AYCE notes...

Friday, 28 March 2014,   
AYCE Light, 42 min.  

Warm-up (10 min.)
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i) MP: 5, 3, 2, 5 @ 115, 125, 135, 105 lbs
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ii) CL: 5, 3, 1, 5* @ 145, 165, 185, 135 lbs [*CL into FSQ]
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iii) Gironda neck press: 10, 10, 10, 10 @ 115, 125, 135, 145 lbs 
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iv) Pendlay row: 5, 3, 2 @ 155, 175, 195 lbs

I'm loving what I'm reading in Parryman's Squat Every Day. A sophisticated but humble analysis. The irony, of course, is that what he's explaining is neither a surprise nor a bed of roses: if you train almost every day, you're going to "feel it." Aches, tenderness, stiffness, slight fatigue, etc. After every workout I have indeed felt pretty grim and sore ("Never Again!"), but by the evening... and especially by the next day... I feel remarkably better. Perryman does not at all deny the need for rest; he just rejects the overweening obsession some people have with the idea of it. For, in reality they are training leagues below what makes for true, physiological overtraining.

I realized yesterday what I like most about this approach (for now!). It makes me feel like an athlete again! Instead of seeing weightlifting as a detour from my normal life, or, worse, as some burden which I must fit in every few days, it is simply a part of my lived routine. When I did crew in middle and high school, we ran, did pullups, pushups, rows, jumpies, erg drills, etc., and then did hundreds of strokes on the water--almost every day for months. Obviously, I'm no spring chicken, but I'm also not training as hard now as then. Yet, I am undoubtedly stronger and more powerful than I have ever been. The bottom line is, if I wanted to be good at rowing, I had to develop muscle memory and work capacity for that skill; it only makes sense that I must do the same if I want to be good at lifting weights. Instead of mere "fitness," I am pursuing to improve in a sport. Now all I need is to keep cardio/plyo conditioning in the mix. 

Ohh, how I long for a Concept II ergometer! All things in time....

Now, we're off to the Eucharistic Congress.