Becoming an Athlete

My fitness methods have become pretty simplified in principle, but varied in execution. Building Strength: Use the 5-3-1 Method.  It always works Build Mass: The Volume Accumulation.  Use timed sets (2 minutes is a good place to start) to take a given weight from 5 sets of 5 reps and grind till you can do to 5 sets of 10 reps.  Add more weight and repeat.  This could as easily be 4x8 to 4x15.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is doing more reps in a given timed set with a given weight. Conditioning: It's hard to mess up conditioning.  When it comes to elevating heart rate, burning more fuel, and becoming a leaner more energy efficient athlete, variety of movement is a good thing.  The more static your exercise selection or work/rest ratios, the faster you'll make neural adaptations. That said, one of the work/rest frameworks I use frequently is the boxer's bout.  Start with 4 rounds of 3min work and 1 min rest.  During the 3 minute work ...

 2020 was such a tough year for everyone.  I don't need to rehash the global level stuff.  Compounding it on a micro-level, I had to get through two major surgeries.  The first was kidney donation.  That was a tough one.  I've never been so fatigued in my life.  I tried getting back to exercise after a few weeks but could only sustain maybe 2 minutes of effort. It was humbling.  Then in October I had 60% of the meniscus in my right knee removed.  This has proven to be even more limiting than losing a kidney. But after shifting my focus to movement quality, mobility, and of course rehab, I'm back to normal energy levels and near normal ranges of motion in my right leg. One realization is that as I get stronger, I'm able to increase my mobility, so I've started training "heavy" again.  Keep in mind heavy is a relative term. I am using timed sets in a circuit to create a nice 1-2 punch of strength and conditioning.  Each set is 90 seco...

An alternate title could be: Reasons To Go Retro With HIT I donated a kidney to a very close friend of mine on 5/26/2020.  It was supposed to be in March, but COVID-19 pandemic exploded, and everyone's plans were derailed.  I was genuinely afraid my friend would die while we waited for the hospital to give us the green light for surgery.  It was scary enough giving up an organ for a friend, but even scarier to be in a hospital with no visitors allowed because of COVID.  I was quarantined in my room for 2 days.  She was there, totally alone, for 12 days.  We are nearly 2 months since our surgery and both recovering well.  Her health is better than it has ever been since I've known her.  We were part of a genuine miracle. After a few weeks of doing nothing, and sleeping constantly, I finally tried to get back to normal life.  I radically overestimated my ability to sustain physical effort.  I thought I could just lower the weights and ...

Man, so much has happened since I last posted. COVID pandemic was a huge one.  I made changes to keep systemic fatigue low so I could train almost every day.  Sometimes I could go 8 days with no rest days.  Sometimes only 3 days. The key for me has been to move to push/pull splits, and to manage fatigue with ladders.  Here is a simple framework you can follow. Add rest days between sessions whenever you need it. Day 1: Push 1 Compound circuit a. Overhead press: 5 x 5 b. Kettlebell swing: 5 x 10 Isolation circuit: Ladders a. Incline lateral raise: 3 x 3-5-7 b. Kettlebell swing: 3 x 5-10-15 Day 2: Pull 1 Compound circuit a. Ring row: 5 x 5 b. 1-arm swing: 5 x 5+5 Isolation circuit: Ladders a. Supinating dumbbell curl: 3 x 3-5-7 b. Kettlebell swing: 3 x 5-10-15 Day 3: Push 2 Compound circuit a. Pushups: 5 x 15 b. Kettlebell swing: 5 x 10 Isolation circuit: Ladders a. Skull crushers: 3 x 3-5-7 b. Kettlebell swing: 3 x 5-10-15 Day 4...

My goal in training has always been to develop the physical qualities necessary to be an agile bodyweight athlete (rock climbing, ninja warrior stuff), with explosiveness (Highland Games), and stamina (MMA, boxing), with enough muscle to look like a badass (marginal bodybuilder). I have finally distilled it all down to the principles that make most sense to me, and are yielding consistent results. I'm going to lay out my principles as succinctly as I can, and hopefully in a logical order. 1. Follow the Old-school Split: I was a whole-body training zealot for years, till my deadlift got to 500+ lbs and my squat to 475.  Once I started getting heavy in those lifts and my snatches and cleans, my lower back just couldn't handle the constant exposure to training stimulus.  Also, my targeted muscles needed more time to recover.  Paul Carter recently wrote an article on why Push, Pull, Legs is the best split.  I use it.  It works. At the moment I'm cycling throug...

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!!!!!