Concurrent Strength Training & Running 2015: Eight-Week Workout Cycle III

Maybe I could keep the greater volume but put the 5RM Day at 80% instead of 85%, and the 8RM day at 70% instead of 75%? At least for the Deadlift and Bench Press? I could still keep the 1-3RM true, so there wouldn't be that much sacrifice of intensity in order to get in a little extra volume. It's just a question of which is more beneficial. Slightly greater intensity, or slightly greater volume. Probably doesn't matter too much, and the former was working pretty well last cycle . . .

Yah, pullovers have always been one of my go-to assistance lifts, even before I realized they were an assistance lift. Glad you're finding stuff that works while you wait for your shoulder to heal up. I especially like the stretch the pullovers give me. I do them as a sort of hybrid pullover/skullcrusher. I can count them as my triceps lift too, and I use the same EZBar with about the same load for biceps curls, so those two lifts together kind of takes care of my lingering sense of obligation to do something targeting the arms.

That's the beauty of hills. You don't actually go very fast, and the landing is softer, but you get similar benefits to doing sprints. Still, I like the fuller ROM of sprints once in a while. I may start doing some sprints towards the end of summer if I can actually get back into some kind of running shape by then. It's funny, for me, I sometimes feel more beat up from longer aerobic runs. The higher reps kind of get my legs all wound up tight. I need to take stretching breaks.

Well you can also look at it from the density standpoint, if you drop weight to 80% but limit rests to 60 seconds, then you may have overall higher intensity and the same volume workout. You could even tack on an additional set if it feels inadequate or too easy. But yeah that's my main issue with higher volume (or the assistance lifts) is the time requirement. To do my 10 sets of 5 squats yesterday it took me 20 minutes. However there is definitely more stimulus in volume than doing the 10 rep thing promoted by DJ. I think for now I will keep the higher volume stuff limited to the upper body lifts and maybe keep the DL and squats in the 10-25 range. Then do a little longer farmers carries and maybe do some TBDL at higher reps?

By the way, I am going back and forth on giving up squats again. I am not positive but I am suspecting that they are causing some issues with my IT band on my knee. It also might be the lack of yoga I have been doing as well. I think maybe I will gst more consistent with stretching and drop squats for this week and next and see if that clears it up? I'm not sure why but injuries always seem to cascade together once you get one.
 
Well you can also look at it from the density standpoint, if you drop weight to 80% but limit rests to 60 seconds, then you may have overall higher intensity and the same volume workout. You could even tack on an additional set if it feels inadequate or too easy. But yeah that's my main issue with higher volume (or the assistance lifts) is the time requirement. To do my 10 sets of 5 squats yesterday it took me 20 minutes. However there is definitely more stimulus in volume than doing the 10 rep thing promoted by DJ. I think for now I will keep the higher volume stuff limited to the upper body lifts and maybe keep the DL and squats in the 10-25 range. Then do a little longer farmers carries and maybe do some TBDL at higher reps?

By the way, I am going back and forth on giving up squats again. I am not positive but I am suspecting that they are causing some issues with my IT band on my knee. It also might be the lack of yoga I have been doing as well. I think maybe I will gst more consistent with stretching and drop squats for this week and next and see if that clears it up? I'm not sure why but injuries always seem to cascade together once you get one.
Good points. That would be one of the reasons to drop 5%--shorter rest intervals. Like you said, fives sets of squats at a repetition max can take 15-20 minutes, including warm-ups. Then throw in 4 sets of OH Press, and half an hour has passed by, but I still have four lifts to do. The upper body pulls tend to go fast, but it's still not much time for the deadlift and bench, both of which require at least five minutes just to do the ascending warm-up sets. So I don't know. I might just go back to what I was doing last cycle. Squats x 4 sets, OH Press x 4 sets, Deadlift and Bench x 2 sets, and upper body pulls x 3 sets. If I start doing that in less than an hour, I can start to think about adding sets. To do more sets right now, I'd have to drop some loads somewhere, and I have too much ego for that probably. Still, like you said, the volume approach has its merits, and I have a good intuition that it might work. Just hard to let go of PRs in the short term. Another thing about doing more sets at lighter loads, at least on Monday and probably Wednesday, is that it's nice when things are a little easier. Working at RM all the time takes a fair amount of motivation to get through an entire workout. So a good compromise might be to drop 5% on Monday and Friday, but work at 1-3RM on Friday, so I can preserve the PRs.

