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Novocaine

@Delta
Just leaning out a little. No headaches or anything but my strength and endurance suffered a bit. I couldn't go as hard or as long. Overall, I feel really good eating that way and the performance decline isn't severe enough that I'm concerned about eating that way exclusively but it's hard to be social or make meals that everyone in the family wants.
 
Justin_M said:
As much as I like kettlebells, they don't replace running and the barbell. It's a bit of a one way valve. Also I didn't do any LISS between harder days and I noticed my strain:tolerance ratio got worse. Apparently, when it comes to cardio load, the LISS (zone 1 specifically) increases tolerance faster than strain accumulates - based on my Polar analysis.
Click to expand...
Would you mind elaborating the point on strain:tolerance ratio? I am not familiar with the polar analysis, but your insight sounds interesting.
 
Bauer said:
Would you mind elaborating the point on strain:tolerance ratio?
Click to expand...
My Polar provides a TRIMP score to each training session. The software then accumulates those scores as a "strain" which recedes as recovery time accumulates. Also, the software calculates a :tolerance: score based on the historical strain over time. The software then assigns a few categories for how hard you've been working lately in comparison to historical capacity.

If my recent strain is a 10 and my historical tolerance is 20, I may be detraining and becoming less aerobically fit. If, on the other hand, my tolerance is 20 but I get after it a few days in a row and create a strain of 30, I may be overreaching and approaching injury.

I find that even if I have a high strain:tolerance ratio (indicating overreaching) it takes about a month for the tolerance to build to the same level. As long as I keep everything relatively static for a month before increasing anything, I do not suffer any over training.

Here is the link to the feature that Polar has. Training Load Pro

It is a great feature but does not perceive strength training all that well and is predominantly only useful for conditioning though.
 
Justin_M said:
My Polar provides a TRIMP score to each training session. The software then accumulates those scores as a "strain" which recedes as recovery time accumulates. Also, the software calculates a :tolerance: score based on the historical strain over time. The software then assigns a few categories for how hard you've been working lately in comparison to historical capacity.

If my recent strain is a 10 and my historical tolerance is 20, I may be detraining and becoming less aerobically fit. If, on the other hand, my tolerance is 20 but I get after it a few days in a row and create a strain of 30, I may be overreaching and approaching injury.

I find that even if I have a high strain:tolerance ratio (indicating overreaching) it takes about a month for the tolerance to build to the same level. As long as I keep everything relatively static for a month before increasing anything, I do not suffer any over training.

Here is the link to the feature that Polar has. Training Load Pro

It is a great feature but does not perceive strength training all that well and is predominantly only useful for conditioning though.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that makes sense.

And if I understand it correctly, Zone 1 training seems to have a great cost-to-benefit ratio, meaning that it builds tolerance without adding too much strain?
 
For the last few months I stopped training everything except BJJ. After a few months, my fitness was starting to decline. As I improved in sport my required effort reduced and my fitness along with it. I decided I wanted to make thrice per week BJJ the baseline for myself and then build around it.

For the last few weeks I reintroduced the base sessions from Novocaine Training 3-5 times per week alongside BJJ three times per week. Usually I get Novocaine sessions in on Saturday and Sunday and then I try to find another day or two during the week to fit in a couple more sessions. Everything is coming right back just fine.

My LISS skiing is better than it's ever been and my A&A skierg pulls are within 10% of my PR. My barbell lifts are the weekest they've been in a long time though. BJJ doesn't work my body in the same way as straight barbell training does. My explosive power and aerobic capacity have been the least effected.

I do have a PFT to do again within the next 10 months though that some barbell and running need to be utilized to improve. Just regular old S, S+ set replacement is the plan for those supplemental efforts.
Set 1Set 2Set 3Set 4Set 5
Cycle 175/575/575/575/575/5
Cycle 275/585/575/575/575/5
Cycle 375/585/585/575/575/5
Cycle 475/585/585/585/575/5
Cycle 575/585/585/585/585/5
Cycle 685/585/585/585/585/5
Recalculate and repeat.
 
