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:
| Week 1 | Week 1 | Week 3 | Week 3 | Notes | |
| Exercise | Reps | Weight | Reps | Weight | |
| Incline DB Press | 12, 11, 9 | 30 | 15, 12, 8 | 30, 35, 40 | Next time I’m starting with the 40s! |
| Hammer Chest Press | 11,9,9 | 90 | 10, 9, 7 | 100, 110, 115 | |
| Weighted Dips | 4,6,10 | 5, 5, No weight | 8,8,6 | 5, 10, 10 | |
| Chins | 8,7,7 | 8,4,5 | Chins were better last week but I did MUCH better with the weighted dips. Compromise! | ||
| Hammer machine low row | 12,12,12 | 70 | 8,9,9 | 90 | |
| Partial rep deads in power cage | 8,8 | 135 | 8,8 | 135 | |
| Seated DB Shoulder Press | 12, 8 | 25,30 | 12,8 | 25 | Hmm, week one better effort but I’m starting to feel my form slip. Better to stay safe. |
| Side Lat Raises | 15,15 | 15 | 15,12 | 15 | We really need a 17.5 |
| Standing barbell curl | 12,8,8 | 40 | 12,8,8 | 40 | Same here, but I try a new move on sets 2 and 3- keeping my back against a wall makes it HARDER |
| Skullcrushers | 15,15,7 | 40,40, 50 | 8,8,8 | 50 | Big improvement! But was clearly being too conservative in week 1! |
So- I’m no mathematician, but using the incline DB press and hammer machine press as an example, and comparing the weight carried on set 3, that represents (I think!) an increase in strength of 33% for the incline DB press and 27% for the hammer machine chest press. Whoa, did I really do that right?
The next day is lower body hypertrophy day…and I’ve never met a leg day I didn’t like. Rather than bore you with another chart, I did want to make the important point that I am seeing strength gains here too! Comparing front squats (love to hate em!) on set 3 on week 1 I was using 85 lbs, this time around (week 3) it’s 90 lbs. That’s a 5% improvement. Not huge, but front squats are one of those things where I’m super strict with form and tempo. Plus, I’m still figuring out the most comfortable spot for bar placement. It’s getting easier though! For barbell lunges, comparing set 3 again, I’m seeing an 8% increase in weight carried (125 lbs and now 135 lbs). For leg extensions, same weight (130) but one more good rep out of each set (8 versus 9) so that is certainly an improvement. I break even with straight leg deadlifts, 115 lbs for 12 reps for 4 sets, but I have to remind myself that the one minute rests really keep my heart rate up and make packing on too much weight a bad idea, at least for me. No matter, there’s nothing that makes you feel like you’ve worked HARD when you’re lifting that bar off the low pins!
Total Body Hybrid HIIT is next up on the agenda. Unfortunately I’m really getting the hang of just how agonizing true HIIT training is. I choose the elliptical machine and use my gymboss interval timer to make sure I complete 10 sprints at 30 seconds with 1 minute recoveries (which by the way, go by WAY too fast!). For those of you who think you know what HIIT is, think again! 20 minutes and I’m TOAST. My squat, chin, bench circuit is improving too! I can squat 85 lbs for 15 reps (10 lbs over last time), bench 65 for 15 (5 lbs over last time), and well…the chins are another story. For sets 1,2, and 3 I get 10, 8, and 5- diminishing returns indeed! I work on hitting the remaining reps for sets 1 and 2 by jumping up and working the negatives, but by set 3 my tank is on E! I finish with 20 minutes on a stairstepper. I think I’m really starting to understand (sort of) why people get “addicted” to cardio- it feels sooooooo good when it’s all over!!!
Racking up for squats is always a happy moment!
Day 4 is a upper body 5X5 where I really see some improvement in the bench press. When I started, I was benching 85 lbs for a 5X5 and I’m now able to do 95 lbs for the same workout. So exciting! For back I do one arm DB rows with 50 lbs, and before I started Hybrid I was using the 45 lbs. So, all in all, despite gaining some body fat, I know some of it is muscle, and it was a great week! Please feel free to leave any helpful comments below.
Week Four of Hybrid Training HERE
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.
WOW Sumi, you look great!
Awesome Sumi!! What kind of macros/calories are you on for your bulk? I am 3 days out from a figure show and debating whether to just maintain and stay mean and lean for the summer before my next fall bulk! Keep up the good work I enjoy reading your progress!!
Hi Kathleen! What figure show are you doing!? How cool is that? Good luck! Right now, fitday.com estimates my calories at 3000 (gulp!) and am following the Bodybuilding Revealed guidelines for macros. I actually posted my meal plan on the first piece I wrote for the blog called "What is Hybrid."
I'd love to hear about how your figure show goes!
Sumi,
Always facinating to read / watch woman who arn’t scared to lift heavy
If you ask me, I think you found the formula for the fountain of youth ^_^
Awesome work! Goes to show the importance of documentation and keeping a good training journal. It's the only way to know in which direction you are heading.
As far as fat gain, it looks minimal to me…some of what you think is fat gain, I'm sure is just some slight water retention caused by the increased caloric intake. You look fuller and tight! Keep it up!
-HR
Thanks so much Hugo!
Awesome job Sumi, looking fantastic.
If only more women "got" the weight training gig and stopped wasting time
on countless hours of cardio, there'd be a dam site more fit looking women about!!
Fat? What fat? Where? In your feet? ^_^
Keep it up Sumi. I'm just about a week away from finishing month 1 of my hybrid routine for weight loss. Hopefully by the end of the second month I will start to carb cycle again, if my total fat % warrants it. The jump rope I did for HIIT on Thurs wiped me out and I needed to rest for a couple of days. Having a hard time sleeping from it. (ugh). But I just learned my gym has rowing machines (YAYZ) so I will try that for a HIIT routine for the next time.
Philip
Yeay!!! Go Philip!!!! Hybrid is super fun, I'm not sure I can end at week 12 🙂
Sumi U look awesome…Love you…
I bean leraning a lot from you.Keeping a good training journal to know which direction I heading,focus in the food plan and be 100% positive.
You look great and beautiful..♥