Having been out of the gym for close to two months, I feel totally disoriented. So, the goals I need to keep in focus are:
1) My title banner goals still stand: CoC #3 for reps, DL 485#, SQ 405#, BP 315#
2) I do want to get back to more bodyweight mastery: handstand pushups, hand balancing for time, ring dips, L-sits/L-dips, pistol squats, one-arm pullups, planche, etc.
3) I love frequent HIIT (esp. jump rope, plyometrics, kettlebells, tires, hammers, med balls, etc.), boxing, biking, and rowing.
So... I think I will finally just cave in and do Wendler's 5/3/1 program, with bodyweight assistance exercises (as per this article by Ryan Hurst).
On "off" days I will train grip + boxing drills (double-end, speed, jump rope) or grip + KB / biking / tire jumps and hammers.
So... hypothetically...
Monday - BP 5/3/1
Tuesday - grip + _____
Wednesday - SQ 5/3/1
Thursday - grip + _____
Friday - DL 5/3/1
Saturday - MP 5/3/1
Sunday - off
I'm going to need to start this sooner than later, or I'll just keep sitting on the fence and idling like I have been for the past several weeks. I still want to finish the 21-day KB program I've started, so I guess it will just have to be extra work on top of 5/3/1 until it's done.
Having taken some time away from the gym--and away from any formal program, for that matter--I can tell that, over time, I will gravitate back towards bodyweight training, dinosaur strong man style drills, and HIIT/metcon drills. Being a gym rat is just not in my nature. God, depression sucks.
Showing posts with label 5-3-1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5-3-1. Show all posts
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Fitness update...
Strongman training
30 min., 227 lbs.
Mace: 30 lbs. - 10 min.
kb: 35 lbs. - 10 min.
mb: 12 lbs. - 5 min.
Grip:
CoC #1.5 - 6, 6, 6 / 6, 6, 6 L/R
Eagle loop hangs - 10, 10, 10 sec. (4, 3, 3 fingers)
Felt out of shape, uncoordinated, slow. I miss strongman training like that. Gym time is going to have to give. I think I should just do Wendler's 5-3-1. It's "there", proven, not too time-consuming, and perfectly allows for other cross-training/skill-training days. Why reinvent the wheel? We'll see. I admit that last night, despite my brainstorming, I was feeling the addictive urge to hit the weights M-F next week. :)
Gotta get my grip strength back. I used to be able to close the CoC #2 about three times, but now I can't even get 10 closes on a #1.5 Pitiful.
I did discover that KB swings standing atop Ferdinand are much harder than on a firm surface!
I'm planning to make some DIY strongman tools (thick grip db's, farmer walk handles, etc.). Stay tuned.
30 min., 227 lbs.
Mace: 30 lbs. - 10 min.
kb: 35 lbs. - 10 min.
mb: 12 lbs. - 5 min.
Grip:
CoC #1.5 - 6, 6, 6 / 6, 6, 6 L/R
Eagle loop hangs - 10, 10, 10 sec. (4, 3, 3 fingers)
+ + +
Felt out of shape, uncoordinated, slow. I miss strongman training like that. Gym time is going to have to give. I think I should just do Wendler's 5-3-1. It's "there", proven, not too time-consuming, and perfectly allows for other cross-training/skill-training days. Why reinvent the wheel? We'll see. I admit that last night, despite my brainstorming, I was feeling the addictive urge to hit the weights M-F next week. :)
Gotta get my grip strength back. I used to be able to close the CoC #2 about three times, but now I can't even get 10 closes on a #1.5 Pitiful.
I did discover that KB swings standing atop Ferdinand are much harder than on a firm surface!
I'm planning to make some DIY strongman tools (thick grip db's, farmer walk handles, etc.). Stay tuned.
Monday, April 7, 2014
AYCE notes... (We have lift-off!)
[Refer to notes below the "END" break for earlier "paradigms" that I have trained with. I am still tinkering with a cyclical training program, based on Dan John's maxim that "Everything works, for six weeks or so". I am currently loving HIT, but also realize that my own (favorite) Even Keel regimen was in certain key ways a HIT program. -- 25 January 2015]
Here's a tentative, conceptualized outline of my 6-month regimen for ongoing meta-progress:
I.
