Dec 2023 Training Log

01 Dec 2023

PullUps: 10, 8, 8

Flt back to SG

02 Dec 2023

Run: 4.08km, 5:54/km, ❤️138

PullUps: 10, 8, 8, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5

03 Dec 2023

Proprioception Training 1 hr

💎PU: 25, 25, 25, 25

04 Dec 2023

LsCU: 5, 5, 5, 5

Str.Bar.Dip: 15, 15, 15

☠️CrusherPU: 5,5 ,5

Pullups: 10, 8, 8, 5, 5, 5 (7:30min)

AirSquat: 35, 35, 35

BalanceBoard: 20 mins

05 Dec 2023

Elbow Dips:10,10, 10

Gym (Back)

Deadlift (myorepping)

40kg x 15 (warmup)

60kg x 12 (warmup) 

(myorepping, 20 sec interval)

60kg x 10, 06, 06, 06, 05

Lats Pulldown

45kg x 15

54kg x 10

64kg x (6) 

64kg x (6+1)

68kg x 04 

64kg x (07  +1 partial)  drop to

54kg x 03

Seated.Cable.Row

45kg x 15

50kg x 12

54kg x 10

Dumbbell Row

15kg x 10

20kg x 10

25kg x 10

PullUps: 8, 6 8, 7, 8, 6

06 Dec 2023

Run: 7.22km

07 Dec 2023

🐲🚩: 10, 10, 10

Str.Bar.Dips: 15, 15, 15

Pullups: 10, 10, 10, 10

Break

08 Dec 2023

🐲🚩:10, 10, 10

LsCU: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

☠️Crusher.PU: 7, 7, 10

Stretching 20 mins

Bal.Trg: 30 min

FloatingSquat: 5 x 5

09 Dec 2023

WarmUp

🐲🚩:10, 10, (9+1)... str.line.🚩

💎☠️CrusherPU: 5, 5, 5

Dips: 15,  Elbow Dips: 8, 8

Smith.M BPress: 50kg x 15 x2 sets

Gym (Chest)
Flat.BenchPress (myoreps testing.04)

(20sec in betw),  (orange = almost fail)
MYO-01@ 50kg: 15, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7

MYO-02@ 60kg: 12, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4 

DBPress (incline)

22.5kg x 12

25.0kg x 10
27.5kg x 08

30.0kg x 06

32.5kg x 04

Pullovers: 10kg x 10,  15kg x 10 x2sets

Round The World x5 (red = failure point)

(1min interval) (Skip 💎Pushup today)
7 Pullup-15 Dip,          10 Std.PU

7 Pullup-11+1+3 Dip, (4+3 +3) Pushup

7 Pullup-10+2+3 Dip, (7+3) PushUp

7 Pullup-12+2 +1Dip, (7+3) PushUp

7 Pullup-11+3+1 Dip, (4+6) PushUp

10 Dec 2023

TOTAL BREAK DAY

11 Dec 2023

Full Day Audit, HLF/Zott

💎PU: 25, 25, 25

... before dinner

12 Dec 2023

Audit, HLF/Zott

PullUps: 1, 15, 8, 8, 8, 5

13 Dec 2023

Audit/Plantation Tour

Ring PullUps: 10

Elbow Dips:7

LScU: 5

14 Dec 2023

PullUps: 46

15 Dec 2023

🐲🚩: 10, 10, 10, 8, 7

PullUps: 2, 8, 8, 7

PullUps [10kg]: 7, 6, 6, 4, 5, 4

🦐Squats: 5/🦵 × 6

16 Dec 2023

Dips: 10, 10, 15, 15

LsCU: 5, 6, 6 ,6, 6

NPullUps: 6, 3(L), 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

Str.Bar.Dips: 10

💎PU: 25, 25, 25, 25

17 Dec 2023

Elbow Dips:  10, 10, 5

@Gym: Arms Day

Superset: RopePDown+[EzCurl(Wide-Narrow]

