Effrene's log

[Effrene]

Hi everyone.
I'm a lean 135 lbs (usually; just lost a few after an illness) male, 5'10" and 19yo. Been doing the paleo schtick for nearly 8 months, but never had a good workout program (not one I stuck with, anyway). The main goal is to gain weight. Given how difficult it has been in the past, I'll set the target at 145.

I thought about starting SF a few months ago, but got sidetracked by something else, and something after that, and… you know the drill. I finally decided it doesn't matter what I do so long as I stick with it, and thought SimpleFit was a good idea. So, I'm committing at least until summer, and maybe I'll stay for months or years after that.

I wasn't sure where to start, but for some reason I like the idea of working up from the lowest level. So, here's my L1 results:

Week 1
Wednesday, Jan 5, 2011
L1D1: 46 rounds

Friday, Jan 7
L1D2: 3.20
All reps were plyometric, except the last 2 pull-ups. They probably could have been, but I got lazy.
Day 2 will probably go untimed in the future.

Saturday, Jan 8
L1D3: 1.38
Pull-ups: 10 (10)
Push-ups: 21 (21)
Squats: 21 (21)

I really felt the last few pushups and pull-ups, but breezed through the squats. I was shaking for a while afterwards, though.

[Jonathan22]

1:38 is outstanding!

[cheapo]

Great start. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[Effrene]

Week 2
Tuesday, Jan 11
L2D1: 45 rounds
The third pushup was killer in the second half of the rounds. Pull-ups were fine (but form may not have been consistent), as were squats.

Thursday, Jan 13
L2D2: Untimed
No plyometric pull-ups; I don't trust my new door gym that much, and have nothing else in my dorm. The pushups hurt, and I don't know how long I'll be able to keep up the plyometrics, but so far I've been able to get through it with minimal slowing of the pushup sets. No clapping in later reps, though.

Friday, Jan 14
L2D3: 1.42
Pull-ups: 13 (6,5,2; wide, narrow, neutral)
Pushups: 26 (26)
Squats: 26 (26)

I really surprised myself with that time; the pull-ups felt much slower than before. The pushups were rough, and I nearly took a break after the 22nd.

[Effrene]

And thanks! I took a "before" picture, but have too fragile an ego to post it before I have visible progress.

[Effrene]

Weeks 3-4
Tuesday, Jan 18
L3D1: 28 sets
That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. On the one hand, my pull-ups failed really early, and I had to take long rests. On the other, I'm fairly certain I've never done 56 pull-ups in a single day before now, let alone 20 minutes.

Friday, Jan 21
L1D2: Untimed
Recovering immune system + poor sleep + new germs = sick again. I just wanted a light workout today. My recovery was awful and I only did 4 sets.
Pull-ups were slow with emphasis on form, and L's once I thought of them. Pushups and squats were plyometric.

Friday, Jan 28
L3D3: 3.00
Pull-ups: 16 (11,2,2,1; Normal, neutral, normal, normal)
Pushups: 33 (11,9,4,4,5) These took the most time, but I probably didn't need all of the breaks.
Squats: 33 (33) I'm starting to feel these. No more breezing through squats, unfortunately.

After a rest week, I'm back, and am almost over my bronchitis (or whatever I had). 3 minutes; significantly slower than levels 1 and 2, but the workouts are getting much harder. I'm guessing I'll end up around L5.

[cheapo]

Looks to me like you'll be on to Level 4 at the end of this week. Go for it!

[Effrene]

Week 5
Monday Jan 31
L4D1: 27 sets
That was much easier than I expected. I chose a much more modest pace, and ended up just shy of my L3 time rather than burning out and struggling for the last 10 minutes. Pushups were hardest, except maybe the last few pull-ups.

Thursday Feb 3
L4D2: Untimed, about 15 minutes
Pull-ups: Ls, with a 1-3 second static hold at the top of each. Really hard with long holds; easy with short ones.
Pushups: Blast straps. Hard. I switched back to the floor halfway through the 4th set. By far, these were the worst.
Squats: Deck squats (squat down to floor, roll onto back, and reverse). These were completely different from plyometrics, in that I wasn't hot or extremely out of breath, but I felt my abs more than ever before in SF. I may or may not add jumping to these next week, as I didn't feel much of a leg burn, but I could tell my form fell apart in the last two sets.
Rest: 4 minutes each

Sunday Feb 6
L4D2: 4.04
Pull-ups: 20 (10,4,3,3)
Pushups: 41 (20,11,6,4)
Squats: 41 (41)

D2 killed me for a few days. I finally made it back today.
I don't know how much is SF and how much is Kelly's Mobility WoD (which I started at the same time), but I am noticing a much better posture than a month ago. I'd say that SF has done a lot for my shoulder position and all the deep squats have helped my hips loosen up, even if the M-WoD did more for overall mobility.