Yeay! Week 3 on Hybrid starts off with a real improvement for me in strength gains and in weight. I’ve gained 1 lb a week steadily since starting eating (a lot more!) for 4 weeks now, so I’m almost at 115. No doubt, I’ve gained some fat too as the pics at the end of this post will show, but it’s a small sacrifice for seeing strength gains. It’s so satisfying to see the numbers go up here in weight carried. I’m glad I take careful notes and always bring my training journal. Most people feel naked without their iPod— me, I can’t get by without my notebook. I repeated the same workout for the upper body hypertrophy hybrid day and here’s how I made out:
I’m following the every other day training protocol for Hybrid, and this week begins with a total body Hybrid HIIT protocol. I decide to look up Will’s suggestion for trying his “killer conditioning” day (sounds fun!). In his video, Will uses a piece of cardio equipment that looks like an elliptical/stairstepping machine. Honestly, there are so many choices at the gym, and all the fancy gadgets and screens confuse me a bit, but I pick one that looks similar to the one in his video. After a brief 5-minute warm up, I do 1 minute low intensity followed by 30 seconds all out 100% tongue-hanging-out panting-like-my-dog effort, and repeat. I did that for 15 minutes, which is literally all I could stand. I get off and my legs are wobbly but I can still walk. Success! I can’t do math and work out at the same time, but I count the intervals when I’m done and I’ve nine, which sounds like too many. I’m thinking next week I’m going to try this on a machine I’m more familiar with!
Week 1 on the Hybrid was AWESOME. Day 1 was a 5X5 chest and back day. I was warned 5X5s would take some “getting used to” as I have never followed a program that has such long rest periods between sets. The hardest part was figuring out what was 80-85% of my 1 rep max was as that’s a fairly new concept for me also. That was the weight I could successfully handle for about 5-6 reps while maintaining correct form. I was also warned it would take a few weeks to really dial in the correct loading (which changes depending on what part of the program you are following) so I’m still getting that figured out, which will be apparent from the number below. 
Welcome to my training journal that will follow my progress and experience with Will’s Hybrid Program. I have been a member of his BBR forums for some time now, and have greatly benefited from the info I found there. I kept reading about the impressive results people were having with this program, and decided to give it a try!
Although I have been very dedicated to both exercise and nutrition, I have not tried anything quite like this in the past, so I’m excited to get started. I hope BrinkZone members will follow along with my progress, and help me keep motivated. I plan to add pictures and other updates as I get used to all this. I’m also new to blogging,so bear with me. 
