The Workouts

Since last week I talked about my diet and what a typical day may consist of. I thought this week I would go into my workouts and offer some detail.

But before I do, a quick summary of the last week.

Overall a great week. I’m back in full swing, with no silly ailments like sunburn holding me back! I got 4 solid workouts in, my 5k run (tough and horribly uncomfortable in the heat) and my diet was on point; reaching the increased calorific target of 1950 cals per day!

I suppose the only thing that suffered slightly was my average daily steps, which was down to around 7k. This should be around 10k per day, so I need to work on this, but work, school holidays and a disruption to routine will inevitibly impact a strict routine, no matter how hard we try to not let it.

So, with that out of the way, let’s discuss my workouts. Note that my plan is very specific to my needs, my activity, my diet and my lifestyle, so it’s not something that could just be lifted and shifted to someone else, but, there are a lot of basic movements in there that will pop up in most workouts of this nature.

The Outline

Each week, I do 4 workouts; 2 of which are group sessions with Tom (TRHF) and other guys on their own journeys, and then 2 which are solo.

I really enjoy the combination of these different formats. The group sessions add accountability because I have to show up at 6:30am before I start my day. It gets it done and dusted and sets me up in the right frame of mind for the rest of my day, which I love.

I’m not a morning person at all, so to feel like this 11 weeks in is an achievement. I’ve not missed one session due to sleeping in or any other BS excuse that we convince ourselves of its validity.

The solo sessions are great because I work at my pace and it is really structured. Where the group sessions will vary in the exercises performed, the solo session is a set plan that I keep working to until advised otherwise by Tom.

The solo sessions are split by upper body and lower body, whereas the group sessions combine movements covering the whole body. Here, I’ll focus on the exercises in my solo sessions as the group sessions generally do a mix of movements from these workouts, with some other HIT thrown in or variations on the exercises below.

Warm-ups

This is non-negotiable, especially being in my 40’s.

All sessions start with warming the body up with a walk and light jog (10 mins on the treadmill). Following this I do some stretches appropriate to the session i.e. upper body stretches for my upper body workouts and lower body stretches for my lower body workouts. In group sessions we stretch the whole body out.

I also perform some body weight movements such as press-ups prior to my upper body routine and lunges and goblet squats prior to my lower body workout.

Thursday – Upper Body

For my upper body routine, each exercise is performed 3 times (3 working sets) and the rep ranges are as per below, aiming for failure by the last reps. I’ve also added a picture below of my notes that I take during every workout to track progress and ensure I’m improving.

• Plate Loaded Flat Press – 2 sets 8-10 reps and 1 set 4-6
• Lat Pulldown – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• Plate Loaded Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
• T-Bar Row – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
• Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
• Dip Machine – 3 sets of 14-16 reps
• Dual Arm Standing Cable Curl – 3 sets of 14-16

At the end of the main workout, I then do 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, burning around 245 calories.

Sunday – Lower Body

For my lower body routine, each exercise is performed 2 times (2 working sets), and again, rep ranges are listed below.

• Laying Leg Curl – 1 set of 14-16 reps and 1 set of 8-10 reps
• Hip Thrust Machine – 1 set of 14-16 reps and 1 set of 9-11 reps
• Leg Extension – 1 set of 14-16 reps and 1 set of 8-10 reps
• 45 degree Leg Press – 1 set of 10-12 reps and 1 set of 5-7 reps
• Pendulum Squat (f%*cking horrible) – 1 set of 12-15 reps and 1 set of 7-9 reps
• Walking lunges – aiming for 100 lunges (not yet achieved so I break this down into 2 sets of 40)

Again, at the end of the session, I do 20 mins on the Stairmaster with the same target for calories burnt.

The Other Stuff

Around these 4 strength workouts per week, I aim for 10k steps per day, I do a 5k run (usually on Saturday) and when I can fit it in, 6-a-side football on a Monday.

The Progress

I can’t actually believe how much stronger I’ve become within 11 weeks. When I look back to my first couple of workout tracking sheets, and compare them to my most recent ones, the improvement is way beyond what I expected.

I feel much stronger and go into each gym session with a powerful mentality that I’m going to lift more today, or eke out that extra rep, each session striving for more than the last.

Now I know that I can’t gain every week, sometimes, you perform exercises in a different order, which is enough to change your output, or you’ve not slept well and it affects your energy levels, but I never allow myself to stay stagnant.

I’m proud that I’ve not once gone into a session to go through the motions and tick it off for the week. I simply won’t allow myself to fall into that mindset as that’s when things start to slip. I would only be cheating myself.

To Wrap Things Up

Sorry it’s been a bit of a long one today, there’s a lot of detail to cover off. But here are my progress pics for week 11, along with a picture of my workout sheet from today’s workout (start of week 12), so anyone interested can get a glimpse of how I’m tracking, what notes I take and the weight I’m lifting. This is all important to me cause it allows me to prepare for the next session correctly.

Forgive the scribbles, but the arms don’t work so good when they’re being worked so hard!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ve had a few people recently tell me it’s inspired them into action, so the thought that this is useful to others really does motivate me even more.

Have a great week!

Zach