Training Archives
March 5th, 2008
Had some good and some bad with my training the past month. First off, I've started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu again, so I switched up my training scheme. It'll be full body workouts three days a week again. I'll incorporate skill training in short periods of time (10 min or so) for each day during the week. I'm also going to include a longer stretching session on the days I train BJJ.
So training will generally go as follows:
Mon: Skill Training, Total Body, Short Stretching
Tues: Skill Training, Longer Stretching, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Wed: Skill Training, Total Body, Short Stretching
Thurs: Skill Training, Longer Stretching, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fri: Skill Training, Total Body, Short Stretching
Sat: Off
Sun: Off
Let's start off with the good. The upper body is getting stronger, and with some exceptions, I did fairly well. I'll comment on each goal.
GOAL: +150 lbs Chin-up - fail
Never got a chance to retest this before March 1st, but was repping with 90 and 100 pounds for several reps in a very strong fashion - being able to pull each and every rep to my upper chest, not just barely bringing my chin up and over.
My shoulders began popping during these efforts (during the grind) unlike anything I've ever heard before. Nothing that hurt, just something that felt as though I was pulling harder than I ever had before. I know that's a very subjective observation, but it's worth noting.
Future plans for improving my chin-up include strengthening my grip and biceps as supplemental work to heavy weighted chin-ups.
GOAL: 2.5 gripper close - fail
Honestly, I didn't plan well enough to even work these into my training. I'm going to add them in my training one day a week (to complement additional weekly grip training).
GOAL: Consistent 8 second OAH - fail
8 seconds might have been a bit overzealous, but I wanted to give myself a high goal for the one arm handstand. I've been training this skill on the parallettes, so that I can spare my wrists, and things have been going very well. My time is definitely improving, and I'm breathing much, much better than I was in the past.
GOAL: Controlled Negative OAHSPU to the ground - fail
Another failed goal, and this is the good part of my training!! In all honesty, I'm still very happy with the progress made in the one arm handstand pushup so far. I've gotten comfortable with what I believe to be the best technique for the skill. If you look in the picture below, you'll see my pressing hand is turned inwards. I'm also pressing hard through the heel of my palm. This felt the strongest of all the positions I tried.
It's hard to objectively judge progress when working a negative motion, but I'm definitely under more control for a longer period of time. This is totally uncharted territory for me, but I feel like I'm moving forward.
GOAL: 6 straddle planche pushups - success
As I've been focusing a bit more on the chest than previous periods of training, I was hoping it would help my planche work. While the actual straddle planche may need some cleaning up (I have not included it in skill training for some time), the strength is still there.
I still hate the straddle planche the most out of all progressive planche holds, but it's good to see that full planche pushups are coming within reach.
GOAL: Three consecutive butterfly mounts - slight kick allowed - success
Like the straddle planche, the technique on these could use a bit of work, but I'm definitely stronger in both the mount, and the iron cross in general (which was tested in a recent photo shoot, pictures to come).
Just more work on the rings in general helped to bring about this strength, as well as the extended periods of straight arm support holds on the rings.
GOAL: 290 lbs Bench Press - success (kind of)
As I previously mentioned, I managed a 285 lb bench press in training. This was unracking and racking the weight myself (but inside a squat rack, so I was always safe). I feel extremely confident that a spotter helping me unrack the weight would allow me that 5 extra pounds. I was also unable to test this skill again by March 1st.
GOAL: Squat and Deadlift
And now onto the bad - the lower body goals of both the squat (385 lbs) and deadlift (475 lbs) were both abandoned. I know when squats and deadlifts feel good, and I know when they feel bad. This past month, they've felt very, very bad. Things felt tight in the hips and weak all around.
Rather than frustrate myself and possibly injure myself pushing toward those goals, I took a step back and analyzed what was going wrong. I came to several conclusions on things that needed to be improved before I hit the big lifts heavy and hard. In the meantime, I've been working front squats with a good deal of success.