20 × 32kg + [15W, 10N x 15kg]

20, 05 × 32kg, 23kg + [15W, 10N x 20kg]

20, 05 × 32kg, 23kg + [15W, 10N x 20kg]

16, 07 × 36kg, 27kg + [15W, 10N x 20kg]

RopePullDown: 

10 × 41kg     

06, 03 × 45kg, 36kg

10 x 45kg (M-bar)

Tri-EZ☠️Crusher+ [Narrow+Wide]

15 x 20kg + 7 wide

14 x 25kg + 5 wide

15 x 25 kg + 3 wide

Tri-DB.OverHeadPress

18 × 20kg.     09 × 27.5kg

10 × 25kg.     10,10 × 25kg, 17.5kg

RevEZCurl (forearm, brachialis)

DB.HammerCurl

RevTriPull (setting.height@20)

Bar:    14, 15, 15 x 41kg

DB.BicepCurl

15/s x 10kg 

10/s x 12.5kg + EZ@17.5kg x 10

10/s x 12.5kg + EZ@ 20kg x 7

Superset  PullUps: 7, 7, (6+1)

18 Dec 2023

Run: 10.01km, 6:47m/km, ❤️130

19 Dec 2023

🐲🚩: 10, 10

BalanceBoard: 30mins

PullUps: 10, 10, 10, 10

PushUps: 25, 25, 25, 25

PullUps: 10, 7

20 Dec 2023

PullUps: 3

21 Dec 2023

PullUps: 5, (10, 12, 10, 10), (8, 3)

💎PushUps: 25 × 4

PushUps: 39

22 Dec 2023

🐲🚩: 10, 10, (5+5)

Run: 6.03km

LsCU: 5 × 7

Str.Bar.Dip: 15, 10, (5+5l

23 Dec 2023

PushUps: 30 × 7

PullUps: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

24 Dec 2023

BACKrows: 20, 10
Elbow Dips:10,10, 10

Gym (Back)

Deadlift (myorepping)
40kg x 15 (warmup)

60kg x 12 (warmup) 
(myorepping, 20 sec interval)

60kg x 12, 06,  06,  05,  05
70kg x 05

80kg x 03+01+01

Lats Pulldown (V-handle)

45kg x 15

54kg x 12
64kg x (7) 
68kg x 06
68kg x 04
64kg x (07 +1 partial)  drop to
54kg x 03
Seated Cable Row

45kg x 15
50kg x 12
54kg x 09 + 01
Dumbbell Row
15kg x 15
20kg x 12
25kg x 10

Seated.Cable.Row

Pullovers: 10kg × 10,   15kg×10
PullUps: 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, (5+1)

25 Dec 2023

LsCU: 5, 5

Dips: 20, 20

26 Dec 2023

Run: 6.04km

LsCU: 5, 5, 3, 5

Dips: 10, 10, 10, 10

Pullups: 8, 8, 8, (6+2)

PikePU: 10, 5

27 Dec 2023

LsCU: 5, 5

28 Dec 2023

🐲🚩: 10, 10, 10

LsCU: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 ,5

☆SUPERSET☆

[LsCU●Dips] : [7●15] ×5

AirSquat: 50, (35×10), (45×2)

💎PU: 25, 25, 25

PullUP: 7, 7, 7, 7

29 Dec 2023

Run: 6.01km

PullUps: 7, 7, 7

LsCu: 5,5, 5, 5

PushUps: (20*5)+(40*2)+(44+6+40+30)+(30+30)

30 Dec 2023

PullUps: 10, 13, 10

LsCu: (8+8+8)+((8+8+(5*6))+(6*3)). "The-Grip"

Dips: 11, 11, 11

PushUps: 20 x 7

AirSquat: 25 x 4, 50 x 2

31 Dec 2023

PushUps: 20 x 30

To Creatine or not to Creatine... (III)

 Arms Day and creatine talk again...

Still going by comparison by weight moved, sets and reps...

