Weekly Training Blog 5: Trying to compete only with myself

Sunday ended with a 90-minute treadmill session at a slow pace… while watching the directors of Rocky IV. (I actually RENTED the movie!) Great to get back to longer distance runs… not so great for keeping my nerves when staying up for the 49ers game that night!

Monday, Jan 31st
Having stayed in Wicklow Sunday night for football and getting my heart broken, again, I missed my weekly swimming lesson. But I did get back on track with a run and got my upper body workout done in the afternoon. I am really starting to feel my improvement in my chin-ups. Hitting reps of 10 today for 3 sets, it feels like the 15 rep set goal is not far away now!

Tuesday, Feb 1st
A light run in the morning in the rain before my afternoon shift was replaced with an ABC staff meeting, going through specific mechanics of barbell squats and bench pressing. Anyone that knows how I train, knows I have struggled with barbell squats for a long time. Loading up my spine with a barbell is usually asking for trouble. There’s nothing wrong with the exercise itself. I actually think it can be a great exercise for you… if it’s done correctly. The margin for error is a lot slimmer, in my opinion, in comparison to other lower body exercises that target the same group.

Having said all though, there was that competitive side to me that was struggling to cope with knowing that I have, by far, the weakest squat in the room. At 60kg for squats, it’s pretty poor by the standard in the room. But I know that as soon as I feel anything in my back, I stop.

Working on the bench technique, was much more enjoyable. An area where I have struggled in the past was getting my lower body involved in the bench. I never felt I was pushing off my legs like I should have been. With a tweak to my set-up, my legs were actually very uncomfortable benching… but I felt much more solid.

After the staff session and my work shift, I stuck around the gym to get back lower body session in. Leaving squats to the end of the lower body session, I couldn’t pass 60kg for 6. But then I decided to finish on the bench. Starting at 3 reps at 40kg, 3 at 60kg, 3 at 80kg before deciding, fuck it, and hit 100kg for one. A number I have not hit in years! A few weeks ago, I struggled at 85 for one, so the coaching changes made a huge difference. You can see the lift here.

Wednesday, Feb 2nd
Back to the upper body session, getting some pull-ups in the process. Not much else to write about this one, happy to keep the consistency going!

Thursday, Feb 3rd
My first attempt at tempo running in recent weeks after having problems with my Achilles and calves. And man did I struggle. I kept near a 4-minute pace for the first 5-minute interval. Way too fast, I know. But that goal of sub 20 5k has me pushing hard for it. After the 5 minutes slow jog, I could only manage a 4:15/4:20 pace for the second 5-minute block, feeling pretty tired. The legs were heavy, and felt very sore (probably due to the Tuesday night workout). so I skipped the last 5-minute tempo and had a slow jog back.

Getting nervous that I won’t get the PB in the middle of the month after talking about it on the podcast and having Rachael coaching me so far. It’s not looking great and it’s frustrating that I can’t stick to the programme as I should. But, we’ll keep going!

Friday, Feb 4th
With the legs feeling sore after the Thursday tempo run, I decided to wait until Friday afternoon to get this session in. Knowing my problems with my lower back, this session has a lot of core focus and trying to ease into lifts. I opted for the trap bar instead of a straight bar for deadlifts because of how I was feeling.

While the reps were not great, I also managed 6 reps of an EMOM on neutral grip pull-ups for 15 minutes. Overall happy with it, but my lack of shoulder mobility is prohibiting me from getting the full range of motion at the bottom of the pull-up.

Speaking earlier about alternatives to barbell squats, I performed one of those exercises, the rear foot elevated split squat (some refer to them as Bulgarian split squats) with a 5 second lower to really work on strength and owning the movement. An absolute killer… you should try it!

Saturday, Feb 5th
With some work needed on the farm, the long cycle after work was out. But that meant I would have time in the evening to get back at it! So with the tempo runs being a struggle, I kept the tempo up for the bike on Saturday night instead of with 3x10 minute pushes and 5 minutes recovery. I never thought I would see the day that I would spend an hour in the gym before a night out straight after it… and spend it on a bike instead of an arm pump. I’m taking that as a sign of maturity!

Sunday
Well, Sunday afternoon as I type this and I’m not too sure how a run will affect a perfectly good hangover. But I am hoping to muster up the courage and give it ago before a Sunday roast truly knocks me for 6.