I guess right now my main concern is just getting everything back to where it was pre-shingles. My squats feel fine, but the OH Press was a struggle yesterday, and I had no willpower to continue. I just got a prescription for stronger anti-neuralgia relief, but it's making me woozy and I don't know if I notice any improvement over the ibuprofen in lessening the nerve twitching. It feels variously like needle pricks, a pliers pinching me, and ants crawling under my skin. It's actually worse now than when the rash was blistering. Hopefully Friday's workout will go better.

I've always thought that squats do a nice job of stretching everything out, so I can't see how it would effect your ITB. Seems more likely that all the biking and running you do is the culprit. I thing also your lack of yoga/stretching could be contributing. I found stretching and some massaging to be the best cure for the ITBS I had a few years ago.
 
Good points. That would be one of the reasons to drop 5%--shorter rest intervals. Like you said, fives sets of squats at a repetition max can take 15-20 minutes, including warm-ups. Then throw in 4 sets of OH Press, and half an hour has passed by, but I still have four lifts to do. The upper body pulls tend to go fast, but it's still not much time for the deadlift and bench, both of which require at least five minutes just to do the ascending warm-up sets. So I don't know. I might just go back to what I was doing last cycle. Squats x 4 sets, OH Press x 4 sets, Deadlift and Bench x 2 sets, and upper body pulls x 3 sets. If I start doing that in less than an hour, I can start to think about adding sets. To do more sets right now, I'd have to drop some loads somewhere, and I have too much ego for that probably. Still, like you said, the volume approach has its merits, and I have a good intuition that it might work. Just hard to let go of PRs in the short term. Another thing about doing more sets at lighter loads, at least on Monday and probably Wednesday, is that it's nice when things are a little easier. Working at RM all the time takes a fair amount of motivation to get through an entire workout. So a good compromise might be to drop 5% on Monday and Friday, but work at 1-3RM on Friday, so I can preserve the PRs.

I guess right now my main concern is just getting everything back to where it was pre-shingles. My squats feel fine, but the OH Press was a struggle yesterday, and I had no willpower to continue. I just got a prescription for stronger anti-neuralgia relief, but it's making me woozy and I don't know if I notice any improvement over the ibuprofen in lessening the nerve twitching. It feels variously like needle pricks, a pliers pinching me, and ants crawling under my skin. It's actually worse now than when the rash was blistering. Hopefully Friday's workout will go better.

I have to say your description of the shingles sounds horrible and that you can't get any relief. I think I would drown myself in beer or something. But same here about simply wanting to build back up to the place we were. I can tell physically I am pretty worn out from the MTB race over the weekend and I still can't quite get into the groove yet. Plus I have another race planned for the following weekend so its very like I won't be able to get back to some normalcy till June.

One of these days we will get a solid cycle of lifting in don't worry.

I've always thought that squats do a nice job of stretching everything out, so I can't see how it would effect your ITB. Seems more likely that all the biking and running you do is the culprit. I thing also your lack of yoga/stretching could be contributing. I found stretching and some massaging to be the best cure for the ITBS I had a few years ago.

Ok I spent a little time on the foam roller last night and did some quad stretching, oddly enough, and that seems to alleviate most of the tension in that area. Hopefully it carries over to running. The strange thing is biking seems to help it and it really only seems to bother me when I am running or squatting. I think I just need to get back to some consistency in lifting and stretching.
 
I have to say your description of the shingles sounds horrible and that you can't get any relief. I think I would drown myself in beer or something. But same here about simply wanting to build back up to the place we were. I can tell physically I am pretty worn out from the MTB race over the weekend and I still can't quite get into the groove yet. Plus I have another race planned for the following weekend so its very like I won't be able to get back to some normalcy till June.

One of these days we will get a solid cycle of lifting in don't worry.

