Becoming an Athlete

I rolled my ankle on an easy trail run Saturday morning.  It was pretty bad.  Lots of discoloration in my foot from the internal bleeding, lots of swelling, etc. etc. But like I posted on instagram, every injury is a two-fold opportunity to grow.  First and foremost, is discerning the lesson.  Every setback or injury affords me the opportunity to pause, assess myself, my motives, and discover a lesson.  Every lesson is different, so each one is an experience to fully embrace. Secondarily, it's an opportunity to keep my ego in check and rehab my way to a level of structural balance and strength that is greater than before the injury.  It exposes the weaknesses I've been ignoring and forces me to address it with precision and consistency. So for now, my plans of trail running, high frequency squatting or deadlifting, and lots of plyos will be shelved. I'm coming back to that plan in the spring with determination!!!!! For now, I'm doing what I call "D-...

I've trained so many times this week.  But the experiment led to some obvious conclusions after just one week. I can't train legs every single day, even when alternating from quad-dominant movements to hams/hips-dominant movements.  Every other day will be the max. Basic rowing is adequate for developing muscle, but it isn't enough to develop power and athleticism. I'm going to add snatch grip high pulls from blocks to every Pull day. The lack of eccentric loading should make recovery a non-issue. Dips are absolutely tanking my ability to press with any real load, but watching the reps go up during my 3 minute AMRAP sets is crazy motivating. 3 minute AMRAP sets are the absolute sickest way to do your accessory work.  45 reps of dips, or 21 or chinups, or 110 reps of alternating jump lunges in 3 minutes each builds stamina, conditioning, vasularity, and size. I'm gonna stick with these!!!!!

About 3-4 weeks ago I really tweaked my right trap.  I deadlifted what I'm calling my 40's PR: 485 x 1. A few days later, my trap started hurting was down into my lat and even down to my elbow.  It was incredibly painful but I worked around it. Now that I'm lifting like normal again, my pulling strength feels hampered by neural inhibition more than muscular pain.  To overcome this as quickly as possible, I'm moving to a high frequency program. For this month, I'm following a push / pull split, and will train 6 days per week. Every muscle group will be trained three times per week. Monday: push-1 Tuesday: pull-1 Wednesday: push-2 Thursday: pull-2 Friday: push-3 Saturday: pull-3 Volume within each session will be fairly low, but volume across a single week will be higher than a normal bodybuilding split.  Each of the three sessions have a bit of variety to ensure week to week progress. I'll write up a summary at the end of week 1 to see how it's goin...

I feels amazing to see myself getting bigger muscles, losing fat, and feeling my mobility improve and my stamina increase all at the same time. My lower back was starting to hit a wall from all the clean and snatch complexes, so now I'm starting my workouts with bodyweight circuits. I'm blowing through these and plan to do a few weeks of them while increasing reps per circuit, then sprinkling in a couple complexes each week. Yesterday I was able to deadlift 435 for 5 reps.  2 weeks ago I BARELY hit 3 reps with that weight. Today is the first time in my life I was able to curl 100 pounds as a work set. I worked up to 100 x 10 on ez-bar curl.  I'm so pleased with the steady inches of progress. God willing, there is no end in sight.  I just need to keep my ego in check and focus on consistent diet and sleep. Happy Friday!!!!

Certain authors have a way of presenting an idea that is simple, logical, and compelling to the point of getting me to examine my previous methods as well as my motives.  Paul Carter is one such author and trainer. The major concept I've embraced from him is chasing rep PRs before Weight PRs. I'm almost 42 and realize I'll never compete in a powerlifting competition, so chasing 1 rep maxes has very little relevance to my goals. Its high risk and low reward. Rather than trying to add more weight every week, I'll stick with a specific weight and just grind out more reps every week. The two methods I am using at the moment: Volume Accumulation programming: I'm not sure if there is a better name for it, but that's what I call it.  I can run this for 12 weeks with amazing results before I have to switch. I pick a weight I can manage for 10x5. Each week, I add 1 rep per set for a total of 10 extra reps.  By the end of 6 weeks, I've gone from 50 total to 100...

