02Aug25:
Agile:
Squat holds
T spine over bench
Butterfly
PVC dislocations
Dead hang
Powerful:
Hang Power Clean: 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3
Strong;
Raw front squat: 95x5, 145x5, 185x3, 215x3, 215x3, 215x3
Superset:
Press: 95x6, 125x4, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3
NG chin: 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Built:
Dips: 7, 7, 7, 7,
GHD: 15, 13
Hanging knee raise: 10, 10
Z Curl: 20x20,
Conditioned:
Zone 2 session: incline treadmill walk
1 hour, 3.0 mph, 7 Inc. avg HR: 127 bpm
Notes:
- cleans moved well. Kept the weight, added a rep to each set. Form is improving but still not fantastic, so wanting to keep things lighter so that my bar speed is still fast on the pull.
- Front squats felt good. Trying to keep my ribs up, slowly getting this stance more upright.
- Press moved great. Really great. I know this is submax work, but I was pleasantly surprised
- Chins AND dips caused no hint of tissue or joint pain, so my plan there is working.
- Overall, my lifting plan right now is backing off from some of my stronger movements to aggressively address areas Iāve historically struggled in. While Iām not moving the weight like I was a few months ago, I still feel like Iām progressing. Fairly certain that if I threw myself into a 3 week low bar cycle Iād end up with a PR at the end of it.
- In terms of āathleticism,ā Iām really feeling better. More ābouncyā in my movements, energy is a bit better, my lifts have some āpopā to em. I really like that feeling.
- Mobility continues to be a struggle, but it is improving. That being said, my back is killing me. My T spine was pretty much completely immobile at the start of this. That being said, I had made it pretty damn strong in that position, so it wasnāt uncomfortable or anything. How that Iām getting it to open up a bit again, I just feel a near constant tension in my mid-upper back, like I need to crack it 6x a day. Iām fairly certain this is a good sign and part of the processā¦ but it is also very annoying.
- With my plan to absolutely spam endurance for the next 6 months, I decided I should actually measure heart rate. I have a watch that can do itā¦. Kind of. I donāt trust it. Have had multiple times when my heart was racing so much that I could hear it in my temples, and then saw the watch said like 85bpm. Not exactly accurate. So, but the bullet and bought one of those chest strap heart rate monitors for zone 2.
- ā¦ the monitor was humbling. Without tracking heart rate, Iāve kind of gone by the thumb rule of āif you can breath through your noseā and āif you can talk.ā Well, evidently Iāve just gotten pretty damn efficient at both, because what I estimated to be zone 2 was about 160 bpm heart rate. So, ditched the ruck, lowered the speed, and just walked. Honestly, now that I did actual zone 2, it made me realize that I forgot just how easy zone 2 is supposed to feel. At the end of the hour, i definitely could have done another if I decided to. But thatās good, and should allow me to really push some volume on zone 2 without dipping too much into recovery demands.
- You know the worst part about doing an hour of zone 2? It takes an hour. Most of my conditioning I do for reps or distance, and I find I push harder because I just want to be done already. When itās for time? The boredom hits lol. Started watching āRomeā on HBO to pass the time. First episode seems good.
Non-lifting notes.
- it was 78 today. I could have wept tears of joy. The heat has mercifully abated, and itās a night and day difference how good I feel in the gym lol.
- Today was honestly the best day Iāve had in a long time. I hit the gym, and did about 5 hours of yard work, then some chores around the house. Iāve been so busy lately, and professionally Iāve made some awesome accomplishments lately, plus expanded into a few social groups that are opening amazing opportunitiesā¦ but man, the past month or so Iāve just feltā¦ meh. Does it make any sense when I say ādepressedā but not in any sense meaning like āclinical depressionā more like āmy emotional response is operating at 50%.ā (To be clear, 100% not trying to say like a mental health issue or that Iām having any sort of problem so please donāt feel like you need to reach out or anything, this is more my ode to lawn work.) Not sad or upset or anything, just sort of moving through the motions. No bad days, but no great ones either. Iām not sure if itās some sleep issues rearing there heads back up, or some of the social drinking I was doing at work events, or hell just being melancholy because my wife is still TAD, but Iāve just been absolutely killing the game in terms of accomplishments while internally feeling a bit like Iām on autopilot. Something about just having a day with no real obligations and spending my time outside in gorgeous weather, knocking tasks off my to do list felt great, and Iām sitting here in just a ridiculously great mood. Maybe this is why my dad always called lawn care a hobby lol.
@simo74
lol, I think itās exactly that. Iāve just never applied it to anything except just lifting. Well, I guess I probably did when actually playing sports, but I didnāt know I was doing it, I was just doing what coach told me to. Probably another sign of trying to tailor training like a S&C coach: itās a lot of basics that just work
@Stormblessed man, I agree with this 100%. I think I went on a rant about this a few weeks ago lol. But itās so true. The best my conditioning has EVER been in my life was during wrestling season, and I didnāt do a damn thing outside of just wrestle. But turns out, wrestling for 3.5 hours a day will do more for your conditioning than any sort of 30 minute a day protocol.
I also think about this in terms of diet. So many people lament their metabolism dropping as they get older, and some athletes will explicitly say that the way they ate for sports messed up their metabolismā¦ but honestly, did it? Or, did you just freaking move more? In college, I ate until stuffed 3 meals a day, and never worried about gaining weight. This is as a guy who always had to watch weight in high school. But look at my daily schedule in college? 1 hour military PT in the morning. 3 hours rugby practice in the afternoon. Leave practice, gorge myself at dinner, then head to the weight room with friends to go lift for 60-90 minutes. I was being active for 5 hours a day on a consistent basis, with multiple of those hours being some cardio involved activity. No Shit I could eat 4500 calories a day (total guess, cafeteria food, no clue the real number) and still be okay, I was spending damn near a quarter of my life working out. You take that same diet and put it on a guy who hits the gym for an hour 4x a week? Yeah, your gonna get fat.
It does always make me question when guys say that cardio is preventing muscle gain. Seems like there are a ton of sports where lots of muscle and crazy conditioning go hand in hand. Rugby, wrestling, HW boxing. Honestly, Iād bet more guys are held back in the gym by a LACK of conditioning rather than an excess.
(Wow Iām being long winded in this response, props to anyone still reading)
I also 100% fell into the same trap as you, moving from athletics into a strictly weights based training program. I still did conditioning here and there, because Iām still active duty and gotta move sometimes, but it was just enough to still move āokay.ālifting was my favorite part of training before, so itās what I dived into. Now Iām realizing that even if lifting is my favorite part of training, the way I like to feel as an athlete is dependent on a lot more than simply strength.