Ok I spent a little time on the foam roller last night and did some quad stretching, oddly enough, and that seems to alleviate most of the tension in that area. Hopefully it carries over to running. The strange thing is biking seems to help it and it really only seems to bother me when I am running or squatting. I think I just need to get back to some consistency in lifting and stretching.
Yah, I've tried just about everything, and there's no real relief unless you want to knock yourself out with a narcotic. I used the Gabapentin again last night, seems to help a little with the sleep, but not that much. Beer helps also, but you have to choose between that and the sedatives, unless you're feeling Hollywood.

Otherwise, I feel pretty good though, so I'll try to get in a full ST session today, and a good run tomorrow. I'll see how close I can get to my 1RMs of a month ago. If they're still there, then I may implement the 5RM=80%, 8RM=70% protocol, and continue with the higher volume experiment on Mondays and Wednesdays. Your endorsement has helped maintain the interest in a higher volume program. Plus it seems like it elicits a little more hypertrophy. On the other hand, I like the idea of just mindlessly doing three sets for everything at 5, 8, and 1-3 RMs. That's a proven winner. One way or the other, I need to speed up the workouts and start getting in the upper body pulls in the end again. I like focusing on the performance lift PRs, and my squat-first tweak, but my fundamental commitment is still to the full-body workout concept of six lifts covering the six force-direction parings.

With all your racing, it's pretty ambitious to also want to see significant improvement in the lifting. A maintenance program would be more realistic, but if you can improve at the same time, that's great.

For stretching and massaging, I've found just about everything helps. It's all connected. Even tight feet muscles can affect your upper back posture. If the squatting is bothering the ITB, it makes sense to back off, but, based on my experience, I have a hard time believing the squatting is actually the cause. ITBS is supposed to be a repetitive stress or irritation injury, right? I would think it's the distance running.
 
I haven't been following this thread for a while. Too busy. (But someone has! 43 replies with 1000 views?!)

Sorry about everyone's injuries/illnesses. Hope you all make a good recovery!

I've been alternating running and lifting every morning, and I'm making steady progress. Strength training seems to help with running stamina.

I'm about to spring for more weight (400lbs?). Probably some long spinlock dumbbells handles and a variety of 25lb and under standard flat plates. Powerblock and Ironmaster dumbbells seem pricey and unnecessary. (I'll keep the 90lb set of Powerblocks that I already have.) Avoiding barbells, no space, no spotter, did I mention no space?

Ordered some more protein powder. Nutrabio.com has their Memorial Day sale (same discount as Black Friday). The 15lb WPI buckets are $194.99, so I had to buy two! :D
20% off $200, 15% off $100, 10% off $50

Take care all!
 
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Odd I don't know much about the shingles and would not have expected that either, I thought it was just a rash. Glad you getting over it. I wonder if kids with the chicken pox feel this way too?
Same virus, different manifestation. Chickenpox is the initial infection. Shingles is when the virus comes out of hiding years later to kick your butt again. Pain comes from nerve damage, which can be permanent.

It could be worse.
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/herpes-zoster/possible-complications.html

Or even worse.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139357/

However, vaccines are available.
http://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/vaccination.html
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-...0324/fda-shingles-vaccine-ok-at-age-50-and-up
 
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I haven't been following this thread for a while. Too busy. (But someone has! 43 replies with 1000 views?!)

Sorry about everyone's injuries/illnesses. Hope you all make a good recovery!

I've been alternating running and lifting every morning, and I'm making steady progress. Strength training seems to help with running stamina.

I'm about to spring for more weight (400lbs?). Probably some long spinlock dumbbells handles and a variety of 25lb and under standard flat plates. Powerblock and Ironmaster dumbbells seem pricey and unnecessary. (I'll keep the 90lb set of Powerblocks that I already have.) Avoiding barbells, no space, no spotter, did I mention no space?

Ordered some more protein powder. Nutrabio.com has their Memorial Day sale (same discount as Black Friday). The 15lb WPI buckets are $194.99, so I had to buy two! :D
20% off $200, 15% off $100, 10% off $50

Take care all!
Thanks for the well wishes and the links. It's beginning to look like I'm one of those unlucky few who has postherpetic nueralgia. The stabbing pain is actually getting worse, even as the burning itch is all but gone. Still, I'm hopeful it will be cleared up soon.

