Better Is Better

Training

Still haven't had time to plug 29th into log.

Here is brief overview of...
Jan 30th

Warm-up
A few rounds of Dumbell BE-6
Intu-Flow short

Metabolic Resistance Circuit
5 Rounds of:
Kip-ups x 10
Bruiser 2-hand Swipes x 10
Sandbag Zercher Thrust x 10 (these are like hitting yourself over the head with a hammer - feels great when you stop...)
16" Plyo-box thrust-overs x 5/5

Intuitive Training numbers
        RPE    RPT    RPD  Time
R1    9         9         0        2:00
R2    9         9         0       1:55
R3    10      9         0        1:55
R4   10      7        0         2:00
R5    10      7        0         2:05

Although effort was super high, I had more than ample rest time.

More Intermittent Fasting

I just broke my fast in the second week of my IF experiment.  Again, I used the methods outlined by Brad Pilon in Eat-Stop-Eat.  I used almost the same set-up as last week and again it worked out very well.

I ate lunch yesterday (Monday) and then broke my fast today at lunch.  Last week I went from mid-afternoon to mid-afternoon.  For some reason my post fast hunger was a little more manageable last week than this.  But even this time isn't too bad.  Just feel a bit "peckish" still.

Again I broke my fast with a nice salad.  This one was my new discovery, a "breakfast salad" - various baby greens, vinaigrette (olive oil, dijon, balsamic), grated 3 year old cheddar, four poached eggs and a 3 pieces of sliced sundried tomato (yummy!).  I used tons of greens so it would be nice and filling.

Pretty much the same overall experience as last time...  I had clients, classes and my own training between 2:00 and 8:30, so didn't really notice any hunger.  I got pretty hungry driving home.  That subsided a bit and then hit me hard again before bedtime.  But I slept great and didn't start getting hungry again until about 9:00 am.  I was busy all morning so even though I noticed from time to time that I was hungry, it didn't really bother me at all.  Then it was time to eat!  I must admit that I was quite ravenous when it came time to break the fast and I had to practice some self restraint to keep to the meal plan...

Voila.  Another successful IF session...

Good Exercises Gone Bad

I did my training at the club again yesterday between two classes.  It was at a peak hour so there was lots to observe.  Let me tell you, it is almost depressing to see how much wasted time and effort is to be seen.

In between sets, as I did my vibration drills to recover (those get lots of "interesting" looks... LOL), I got to looking around at what everyone else was doing.  Wow!  Already, as you may have gathered if you read much of this blog, I'm not huge on "isolation."  But I concede there there is significant benefit to it in many situations.  But if it is to be done, at least let's do it right!!  Holy smokes.  I saw people doing cable external rotation exercises - with a kip!  I saw people doing butterfly cable lat raises - with a shrug!  I saw someone doing squats (well, about 1/8th of the ROM) on a BOSU ball - with his back all rounded over and his shoulders slumped forward!  Why bother!

If you can't do an isolation exercise with perfect form, I can't really see any point in doing it at all.  If you want to "cheat" a bit, at least go for the compound / primal movements that were designed for cheating.  If you want to kip, do a pull-up.  If you want to shrug, do some cleans.  If you want to do squats with your back rounded over - well, just don't do that OK...  But get off the BOSU and get your squat technique down pat before you add instability...

In the rush to catch the wave of functional training, I fear we are throwing exercises at clients without following through and ensuring that they are actually gaining any functional benefit from them.  And I saw lots of "isolation" but I didn't see much "integration."  So where is the next step in the process?  Are we teaching people to take their isolated strength, their improved musculoskeletal function and apply it to more "natural" and integrated movement patterns?