Room For Improvement
In chasing these goals, there were several issues that seemed to emerge again and again that held me back. In no particular order, they were:
Flexibility
As I mentioned, both the squat and deadlift were feeling much too tight and bound up. Further assessment of my leg flexibility has shown that I've let it slide. Like many, I was neglecting my stretching. It's caught up with me now and has been affecting performance. I've added it now five days a week, with longer sessions on Tuesday and Thursday when I have no weight training and can offer up more time.
For the upper body, pictures of my handstand recently has shown a lack of flexibility in the shoulders. I strongly believe that increasing flexibility in my shoulders will help with the one arm handstand, as the position will then be easier to hold for an extended period of time.
A further upper body assessment confirmed my lack of full range of motion in my shoulders.
Grip
While grip never felt a factor in the chin-up, I have no doubt that increased grip strength will help with the chin-up. Where it especially felt limiting was the deadlift. A rack lockout of 495 lbs felt very weak in my hands. There's no way I'd be able to pull this weight from the ground if it's slipping out of my hands in a 3 inch range of motion.
While I had planned to work on my grip here and there, like I do with my one arm handstands, this did not work realistically into my training. I need to specifically add it to a workout. I've decided to add my Ironmind grippers to the Friday workout, and work other various grip tools in the Monday and Wednesday workouts.
Nutrition
Even with the best intentions, if I'm not eating right, then I'm not going to be able to work my hardest or recover fully from my workouts. I read up on Massive Eating by John Berardi in order to roughly determine my caloric needs. I had felt for some time that I wasn't getting enough in my body. After crunching the numbers, I found that I need to be consuming in upwards of 4000 calories to be anywhere close to putting on some more muscle.
With that number, I constructed a menu to give me the necessary number of calories, spaced out through the day. Lean proteins and fruits/vegetables with every feeding. More carbs in the morning, more fats in the afternoon and evening. When I have time I'll write everything all down, but if you read more of Berardi's work, I follow nearly all the sound tenets he lays out in his writings.
It's a work in progress, but just laying out my eating plan better has already made a difference in my energy levels. The weakness and lethargy I felt the past month is disappearing, and I've dropped 2% bodyfat.
Sleep
With my long days and hectic schedule, this is probably the biggest stumbling block for me. Improved time management should allow me to get to bed early (although 8 hours is still logistically impossible some nights).
I've also been trying to improve the quality of my sleep through breath-right strips for my nose, dark curtains to block ambient light, contoured pillow, and a zinc and magnesium supplement before bedtime.
This is also a work in progress, but I'm trying different things to improve this extremely important recovery method.
So where from here? Well, all my goals remain the same. The way I'm approaching them will be slightly different, as outlined above. More stretching and direct grip work, as well as increased focus on recovery (through food and sleep). I'm optimistic about the next couple months.
January 30th, 2008
Just worked the bench press for the first time in a long time. I'm happy to report a new max of 285 lbs!! This is just 5 lbs short of my March goal of 290 lbs! Feeling good, I went for 295 lbs after the 285 max. It buried itself on my chest at the bottom of the rep - further pointing to deficient chest strength to move it through the first half of the rep.
I'm optimistic though that with further focus on recruiting the chest before and during the bench press, that I can improve my strength in the exercise and blast past my goals.
January 22nd, 2008
I'll admit that my training felt a bit unfocused for the last part of 2007. This happens with everyone from time to time. The one arm handstand was coming along nicely, but my wrists started feeling overworked. My weighted chin-up and iron cross were coming along nicely, but my elbows started to feel a bit overworked. It was a combination of burnout and frustration. I was still working hard, but wasn't progressing as I felt I should.
I switched things around in my training. Tried different rep and set protocols, and pretty much experimented with what I thought would heal my joints and strengthen my body. I tried higher reps and lower weights, more isolated exercises - things that would be labeled as "bodybuilding" exercises. I tried resting some exercises all together.
