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21 Sept
Indoor climbing wall – 45 mins
Sauna & cold immersion – 40 minsThe sauna was great but a late meal and early start completely ruined what I’d hoped was a hugely restorative sleep.
23 Sept
Climbed Mount Snowdon (1086m) in 3 hours
I’m putting this here because while it isn’t upper body, it was taxing on my body and required some additional rest.
25 Sept
Pullup Retest – 25 reps
I still had a sense that my arms weren’t fully fresh, so while I’d hoped for more reps I’d like to give it a few more days and try again.
1 Oct
Pullup Retest – 25 reps
It’s actually quite impressive that I fail on exactly the same rep each time. That must be 6 or 7 efforts that have stopped at 25 and no further. I’m going to write up a review and publish an article and YouTube video on the experience.
WEEK 7
14 Sep
Pull / Stretch / Pull / Stretch / Pull – 25+5,22,18+4 (8 mins)
The final week is only three sets, with the others replaced by resting or stretching. I tried tricep and lat activations though most of the 8 minutes was rest. Surprised myself with the second and third sets, I expected to fade faster.
16 Sep
Pull / Stretch / Pull / Stretch / Pull – 25+5+4,20,21 (8 mins)
Seems like 25 reps is a sticking point. I don’t have DOMS as such, but I can tell when my arms need a rest and that’s been a case for a number of weeks. I remain optimistic that I can go beyond 30 reps but at this point 50 reps seems beyond me.
19 Sep
Pull / Stretch / Pull / Stretch / Pull – 24+7+4,24,18 (8 mins)
Third set was disappointing, I usually hit 18-20 in a row before dropping down to singles, but that set I did 18 reps then couldn’t do anything more. My grip definitely plays a part, some of the people doing 50 reps can hold for 7-8 minutes at once and my best was only ever 2 minutes.
The end. Of course I have testing, I’m away with work 21st-23rd so I’d tactically shifted my sessions by a day or two so that 3-4 days rest didn’t leave me testing when away. Honestly I could take a full week off given how overworked my arms feel. As I said, no real soreness but having done full time sprint training for several years I know when a muscle group is long overdue a rest.
I’m going to a spa on Wednesday evening which will hopefully lead to an enormous sleep that night. I will do some light stretching and prepare myself for a caffeinated max. reps attempt this weekend or soon after.
WEEK 6
6 Sep
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 25+5,15,10,15,15 (240 secs)
My second failure.. I sense a pattern emerging.
8 Sep
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 20+5+5+3,16,11,13,15 (240 secs)
I wondered if rushing the first reps is using more power than I need and if I start slow I could do better. This was very wrong and I was lucky to reach 20. I’ve been doing some other arm work this week and it immediately showed, my arms are really fatigued now and the final set was meant to be 16 reps minimum.
11 Sep
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 25+5+5,10,11,10,20 (240 secs)
Hollow Rock – 3 x 30 secsI needed an extra day and since I was at a wedding yesterday I didn’t have time for pull ups anyway. I had a nap this afternoon and trained early evening, so not peak strength. Very pleased with the session, trying a very slightly wider grip and going fast from the first rep. I expected a decent number at the end given the lower reps in the middle so 20 was excellent.
Next week it’s 3 sets instead of 5 with a big gap between each one. Having ended this week with a 20 rep effort I’m more confident about hitting 20+ next week. This whole week was below my best given the extra training I’ve been pursuing, so I’m confident I can get into the 30’s with my max effort once the program comes to an end.
Here’s the 25 reps in set 1 from today.
28 Aug
Thigh measurement: Left 56cm, Right 56cm
Countermovement Jump: 54cm
Around The Square – 3 x 4
CMJ – 5
A1 Back Squat – 5 x 75,80,85,90,95kg
A2 Tuck Jumps – 5 x 5
Hex RDL – 3 x 6 x 70kgSlightly down on my CMJ, thighs a bit bigger already though. I added complex training in the form of back squats and tuck jumps, reading Verkhoshansky’s work has reminded me to put it in.
31 Aug
A1 Back Squat – 5 x 80,85,90,95,100kg
A2 Tuck Jumps – 5 x 5
B1 DB RLESS – 3 x 8 x 15kg
B2 Split Jumps – 3 x 3 per legThat second superset was tough on the legs. After this week I’m going to be attempting a full winter of sprint training but I need a week or two to break me in and make sure if fits my schedule.
WEEK 5
30 Aug
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 22,13,11,10,17 (240 secs)
Hollow Body Hold – 3 x 25 secsExtended it out to 4 minutes rest as the first set really wipes me out. I s. Another personal best.
1 Sep
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 24,10,11,13,13 (240 secs)
I dropped abs here as I’m trying to let my body recover from all this volume. I don’t have aches and pains but I can tell on the opening set that I’m not fully fresh. I did the 24 but I’m letting my technique go a bit at the bottom of the rep in order to keep momentum.
3 Sep
Pull / Chin / Pull / Chin / Pull – 24+2,10,11,10,16 (180 secs)
My first failure, I rested 10-15 secs before completing the final two reps of the target 26. Technique was better here, slightly narrower arms to make it more natural going to elbow extension.
This feels like where I’m falling off track, but the way it’s programmed it’s rushing me from a highest working set of 19 up to 35. I still have 30,33 and 35 as opening sets and I wouldn’t be surprised if I continue to hover around 25 reps and have to make up the other reps.
The final set has also been to failure and the target is to match the first set, which this week has been 22, 24, 26. I’ve done 17, 13, 16 so I’m clearly off whatever pace the program writer had in mind.
