New Training Block: The Giant X1

This past Saturday, I decided on a whim to test my double 16kg kettlebell Clean + Press repetition max. The result was just like before: I was able to do 7 reps safely, but because of accumulated fatigue I did not feel an 8th full rep would be safe to attempt. This was really 2 tests in one - the other thing I was testing was whether my left shoulder would hold or if it would start feeling like it's slipping out of the socket again.

The shoulder passed the test, at least for that day. So I decided to start The Giant X1. It is an 8 week hypertrophy program, and thus barring any accident or other unexpected event, I should be able to complete it before the end-of-year holidays. Tape measurement confirmed what I suspected - that coming down with COVID-19 towards the end of this past summer, and the inactivity that followed, resulted in loss of muscle mass and strength. So hopefully I can do a complete block of Giant X1 and regain some muscle mass, then leverage the new muscle mass into new strength gains by doing 6x6 on the IsoMax again. This latest block of 6x6 resulted in improved stability of the left shoulder, reduction in elbow pain, but only a modest gain in terms of strength. In the case of my overhead press, I tested in around 111 lbs, hit a PR of 119 lbs., but generally continued to perform in the 110-115 lb. range. I should note this 6x6 block was only 4 weeks long. If I did 6 weeks it's possible my overhead press may have improved to the 115-120 lb. range.

There are some similarities in programming between The Giant X1 and Easy Muscle Schedule A. Both are based on the C+P, whose are summarized here by Geoff Neupert and Mike Mahler here. Without giving too much away, the main difference appears to be ladder repetitions. You would be doing a higher rep set earlier in Giant X1 compared to Easy Muscle Schedule A, but because of the ladder concept, you would not be doing the same number of reps on every set. Giant X2 looked like an interesting alternative to X1 but it seems like double clean volume would be sacrificed for more upper body exercise variety. I haven't done enough double clean work this year, hence the choice of X1

Today's inaugural session went fine. I managed to do 3 full ladders plus one set of the lowest rep rung of the ladder within the session time. More importantly I didn't feel my shoulder slip out of the socket.