Table is getting longer by now.... going forward it probably make more sense to just compared most recent 2 workouts like this...

Although everything is still subjective but sets and reps looks to be even less useful. Only the total load moved per session is a better indicator when evaluating. E.g. in the last line if it was 5 circuits of Round The World-- that will only still count as 5 sets. but break it down-- it's actually 15 sets of 3 different exercises in total. Or for that matter-- 5 sets of RTW would have a way higher count when tallying total reps. The key difference is therefore on the load/ weight moved around that can directly be related to energy expenditure and as a better indication of progressive overloading in training.

In any case, yesterday's session was after a rather heavy dinner the night before with lots of meat which no doubt would have filled the body with sufficient creatine naturally. 

But in reality-- the session itself was a huge mental grind... The sole "motivation" was really because of this series of writing and I just wanted to have as much data for comparison. Psychologically, I was pretty shot and not really in the "mood".

Recording the workouts will definitely be ongoing but may or may not continue with writing this series further.

Reckon there is already sufficient information in my mind by now. Creatine supplement or not---- it all boils down to having consistently good nutrition and sufficient rest before an all-out day at the gym. Creatine powder supplement sure works as a boost be it real or a psychological effect making one think that it helps. Of course the science is all out there to "prove" that it helps and I am not doubting it. However, steeling the mind before workout and setting that part right will be more crucial to a fruitful session is my final conclusion.

 

 

Chest Workout & Myorepping (I)

 

This one follows up in the same style as what I have done with 2 previous articles to compare on Arms Training and Creatine. But with a different bodypart and a training method for benchpress called Myorepping, that I came to learn recently, from the youtube channel Renaissance Periodization.

 

What's the point? Like so many other training methods, often it is about slotting in a quick workout with the least amount of time involved. I have been experimenting with dropsets, supersets and trisets, the last of which is also a part of my current chest workout at the gym but based on bodyweight exercises as the finisher with the Round The World triples of Pullup, Dips and Push

 

Quick cap of MyoReps  Not going into too much details here as it can be read up or watched with a search or the links above.

• Use a weight/ load that is approx 40-60% of your 1RM (1 Rep Max)
• Hit first set to 1-2 reps short of failure, rest 15-30 secs and continue repping out about half of the first set. repeat 4-5 times until last set is a rep shy of the last few or thereabout 

for

• Quality volume
  
• Time saving
  
• Adding challenge to training-depth
  

 

So as it can be seen from the table above-- my specific Chest days with weights are pretty simple. I might add flies later on but for now based on post exercise fatigue and energy level and corresponding strength increase, it's is quite effective for me until time comes for further changes/ add-on. 

KISS... Keep It Simple & Stupid. Very often we fall into the trap of being overly complex and adding on more and more stuff. I'm gravitating back to old school mentality for resistance training. Fundamentals is  key and all it takes is 2-4 exercises... but just have to do it with sufficient intensity/ volume. HIT IT and hit them all hard--- Balls-to-the-Walls!

But why are your gaps in between training so long?

Ah... of course this is not all-- my daily (mainly) bodyweight workouts are all part of the equation... Remember, push, pull, dip, squats and more are still my daily go-to.

First column, 5th Oct 2023 of the comparison above is a little off. Had to wait for the bench press station to be vacated and did a number of machine press to kill time. Which in the calculations below kinda skewed things. Hence I'm concentrating on the difference between the second and third workout.

"Analysis" Pullovers are not added into the numbers here as this is an auxillary exercise to stretch and open up the pecs and shoulders from all the pressing motions... consider it more as a mobility exercise-- and a damn effective one if you have shoulder issues like me.

Kgf exerted is based on the reps per exercise x weight lifted and for bodyweight exercises is based on fraction of bodyweight per bottom of table.

Again similar to the Arms comparison articles there is no perfect way to evaluate the actual load/ effort of each exercise. Everything's done according to my best guess estimate/ and simplistic formula.

