I’m away this week so there isn’t a workout plan. I am, however, thinking hard about what to do when I get back. To be honest, I think it will be very similar to the routine I have been doing. I will probably just add a bit of cardio and finally admit to the extra front lever work I have been sneakily doing after each upper body workout but not recording…
Getting a six pack for my annual beach holiday
Once I get back, I have 6 weeks before I go away for my annual beach holiday. Yes, I try to leave it as late as possible in the year so I get maximum benefit from the sunshine while it’s dark and rainy at home. That means I have 6 weeks to lose a bit of flab and unveil the six-pack. (It must be under there somewhere!)
Why I really want to lose some weight
As well as (hopefully) revealing the six-pack, dieting down should also have a significant impact on my chin up and dip performance. Ah, now the truth is out!
Last Wednesday, I felt really strong and I was able to increase my dip to 60kg for 6 sets of 2 reps (although I dropped down to single reps for the last two sets). This was a big improvement for me.
At a bodyweight of 75kg, I am therefore dipping 135kg in my workouts for 6 sets of 2 reps . If I drop down to a bodyweight of 72.5kg over the 6 weeks (at just less than half a kilo per week) then I should be able to load up with 62.5kg while still only dipping 135kg. So I improve without actually getting any stronger. This is good because I don’t really want to aim to gain any strength while dieting. That way lies madness and sore shoulders.
From past experience (and I will write about this at some point but in the meantime here is a good T-Nation article on the subject), each rep on my dip is worth about 5kg. So if my 6 sets of 2 reps is roughly equivalent to my 3 rep max, and I can do 62.5kg, then my one rep max should be 72.5kg, which would be the double bodyweight dip I am aiming for.
So what do I do next?
Once I’ve achieved my goal, I can (finally) stop dipping and try something new. But don’t get me wrong, I’m still up for a challenge. At the moment, I’m torn between a bigger bench and free-standing handstand push ups but I’m open to suggestions…
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