Weird training today. I surfed some this weekend so I expected to be a little flat. But I was cruising through my DLs when I set up, grabbed the bar, and realized I had no idea what to do next. Complete body amnesia. Had no idea how to lift the bar. Nothin’. Knocked down the weight some. Same thing. Finally ended up repping out at light weight to try to find a grove.
Missed a weight session this week but it turned out to be a good break. Hit a couple PRs today.
I’m a little behind on the calender but still pretty much where I wanted to be this summer. A couple of the last five and a halfish mile runs have come in about 38 minutes, which is a good sign that I’m in decent baseline aerobic shape. Best part is that I can now (usually)find that extra gear needed to surge inside a race.
I’m also feeling comfortably strong in the weight room. Happy with the 8x3 approach and can feel how it can/should be adjusted block to block. Getting a better sense of how to set-up and dig for a rep, which is a cool process and contrasts strangely with how to control an endurance race. Both are about concentrated effort but the application is very different. What stands out right now is how much strength training has to do with the nervous system.
Happy to get to the gym today. Realized part of the problem with my deadlift was letting myself get scared out of the blocks. Wanted to do a good job on the squats. At the end of the set realized I could ride the endorphins through a set of DLs.
Emotionally redeeming but intellectually, I feel like I should have seen the problem for what it was ahead of time. Still, this was a good block and I’m feeling .
Mobility Work
BB Complex Warm Up
Hip/shoulder prehab stuff.
Front Squats
135x3
185x3
185x3
235x3
235x3
285x3 ← rep PR
305x1 ← PR
325x1 ← pretty sure I got this but it was uuughly!
Transition Day - just went to the gym to figure out what my next block is going to look like. Don’t want to go all out lifting because I’ve got my eye on a few endurance races coming up. But I do like having the strength gains when I’m surfing. I think I’ve settled on ramping up back squats (injuries permitting) and subbing good mornings in for DLs when I’m fried. Both are underdeveloped lifts for me so if I start low and go slow I should be able to handle the rest of the training load.
Also, I still like the 8x3 approach but I might be losing traction. Will reassess as needed.
Since the last post, I did a bunch of endurance events that no one wants to hear about and picked up lifting again in early November. I’ve been running Eric Cressey’s show and Go since then.
I’ve had a lot of luck with it and am a big fan of how he divides workload, pairs exercises, and progresses exercises one block to the next.
At 165 lbs there isn’t a lot of show but I tested my maxs before Xmas and hit a 425 dead, a 425 back squat,and a 225 bench. I was going to cut back on the lifting and start working on an aerobic base this week but I’m torn. I think I’ve got a little bit more to go with the squat.
Hope all is well for everyone and thanks for reading.