OK so I admit it I have basically started my transition into HIIT already. I mean the bulk workouts were fine but in the end I felt like I was getting less fit and more cumbersome as I went along. My weights were all up and I loved the way it felt to do really heavy isolated exercises but I eventually tired of it and started to set up the deck for the summer workouts. That means I can move my barbell outside, work with my chinup bars and my rings to do ring dips and use my wall ball. Not only that, I have the hill at the side of the house to run up and the deck itself to do varying heights of box jumps with. The question is, do I move my barbell mat down from the garage on to the deck or do I transition my barbell workouts back into the garage like last summer. If I am indoors I can at least work out when it’s raining so I am not completely at the mercy of the weather. However, my chinup bar in the garage is a sad effort compared to my multiple chin up stations on the deck. I also have music in the garage and no people staring at me from across the pond as I work out.
I have also been a little lazy, only just now surpassing 90 actual workout days, as you can see I have been resting a lot more than usual and that has to stop. It’s the start of May now and I will take May as a transition to HIIT completely and try to give myself a little break from the heavy Bulk days of Body Beast. I could use a few days off but for those of you who are reading this we both know that’s not going to happen. I will probably take some days to do some cardio, some abs and to maybe even take a stab at some yoga again. After that I should really build some yoga into my workout schedule for the summer, I know it’s good for me.
As far as Body Beast goes, I woudl recommend it for people who want to put on size and strength, it’s well thought out and executed even though “the Beast” is a bit of a tool. I did see some fairly significant strength and size gains, some of which is creatine and water some of which could actually be muscle we will have to see. However the downside as I already noted was that when I remove the mobility part of my workouts that are so key to HIIT I start to feel less fit and at this point in my life the whole point of workouts are to feel better, not necessarily to be bigger or stronger for that matter. Body Beast was fun for a while, but my years of being a gym rat and doing isolation exercises for single body parts are best left in the past. It’s time to admit that the old school bodybuilder in me has been replaced by an athlete employing basic but multi functional and multiple muscle group workouts that stimulate the whole system. The notion of “arm day” or “back day” should and have been replaced by days that reflect basic movements in groups such as deadlifts and cleans, squats and clean and press, pullups and kettlebells and so on. I need to adopt a more functional schedule however, the Crossfit approach is not systematic or organized enough to be a single source so doing the WOD every day and hoping it will be a balanced workout scheme would be foolish. I guess that schedule is next.