It felt tougher yesterday than the previous session and thought maybe I was a little off. However, looking at the numbers now.. indeed the workout was of a higher intensity due to some pre-exhaustion, knocking out 35 Elbow Dips while walking to the gym. 

Benchpress and Dumbbell Press were +/- about the same on both days. But I was pushing on with the finisher 5x triset of Round The World (RTW) harder yesterday... Effort and failure point also indicate these were slightly stronger yesterday. Although that wasn't how it felt...I felt weaker when doing it

Hence another thing about noting down all these data is it gives a much more "objective" view instead of relying on memory from gut feeling. Imagine trying to track all these from memory two weeks later!

 

Conclusion? Not enough data for now but myorepping + triset combo seems to be working so far in my Chest program. On average I'm in and out of the gym in an hour-ish. On the myorepping itself-- still trying to workout and optimize and the load/ sets and reps to be used. Not sure if I'm exactly doing it right and will warrant some further reading up on the topic and examples from others..

Together with training arms at the gym and this-- strength and size has definitely been on the increase the past 2 months (given that my daily bodyweight resistance training is treated as a constant with slow progressive increases by now). Next will need to program my back and legs gym day training for a more complete and structured approach

Shoulders?-- Still working on mobility and will be going with more shoulder specific bodyweight exercises like skull crusher and pike pushups first. One thing at a time... too many areas, too little time.

 

 

Elbow Dips

ELBOW DIPS! 

A move that eluded me an entire year since attempting in Sep-Oct 2022... My left shoulder of course is anything but stellar during all this time. Over-training left me too exhausted to try and do this move much even on days when the delt wasn't acting up like a b!atch.

For the longest time-- lowering the elbows without buckling halfway was just impossible Fast or slow-- it made no difference... I simply plop like a sack of sh!t on the way down... until

23 Sep 2023 -- First ever... 5 reps of Elbow Dip

 

Figured out the trick by myself. Watched a few more videos of others afterwards only to realize it's all shown but I was just too thick to see it! -- The "trick"? Move forward when getting ready to drop the forearm and elbow down to the back. This will lower the loading force. Swing upper body rearward to get the momentum for punching forward before rising back up!

Once that was wired in the thick slow skull of mine--- it was just a matter of adding new mind-body connections, mostly in the shoulder area. One thing I refuse to accommodate where possible is swinging the legs to get more momentum (but I might change my mind when it comes to the next variation, the Russian Dip for smoother transition in the movements).

 30 Sep 2023 -- 8 reps...

Immediately after the first ever 5 reps, I set an Intermediate Goal for the Elbow Dip - 10 reps in 1 set 

Not too concern about the flow and smoothness at this point. Its all about getting it done with enough strength muscling through the set for 10...

Progression came quick-- 8 reps a week later despite that day being pretty tiring from all the workouts during the week...

04 Nov 2023 -- 9 reps in a set.. "Close but no Cigar"

Oct was a busy month with Anuga and post traveling workload. I had only been doing the Elbow Dips at this green dipping bar on my way to the gym. And gym time was at a minimal, so no meeting the green dip bar in Oct..

Finally after a 5 week hiatus, crank out 3 sets last week. 7, 8 and last with 9 reps.. ALMOST!

 

 12 Nov 2023 -- 12, 12, 11  -- Intermediate Goal of 10 - UNLOCKED!

And today it happened-- way better than expected. Maybe the last 2 days of giving Pull training a miss was a good idea-- rest up and got this one done today.

3 sets with 12, 12 and a final 11 reps. First set was "shaky" and poorly controlled-- but take it as a warmup set.

Lots of people use the term interchangeably with a different variation, the Russian Dip which is where the elbow is flared out and contact point on the bar is actually more of the upper arms; biceps/ triceps before pushing back up. The Elbow Dip as the name suggest is where the elbow and forearms form the contact points in the lowered position. Both of course need the wrists to be gripping the bar

The Russian Dip is harder with a bigger ROM (Range Of Motion) and a little more awkward leverage. Hence its better to start with the Elbow Dip and work up to the more difficult actions of the Russian Dips.

