[quote]Alpha wrote:
I will never comment on your sled dragging again…Ya cut me deep modi, cut me deep…
But I WILL ask,
how is the sled going for you? You liking it compared to other forms of GPP?
And do you chalk up your active recovery to still being able to walk and eat without having to wrap your knees and elbows after the marathon workouts?
and How much fish oil you downing a day?
–I ask because I think I need to make this more of a priority…or so my elbows and knees tell me…
Thanks brother, keep up the good work…
[/quote]
Thanks Alpha.
The sled dragging is actually a lot of fun right now. I used to run a lot when I was around 220ish or so. Once I got up over 240-250 I felt like my knees and low back were always taking a pounding, so I needed something else. I have only dragged the sled twice so far, but the hardest part so far seems to be the inconsistency of the resistance, depending on how long the grass is, or even just a couple degreee incline, or hitting a bare patch, etc.
I think the active recovery is a big part of being able to make it through the marathon workouts. I always Ice at least 2 joints after each workout, sometimes all three (knees/elbows/shoulders), I just pick the two that need it the most. Foam rolling is a big part of my recovery on my off days…so much so, that I don’t even list it that much any more. Sometimes I just go down to the basement for 5 or 10 minutes at random times to do some rolling, or some band work for my shoulders.
I always use neoprene sleeves when I train. I have elbow and knee sleeves which keep me warm. On some of the heavy sets during Smolov, I would take as much as 8-10 minutes between sets, now I’m closer to 3-5 minutes, but the sleeves keep you warm. (on the lighter sets I might take as little as 30 sec rest)
As far as Fish Oil goes, I take between 8-12 grams per day. I always get 4g after breakfast, and 4g at night, and if I remember I take 4g mid day. It definitely helps.
I think the biggest part though is just building your work capacity over time. I think almost everyone is capable of more than they think they are. You just have to work up to it.
And I also have a very good sense of how hurt I really am. There is almost never a workout where something isn’t bothering me. I just know what I can push, and what I can’t. If doing one more set or rep is going to set me back a couple of weeks because of a serious injury, then I won’t do it. If it’s just a matter of fighting through the pain, but knowing it’s not going to make it any worse, the I can deal with pain. It takes a long time to really know your body like that.
"I think the biggest part though is just building your work capacity over time. I think almost everyone is capable of more than they think they are. You just have to work up to it.
And I also have a very good sense of how hurt I really am. There is almost never a workout where something isn’t bothering me. I just know what I can push, and what I can’t. If doing one more set or rep is going to set me back a couple of weeks because of a serious injury, then I won’t do it. If it’s just a matter of fighting through the pain, but knowing it’s not going to make it any worse, the I can deal with pain. It takes a long time to really know your body like that."
True and wise words.
I would like to put here a video of the strongest squatter in Norway:
His name is Asbjørn Randen, he trains at home in his garage and competes in the IPF (single ply). He trains only compound movements, and mostly just squat, deadlifts and benchpress. He’s all time drugfree too. He is well educated, and hold a well paid position with a large norwegian company.
His speciality is the squat. He is also a good bencher, with 280kg and a a decent deadlifter with a 340kg deadlift. He recently became the best lifter in the nationals with a total of 1025kilos.
Tought I would put his squat here to give you some motivation. I am not sure about his raw numbers, but I guess his raw squat is a bit more than 300kg. (Raw as with only a belt).
He never does any kind of recovery workouts, as he says that if his body is not resting, it is not recovery.
You have had some good workouts recently Modi! Keep going!
I just wrote you a long post modi, but it seems like T-Nation is playing up again. Anyway, hope it shows, if not; I am basically saying; good stuff you show lately, and keep going!
[quote]stallion wrote:
I just wrote you a long post modi, but it seems like T-Nation is playing up again. Anyway, hope it shows, if not; I am basically saying; good stuff you show lately, and keep going!
My back is toast. It was still tired from sled pulling on Saturday. I thought 2 days would be enough recovery, but it wasn’t. If I’m going to use the sled pulls for active recovery, I need to back off the volume or intensity. They were great for conditioning, but I didn’t need the fatigue going into today.
I’m going to go easy tomorrow, if I do anything at all, so that I can be recovered for Deadlift day on Wednesday.
May sound almost humerous, but I’ve always found that simply walking is the best thing I can do for recovery, does not really condition me, but it helps me recover.
May sound almost humerous, but I’ve always found that simply walking is the best thing I can do for recovery, does not really condition me, but it helps me recover.
I’m no where near your level though…[/quote]
Thanks. I actually take my dog for a 30 min walk quite often, but I don’t list it that often.
I guess I’m trying to walk that fine line between conditioning and recovery with the sled drags. I definitely want to lean out a bit, but still want to get stronger at the same time. I know cutting calories will be tough if I want to keep getting stronger, so that’s my reasoning for adding in the sled drags…eat the same, but burn more.
