Let me preface this by saying that I don’t really have a question, per say, or even any advice. I doubt that you will get anything out of reading this. I’m just kind of posting this to help myself process it.
In early March I decided that I wanted to train for triathlons again (something I’d given up a year ago before I started powerlifting). I quit lifting completely, except for some very light assistance movements once per week, and started swimming, biking, and running 2-4 hours a day. I also cut way back on carbs to drop weight (which worked, getting me down from 165 to 150).
A few days ago as I was heading to the pool I asked myself what the hell I was trying to prove by going back to triathlons. I didn’t want to give up powerlifting or martial arts, the sports I’d taken up during my year off. So I decided that I’d just try to balance all three, by golly.
The plan is to lift 4x/week, swim 2x, bike 2x, run 2x, and go to judo or jiu jitsu 2-3x/week. The biggest adjustment will be to the volume of the triathlon stuff- I’m not going to try and mix powerlifting with 4 hour bike rides and 15 mile runs. Instead I’ll probably just stick with shorter, intense interval stuff that can be finished in less than an hour.
I understand that I’m not going to achieve maximal performance in any of these sports by trying to train in all three, and that what I’m describing sounds dangerously similar to the lifting antichrist (i.e., Crossfit), but f**k it, I just want to be able to enjoy powerlifting, martial arts, and triathlons at the same damn time.
And that’s about it.