I am a tinkerer by nature.  I've built a career of consistently improving things, optimizing results for minimal effort. I have many shortcomings and weaknesses, but one of my strengths is to filter out all the distractions from a situation and zero in on the critical few that matter. I've realized the following limitations in myself: I'm too old to keep chasing weekly increases in poundages, so 5-3-1 isn't optimal for me I need LOTS of volume to elicit the metabolic stress necessary for my goals, so 5-3-1 isn't optimal for me When I follow typical periodization blocks, I lose the other qualities far too fast I've solved this by: Following a Push / Pull split that ensure I'm hitting everything twice a week. Always starting with a variety of barbell complexes, focused on Snatch or Clean.  The variety means I have to master movement before I can increase load. The nature of complexes adds significant metabolic stress with minimal time, and leav...

I've been using barbell complexes regularly and systematically for the last month to make steady and consistent progress in my performance with Clean & Jerk, and Snatch. I've read a lot of articles that simply give you a menu of complexes and combos to choose from to make a killer finisher. It doesn't take a genius to figure string together random combinations of barbell movements performed for 5-8 reps each.  Any combination will leave you sucking wind and sweating buckets.  This random approach to exercise selection, rep ranges, and load progression won't make you any better and will likely lead to plateaus or possibly injury. So what's the difference between a combo and a complex? Coach Dan John summarizes a Complex best: A complex is a series of lifts back to back where you finish the reps of one lift before moving on to the next lift. The barbell only leaves your hand or touches the floor after all of the lifts are completed. Although you can do them...

Man, this current phase is just incredible.  We had to build up our work capacity to reach this level, but is yielding fantastic and balanced results.  Functional mass, increases in strength, work capacity, and endurance across several energy systems. The basic framework is: Train Mon, Wed, Fri Whole Body Circuit: Same circuit every session - legs, upper push, upper pull Power Development: using a variety of combination lifts and complexes build on Clean variants or Snatch variants. Alternate every session between Snatch-focus and Clean-focus Hypertrophy: Focus on one or two body parts and smash with volume and high time under tension Whole Body Circuit: weeks 1 - 4 Mon, Wed, Fri: 3 circuits of a. Squat: wk1,2 - 20 reps; wk3,4 - 15 reps b. T-bar row: wk1,2 - 15 reps; wk3,4 - 12 reps c. Pushup:  wk1,2 - 15 reps; wk3,4 - 20 reps Power Development: weeks 1 - 4 Monday: medium load complexes; e.g. 3 x 3-3-3-3 (4-movement complex) Wednesday: light l...

Crossfit is an amazing marketing engine. I love and hate it.  When I saw a barbell advertised as a "WOD bar", I had enough.  I can't justify spending $175 per month to work hard when most gyms either: have poor programming that won't lead to consistent improvement outsource their programming to places you could go directly (Invictus, MisFit, Mayhem, etc.) Have highly enthusiastic coaches with no understanding of long-term planning at all. So here I am training with my buddy making consistent, injury free progress, looking better at 41 than I did at 31. What we're doing now could arguably called CrossBuilding.  Like that?  Yet another CrossFit mashup to differentiate for no real reason. I REALLY like the Cross Lifting stuff coming out of Russia. Dimitri Klokov and Mikhail Koklyaev are just mind boggling.  They know more than I'll ever know about strength training, programming, and fitness.  Its astounding. So what I'm doing is nothing as sop...