HIT (full-body, one-set workouts, ample rest)
January 1-February 5
REST 9 days
II.
Even Keel (full-body, higher volume workouts, ample rest)
February 15-March 22
REST 9 days
III.
Attempts For Personal Bests (SQ, FSQ, DL, Grip/Crush)
April 2-May 7
REST 9 days
IV.
Olympic Lifts (cf. bottom of this Dan John article)
OR
Mass Made Simple (also thanks to Dan John)
OR
5/3/1
OR
5x5
OR
Bodyweight Power
May 17-June 21
REST 9 days
---
REPEAT THE ABOVE for another six months
As always, I just don't know, yet I am intrigued enough to keep tweaking, based on what I do know. Meanwhile, come what may, I want to be able to include:
boxing
rowing
trap workouts
in any long-term regimen.
Hmmmm...
[NB: After almost six months out of the gym, as of early November 2014 I am doing a three-day split, designed by Schwarzenegger in his old The Education of a Bodybuilder, in order to regain a solid base. Beginning in 2015, I will start a HIT program (as presented by Ellington Darden), which will last for at least 6 months. After that, I think I will return to my lifetime PR goals. Stay tuned! -- 1 December 2014]
Monday, 7 April 2014
45 min., 226 lbs
Warm-up (9 min.) - movements, OHS, stretching
DL: 5 x 5 @ 285 lbs
Guillotine: 12, 10, 8 @ 135, 145, 155 lbs
ZSQ: 5 x 5 @ 135
PNF (3-4 min.)
This article from Pavel gave me the break I think I needed. I really like training every day, but I've had difficulty figuring out how to program the lifts over a week. 5 x 5 is tried and true, and as simple as a stone. Along similar lines, this interview with Perryman reminded me about the distinction he makes between volume responders and intensity responders. I'm a volume responder, meaning, I need more reps (i.e. more time under tension). What I was doing the past couple weeks offered a decent amount of intensity, but too little volume. And so, in my never-ending variations-on-a-theme progress:
Monday: heavy DL + Guillotine + ZSQ
Tuesday: heavy BP + HSQ + PU (reps)
Wednesday: heavy FSQ + IBP + Pendlay row
Thursday: light FSQ + db press + PU
Friday: light SQ + CLP
As always, except for the primary "big lifts" on the first three days, and squatting every day, of course, the exercises are subject to change (e.g. Kroc row instead of Pendlay row, or OSQ instead, or DBP, etc.). I could have gone heavier today on some lifts, but I'm going to start modestly, shoot for 5 x 5 ten pounds heavier next week, and just keep at it for a while. Oh, and, that's right: I'm throwing some back squat into the mix again. My upper back needs a break from FSQ's--heck, the bar will make for a nice massage! Still, my primary goal is FSQ 285 x 4 before making (high-bar, narrow-ish stance) SQ my bread and butter again.
The good news is, this weekend I finally got a clear sense of my overall goals. It's so hard to go into the gym without a goal. "Getting a pump" is too short-sighted. I'm not interested in real powerlifting (triple bdw everything, lifting equipment, etc.), nor in bodybuilding per se. My sport is weightlifting: I want to be good at maneuvering heavy weights in classical, primal movements. As such, the cycle I envision are like so:
Wash, rinse, repeat. It's been many years since I cold say I trained for a sport. In high school it was rowing and cross country (and a season of wrestling, woohoo!). In college it was road cycling. In Taiwan... I sort of floated from one martial art to another, and mantained "general fitness" (when I wasn't de-maintaining it with lots of food and beer and late nights, woohoo!). I realize now, however, that I need the structure of being an athlete in training, even if only on an amateur scale. Indeed, what better way to live than as a lover? Whichever third of the year I choose to emphasize--and right now it's strength and power--I can view the other cycles as off-season, prehab/rehab, etc.
It's still a work in progress, of course, but I no longer feel like I'm flying totally blind as a weightlifter... simply bewildered with my eyes wide open. (Now I just need an erg to reignite my ineradicable rower's identity!) Best of all, it's amazing how holy and mellow all this exercise is keeping me.Idle hands, and all that.
