As I write this up, I've reached the end of a 6 week training plan.
The first phase was a general preparatory phase to allow for AA (anatomical adaptation) this allowed me to improve on muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance and the other components of fitness.
After the first week of training, I already adjusted the plan as I probably made it harder than it needed to be, I had planned for super sets (going from one exercise to the other) but realised that was a big mistake due to the fact that I wasn't regularly training and it was taxing my muscular endurance and strength faster than I thought it would.
The third week was the biggest improvements as I settled into my cardiovascular training and could feel big changes overall, the schedule was geared to my weaker areas such as posterior chain as it helped improve the running and cycling.
By the end of the sixth week I noticed my endurance improved, movement felt better, no more back pain! Leg strength improved. General stability like holding the heavy kettlebells also improved a lot which surprised me, I could hold the weight before the training but it just felt very comfortable.
Most importantly to me, I was happy that I could stick to the training schedule, especially during the lock down.
What next?
The next phase is to improve running distance, Dead hang pull ups and finally strict press that 32kg Kettlebell. I can push press (dip knees and drive upwards) but a strict press with no momentum feels impossible right now.
As the government has lifted the lock down for personal trainers and have said that we are allowed to see people outside of our own household, it means I'll slowly be going back to fuller working schedule...Thank you god! however this usually means my own training becomes less of a priority. I'm lucky to have a lot of fitness equipment available to me so what the lock down has shown is if I schedule it in the diary, put my headphones on and ignore all the household chores I need to do for 1 hour.....I should be able to do it!
Date - 17/05/2020
New Goal - improve running distances, improve dead hang pull ups and strict press 32kg Kettlebell with single arm.
Monday - Upper body + evening shorter run
Tuesday - Lower Body
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Lower Body + evening shorter run
Friday - Upper Body
Saturday - Longer run
Sunday - Rest
Let's see how this goes. I've built myself up to be able to do 2x sessions a day for the last 6 weeks and I don't feel bad. I do have to listen to my body so if I need the rest, I will.
Update - 14/06/2020
It's been 1 month since I've last logged in an entry here about the training and honestly it's been tough.
The bad -
The heat during the past month has been hard to cope with and due to the floor to ceiling windows, the afternoon sun hitting down on the flat, our home turns into a greenhouse.
As I wasn't super busy during the day I was still able to get in a workout before/after clients so I missed the heat during the home weight training sessions, the evening cardio sessions were fine on the days it wasn't so hot but the pollen attack after running was a killer.
The Saturday run was the toughest, I couldn't run consistently because of the heat and I found it harder to breathe. I did learn to find my pacing and control my breathing at the begining of the run and once I found that it was easy enough to hold.
Injuries - My right forearm, I don't know if it was due to the Kettlebell Cleans but right forearm had an issue. I couldn't supinate my wrist without a sharp pain that triggered a nerve. It took about 5-6 days before it felt normal again but it did mess up my training as I had to modify the plan around the injury.
Right shin - I remember the first time I had shin splints and when it was at it's worst everytime I bent down to squat it would feel like a knife stabbing my shins, this time it felt a little bit different so for only the past week I've had to reduce the running to twice a week. Mentally you do feel a bit deflated for not following the plan to the letter.
The good -
Better control of running pacing and breathing
Some weight loss
Endurance better
Feeling pretty good
There were some things that I didn't like about the schedule, where I focused on lower body I didn't have the energy some weeks to do a full workout, I would have to cut it short because I didn't feel I had the energy. Work was getting busier and I've not been sleeping enough so that may be part of the reason.
I also missed kettlebells! Apart from using them as a weight for the squats, I didn't do anything that provided my body with enough movement to express itself, some people are militant, they're able to stick to the set format and can focus on a certain number of reptitions or amount of weight they want to lift but I think what makes me tick and keeps me motivated is being able to do the movement and progress it further...how could I get my body to do more?
In terms of goals, the only one that did improve is the running distances, it felt so much more comfortable my breathing improved so I'm glad I made it a focus to add running into my routine. I was unable to give the pull ups my full attention as I got injured in the second week of training which needed a week to recover and I changed the exercise to do Inverted Rows.
The strict press didn't happen, I thought I would keep on this plan for 8 weeks but in the end with my body collecting injuries and my energy levels being shot, the strict press was never going to happen.
Let's see what happens in Part 3