I learned a lot from this. These isolation exercises, such as ones for the chest and biceps in particular, should be able to strengthen up specific parts of my body that might be lagging behind. They say you're only as strong as your weakest link, and I've been working to strengthen up specific links.
Now I'm not saying you should get rid of the multi-joint, compound exercises. These should always be a staple in your training. I'm just pointing out the fact that if I work the bench press and my arms and shoulders are the dominant muscles in the movement, then my chest does not develop as greatly as it should. Then it should only make sense to focus specifically on the chest muscle to increase its strength. When I bring it back together in the compound movement, then the compound movement can only become stronger.
For the biceps, I've begun working curls on the incline bench. In this position the long head of the bicep receives greater stimulation and can develop to a greater degree. The weights I use for this exercise are light because this exercise is hard!! But again, this shows me where I need to further develop my strength. When I bring this back to the weighted chin-up, I'm hoping it will strengthen the entire movement.
Now before you go running out and work chest flies and bicep curls, understand several things. First, that I may be at a different training level than you. You may still just need the basic multi-joint exercises for awhile. Second, understand that I've added these isolation exercises because I know my body and which muscles take over in certain exercises. As I mentioned, my arms and shoulders are very dominant - most likely a result of all the handstand work I've done over the years. But you could just as easily be chest dominant and need isolated work on your shoulders and triceps. It comes down to knowing yourself.
Before I go off on a philosophical tangent, I wanted to lay out my goals for the year. These aren't New Year's Resolutions to be forgotten and discarded, but actual goals to be worked on for the year. I've also written down strategies I'm going to try in order to reach my goals, as well as short-term goals that I would like to hit. I suggest you make a similar list if you find the need to refocus your training.
Goals
#3 Ironmind Gripper Close
Work with grippers 2-3 times per week - singles and negatives
Use pony clamp after gripper workouts to strengthen thumb
Start KTA program when hands feel stronger again
GOAL: 2.5 gripper close by March 1st
Double Bodyweight Chin-up
Increase strengthen in long head of bicep
Ice down elbows with cryo-cups if elbows ache after workout
Closely monitor volume of heavy weighted chin-ups to insure a safe progression in volume
Perhaps integrate a speed day, ala the Westside Protocol of Conjugated Periodization
GOAL: +150 lbs by March 1st
Longer One Arm Handstand Hold
Limit OAH sessions to 5-10 minutes at a time to prevent wrist pain
Reread all available information regarding the OAH
Try working assisted OAH instead of rushing into unassisted hold
More work on leverage wrist curl
GOAL: Consistent 8 second OAH by March 1st
One Arm Handstand Pushup
Continue to improve my overhead pressing strengthen with barbells
Work to find strongest one arm pressing technique
One arm handstand isometric holds against wall
Assisted one arm handstand pushups
GOAL: Controlled Negative OAHSPU to the ground by March 1st
Planche Pushups
Increase chest strength with isolation work
Integrate wall assisted planche pushups back into training
GOAL: 6 straddle planche pushups by March 1st
Increased Iron Cross Strength
Increase chest strength with isolation work
Ice elbows after training with cryo-cups if inflammation occurs.
Straight arm support holds on rings for longer periods with arms away from body
GOAL: Three consecutive butterfly mounts - slight kick allowed
Bench Press - 300 lbs
Work the exercise more
Get clearer idea of max bench press
GOAL: 290 lbs by March 1st
Back Squat - 400 lbs
Increase abdominal work for support
More work on accessory exercises - GHR and Good Mornings
Film technique more
GOAL: 385 lbs (+10 lb PR) by March 1st
Deadlift - 500 lbs
Increase grip strength
Increase neck strength
Film technique more
GOAL: 475 lbs (+20 lb PR) by March 1st
With so many goals, it may seem like I run the risk of losing track of everything. Keep in mind that several of these are going to overlap in their effort. Increasing my grip strength for my #3 gripper close will help the deadlift. Increasing chest strength will help the bench, planche pushups, and iron cross.
Keep an eye out on the training log for my progress toward these goals.