As promised, I said I would write weekly recaps of the new lifting program I’m on. Today’s post will reflect on my week 1 updates and experience so far. I’m going to break the post out into three difference sections – training, nutrition, and future considerations. Enjoy!
First up in my week 1 updates is training. Obviously this is the bulk of it. If you missed it, I’ve changed my training to a more hypertrophy-based program as opposed to a strength-based program. You can read more about why in my last post. You’ll have to scroll down to the bottom of the post to find the section.
Anyway, week 1 went as well as it could. There were some surprises, but overall I took the week to figure out the best weight to start with for each of exercises.
This program is much more about proper form, the mind-muscle connection, and higher reps than anything else. For the most part it means lowering the weight to ensure proper form. There were some exercises where I went way too light and others where I had to back off.
Like everyone should with their training program, I made notes on what I need to go up on this week and where I can afford to stay the same. This week will be focused on dialing in those weights a little more.
I will say I was told by Jay going into this that the workouts would be hard and lengthy. He wasn’t lying. 2 of the 3 workouts last week took me about a 1hr 20mins and the third was slightly over an hour. All of my training has been hard in some sense. My previous strength programs were hard because the goal was to lift heavy weights. This particular program is hard in an energy-draining, muscle fatigue way. Nothing really leaves me panting or winded so far which is a nice change of pace.
There have been a few surprises with the training program so far.
Next up in week 1 updates: Nutrition. There really isn’t too much to report here. My weight remained constant the entire week and I hovered around 178-179 lbs. I’m consuming around 2100 calories per day broken down into 185g carbs/75g fat/170g protein.
Jay mentioned that I’d be hungry and he once again was not lying. Despite those 2100 calories I’m hungry when I go to bed and hungry when I wake up. It doesn’t matter how late I eat dinner – I always feel those hunger pangs when I’m in bed. I’m not talking the slightly uncomfortable feeling of hunger you feel when in a fat loss phase, either. It feels like I haven’t eaten all day even after a full day of eating.
I’m going to see where this next week takes me with my current calories. I want to see if my body adjusts anymore to the new program and if so, how. After that I’ll determine what I want to do with my diet.
It’s been one week so obviously there aren’t any physical changes to report (or show). One thing I have to remember to do is start taking measurements in addition to tracking weight and taking pictures.
If I had to guess, I’ll reluctantly begin lowering calories. My biggest problem area has always been my love handles and now is no different. I’m incredibly self-conscious about them. The hatred I have for them outweighs feeling hungry.
There’s a chance I’ll just have to accept my flaws, though. Even at my leanest they still existed albeit smaller. If I want to get rid of them entirely it’ll like mean achieving and maintaining a sub 10% body fat and there is NO fun in that.
Stress is going to play a huge role in my very near future. I’ve been relying on unemployment while I try to build my coaching business into a full-time thing. That’s obviously not something that happens overnight. With the end of the weekly $600 federal unemployment assistance, my financial situation is about to get pretty dire.
My new unemployment payments will be $288 per week, which is a little more than $900/month. My monthly expenses total $2400 between rent, student loans, utilities, phone, groceries, and more. I’ve been able to eliminate some of my financial obligations so it’s not quite as high as $2400, but I’ll basically be surviving on unemployment and supplementing that with what I have in my savings account.
Unfortunately that will only last me so long. Either my coaching business is going to need to explode exponentially in the next 2-3 months or I’m going to have to find a full time job. That would mean going back to building this on the side.
So yeah, as you can see there’s a whirlwind of stress headed my way with this stuff. Stress plays a big role in your progress so we’ll see how this starts to affect me. While I currently feel stress, it’s not that bad yet…
Before I was let go from my job and while things seemed to start easing up with the pandemic, Katie and I booked a trip out to Virginia Beach at the end of August.
We did it the smartest way we could and booked a house instead of a hotel so we didn’t have to be around other people. We’ll be driving to avoid flying for the same reason. The house has a pool so if the beach doesn’t feel safe we can still chill out without being around anyone.
Regardless, that’ll take out 3 weeks of training in the gym for me. One for the week I’m away and the following two to self-quarantine once we’re home just to be safe. I do have a TRX system and Rogue resistance bands that I’ll be bringing with me on the trip and can do at home. It’s not the same as being in the gym, but it’s better than nothing.
That’s really all as far as my week 1 updates. All in all it was a good first week. The new program been a welcomed change and I am enjoying these new workouts. I’m looking forward to seeing how week 2 goes beginning with my workout later this afternoon.
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So proud of how your handling all of the obstacles you are facing. I hope you have a great trip. Stay safe and keeping you in my prayers that your business takes off. Love & miss you.
Thanks! I really only have two choices – face the obstacles and try to overcome them or quit and I don’t want to quit! It may take time, but I’m sure everything will work out the way it’s supposed to!
Sounds like an interesting week. I hope your business takes off. I love hearing about how you are doing! Do you do online training for clients or only people who live near you?
It was definitely a week of learning and adjusting. Week 2 is already off to a slightly better start! I do offer online training now. I figured it would be a good addition since most of my personal network is located along the east coast. If you know anyone who’s interested you can send them over to https://alexandujarfitness.com/online-personal-training
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