Assessment of Last Cycle.
Still pretty consistent for walks, but not for lifting and conditioning. Started to find a groove in the late-morning/noon time slot. With my time-restricted diet, I found if I eat breakfast around 10am, then I’m good to lift 60-90 minutes later. By that time, my metabolism feels much more warmed up than if I had tried to lift first-thing in the morning.
On my walks I found subbing one hill for another added about 90 feet of elevation gain over about the same, two-mile distance. This is probably the most efficient route over two miles to get maximal elevation gain in my neighborhood. When I add another 0.8 miles to get in the neighborhood’s other really steep hill, along with a gentler one, to get in a total of seven hills on my “Roman Hills” walk, I only gain an additional 60 feet or so. With a two-mile walk, plus 30 minutes of lifting and, ideally, 10 minutes of conditioning, the whole workout takes about 80-90 minutes. By then it’s lunchtime.
For the lifting, I tweaked my Ramp protocol towards the end of the cycle when I began trying to get in 2-3 sets at the Target load. I felt like just one set at Target load wasn’t enough volume, even though the last two Ramp sets are very close in weight.
Goals for this (mini) Cycle.
Continue to work on consistency, starting off super light with the lifting until I find a good groove, then begin to push things a bit. Hopefully by the end of these coming four weeks, I’ll be doing the first training block’s Target load for three sets comfortably, and doing my Push-Pull conditioning on the machines for 5-10 minutes afterwards. Then go on a version of my hills walk.
So the plan is to do everything at once most of the time, starting late morning and then segueing to lunch, although as the temps drop, I may want to walk a bit later in the day when the day’s high has been reached, around 3pm here in the winter. Still, ideally, I’d get everything done at once with no further interruption.
---------------Week 1: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.05
EARLY AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft. Snowed a bit last night, so wore my Skinners. Success!
Monday, 21.12.06
Tuesday, 21.12.07
Wednesday, 21.12.08
MID AFTERNOON
Persistence
4.2 mi walk down by the river with dog and two old friends. 18F, 10F WC. My feet got numbed up pretty good by the end of the walk, even with Skinners on. Next time I'll wear socks.
Thursday, 21.12.09
Friday, 21.12.10
EARLY AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Saturday, 21.12.11
---------------Week 2: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.12
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2.5 mi "Woods, Fields, and Campus" walk with dog. It had been a while since I did this route. I went because I was already in the car after dropping of my son for sledding. We got 8-10 inches over Friday afternoon and night.
Monday, 21.12.13
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Tuesday, 21.12.14
LATE MORNING
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Wednesday, 21.12.15
Thursday, 21.12.16
Cabin trip on North Shore. Snow has all melted so no x-county skiing.
Friday, 21.12.17
Saturday, 21.12.18
AFTERNOON
Persistence
1.5 trail walk up to half-frozen falls with kids and dog in Tettegouche State Park.
---------------Week 3: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.19
Monday, 21.12.20
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Tuesday, 21.12.21
Wednesday, 21.12.22
NOON
Persistence
2.5 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog plus another hill to get back to car after dropping of son at rec check. 250ft. Walked the dog without a leash for most of the walk as it was borderline glove temp and I kept my hands in my pockets to stay warm. The dog did a great job of staying close. If not for other dogs towards the end of the walk, I could've walked her without a leash the whole way. We really lucked out with our pup. So docile and obedient with zero real training.
LATE AFTERNOON
Resistance
PD: 3 @ 100
OP: 3 @ 45
SQ: 3 @ 95
Trying to get back to it after way too much time off. Will start very light, and maybe eventually get back to a six-lift workout as discussed earlier.
Thursday, 21.12.23
NOON
Persistence
1 mi walk with dog, interrupted after dropping off son at Rec Center for bowling outing, and having to come back to give him money. Opps. So I just came home.
Friday, 21.12.24
Saturday, 21.12.25
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
---------------Week 4: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.26
EARLY AFTERNOON
Resistance
OP: 3 X 3 @ 45
PD: 3 X 3 @ 100
SQ: 3 X 3 @ 95
SLDL: 3 x 3 @ 135
RW: 3 x 3 @ 135
BP: 3 x 3 @ 95
Just focused on getting all six lifts in for full sets and reps. Man, my joints feel stiff as heck. It's going to take a while to get back to decent loads it seems.
