Getting Stronger

At the beginning of July, I decided to change up my gym routine. I had been running a variation of the P.H.U.L. routine, but decided I wanted to try something a little more intense since I felt like I was plateauing with both deadlifts and bench press.

I ended up choosing the nSuns 5 day routine and so far, I’m really liking it. I haven’t gotten the chance yet to break through any of my plateaus as of yet, but I’m feeling stronger and putting up more volume than I have in a while.

This week is going to be a big test for that. I just beat my previous personal record (PR) in squats by squatting 260 lbs. which is 10 lbs. heavier than my previous PR of 250. I managed to finally do a single plate (135 lbs.) overhead press last week and will be trying for 140 this week. The real test will be days 4 and 5 this week when I attempt to break my PRs for both deadlifts and bench press by going for 320 lbs. on deadlifts and 215 lbs. on bench. Both are 5 lbs. heavier than my previous records.

I don’t know how exactly to compare this to previous routines since I only do one set of each at the heaviest weight when before I would do sets of 3 to 5, but I’m feeling better about it.

I also don’t know how much of this is just beginning the new routine and when I will inevitably stall a bit, but I’m taking it in stride. I feel like some of it is mental as well. As funny as it might sound, I feel like the routine is pushing me to exit my comfort zone and try heavier weights than I might normally attempt. This can of course be a little dangerous, but at the same time, it’s not doing it at such a steep jump to make it seem too impossible for me to do.

The only real downside to it so far is that my gym sessions went from just over an hour to sometimes over an hour and a half. This isn’t much of an issue, but it has been limiting my available time to run and do other cardio. I’m still hoping to hit 300 miles running this year, but right now, I’m starting to lag a bit in reaching it. I’m hoping to go on some longer runs over the weekend once the temperature becomes a little cooler.

All in all, I’m happy with my progress. My lifts are going up, my weight is coming down, and I feel better and healthier for it. I’m planning on keeping with this program for 12 weeks so I’ll see what if any changes I’ll make then.

Until then, I’ll keep on grindin’!