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Always Be Smashing

WhatWouldHulkDo said:
My problem this season is that I seem to be blessed with an unusually high number of boys with little talent combined with little interest in improving - they're just out there because their dad makes them ?.I've seen a number of boys over the few years I've been at this who really do love playing catch with their dad or their friends, but really aren't actually interested in playing a baseball game.

But, I can't complain too much. Every so often there are those moments of brilliance that make it worth it - like when the smallest guy on the team who looks more like the bat is swinging him, rather than the other way around, accidently tears one down the third base line. Good stuff.
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I was always assistant coach from T-ball through Little League with my son. Some head coaches were much better than others, the best coaches recognized the kids were just out there to have fun and maybe learn a little something about baseball.
The worst coaches were the ones who put their own competitive agenda ahead of the kids and made it about them. Most of the years I coached we came in first or second place and always had a competitive team. Coaching is a lot of work, I don't even want to think about how many baseballs I picked up or hit over the years. If given the choice, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, it was a way of bonding with my son that I couldn't easily replace. When I played as a kid my dad never even showed up to one of my games.. I didn't want to be like him. :/
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Little bit of a rough couple days, training wise. Monday I woke up with a surprisingly sore back. Some manifestation of fatigue from the long run? DOMS from Saturday? Who knows.
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If I were to make a guess here I'd say you're not fully recovered from TSC yet, I know the feeling of what you're going through and have been there many times before. Dialing back on intensity, load and volume will pay dividends later on I think.
Running tends to work the lower back pretty well. Heavy anterior chain work will pre-exhaust the spinal erectors enough to where a longer or harder run will push you over the edge. I know this from lots of heavy snatch work along with running, lately I've been dosing heavier snatch work very carefully and it's paying off.
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I'm going to take a little bit of a risk here and go on a tangent regarding deadlifting. After many years of construction work my lower back just doesn't like deadlifts, so I don't bother doing them anymore.

My question to people about deadlifting is how much is enough? If one were to work up to say 700 lb deadlift that would be fantastic, but what would the cost be to maintain it. More than that, how does a 700 lb deadlift translate into your life overall? Does it do something more than lighter deadlifts? If you were to take a bar with three wheels on each end and bang out 10 reps easily could you handle whatever life throws at you? I would think so.

I understand chasing metrics when it comes to weight training because I've done it a lot myself, but at what point does it become detrimental? If you were to take that energy and put it into something else would it hurt you or help you in the long run..?.. as far as things you want to do in your life, or any activity that you want to engage in?

Perhaps I'm just sharing thoughts as an older trainer.. IDK
 
Bret S. said:
I was always assistant coach from T-ball through Little League with my son. Some head coaches were much better than others, the best coaches recognized the kids were just out there to have fun and maybe learn a little something about baseball.
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Absolutely true. But, I'll bet you those good coaches would still go home after a bad beating and cry in their beers, just a little. ?

Bret S. said:
If given the choice, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, it was a way of bonding with my son that I couldn't easily replace. When I played as a kid my dad never even showed up to one of my games.. I didn't want to be like him. :/
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You know... sadly, I think that a good chunk of Gen-X-ish males are driven by not wanting to end up like their fathers, myself included. Always makes me wonder how my son will look back on his childhood when he's a man... hopefully I don't mess him up too badly.
 
Bret S. said:
If I were to make a guess here I'd say you're not fully recovered from TSC yet, I know the feeling of what you're going through and have been there many times before. Dialing back on intensity, load and volume will pay dividends later on I think.
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Totally reasonable theory. One thing I've never been good at is scheduling "step back" cycles. I'll throw in a light week here or there, of course, but I have a tendency to keep pushing and pushing until I'm forced to do something different. Probably would be a good idea to schedule a step back.
Bret S. said:
My question to people about deadlifting is how much is enough?
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Ah yes... the classic question of whether you're training for health... or training for ego.

