Second Cycle Issues

E

EagleTree

New Member
I'm curious about the way my last cycle ended and new cycle began following SD.

I ended on my 2s/Negatives with some nice PRs. About 10% increase on Bench and 5% on Mil Press. I was pleased. I took a full 14 days SD because at about 5 days in, I came down with a cold (not overtraining related aside from possible higher susceptibility, my son started school again
sad.gif
). Now I've started with 10s again (skipping 15s as it said to do if no overuse problems were apparent). After calculating my schedule on the new 1RMs, I'm finding even the starting lifts to be very hard. In fact, I failed on my second benching set on workout number 2, I mean failed at rep 5 out of 10, pretty dramatic.

I lost some weight (3 pounds) during SD even though I tried to maintain the calorie input, the "cold" included a fever and wiped me out for a couple of days, then trashed my respiratory system for a few more. I figured this could account for the weight loss. The real question is, should i have gone back to my original weight schedule after the SD and was it a mistake to up my starting weights? I understood that the SD should back down the CNS a bit and it appears it did, thus should I have maintained the lower weight schedule? Or alternatively, does this just sound like the result of getting sick.

I don't appear to have lost mass in the process though my pump measurement on Biceps has dropped by 1/4 inch. That was the only indicator I had that I lost hypertrophy ground and pump is probably not a direct measurement anyway. Non-pumped measurement is within a 1/16 of where it was (not really measurable).

At this point, I'm wondering if I should maintain at the current weights for all the lifts and see if the strength comes back, or drop down a few pounds and run my previous weight schedule? I doubt the CNS issues will have much impact on bulking so I'm open to either.
 
<div>
(EagleTree @ Oct. 09 2008,6:52)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">the &quot;cold&quot; included a fever and wiped me out for a couple of days, then trashed my respiratory system for a few more. I figured this could account for the weight loss.</div>
If you had a virus, you may yet be suffering from post-viral fatigue. I've experienced that before. I have no idea what the labcoat reasons might be for it, but it can surely affect your training adversely.
 
Personally, I think it's a mistake to miss out the 15s. After a 14 day SD even lighter loads at the start of the 15s feel pretty hard and can provide enough stimulus to give you some growth (75% of your 15RM will still not be light for squats or deads) plus they are a good way to get yourself firing on all four cylinders again after a short layoff.

I think in your case, considering you got ill during your time off and you dropped some body weight, 15s would have been a better way to start a new cycle for several reasons.

Even though you have done a session or two of 10s, if I was you, I'd carry on as if I'd started with 15s. So, use last cycle's 15s loads (maybe adding an extra 5lb to each session if you feel up to it) and work towards your 15RM workout. Eat well and then return to your 10s and see how you get on. I think the 15s will give you a bit more chance to recover from the cold you had. Not overdoing the volume during the 15s will help too. Any time I've had a cold it has really affected my fatigue levels for the following few workouts.

Finally, I wouldn't worry about any measurement changes right now. Wait till the end of this next cycle and see how things compare then - remodelling doesn't happen over night.
 
Thanks to both of you. Sounds like wise advice on the 15s and indeed, the cold still has me feeling more like laying around than working out (or working). I thought about it later and an obvious fatigue factor was that I dropped 3 reps on both pull-ups and dips even with no added weight. I guess it's pretty clear.

I'll grab the old chart on the 15s and go for it easy.

Thanks
 
Eagle

Without reading further than the first two sentences I pick up the following &quot;culprits&quot; for your downfall!

1 - <div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I came down with a cold</div> This usually weakens you to no end depending on the severity, judging from the fact that you stopped an additional 5 days, that to me makes one big reason!!!
wow.gif


2 - <div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">skipping 15s as it said to do if no overuse problems were apparent</div>
A missread IMO, because you went right over the fact that you had a cold, that runs down your immune system which takes time to rebuild thereby using essential metabolic resources.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I lost some weight (3 pounds) during SD even though I tried to maintain the calorie input, the &quot;cold&quot; included a fever and wiped me out for a couple of days, then trashed my respiratory system for a few more. I figured this could account for the weight loss. </div>

There you go mate, I read a little further and my suspicion's is confirmed.

Next time, do the 15's when you weaken out like this, and give yourself enough recovery time, in this case with the weight training, two weeks at least to start gathering momentum again.

Hope this helps!
biggrin.gif
 
wink.gif


Oh...and please give yourself a break, at least you were wise enough not to train under viral infection as that mistake can even be fatal! No jokes...
 
Good advice on keeping the 15's.

A rule of thumb, if you have merely a head cold, okay to work out (but other gym members won't appreciate it). If a chest cold or fever, do not work out until fully recovered or you risk a relapse.
sad.gif
 
What I have noticed is that after recovering from an illness, it is super easy to become fatigued, and I lose a lot of strength endurance. The way I handle this is defintely start off with the 15s, make your first weights in the 15s way lower than you would ordinarily, ramp up to a 15RM weight that's maybe 1-2 increments lower than you would otherwise use, and then return to your normal weights in the 10s and onward. Minimize volume, avoid failure, and cluster where necessary.

As an analogy, imagine taxying an airplane down a runway. Since the hyperdrive hasn't been invented yet, we cannot just leap off the runway and instantly begin flying. Rather, we must start from rest, accelerate down the runway as fast as our engines are capable, and develop enough speed to lift off before the end of the runway. Screw this up and you'll crash and burn . . .

So, here, the idea is to make the 15s easier than normal so as to gain enough &quot;momentum&quot; to push into the 10s and 5s.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks to all. Here's how good the advice was.

I restarted with the 15s and that plus giving it a couple more days to experience recovery from the illness really allowed the workout to hook up. It was lifting a bit light but the muscles are feeling right now even so. I think even without the illness, the 15s were a good idea. I have old injuries that are there very subtly (one shoulder issue going back a year and a forearm / elbow issue that's been there for about 6 months). I was being too aggressive in interpreting the &quot;if no overuse issues are apparent, you can skip the 15s&quot;. With the illness recovery and the hint of some pains, the 15s really felt right. I limited the volume on deadlifts too just because with a 15 deadlift, these tend to push my respiratory system. A single set gave a workout but didn't get my lungs upset in the least even though a hint of congestion remaines. I'll gently up my cardio for a bit rather than push the squats and deads hard, just to get back in the respiratory swing. By the 10s, I'm sure it will all be back on track.

Taking it easy for extenuating circumstances is sometimes a bit hard. I guess it's the wise path though. What's nice is, the muscles feel right even with this backing off. I don't think I will skip the 15s from now on.

Wear a mask around anyone with symptoms of a cold ;)
 
Kudos on doing the right thing. Sometimes its hard doing what our body really needs instead of what our ego wants.

Sometimes life gets in the way of what we really want to happen and there's just nothing we can do about it but work around it. It doesn't pay to push sickness or injuries.

I have sensitive joints and tendons and thought I could push them by skipping 15s on a couple of cycles and not only did my joints pay for it but my gains actually suffered as well. I didn't realize it until my last cycle when I HAD to incorporate the 15s back in as my joints and tendons were crying out for sweet mercy. My muscles BALLOONED in size!

I have never seen a program fit me so well as the basic HST program. I can't make it better no matter what I do, nor am I going to try anymore.
wink.gif



Good luck in the future!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top