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2.8 mi "Roman Hills" walk with dog. 270ft.
Monday, 21.12.27
NOON
Persistence
2.8 mi "Roman Hills" walk without dog. 270ft.
Feel nicely sore from yesterday's lifting. I'll probably stick to the EOD schedule for the rest of this week, see how it goes, maybe make that the new tweak for Cycle I of 2022.
Tuesday, 21.12.28
AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Wednesday, 21.12.29
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
LATE AFTERNOON
Resistance
PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160
OP: 3 @ 45/65/85
Shoulders are a little less stiff from Sunday. Still, taking it easy. Then it occurred to me maybe next cycle I could try a Upper/Lower Split. Hmnn, something to think about. My shoulders are the area that gets cranky with ED lifting, so with an U/L Split, they'd still get 47 hours of recovery, but I could still lift everyday. Doing all six lifts in one workout is still a little daunting, even if it's EOD.
Thursday, 21.12.30
NOONish
Resistance
SQ: 3 @ 45/95/135
Persistence
3 mi "Eight Hills" walk with dog. 285ft.
OK added another hill to round up to three miles almost exactly according to Google Maps and Map-o-Meter. My knees seem to be tolerating the greater distance well. My Skinners started to slip off. They need to go up higher on the ankles. So I got the Whitin Aqua Socks version yesterday, and they seem like an improvement. The material goes a little higher and the sock doesn't slip at all. My feet still get cold, but it's usually enough protect to keep them from any danger. Yesterday I wasn't quite sure though.
I was going to try a lower body workout, but got interrupted by my son needing a ride. When I got back, I went straight into the walk. But it seems like a Lower-/Upper-body split might work. Mentally, I definitely like having only two heavy lifts to do, might balance nicely with four less heavy lifts on alternate days. I guess I'll make that the plan for next cycle and see if it sticks.
Friday, 21.12.31
Moved a few couches.
Saturday, 21.01.01
Still pretty consistent for walks, but not for lifting and conditioning. Started to find a groove in the late-morning/noon time slot. With my time-restricted diet, I found if I eat breakfast around 10am, then I’m good to lift 60-90 minutes later. By that time, my metabolism feels much more warmed up than if I had tried to lift first-thing in the morning.
On my walks I found subbing one hill for another added about 90 feet of elevation gain over about the same, two-mile distance. This is probably the most efficient route over two miles to get maximal elevation gain in my neighborhood. When I add another 0.8 miles to get in the neighborhood’s other really steep hill, along with a gentler one, to get in a total of seven hills on my “Roman Hills” walk, I only gain an additional 60 feet or so. With a two-mile walk, plus 30 minutes of lifting and, ideally, 10 minutes of conditioning, the whole workout takes about 80-90 minutes. By then it’s lunchtime.
For the lifting, I tweaked my Ramp protocol towards the end of the cycle when I began trying to get in 2-3 sets at the Target load. I felt like just one set at Target load wasn’t enough volume, even though the last two Ramp sets are very close in weight.
Goals for this (mini) Cycle.
Continue to work on consistency, starting off super light with the lifting until I find a good groove, then begin to push things a bit. Hopefully by the end of these coming four weeks, I’ll be doing the first training block’s Target load for three sets comfortably, and doing my Push-Pull conditioning on the machines for 5-10 minutes afterwards. Then go on a version of my hills walk.
So the plan is to do everything at once most of the time, starting late morning and then segueing to lunch, although as the temps drop, I may want to walk a bit later in the day when the day’s high has been reached, around 3pm here in the winter. Still, ideally, I’d get everything done at once with no further interruption.
---------------Week 1: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.05
EARLY AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft. Snowed a bit last night, so wore my Skinners. Success!
Monday, 21.12.06
Tuesday, 21.12.07
Wednesday, 21.12.08
MID AFTERNOON
Persistence
4.2 mi walk down by the river with dog and two old friends. 18F, 10F WC. My feet got numbed up pretty good by the end of the walk, even with Skinners on. Next time I'll wear socks.