Here's a tentative, conceptualized outline of my 6-month regimen for ongoing meta-progress:
I.
HIT (full-body, one-set workouts, ample rest)
January 1-February 5
REST 9 days
II.
Even Keel (full-body, higher volume workouts, ample rest)
February 15-March 22
REST 9 days
III.
Attempts For Personal Bests (SQ, FSQ, DL, Grip/Crush)
April 2-May 7
REST 9 days
IV.
Olympic Lifts (cf. bottom of this Dan John article)
OR
Mass Made Simple (also thanks to Dan John)
OR
5/3/1
OR
5x5
OR
Bodyweight Power
May 17-June 21
REST 9 days
---
REPEAT THE ABOVE for another six months
As always, I just don't know, yet I am intrigued enough to keep tweaking, based on what I do know. Meanwhile, come what may, I want to be able to include:
boxing
rowing
trap workouts
in any long-term regimen.
Hmmmm...
--- END 2015-25-01 ---
[NB: After almost six months out of the gym, as of early November 2014 I am doing a three-day split, designed by Schwarzenegger in his old The Education of a Bodybuilder, in order to regain a solid base. Beginning in 2015, I will start a HIT program (as presented by Ellington Darden), which will last for at least 6 months. After that, I think I will return to my lifetime PR goals. Stay tuned! -- 1 December 2014]
Monday, 7 April 2014
45 min., 226 lbs
Warm-up (9 min.) - movements, OHS, stretching
DL: 5 x 5 @ 285 lbs
Guillotine: 12, 10, 8 @ 135, 145, 155 lbs
ZSQ: 5 x 5 @ 135
PNF (3-4 min.)
+ + +
This article from Pavel gave me the break I think I needed. I really like training every day, but I've had difficulty figuring out how to program the lifts over a week. 5 x 5 is tried and true, and as simple as a stone. Along similar lines, this interview with Perryman reminded me about the distinction he makes between volume responders and intensity responders. I'm a volume responder, meaning, I need more reps (i.e. more time under tension). What I was doing the past couple weeks offered a decent amount of intensity, but too little volume. And so, in my never-ending variations-on-a-theme progress:
Monday: heavy DL + Guillotine + ZSQ
Tuesday: heavy BP + HSQ + PU (reps)
Wednesday: heavy FSQ + IBP + Pendlay row
Thursday: light FSQ + db press + PU
Friday: light SQ + CLP
As always, except for the primary "big lifts" on the first three days, and squatting every day, of course, the exercises are subject to change (e.g. Kroc row instead of Pendlay row, or OSQ instead, or DBP, etc.). I could have gone heavier today on some lifts, but I'm going to start modestly, shoot for 5 x 5 ten pounds heavier next week, and just keep at it for a while. Oh, and, that's right: I'm throwing some back squat into the mix again. My upper back needs a break from FSQ's--heck, the bar will make for a nice massage! Still, my primary goal is FSQ 285 x 4 before making (high-bar, narrow-ish stance) SQ my bread and butter again.
The good news is, this weekend I finally got a clear sense of my overall goals. It's so hard to go into the gym without a goal. "Getting a pump" is too short-sighted. I'm not interested in real powerlifting (triple bdw everything, lifting equipment, etc.), nor in bodybuilding per se. My sport is weightlifting: I want to be good at maneuvering heavy weights in classical, primal movements. As such, the cycle I envision are like so:
4 months of sheer strength training (5x5, 5-3-1, etc.) -- POWER
4 months of calisthenics and bodyweight -- MOBILITY
4 months of bulking and building (Mass Made Simple, HIT, etc.) -- MASS
MASS --> POWER --> MOBILITY
Leaning out before bulking makes bulking more effective -->
bulking gives me more mass to apply to power training -->
then I will have power to apply to bodyweight skills and more focused kb drills
Wash, rinse, repeat. It's been many years since I cold say I trained for a sport. In high school it was rowing and cross country (and a season of wrestling, woohoo!). In college it was road cycling. In Taiwan... I sort of floated from one martial art to another, and mantained "general fitness" (when I wasn't de-maintaining it with lots of food and beer and late nights, woohoo!). I realize now, however, that I need the structure of being an athlete in training, even if only on an amateur scale. Indeed, what better way to live than as a lover? Whichever third of the year I choose to emphasize--and right now it's strength and power--I can view the other cycles as off-season, prehab/rehab, etc.
