Tried some sprints on the skierg yesterday with success. Still able to hit 680 watts after a few week hiatus. I did them A+A style alternating with snatches with the 32kg which also felt fine. I normally don't like snatches because I have kind of small hands and they really tear them up. However, because I alternated them with the skierg, my hands got enough a rest between sets that they were fine and it was more enjoyable. Rogue also got their 40kg bell back in stock so that is on the way and I'm looking forward to using it. Mostly for TGUs, my 32 is just getting too light to capture my focus during the TGU. The swings and snatches just move faster with the lighter bells. I can still use my 24kg for snatches, the RPMs are just a bit faster. I can't really use the 24kg for swings though and the 32kg is almost too light for swings but the float is just a bit more.
Did a Q&D session this morning with sprints and push-ups. I did an A+A session of sprints and push-ups last weekend which went fine. The Q&D session was on 5/4 timing. I started to slow down a little on the 4th set of the 4th sprint cluster. For A+A and Q&D sprints, using same side foot strikes works phenomenal for the reps compared to using time.
Another two weeks of dipping my toes into overloading levels. I plan to reduce my training frequency a little lower still. For a long time, I was training 6 days per week, then a few months ago, I shifted to 4 days per week due to my work schedule. I like 4 days per week, but I many even do some weeks of only 3 sessions. I am not as concerned with the technical proficiency of higher frequency and light days and those days are probably just better as off days or used to mow the lawn or something. I feel like my sessions are hard enough that lower frequency manages fatigue a little better and optimizes the SRA curve more toward greater stimulation and associated adaptation. I'm looking at 3 and 4 day per week schedules to look like:
| 3 Day | 4 Day |
D1 | Hard | Medium |
D2 | Off | Hard |
D3 | Hard | Off |
D4 | Off | Medium |
D5 | Hard | Hard |
D6 | Off | Off |
D7 | Off | Off |
Hard (48-72h Rest): Barbell or Sprints
Medium (24h Rest): KB or Ski
I also want to shift to having my weekend clear to either makeup a missed session or be able to go camping or something else that would take me away from the home gym along with letting that weekly fatigue dissipate a little more with two consecutive off days.
I've been brainstorming a barbell progression using what I liked about using set replacement but changing what I didn't like about it. What I liked was the logistic ease of only having 3 working weights for an extended period and by not changing those weights, being able to always complete all scheduled reps regardless of stress, diet, recovery, etc. What I did not like was that it always felt like I was on the threshold. Perhaps simply doing a 3:1 deload week would have been enough but I wouldn't mind seeing new weight and rep records a little more frequently to stay motivated. The progression I'm considering looks like:
| Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 |
Week 1 | 80/5 | 80/5 | 80/5 | - |
Week 2 | 80/5 | 85/3 | 80/5 | 75/8-10 |
Week 3 | 80/5 | 85/3 | 85/3 | - |
Week 4 | 85/3 | 85/3 | 85/3 | 80/6+ |
I will either deload at the end only or do two deloads with one being in the middle after week 2. After that, I will use the 80/6+ set to calculate a new estimated max and work off those percentages the next cycle.
I haven't quite thought enough about the overload strategy I want to use for the A+A and Q&D work yet. I think the deload for those will just be some LISS skiing or short jogs though. They are a little more autoregulated by nature of being max output so I don't know if I need much progression planning. If anything, just increasing the number of repeats in a waved manner might be the best.
Just getting some thought organized and getting some harder efforts in this week has helped my motivation a bit. It also helped that my wife and I did both the ski/snatch and the sprint/push-up session together. ?