workouts with good people. I’m glad I was able to hit deadlifts there today. PSA: I hit 215 for 3! Even though it felt “heavy”, I think I need to get used to holding “heavier” weights. That’ll come with time and strategic training.
6:50pm | Dec 23
post-workout nutrition
I’m not a huge fan of supplements because most of them are unnecessary and expensive; however, you can read my “mini guide on supplementation” to help determine which supplements might be beneficial for you. Typically, I will take 5g of creatine, 3g of fish oil, and 5000iu of vitamin D post-workout, if I remember. Which lately, hasn’t been happening. I know this year I’m stressing consistency, so I’ll add that to my list of things to be more consistent with.
After deadlifts, I like to eat a lot of calories (anywhere from 450-800 calories). Mostly because I trained fasted, but also because it tends to be later in the day, and it’s much harder for me to eat 1000’s of calories after 4pm. So why not?! Today I made a bowl of cream of rice with vanilla greek yogurt, peanut butter, and marshmellow fluff. Pretty odd combo, but it tastes great! For dinner, we had haddock, sweet & white potatoes, and veggies. I plan to eat some more food pre-bed, just to top off my protein and carb macros.
I appreciate you sticking through this longer article. I will be back tomorrow with a post on my “ab routine” and some training progress updates. The goal is to hit bench press to catch up from the week I missed while I was sick.
More to come on this 5/3/1 journey… -QFB
As always, feel free to drop a comment or question below!