I'm as lean as I've ever been, and on track to get to a new peak leanness.  I'm running so freaking much, and my calves and shins are responding wonderfully.  Normally I get shin splints and knee pains, but my gradual mileage buildup has paid off. I'm 204lbs and at a lean 32" waist.  My abs are awesome, by my mediocre standards.  The only problem is I've had to cut back the lifting volume and my shoulders are looking a little small. Here's what is working: Monday AM: Chest & Back Monday PM: Distance run Tuesday AM: High Intensity Intervals Tuesday PM: Speed work (AKA Sprint buildups) Wednesday AM: Legs Wednesday PM: Recovery run Thursday AM: High Intensity Intervals Thursday PM: Speed work Friday AM: Shoulders & Arms Friday PM: Recovery run Saturday: Challenge day Sunday: Off

Now that I'm ramping up my run mileage for race season, I have to lift about half as often as I was lifting in previous blocks. All previous training blocks have been: Mon: Chest & Back (power/strength) Tues: Shoulders & Arms (strength) Wed: Legs: (power/strength) Thu: Chest & back (hypertrophy) Fri: Shoulders & Arms For Phase 2, which is Race prep, I've moved to a lower frequency lifting schedule so I can keep up the increased running / conditioning in the evenings. Phase 2 Morning Lifting Schedule: Monday: Chest & Back (strength/hypertrophy) Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Legs (strength/hypertrophy) Thursday: Cardio Friday: Arms (strength/hypertrophy) Saturday: Race Day or Challenge Day Phase 2 Evening Conditioning Schedule: Monday: Speed warmup, distance running Tuesday: Speed warmup, sprints, boxing Wednesday: Speed warmup, sprints, boxing Thursday: Speed warmup, distance running Friday: Speed warmup, recovery run Challeng...

I've hit a plateau in my cleans.  Stuck at 205.  Switching to snatch grip high pull for this 3 week block.  All other lifts are making steady progress according to plan.  I'm turning up the intensity and ratcheting down the volume just a bit as I ramp up my running to prepare for a pretty aggressive race schedule: Warrior Dash: 3miler on 3/4/17 Bone Frog: 8miler on 4/29/17 Tough Mudder half: 5 miler 5/6/17 Spartan Super: 10-12 miler on 5/20/17   

I've been working on the ability to hold a front lever. I'm still not there yet.  This picture is a still frame from a video of me getting there. I can pull to a nice parallel position, but the hold is just a millisecond. How I got here: Planks, especially side planks I've noticed side planks really get deep into the abdonimal connection (insertion?) at my pelvic bone. Holding a side plank for a minute is becoming routine, if not completely easy. Parallel bar pikes These are much harder than leg raises, as they require total body tension. I've learned a great deal of body control. Toes to Bar I remember when I could OCCASIONALLY get 1 rep. These have become routine also, and I can bang out 10 or more now. The pikes really built my weak links and now I'm able to engage my abs much more. Dragon flys / Dragon flags I do a normal leg raise off the bench and then thrust my torso into the air so I'm supported on just my shoulders.  I accentuate the lowering...

Monday 13 FEB 2017 I have to say, all the focus on stability and mobility is paying HUGE dividends. I can almost perform a front lever, but I'm a few months away from holding it solidly. side planks: 1 minute per side Toes to bar, a few sets of 5 easy reps, then a few sets of front lever attempts a. chinup: bw x 3,3,3,2,1 b. pushup x 5,5,5,5,5 Clean: 125x5; 145x3; 165x2; 185x1,1,1 Bench press: warmup up to 245 for an easy single, then 205x4,4,4,5; 155x20 (rest pause set) 1-arm dumbbell row: 70 x 10,10,10,10 per hand Tonight: 2 mile run for time. Gonna be some serious suckiness.  

Man, it's barely Wednesday and I feel great.  Soreness everywhere, but feeling strong, mobile, and motivated.  Here's a snapshot of the training week Monday AM: side planks, wood choppers chinups / pushups Cleans: 5,3,2,1,1,1,1,1 bench press / 1-arm row: 4x6 / 4x12 bench press: 1 rest pause set face pulls: 3-50 method incline dumbbell press: 3-50 method Monday PM : 2 mile jog Tuesday AM: side planks, hollow body rock chinups / wall ball Overhead press / pullup: 4x6 / 4 x max Overhead press: 1 rest pause set Dips / barbell curl: 5x5 / 5x5 Dumbbell skull crusher / hammer curl: 5x10 / 5x10 Tuesday PM: 1 mile for time Wednesday AM: side planks, pike trap bar deadlift: 4x6 squat: 4x15 Leg extension / leg curl: 4x12 / 4x12 Leg press calves: 4x20 Wednesday PM: 4x100, 1 mile walk Thursday AM: side planks, wood choppers chinups / pushups Cleans: 5,3,2,1,1,1,1,1 Chest triset:     Incline db press- flat db press- db fly: 4 x 12-12-12 Back tri-set:     Snat...

