Nordic Blood: Climbing And Lifting / Lifting And Climbing

Training Training Logs
3555

2021-12-05

Just Run Week 7 Day 3

Did 4.5 km in 25 minutes. I realise I’ve posted a time that was 4.9km at 20m and I’m pretty sure that was using a different app. Anyway, this felt fast and given how far I traveled through physical space it was a PR.

Since this was on the weekend I experimented with having something to eat beforehand and I certainly noticed a positive performance effect despite having a bit of a tug in my side at the start.

Getting somewhat bored with these long duration runs, and that’s all that is scheduled in the app for the next two weeks. My goal is 5km in 20 minutes. Wondering if I should just restart at Week 1 Day 1 and go fast for the running portion and go down to this cadence or slightly lower for the “walk” breaks.

Any runners want to chime in?

Also, abs at the gym.

2021-12-06

Ordinarily a bouldering day but my body was knackling and popping moreso than usual, and this has been increasing. Maybe it is time for a deload after all, don’t know why I’ve been trying to postpone it other than being obstinate.

How do people treat food during deloads? @T3hPwnisher do you eat less at all during a deload, especially if you were to take some activity out for the week? I’m in that zone where I’m managing to eat, but it is because I’m always recovering from something, or going to do something.

Welcome others input as well. @flappinit ?

I feel as if I’ve known the answer. And my gut says, eat the same (recover). But if I maintain a similar amount of activity I’d argue I’m not really deloading, I’m just doing a little bit less.

In training I was thinking of establishing some TMs for some lifts I care about, no supplemental, and easy assistance. No hard conditioning, swap my running for walks this week, and with climbing I’m skipping at least one session. Will hangboard though, but maybe at 70% of where I’m at.

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3556

I don’t change my nutrition, but at the same time my deload weeks are just heavy conditioning weeks. I still train: just not the lifts

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3557

Or maybe I should hop on the Airdyne :slight_smile:

I’m thankful that you shared this, I appreciate you replying to the @ !

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3558

I personally eat less during a deload. I never take a week and literally do nothing because then everything feels awful when I get back to it. Just lower frequency, intensity, and volume for a week and then attack it again.

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3559

Cheers man, thanks for the reply. Seems like I’m on the right path!

3560

2021-12-06 cont.

Deload

Woke up, read my texts, realised I’d be alone in the gym.

Got up, tried to get ready for the climbing gym. Joints were popping all over the place (this is the main motivator behind taking a deload and I think I’ve regressed minutely on lifts recently). Shoulders, thumbs, fingers, wrists, knees. They don’t “normally” (only when I overreach!).

Ate a mandarin, mulled about maybe taking a deload finally. Got back in bed, slept a little longer but not well as I was already allowing myself to wind up for climbing.

Did some no-hangs on my hangboard after work. Hit the gym, did 3 reps at 60 kilos (2 were good). Curious if wrist wraps would carry me for a single at 65 (they did).

Then I went for 531 deload protocol reps. Some BPAs, more lat pull-downs, single-arm overhead triceps extensions, and GHRs.

Almost have enough hunger to eat as I would on any other training day — but not quite. That could be from recovering from sessions past. Being hungry is a bit welcome, and I don’t mind eating by hunger, as I’ve had many days when I’ve pushed the food despite the hunger not being there.

An ordinary amount of steps. Temperatures hit -22C today. Starting to be rough on the throat. Will be interesting to run in this cold if it stays to next week.

I need to foam roll :o the GHRs were painful on contact with my quads.

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3562

IMG_20211206_195308
IMG_20211206_1953081920×2560 177 KB

I feel like I’m improving

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3563

2021-12-07

Deload

Did 3 reps at 90 for front squat, and another 3 at 90 for Zercher Squat. Not the best of reps.

Face pulls, ab wheels, and plate raises

2021-12-08

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been in a good place with regards to intuitive eating and training. It seems like this was more of a reprieve than something akin to a clean bill of (mental) health. It’s been very welcome to wake up and eat what I’m in the mood for, or just going off of habit and eating something that I’ve already had that has proven adequate to fuel me and what it is that I am going to do during that day.

It’s been delightful making my bedtime snack and without pause, or needing to concern myself with the thought “will I regret this momentarily?” add to my bowl of quark and two pieces of toast whatever I’ve been in the mood for.

Now, during the deload, when I’m doing far less I’m finding that old thought patterns have returned. The mirror is more often than not unwelcome and I can “sense” the presence of my love handles as it touches cloth. Even if I’m having a conversation. Even when I’m at work. I “see” myself as becoming successively less defined — previous back image withstanding.

I keep having thoughts about “cutting”.

The day has barely started, and I’ve already spent so much mental energy on what I’ll eat and when (even wasted energy on thinking about — or “solving” — a social meal that’s on Friday)

Depending on where your definitions lie, I was doing 9, 11, 13, 17, or 19 different “training” items per week during a normal week. And that’s not counting walks. If it takes that much to keep things at bay, I’m nervous about my upcoming life changes with regards to returning to university life. Studying full-time, with part-time work, leaves less time to do the same amount. Hopefully, being on a path I want to be on will be fulfilling enough to make a difference but if not I’m concerned about it being an equation that falls apart.

It is often said that eating disorders manifest when someone lacks control, and I’m certainly experiencing a spell in life where I have less direct influence than I’d like on surrounding circumstances.

My move is motivated by wanting to do something I can hopefully derive more meaning and satisfaction from than what I’m currently doing. In addition to that, I live in a smallish town (100-200k inhabitants) and the queue that I’m in for the next step in my healthcare process which is an ADHD-evaluation is 1-3 years long. It appears as if the wait in the city that I’m heading for is far less. I’ve lost a lot of faith for the system here, as I feel as if they’ve repeatedly dropped the ball and have even experienced being lied to about what they’ll do and when.

