Fitness & Diet Updates – June 2023

Fitness/Weightlifting

The prior month or more was totally out-of-whack scheduling wise. Between lots of traveling, various obligations, and two different colds, basically that entire timeframe was missed aside from random visits. So that’s frustrating! The silver lining is that this is extremely abnormal for me. Long ago it used to a struggle to get to the gym or work out, but no more! I’m long past that point, and for a while now I feel really frustrated when I don’t get exercise.

Anyway, I decided to make sure I made a really easy program (3 days/week, a fairly easy 5x5 variation with some extras) and made sure to make it a priority that I hit those three days a week. I did that, and ended up taking a deload week after that. The deload has really paid off, as I’ve been feeling great for the start of the new cycle

The program I’m trying out now is this. It’s a combo of trying some heavier sets at the front of the primary workout, followed by a 5x6 arrangement. It’s a modest jump in volume, but it does help out. In a few cycles I might push to 5x8 again, we’ll see!

Day 1:

Deadlift: 1x3+ @ 80/82/85% 1RM, 5x6 @ 75% 1RM

Close Grip Bench: 3x8, 1x8+ @ 70% 1RM

Curls/Skullcrushers: supersets, 3x15/17/20 @ 35lbs

Day 2:

Push Press: 1x3+ @ 80/82/85% 1RM, 5x6 @ 75% 1RM

Inclined Bench Press: 3x8, 1x8+ @ 70% 1RM. EDIT: was originally Overhead Press.

Box Jumps/Dumbbell Push Press: supersets, 4x6/7/8, 4x3 @ 55lbs. EDIT: was originally dumbbell presses @ 35lbs in each hand.

Day 3:

Squats: 1x3+ @ 80/82/85% 1RM, 5x6 @ 75% 1RM

Rack Pulls: 3x8, 1x8+ @ 70% 1RM

Barbell Rows: 3x11/12/13 @ 50% 1RM

I’ve also been squeezing in a brisk walk usually once a week on top of standard dog/child walks. Not enough cardio, but better than none!

Diet/Health

A while back I got diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It’s asymptomatic in my case, and generally isn’t anything too urgent, but not something worth ignoring due to what it could lead to. Resolving it basically comes down to losing some body fat, in the range of 5-10% of your body weight is suggested as a starting point.

So far I’ve been plugging away at that. It’s a balancing act as I don’t want to really drop a ton of weight for lifting purposes. So I’m taking it fairly slow, maybe 1 lbs/week on average, with a higher protein count than I normally do.

Macro breakdown is this right now:

It is interesting to think about the feelings and experiences I have around weight in general when approaching this too, but I don’t really feel up to digging into that right now. But overall, so far so good. More to come!