Phase 2 begins 25 FEB

I am steadily progressing towards Highland Games competition season.  One of my goals for this year is to devote the proper amount of time to conditioning.  I saw my photos from Nov 2012, and my gut was entirely too big for my kilt!!!!

The plan thus far has been working well.

Completed Phase 1:  Hypertrophy (muscle growth) phase
  • 6 weeks duration
  • lower % of 1RM
  • 8 - 12 rep range
  • Higher volume
  • marginal weekly variety
Phase 2:  Strength and conditioning
  • 6 weeks duration
  • working as high as 85% of 1RM
  • 6 - 10 rep range
  • movement-pattern specific MetCons at end of each session
Sample Phase 2 training session:
  1. warm-up:  3 mins jump rope
  2. Front squat:  10,8,6,8,6 (wave loading)
  3. Overhead press: 10,8,6,8,6 (wave loading)
  4. Chin-up:  5 x max reps
  5. MetCon:  max rounds in 10 mins of:
    a. alternating jump lunges x 10
    b. dips x 10
    c. squat jump x 10
    d. kipping pullup x 10

A Note On MetCons:

One of my complains against CrossFit is the over abundance of variety.  As an athlete, I need to get good at specific movement patterns.  the best way to do that is repeated practice.  By limiting the variety of my MetCons, I'll still make great conditioning progress, but will master these movement patterns faster.

Also, since I have 6 weeks of a limited number of MetCons, I'm going to start with a very small timeframe and gradually increase the duration:
  • 5 mins max for weeks 1 and 2.
  • 7 mins max for weeks 3 and 4
  • 12 mins max for weeks 5 and 6

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intro to Calisthenics

 I'm kind of big and kind of heavy. I weigh 235 and wear XXXL shirts ťailored to fit my size L waist.  Even so, after moths of consistent effort, I'm strong enough to incorporate calisthenics as my primary form of training volume. My current plan is paying off in the form of major leaps in endurance, tighter physique, and fat loss.  The schedule is: Mon - whole body Tue - arms Wed - whole body Thu - off Fri - whole body Sat - arms Sun - off My torso has always grown faster than my arms and I need to build proportion, so they get 2 dedicated sessions a week.  A typical whole body session runs like this: 1. Single leg calf raise: 3-100 method* 2. 10 min EMOM: Big power movement like deadline, or snatch grip high pull, or clean&press.  Start at 10x3 and stick with the same weight till you can perform 10x6.  Rotate between 5-6 movements every session. 3. Conditioning circuit 1: 5 rounds of   A. Pushup progression   B. Pick a single leg squat patte...
Read more

The Warrior's Path

This year has been a real test of character, and I have to say, I  passed with probably a B+, or maybe A-.   What makes a warrior different from the ordinary man is not whether he faces obstacles or not. We all face obstacles.  No; what makes a warrior different is how he faces the obstacles. An ordinary man and a warrior will both map out a course to  their objective. The ordinary man will get distracted along the way.  He might see the trail up the mountain and convince himself he never really wanted to reach his objective. When his arms go numb from shouldering the load, he discards item from his pack he suddenly sees as unnecessary.  He might sprain an ankle, call 911 and decide the course is too dangerous for any sane person to attempt.  So much the better, because now he has plenty of time for other more important things.  Isn't it football season anyway? The ordinary man makes excuses to stay ordinary. The warrior notices and ...
Read more