If you get the spinlock handles, get the best quality. The cheaper ones don't stay tight, which is real concern for any overhead stuff or benching. I sometimes put a little plumber's teflon tape on mine, since I used the same weight all the time for my bentover dumbbell rows. Still, I would think a squat rack wouldn't take up that much space. With a squat rack and barbell, you could get in your barbell Squat, Deadlift, and Overhead Press. I think the squat and deadlift are particularly hard to replicate with dumbbells. For the presses, probably doesn't matter much and a case can be made for the greater ROM of dumbbell presses.

Anyway, glad to hear your making steady progress!
 
Thanks again for the link.

Yah, I still have some redness so I'm hopeful when that clears up the pain will be gone too. I'm not quite ready to admit I have postherpetic neuralgia.

For the pain, I've just been taking Ibuprofen. All the other pain management options lead to drowsi- or wooziness. I've been trying the Gapapentin at night, but I haven't noticed any real relief, so tonight I may try a half-pill of the hydromorphone I took the first day it was prescribed. I'm starting to get rundown from the lack of quality sleep.

It's been about four weeks now, I'm getting tired of this. The good news is that I don't feel any pain when I lift or run, so no excuses, got to get back to it full bore.
 
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If you get the spinlock handles, get the best quality. The cheaper ones don't stay tight, which is real concern for any overhead stuff or benching. I sometimes put a little plumber's teflon tape on mine, since I used the same weight all the time for my bentover dumbbell rows.
I've had spinlocks in the past. If I recall, they do a better job of staying in place if moving in one plane, but they tend to loosen during some movements like curls?
Hopefully, this might help.

Still, I would think a squat rack wouldn't take up that much space. With a squat rack and barbell, you could get in your barbell Squat, Deadlift, and Overhead Press.
You're right. If I make enough progress, a power cage would be nice. I have room for one, but I need to clear out some junk first. I would also want to take some lessons with one of the powerlifters in town, so I can get the technique right. Right now, there are less barriers for me to buy the dumbbells.

I think the squat and deadlift are particularly hard to replicate with dumbbells. For the presses, probably doesn't matter much and a case can be made for the greater ROM of dumbbell presses.
Yeah, they are. The squat is a bit tricky to rack with dumbbells.
 
International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise
http://www.jissn.com/content/4/1/8

muchas gracias! i was very excited because i have never seen (not that i've looked particularly hard, but still) actual numbers for protein recommendations for anyone. so, that inspired me to do a demonstration of why an R^2 of 0.05 with household survey data is a super awesome fit. rather than do the standard 24-hour recall, i tried to force myself to do an actual real-time food log on a piece of cereal box cardboard.

this also serves as a way to now get bare lee to obsess about nutrition since boredom is setting in on his wave theories (copenhagen or bohmian mechanics, which interpretation should we use?!?!? and what superposition principle is most appropriate? maybe we should just whiz up some vegetables and literally juice the immune system a little to get rid of pesky viruses...). based on abide's packed training schedule, i'm assuming he will avoid the existential crisis and stick with something simple like "stuff the face with as much quality food as possible whenever possible and hope you get enough".

anyways, so a day in the food life of me (which is actually pretty typical, except for the commercially sourced sandwich and possibly tilted a little more than usual away from protein) along with my "rough approximation"-s of the major nutritional content i care about at the moment:

oatmeal (1.5 cups of oats, a little extra "canadian oil, low acid" rapeseed oil, a couple spoonfuls of home canned raspberry jam, whizzed liquid flax as moistening agent): roughly 15g protein and 580 calories.

corn chips (1 serving was 15 chips, so i dutifully ate 15 despite the concentrated dose of salt): 2g protein and 150 calories

subway brand sandwich (a "footlong"): 9g and 700cal

leftovers of beans/squash/tomatoes yummy thing (some guesswork here, but probably 1cup worth of beans): 12g and 240cals

homemade bread (to go with the beans; roughly 6 fat slices equivalent, so about 1/2 a loaf leading to...): 28g protein and 880cals

orzo pasta bake (about 1/3 lb dry equivalent plus the oil and veges and flavors and cheese-like-substances, so about 3 servings): 21g and 630cals + non-wheat stuff

don't check my arithmetic because it's probably way off, but the first time adding things up gets me a daily total of