I am admittedly still a bit of an ego lifter. I fully admit that I'm already past the point where increasing my deadlift strength isn't really adding anything to my life outside of the gym. But, I enjoy the pursuit of glory, I take satisfaction in seeing the numbers go up - I'm doing it for fun. And, I recognize that can be a threat to my health... so I think I've gotten smarter about it over the years. Maybe not completely "smart" yet, just smarter. But, like you say... have to keep an eye on the cost, and make sure the pursuit isn't taking away from life outside the gym.

Personally, I would like to get to 2.5x bodyweight on the deadlift - I think my ego would be satisfied there. But, I've said elsewhere; the fastest path to get there would actually be to drop some dang bodyweight, rather than loading more on the bar!
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Totally reasonable theory. One thing I've never been good at is scheduling "step back" cycles. I'll throw in a light week here or there, of course, but I have a tendency to keep pushing and pushing until I'm forced to do something different. Probably would be a good idea to schedule a step back.

Ah yes... the classic question of whether you're training for health... or training for ego.

I am admittedly still a bit of an ego lifter. I fully admit that I'm already past the point where increasing my deadlift strength isn't really adding anything to my life outside of the gym. But, I enjoy the pursuit of glory, I take satisfaction in seeing the numbers go up - I'm doing it for fun. And, I recognize that can be a threat to my health... so I think I've gotten smarter about it over the years. Maybe not completely "smart" yet, just smarter. But, like you say... have to keep an eye on the cost, and make sure the pursuit isn't taking away from life outside the gym.

Personally, I would like to get to 2.5x bodyweight on the deadlift - I think my ego would be satisfied there. But, I've said elsewhere; the fastest path to get there would actually be to drop some dang bodyweight, rather than loading more on the bar!
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To be perfectly honest I'm not very good at stepping back at training either, although I do subscribe to the Church of moderation.

As far as deadlifting goes you're still are young guy from my perspective and there's nothing wrong with pursuing a goal, so long as it isn't hurting you or your ability to live life and provide for your family.

Speaking of weight loss my brother lost around a hundred and thirty pounds using a modified Atkins diet and Swinging kettlebells. He's recently back slid about 50 lb because of Life events and so forth, but he said he's on the path again. I told him not to kick his own a#@ over it and gaining back not even half the weight is really a win in my book. He's in a really good place right now with life and his stress is very low so he should be in good shape in short order I would think.

All you have to do is get down to 200 pounds and maintain that 500 lb deadlift, should be easy ?. Seriously though, I just like to ask questions and learn from others perspectives.
 
Antti said:
It's not just about ego or health, it's about fun!

I can understand diminishing returns. However, I'm not sure if it's an actual worry. I just train like I always do. Time will tell where I end up. And I'll have a great time doing it.
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I feel like there’s an inseparable relationship with fun and health but maybe that’s just me...
 
Bret S. said:
I was always assistant coach from T-ball through Little League with my son. Some head coaches were much better than others, the best coaches recognized the kids were just out there to have fun and maybe learn a little something about baseball.
The worst coaches were the ones who put their own competitive agenda ahead of the kids and made it about them. Most of the years I coached we came in first or second place and always had a competitive team. Coaching is a lot of work, I don't even want to think about how many baseballs I picked up or hit over the years. If given the choice, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, it was a way of bonding with my son that I couldn't easily replace. When I played as a kid my dad never even showed up to one of my games.. I didn't want to be like him. :/
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That's great that you helped coach. I did more of that with my daughter, who played competitive girls softball all through school. Son was more of a soccer player, so I only watched games usually in rainy, cold weather. I remember my dad teaching me how to throw a curveball and drop as he called it. I'd give anything to go back like Field of Dreams and play catch with him. That film destroys me.
 
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Whosonfirst said:
That's great that you helped coach. I did more of that with my daughter, who played competitive girls softball all through school. Son was more of a soccer player, so I only watched games usually in rainy, cold weather. I remember my dad teaching me how to throw a curveball and drop as he called it. I'd give anything to go back like Field of Dreams and play catch with him. That film destroys me.
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Yes, in all fairness my dad worked a lot as a self-employed businessman with gas stations and repair shops. Add five kids into the mix and you get to understand why things were the way they were. Without going too deeply into it I did have a 'special' relationship with my dad that none of my other siblings did.. And it wasn't in a good way.
You're lucky to have had a father that tried to mentor you and hang out with you, I can't remember one positive experience with my father when I was growing up, then I joined the Air Force and never came back.
We did establish somewhat of a relationship for a couple yrs before he passed.. that was mostly due to my girl making it happen.
 
