On Friday, I completed my third sheet of SuperSlow training, i.e. another 16 sessions. By way of background, check out:

• From CrossFit to High Intensity Weightlifting
• High Intensity Weightlifting Update: The First Sheet
• High Intensity Weightlifting Update: The Second Sheet

I began SuperSlow in early June of 2011, so I’ve been doing it for almost a year now. The sessions are grueling and exhausting, although I’ve definitely learned to limit my post-workout exhaustion by resting and eating for about 20 minutes immediately after my workout. I’m definitely enjoying the progress that I’ve made, particularly getting to 300 pounds on leg press. Mostly, I’m glad that I have the time, energy, and strength required to pursue my chosen sports — skiing, snowboarding, and horse riding — for the sheet pleasure of it. Physical fitness at the price of just 30 minutes once per week, with little muscle soreness, is pretty awesome.

Without further ado, here’s this third sheet. (Click to enlarge.)

Here’s a summary of my progress on various movements, starting from Session 32 from Sheet 2 to Session 48 on Sheet 3. All the machines are Nautilus, except the lower back and the torso rotation. As before, only Leg Press and Lower Back are done every session; all other movements are done every other session.

With this sheet, I pushed myself so hard on the leg press — and made so much progress — that I didn’t make much progress with other movements. For the last three sessions, we switched leg press to the last movement, with the expectation that I’ll be able to make more progress on other movements as a result. (The order of movements makes so much difference in my capacity to make progress!)

Every week:

• LP: Leg Press: 260 to 305 lbs. I rocked the leg press with this sheet. I was increasing by 5 pounds with every workout, and then my trainer bumped me from 285 to 300 pounds. Gack! But I did it, and it was awesome. On 4/13, we moved the leg press to the end of my workout, so that I’m not completely trashed on other movements. Still, I got up to 305 lbs on Friday with a time of 2:24.
• LB: Lower Back: 160 to 178 lbs. I was supposed to be at 168 this last week, but my trainer bumped me up an extra 10 pounds by accident. Still, I did two minutes!

Every other week:

• Hip AB: Hip Abduction: Steady at 100 lbs, then readjusted position, so down to 85 lbs. I’d not been making any progress on this machine whatsoever with my feet on the upper rung. So my trainer moved my feet to the lower rung again. (That positioning affects the muscles I use in making the movement.) I made some progress in my last two sessions, but we’ll see what happens on the next sheet
• Hip AD: Hip Adduction: 115 to 105 lbs. I was stuck at 115 lbs for weeks and weeks, so my trainer moved my feet to the lower rung and dropped the weight down to 105 pounds. That didn’t seem to help much in the last two sessions, but that might change. Or maybe more tweaks will be required.
• Lower Back (see above)
• Leg Press (see above)
• PD: Lat Pull-Down: 110 to 115 lbs. Due to being completely trashed after my leg press, I made no progress on this machine for most of the sheet. My muscles weren’t failing: my whole body was just out of gas. After moving the leg press to the end of the workout, I did much better on 4/20, so I should be at 120 lbs next week.
• CP: Chest Press: Steady at 65 lbs. Again, I was very exhausted after the leg press. But I’m always weak on this movement, so we’ll see what progress I make on the next sheet.
• Row: Row: 60 to 55 lbs. I alternate between pulling and a 2 minute static hold. Due to leg press, plus the two arm movements before it, I couldn’t keep my form on this movement, so my trainer dropped my weight.
• Ab C: Ab Crunch: 15 to 20 lbs. A bit of progress! Yay!

Every other week:

• LE/LC: Leg Extension: 50 to 70 lbs. I was able to make great progress on this movement due to its early placement in the workout, plus really concentrating on working through the burn. (LC is a 90-second Leg Curl of progressive intensity against a stable frame.)
• Leg Press (see above)
• Bicep: 40 lbs to 50 lbs: Some progress, but I want more!
• Tricep: 80 to 85 lbs: Just a bit of progress. I could really feel the exhaustion with this movement.
• Lower Back (see above) Doing lower back after leg press nearly killed me. My legs, although locked in, would shake uncontrollably, and I often had to quit before I felt the tightness in my back.
• Rot T: Rotate Torso: 48 to 50 lbs. Minimal progress: I was always so exhausted by this point in the workout!
• CR: Calf Raises: 300 lbs. I only did this exercise a few times. I kept being a bit late or forgetting to bring the shoes I needed. I’ll have to make it happen more consistently on the next sheet.

For this next sheet, I want to focus on making major progress on just a few machines — just as I made so much progress on leg press and leg extension on this sheet. I’m thinking lat pull-down, hip abduction, and hip adduction. I’ll have to ask my trainer if we can move those around to be on different days, so that I can really give them my full power.

Basically, SuperSlow is still working really well for me. I’m making good progress with just one 30-minute session per week, and I’m looking forward to progressing even more in my next 16 sessions of Sheet 4!

P.S. If you decide to try my SuperSlow gym — now TruFit Health — in south Denver, please tell them that I referred you!