Weak streak

Tuesday’s early morning gym workout this week was another reminder of how short is my middle-aged man strength shelf-life.  

Here today and gone tomorrow best describes about what I’m talking. 

I’ve settled in on the following twice a week workout plan for the next couple months.  I might modify it occasionally but believe it’ll continue being my strength and conditioning blueprint.

Day #1

Barbell overhead press – 3 to 5 sets of varying reps and progressive loads for about 15 total working reps.  Then  I’ll do an additional closing set with a barbell weight of about 70 percent of my one-rep max for as many reps as possible – usually 10 to 12 reps but always striving for 15 reps.

Weighted standard-grip pull-ups – about 5 sets with progressive loads for about 15 to 20 total working reps.  Then I’ll do an additional closing bodyweight-only set for a near maximum rep effort – currently 10 to 12 reps but always striving for more.

Box jumps – about 5 sets of 5 reps with two inch progression in jump heights.  Currently I’m starting my box jumps at a 24-inch height and ending with a 32-inch height.    

Anaerobic cardio conditioning – Currently I’m doing ten rounds of kettlebell one-hand snatch work using a 35-lb. kettlebell.  One round consists of 10 reps with my right hand and then 10 reps with my left hand.  I generally try to complete these 10 rounds as quickly as possible.  My conditioning progression plan is to slowly reduce the rest time between rounds each workout.

Day #2

Dumbbell bench press – 3 to 5 sets of varying reps and progressive loads for about 15 to 25 working reps.  The next workout I’ll do barbell incline bench press work instead for similar reps and progressions.   I’ll alternate between these two exercises for each day #2 workout.

Bar dips – A single set for a maximum rep effort.

Barbell squats – I do mine of the full-squat vintage focusing on trying to maintain good upper-body uprightness; in other words, they’re not done power-lifting style.  I’m recovering from an injury so right now I’m doing 6 sets of 3 reps with a constant and light barbell weight.

Pullups/chin-ups – I do my “patented” 6-grip pullup/chinup medley for between 6 and 10 reps each set.  Lately, I’ve been doing them with a dead-hang pause between reps so this decreases my rep count per set.

Anaerobic cardio conditioning – I’ve come out of running retirement again now that I’m feeling better after healing from an injury but I’m still being cautious. 

Basically what I do on this day is high-intensity interval training running on a treadmill.  After a two-minute walking warm-up, I’ll perform 8 to 10 rounds of running work lasting 60 seconds currently after which I’ll walk for 60 seconds.  Each running round is faster than the previous round.

As I get more running conditioned, I’ll  increasing the running workout time and decrease the walking recover time while keeping the total rounds about the same. 

That’s what I’m currently doing and it’ll get the fitness job done for me until I’m ready to make a change and do something else.  It’s all good so I just have to show up and do it.

But every now and then and sometimes more in my strength and conditioning journey, like last Tuesday’s workout, I’ll have a weak streak.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum