The Alpha Male Challenge – Week 3

Posted By elissa on Oct 12, 2009 | 4 comments

This week’s routine continued the trend from last week: once again the number of reps dropped and the tempo of each rep increased. In addition, some rather murderous drop sets were introduced: sets of 12, immediately followed by 10 reps (20% drop in weight), then by another 8 reps (with another 20% drop in weight).

Yes, this was kinda painful. It was only done for two exercises in each workout, but that was more than enough for me. 🙁

John is still struggling a bit with finding the right weights to start with. This is less of a problem for me – although I did “miss” on my barbell shrug weight. I chose 135 pounds, which I figured would be just about right for me, given the slowish 3-0-1-0 tempo… but I miscalculated. My shoulders handled it just fine, but the weak spot was my grip… I had to (briefly) set the bar down twice towards the end of my second set, as my fingers were starting to ache (note to self: bring straps next time BB shrugs are in the line up).

We’ve gotten several Prowler workouts in since I first posted about it… and – while it may be a coincidence – I’ve noticed a small, but definite boost in my a.m. cardio performance this week. Shoving that thing around IS a real heart-pounding workout (a physician friend of mine likened it to pushing a Chevy Suburban), so I wouldn’t be surprised to find it’s having a positive impact on my stamina.

We had it out again today… I was tempted to raise the weight slightly, but decided to hold off. But next week, I think I’ll try adding another 10 pounds to it. (baby steps…). We’re shooting for two sessions/week, weather permitting.

One other thing I’ve noticed is that my weight has dropped off a bit.. I normally weigh around 125 – 126 lbs. – but the last two weeks I’ve been hovering between 123 – 124 lbs… and the last few days, I’ve been flirting with the low end of that range. I haven’t noticed any serious strength loss, and I do look a bit more defined, but this is as far as I want to go… so I need to be more vigilant about my eating, and make sure I’m getting sufficient calories to cover the work I’m doing. It’s funny, ’cause it doesn’t really FEEL like I’m doing more work, but perhaps that’s the nature of a whole body workout. I’ve been doing split routines for a long time, which hit individual muscle groups thoroughly, but aren’t the most efficient when it comes to burning calories.

I suppose I should have anticipated this, however… the Alpha Male Challenge is oriented towards fat loss.

Next week’s program will be an incentive to eat more, that’s for sure… it’s the last week for the “Muscle Up” (endurance) wave, but it also looks like the worst. There are 34 sets, and most of ’em (24) use a 3-0-3-0 tempo! Urrrrgh…