Thursday, 21.12.09
Friday, 21.12.10
EARLY AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Saturday, 21.12.11
---------------Week 2: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.12
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2.5 mi "Woods, Fields, and Campus" walk with dog. It had been a while since I did this route. I went because I was already in the car after dropping of my son for sledding. We got 8-10 inches over Friday afternoon and night.
Monday, 21.12.13
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Tuesday, 21.12.14
LATE MORNING
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Wednesday, 21.12.15
Thursday, 21.12.16
Cabin trip on North Shore. Snow has all melted so no x-county skiing.
Friday, 21.12.17
Saturday, 21.12.18
AFTERNOON
Persistence
1.5 trail walk up to half-frozen falls with kids and dog in Tettegouche State Park.
---------------Week 3: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.19
Monday, 21.12.20
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Tuesday, 21.12.21
Wednesday, 21.12.22
NOON
Persistence
2.5 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog plus another hill to get back to car after dropping of son at rec check. 250ft. Walked the dog without a leash for most of the walk as it was borderline glove temp and I kept my hands in my pockets to stay warm. The dog did a great job of staying close. If not for other dogs towards the end of the walk, I could've walked her without a leash the whole way. We really lucked out with our pup. So docile and obedient with zero real training.
LATE AFTERNOON
Resistance
PD: 3 @ 100
OP: 3 @ 45
SQ: 3 @ 95
Trying to get back to it after way too much time off. Will start very light, and maybe eventually get back to a six-lift workout as discussed earlier.
Thursday, 21.12.23
NOON
Persistence
1 mi walk with dog, interrupted after dropping off son at Rec Center for bowling outing, and having to come back to give him money. Opps. So I just came home.
Friday, 21.12.24
Saturday, 21.12.25
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
---------------Week 4: Cycle VII---------------
Sunday, 21.12.26
EARLY AFTERNOON
Resistance
OP: 3 X 3 @ 45
PD: 3 X 3 @ 100
SQ: 3 X 3 @ 95
SLDL: 3 x 3 @ 135
RW: 3 x 3 @ 135
BP: 3 x 3 @ 95
Just focused on getting all six lifts in for full sets and reps. Man, my joints feel stiff as heck. It's going to take a while to get back to decent loads it seems.
LATE AFTERNOON
Persistence
2.8 mi "Roman Hills" walk with dog. 270ft.
Monday, 21.12.27
NOON
Persistence
2.8 mi "Roman Hills" walk without dog. 270ft.
Feel nicely sore from yesterday's lifting. I'll probably stick to the EOD schedule for the rest of this week, see how it goes, maybe make that the new tweak for Cycle I of 2022.
Tuesday, 21.12.28
AFTERNOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
Wednesday, 21.12.29
NOON
Persistence
2 mi "New Five Hills" walk with dog. 207ft.
LATE AFTERNOON
Resistance
PD: 3 @ 100/120/140/160
OP: 3 @ 45/65/85
Shoulders are a little less stiff from Sunday. Still, taking it easy. Then it occurred to me maybe next cycle I could try a Upper/Lower Split. Hmnn, something to think about. My shoulders are the area that gets cranky with ED lifting, so with an U/L Split, they'd still get 47 hours of recovery, but I could still lift everyday. Doing all six lifts in one workout is still a little daunting, even if it's EOD.
Thursday, 21.12.30
NOONish
Resistance
SQ: 3 @ 45/95/135
Persistence
3 mi "Eight Hills" walk with dog. 285ft.
OK added another hill to round up to three miles almost exactly according to Google Maps and Map-o-Meter. My knees seem to be tolerating the greater distance well. My Skinners started to slip off. They need to go up higher on the ankles. So I got the Whitin Aqua Socks version yesterday, and they seem like an improvement. The material goes a little higher and the sock doesn't slip at all. My feet still get cold, but it's usually enough protect to keep them from any danger. Yesterday I wasn't quite sure though.
I was going to try a lower body workout, but got interrupted by my son needing a ride. When I got back, I went straight into the walk. But it seems like a Lower-/Upper-body split might work. Mentally, I definitely like having only two heavy lifts to do, might balance nicely with four less heavy lifts on alternate days. I guess I'll make that the plan for next cycle and see if it sticks.
Friday, 21.12.31
Moved a few couches.
Saturday, 21.01.01
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