 

Probably will try the Russian Dip in the next few days but not in any hurry. Looking through all the video analyis of my Elbow Dips-- think I spotted areas of improvements that will make it better and carry over to other variations.

• Tighten up core and legs further.
• Increase control / connection with lats, pecs and traps to utilize these when in motion
  
• Focus more on back muscles and not just the explosive hinging from the shoulders alone
   

L-sit Chin & Pull Ups

 

 In the quest for "perfection" in form...for the L-sit ChinUps (and L-PullUps later)

Nov 2022--- As usual, like everything else, it all started out looking like 3-dit 4-dit and a 2-dit Dah.. aka SH!T in Morse speak.

Crooked legs, arms definitely not fully extended at the bottom

Hip flexors were not even close to having the requisite base strength level. The struggle to simply keep the legs up was real!

-- Goal Setting is the next important step. After reviewing those early vids, noted down

• (Nov-Dec 22) Keep Legs as straight and together throughout a set without dropping. (no emphasis to the angle yet)

 

which evolved to focus on better toe extension while at it. Target: 1 set of 7 strict L-sit ChinUps with legs straightened

• Jan-Feb23 - Further tightening up of the legs But realized arms cannot be fully extended without legs dropping.

• ~May 2023 - Starting to get the first couple reps with better arms extension while keeping legs up

Next few months did not see much improvement. Keeping legs totally straight by now is not the issue. But the angle still tend to move into a "V". Also noticed from watching videos.. I was curving my upper body a lot. Reckon the two goes hand in hand.

Next goal was to keep the body as close to vertical throughout the reps/ set.

• 02 Nov 2023 Finally... but body curvature while moving up is still not sufficiently controlled.
  

... A week later

Took a few days away from L sit Chin Ups. Can feel the diff with bar at home today. Best set came from having similar grip width as last few sessions in office. But form wise, not really much diff. Only thing was feeling a little stronger. Below showing first is the last of 5 sets and could hold the legs slightly better with full arms extension on all 7 reps. But it's darn near impossible to keep straight at 90⁰ throughout the entire ROM.

... to be continued

 

To Creatine or not to Creatine... (II)

 Continuing my very unscientific observation from the previous writeup, this is how it went yesterday. All 3 Arms Days in the gym were full on workout session on biceps and triceps. Normally my mostly body-weight daily workout doesn't see this kind of exertion on particular muscle groups as compared to gym/ weight days.

Had the creatine an hour before the workout. Tried to keep it similar as much as possible but deviation even at the "warmup" and while walking over to the gym was already making it hard to "clone" an exact workout for comparison.

Last comparison session on 30 Sep, I was relatively fresh at the start. Yesterday was pretty tiring considering last week's activities.  At the end of the session, could not find the strength to do my usual bodyweight-finisher  circuit routine of Push/Pull/Dips. Finisher super/ triset was aborted.

A chunk of yesterday's load would be noticeably from the first row which I consider as each session "warmup", comprising of combinations of dips and pullups/ LsitChinUps on the way or at the gym. 

Yesterday's appetizers before heaving the bar and plates were 4 sets of 10 strict dip rows and 3 sets of Russian Dips, (7, 8 and 9) followed by 7 x 3 sets of strict L-sitChinUps, which frankly was pretty exhausting at my current strength level.

Looking at the data today-- realized that I had gone way more, as marked by all the "extras" indicated  in the first two-third of the workout. Overall numbers on the load moved (kgf), sets and reps while probably not the most accurate estimates based on the way things are calculated, nevertheless is still the best I could objectively come up with for now.

 

 

 

Conclusion: Worked up this morning with the left shoulder still AF again but quickly taken care of by some 10 min mobility drills. Muscle soreness is at a minimum but let's see if there is an onset of DOMS by tomorrow. Seems like nowadays this is more frequent in my workouts especially after going back to the gym since Jul.

