Becoming an Athlete

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...