AYCE notes... (The plot thickens)

Friday, 11 April 2014 
43 min., 227 lbs. 
MOOD: felt very fun, felt energized, wore pants and hoodie 

Warm-up (3 min.) - movements, stretching

FSQ: 7, 5, 3, 3, 3, 2 @ 135, 155, 205, 225, 245, 265 lbs.

CLP: 5, 5, 5 @ 115, 125, 135 lbs.

HSN (hang snatch): 5, 4, 3* @ 115, 125, 135 lbs.
[Rule of thumb: if you're not sure that you're being explosive enough on Oly lifts, then you're not being explosive enough, especially compared to this beast. Not only did I not pull myself under the bar, at least not once I passed 115 lbs., but I also didn't really drop into a squat. Plus, my feet were kind of all over the place, rather like a flying squirrel. The * indicates that I only pulled off the last rep of the final set. Humble pie is quite tasty! Still, it was a fun lift.]

PNF: 5 min.

+ + + 

I've learned this much:

- Squatting every day is not only not impossible, but almost a given for strength and power athletes. 

- I believe in majoring on The Big Three (SQ, DL, BP) and using everything else for adding volume (esp. for myofibrillar synthesis), honing technique, and training assistance lifts for The Big Three. 

- I enjoy "hobby strength training" (i.e. neck, grip, hand balancing, tires-and-sledge-hammers, plyometrics, boxing, kettlebell, keg conditioning, mace, etc.) too much to commit my entire week to "mainstream" weightlifting.  

- The above axioms have been percolating in this blog for years; my constant fiddling with my regimen--without, I maintain, trying "a whole new program" every week or two--is my attempt to articulate and synthesize them. 

My biggest discovery of late is that Matt Perryman is correct that avoiding "overtraining" is more often than not an excuse to settle for mediocrity. I would, however, restate Perryman's thesis to read, "squat in every workout." Perryman himself admits in the introduction to Squat Every Day that the title is not meant to be taken literally; even three days a week of heavy squatting would just barely qualify as "squatting every day," as he uses the phrase.

Having said that, whilst reading McCallum's The Complete Keys to Progress last night, I was faced with the reality that, while the past few weeks of almost daily training have not "done me in," by any means, I do not currently practice a lifestyle which affords me adequate rest on a daily basis to see the benefits of such frequent training. Having a day off, plus a light weekend, is probably something I need, unless I discipline myself to get a full eight or more hours of sleep every night. That would be nice, but for now, between nightly feedings, bathings, prayers, and a rising time of 5:30 AM, it's really hard for this night owl to be asleep by 9:30 PM.

The upshot of all these musings is the following proposal:

Monday & Thursday: FSQ + BP + MP + PNF  

Tuesday & Friday: DL + HSQ + PU + PNF 

Wednesday or Saturday: hobby training [i.e. tongue press, neck bridging, mace, farmer walks, CoC]

Sunday: REST 

[NB: Warm-up: prone & supine scorpions + neck bridging + movements] 

As always, the above exercises can be swapped with other, related lifts. ZSQ or OHS instead of HSQ, guillotine or dips for MP, SDL or CL or SN instead of DL, rows instead of PU, etc.

It's a basic "squat every workout + push/pull" split. (As I've said before, I'm not going to use SQ until I can FSQ 285 lbs x 4.)

I'm not interested in parsing the rep scheme in great detail right now, but, following McCallum, I'll go for something like [UPDATE: Stupid me! Stick with 5x5!]:

a 12, 10, 5x5 scheme for FSQ, SQ, BP; 

a 10, 5, 3x3 scheme for DL; and 

a 12, 10, 5x5 scheme for MP and PU. 

The first two sets will be with light, warmup weight, and the final sets will be at roughly 70%, 80%, 90% 1RM. I will only add weight when I can complete all the reps with clean, slow form. I will start modestly next week and go from there.

Of course...

if I do finally decide to spring for Kelso's Shrug Book and Kubik's Dinosaur Training, ...

revisit and read Strossen's Super Squats in full, ...

and as I keep reading McCallum's Keys, Pavel's Power to the People, Zinchenko's Rough Strength, ...

don't be surprised to see yet more adjustments. [grin]

As long as I keep having fun, staying humble, and making gains, I figure I'm on the right track.

Stay tuned.