OK, rant over.  Have to go make breakfast for my daughter... ;-)

Cheers

Training

Saturday (Jan 26th)

Forward Pressure (slow and shallow)
Intu-Flow short session

3 sets each of...
Crow / Elbow Lever / Ring Tuck Planche
30:60 work to rest - Overall RPE 7

Vibrations (long waves)
Handstand Practice RPE 4
RPS = Rate of perceived stability
1. RPS5 - Moments of "feeling" well balanced (fleeting)
2. RPS2 - Sucked.  But played with "balancing" from shoulder movements.  Need to keep lower body tighter...
3. RPS6 - Managed to stabilize after a little "walk"

Followed with some practice against the wall.  Pretty good hold (20-30 sec) with only a few light taps on the wall.  2 tries - first realized I was holding my breath...

HSPUs (feet on wall) - 3, 3, 3 (RPE - 8)

Forward Pressure - 3 rounds - vibrations between rounds
    RPE 8 (especially after everything leading up...)

Kinetic Chain
-Sleeping Warrior -> Upward Dog -> Downward Dog -> Shoulder Bridge -> Wind Removing -> Camel -> Rabbit (coming up with some good transitions for this KC)

Spider Monkey

Sunday (Jan 27th)

FlowFit L2 x 3
Intu-Flow Short

Metabolic Resistance Circuit
5 rounds of
-Kip ups x 10
-Sandbag Snatches (about 50 lbs) x 5
-V2.0 Sparta Casts x 10/10
-16" plyo-box lateral thrustovers

            RPE    RPT    RPD
R1        7.5     7          0
R2        8.5     8          1
R3        8.5     8          1
R4        8.5     6          1
R5        9         8          0

This is the "easier" of my two MRC (and designed that way).  I'll be rotating back and forth between them.  Some discomfort in right shoulder a couple times during snatches when didn't catch with full lock-out.  Round times varied from 2:10 at the beginning to 2:30 at the end.

Handstand practice: RPT-6 Some pretty decent holds.  Bit of "walking."  One set on wall with only light touches.

I'll log yesterday's training later (I'm ridiculously busy lately...).

Cheers,
Adam

The Wheel and the Coil

During an interview I did the other day with Coach Scott Sonnon for my Momentum Training Newsletter subscribers, I made an intuitive leap.  Something which had been lurking just below the surface of consciousness bubbled to the surface and became concrete.

We were talking about how the focus of one's training will naturally cycle through a focus on breath, movement or structure.  And that seen from above this will appear to be an endless and ever repeating circle, but when seen from the side is obviously an upward rotating coil.  Every time you come back to the same point in the circle, you have actually moved up the coil at the same time.

Although I have often used this conceptual device in creating programming or in explaining training cycles, I have never really thought to apply it to the focus on breathing, movement and structure.  Now that I see it, it seems so evident.

But that was not my leap of intuition.  For some time now I have been gravitating towards a realization in my training.  I have been "feeling" the need to address certain things.  What my conversation with Coach Sonnon brought out was a realization, a crystallization.  My focus now needs to be on structure.  I could feel it, I just didn't quite grasp the nature of what I was feeling.  When I look at the direction to which I have migrated in my training, it makes sense.  The planche is a goal which is all about having the structure to maintain it.

And my previous focus was clearly on movement.  The Trial-by-Fire and the focus on its component exercises took the efficiency of my movement to entirely new and exciting levels.  But its turn on the wheel is past and I need to keep on moving around and up.

So although I was well on the path to making the leap intuitively, now that I have put a name to it, I find that my entire training plan is coming into sharper focus.

Metabolic Resistance Circuit

Today was conditioning through a Metabolic Resistance Circuit.  Part of my goal with including this in GPP (twice per week) is to lean out, thus improving strength to bodyweight ratio and aiding in the eventual goal of being able to do the planche.

The circuit is put together with elements that are meant to balance out the strength days or shore up any blatant shortfalls in the rest of the training.  There are 4 exercises in the circuit and the protocol is the "3-minute Round."  I have 3 minutes to complete everything, including rest time, before it starts all over again.  So if I finish in 2 minutes, I have a minute to rest... etc.

