william bad butt
Level 7 Valued Member
Although 2017 isn't really complete yet, I just completed a major Milestone. I'm laying in a hammock in Barbados, taking my first week off (from excersising/training) this year, thinking about "what is next". Last week I competed (27 white lights!!), set some new PR's, and finished my annual power lifting block, which was my focus the last 5 months. Prior to that, in the first half of 2017, I was executing the ROTK program. And I like this formula for me: Spend half the year focusing on power lifting (bus bench), and spend the other half focusing on GPP utilizing double kettlebell exercises as the primary tool (park bench).
Here is my plan for the next half-year or so (please, poke some holes in it if you see any!!):
Goals (in no particular order): improve General strength, maintain power lifts at a minimal level, maintain back health and special exercises (I have the potential for lumbar back issues and there are certain things I must do), reduce body fat by about 5% and reduce bodyweight by about 15 lbs, don't get injured, training must be fun or at least not boring (this is actually really important to me), improve aerobic endurance.
My Plan:
-3 days per week conduct a modified ETK+, which is one of my favorite kbell programs. Modified in 2 manners. 1) I will only do it 3 times per week instead of 4 times and 2) In the spirit of making the program more park bench... Instead of rolling the dice to determine workout time limit, I will roll the dice to determine total number of reps. This way I can use heavier weights, use better form, and start each set after I can pass the talk test and not rush the clock (ala how I believe most folks conduct themselves with S&S in between swing sets), although I anticipate that over time I will get faster when my conditioning improves. These are intended to be easy workouts. For example, if my 1 rep max is a 48 kg in a give exercise, I will work with a 32 kg and get in quality volume while trying to build my alactic capacity.
-2 days per week run. This will suck but I think I need to do this, it has been many years since I've been a runner. I will start very very slow. I thought about rucking instead or carrying my sandbag or wearing my weighted vest but carrying weights is in my wheelhouse. Running makes me uncomfortable, I think I need to do it for aerobic growth. These "run" days can probably be done on a "lifting" day if need be. I haven't planned this out, how far or how long, I'm just going to start slow. In addition I have large dogs and walk them about 1 mile, daily. I will likely, occasionally, throw on my 75 lb vest when taking them around the neighborhood.
-And finally, 1 day per week I will conduct my routine mobility and back related exercises. Nothing sexy here, stuff I learned from Stu McGill books and joint mobility stuff (Pavel). Also I will do some singles of the 3 power lifts at 50% of my max. Every week, I may choose 1 power lift and perform 5 sets of 3 @ up to 70% of 1RM (and stay at 50% on the other 2 power lifts). The goal here is not to tax my recovery but still maintain some strength and technique so that in 6 months I am able to hit the ground running when I start power lifting again. These are intended to be easy barbell workouts with light weight. It takes me months of rebuilding my leg strength for squats after laying off them for a while, I'm trying to avoid that. I am trying to find the minimum effective dose, I really don't want to do the power lifts any more than I have too.
-Nutrition: Nothing drastic. I just need to cleanup my diet some. I eat too many processed carbs and sugars. I need to decrease this and shift some volume to veggies.
Thoughts? Any constructive criticism?
Here is my plan for the next half-year or so (please, poke some holes in it if you see any!!):
Goals (in no particular order): improve General strength, maintain power lifts at a minimal level, maintain back health and special exercises (I have the potential for lumbar back issues and there are certain things I must do), reduce body fat by about 5% and reduce bodyweight by about 15 lbs, don't get injured, training must be fun or at least not boring (this is actually really important to me), improve aerobic endurance.
My Plan:
-3 days per week conduct a modified ETK+, which is one of my favorite kbell programs. Modified in 2 manners. 1) I will only do it 3 times per week instead of 4 times and 2) In the spirit of making the program more park bench... Instead of rolling the dice to determine workout time limit, I will roll the dice to determine total number of reps. This way I can use heavier weights, use better form, and start each set after I can pass the talk test and not rush the clock (ala how I believe most folks conduct themselves with S&S in between swing sets), although I anticipate that over time I will get faster when my conditioning improves. These are intended to be easy workouts. For example, if my 1 rep max is a 48 kg in a give exercise, I will work with a 32 kg and get in quality volume while trying to build my alactic capacity.
-2 days per week run. This will suck but I think I need to do this, it has been many years since I've been a runner. I will start very very slow. I thought about rucking instead or carrying my sandbag or wearing my weighted vest but carrying weights is in my wheelhouse. Running makes me uncomfortable, I think I need to do it for aerobic growth. These "run" days can probably be done on a "lifting" day if need be. I haven't planned this out, how far or how long, I'm just going to start slow. In addition I have large dogs and walk them about 1 mile, daily. I will likely, occasionally, throw on my 75 lb vest when taking them around the neighborhood.
-And finally, 1 day per week I will conduct my routine mobility and back related exercises. Nothing sexy here, stuff I learned from Stu McGill books and joint mobility stuff (Pavel). Also I will do some singles of the 3 power lifts at 50% of my max. Every week, I may choose 1 power lift and perform 5 sets of 3 @ up to 70% of 1RM (and stay at 50% on the other 2 power lifts). The goal here is not to tax my recovery but still maintain some strength and technique so that in 6 months I am able to hit the ground running when I start power lifting again. These are intended to be easy barbell workouts with light weight. It takes me months of rebuilding my leg strength for squats after laying off them for a while, I'm trying to avoid that. I am trying to find the minimum effective dose, I really don't want to do the power lifts any more than I have too.
-Nutrition: Nothing drastic. I just need to cleanup my diet some. I eat too many processed carbs and sugars. I need to decrease this and shift some volume to veggies.
Thoughts? Any constructive criticism?