In my 15 or so years of lifting, I would say that I’ve spent the majority of them following a pretty consistent pattern.
I get into kick-ass shape from about October through March. When the weather gets nice, I switch to outdoor activities and my diet gradually goes to shit. More beers, shitty food choices, little to no lifting at all.
While I’m always amazed at how fast the changes come when I get back into it, I must admit that I’m getting a bit tired of cleaning up this fucking mess again.
Anyone else ever repeat this type of cycle or have any thoughts about it?
I think if you just changed the “little to no lifting at all” during the summer and got to the gym in the morning and hit the essentials 4-6x per week it may not be so bad. I think most lifter’s diets go to shit for certain periods. May as well take advantage of it and hit some PRs. You obviously know what your doing otherwise you have a solid build to show for it.
When I feel like shit and a bit hungover and not working out, I just take a solid dose of caffeine tell myself to go in and hit my main lift and see how I feel. The majority of the time I feel better afterwards and get some decent work in.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
I think if you just changed the “little to no lifting at all” during the summer and got to the gym in the morning and hit the essentials 4-6x per week it may not be so bad. I think most lifter’s diets go to shit for certain periods. May as well take advantage of it and hit some PRs. You obviously know what your doing otherwise you have a solid build to show for it.[/quote]
Yep good point. Even just 3x per week would have made a difference. Thanks for the comments.
Most people I know do things the other way and let things go to shit during the winter and then scramble to get ready for beach season so you seem rather unique! So, to clarify, is it that you don’t want to be wasting time indoors when the weather is nice and that’s why you ease up on the lifting?
If so, maybe look into one of those “playground workouts” that you can do outside. In my experience, dips and chins are almost all you need to maintain upper body strength and size when you can’t get into the gym. I hear you about the beer though; hard to enjoy summer without it!
[quote]CMdad wrote:
Most people I know do things the other way and let things go to shit during the winter and then scramble to get ready for beach season so you seem rather unique! So, to clarify, is it that you don’t want to be wasting time indoors when the weather is nice and that’s why you ease up on the lifting?
[/quote]
I know - it’s completely the opposite of what most people do, but I have met a few people at my gym who fall into a similar pattern. With me, tennis and golf also factor in, so if there is ever a choice between lifting or doing something active outside, lifting loses out.
But it’s not just that I change my tactics and behaviors around, it’s also my motivation. I completely lose interest in lifting - at times I wonder if I’ll ever care about it again. Until fall rolls around and then I’m tearing it up in the gym again. It’s almost like I’m two completely different people.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Anyone else ever repeat this type of cycle or have any thoughts about it?[/quote]
Dan John has talked about something kinda similar, the Four Seasons of Training:
Basically how the (actual) four seasons of the year can, and maybe should, influence your training.
I think it’s pretty common for the training lifestyle to ebb and flow (to an extent) throughout the year, since daily schedules/requirements sometimes change - Especially if you’re a teacher, accountant, or other career that has a pre-determined “slow season” or “busy season”.
Even if you’re a parent and know you’ll have more family stuff (trips, etc.) to do in the summer. But like Maiden said, if you can stick with some kind of bare minimum training year-round, you’ll probably feel and perform better overall.
I’m looking to do something similar myself coming up, going through the holidays following one of the twice-a-week programs here. Mostly to experiment and see what happens, but also to see what a month or two feels like when the in-gym time gets cut back about 50%.
When I start lifting, my mindset about nutrition shifts towards eating to support maximum results in the gym. It’s never really a struggle.
That doesn’t work so well when I’m hitting golf balls or playing tennis in the summer. You don’t really need to eat well to support a high volume of golf ball hitting or to play tennis 3x/week against old fat guys.
So…I’m trying to do a better job of UN-linking my diet and training. I start off the summer in such good shape and maintain such a high activity level, that all of shit I’m eating and drinking doesn’t really catch up to me until September.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Anyone else ever repeat this type of cycle or have any thoughts about it?[/quote]
Dan John has talked about something kinda similar, the Four Seasons of Training:
Basically how the (actual) four seasons of the year can, and maybe should, influence your training.
I think it’s pretty common for the training lifestyle to ebb and flow (to an extent) throughout the year, since daily schedules/requirements sometimes change - Especially if you’re a teacher, accountant, or other career that has a pre-determined “slow season” or “busy season”.
Even if you’re a parent and know you’ll have more family stuff (trips, etc.) to do in the summer. But like Maiden said, if you can stick with some kind of bare minimum training year-round, you’ll probably feel and perform better overall.
I’m looking to do something similar myself coming up, going through the holidays following one of the twice-a-week programs here. Mostly to experiment and see what happens, but also to see what a month or two feels like when the in-gym time gets cut back about 50%.[/quote]
Thanks, Chris…I’ll check out that link and look forward to seeing how things work out for you over the holidays.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
to play tennis 3x/week[/quote]
I think I would kick your ass at a game despite my bw and lack of practice. Were you any good in the past? You had a college scholarship? I was pretty decent…
With regard to your problem, I think it just comes down to “just do it”, no?
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
to play tennis 3x/week[/quote]
I think I would kick your ass at a game despite my bw and lack of practice. Were you any good in the past? You had a college scholarship? I was pretty decent…
[/quote]
I think we need to play some tennis sometime. I would crush you.
I’ve only been playing for about 6 years but I learned fast by watching slow-motion YouTube videos.