Starting the "Get Big" program

Today I completed the first workout in the "Get Big" program in Huge in a Hurry by Waterbury. It was a killer. The protocol for today was 25 reps of a heavy weight (a weight you can lift quickly and under control for 4-6 reps). Here's what I did:

• Superset
  • Chin-up, 35 lbs (on my belt)
  • Deadlift, 315 lbs
• DB Decline Bench Press, 2 65 lb dumbbells
• Single-leg calf raises, 140 lbs (Smith machine)

The program calls for barbell decline bench press, but we don't have any kind of set-up where that would be easy to do. So I had a buddy load me up for the 5 sets. Next week I'm going to go up in all of the lifts.

It took me just over one hour to complete this workout, not including the mobility warm-ups before or the stretching afterwards. I was absolutely whipped after completing it. I had my protein shake before, a protein shake right after I got home, and then I slept for about an hour. I was wiped out. I had a meeting at 10am that I almost slept through. I'm okay now, as I write this, but I'm glad I was able to take that nap.

I'm also surprised that it took that long. Let's see why it took that long. Assuming that there's 4 minutes of tear-down and set-up time between the exercises, and that each set takes 2 minutes including rest, and each 25 reps took 6 sets, then that would be 4 exercises x 6 sets/exercise x 2 min/set + 3 breaks x 4 min/break = 48 + 12 = 60 minutes. Wow, I didn't know I would be that close. I also don't think it should have taken that long. I could probably get 15 seconds off the time for each set and maybe 1 minute off the break between exercises. Both of those would save 9 minutes total. I'm going to set a goal of finishing this program in 52 minutes by the end of this program (if not before).