Bret S. said:
Yes, in all fairness my dad worked a lot as a self-employed businessman with gas stations and repair shops. Add five kids into the mix and you get to understand why things were the way they were. Without going too deeply into it I did have a 'special' relationship with my dad that none of my other siblings did.. And it wasn't in a good way.
You're lucky to have had a father that tried to mentor you and hang out with you, I can't remember one positive experience with my father when I was growing up, then I joined the Air Force and never came back.
We did establish somewhat of a relationship for a couple yrs before he passed.. that was mostly due to my girl making it happen.
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Your story sounds almost like my bro-in-law leaving for the Air Force the week after he graduated h.s. Except with him it was the mom. Glad to hear you had a relationship with your dad in his later years. Women are usually the healers & peacekeepers in the family.
 
Training on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was pretty sparse due to a combination of baseball games, family time, and general laziness.

5/27 07:30

BAN practice
Trifecta
Shoulder sequence

5/28 08:00

Samurai getups x10
Belly getups x10
50min outdoor run 3.9m
- Ave HR 129, max 144
FSPM + front splits

To make up for laziness earlier in the week, Saturday was One-Punch-Man day (for all my fellow cartoon junkies out there)

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5/29 07:00

Bolder Boulder

76min outdoor run 10k
- Ave HR 140, max 164

Normally this race would be ~50k people all out on the road together. This year they split it up among 6 sites and 3 days, so it was a little lonelier. Still better than last year, where they didn't have it at all.

This course was a real bastard! It was a 5k loop, 2 times around. The first mile started at the bottom of a pretty long, steep hill. The second mile was reasonably flat, but still had a little elevation gain. The third mile started with a very steep decline, which finished even lower than the start point after about 1/4 mile. So it basically felt like the majority of the course was uphill! Hitting that big hill again at the start of mile 4 on the second loop was particularly painful. But, I kept things at training run pace, and it was a good experience.

05/29 16:00

FSQT 185# x3, 210# x3, 240# x5
BP 165# x3, 190# x3, 210# x6
Assorted grip pull-ups 12x3 15#
HLR 4x5

Earned my tacos for dinner.
 
6/1 07:00

Samurai getups x10
Belly getups x10
41min outdoor jog 3.2m
Treadmill strides x6
Foam rolling, bretzels + forward fold

Tuesday evening ended up being family time, no training... and if I'm honest, was feeling a little brittle anyway. Definitely time to take a tactical step back.

6/2 07:00

BAN practice
10min treadmill suitcase carry 24 0.5m
17min treadmill run/walk 1.3m
FSPM + front splits

So, I read the kettlebell mile article, wasn't really in the mood to do anything this morning, decided WTH, let's try it... and yeah, that sucked! In addition to totally messing with my gait, my grip endurance just sucked. And that was at slow walk pace, and only half a mile! Yet another weakness exposed.

Volleyball in the evening. Stole one game from a more talented team... afterwhich they decided they should actually "try" and they whupped us pretty good.
 
offwidth said:
Speaking of grip... I don’t recall seeing much hangboard activity on your log recently Dr. Banner...
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It's true ?. I did a pare-down a while ago to try to keep my training sessions at less than an hour, and I just couldn't find a way to keep the hangboard work in place under that goal. I think it's time to shake things up a little, gotta try to get back to it...
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
It's true ?. I did a pare-down a while ago to try to keep my training sessions at less than an hour, and I just couldn't find a way to keep the hangboard work in place under that goal. I think it's time to shake things up a little, gotta try to get back to it...
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Trying to include everything in our training to cover weakspots is like trying to play in a one-man band. Never book a one-man band for a wedding reception.
 
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