And while I do experience a lot of frustration from that, and momentarily feel belittled by it, I’m not as convinced that the primary driver for my mental qualms with regards to eating and body image stem from control needs. I’ve probably shared this before but at the time when I tried ADHD drugs this summer I had a live-in partner. The particular pill I took acts for 6 hours. Apparently, as observed by her, whenever 6 hours had past I started doing something calisthenic-y in the apartment.

It appears as if training, and food, are just the latest in a series of different articulations of coping mechanisms. Prior to that I had bipolar drugs (not bipolar). Prior to that I had alcohol. Prior to that I had a support network as I lived at home, but routinely sleep-deprived myself.

3564

I may have missed it, what are you going back to study?

3565

Acceptence letters are due on Thursday so I’m just going off of things going my way but physiotherapy

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3566

That seems like a good fit

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3567

2021-12-09

Deload

2 reps at 55 on the overhead press
Core work 50 reps
Then I ended up blasting my triceps. I kept to a sensible amount of reps but I brought RPE10+++ which I guess is not really deloading
Did something similar to my biceps.

2021-12-10

Deload

Deadlift
4x160 LIFETIME PR

This was huge for me, I haven’t pulled conventional over 140 in a long time (buggy hamstring). I’ve barely been pulling conventional at all. Went for broke today and just had the weights sailing. It’s just one rep better than my all-time best (and I was lighter then) but I’ve been able to maintain my deadlift without training it. That’s super valuable knowledge.

Hamstring was happy for several hours. I did however have a bit of a… “cramp” in my glute that isn’t a normal cramp. I usually get it during long car rides ever since I injured myself back there, so it was a familiar sensation.

The day after and nothing feels shoddy beyond how it ordinarily feels.

I feel as if this might mean that I could build the lift from somewhere not too far below from this. And that gets me excited.

Then GHRs, band pull aparts, and cable lateral raises

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3568

2021-12-11

Complete off-day. Just walking and stuff. Fixin’ for the move.

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3569

2021-12-12

Airdyne 25 minutes.

Final day of deload. Did not end up in a happy place with regards to food. Will either have to learn or bring more autoregulation into my programming.

Excited to train tomorrow though.

Elbows have been happier, I feel as if the inflammation has settled somewhat. I did do a little bit of Powerball yesterday, and that seems to have aggravated it some.

Libido has returned and excited to train, yeah, deload complete.

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3570

Sorry to read this, but…

Very happy to read this!

3571

Congratulations on the deadlift PR!

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3572

Thanks man, very happy about it! :slight_smile:

Haha, I’m sorry it ended up being a reality to write out!

<3

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3573

Intended to comment on this earlier but didn’t have time. Feel free to disregard things because I probably don’t know the situation all too well.

Absolutely. I’m going to open up a bit here, as this was exactly the case for me in my last year or so of high school. And I admit that I am in no way flawless, of course.

One of the few family members with whom I genuinely connected tragically and unexpectedly died, and I think that was the main trigger. I also had not earned much playing time on sports teams because it was so political – out of my control. Also, much like you I was about to start a new phase of my life. Although it was everything I wanted, it was the unknown, an environment hundreds of miles from where I grew up, and I knew no one there. Exciting but terrifying.

Family members can also exacerbate things. I am not sure if this has ever applied to you. For example, my mom in general was always very controlling and never modeled good eating and exercise habits. I thought that her behavior was normal. Though funnily enough even she recognized that I had a problem.

When I moved and started college, my eating disorder persisted for about a half year or so. Those are several months I will never get back. It makes me sad.

I recovered by myself, and I suspect it was because I was too fed up with my academic and athletic performance to keep serving the disorder. Running myself into the ground physically and mentally like that did not give me the results I wanted. I had to confront that instead of shaking it off. My grades and sickly physique were wake-up calls, indicating that I was in control, and if I kept digging myself into an even deeper hole, things would get real bad, real quick.

I hope that getting settled into your new town and position will help alleviate your current feelings. Eating disorders are multi-faceted, and I don’t think they are all entirely about control. But remember that you controlled the path to your destination, and it’s up to you whether you want to excel in your pursuit. An eating disorder won’t help you there. I hope it does not take a wake-up call to know that. And I know a lot of these things are easier said than truly digested, even more so when said to another person, especially via the Internet.

Sounds like this move will be good for you then. My friend recently got diagnosed with and starting taking meds for their ADHD, and they feel like a new person (in a good way). I would try to consistently take them if I were you.

Yeah, I think you’ve mentioned this before. I imagine that eating disorders can also be coping mechanisms for whatever pain or fears one may harbor.

An interesting book informed me that eating disorders historically manifested differently in the Western and Eastern worlds, even if the causes are similar. Yet Western manifestations spread to Eastern countries because so do Western approaches to treating disorders. I’m not trying to dismiss body image issues as a direct cause, as they certainly spark eating disorders. But thanks to what this book described, I start to believe that disordered eating is ultimately, deep down, a cry for help. Typical Western symptoms – obsessing over food, refusing to eat, withdrawal from social activities, and constantly checking the mirror – are “socially acceptable” ways to cry for help.

I hope you progress in not only training and academic pursuits but also overcoming whatever the root causes are.

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3574

I know this was for @Voxel, but I really appreciate your openness here.

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Thanks, for me it helps to know that one is not alone, even if whatever another says does not resonate. I suspect there are other posters on this forum who have struggled with this in the past.

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