Lifting and snowshoeing

Last night was bench press night in the gym. I hadn't done bench presses in 12 days and I hadn't lifted in 7 days. The gym is open fewer hours during the holidays, and I'm teaching skiing some weekdays, so I've had fewer chances to lift recently.

I tried to bench 170 but couldn't pull it off. It wasn't even close. Last night ended the strength cycle that I've been doing, and here are the results from 6 weeks of strength-based lifting:

Bench Press: 135->165 (22% increase)
Squat: 225->265 (18% increase)
Deadlift: 245->325 (33% increase)

Starting next week, I'll start my training for WS. My weight work will drop to 2x per week, at least until ski season is over. Each weight workout will be a full body workout that is primarily intended to drop bodyfat rather than increasing strength. The recent low volume, higher weight workouts are hard, but I don't sweat very much when I'm doing them. The low reps and long rest periods allow the body to recover a lot between lifts. The next program has many more reps and sets with shorter breaks, and they'll be much tougher workouts that will leave me dripping with sweat.

This morning, I did a 4-mile snowshoe before work, starting in the dark. It was windy and snowing the whole time I was out, but I still had a good time. The trails are in better shape than last week, and the loop took 71 minutes rather than the 83 minutes it took me last week. But, once the footing is even better than it is now, I should do this loop in about 60 minutes. Right now, there is a lot of rotten snow from the recent rains, and I was never sure if the snow would support my foot when it landed today.

I'll do a snowshoe run tomorrow after work, and then I'll be teaching skiing the first four days of the New Year. After that, my WS training kicks off next Monday.

We're getting some snow today - a couple inches maybe. Tomorrow, we're expecting a moderate-sized snowstorm. On Friday through Sunday, though, we are expecting a huge storm, which we'll need to replace the snow lost to the recent rain and warm weather.