Spring Training [View all]

Every 8-12 weeks I like to see where I'm at and how much I've accomplished on my fitness goals and decide what to do for the next 8-12 weeks. Well, now's that time.

Self Assessment

My winter fitness goals were to increase lower body strength, pack on some more muscle and improve my run time. I did well, but I accomplished none of that. I had a really nasty flu for 2 weeks and I am just now feeling like I'm finally over it. I lost quite a bit of ground in the gym. I'll get it back, I'm sure.

Run time: 1 minute mile improved from 9:30 ish to 8:27. That's great, but the 8 minute mile still eludes me.
Squat: 1 rep max 365. I can go heavier but not without cheating. Word to the wise: don't cheat with 365+ pounds on your shoulders.
Diet: Average of 3,000 calories per day
Weight: Lost 2 pounds.
Body fat: About the same.

New Goals

Over the next 12 weeks, I'm going to be ridiculously busy. Probably too busy to really accomplish much in the gym. I have to get my house ready to put on the market, sell it, and move to another house which I will gut to the studs and renovate. Most of this work I will do myself. Oh, and I have a full time job. While that's going to be very active and time consuming, I still think it'll be important to make time for the gym while I can. But my goals right now are to just survive. Maybe work on my run time a bit more.

New Plan

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Weights, some cardio
Wednesday: Weights, some cardio
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Weights, some cardio
Saturday: Optional day (maybe punching bag)
Sunday: Weights, some cardio

Weights: Cycle through Push (chest, shoulder, triceps), Pull (back, biceps), Legs (legs). Do 'push' one day, 'pull' the next day, and 'legs' on the next weightlifting day. Cycle repeats.
Some Cardio: 20-30 minutes, depends on how much time I have that day

With all that I have to do I'll probably be forced to skip days or even weeks. But lifting is important to me. I don't do it so I can be a certain weight or look a certain way. I just like lifting heavy things off the ground. It makes me happy. The heavier, the happier.


That's my spring training.