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The Novocaine training went well but I have been unable to get into the gym as frequently I would like to. I am going to try only doing strength and conditioning on a single day on the weekend in addition to BJJ during the week. This is somewhat an antithesis to Novocaine training getting into the gym as many days per week as possible.

I have been a fan of Marty Gallagher's Purposeful Primitive for a long time and his articles regarding training a single day per week. I think with such low frequency, the variables are going to need be pretty well dialed in to see any progress. Some of the research I've done into this type of thing has revealed a few common elements:
  • High intensity: Tudor Bompa, Marty Gallagher, Dave Tate, and Louie Simmons suggest intensity above 90% for low frequency training. Gallagher hits above 90% on final reps of the max set while Simmons suggest predominantly singles.
  • Adequate volume: Using high intensity limits the amount of volume so a lot of programs suggest back off sets after a max effort. To keep the effort focused on relative strength and max power, intensity above 75% should be used for back off sets. Prilipen and Bompa have some suggestions for volume that could be used for the volume suggestions of back off sets. Additionally, Israetel suggest finding the maximum recoverable volume (MRV) which will take a few weeks of experimenting to find.
  • Periodization: Wendler, Simmons, Israetel, and Bompa all have adequate suggestion of progressive overload for 3 weeks. I am not sure if a deload is necessary with such low frequency though.
My once per week workout that went well today was:
  1. TGU, 1/1 x3
  2. Front Squat, >95%/1
  3. Front Squat,
    • Week 1: 75%/3 x8
    • Week 2: 80/2 x8
    • Week 3: 85/1 x8
  4. Bench Press, >95/1
  5. Bench Press,
    • Week 1: 75/3 x8
    • Week 2: 80/2 x8
    • Week 3: 85/1 x8
  6. A+A, Ski + 2H Swing
I think the only thing I would do different next week is add some pull-ups between sets of back off squats. Time will tell if this is a waste of my time or not.
 
Max effort program went well physically but was hard mentally. I was adding the smallest increments I have (1.5#) each week to the max effort and some weeks was not easy enough to hit to build confidence. If I was in my twenties and eating more, I think this would be great but it's not quite the right style for me now.

Lately I've been still only adding strength training one day per week to supplement BJJ. I've been doing 1-2-3 ladders at 60-80% using a double progression increasing volume week to week before increasing the intensity.

Ladders have been a staple for me for the last 10 years or so. They fit so well for so many different goals and programs. They simply check all the boxes. I venture out to try other programming but ladders seem to be the method I come back to most frequently. They fit for Novocaine Training just as well as the antithesis that I'm doing now. They are perfect for "show up and do the work" training.
 
Hi @Justin_M thanks for the great article and log

I was wondering if you'd recommend single KB clean and press ladders for the strength days (all 3) or if that may be too hard on the lower back given the volume of swings and snatches

Thanks
 
SMason22 said:
I was wondering if you'd recommend single KB clean and press ladders for the strength days (all 3) or if that may be too hard on the lower back given the volume of swings and snatches
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If that's the strength you want to work on I say go for it. If doing it all three days, I would suggest high, medium, and low days. I would probably do H, L, M for the order. I think you're back will adapt and handle the volume over time as long as you don't start with too much volume.
 
For reduced frequency training (1-3 days per week) I've stabilized the last few weeks on some things that fit well for me. I have three training sessions that I rotate through instead of seven. There isn't any modularity either. The focus is on A+A all three days followed by barbell ladders.

