I picked up from Dave Tate a while ago to dedicate an entire training block to mobility and movement.
I didn’t do it. I couldn’t squat or press without pain. I would wake up in the night with pain.
I have had 3 of these 2-3 week blocks where I spend nearly the entire time improving movement now and not only nearly pain free my progress has come back
This is a cheat code, especially as you get older.
[quote=“strongmangoals, post:41, topic:269664”]I
picked up from Dave Tate a while ago to dedicate an entire training block to mobility and movement
[/quote]
Is your strength on maintenance mode at this time? Or there’s ZERO strength work, even maintenance? Because the latter terrifies me. lol.
I just do 5/3/1, slightly differently arranged.
So a squat day may look this:
Agile 8
Additional hip, hip flexor and ankle mobility work
Hip Airplanes 3x10 (10s hold in top/bottom position)
Glute Bridge 3x10 (10s hold in top position)
Stir the pot plank 3x60s
1 & 1/4 pause squat with a slow eccentric and a pause and squeeze at each pause 5x5 (this should be light)
Squats 5s pro
You shouldn’t get weaker but it if you do it pays off (probably less if you aren’t as broken as me haha)
training for movement and not for size/muscles . And looking at and fixing imbalances
Having big legs is way sexier than having big arms…at least to other dudes
Not exactly game-changing but something I need to remind me myself of occasionally: adaptations are made in response to demands.
But since our bodies are fairly capable and have more capacity than we give them credit presenting the body with an actual demand that it’ll try and meet isn’t going to be comfortable and is going to be hard work one way or another.
There’s no comfort to be had when trying to improve (exception: skill-training)
I used to do this like 15-20 years ago and then forgot about it until recently:
Conditioning before weights, cardio after
It’s a great idea dude. I’m starting to get old, so I probably should do the same.
Thanks man. Longevity is key here.
Something a lot of gym rats don’t learn until it’s already too late.
S
Even young folks who overdo can learn this the hard way. Szymon Kolecki had a severe back injury when he was 20 years old or younger from very heavy lifting. It could’ve been an Olympic lift or a squat, I forgot… It made him a master of the warm-up. I have the Ironmind DVD of him training, and Randall Strossen mentioned that. They showed Kolecki doing ridiculous and BEAUTIFUL-looking warm-ups.
Do what you enjoy and try and kill yourself with it.
The whole “I love working out” idea is overrated, but you have to be in love with being strong or big or whatever it may be. I haven’t enjoyed lifting in years, but goddamn do I love getting stronger and bigger.
If you don’t know what to do, train the backside of your body. Back, traps, rear delts, trices, glutes, hamstrings and calves. All of those (aside from strictly low back work) recover super fast and you should be trying to hit your back specifically every time you hit the gym. Strength and size will all improve with a stronger back.
It’s okay to do different things outside of your normal realm of training
Training for a stronger mind is often times better than for a stronger body.
Being strong is always a benefit in every situation.
Being mobile is always a benefit in every situation
You can always do more in every aspect of your life
These are the three biggest game-changers for me (and I know they won’t apply to everyone).
Gentle pre-hab is a million times better at preventing injuries and maintaining mobility in the long term. Rather than smashing every trigger point with an LAX ball or doing deep hip stretches with a band wedged in my hip capsule (thanks K Starrett), I started doing gentle pelvic mobilizations, knee fallouts, thoracic extensions with elbows on a bench, breathing practice, light glute/hamstring activations, clamshells, etc. and it was a 180 in the weight room for me.
Might catch some flak for this, but nutrient timing…does not matter at all for me. Whether I cram all my macros into one giant meal in the evening…save all my carbs for last meal, or pound them all in the morning before my workout, my performance and body composition changes are not affected at all. Granted, if I ever decide to do a shoot, or compete again, maybe it’ll matter for those final few weeks when that extra 1% helps, but being lean and athletic the rest of the time…doesn’t matter. In fact, I’d argue I get better results by NOT stressing over it. To me it is way more important to consistently get the right minerals, vitamins, immune and digestive support, etc. every day.
6 on/1 off is my latest approach to eating and training. Shout out to Ryan Humiston (seriously check out his YouTube channel) for this one. Every Saturday is my day off. I don’t lift, and I don’t count macros. I do whatever I want, whether it’s play volleyball or do a bike ride with friends. Pizza, ice cream, candy…everything goes. This approach keeps me sane, and I’ve never once been tempted to break from my routine Sun–>Fri.
Very interesting! What’s the difference between conditioning and cardio?
Conditioning is usually like a shorter time thing like a metcon
Where cardio is usually longer and ‘easier’
Think a short circuit of battle ropes, box jumps and pushups vs a 5km run
Makes sense. How do their effects differ from each other? It seems to me conditioning improves cardiovascular endurance at both activities, but I don’t know if LISS-style cardio improves HIIT/MetCon ability. Conversely, MetCon is harder for me to recover from than LISS.
Well now I’m just going off instinct but I’d guess that more fast twitch fibres would be recruited during conditioning, plus EPOC, which would benefit lifting weight after as more muscle fibers may be recruited?
Cardio after because it’s really only dependant on getting your heart rate up for an extended period of time?
A bit like the old, do the hardest most complex exercise first and the easiest last
The way I see it (in my own training)
Met con is like top speed work
Cardio is gas tank work
Barbell deadlifts from the floor aren’t great for most goals
Can you expand on that a bit? (Curious to hear your thoughts, because I have just started to add in deads.)
I could have been working harder.
I’ve never eaten enough protein before.
Discipline is the most important tool in a lifters tool box.
Bracing is possibly to most important thing to learn when lifting.
The bench is over rated.
The secret to taking your squat from 300lb to 500lb is simple. Break your balls to get your squat to 301lb. And repeating this another 199 times.
90% of weak people tell you getting relatively strong is for those with “elite genetics” only.
100% of relatively strong people will tell you that’s horse shit - you just need to work harder, for longer and eat some more bloody food.
You need to accept getting bigger / stronger / leaner than average is by definition a pursuit outside social norms. To achieve it - you will have to act out side of social norms. @robstein 's story about taking your own food to a restaurant is an extreme example. But I have taken my own food to a BBQ to make sure I get quality protein. I have ordered 2 meals at a restaurant because I needed the calories / protein. Like wise I’ve sat at a restaurant and not eaten as there was nothing on the menu I could eat in good faith…
High rep squats.