Another 300: Faster and Better but Still not Complete

Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University
Date: 26th January

Workout: Cheat '300' Workout

25 Chin Ups - 16, 6, 4 (took 4 sets last time)
50 Deadlifts (Romanian) - 33, 17
50 Push Ups - 36, 14
25 x 2 Assisted Pistols - left leg (15, 10) , right leg (15, 10)
50 Floor Wipers - 15, 15, 11, 9 (took 6 sets last time)
25 x 2 Clean and Press with Dumbbell - right arm (25) , left arm (25)
25 Chins... did not start them!

Total Time: 26:35

Post Workout Nutrition: Primal/Paleo breakfast of champions, 35 minutes later.

I could have finished this time, honest! I was pretty shot by the end of the clean and press, but could have squeezed out the final 25 chins, perhaps in 5 sets of 5.

However, I was late for my train, and as it was I had to speed walk for 15 minutes and jump on as the doors were closing. Nice bit of light cardio to finish off the workout, but I prefer not to arrive at work in a damp shirt!

The first set of chins saw some improvement - I have definitely felt re-adjusted to the exercise (note, I am not saying I have got stronger!) but there was also an element of technique. If you get a bad start to this you can end up fighting against your swinging motion - the trick is to get the right motion going from the start.

Push ups and deadlift on the face of it saw me do fewer reps in the first set. On deadlift I attribute this to leg tiredness after this, but on push ups it was tactical. I knew I could do it in two sets, and wanted to avoid getting too close to failure on the first to preserve my chest and arms for the wipers, where I had previous struggled to support the bar for long.

No change on the assisted pistols - I could have done more on the first sets on each leg, but again, wanted to steer clear of failure. I have physio on Thursday and since I get little sympathy from my physiotherapist when I tell him my legs are recovering from a gym session, I want to be recovered by then.

For whatever reason, the wipers improved significantly this time. Perhaps it was the push up tactics, or perhaps readjustment after the six sets of last week taxed the relevant muscles so much.

The overall time was better by almost 5 minutes for the same set of exercises. I was moving more quickly between exercises, taking less rest, and felt more comfortable with the pain. Next time I will complete the whole 300 in under 30 minutes, trains permitting!