Looks like you got DOMS for Christmas. lol -Hope you have a good festive holiday.
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I did not get into a festive mood but the food was delicious.
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26.12.
Feel like a pile of crap mentally and physically.
1 deadlift
Up to
1 @ 160 kg
1 @ 180 kg - felt heavy but looked good
4 x 1 @ 197,5 kg
I was supposed to do a top set of 4 on deadlifts. I couldn’t do that and did 4 singles. I think we are getting pretty close to the conclusion that this program is not working optimally for me.
Did two reps with 147,5 kg and completely shut it down afterwards. I actually can’t really remember the last time I surrendered like this. Not even sure if I ever have before.
Notes:
- it’s been some time since I was this frustrated with my training.
- I am now faced with a decision: a) Keep trying to stay the course or b) Go back to a different method which worked better for me in the past.
Unless you’re running a program with a harsh intensification phase I’d view recurring bouts of
As an indicator to do something else if sleep and calorie intake is somewhat on point. Training should be about improving performance, not acquiring an overhanging sensation of lethargy.
I’d say I am currently in the intensification phase but keep in mind, I am coming of a week of deload.
I don’t think that how I feel is primarely (or at all) connected to training stress but to my current state of mental health.
Feeling like crap most of the time I am awake is part of the deal seemingly.
Although I have done a little better these past few weeks until recently. So I am hoping this current phase is just temporarely and I will resume to get better.
I understand. Insofar as I can relate from my own experience that is. And so, I know that most — if not all — “actionable” suggestions would do just about fuck all. Therefore, I’m not sure I should write any such ideas out, but I hope you’ll extend me the benefit of the doubt and trust that I don’t view the below as an easy-fix to your problem, and more akin to something that can ameliorate what you are experiencing.
I’ve found that sometimes a hefty dose of tyrosine (7g)on an empty stomach can dull the edge of the sensation. And 100% dark chocolate, a few grams per day. But, this is more tending to general well-being to make the rest less… painful, for the lack of a better word. Rhodiola helps me a lot.
Intensification right after a deload? No accumulation first?
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I think this will have a major impact on how you feel your sessions in the gym are going. As long as you are hitting the reps as prescribed by the program then all good. If you are struggling then consider a reset and drop the max or the % a little so you can hit the reps every session. Now it not a time to break records (although we all love doing that), have a solid plan and hit the.
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I am definitely open to all suggestions, especially from someone who understands how bad you feel in a situation like that. Apart from the chocolate, I would imagine that I should check any additional substances with a doctor. Even something as simple as Johannis herbs (which is used for anxiety/ very light depression) is expressedly forbidden to take in addition to my current medicine.
I have an appointment with a psychiatrist for the 6th of January.
I had 4 weeks of basically volume training where I used high bar squats and snatch grip deadlifts exclusively. I think this might very well be the culprit - lack of carryover from those variations.
Anyway weights remained low for those 4 weeks. Then a deload week and now we are here. This week features top sets of 4 reps at 94-96% of the original 1RM. Which is ambitious.
I agree these are not at all the best circumstances but it is what I have. The circumstances have been somewhat similar for the whole duration of the program. I’ll say that today was probably an extreme outlier though.
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27.12.
Felt at least a little better going into this session, compared to deadlifts.
1 bench press
Up to
2 @ 100 kg
1 @ 110 kg
3 @ 115 kg - that makes 3 failed top sets out of 4 possible ones.
3 x 8 @ 87,5 kg
2a seated db press - no back support
2 x 8 @ 22 kg
2 x 8 @ 25 kg
2b lat pull down
4 x 10 @ 60 kg
3 shoulder rotation thing
3 x 12
Notes:
- next week would be a low intensity week (from here the program switches between high intensity and low intensity weekly). After that top sets will be 180 x 3 (sq), 120 x 3 (ohp), 207,5 x 3 (dead), 120 x 3 (bench). I think it’s pretty clear that that is very unlikely to happen.
- let’s take a vote everyone: A) lower the weight for the top sets to something I think I can do on the day and otherwise stay the course of the program, or B) abandon the program alltogether and switch to something different. Potential benefit would be to make more progress and therefore better use of that time.
- beginning to come down with a cold.
- Option A)
- Option B)
0 voters
Sweet option to do it like that
Neither. Finish the program. You bought it, and if you start changing things you’re wasting not just money but your opportunity to learn.
