Dec 30 – Jan 5 Training Log
Last week was… eventful. Between the New Year holiday, saying goodbye to my job/home gym, and getting started on some of my own personal work projects (like this blog), there’s been a lot going on!
I’ve been struggling with finding the motivation to train while between events, and I don’t have anything serious on the immediate horizon, so I had to rethink my purpose in training. Right now, my goals are really just to train consistently, to feel good, and to regain some mass I lost while sick and then training for the marathon.
Since the 30th, I’ve trained in five different locations and pieced workouts together based on how I was moving that day. I have some rough outlines for strength training, but everything else I’m making up as I go along.
Of the six workouts I did last week, exactly two of them were “to plan.” And that’s totally okay. I sometimes struggle with being flexible in my training. The story I tell myself: if I didn’t do it perfectly, it didn’t count, and I should feel bad about it. How is that helpful in any way? What do I gain from allowing that narrative? Is this what my ideal self would do?
The answer to that last, most important, question is clearly no. So I chose to let that idea go. I got to the gym six days last week and that alone is huge. I enjoyed each and every workout (though the one done at Crunch Fitness was a little rough, I’ve never felt so out of place in a fitness space before). I challenged myself with movements that are hard for me, and made sure to include the things I love the most as well. Some examples:
Monday (one of my last days at work): felt pretty tired mentally, didn’t want to train, ESPECIALLY didn’t want to squat. Felt the resistance, did it anyway.
| Sets | Reps | Weight | ||
| 1 | SSB Paused Squat | 4 | 5 | 155, 175, 175, 175 |
| 2a. | Snatch Grip Deadlift | 4 | 8 | 185 |
| 2b. | Box Jump | 4 | 5 | 24” |
| 3a. | BB Hip Thrust | 4 | 10 | 185 |
| 3b. | Hanging Leg Raises | 4 | 10 | – |
| 4a. | Banded GHR | 4 | 10 | Red mini |
| 4b. | Strict Back Extension | 4 | 15 | – |
Wednesday (New Years): was feeling heavy on my first day off, but trained in a new place with good people and ended up having a great session.
| Sets | Reps | Weight | ||
| 1 | Bench Press | 4 | 6 | 145 |
| 2 | Slow Eccentric Push-Press | 5 | 6 | 85 |
| 3a. | Standing T-Bar Row, Paused | 4 | 10 + 1 drop set of 30 | 100 |
| 3a. | Cable Tricep Pushdown | 4 | 10 + 1 drop set of 30 | 70ish? |
| 4a. | Wide Grip Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10 + 1 drop set of 30 | No idea |
| 4b. | Cable Curl | 4 | 10 + 1 drop set of 30 | 60ish |
| 5 | Lateral Raises | 4 | 12 | 20s |
Saturday: a garage gym, thrown together, all-around fun session.
| Hub & Spoke Style | Sets | Reps | Weight | |
| 1 | Close Grip Feet Up Bench | 9 | 5 | 115 |
| 2a | DB Row | 3 | 8 per | 60ish |
| 2b. | Clapping Push-up | 3 | 5 | – |
| 2c. | Bench Dips | 3 | 15 | – |
| 3 | Band Pullaparts | 4 | 25 | Orange micro |
Now that I know my training locations, I can put together a rough plan using the equipment I’ll now have at my disposal. More on that in a week!