Here is the circuit:
Kip Ups x 10
10 2-handed Bruiser Swipes
Sandbag Zercher Thrusts x 10 (about 40 lb bag)
Lateral Box Thrusters x 5/5 (about 16 inch box)

Tonight I had one technical difficulty after another on the timing.  My Everlast round timer seems not to have lasted forever...  Second round I switched to a watch timer.  That round I finished in about 2:05.  Then hit the wrong button for the 3rd round and forgot to hit it at all on the fourth!  Hit shappens...  Anyhow, I did 4 rounds this session with the following ratings.
Round 1 - RPE=9, RPT=8, RPD=2
Round 2 - RPE=10, RPT=8, RPD=2
Round 3 - RPE=10, RPT=8, RPD=2
Round 4 -RPE=10, RPT=8, RPD=2

As you can see the intensity was high.  I was in serious CR debt at the end of each circuit and glad to have almost a minute to do vibration drills and bring my HR back down.

The next step will be to add another round.  Then we will see where things go as I progress.

Next I did some handstand practice.  I did 3 "sets."  I was pretty unstable tonight in general.  But on the first and third set I ended up doing some walking and then stabilizing.  Usually once the involuntary walking starts I have to come back down and can't get stabilized again.  I also felt a couple times the trick to using the upper body to adjust balance rather than the legs.  This makes sense.  When you are standing on your feet, you move from your lower body to adjust balance, not from your shoulders...

I finished with a series of Asanas...
Sleeping Warrior
Rabbit
Long Arm Roll
Shoulder Bridge
Wind Removing
Reverse LA Roll
Sleeping Warrior
Camel
Rabbit
Seiza
Generally went for about 4-5 cycles of the breath - manipulating the structure on the "4 corners" of the breath (inhale - control pause - exhale - control pause).  The choice of Asanas is somewhat intuitive and revolves around resolving tension in my low back.

Finished with Spider Monkey - very slow focusing on structure.

Voila

Intermittent Fasting

A while back I had a go at using Intermittent Fasting in my diet.  I ended up putting an end to the experience though, as I was not very good at controlling the aftermath.  When breaking my fast I would overeat and undo many of the positive health benefits reported to be associated with IF.

Well, everywhere I turn lately I am running across more and more reports touting the benefits of IF, and as always I am curious.  So I have decided to give it another go.  I am following the guidelines laid out by Brad Pilon in his ebook, Eat-Stop-Eat.  I really like the way he lays all the pertinent science out for you so you really know what you are trying to achieve through using IF.

He recommends 24 hour fasts (for reasons he lays out clearly).  So you eat at a given time on one day, and then you don't eat again until the same time the next day.  I did this from Monday to Tuesday, and the way I timed it made it the easiest one I've ever done and also allowed me to control the way I broke my fast.

I ate at about 3:30 PM before heading out to teach classes.  By the time I got home, I was a bit hungry but had some things to do before winding down and heading to bed.  I slept great and didn't get hungry the next morning until about 10:00 AM, but by that time my day was full-swing and I didn't have time to worry about being hungry.  So it eventually faded and I didn't get really hungry again until about 2:00, just in time to eat between 3:00 and 3:30.  Because I was breaking my fast with a "snack," it made it much easier to control it.  And consequently, when dinner time rolled around I just had a "normal" appetite again.

Energy was good all day long.  I even had those little buzzes and stretches of clarity that are often talked about in association with fasting.

All in all a successful experiment.  Much better than previous experiences with IF.  I'm planning on repeating this every week for 4 weeks to see how it plays out.

Opportunity Knocks

EATING IS AN OPPORTUNITY
Every time you eat you are taking advantage of or depriving yourself of an opportunity.  We tend to calculate our nutrition in terms of how much we have eaten throughout the day, how many good foods we have managed and how few bad foods we have consumed (by the way -> there are most definitely good and bad foods). 

