I decided after finishing Lucky 13 to start The Giant 1.0 program by Geoff Neupert. When I purchased The Giant, for a whole $19, I would test my clean and press and work with my 10 repetition max as recommended in the book. Started with 55's and only did 6. I decided to begin with 45's. After a week or 2 of pressing into triple digits on 1.0, I quit the program and went to Giant 3.0, which is a lower rep program using 5 RM max. I used 55's and that helped me raise my rep max to a whopping 7. I ran 1.2 which is all reps with 45's. I sincerely believe doing all those reps with 45's really helped me, because my press became a lot more efficient. The more vertical the path, the shorter the length to locking out.
While doing Lucky 13, I did some intermittent lifting with 55's. 5 sets of 2-4 reps for a couple of weeks. I decided at this point to just run 1.0 with the 55's and see what happens. No rep max test. Suck it up candy ass. Well the results are in. First week, 167 total reps in 90 minutes to 185 total reps in the 3rd week. My only setback was in week 2, I wasn't able to add a set on the heavy day. I did more reps as I did a quick 2 at the end to finish. 10 x 6 + 1 x 2 for 62. Completely my fault. I was running Ballistic Beatdown from More Kettlebell Muscle, on 3 of the off days for fat loss/cardio purposes. Heavy day was the day before and the workout was 180 reps of Double Swings, High Pulls, Double Snatches, Squats and Jerks. Shoulders were tired. Learned my lesson and shelved it. Instead went to Planet Fitness and did some light pulldowns, rows and a run on off days.
I have finished week 4 by deloading down to 20 minutes from 30, and doing an easy 6-8 sets.
What I've noticed:
- My conditioning is off the charts. Between running 1.2, then the complexes tuned my engine up. I'm running 5 miles no sweat once a week and did a 3 mile treadmill run in under 25 minutes. I haven't done that since my 30's.
- The light days were harder sometimes than the heavy days. At first, I thought it was mental or anti-climatic, but then, duh, more sets = lower rest periods. 11 sets in 30 minutes is a lot less than 15 total sets.
- I'm hungry, all the time. Weight went to 190. I'm going on a golf vacation Thursday to my buddy's house in Asheville, NC. The plan is to clean up the diet after.
- The Giant 1.0 did not help my golf game. I've become a complete mental basketcase. Need to find my relaxed Zen. Bad swing thoughts = bad results. Is it really too much to just be a 13-15 handicap? My irons and putting are good enough. Erratic off the tee and inconsistent with the fairway woods. I shot 41 this summer with a triple on a par 3 because I hit a 9 iron into the shit and lost a ball. Didn't hit anything other than 6 iron off the tee that 9 in Naples. Go figure.
- Two weeks ago I tried to clean and press double 32 kg/70 lb. bells and failed. Not even close. This past Saturday, 30 minutes after the test above, I tried twice, got a LOT closer but failed. I had not done cleans in a long time with the 70's. They weren't crisp and I needed to zip up and get tighter. Sunday comes, I'm vacuuming in the basement, I walked over, did a set of 4 double cleans just to get warmed up and used to the movement, focusing on getting tight. 10 minutes later:
What's next on tap? Well I have 3 choices.
- Finish Ballistic Beatdown, (3 1/2 more weeks of workouts, and get the eating under control)
- Run Giant 1.1. Probably the 3rd choice. 6 rep days are the light days instead of the heavy days
- Run Giant 2.0. Reps are ladder style. There are some hairy rep counts, but not 30 minutes of doing straight 8 rep sets.
