“No one in our society needs to be told that exercise is good for us. Whether you are overweight or have a chronic illness or are a slim couch potato, you’ve probably heard or read this dictum countless times throughout your life. But has anyone told you–indeed, guaranteed you–that regular physical activity will make you happier? I swear by it. ”
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Monday – Key workout
Readiness to train:
- HRV: 72(-4)
- Sleep: 8.5hrs (2300-0730)
- Quality: 8/10 – slept too long in my opinion
130pm – Lactate Threshold
- Treadmill Max incline
- Time: 60mins
- Average pace: 3.3mph
- Average HR: 160
Tuesday – active recovery
Readiness to train:
- HRV: 78(+6)
- Sleep:7hrs (2100-0400)
- Quality: 9/10 – wanted to wake up at 3 but couldn’t
800 – Active Rest
- Calisthenics
- 38 Burpees
- Single arm pull-up attempts
- Towel grip pull-ups
- Chin-ups
- Core work
- Handstand push-ups
- Bridge hamstring curl
- Front levers
Wednesday – key workout
Readiness to train:
- HRV: 79(+1)
- Sleep: 10hrs (2100-0700)
- Quality: 8/10 – slept waaaaay to long. Wanted to wake at 3 am again… Must discipline myself better.
730am – calisthenics
- 10min jog
- 38 Burpees
- Single arm pull-ups
- Towel grip pull-ups
- Front levers
- Core work (front n back)
12pm – Strength
- Warmup
- Heavybag work
- Bear crawls, crab walks, handstand tries
- Battle ropes
- 100 kettlebell swings 23kg
- Main Workout
- Supersets of:
- Power cleans, front squat, upright rows handstand push-ups
- Dumbbell Atlas carry, weight plate overhead lunges
- Cable Herculean hoist, cable sled pull
- Weighted dips, weighted pull-ups
Thursday: active recovery
Readiness to train:
- HRV: 83(+4)
- Sleep: 8hrs (2100-0500)
- Quality: 8/10 – woke up at 1plus, went back to sleep. At least i’m slowly starting to wake up earlier so I have time to do my work. Will try to sleep earlier too.
8am – Morning workout
- 20mins Easy jog
- Calisthenics
- 40burpees
- One arm pull-up tries
- Handstand holds
- Towel grip pull-ups
- Leg lifts
- Pull-ups
- Front levers
- Core work front
- Core work back
- Glute bridge curls
Friday – key workout
Readiness to train:
- HRV:77(-6)
- Sleep: 8hrs (2100-0500)
- Quality: 8/10 – my fight with the Z monster continues… Wanted to wake at 3am again but snoozed till 5…zzz.
8am – morning workout
- 20mins Sandbag carry
- 41burpees
- Calisthenics 1 Max set
- Single arm pull-up tries
- Towel grip pull-ups
- Handstand holds, donkey kicks
- Leg raisers
- Wipers
- Pull-ups
- Front levers
- Split lunge jumps
- Skater jumps
- Calf raisers
- Core work front
- Core work back
- Glute hamstring curls
4pm – Hill repeats
- 1mile warmup and cooldown
- 5 x hill repeats, rest on the downhills
- Notes: feeling some improvements. Past few weeks I’ve only been doing 4 repeats before I’m spent. Today I did one extra and even ran further up the mountain for 2 of the sets.
Journal
Once again this morning I lost my fight with the Zzz Monster. I’m thinking if I should even set an alarm at 3pm or just let my body sleep however long it needs and wake up naturally. It’s 840pm now as I write this. Hopefully I sleep soon. Tmr I shall set my alarm at 3am again and give it another shot.
Today I spent most of my day working on the Obesity module exam. Then the rest on a long afternoon nap and Black Friday shopping for my sg friends. Need to get some presents for Aunt Daphne and Uncle David to thank them for all their hospitality here in Phoenix. Tmr I shall try to finish the muscle Physio presentation slides and hopefully get some revision done for motor control exam on Monday.