I've just started on block II, and its going great.  I'm mastering the stability movements, increasing range of motion / mobility, and starting to add in a bit of evening running to prep for Spartan Super and Tough Mudder. So what's the additional athleticism component?  Well.... 1. Running 2. Power Cleans Running: Nothing sexy here.  Just following a REALLY simple 14 week running plan. I have more than 14 weeks till the races, but may as well build capacity now. Power Cleans: I'm just walking it up SLOWLY every Monday and Thursday e.g. Wk1 Monday: 95x5; 115x3; 135x2; 155x1; 165x1; 175x1 Thursday 115x5; 135x3; 155x2; 165x1; 175x1; 185x1 The volume here is low, and I'm doing it on Chest & Back day, but starting with an explosive movement fires up the CNS and makes moving heavier weights more fluid and efficient. These weights are REALLY easy.  I won't miss a rep

I finished the full week, but I'm only going to dig up Day 1 to describe how it address the 4 pillars (Stability, Mobility, Endurance, Strength): Monday 23 JAN 2017 Side/Front/Side plank: 2 x 20sec/20sec/20sec Stability.  Front planks are easy for me, Left side is really hard.  Right is OK.  Progressing to 3 straight minutes (60/60/60sec) will be a massive improvement in stability and endurance Parallel bar pike (aka leg raises) 3 x 10reps Doing these from parallel bars requires so much more total body stability that with your back supported against something.  This is incredibly difficult 1-arm dumbbell snatch: 60# x 3 x 2reps per arm Mobility and Strength.  Next week I'll hit 3x3ea arm, then 3x4ea on wk3.  After that, I move to 70#. Dumbbell snatches require a ton of stability and mobility Bench press: 185# x 4 x 6reps; 155x12,10,10 (will stick with 155# till I hit a total of 50  reps in 3 sets. This is  called the 3-50 method) Incline ...

I can't say this is an all-encompassing model of health, wellness, or even fitness, but it is a great model for healthy and efficient athletic movement: Stability Mobility Endurance Strength Stability is the foundation on which you build the rest.  if your core can't be tight and strong, injuries will manifest in bizarre ways. Knees, ankles, lower back, hip flexors, shoulders, you name it.  You need a solid platform to support heavy loads without injury. Mobility serves the same purpose, but also allows for efficient movement without wasted effort or over-reliance on some joints to make up for immobility in others. Endurance is pretty damn clear. Without it, you're just a 3-rep Hercules who can't hike a mountain or run a few miles.  Plenty has been written about the various forms of endurance.  I'm not going to rehash anything. Same for strength.  We all know there are various ways to express strength and innumerable ways to train for it. Ge...

My finger is still broken and still in a plastic cast, but I'm starting to use my grip again, with an outstretched middle finger.  I have to be honest, I really like curls now, because it looks like I'm flipping off myself in the mirror, or passersby. Now that I can hold a barbell again, I'm on an undulating periodization for the forseeable future for the big lifts: squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press.  Accessory work will change every 3 weeks So current phase for 2017 looks like this: Monday: 1. bench press: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 2. bench press: 3-50 method 3. incline dumbbell press: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max 4. Hammer Strength row: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 5. Hammer Strength row: 3-50 method 6. Wide grip cable row: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max 7. Squat: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 8. Squat: 3-50 method 9. Leg extension: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max Tuesday: 1. Turkish getup: 5mins 2. Windmill: 5 mins 3. Parallel bar pikes: 5 x max (add reps ev...