Training

Still getting over being sick, combined with minimal sleep with work on the new house, meant training was going to be pretty mediocre.

Military Press - 60x5, 75x5, 90x3, 100x5, 120x5, 135x12
Neutral-grip Chinups - 5, 5, 10

And that's all she wrote for today

"Faith Moves Mountains, But You Better Bring A Shovel"

Belief is very powerful. Any great accomplishment must first start with it. The very belief that something can be accomplished is the first act. However, belief alone will not accomplish anything. It is akin to knowledge – it is important, and necessary, but by itself, it will get nothing done.

I was struck by this when listening to Opie and Anthony the other day. It’s a radio show that I love listening to, for a variety of reasons. It covers the whole gamut of stupid comedy that I enjoy, with varying political and social opinions that allow and force you to think. Jim Norton, the 3^rd host of the show, is very open about his past and present demons. Jim is a hilarious comedian, and he also very much is of the mind that, if one is to criticize others, you must be very open about your own faults.

And of course, to bring it all back around, the crux of this writing is this – Jim has his own show, following O&A, on Wednesday mornings. He takes calls from listeners who have legitimate issues, and Jim helps attempts to help them through it. Addicts, marriage counseling, sex advice, it’s all covered in some way, shape, or form. And Jim is also very up front that he is not an expert, but as with many things, principles can cover many of the topics, and while it may behoove you to see an expert to seek specifics, the principles can often guide you through.

One day, a man who was a recovering alcoholic called in. He had been sober for about 10 years, hit a rough patch, and had fallen off the wagon about a year earlier. He called in to Jim, in the midst of drinking, and explained his problem. As Jim told him, “you know what to do.” The man admitted that he knew what to do, but didn’t want to do it. And that’s exactly the point. Frequently in our lives, we know what the best course of action is. However, to avoid the pain that comes with it, we simply avoid it. Whether it’s a difficult conversation with a spouse, significant other, friend, or family member, or getting motivated to train or workout, or face addiction (to drugs, sex, food, or whatever it may be), or whatever the issue is, we would rather simply avoid that pain, AND the inevitable positives that await, simply because we don’t want to do the work. Perhaps it’s not even as serious as those things – your honey-do list, a list of projects at work or home, whatever it may be. But seeing the work in front of you can be a scary thing, because sometimes you also don’t know the depth. You simply must start digging. Because no matter how long it takes, one thing is for certain – if you don’t start digging, it won’t get done.

I also think that addiction is far more common than we think, but probably not just substance addiction. Again, I’m sure there are many people who are addicted to things that you simply aren’t aware of, but I think today’s addiction is to entertainment. With the internet at our fingertips, literally, on phones, laptops, whatever, it’s easier than ever to distract yourself. No one can have a quiet moment. And yet, it is in these quiet moments that some of your best clarity may emerge. I’m certainly as guilty of it as anyone – rather than sit down and take the time to do good work, if I can’t get things done quickly I’m looking for the next source of entertainment. Embrace the quiet. Embrace the stillness. Realize that the time will pass by whether you are playing a game or doing work. So you might as well get something productive done.

There was another lesson to be learned from the same show. In an earlier call, Jim spoke to a recovering addict who had, in a way, relapsed, but basically didn’t want to admit it (to himself or others). And really, what it was about was trying to keep his sobriety date intact. And while I’ve never been a substance addict, I can see how that would be important to someone – the ability to say “X number of years sober.” But, as Jim also went on to say, that date really means nothing. While it’s symbolic, the only thing that truly matters is that you’re sober now. That each day, you are working to stay sober. Because, as Jim has also noted, you’re always an addict. You never actually “win.” Sure, some people may get to the point where they can sit and have a casual drink here and there. But they are few and far between. And, as with most things, I saw a great parallel between that and life in general. We are always willing to work hard at something, always looking for the payoff. Looking for the end. Looking for the time when we can just give in, and relax. But in reality, that time will never come. Or at least not for a long while.

I remember when reading Success is a Choice by Rick Pitino, he outlines a sort of framework for achieving your goals. At the end, he talks about what to do when you achieve them. And the answer is, “set new goals.” Now, this doesn’t seem very appealing to most. Because it seems the whole point of goal-setting is to get shit done so you can relax, right? But, if you want to be successful, it’s simply about setting one goal after another, and putting one foot in front of the other. Learning to crawl before you walk. Then learning to walk before you run. And so forth. As the saying goes, “the journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.”

