WEEK 4
23 Aug
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 17,10,16,10,14 (180 secs)
Hollow Body Hold – 3 x 25 secs
I feel like hollow body holds are the most important of the three so I added a set and dropped any other ab work. I was really pleased with how I handled 17 reps, when I did my max of 18 I was down to singles from around rep 12, now I’m powering through to 15 or 16 before I need a break.
25 Aug
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 14,19,11,13,9 (180 secs)
Hollow Body Hold – 3 x 25 secs
I was at work so I did this over lunch at a Virgin Active. I necked a Red Bull before I started and it probably made me feel worse if anything. The 19 chin ups was one I thought might be a failure but I cranked them all out and maybe had 1 or 2 more in the tank. I saw the program overview later that day and that’s the most chin ups I’ll ever have to do.
27 Aug
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 19,13,14,13,11 (180 secs)
Hollow Body Hold – 3 x 25 secs
Casual personal best on the opening set, I made sure to go to full extension but I am getting some sort of stretch reflex from the way I’m doing them. I’m not sure I could do 19 with a short pause which is how I’ve been testing my max up until now.
The opening set now goes up by 2-4 reps for the next six consecutive workouts which feels hurried when you see it on paper. The positives are that I don’t feel overly fatigued and while some sets push me I’ve yet to fail in phase 2.