87g protein
3180+ kcal of "energy"

there's still a little time left in the day, but i'm probably going to head for bed rather than raiding more pasta since i should really be doing both (plus the weight lifting which has gotten brutalized by all the non-sleeping children).

ok, so how does that stack up with the recommendations from the link. i weigh something between 150 and 155 lbs (depending on if it is before or after the run and whether i've started drinking water again...). so, again, poor math:

basic -> 0.8 g/kg/day -> ~56g/day
endurance -> 1.0 -> ~70g/day
intermittent -> 1.4 -> ~100g/day
strength/power -> 2.0 -> ~140g/day

it looks like i'm ending up between endurance and intermittent. who knew? of course, being a comparatively "rich" person (more than $3/day budget), my diet is heavily tilted toward that "low quality" wheat protein.

if i went back to putting that dollop of peanut butter in with my oatmeal, i'd crack 100g/day pretty easily. plus, when it is rice and beans day or burrito day, those numbers will probably go up pretty significantly.

overall, my amazing n=1 dataset is surprising me with how much protein i'm actually getting (and all from those exalted "whole foods"), and how few calories.

so, my tentative conclusion (until y'all set me straight) is that i am, in fact, getting roughly enough protein and that is why my pee turns yellow when i go out of my way to eat more. and that i probably need more calories. i mean, my non-water weight is very stable. and even though i've been running something like 47 mile weeks for that last month and a half on something pretty similar to this (certainly for the last three weeks), i don't feel any more or less deprived than i did when i was running fewer miles and going out of my way to scarf down much more protein. so (horrors to my prejudices), maybe i need to eat just a little more fat to bump up the calorie count, but without letting anything get too out of control.
 
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Ha yep that's pretty much my standard operating procedure. Although I have to admit I quit drinking beer during the week and have been trying to eat better but its hard to not be so hungry all the time.
So you could add some whey protein shakes in there. 2 shakes will bump you up 50 grams. I thought that endurance athletes actually needed more protein that strength athletes? Anyway the only thing I have noticed while taking protein sups is that it helps blunt my appetite a bit, kind of like the opposite of if I eat carbs, or fruits or veggies.

Yah, I've tried just about everything, and there's no real relief unless you want to knock yourself out with a narcotic. I used the Gabapentin again last night, seems to help a little with the sleep, but not that much. Beer helps also, but you have to choose between that and the sedatives, unless you're feeling Hollywood.

Otherwise, I feel pretty good though, so I'll try to get in a full ST session today, and a good run tomorrow. I'll see how close I can get to my 1RMs of a month ago. If they're still there, then I may implement the 5RM=80%, 8RM=70% protocol, and continue with the higher volume experiment on Mondays and Wednesdays. Your endorsement has helped maintain the interest in a higher volume program. Plus it seems like it elicits a little more hypertrophy. On the other hand, I like the idea of just mindlessly doing three sets for everything at 5, 8, and 1-3 RMs. That's a proven winner. One way or the other, I need to speed up the workouts and start getting in the upper body pulls in the end again. I like focusing on the performance lift PRs, and my squat-first tweak, but my fundamental commitment is still to the full-body workout concept of six lifts covering the six force-direction parings.

With all your racing, it's pretty ambitious to also want to see significant improvement in the lifting. A maintenance program would be more realistic, but if you can improve at the same time, that's great.

For stretching and massaging, I've found just about everything helps. It's all connected. Even tight feet muscles can affect your upper back posture. If the squatting is bothering the ITB, it makes sense to back off, but, based on my experience, I have a hard time believing the squatting is actually the cause. ITBS is supposed to be a repetitive stress or irritation injury, right? I would think it's the distance running.

So over the weekend after thinking a little more about your post I think I am going to switch things up a little due to the racing and shoulder issues. Lately for some reason I have been finding it easier (an maybe more consistent) to lift more frequently in shorter sessions than longer morning ones. So I think I might split up the week into 5-6 workouts.

I have also been having technical failure issues related to the shoulder while lifting heavier. So I am going to treat them like burners and hit 3 lifts for 30-50 reps with no session lasting longer than 20 minutes with somewhat lighter weights to make sure it's healing before I push too heavy. I am also still pretty limited with my push lifts so right now I will stick with the land mine press and then slowly try to work the bench and press back in. Here are some ideas of days.