Training

Of course, haven't updated the training lately, but here's what it's been. Got sick as hell Tuesday (sore throat/congestion) and have been fighting it since. I'm on the back end of it now, so any excuses (not that they were worth a shit before) will shortly fly out the window.

Thursday:
Bench - worked up to 220x10
1-arm DB Row - 100x20

Today:
Deadlift - 135x5, 175x5, 205x3, 225x5, 260x5, 295x12
Front Squat - 2x10 @ 135
Ab Wheel - 2x10

Back In The Saddle

Going to try to post my training again. Yea, haven't said that before or anything...in any event, I thought I would try to post. I won't post my low-intensity days, which are M/W/F, but will try to post my high-intensity days (T/Th/Sat). My main goals are strength & hypertrophy, but also explosiveness and athleticism. As the saying goes, you can't ride 2 horses with one ass, but essentially I am using strength training to improve athletic ability (as it is used for athletes). Basically, I will be performing sprints, med ball throws, and locomotion training prior to the heavier work. On Tuesdays, I have softball, so that will serve as my sprint and locomotion training. I had been doing higher-intensity work to get to a 225 snatch, which I did:



I'm now doing 5/3/1 on a 3-day split, so it will take 4 weeks to get through a full cycle (not counting deload), with minimal assistance work. So, today's training:
Squat - 115x5, 145x5, 175x3 (warmups), 190x5, 220x5, 250x10
RDL - 185x15
Ab Wheel - 2x10

I realized this morning I'm starting to get sick, so I didn't feel the greatest, but felt pretty good about the training.

Training Update

As I expected, I've fallen well behind on the updates. However, training has been consistent, which is a good thing. I'm every bit as weak as I had feared, but again, with consistency will come results. This will be week 3 of the accumulation block. Tonight's training:

DB Bench (Submax Effort) - 3x8 with 80's
1-arm DB Row (Submax Effort) - 3x8 with 80

Upper body assistance work - get it in

Very simple, very basic. You're not going to cure all your ills in one session. Plan the work, work the plan.

Unfortunately, my diet has been absolute shit, and my body reflects it, both in how it feels and how it looks. I'm making a concerted effort to get back on it though, and from here on out will be quite strict. I'm sure I'll still be in caloric excess, just cutting out all the garbage.

Let's Try This Again

Got off to a good start with the block training last week. Unfortunately, I also got sick on Wednesday, rendering training the rest of the week utterly useless. I tried to give it a go Thursday, but it went pretty awful.  As such, I decided to shut it down for the week and start back up over again this week. I've also decided I'll probably only be updating weekly. But I figured I would at least update following the first day.

Week 1 Day 1 accumulation - upper
1A. DB Bench - 5x8x70's
1B. 1-arm DB Row - 5x8x70
1 minute between sets
2A. Lateral Raises - 2x10
2B. Thick Bar Curls - 2x10
3A. Band Tricep Pushdown - 2x10
3B. Wrist Curls - 2x10

I give myself leeway on assistance work, and while I'm over my illness, symptoms are not completely gone and I still haven't slept for shit for roughly the last 5 nights. As such, I'm still not 100%. I could tell even during the DB bench and rows this was the case, but I got the work in. On to the next day.

Update

Well, as I've done a horseshit job of updating this blog, I'll give it another shot. I'm going to play around with some block programming principles to see what happens. I'm well aware that I'm not advanced enough, nor in need of specific block programming, but I do want to try it out. Plus, I'm programming for someone who is actually set on powerlifting as a sport, so it will be fun to play around with and see what happens with him.
The diet is by no means over, but it has relaxed quite a bit. The general setup for my workouts upcoming will be - 3 weeks of accumulation, 1 week deload, 3 week transmutation, 1 week deload, and 2 weeks of realization, 1 week deload, with a "mini-meet" that Saturday. Mainly, I just want to see how well this works out, though I have no pre-set ideas as to what I will hit. If I get near PR's on anything, I will be thoroughly satisfied honestly.
The goal is to hit daily LISS, though at a lower volume than before, until I hit my body comp goals. At that point, I will do it on off days only. I've got my meals mapped out, I simply have to follow the roadmap at this point. So here we go again...