Does creatine work? Well at least for these last 2 rather heavy Arms sessions, it seems to let me pile on more each time. Maybe the next round I should try another similar session but without creatine.

2023 Oct Training Reflections

Oct 2023 fitness and training was all over the place. A week in Cologne for the Anuga Food Show with lots of drinking. Yes drinking. Something since Q1 of 2022 that I had largely eliminated.

Never been much of a drinker all my life but during the pandemic lock-down period-- found myself grabbing a bottle of whisky off the shelf to replenish just before the last one dries up in the house. Soon it kinda became a habit. 

Those 2 years also saw my highest running mileage ever and my cardio fitness was back right up there  to my ultramarathon days... so I thought a few drinks was ok. But when life returned to normal going back to office, that's when I it dawned on me that something was not right and I need to kick the bottle away.

So why this "binge" week during Anuga this time? Call it an experiment. First I can certainly still drink pretty copious amount but the fact is I really do not like it at all... Alcohol. Especially beer, it just smells rotten somehow. Call it overnight cat piss, reconstituted baby puke or whatever, that's how I see it.

Sleeping heart rate and sleep data were pretty messed up for that week and a few days after... Didn't like seeing what I had to record on my tracking file...

 

The quantity in that one week is probably 15-18 times more than the total consumed between Apr 2022- Sep 2023!

So-- for the final time/ experiment to prove, with data and numbers... I'm absofrigginglutely done.

 

NOT TOUCHING ALCOHOL FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Been there, done that. Certain that there is nothing to miss. 0%-Proof Life from now on.

If anyone now at social gathering be it personal or work asks me-- I'm just gonna show them this blog article.

Nothing much significant otherwise for the month,

The focus has been further tightening up on the forms in all the staple exercises. Noticing improvements in different areas. Things got better as the nagging shoulder issues had finally subsided to negligible levels. Gotta say, convalescence while still continuing with daily training is quite a challenge for the past year with lots of volume/ intensity tempering and tweaks trying to progress while recovering at the same time

Doing things strictly means having to drop the volume as each rep is now intensified requiring longer time and concentration to do it properly. That got me trying to "catch up" with my monthly quotas again towards the last ~10 days of Oct as the gap was wide compared to Sep totals, for each of the tracked "Daily - Salad" menu.

Guess I really shouldn't be too concerned. These "numbers" aren't the same as say, trying to max out in a set type of challenge nor chalked down as some ego boosting statistics. But having ingrained myself with this month-to-month comparison for over 1.5 yrs now, it's a little hard to shake it off from the skull.

Pull-ups were the most lacking in Oct-- so in a spur of the moment on the 28th, I decided to knock the remaining lag against Sep out of the park in one fell swoop, a 1-hr PullUp session. 

Didn't do quite as well as I thought. Overestimating and expecting ~300 reps but managed only a paltry 238. No training or whatsoever this time for the session and the only prize medal is a big-ass blister on my right palm. I might re-visit this in maybe 6 months time or +/- a little and do it on the day that marks my 54th year on Planet Earth.

Proprioception gotten a lot more fun with improved functional fitness on the new balancing board  bought in Sep. It serves as a great  aid during warmup to the daily workout session even if nothing else. Definitely a good investment and fun toy to my scant but sufficient home arsenal of training equipment. A Minimalist's pride.

Mini sub SMART GOALS I have written up in Sep. Self tests been done in most of the things listed except.... next 2.4km run due in mid Nov...

This new "fitness-gauge" comprises of Cardio, Strength, Flexibility and Balance" markers. Mobility is already by default in some of these so no specifics on this fitness component included here. These tests will probably be tweaked further over time like most things I came up with...

Goals can and will change as we embark on a journey once we set out-- but sub goals and way-point mapping along the way is still a must not to get lost.

and a constant reminder from one of my 2 favorite tag lines in life...

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL