Simple and Sinister, How I’ve Missed You

Over the past 6 weeks, I literally had been counting the days until I could begin Simple and Sinister again, with a certain variation, after I completed the boringly effective 40-Day Workout. I can say without looking at any measurements that as far as aesthetics go I am happy where I am. I look, feel, and move better, thanks in part to the Original Strength resets.

Now the strategy for the near future its back to a variation of S&S that I already started two weeks ago; on Mondays and Thursdays I train pure S&S, for general preparation, and Tuesdays and Fridays I substitute Clean & Presses for Get-Ups in a ladder rep scheme for press specialization per Dan John’s Strongfirst articles. Wednesday is an off day to recover from the presses, and I am not stopping until I finally hit 75 reps with the 53lb ‘bell as I did with the 44lb. I think after hitting a 40% bodyweight press I have reached the end of easy gains and now I have to be smarter about it. It will take longer, but I do well sticking to a basic plan that stays the same but changes just enough to ease boredom.

Along with that, now that it is staying light later I started walking during my evening break again, with hill sprints up the levee surrounding the plant. I need to start walking on weekends too when I have the time for a longer walk at a brisk pace to build up my aerobic capacity and be low impact enough to not affect my recovery. Work capacity has been taken care of pretty well by the hill sprints and since we started sparring in Jeet Kune Do. Those three minute rounds work up a hell of a sweat, I recover quickly, though I keep in mind the length of a MMA match and the fact they only have a minute between rounds unlike me.

Diet wise, I just stay away from junk, keeping a casual eye on my carbs and just maintain.

So, what has this done for my body composition?

Body Composition (inches)

Body Part                      Before                  After                   -/+

Neck                               14.7                 14.2               -0.5

Shoulders             43.62                   43.25            -.37

Chest                      37            37                  -.0

Waist                             31.5                  32.25            +.75

Biceps                    12.55                 12.37             -0.18

Forearms                   10.82               10.71          -0.11

Thighs                         21.82                 21.8        -0.02

Calves                          13.62                    13.75         +.13

Weight                  151.6 lbs          152           +0.4

Body Fat %                12.5%                15.2%         +2.7%

Lean Body Mass    132.7lbs            128.9           -3.8 lbs

Those measurements were surprising, I didn’t imagine that. We’ll see what the heavier presses will do since I shrank, but still stronger again. I won’t argue with that.