Squat
Pull up
LM Press

DL
INV Rows
LM Press

Farmers
LM Rows
LM Press

TBDL
Front Squats
Etc....

I might pick up a football bar this week to see if the neutral grip will help with benching and pressing. Right now 40kgs is pretty painful on both lifts. But the LM press doesn't affect it the same.
 
I've had spinlocks in the past. If I recall, they do a better job of staying in place if moving in one plane, but they tend to loosen during some movements like curls?
Hopefully, this might help.

You're right. If I make enough progress, a power cage would be nice. I have room for one, but I need to clear out some junk first. I would also want to take some lessons with one of the powerlifters in town, so I can get the technique right. Right now, there are less barriers for me to buy the dumbbells.

Yeah, they are. The squat is a bit tricky to rack with dumbbells.
Thanks, that's a nice trick in the video, about turning the dumbbell a quarter turn to tighten the spinlocks further. I'll have to try it.

I think you could get by just with squat posts/stands, which would take up less room than a power rack.
this also serves as a way to now get bare lee to obsess about nutrition since boredom is setting in on his wave theories
Ha, not likely. I have pretty limited interest in nutrition. Just eat a variety or whole, organic foods, protein with every meal, fruits and veggies, blah, blah, blah.

And anyway it's not so much boredom with the wave theory as comfort. The wave is working, so no further tweaks, and therefore obsessing, required. The only outstanding issue for me at the moment is whether it'd be best to do the 5- and 8-rep days for slightly greater volume at slightly lesser intensities. I think for the moment, I'm going to opt for keeping intensities the same--85% and 75%, and reduce squat volume a bit, now that my squat is stronger than my deadlift.

It's interesting though, on Friday I overshot my projected Squat 1RM by 10 pounds, and I did the same thing with my OH Press 1RM at the end of the last cycle. So in effect I have been doing the five- and eight-rep sets at reduced intensities relative to the 1RM, something like 80% and 70%. Maybe I should stick with that instead of bringing them up to match the new 1RMs at the prescribe 85% and 75% for five and eight rep counts, respectively? I think as Abide pointed out a while ago, when you do multiple sets, the percentages for max reps should probably be reduced anyway. In other words, 5RM @ 85% is for one set, so 5RM for multiple sets should probably be closer to 80%. And like I've said, I like the idea of Monday and Wednesday workouts being a little bit easier, so long as the extra volume (extra sets) really does compensate.

I'll continue experimenting but one way or the other I feel like the six lifts, 5/8/1-3 weekly wave is a pretty good program for me.
So over the weekend after thinking a little more about your post I think I am going to switch things up a little due to the racing and shoulder issues. Lately for some reason I have been finding it easier (an maybe more consistent) to lift more frequently in shorter sessions than longer morning ones. So I think I might split up the week into 5-6 workouts.

I have also been having technical failure issues related to the shoulder while lifting heavier. So I am going to treat them like burners and hit 3 lifts for 30-50 reps with no session lasting longer than 20 minutes with somewhat lighter weights to make sure it's healing before I push too heavy. I am also still pretty limited with my push lifts so right now I will stick with the land mine press and then slowly try to work the bench and press back in. Here are some ideas of days.

Squat
Pull up
LM Press

DL
INV Rows
LM Press

Farmers
LM Rows
LM Press

TBDL
Front Squats
Etc....

I might pick up a football bar this week to see if the neutral grip will help with benching and pressing. Right now 40kgs is pretty painful on both lifts. But the LM press doesn't affect it the same.
If I worked out first thing in the morning, I think 20-30 minutes ST, and 30 minutes running might be an attractive option for me. And just doing 2-3 lifts per workout would be nice. I guess the only question is whether you can sustain a fullbody split, or if you'd have to alternate lower and upper body every day.

Sounds like it might be a few more weeks before your shoulder is healed up. Hope the neutral grip football bar works for you. My shingles have been really painful the last few days. Mostly stabbing pain.
 
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I like the idea that a power cage could be useful for bench, too. Plus, the size gives me extra motivation to work on getting rid of some junk to make space. Also, new toy, so shiny, so chrome!

