JK's log

[invisiblejk]

Thanks DR03K.
Week 59 (Week 11 of L4.1) ending 7/17/14
L4.1D1: 40rds, L4.1D2: 07:30, L4.1D3: 05:32
Pull ups: 7 (0:35), 1 (0:31), 1 (0:22), 1 (0:21) (total 1:49)
Push ups: 25 (0:48),(9,3,2,2) (1:22) (total: 2:10)
Squats: 41 (01:32)

On D1: Increase in the rounds again . Extending the technique my nephew taught me, I pressed the button every 5 rounds. That allowed me to speed up the rounds and to reach new heights. I took two days to recover.
On D2: slowed the reps. It made it very tough to stick to 45 seconds rest in between the rounds. By the time I reached the 10th round, I had to increase the rest period to 1:45. It took me an year to discover the fault in my D2 routine.
On D3: Pullups: 6 reps chin up in the first round. Seventh, nose barely above the bar. Next week, continue with the 7th one. Pushups: felt like I did well, but now discovered that I took longer rests between sets.

[invisiblejk]

Week 60 (Week 12 of L4.1) ending 7/24/14
L4.1D1: 40rds, L4.1D2: 07:25, L4.1D3: 04:55
Pull ups: 7 (0:34), 1 (0:25), 1 (0:20), 1 (0:24) (total 1:43)
Push ups: 25 (0:44),(9,3,2,2) (1:09) (total: 1:53)
Squats: 41 (01:18)

On D1: 40rds are killing me. Why did I discover this technique
On D2: slowed the push up reps. By fourth round, I had to take breaks. Amazing!
On D3: A few seconds savings in each of the sets allowed me to get under 5 mins. Pullups: 6 reps chin up in the first round. Seventh, nose barely above the bar. The next three too were not fully above the bar. Next week, even though I broke the 5 min barrier, I want to continue with L4.1. I think there are improvements to have in both D2 and D3.

I am on vacation the next three weeks. Based on my previous experience, I expect that this sets me back by two months. The only way to avoid it is to continue doing the exercise during vacation. But pull up bars are difficult to find.

[invisiblejk]

Week 61 (Week 13 of L4.1) ending 7/31/14
L4.1D1: 40rds, L4.1D2: 07:28, L4.1D3: 05:31

In vacation. Used the monkey-bars in a park.

[invisiblejk]

Week 62 (Week 14 of L4.1) ending 8/10/14
L4.1D1: 35rds, L4.1D2: 07:22, L4.1D3: 06:20

D1: In vacation. Used the monkey-bars in a park. Didn't have the motivation to push beyond 35 rds. But proud that I kept at simple fit.
D3: In Jamaica, in a resort. Different pull up bars in a gym. Did it in the evening instead of morning. Whatever the reason, had to take breaks between pull ups.

[invisiblejk]

Week 63 (Week 15 of L4.1) ending 8/16/14
L4.1D1: 39rds, L4.1D2: 07:50, L4.1D3: 05:30

D3: In Jamaica, in a resort. Got used to the bars in the gym but still could not pull myself up properly in every try. Still proud to complete it.

Returned from vacation now. Put on 5 lbs during the vacation. How is it possible that I put on 5 lbs in 3 weeks! (Granted that I ate like a hyena in the all-inclusive resort but still the weight gain is too rapid!)

[Edie77]

Hey JK, you're an inspiration, sticking to the program for so long! Congrats, man! I did put on 4 pounds in a little over 8 days, yes it is possible...I wish losing those pounds was just as fast...

I like your detailed tracking as well, did you find it very helpful in the long run?

As for 40 rounds on D1, I don't think I'll be able to keep it. I already went from L1D1 40rds. to L2D1 34rds., and expect to go further down as reps increase.

Anyway, good luck to us,
Edie

[invisiblejk]

Thanks Edie. I posted answer to similar question about detailed tracking here viewtopic.php?p=20407#p20407. Hope that explains it. The tracking has been very helpful.

[invisiblejk]

Week 64 (Week 16 of L4.1) ending 8/23/14
L4.1D1: 40rds, L4.1D2: 07:07, L4.1D3: 04:54
Pull ups: 6 (0:30), 1 (0:18), 1 (0:28), 1 (0:19) 1 (0:22) (total 1:47)
Push ups: 25 (0:41),(9,3,2,2) (1:08) (total: 1:49)
Squats: 41 (01:17)

On D1: first day back from vacation. Legs were sore. I wonder if the additional body weight caused that.
On D2: continued to do the reps slowly. Could finish 5 rounds without pausing in the middle of a round. In the bonus 5 rounds, had to pause during push ups in rounds 4 and 5.
On D3: under 5 mins! A couple of pull ups, I could not get all the way above the bar. But that is okay. I will permit myself to move to next level

Onto L4.2. No change in D1. 3 pullups in each round in D2. 13 pullups on D3. I am guessing it will take between 12 to 16 weeks to pass L4.2.

[invisiblejk]

Week 65 (Week 1 of L4.2) ending 9/2/14
L4.2D1: 40rds, L4.2D2: 09:57, L4.2D3: 07:04
Pull ups: 6 (0:32), 1 (0:18), 1 (0:19), 1 (0:19) 1 (0:19) 1 (0:27) 1 (0:34) 1 (0:43) (total 3:31)
Push ups: 25 (0:45),(8,2,2,2,2) (1:14) (total: 1:59)
Squats: 41 (01:34)

On D2: continued to do the reps slowly. 5th round pullups needed a break. In the bonus 5 rounds, had to pause after 2 pull ups and between push ups in rounds 4 and 5.
On D3: 8,9,and 10 pullups were barely above the bar. 11,12, and 13 are nose above the bar. Am not able to do 7 pull ups in the first set.

