Ch-Ch-Ch-CHANGES

Well, I'm pissed at myself for letting my greed for iron get the best of me. I hurt my back before doing the same thing, and it took me 2 years to gain new ground. I got so pissed and depressed that I did nothing for weeks or months on end.

I'm stronger than when I hurt myself last time, but I THOUGHT I was wiser as well. Truth be told, I am wiser, but I just got greedy. I saw the weights going up, and went beyond what I should have on one simple workout.
So now I've taken 1 week off and I'm ready to chance my approach BACK to what I know is best.

  1. Stability
  2. Mobility
  3. Endurance
  4. Strength

Strength is a siren's call for me. "Add another 10lbs. Another 20. You can lift it. You can recover in a couple extra days."

Well, I'm going to focus on priorities 1, 2 and 3 for the next four weeks, and slowly integrate 4 back into the mix. My Hybrid Strength plan will still be the base for the weeks 5 though 16, but weeks 1-4 are very focused rehab. Stability, Mobility, and Endurance. I NEED these qualities in the highest order to achieve Strength of the highest order.


My rehab phase will utilize a variant of Charles Staley's Density Training. It's essentially a simple means to auto-regulate intensity. Pick 2 movements, and alternate them for a set time (10 mins in my case). Each time you perform that workout, you shoot for more reps in the same time. That's progressive intensity in it's simplest. The nice thing about this type of training is that is produces PROFOUND improvement in endurance, but also has a nice side benefit of building muscle density.

I'll also be doing the Stability / Mobility workouts that I did for a while in DEC 2009. These two will be the means through which I build Stability and Mobility.

As for endurance, I'm going to be doing good old cardio. I freaking hate cardio. Its so mind numbing. At the same time, I've avoided steady-state cardio for so long that I know I need to do it; we avoid what we are bad at.
To get things started, I went for a 1 hr walk today (28JAN) and stopped only long enough to strength my lower back, glutes, and hams.

This rehab phase isn't the sexiest, but it'll damn sure set me up for long term gains without injury. The image at bottom shows a macro-view of this phase.



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 pattern movement I stick with the sa
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 appreciates all the beauty along th
Read more

13JAN2015: More boxing

Great evening.  I got to coach two people and really focus on skills, while participating. Warm-up:  5 rounds of jump rope 3mins on / 30 seconds off.  TIRING!!! 3 rounds of shadow boxing, emphasis on footwork, body position, balance 5 rounds of mitt work 5 rounds of heavy bag. I snuck in a copuple rounds of kicking, just to dust off the Kajukenbo rust.
Read more