Level 4 training trepidation for tonight.

[Neilfenstein]

I have just completed a rest week at level 2, which I found tougher than I thought it would be. I have been on level 4 for a few weeks before the rest week. Each D1 at L4 I have pushed to equal or better the number of reps. D2 times have very slightly improved week on week. However, I have struggled with D3 workouts. I can't seem to have enough in the tank to shave time off or even better the last weeks workout.

Level 4 history
First week 6.55
Second week 6.49
Third week 7.55 (took a don't chase the clock approach (same approach got me from L1 to L2))

On D3 I cant seem to manage any more than 5-6 pull ups in a row. I don't want to moan as this is a major achievement since I could not do a single pull up until recently. For example a standard level 4 D3 is pretty much 5-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1. By which time I am exhausted for the push ups (I know this is the point) and can only do about 19-20 push-ups in a row then I have to continue in much smaller chunks until I complete the 41.

What my concern is that in the same time frame I have tried to change to a more Primal diet and have cut a lot of carbohydrates out of my diet. Some times I cant be as good as I would like but on average I have gone pretty primal, I forget to do it every day but I have used daily burn on my iPhone to track my food/drink and I am managing to keep my carbohydrates around or less than 100g a day. I have a quite lot of protein and fat but have struggled to track this as completely as the carbohydrates I will try and do better from now on though in case these are the problem i.e. low energy.

This was kind of a "think out load" and I may have had an off week and this may all be resolved when I have a great workout tonight, but, I wanted to see if anyone else has had issues when going primal, if you had tips for improving performance in the pull ups and push ups or if this a standard level 4 plateau where the work out re-kicks your A, just when you feel like you are making decent progress?

[cheapo]

Patience:
Levels 4 and 5 both took me 3 or 4 months.
Level 6 took 8.

[Ruli]

Neil, I can identify with your frustration to some degree. I’m only on L3 now, but experience the same difficulties.

My first L3D3 was a 6:15. during my 2nd week I posted good results on D1 & D2 and I thought I would crack 5 min’s on D3, or at least be very close to it. Great was my disappointment when I posted a 5:48.

At least one positive came from the workout – I did 7 neutrals in a row as opposed to last week’s first burst of 6 – at least so some progress is being made!

This morning I started L3D1 with great vigour – determined to break my PB of 22 with at least 3 rounds or more. I started off very well, doing a round in less than a minute. Again, great was my disappointment when I finished with only 23 rounds! It’s an improvement yes, but not as much as I would have liked.

I guess it’s just a question of patience. I know my time on D2 on Wednesday is going to be slower than last week’s, cause I’m gonna concentrate much more on form.

As the saying goes: “all good things come to those who wait” (or something to that effect)

[Neilfenstein]

Thanks for your encouraging words.

I guess I always knew that it would be harder at the higher levels but the stark change in progression had me shaken. I always knew this would be more a "marathon than a sprint".

My main concern was that I may be trying to do too much in one go i.e. increase reps and shorten time and change my diet.

I found I really enjoyed the rest week D2 focussing on really getting more ROM on the pull ups and push ups and still seeing massive time improvements. I was wondering if I should maybe slow down on the quantity of reps on D1 a bit and refocus more on my form. This is only a thought as since I have been able to do a push up I have been trying hard to progress up the levels. After reading that Cheapo spent 4 months on level 4 I think this maybe a good idea, if I concentrated on adding a rep each time I would be on a hundred and still struggling on D3 (maybe?).

Thanks Cheapo, I know that you are primal and have seen you advocate Simplefit on the MDA forum, did you find that you had to manage you food much to make sure you didn't adversely effect the workouts?

Thanks Ruli, I have watched your progress as I have been doing simplefit (as I have with others) it is a good guage to be able to see others progress along with your own.

[Ruli]

pleasure mate!

that's one thing about SF that you won't easily find in a gym environment: the ability to share ideas, learn from each other, follow others' progress, etc, etc.

guess a cyber world /community has it's advantages!!!