Session 1
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Swing & SkiErg
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
Session 2
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Clean & Jerk
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
Session 3
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Snatch & SkiErg
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
The volume for the A+A is pretty static. I make it 3-5 series of 8 sets so I can use set replacement for the series over time. For the barbell ladders, I'm doing waved set replacement that looks like:
Ladder 1Ladder 2Ladder 3
Step 165%/ 2-3-565/2-3-565/2-3-5
Step 265/2-3-580/1-2-365/2-3-5
Step 365/2-3-580/1-2-380/1-2-3
Step 480/1-2-380/1-2-380/1-2-3

Then I recalculate and start over with a few more pounds. My rest periods are pretty short as I want my endurance and hypertrophy to be improved. Rest between rungs is about 15" and an additional 1' between ladders which is just enough to change weight and get situated again. I like that this form of set replacement takes advantage of a couple sound principles:
  • Accumulation, Transmutation, Realization
    • Hypertrophy > Strength
  • Cluster sets
 
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Finished a cycle of the above training; it went very well. There was a week that I trained 3 times and a week that I didn't train at all but most weeks were 1-2 sessions in addition to BJJ. I only did 2 sessions at each step and I think I am going to bump that up to 3-5 sessions per step. I think a person could add ladders to each step also; again 3-5 ladders being appropriate. I think I would exhaust only doing 3 ladders before adding ladders for volume to prevent being in a recovery area above maximum adaptable volume which would only stifle progress later on.

I think the book, "Scientific Principles of Strength Training" by Israetel, Hoffmann, and Smith did a good job of explaining minimum effective volume(MEV) , maximal adaptable volume (MAV), and maximum recoverable volume (MRV). I used to think if some was good, more was better but after years of training that way, it took an unrecoverable amount of volume to make progress which put the brakes on everything. Now I am much more concerned with staying primarily between MEV and MAV, rarely between MAV and MRV, and trying to avoid above MRV without a specific reason and plan for it.

I noticed a change in body composition doing the A+A work before the barbell, especially during the earlier steps focused more on accumulation/hypertrophy. I have done S&S prior to barbell but usually A+A by itself or a short session of it after barbell work. I have done step cycles, wave cycles, and ladders all before but this was the first time I've really focused on putting them all together. Overall, I'm excited to recalculate my ladders and run it again - a good sign of a successful program.
 
Justin_M said:
For reduced frequency training (1-3 days per week) I've stabilized the last few weeks on some things that fit well for me. I have three training sessions that I rotate through instead of seven. There isn't any modularity either. The focus is on A+A all three days followed by barbell ladders.

Session 1
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Swing & SkiErg
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
Session 2
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Clean & Jerk
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
Session 3
  1. TGU
  2. A+A Snatch & SkiErg
  3. Bench Press Ladders
  4. Front Squat Ladders
The volume for the A+A is pretty static. I make it 3-5 series of 8 sets so I can use set replacement for the series over time. For the barbell ladders, I'm doing waved set replacement that looks like:
Ladder 1Ladder 2Ladder 3
Step 165%/ 2-3-565/2-3-565/2-3-5
Step 265/2-3-580/1-2-365/2-3-5
Step 365/2-3-580/1-2-380/1-2-3
Step 480/1-2-380/1-2-380/1-2-3

Then I recalculate and start over with a few more pounds. My rest periods are pretty short as I want my endurance and hypertrophy to be improved. Rest between rungs is about 15" and an additional 1' between ladders which is just enough to change weight and get situated again. I like that this form of set replacement takes advantage of a couple sound principles:
  • Accumulation, Transmutation, Realization
    • Hypertrophy > Strength
  • Cluster sets
Click to expand...
Looks very interesting, I might try this one for a while. How long do you keep the A+A part per session, approx?
 
After breaking my leg/ankle in July, I am still non-weight bearing but able to do some upper body barbell and band work. After tinkering with a few program concepts to accommodate more BJJ over the last few months, I like two different Novocaine templates. Both are conceptually the same of rotating through a few workouts as constraints allow. I suppose the two would be similar in concept to Tactical Barbell Green and Black program focus but not as random as TB.
OG Novocaine (3-7x per week)
  1. S&S > Strength 1
  2. LISS
  3. Q&D > Anaerobic Conditioning
  4. LISS
  5. S&S > Strength 2
  6. A+A > LISS
  7. LISS
BJJ Supplement Novocaine (1-3x per week)
  1. Swing A+A > Strength
  2. C&J A+A > Strength
  3. Snatch A+A > Strength

