SIX-WEEK WORKOUT CYCLE 33

(performed as part of 2013 BSN Summer Shred Challenge) 

(May 12-June 21, 2013) 

AND INTERCYCLE WORKOUT 33

I’m pleased to share with you Cycle 33.  Cycles 31 and 32 were my first “competition” cycles. I put together the 2 cycles for 12 weeks of the 2013 Transformation Challenge. I joined the 2013 BSN Summer Shred Challenge 3 weeks before ending Cycle 32. As I prepare this I am coming to the conclusion of 3 weeks of my post Cycle 31-32 Intercycle. This leaves me 6 weeks to complete the Summer Shred Challenge. As with the previous 2 cycles, I have continued to add elements back to my workouts that helped me to build the muscle mass that I had prior to my arm and shoulder injury of last year. It is still my hope that with diligent work, attention to detail and diet that I will make a decent showing at the end of this Challenge. This is not necessarily about winning, but reaching the goals that I have set for myself for 2013! I do not expect to fully reach my goals until September 2013. My goals are as follows:

1. 1.          To build more muscle in my chest.
2. 2.          To build more muscle in my legs (quads).
3. 3.          To build more muscle and lose fat in my back.
4. 4.          To continue strengthen my core in preparation for resumption of planche push-up training in late 2013.
5. 5.          To obtain a 5-6% body fat percentage while adding approximately 2-5 pounds of muscle during the next 6 weeks.
6. 6.          To work on consistently running at or below a 6:15 mile pace on all of my runs.
7. 7.          To continue to strengthen my arm and shoulders and prevent a recurrence of impingement syndrome.
8. 8.          To continue integrate my full body stretching regimen into my daily workouts.

I will keep the changes and innovations that I made during the previous two cycles. I believe that I have built in enough difficulty and novelty that I can complete 6 more weeks and make some good gains.  I will, for example, continue using the weighted vest and dumbbells to add more resistance to the majority of my bodyweight exercises. I added weighted cardio on leg day! I, for the first time in one year, returned to my 300 (reps) workout. I made great progress and demolished my personal record using 20-pound dumbbells. I will use the 30-pound dumbbells for Cycle 33. I will continue to use exercises from deconstructed ab workouts that I moved to Sundays.  I continue to try to master my newest and toughest ab workout (via Teagen Rose) on weeks 1 and 4 on my pull-up bar! For many exercises you will notice a decrease in reps because I am going to the higher weight dumbbells. In other cases, I have increased reps on the bar work (pull-ups and chin-ups) to 25 and will keep the extra bar work for my back and biceps (e.g. pull-ups to failure and 30 second static curls).  I must mention that diet continues to be key to making sure that I hit my body fat percentage goal. I will focus on diet and using a cutting regimen that I have not used in over 10 years. This Cycle, Fridays will see the return of a weighted bodyweight and bar workout that I also could not perform because of my arm and shoulder injury during the entire year of 2011. I made some refinements and hope that it will yield great results. I made a slight change to my Tabata workout by adding plyometric push-ups. Finally, on Fridays, I standardized my cardio to include 6 minutes of Tabata cardio, 1-mile walk and a 1-mile run. Finally, I continue to try to bring my chest back and have increased reps for extra push-ups from 50 to 75 during for Cycle 33. 

My Intercycle workout is designed to allow me to get some active rest between my six-week workout cycles. This workout includes stretching, walking days, two light bodyweight workout days, and two Tabata workout days. Originally, my Intercycle was conceived to last two weeks. I have now, however, added an additional week. I found that I was still not sufficiently rested mentally or physically to begin a new six-week workout cycle. The only change to my Intercycle is the cardio for week 3 increases. I do a 2-mile, 3-mile Interval and straight 3-mile run during the last week of the Intercycle in order to make a smooth cardio transition into the new cycle. This workout will be listed below Cycle 33. 

Feedback and suggestions are always welcomed. If you have any questions or want a copy of my workouts, please feel free to send me a personal message (PM) or an e-mail at spring85sigma@yahoo.com with “BODYSPACE” in the subject line of the e-mail. 

NOTE: I DECIDED TO LEAVE CYCLE 27 POSTED BELOW THIS WORKOUT FOR YOU TO HAVE A COMPARISON OF MY BEFORE AND AFTER INJURY WORKOUTS. EVEN WITH THE NEW ADDITIONS THESE WORKOUTS ARE STILL NOT QUITE UP TO MY PRE-INJURY WORKOUTS, BUT ARE SUBSTANTIALLY MORE DIFFICULT THAN WHAT I HAVE DONE IN WELL OVER ONE YEAR.

The structure of this cycle is fairly simple. Essentially, it is three weeks of workouts performed twice. During the second repetition of the workouts, reps or times in position may be increased on some exercises depending on my progress. I will use a slash (/) to separate the reps for the exercises performed during the first and second repetition of the workouts. Weeks 1 and 4, 2 and 5, and 3 and 6 contain the same exercises with the second week containing increase