Oh what the heck… let’s keep going.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Base Building – Mass cycle

• Incline Press – Working max:
  • 45 x 5
  • 45 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 4
  • 125 x 3
  • 155 x 2
  • 175 x 1
  • 160 x 11
  • 160 x 5
• DB Bench Press
  • 60e x 10
  • 60e x 10
  • 60e x 8
  • 60e x 7
  • 60e x 6
• Behind the Neck Press
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 8
  • 90 x 6
• BB Upright Row
  • 60 x 15
  • 60 x 15
  • 60 x 15
  • 60 x 12
• Tricep Pushdowns
  • 40 x 20
  • 40 x 20

Originally I was planning to take this week off. The thinking was, given my shift to being a full-time indie software developer, I was going to take a little time off to allow my body to rest and recoup. Well, I’ve seen a couple things. First, I’m getting more rest simply because I have the time and schedule flexibility. If I need a mid-day nap, I’m taking it. Sure it means my work day shifts and there’s “more work”, but that’s alright if it also means I’m getting more rest. Second, taking that mid-day nap might become a problem. What’s happening is I’m taking one heck of a nap — 2-3 hours. This isn’t good. While it’s good for recovery, it’s not good for having a solid rhythm to the day and getting things done. I really need to start establishing my new routine, my new habits, and lifting is a part of that.

Besides, I’m feeling pretty good so onwards.

The key about what I’m doing now is trying to adhere more strictly to Paul Carter’s programs. I am focusing mostly out of his “Base Building” eBook, and so I start off with a 6-week mass building cycle. I was mostly there — you can see this isn’t very different from the prior cycle. But the one big change was the 5-4-3-2-1 “over-warm-up” work up. That was at Paul’s scheduled percentages and boy, it’s a lot lower than I had been working at. The 50% work was where it needed to be. It just felt strange, but I don’t think there was much loss or problem, when I look at how the rest of the session went. We’ll see how it carries over in time and how it works out for me.