But there is something much more important than all that.  Every single time you eat a meal or a snack you are invoking a very specific hormonal response to that intake of food.  The quality and quantity of food you eat will determine what that response will be and whether it will advance you towards your goals or put you back a step.  Furthermore, each of those hormonal responses eventually trains the body to prefer certain hormonal states, whether you like the results or not.  Once you have adopted one of those states you are more likely to stay there, even when you eat to induce the opposite response.  So if you “eat well” at almost every feeding opportunity over a long enough period of time you train your body to operate in that positive hormonal state.  If you should happen to stray into “bad eating” for a meal, you will have a negative hormonal response but it will probably be not as bad as if you were eating badly all the time and you will bounce back to your more positive hormonal state more quickly assuming that you get “back on the wagon.”

The best way to attack this is to educate yourself on how foods (quality and quantity) affect the hormonal environment in your body.  I suggest a few resources in my Healthy Fat Loss Squidoo Lens.  Then start writing down everything you eat.  Track your results and look back over your journals to make sense of the results you have garnered versus the probable hormonal responses you have created during each feeding.  You may be amazed...

Forward Pressure

And lots of it...

I had time at the club between two classes this evening, and decided to use it to schedule my training.  This was the first "strength" based session of this GPP phase of the Training Hierarchy Pyramid.  I'm using a lot of isometric holds in various postures which I hope will gradually work me towards my goal of performing the planche (again - very long term project...).

Tonights practice looked like this.

Spinal Rocks - 10 basic / 10 pike
FlowFit x 3 (L2, L3, L3) slow and deep
I had also already done some Intu-Flow and Prasara at the end of my first class...

Crane Pose x 3 sets - 30 seconds hold : 60 seconds rest
I am really concentrating on locking out the elbows and keeping my knees as close in to the elbow pits as possible to really activate the core.  Did lots of release and mobility for the wrists in between sets.  I find these really hard on the wrists.

Elbow Lever x 3 sets - 30 seconds hold : 60 seconds rest
I figure this one will be good for the general core strength needed for the planche.

Tuck Planche (with major cheat) x 3 - 25 seconds hold : 60 seconds rest
I put two dumbells on a step so that I could get some height and also so my feet could dangle off the back of the step.  This is obviously a serious cheat, but I still find it a very challenging pose.  Especially after the other two...  Focus was on keeping the arms locked and the core tight.

HSPU feet supported on wall - 2 sets of 4

Handstand Practice - 2 sets
Spent about 30 seconds in the hold.  But close to the wall and had to touch several times each set.

Forward Pressure Level 2 - 3 rounds slow and deep

Spider Monkey x 1
I'm adding this in to open everything back up and strengthen a bit in the opposite direction as compensatory movement.

Rabbit Pose - 5 breath cycle
Wrist Mobility
Triceps Stretch - 5 breath cycle

All in all a successful session.  I got lots of interesting looks from people at the club... LOL

Voila

Excuses and Achievements

I just "stole" this quote from The Primal Voice.  My main motive for placing it here is as a reminder for myself.  But I thought you all would also benefit from it.

"For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future but an excuse can last for life." Eric Hoffer

If it were easy to do a planche, lose 20 lbs, do a TBF, make a success out of a small business, have great relationships, etc everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be quite as satisfying to pull it off.  But I think the point is that everyone is capable of all of those things and infinitely more.  Those who end up achieving are, I think, those that take the first step and just keep on walking until they get there.

I still can't imagine being able to do a planche, but I try to project forward to the day that I can and how I will feel about that goal.  I try to do the same for other objectives I have in my life.  Progress is sometimes slow in any worthwhile endeavor.  But I find it helps to think about how things will be in a month.  How will they be in two months?  Think back to any triumph you have had.  Then think about how you felt two months before the triumph and then a few minutes after the triumph.  Then apply that to how you feel now and the possibility of recreating that feeling of accomplishment in the future.  I find great motivation in that simple exercise.

Cheers