A little shorter update this week because it was a fairly quiet week in my Operation Melt journey. In fact it was pretty uneventful until just yesterday.

Sweaturday

If you follow me on social media you know that I often use the hashtag #Sweaturday when I talk about Saturday workouts. Saturdays are usually my day where I can push myself in my workouts because I don’t have time constraints. So I usually start my Saturday with activities that make me sweat and get my heart rate up.

This week was a particularly good Sweaturday because I spent nearly 2 hours in the gym. My routine was as follows:

• I ran a 5k of intervals (alternating fast run & fast walk) on the treadmill
• I did some warm-up exercises including Bosu burpees and TRX strap bicep curls
• I did 5 sets of deadlifts – I will talk more about this in a second
• I did 3 sets of assisted pull-ups
• I did 3 sets each of a couple of cable exercises targeting arms & shoulders
• I did 3 sets of cable curls targeting my abs
• I did 5 relatively high-intensity minutes on the rowing machine
• I did 15 minutes of cool-down stretches

In all it was a pretty amazing workout that burnt over 1100 calories. I do feel it a little on the day after – something I refer to as a “workout hangover” – but it was worth it.

Not only was the workout a good one it was a personal record-breaking one and one in which I achieved a new goal.

Chasing Goals Beyond Weight Loss

As I wrote about in my 7/22/18 post, when my weight first dropped under the 200 pound mark earlier this year, it started becoming clear that big weight loss wouldn’t continue forever. So much so that my weight has effectively not changed for the past few months (though it is a bit more complicated than that).

With the impending slowing of my weight loss it was also becoming clear that I needed to start figuring out some new goals. I defined a few new goals including completing a half marathon (done!), continuing to run more 5k races and improving my time (done!) and several strength-related goals.

One of my biggest new goals I set in August was that I wanted to be able to deadlift my bodyweight by the end of the year. My starting deadlift weight on 8/26 was just 95 pounds so this was a stretch goal to be sure. I wanted to increase my deadlift weight by 100 pounds in 4 months.

Over the past 4 months my deadlift strength has increased significantly. Nearly every week in my session with my trainer we have done deadlifts and ramped up the weight. Then, as I talked about last week in my blog about my achiever brain, I slipped backwards. I had gotten up to lifting 175 pounds and the week after I could only do 165. That made my goal seem slightly out of reach for the year.

I Did It!

During my big Sweaturday workout this week I spend some time focusing on deadlifts and I wanted to get back up to the 175 pounds I had previously achieved.

Set 1: 135 Pounds, 10 Reps. I started off with my first set with a 45 pound plate on both sides of the 45 pound barbell bar. It was heavy but completely manageable.

Set 2: 155 Pounds, 10 Reps. Next up I added an additional 10 pound plate to each side of the bar and ramped up 20 more pounds.

Set 3: 175 Pounds, 8 Reps. After my second set I felt pretty good and added another 10 pound plate to each side of the bar. That brought me up to my goal for the day of getting back to my previous weight. But I didn’t stop there…

Set 4: 185 Pounds, 8 Reps. I took off all of the 10 pound plates and replaced them with 25 pound plates. That brought the total weight up to 185 pounds. That was a new record for me and I was pretty excited. But I was pretty sure I had a little more in me. So I headed back to the weight rack…

Set 5: 195 Pounds, 3 Reps. I added one more 5 pound plate to both ends of the bar bringing the total weight up to 195 pounds. For reference I had weighed myself just about an hour earlier and my body weight was in the 194 pound range so this attempt would be about a pound over my body weight. I nervously stepped up to the bar and gripped it and I pulled with all my might and I did it. The bar came off the floor and it was VERY heavy but I completed my first rep at my bodyweight. Then I was able to do 2 more reps before I had to stop.

I did it! I achieved my goal of deadlifting my bodyweight by the end of the year. I am going to keep working at getting better at that weight but I have achieved my goal.

Then, after my workout was done, it was time to eat and eat I did. So much protein consumed through the day including a breakfast that included prime rib and 3 eggs amongst other things.

We are quickly running out of days remaining in 2018 which means it is time to start thinking about my 2019 goals. If I have been able to ramp up my deadlifting to my bodyweight this year I can’t imagine where I am going to be a year from now!

Thanks for reading!

Last week’s stats (11/26-12/2):
Distance walked/run: 40.3 miles (+6.25 vs. LY)
Total calories burnt: 23,551 (-4,488 vs. LY)
Total calories consumed: 15,678 (+4,328 vs. LY)
Net calories this week: -7,873 (+8,816 vs. LY)
Weight change (week avg.): 0.9 pounds lost (-5.4 vs LY)