Week 8 and holdin’ steady!

This week is one of my favorite types of weeks- hypertrophy week! Hit a set of weight hard, rest a little bit, and hit ‘em hard again. In fact, I think the hypertrophy day is quickly becoming my favorite type of training day (I still love you 5X5!). On hypertrophy days, that minute of rest goes by all too fast for me, especially since I love writing notes in my training log in between sets. This day always requires a wrist watch! For the sake of objectivity, I’m going to compare this week’s (Week eight) results (just a sampling of the exercises) with a similar routine I performed on Week 3 of the program.

UPPER BODY HYPERTROPHY

Here is a sampling of the results for LOWER BODY HYPERTROPHY:
 
 

I’m definitely proud of the results above. The only thing I did NOT see an improvement on was on the lying leg curl and leg extension. I break even with last time, but I’m not that worried about it.  As the BBR mods will point out- a great strength training routine is not based solely on machine work, so since I’m seeing improvements on the barbell and dumbbell work, I’m happy! Another great moment was seeing an improvement on the seated calf raise…I really wasn’t even “trying” to see an improvement here, it just happened.  Oh- and the burn in my calves post workout felt awesome!!
 
My last day on Hybrid this week is the total body HIIT day. For the HIIT portion, I get reacquainted with an awesome, awesome cardio machine (and I rarely say that): the rowing machine.   The last time I did this was on week 1 of Hybrid. I’m wondering how I could have ignored it for so long.  I enlist the help of my fellow gym buddy (and avid rower) to make sure my form is right. He stays with me (probably for amusement?) for the majority of the routine, to make sure I do this right.  He complains that 95% of people do this wrong (who knew!?) and I want to be that 5% that nails it. 5 minutes of warmup and the usual HIIT routine. This doesn’t go as “fast” as the elliptical but each “sprint” is challenging as all get out. I feel it in my glutes, hams, everywhere- and that was an unexpected surprise!

I hit the  chin/bench/squat circuit but back off doing chins on sets 2 and 3 because I’m seeing diminishing returns on my investment here.  This time, I pick inverted rows on the Smith machine.  When I first looked it up, I thought, hah, piece of cake (mainly because the Smith machine was involved), but not so! I’ve discovered a new use for the Smith. Gotta be proud of discovering new tricks in the gym!  I finish with 20 minutes of easy incline walking on the treadmill.

Another great week on Hybrid! Time to go eat! Please feel free to leave some comments below.

Week Nine Hybrid Training HERE!

Sumi Singh

Sumi Singh is an Austin-based personal trainer with nearly 2 decades of experience in fitness. She holds specializations in pre-and post natal fitness, group fitness, and sports nutrition. She’s the author of Stay at Home Strong, a complete workout program for new moms. She’s also an online diet coach, a busy single mom, has set various world, National and state records as a powerlifter, and holds an BSc from Tufts, and a Masters from Duke University.

www.shailafitness.com/