I've settled into a routine, alternating 5 mile run and lifting every other day.
My workout is press, row, squat, bench, pulldown, dead. Two warmup sets, one workset, rest, workset, rest, workset, done.

I get up at about the same time every morning every day. I like the consistency. Swimming, yoga, all that is on hold.
 
I like the idea that a power cage could be useful for bench, too. Plus, the size gives me extra motivation to work on getting rid of some junk to make space. Also, new toy, so shiny, so chrome!

I've settled into a routine, alternating 5 mile run and lifting every other day.
My workout is press, row, squat, bench, pulldown, dead. Two warmup sets, one workset, rest, workset, rest, workset, done.

I get up at about the same time every morning every day. I like the consistency. Swimming, yoga, all that is on hold.

This is what I tried to buy, it has a pretty small foot print and basically has the same features as a rack with weight storage. No pull down though but you have one. Its 300 Euro here which is pretty cheap I think for a rack.

Capture.JPG
 
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I'll continue experimenting but one way or the other I feel like the six lifts, 5/8/1-3 weekly wave is a pretty good program for me.

If I worked out first thing in the morning, I think 20-30 minutes ST, and 30 minutes running might be an attractive option for me. And just doing 2-3 lifts per workout would be nice. I guess the only question is whether you can sustain a fullbody split, or if you'd have to alternate lower and upper body every day.

Sounds like it might be a few more weeks before your shoulder is healed up. Hope the neutral grip football bar works for you. My shingles have been really painful the last few days. Mostly stabbing pain.

I think because I am keeping the weights low and my lifts are pretty limited, sustaining it for another couple of weeks will be fine. Basically it will run like this once I can horizontal push again. I can do pull ups again so that is good news, both pull directions seem to be working for the most part. I like this setup because it rarely takes me more than 15 minutes in the morning to complete. I can also knock it out in about 10-12 minute sin the evening since I am warmed up a little more.

Hinge----Squat----Carry----Hinge----Squat---Carry
H Pull----V Pull---H Pull---V Pull----H Pull---V Pull
H Push---V Push--H Push--V Push--H Push--V Push

Although with the upper stuff I think it is very like for the next 4-8 weeks I am not going to make significant weight progress so it will all be higher rep. Part of the problem with higher loads is my shoulder fatigues after a couple of heavy sets and it feels likes its gonna slip out of place. Hopefully doing the higher rep thing will build some muscle endurance in that area. I could see doing this plan long term, and even running for 30 minutes then jumping right into it. The heavy days might not work well though as this seems to be more optimal at a <80% level.

I bought the football bar, I really hope it helps. The nice thing about its is I will be able to do pendlay rows, pull overs, bench, skull crushers, CG bench, incline bench and press with it. I think it will be a nice addition.

btw about pullovers, I just realize that doing the ab wheel is basically the same motion as a pullover maybe with less stretch though. I am going to do them every workout for a couple of sets.

Yeah like you this thing is taking much longer to heal than anticipated. It's frustrating, there will be times when I just reach to do something so trivial and I completely lose all function of my shoulder for a couple of seconds.
 
I just mix a scoop with water, shake, then add ice.
110 cal, 25g protein
One during strength workouts.
One for breakfast.
One after other significant physical activity, yardwork, etc.

http://www.nutrabio.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=WPI15

75 grams that's quite a bit? What do you weigh? I am wondering if protein powder is cheaper out here, I just bought a 10lb bucket for 60 euros or $66? Granted the one I buy tastes good and probably has more additives, although they have the same pure whey for the same price?
 
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75 grams that's quite a bit? What do you weigh? I am wondering if protein powder is cheaper out here, I just bought a 10lb bucket for 60 euros or $66? Granted the one I buy tastes good and probably has more additives, although they have the same pure whey for the same price?

$318 for 30lbs of WPI. The good stuff.
http://www.nutrabio.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=WPI15

About 170-175lbs
Protein intake varies from 100-150g daily.

I find WPI to be the most time-effective and macronutrient dense protein source for me. This allows me to get about 10-15 servings of produce daily. I don't do nearly the mileage that some of you do, so I work to keep my caloric intake weight-neutral. Works for me.