[Edie77]

Hey JK,
I recently did a little mod that I thought might be worth considering in your workouts, since you are focusing on the pull ups (which are really hard indeed). What I have been doing is switch Push ups and Squats. So instead of going from pull ups to push ups, I do squats as the middle exercise. I find it helpful because I get some rest for the arms/shoulders, and my push ups don't suffer so much from the pull up exhaustion.

I was curious about your "bonus" 5 rounds. Why did you decide to increase rounds and not reps? D1 is an endurance day, and I guess your bonus rounds are turning D2 in another endurance day as well. One mod that I plan in the future, as I reach L8, is to quit D1 and do D2 twice, which seems the exact opposite of what you do. Also, I plan to add one round in D2, going all the way to failure in that last round. What are your thoughts on that?

Also, have you kept that "muscle-revealing" t-shirt your family was teasing you about? heheh

Best,
Edie

[invisiblejk]

Edie,

Bonus 5 rounds on D2: I have been doing them for over an year now. Originally I started the rounds because I realized that the total number of reps on D2 is less than half of the totals from D1. In order to maintain the calorie burn the same on three days, I started the bonus rounds and secondary goal is to pass D3 quicker.
Rounds vs Reps: I want to stick to SF as close as I can. So adding new rounds at the end seems to be the best way. BTW, I also do two bonus rounds on D3. Overall, I tried to maintain the total numbers of pull ups, pushups, and squats consistent (mostly) on all the three days.
Replacing D1 with D2: D1 makes it an aerobic exercise, the day I sweat the most. D1 is the hardest amongst the three days. I would not trade it for D2. Adding one round to D2 all the way to failure at most doubles the reps (at least for me since I will fail by the time I double it). Purely from calorie burn and muscle building point of view, one round to failure can't compensate for the difference between D2 and D1.
T-shirt: oh yeah. My favorite.

[invisiblejk]

Week 66 (Week 2 of L4.2) ending 9/9/14
L4.2D1: 40rds, L4.2D2: 08:16, L4.2D3: 06:55
Pull ups: 6 (0:30), 1 (0:19), 1 (0:19), 1 (0:19) 1 (0:20) 1 (0:23) 1 (0:27) 1 (0:28) (total 3:05)
Push ups: 25 (0:47),(5,2,2,2,2,1,2) (1:35) (total: 2:21)
Squats: 41 (01:29)

On D2: Did all the pull ups and push ups in all the 10 rounds without a break.
On D3: 6th is above the bar, which was my target for today. After that, half the pull ups are so-so. Next time, add 7th to the first set. Pushup time took a beating most likely due to increase in the pull ups efforts. That is okay.

[invisiblejk]

Week 67 (Week 3 of L4.2) ending 9/15/14
L4.2D1: 44rds, L4.2D2: 08:19, L4.2D3: 06:14
Pull ups: 7 (0:31), 1 (0:21), 1 (0:21), 1 (0:23) 1 (0:32) 1 (0:30) 1 (0:20) (total 2:58)
Push ups: 25 (0:40),(9,4,3) (1:08) (total: 1:48)
Squats: 41 (01:27)

On D1: just when I think that I reached my max, I beat it. I upped my previous by 10%. I took 10 seconds beyond 20 mins.
On D2: Did all the pull ups and push ups in all the 10 rounds without a break.
On D3: 6th is above the bar, 7th half-way to the bar. After that, half the pull ups are so-so. I will continue to focus on the 7th in the first set. Pushup times have come back to normal.

[invisiblejk]

Week 68 (Week 4 of L4.2) ending 9/21/14
L4.2D1: 35rds, L4.2D2: 07:39, L4.2D3: 05:54
Pull ups: 7 (0:32), 1 (0:22), 1 (0:21), 1 (0:20) 1 (0:30) 1 (0:22) 1 (0:24) (total 2:51)
Push ups: 25 (0:38),(10,4,2) (1:02) (total: 1:40)
Squats: 41 (01:22)

On D1: travelling. Tried to do it in the gym. Found the pull ups to be much harder, could be the bars are wider than at my home. Could only do 35 rounds instead of 44.
On D2: Did all the pull ups and push ups in all the 10 rounds without a break. Next week reduce the rest time by 15 seconds.
On D3: 6th is above the bar, 7th nose above the bar. 7th getting there. After that, pull ups are so-so. I will continue to focus on the 7th in the first set. Push-up times have improved. Could do 10 in the second set.

[invisiblejk]

Week 69 (Week 5 of L4.2) ending 9/27/14
L4.2D1: 45rds, L4.2D2: 08:08, L4.2D3: 05:34
Pull ups: 7 (0:31), 1 (0:22), 1 (0:18), 1 (0:20) 1 (0:19) 1 (0:24) 1 (0:26) (total 2:40)
Push ups: 25 (0:39),(10,4,2) (0:59) (total: 1:38)
Squats: 41 (01:14)

On D1: okay, 45 now. I don't know where this is going to stop!
On D2: took 2m 45s rest between the 10 rounds. Next week, reduce it by another 15s.
On D3: 7th still nose barely above the bar. Thought I would take 3 to 4 weeks for adding one more to the first set. The first addition already took 5 weeks and is still not completed. And after the first set, the rest of the pull ups are so-so. I will continue to focus on the 7th in the first set. Push-up times continue to improve.