I don’t know how to long @Koestrizer s program is, but I’d argue he can absolutely change things if he’s not recovering and improving and run the program later when he’s more primed to succeed. I don’t think he should necessarily frankenstein the program, but do something else that’s easier to recover from.
@Koestrizer if it was my money that I had spent I’d rather “waste” those monetary tokens than fail top set after top set until I injure myself. It’s not as if the program will take offense and hold it against you when/if you revisit it.
Isn’t the lesson here that with the backdrop of all the other variables that affect training (life-stress, sleep, diet,…) this program will grind him down when things are as they are right now? The lesson might become that combining the current state of affairs with this program he’ll also injure something.
I agree with Mark finish what you started. If you are seriously concerned about the max being too high then adjust it down a little, but I would probably keep going as is and just accept that you might miss a couple of reps.
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Because a large portion of training is going to involve feeling like shit. When fatigue hits, you’ll feel fucking awful no matter how well or badly other aspects of life are going, and I say this from personal experience.
This is what holds a huge number of people back. They start to accumulate fatigue, everything feels like shit. So they change things or change program without continuing to the stage where they realise any progress. You won’t get better without accumulating fatigue and then adapting to it; and you won’t adapt to it by changing things to accommodate that fatigue.
A good program will include fatigue management. This won’t get rid of the fatigue, but control it so you don’t get hurt. Reps will still be hard, you’ll still find it harder or impossible to match reps for a given weight done earlier, you’ll steel feel shitty BUT you won’t get injured.
Now, for the average schmo who just wants to go to the gym this doesn’t matter because they don’t actually have the guts to do what is needed to improve.
@Koestrizer is not one of those guys. He actually competes and wants to improve. So he’s going to need to do what is necessary to get that improvement. That will mean pushing through things in the gym that others wouldn’t.
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Hey K lower the weights a fraction, the program probably calls for a percentage of a 1RM and you might have put in a too high 1RM so adjusting down just a benefit you in the long run.
If a program calls for a certain numbers to hit and you can’t do it, workout after workout then adjust it down a bit.
That is my opinion, but I would listen to Mark as well, as you know I’ve been absent for some time know and haven’t followed your progress, meaning I do not know for how long time you’ve run the program.
If you’ve done a volume block and felt the weights were fine, and you now have entered a intense phase then the weights probably feels heavy like shit. If that’s the case stick to the program, eat well, recover well, go to the gym knowing shit will be hard but that you should be able to do it if you really focus.
Come on K you can do it. “Ain’t nothing but a peanut”
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Some good pointer, thanks to all of you guys.
I was always under the impression that you shouldn’t miss reps in training, which is why your advice comes as a bit of a surprise @MarkKO, @simo74
12 weeks in total. I have just finished week 6. I have 3 light weeks and 3 heavy weeks left.
The program does include fatigue management (every heavy week is followed up by a light week.
Everything is percentage based. I entered a very recent, non peaked and reproducible max for the lifts. That’s the thing I can’t wrap my head around. The program is either super aggressive or expected me to make more progress than I did.
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It’s pretty common for the first week after a deload to feel extra bad or the weights to feel extra heavy. Or to come off deload week feeling flat and lethargic. Instead of feeling energized by the down week, you just feel a little weaker. But then you snap out of it and the next week things feel more normal. Thibadeau says it comes from your nervous system being “down” or out of practice from the lower intensity of deload week.
So you might not feel so bad next week.
It’s also common advice to lighten the load a little, or take 5% off prescribed numbers when you run a new program for the first time. You know your body, and if the weights are just too heavy taking a little weight off won’t kill the program. If you believe in the idea of “optimal” training going a little too light is as effective or even more effective than going too heavy, without the negative consequences of going too hard.
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I think this is the issue. It’s probably still too high. Just because a max is recent and not from a peak doesn’t mean it’s reproducible; or that it is low enough to base training numbers on.
You’re right that I don’t think you should miss lifts, but doing so isn’t necessarily reason to make such sweeping changes.
Dropping your max to 90 per cent or so may well fix the issues.
I would continue with the weights as prescribed you’re halfway through, next week should be light giving you time to adapt to the heavier weights.
But reducing by a couple of kg could still be an opportunity.
I always look ahead to see if I find that the sets and reps looks doable. And if it seems too hard I do reduce things just a little.
Before the sessions how was your thoughts?
Did you think it was going to be easy or hard?