For the barbell strength ladders, I have moved away from set replacement due to the rush to change weights between sets when rest is short and I can't move around as well with a crutch. I instead prefer a progression more akin to the Juggernaut Method with accumulation, transmutation, and realization cycles. I find ladders to be effective at improving power production while reducing fatigue. For hypertrophy, I find density and volume to be more important than training to failure; Juggernaut 2.0 was adjusted also. The only issue I have with Juggernaut is the volume and length of the program.
OG Novocaine
Cycle 1: 60%/2-3-5 [20"] x4 [1']
Cycle 2: 65%/2-3-5 [20"] x3 [2']
Cycle 3: 70%/AMAP
Cycle 4: 75%/1-2-3 [20"] x4 [3']
Cycle 5: 80%/1-2-3 [20"] x3 [4']
Cycle 6: 85%/AMAP		Supplemental Novocaine
Session 1: 60%/2-3-5 [20"] x4 [1']
Session 2: 65%/2-3-5 [20"] x3 [2']
Session 3: 70%/AMAP
Session 4: 75%/1-2-3 [20"] x4 [3']
Session 5: 80%/1-2-3 [20"] x3 [4']
Session 6: 85%/AMAP

Anxious to be weight-bearing again and get over the depression phase of an injury.
 
Broken ankle is healed but still stiff, immobile, a little weak, and a little sore. That said, reinitiated Novocaine OG. Starting back at 24kg finding TGUs with broken ankle back being the limiting factor. After the base sessions all get back to normal, I'll add supplementation back using the ladder progression I used while I've been recovering.

My wife has been doing the supplemental program alongside her BJJ and she is hitting new strength and stamina levels. She's able to not rest during any sparring rounds and her bottom half guard game is stronger.
 
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Continuing to work out of a hotel on some conditioning sessions. Put a focus on lactic power and capacity today on a rower. It's similar to Q&D but the series are a little longer to elicit digging into lactic capacity a little deeper. Accordingly, the rest between series is longer also.
1000001389.png
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Had a great training session today. Started with a band warmup, a bodyweight conditioning session, pullups, and suitcase squats.
Screenshot_20230106-085732~2.png

Conditioning session was bodyweight only inspired by plans 015 and 033. The squat jumps felt more powerful each series.
Screenshot_20230106-090246.png
Pullups were based on a ladder protocol I've been working on inspired by Juggernaut Method and ROP.
Screenshot_20230106-085931.png

I am noticing that I have 3 different levels of sleep: poor, ok, and good. Conditioning training volume is based on those levels.
  1. Poor = off day
  2. Ok = light volume
  3. Good = heavy volume
 
Microcycle Jan 6, 2023 (Strength)
Session 1 (Strength)
  1. Band Warmup
    • Lateral walk
    • Linear walk
    • Y Press
    • Bird Dog
    • Single leg bridge
    • Pull apart
  2. Base
    • Bodyweight, 015/033
  3. Strength Supplement
    • Pull-Up
    • Suitcase Squat
Session 2 (Aerobic Conditioning)
  1. LISS, Elliptical, Z1/2, 30'
Session 3 (Anaerobic Conditioning)
  1. Warmup
  2. Base
    • Band Resisted Sprint, 060
  3. Strength Supplement
    • Triceps Extension
    • Curl
    • Palloff Press
Session 4 (Aerobic Conditioning)
  1. LISS, Elliptical, Z1/2, 30'
Session 5 (Strength)
  1. Warmup
  2. Base
    • RowErg, 044
  3. Strength Supplement
    • Chest Press
    • Lat Pulldown
Session 6 (Aerobic Conditioning)
  1. LISS, Treadmill run, Z2, 30'
Session 7 (Aerobic Conditioning)
  1. LISS, SkiErg, Z2, 35'

Still in a hotel and ironing out some base and strength sessions with the associated equipment limitations. All of them went well so far.

Last year was a year of exploring some ideas and recovering a broken ankle. This year is planned to run Novocaine with some seasonal based supplementation cycles. Working on some base cycles to use during the different equipment limitations and aligned to the supplement work.
 
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