Workout log June 8 - triathlon thoughts and consistency

Clem Duranseaud
11 minutes ago
3 min read

Man in orange shirt and red shoes bench presses weights in a gym. The room has mirrored walls and dark equipment, creating a focused vibe.

I've been toying with the idea of doing a half iron man in 2026. I've done a full one in 2016 and I think getting back into that kind of shenanigans would be fun.

There's one in Mallorca that lots of people from work are doing, which seems like the perfect place to start.

My body felt a little tender and fragile this week, but it was another good one!

Monday: Bench press block reflections

Bench press: 5 x 5

Paused deadlift: 4 x 5

Rows: 3 x 8

I'm going back up to more volume after the last few weeks of very high intensity. My current program is quite simple:

Couple weeks of 5 by 5s
Couple weeks of 4 by 4s
Couple weeks of double and singles
Repeat

This has been successful for the last 6 months. I may be reaching a plateau.

Here is where the importance of tracking your workouts comes in. It's almost impossible to remember what weights you lifted weeks ago. Here is the bench workout I did this week, vs the same one I did on April 21st.

Two workout logs for Barbell Bench Press. June 2nd shows varied reps; April 21st shows consistent reps. Both have 5 sets with rest details.

Two things stand out for me:

The volume (sets x reps x weight) decreased from 6380 on April 21st to 5357 on June 2nd. That's a 16% difference. Not at all what I would have liked to see.
The highest weight went up to 275, which is an all time rep PR at this weight.

I reached one of two goals this cycle: I increased my strength, but my work capacity has decreased.

I was hoping that after the last few weeks of strength training, I would have matched sets 2-5 after having increased the intensity of set 1.

The ultimate goal for the next cycle is to increase in strength while at the very least maintaining work capacity.

Paused deadlifts and single arm rows are consistently getting stronger.

Tuesday: weightlifting and squats

Over head squats: 2 x 5

Hang snatches: 2 x 5

Snatches: 3 x 5

Hang cleans: 2 x 5

Cleans: 3 x 3

Split squats: 3 x 5

The squat racks were full so I did split squats instead of barbell squats.

Wednesday: bench and back

Bench press: 3 x 2

Weighted chin ups: 3 x 3 + two easy sets

Seated rows: 1 AMRAP + 2 back offs

Another rep PR on doubles on the bench! The whole point of the last 6 weeks was to increase this lift, which it has done perfectly.

Chin ups and rows felt good.

Thursday: Cardio intervals

Day off from strength training.

Intervals on the spin bike:

5 min warm up
10 x 40s hard 20s easy
3 min break
10 x 40s hard 20s easy
3 x 3 min hard 1 min easy

I tried to keep my RPMs at 105 with 400 watts during the shorter intervals. For the longer ones tried to maintain 90 RPM with 320 watts.

Friday: Deadlifts and managing expectations

Deadlifts: 5 x 5

Lat pull down: 3 x 10

Incline bench rows: 3 x 8

Deadlifts are not progressing at all. A cynical observer may even point out that they are regressing.

I need to remind myself I am training a lot of things at the same time (cardio, strength, weightlifting) and that not everything will be increasing every cycle. Gotta keep my eyes on the longer term!

I felt absolutely exhausted that day, so the lat pull downs and inclined bench rows were feeble.