Taking Stock - 2013 Edition
Another year down and I can safely say it was easily my worst training year of my career. It was really funny that in my 2012 Taking Stock post, I had written;
[quote]
Well another training year has come and gone, and this was likely my worst one on record. You would think the year that I got cancer, had my nut chopped off, and had the testosterone levels of a geriatric woman would have been the worst? Well 2012 kicked 2011 right in the nuts.[/quote]
LOMFL
So at that time I had considered the year where I had an awesome powerlifting meet, added 85 pounds to my total (while only being able to lift half of the year, hit my bench press goals, set the world record for my fed in strict curls, and gotten leaner than I had at any point during training was a “bad year”. Fuck if that is a bad year sign me up.
My 2013 started off rough when my Dad unexpectedly passed away 5 days into the new year (RIP Pops) but my motivation to train remained high, even with all the shit I was going through. I even saw some success with the Meadows program I was running for a while and that coupled with the epidural injections that allowed me to deadlift again seemed to be getting me back on track. But then I hurt my elbow on that program, and that along with the back injury was more than I could overcome mentally since it impacted both my lower body and upper body lifts. I never really got back on track after that.
I wrote this last year:
[quote]
I will certainly look back on this time after it gets better and remember it when I want to take a day off or just “don’t feel like deadlifting” or whatever. I will forever view the ability to deadlift pain free and with real man weights to be a blessing! [/quote]
This will be big for me in 2014 and something I certainly need to keep in mind. After chasing that back injury for FAR too long I finally opted for the surgery to get it taken care of in July. While that was a huge setback, it did allow me to really address the issue which would have cropped up again in time anyway. Rehabbing that has been MUCH slower than I expected but I feel like I’ve progressed pretty well in getting all my biomechanical issues straightened out and I’m at the point where I can finally begin to get into a routine again without worrying about what I’m going to hurt next. Weak as fuck now but getting strong is easy if you are uninjured (or so they tell me).
My motivation to train is high right now and as long as I can keep the wheels on I should see a ton of progress over these next few months. I look at the ability to train as a blessing now and look forward to taking advantage of that.
I reckon my lifts went accordingly in 2012:
These were my goals:
[quote]
Goals for 2013:
-Rehab my back (which I’ve now decided is just getting my psoas to pop…I’m prepared to go to the ends of the earth to make this happen)
-Hit 8% bodyfat through clean eating and conditioning from January-April (figure if I cant get really strong I might as well get really lean)
-Do a strict curl meet in July and take a shot at the federation world record for all weight classes (around 185)
-Full power meet in September if training is going well. A 1620 total would be fantastic.
-Good clean bulk at the end of the year while staying relatively lean (no more getting over 15% bodyfat and 40+ inch around the naval)
-Maintain conditioning. Prowler pushes at least two times per week! No excuses.
-Do not neglect mobility work. Every session should include this.[/quote]
I failed miserably in all areas except for the first and last. Nowhere close to 8% bodyfat. In fact, I’ve gained 10 pounds of fat and lost 3 pounds of LBM according to my caliper measurements performed today compared to 1/1/13. Which really isn’t the worst consdiering how little I’ve actually done this year. I was expecting a lot worst.
Obviously nothing to do with powerlifting over the year and clean bulking was a joke of a concept. I could have kept up with my conditioning, but didn’t. That was stupid on my part.
So with those laughable failures behind me, my 2014 goals are much more modest:
-Continue to rehab my back and strengthen my core through PT exercises, chiropractic manipulations, targeted assistance work in my workouts, and an emphasis on mobility before EVERY workout.
-Losing bodyfat. I want to get down to around 10% or so, which I think is a good level for me since I liked the way I looked at around 12.5% back when I was dieting with Shelby. Sitting at around 302 pounds in the morning right now so if I get back down to 275 while maintaining my LBM I will be sitting at a fairly lean and comfortable fighting weight. Considering I am getting married and taking my honeymoon in June, I want to be in really good shape by then.
-Continue to get stronger through normal progression on 5-3-1. I have no lofty goals of powerlifting this year. My entire year will be spent returning to baseline with a solid foundation to rock from in 2015. If I can get back to where I was by the end of the year, while maintaining leanness, then I will be very happy. 5-3-1 will be my primary training vehicle with a possible other program or two thrown in from time to time when things get stale.
-Address my lingering hormone issues, including thick blood. They are phlebotomizing me once a week for the next few weeks to lower my Hemoglobin, and once I get that down to where they want it the letting will be less frequent. But this is something I really need to address after neglecting it for so long. I am hopeful that once this is under control I can address my cholesterol issues too, somehow.
-Show up. This is what I struggled most with this year, and as Shelby or somebody says that when you get into a funk like I was, the best thing you can do is just go on auto-pilot and do what you have to do no matter how high your motivation is. I failed miserably at this as my motivation waned throughout the year. I would be in a much better situation now if I had just followed this advice. But waht is done is done and now it’s time to look forward.
Hope all of you had a great training year and are getting your ducks in a row going forward.