Sled Drags:
Forwards (straps) - 45lbs x 50 steps x 6
Backwards (straps) - 45lbs x 50 steps x 6
Rows - 45lbs x 25 pulls x 2
Presses - 45lbs x 15 presses x 2
I kept it light today, just to get a little blood flowing. They still haven’t mowed the fields yet, so 1 plate felt closer to 2 today. My low back is still tired from Friday/Monday. I’m sure DL’ing tomorrow will fix that…
May sound almost humerous, but I’ve always found that simply walking is the best thing I can do for recovery, does not really condition me, but it helps me recover.
I’m no where near your level though…
Thanks. I actually take my dog for a 30 min walk quite often, but I don’t list it that often.
I guess I’m trying to walk that fine line between conditioning and recovery with the sled drags. I definitely want to lean out a bit, but still want to get stronger at the same time. I know cutting calories will be tough if I want to keep getting stronger, so that’s my reasoning for adding in the sled drags…eat the same, but burn more.[/quote]
One of the things that has really helped me over the past 7 months is changing my diet. I have cut TONS of fat and junk food from my diet. Sure, fat makes everything taste good, but I was taping out at 44inches. Now, with the cleaner diet, but same calorie count, i’m down to 38. I’m just sayin’…
May sound almost humerous, but I’ve always found that simply walking is the best thing I can do for recovery, does not really condition me, but it helps me recover.
I’m no where near your level though…[/quote]
I am just walking too, but that’s just to loosen up and not to get too grumpy. If it helps with recovery, I am not sure, but I feel better with some walks than without.
May sound almost humerous, but I’ve always found that simply walking is the best thing I can do for recovery, does not really condition me, but it helps me recover.
I’m no where near your level though…
Thanks. I actually take my dog for a 30 min walk quite often, but I don’t list it that often.
I guess I’m trying to walk that fine line between conditioning and recovery with the sled drags. I definitely want to lean out a bit, but still want to get stronger at the same time. I know cutting calories will be tough if I want to keep getting stronger, so that’s my reasoning for adding in the sled drags…eat the same, but burn more.
One of the things that has really helped me over the past 7 months is changing my diet. I have cut TONS of fat and junk food from my diet. Sure, fat makes everything taste good, but I was taping out at 44inches. Now, with the cleaner diet, but same calorie count, i’m down to 38. I’m just sayin’…[/quote]
I would say that Mon-Fri my diet is pretty damned clean. I don’t drink during the week, but I do on the weekend, which is probably my biggest downfall. And usually the drinking is done at a pub, which means pub food.
But there certainly is room for improvement, especially on the weekends, and I have already begun working on that.
Hey thanks for the recovery response bro, I am definitely going to start putting some of these things into action…
I’m pretty sure the weekend drinking isn’t helping me too much either…Stupid alcohol! Like homer Simpson said, “It is the cause of, and solution to - all of life’s problems”…
I got about 2 hours of sleep last night, and my back was still tired. Not a good way to start DL day. I think 4.5" was a bit much for the Deficit DL’s. These would probably be better, and more effective from 2-3".
Bench felt easy today. I had a nice groove, with good pop on almost all of my reps. I paused everything 5 reps and under. Made a mental mistake on the second to last set and did 9 reps instead of 7, but they were super easy, so no big deal.
DL’s felt good warming up, but after my second set at 495 I could feel my back not wanting to play anymore. My form was way off on my third set, hips shooting high and SLDL’ing it worse than ever. I shut it down at this point, and skipped the last two sets (should have been 495x2x5).
I need a good nights sleep tonight. Last night sucked, and I really don’t have a good excuse. I just sat in bad and couldn’t sleep. Tonight shouldn’t be problem.
After Wednesday’s session, my low back and CNS flipped me the middle finger. I think the combination of the additional work and less calories has killed my recovery. I also have to take care of some family business this weekend, so I will miss today’s workout and start fresh on Monday.
I had considered getting up a 2am to get in today’s lift, but I knew I needed a day off more than I needed to prove that I didn’t.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Modi wrote:
Thanks Stallion. I feel very recovered after a weekend of barbeque and bocce, even if my wife beat my two games to none.
Tomorrow will be the real test. I’ve got several 90% lifts, and I’ll know exactly how I’m doing based on how heavy they feel.
You let your wife beat you in bocce ball? Please tell me it was due to training and you just couldn’t focus…[/quote]
Uhh, yeah, uhh…It was just a pre-season game. It was more like an exhibition game, so all the starters weren’t playing? I was trying different strategies, stuff that I won’t use in the regular season.
[quote]Modi wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
Modi wrote:
Uhh, yeah, uhh…It was just a pre-season game. It was more like an exhibition game, so all the starters weren’t playing? I was trying different strategies, stuff that I won’t use in the regular season.[/quote]
LMFAO!!! We used to play when I was stationed at Ft Bragg every Sunday. And we took it very seriously for some odd reason. It’s 10,000x better than horseshoes.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
LMFAO!!! We used to play when I was stationed at Ft Bragg every Sunday. And we took it very seriously for some odd reason. It’s 10,000x better than horseshoes.
[/quote]
I agree completely, although any game where you don’t have to put your beer down rates very highly with me.
We usually play best two out of three. If I win, then I name it something appropriate like “Bocce National Spring Championship” and if my wife wins its the “First Round Bocce Preseason Exhibition Qualifiers”.
