Green2Blue wrote:
It's wider. I need a standard bench but it's not practical at this point. I can't really say it's causing the problem, but the problem didn't start until I started lifting at home. It's like the humerus is slipping out of socket at the bottom of the lift. It's more annoying than anything when I lift, but it causes a fair amount of pain for a couple afterwards. I could live with it, but I imagine it's not good for my shoulder long term.
Maybe try something like the floor press/one board press until you can get a chance to experiment with a different bench. That would take any undue stretch at the bottom of the ROM out of the picture.
I'm going to try to fix the problem by making micro-tweaks to my technique. I'm kind of sick of having to mess with my TM's like I did with my squat, or this reset I'm going through. Don't get me wrong, those things served/are surving a purpose, and I'll be better off in the long run, but I just want to get back to solid training.
But if it doesn't work then this is a great idea. Thanks
JMadd!
You can also play a little with slight incline/decline of the bench. Just a bit.. plate underneath might do the trick of taking some stress off the shoulder. It did work for me in the past. What really helped me is switching to parallel grip pressing. I also did a lot of weighted pushups with using DB as pushup bars and finding comfortable grip shoulder-wise.
The most important point for me was to be sure I am not training trough the injury. And I was indeed...
Just my 2c.. Goof luck, man!
Green2Blue wrote:My wife just thinks I'm getting old :/
I was supposed to do hills. I wimped out. It was cold, dark, windy, and I'm just not motivated after I get off shift. Another make up day.
My wife told me to just go buy a new bench. I'm pretty stubborn about money though so I'm going to try to correct the issue for a couple weeks. If I can't I'll get a new bench.
Notes
-Not enormously important, but I'm now not including my walk down from my final sprint in my time. Time starts when I start sprinting, and ends when I stop.
-Seeing as my hill takes me twice as long to run up as TB2 recommends (60s vs 30s), I'm going to differentiate between "long hills" and "standard hills". I'll implement both into my training.
Notes
-I'm a jackass. I figured out what the problem with my shoulders is. I'm 90% sure it's because I'm pushing too hard on one of my dynamic stretching movements. Cutting the movement out. At least I don't have to stop benching, or buy a new bench.
-No DT this week because of shoulder pain. And my partner is hung over lol.
-Felt strong. Like I could crank out 10 reps. Looking forward to my TM moving up 5% after next weeks deload.
Notes[/quote]
-My first time doing this HIC. I just kind of wanted to check it off the list. However, after doing it I can tell you that it'll now be one of my go-to HICs when I start prioritizing my mile then 1.5 times.
-Last day of my first mini block. I'd like some honest opinions here. This block was done at an 80% TM. Next block will be 85% TM. I was planning on deloading for a week, however at such a low TM is it worth it? Should I save the deloading for when I get back up to 90%? Or just stick to the plan. Thanks guys.
-My first time doing this HIC. I just kind of wanted to check it off the list. However, after doing it I can tell you that it'll now be one of my go-to HICs when I start prioritizing my mile then 1.5 times.
I'm with you on this one, I really love (in a sort of hating way!) Speed Endurance Ladders.
-Last day of my first mini block. I'd like some honest opinions here. This block was done at an 80% TM. Next block will be 85% TM. I was planning on deloading for a week, however at such a low TM is it worth it? Should I save the deloading for when I get back up to 90%? Or just stick to the plan. Thanks guys.
I would do the deload. The point of the 80% TM was to reset and rebuild from ground zero, after getting beat up from so much heavy lifting. At this point, patience is really important. Take a week to do some LSS, mobility, SE circuits (all-body weight Tango would be good), grip/core, play around with recreational sports, etc., but give your joints a break from heavy loading.
-My first time doing this HIC. I just kind of wanted to check it off the list. However, after doing it I can tell you that it'll now be one of my go-to HICs when I start prioritizing my mile then 1.5 times.
I'm with you on this one, I really love (in a sort of hating way!) Speed Endurance Ladders.
-Last day of my first mini block. I'd like some honest opinions here. This block was done at an 80% TM. Next block will be 85% TM. I was planning on deloading for a week, however at such a low TM is it worth it? Should I save the deloading for when I get back up to 90%? Or just stick to the plan. Thanks guys.
I would do the deload. The point of the 80% TM was to reset and rebuild from ground zero, after getting beat up from so much heavy lifting. At this point, patience is really important. Take a week to do some LSS, mobility, SE circuits (all-body weight Tango would be good), grip/core, play around with recreational sports, etc., but give your joints a break from heavy loading.
Copy. I just needed some affirmation. I'll do the deload. Thanks JMadd.
The following is complete brain vomit. Its just something that's been on my mind a lot lately and I wanted to get it on paper. It's pretty much just something I wrote to myself. It's a plan I am going to start implementing, once I am done with this recovery phase, because I'm tired of spinning my wheels. Feel free to ignore it.
Goal Based Training
When you're a multi-domain operational athlete, and you want to be good at everything, it's easy to lose focus. Most of us know that training multiple domains at once makes you mediocre at all of those domains. However, once we start seeing progress on programs like TB that do such a great job balancing multiple fitness domains, it's easy to lose sight of that.
