Cycle Review: I'm Back

The Jan 2 to Feb 12 cycle is now complete! This is the first lifting cycle in my new home gym. And it is also the first cycle in nearly three years since the pandemic shut down everything.

Three years!

I programmed six days a week and allowed one rest day:

• Mondays: back squat
• Tuesday: press and pull up negatives
• Wednesday: kettlebell conditioning
• Thursday: power cleans and single-leg squats
• Friday: ring rows and push-ups.
• Saturday: Accessories like handstand holds, tibialis raises, dip negatives, and hip flexors.
• Sunday: Rest Day.

The rest day was actually flexible because life is like a bee: busy.

Overall, I didn’t feel the workout was too much or too little. Most sessions I could finish in forty minutes or less – including warm-ups. But, I felt the pump and it never felt easy.

This past week, I performed a lot of heavy singles to gauge how strong I became. The results are in: I’m weak.

I need to work on trunk stability. In both the back squat and power-clean heavy singles, my legs felt fine strong. But, my upper body was weak. I had to stop my heavy single attempts because my upper body could not brace heavier weight.

The last thing I’ll say about the cycle was how surprised I was at falling back into the habit of lifting. The first day was a back squat, and the feeling of the empty bar made me feel like I was in my old gym again. It’s like when you hear a song from your past, and you remember what you were doing or watching when you listened to the song.

But it wasn’t only the feeling of stepping into the gym/garage. The nights before the next workout, I checked my program and mentally prepared myself by walking through the lifts. For the days with heavy lifts scheduled, I turned down earlier, ensuring at least eight hours of rest. When I worked out early in the mornings on days I had to commute to the office, I ate extra carbs the night before. For workouts at the end of the day, I made sure to raise my desk so I would stand at work to help loosen up my body.

Even though I hadn’t been to the gym in three years, I felt like I hadn’t left.

On to the next cycle!