It's still a work in progress, of course, but I no longer feel like I'm flying totally blind as a weightlifter... simply bewildered with my eyes wide open. (Now I just need an erg to reignite my ineradicable rower's identity!) Best of all, it's amazing how holy and mellow all this exercise is keeping me.Idle hands, and all that.
"7
But avoid foolish and old wives' fables: and exercise thyself unto godliness.
8
For bodily exercise is profitable to little: but
godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come." -- I Timothy 4
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Wheels within wheels...
I realize I went a little too heavy yesterday
and today. No--hardee har-har--this is not because my back or legs are seizing up
on me this evening. I just realize how hard it is to be humble in
sports, and perhaps especially in weightlifting, and how prevalent the temptation is to go too hard.
Case in point, when I got to the gym today, I saw some older guy today flinging around way too much weight with partial reps and flagrant body English. Granted, something tells me he's going through a midlife crisis, and is overcompensating, since, every time I catch a bit of his chats, he notes how he not only does weights, but also bikes, swims, etc.
Midlife crisis or no, he embodies the bitter pill of athletic progression: It's terribly hard to limit oneself to a modest but effective regimen for a sustained amount of time. This is why Wendler's 5-3-1 program is hated by some gym rats: "It's too simple and too slow!" Maybe I just need to buy the book for myself, run the spreadsheets, and go for it.
Obviously, though, I'm torn. I achieved what I wanted by completing Mass Made Simple. I know Even Keel works for me. I like what I'm reading in Squat Every Day. Yet, I also like the freedom of mixing in other kinds of workouts on a 3-day split with the 5-3-1.
Someone make it stop!
In any case, for right now I'll just stick with almost daily training along the guidelines I'm learning as I read Squat Every Day. If I don't hit a wall, if I see results, and if Perryman's book doesn't turn me off by the end of it, I'll stick with AYCE till the end of the school year--though don't be surprised if I tweak it down a day or mix in more speed/power days.
Which... of course...
Brings me back to the 5-3-1!
Am I overthinking things?
Probably.
Certainly.
It's what I do.
Am I, however, letting all this thought get in the way of consistent and gainful workouts? No.
On that note, I am soooo happy to report than I think I experienced ZMA heaven last night. I took it by 9 PM, got to bed before 11, and woke up feeling wonderfully refreshed. I even recall having a dream! (Of course, it was about teaching, so maybe it was a nightmare?)
Case in point, when I got to the gym today, I saw some older guy today flinging around way too much weight with partial reps and flagrant body English. Granted, something tells me he's going through a midlife crisis, and is overcompensating, since, every time I catch a bit of his chats, he notes how he not only does weights, but also bikes, swims, etc.
Midlife crisis or no, he embodies the bitter pill of athletic progression: It's terribly hard to limit oneself to a modest but effective regimen for a sustained amount of time. This is why Wendler's 5-3-1 program is hated by some gym rats: "It's too simple and too slow!" Maybe I just need to buy the book for myself, run the spreadsheets, and go for it.
Obviously, though, I'm torn. I achieved what I wanted by completing Mass Made Simple. I know Even Keel works for me. I like what I'm reading in Squat Every Day. Yet, I also like the freedom of mixing in other kinds of workouts on a 3-day split with the 5-3-1.
Someone make it stop!
In any case, for right now I'll just stick with almost daily training along the guidelines I'm learning as I read Squat Every Day. If I don't hit a wall, if I see results, and if Perryman's book doesn't turn me off by the end of it, I'll stick with AYCE till the end of the school year--though don't be surprised if I tweak it down a day or mix in more speed/power days.
Which... of course...
Brings me back to the 5-3-1!
Am I overthinking things?
Probably.
Certainly.
It's what I do.
Am I, however, letting all this thought get in the way of consistent and gainful workouts? No.
On that note, I am soooo happy to report than I think I experienced ZMA heaven last night. I took it by 9 PM, got to bed before 11, and woke up feeling wonderfully refreshed. I even recall having a dream! (Of course, it was about teaching, so maybe it was a nightmare?)
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