Not surprisingly TB actually covers the issue:
"First, Base-Build. Then, advance high priorities and maintain low priorities. Build general strength and endurance first. After base building, prioritize your fitness domains. Start training certain attributes less, and others more, based on your goals. Some attributes you will do the bare minimum to maintain, others you will actively attempt to advance."
With all of the great information in TB it's easy to lose sight of that. I want to highlight that statement and take it a bit further.
Climb the Rope
Training multiple fitness domains at once generally makes you mediocre at all of those domains. The body only has so much ability to adapt to training stimuli. Focus on one particular attribute produces greater results.
This is especially true for trained athletes. If you're untrained it's a lot easier to get up to par, aka "newbie gains". If you're new to training you might be able to go full steam ahead on multiple domains. If you're farther along in your training age, in any particular domain, the less ability your body has to adapt to training stimuli.
Maintenance is different. Maintaining physical performance, once you have it, is easier for your body than improving that performance.
So how do we go from mediocre in multiple domains to good, or even great? Improve in one domain at a time, and maintain the other domains. Just as the above quote from TB II says.
Climb the rope. Hold yourself in place on the rope with one arm, your non-priority domains, and maintain. Then reach up with your other arm, your priority domain, and pull yourself up. Not the best metaphor, but hopefully you get the point.
1. Base Build
TB II goes into great detail on why you should base build. I'm not going to get into it too much. If you don't have any strength or any endurance to start out with, then you have nothing to maintain.
2. Choose Your Domains
Not every domain is important to everyone. Pick a handful that matter to you most. If a domain doesn't matter, then don't pick it. Chances are that domain will get hit indirectly by a related domain.
I think domains can really vary. They might be generic like muscular strength, strength endurance, anaerobic capacity, or aerobic endurance. I think they can also be slightly more specific, such as distance running, sprint speed, traditional barbell strength, kettlebell strength endurance, or GC's.
Domains only matter because they help you choose your baselines for maintenance. No need to think too hard about them.
P.S. If MS isn't a domain you're interested in progressing or maintaining then you're kind of missing the boat, and you probably aren't doing TB.
3. Establish Baselines
This is where maintenance comes in. A baseline is a metric of performance you should be able to hit at any given time under adequate conditions. Baselines are not PRs.
An excellent example of a baseline that TB already uses is a 90% Training Maximum.
What the TB books don't get into is baselines for other domains. If your domain focus is muscular strength, and you're going balls-to-the-wall maximum effort on every HIC, your performance increases on muscular strength may suffer. So pick a few baselines within your chosen domains.
Baselines should be within your chosen maintenance domains, specific, and performed regularly.
For example: lets say the domain I want to focus on is my MS, but I want to maintain my short distance running speed and my distance running. My maintenance baselines for short distance running speed might be 5 rounds of Hill Sprints in 15 minutes, and 6 rounds of 600m Resets with a 2:30 pace and 5:00 rest. My baseline for distance running might be a 20:00 Fast 5 and a 10k LSS.
Choose a baseline you'll perform with regularity. If a 10:00 1.5 mile is your baseline, but you only run a 1.5 mile once a month, it isn't doing you much good as a measuring stick for maintenance.
Choose a couple baselines within the domain so you can change things up. I think it's ok to throw in things that aren't baselines, like an occasional GC in our example, but you should be performing a baseline or two every week.
The goal here is performance maintenance. It's hard to know if you're maintaining performance if you don't have a baseline to measure with.
3. Set Goals
Now choose goals within the domain you want to improve. SMART goals are a great way to go about this. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-based.
Examples are:
-Taking your bench press from a 160lb 1RM to a 170lb 1RM in 2 blocks.
-Reducing your 2 mile run time by 1 minute in 3 blocks.
-Going from 15 to 20 pull-ups in 1 block.
One goal is best. But sometimes it's reasonable to set more as long as they are in related domains and they don't interfere with each other. Increasing your max reps of push-ups and air squats by a specific number at the same time is reasonable. Improving your 100m sprint time and 800m sprint time by specific numbers at the same time is less realistic. That's not to say your deadlift won't go up if your main goal is your squat, but you may see more success by focusing on one.
Just remember that the more goals you set, the harder they will be to achieve.
Just an opinion here, but I think 2 standard blocks for any specific goal is going to be your sweet spot. Anything shorter doesn't give you much time to adapt to stimuli. Anything longer and it's easy to lose sight of your goal.
4. Create a Plan
Create a training plan based on your goals. If your main goal is to improve your bench, then Fighter Green might not be the best choice. If you want to improve your bench but really want to maintain your distance running, maybe go Operator Black Pro.
Same goes for any assistance work. The vast bulk of assistance work should support your primary goal. Like the bench example, maybe choose floor presses and dips. If your main goal is the 100m then maybe do bounding instead of bicep curls.
5. Execute and Achieve
Enough said. Stick to the plan!
6. Re-Assess
Reach your goal and want to go for a new one? Set new baselines based on your new fitness level, make a new plan, and charge ahead. Didn't reach you goal? Take a look at your training plan, change if needed, and dig in.
Conclusion
The above method is completely untested. It's simply a plan based on what I know from my education and experience, and a desire to be better than what I am. I didn't achieve a 3xBW DL while training for a marathon, and I didn't run a half-marathon while pushing barbell PRs. If you're like me and you're tired of spinning your wheels by trying to do everything at once, give this a shot and let me know if it works for you.
