Day 3

Hit the weights the first time today. It's a great feeling to be completely wasted.
Basically, the routine was:

1. Deadlift, re-estimate 1RM
2. Military Press, 4x8
3. Bench Press, 4x8
4. Squats, 4x8
5. Bent-over rows, 4x8

After readining Mark Verstegens "Core Perfomance Endurance", I've decided to try a very short and - for me - untypical "warmup". Basically, instead of riding a bike or stepping on the cross trainer, I've focussed on myofascial self-release and art techniques along with what Verstegen calls "movement prep" - that's exercise that revolve around the concept of doing specific, biomechanic-enchancing drills to prevent injury.

Interessentingly enough, we have been using that concept for quite a while in the Shinergy system, at an even more basic level: we have our athletes stand correctly. Sound weird? Well, yes, I guess it sounds that way. Anyhow, proper standing contains anything that differentiates a "good" movement from a "bad". Maybe I'll be elaborating on this fact in the future.

Back to the topic, I did 130kg on the deadlift, which isn't all that impressive. Anyhow, considering I was out of training for 6 months, it's quite ok. Good start.

I've gotten pretty weak on the bench press, 60kg was all I could press for 8 reps and 4 sets. That's shocking, but I guess things will improve once I catch a hold of the proper mechanics again. After all, all those movements are skills that need to be learned and practiced.
The military press was 35kg, the rows 40kg. Definately something to work on, but it's a solid foundation.

The most demanding exercise in the workout of course are the squats. I did them with 80kg, which is approximately 5kg over my current bodyweight. Next tuesday I'll estimate my 1RM on the squats, which I suppose to be around 150kg.

For the next 9 weeks I'll hit the weights tuesday and friday, using the exact exercises described above. Today, I had my "max deadlift day", on friday it'll be "max bench", which basically means that I'll estimate my 1RM for the bench press and do 4x8 deadlifts.

There's one big problem with this workout: I don't have a name for it. Most training programmes have a great names, so I'm trying to make up one for this on. "Furious five" sounds cool, as does "Fabulous five". "Basic booster" ain't bad, either.

On the other hand, there's quite a few cool things about this. First off, every major muscle group is challenged - definately a benefit if you're short on gym time. Also, (almost) every fundamental movement pattern is trained:

1. Horizontal push (bench press),
   
2. vertical push (military press),
   
3. horizontal pull (rowing),
   
4. standup from low position (squat),
   
5. standup from high position (deadlift)

Now I have to admit that there's something lacking. I guess you noticed it at once - there's no vertical pulling. This is simply due to the fact that the workout would be too challenging for me at the moment if pullups were added. Maybe I'll do so at a later stage. This would re-establish problem #1, though. Imagine I named the workout "furious five" and added a sixth exercise...

Well, anyhow, tomorrow morning I'll be swimming, after that my foot is going to be checked at the hospital (namely, another MRT is going to be made).

If give the above outlined workout a try, be sure to share your experience here!

So long,

take care