Diet wise today I was pretty successful in sticking to this new diet i’m trying. Body feels cleaner and great! Only two meals today but they were big. Breakfast at 10am lasted me till 6plus pm and never once was I hungry.
Tomorrow will be another great day!
Saturday Nov 28th – Active recovery
Readiness to train
- HRV: 82(+5)
- Sleep: 8hrs (2100-0500)
- Quality: 8/10 – woke up at 3 actually but was tired and went back to sleep….
10am – morning workout
- 42 Burpees
- 20min jog
- Calisthenics
- Pull-ups
- Handstand push-ups, donkey kicks
- One arm pull-ups
- Front levers
- Towel grip pull-ups
- Leg raisers
- Leg twist
- Jumping split lunges, ski jumps, Max vertical jumps
- Calf raisers
- Spear throws
- Wall jumps/pull-ups
- 1-arm push-up
- Core work front and back
Sunday – Active Rest
Readiness to train
- HRV: 85(+3)
- Sleep: 6hrs (1hr afternoon nap + 2200-0300)
- Quality: 9/10 – didn’t have a very pleasant dream. Dreamt we drove to Vegas again but this time had multiple problems like a problematic rental car and lots of weird stuff happening in Vegas. On a separate note, I finally managed to wake up at 3am! Must have been the podcast I was listening to about how we should not let our feelings control our behaviors and instead think about what needs to be done. Feelings are uncontrollable. How we respond to them through our behaviors are I our control and subsequently influence our feelings as well.
630am – Morning active rest workout
- 43 Burpees
- ~10mins Sandbag carry (same route up the hill but tried jogging today)
- Calisthenics 1 Max set
- Sandbag upright rows
- Sandbag alt side rotational lunges
- Donkey kicks, handstand push-ups
- Pull-ups (single arm, db arm, chin ups, towel grip)
- Jumping lunges, skater lunge
- Sbj, max vertical jump
- Leg lifts, leg twist
- Front levers
- Pushups( single arm, close, Ned and wide arms)
- Core work (front and back)
Review of this week
This week I had 3 key workouts (harder than normal) and 4 active rest days. This is in line with my recent tweak in training program to alternate between key workouts and active recovery days. Its working pretty well as I am recovering okay and have enough strength and willpower to push hard on workout days. I am starting to pack on muscle mass pretty fast too. Have gained a total of 9lbs since arriving in Phoenix in August of which 3 of those pounds were gained in the last 3 weeks. 1 pound a week! I think its a combination of doing lots of calisthenics, weight lifting, heavy carries***, getting sufficient rest between each key strength session (3 days), eating loads of food (real whole foods, not supplements or processed snacks, basically lots of buffets haha) and stimulating my muscles through minor stresses such as my daily bodyweight workout sessions. Also, I time these workout sessions before meals (usually before breakfast so its done fasted too) to maximize the rate of muscle protein synthesis.
My body is also slowly adjusting to sleeping early and waking early. I try to sleep as early as possible these days (7-9pm) and I find that my productivity skyrockets when I get all the crucial assignments and revision done in the morning before school. I have also started incorporating a 30 min meditation session first thing when waking up. Usually if I want to wake up at 3am, I will set my alarm at 230am and meditate till 3am. When the alarm rings, I will usually feel really sleepy and the temptation to go back to sleep is enormous. I succumbed to the Zzz monster many times this week but I have figured a way around this. My rule when I hear the alarm now is to sit up onto my pillow, get into a cross-legged position and begin meditating. Almost always, the within minutes, the overwhelming fatigue I felt would disappear. In my opinion, the act of sitting up itself is the key here. I find that continuing to lie in bed thinking I need just 5 more minutes of rest will almost always guarantee I oversleep. Will continue experimenting next week and hopefully, develop a more concrete morning routine and habit.
JT 