So....
My last update was about 6 month ago. I kept training and a physical log, and more or less kept my participation on the forum.
No particular reason I stopped updating, just missed some weeks on vacation/lots of fun activities, than said to myself I had allot to update since I didn't update for a while... Than today...
I have been continuing my auto-regulated (read timed) session. Changing two weeks blocks of hands & thighs lift + bent press with swing + push press (I purchased, watched, read, watched, read and practiced
@Brett Jones and Gray Cook
Dynami). I felt that two week block are too short for me so I tried doing sessions of swing + bent press and push press + bent press (alternating lifts every "set" just like when I did H&T+BtP). In
Dynami they say that mixing breathing styles will be more of a metabolic session so I made the session longer to compensate. Not enough. The session where just not up to par with respect to the resource-spent to session-reward ratio I was accustomed to. Especially with swings in the mix. I did varied the bent press rep scheme allot between singles, double, singles to 10m OH carry and even double to 10m OH carry at the end. I felt good, but still the resource/reward felt of. Than I decided that since listening to smarter people is the right thing to do I should not basterize good, well though, working programs.
Meanwhile, after reading and watching
Gada/Mace Swings for ROP Warm-up I made a 2.5 kg begginer gada from a broomstick and some plates (actually it was 5 kg which I dropped to 2.5 kg after 12 sec of trying to swing it), found
this and started to learn. Than I went into
@Pavel Macek's
http://practicalhungkyun.com/ and purchased the PHK intro kit.
This all thing is not even resembling a program. Not to mention that strength training is not my sport. I play beach volleyball and boulder. I needed something that is sustainable, demands little resources (both in time and energy) and that works for my goals.
So I took a notebook, sat outside on a bench, did some log mining, thought about what served me the most in recent year and started writing my goal.
Goal (singular):
Continue to improve my Balance (the 3rd B in Gray Cook 4Bs - ability to move while keeping stability and alignment - what we usually call "strength") and improve my Bounce (the 4th B - high demands of dynamic linkage and coordination, power generation and energy re-usage - what we usually call "power").
Guide lines:
- Low resource
- Scripted program by someone else - it is bad enough that I am my own technique coach. No good reason to program for myslef. Also helps with the first point. Someone else wrote it. Just do it.
- Keep learning and improve gada skills.
- Since I started gada before PHK it is the first skill set to learn. Trying to learn both at once will make me bad at everything. PHK will be the next skill set.
Subjective preferences and self observation (based in log mining):
- Keep OS based morning prep - it makes me feel good
- Near daily sessions - I respond well to high-frequency training
- I feel that from all the lift the bent press gives me the most
Daily morning prep:
- PHK both hands lift the sky + stance training
- I know, I know... But it is NOT following the program/method, just stealing a bit from it. Plus, both hands... is really cool.
- OS resets
- Some of carry, heavy if not Cook drill
Balance (aka strength) program:
I followed Justa's singles with H&T and bent press and with worked well for both, but I had to keep the bent press cycles short because the weight jumps are too big to stay in the 70-80% range. I thought about increasing reps every week instead of weight but didn't want to mess with a working programs. Than I so
Does Easy Strength make all other programs obsolete?? and re-read Paul Mcllroy article. I read it a loooong time ago and didn't get it's genius than. Mcllroy mostly did the adjustment for me so I took his Bench routine A, which is 5 days a week. Since I feel that the bent press is more of low-rep lift compared to the bench press I start the first week with singles, and might move up in weight after the triples week (I consider it a minor enough adjustment that at most will cost me a "wasted" week).
5 Days a week.
Week 1: @28kg x 1, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 2: @28kg x 2, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 3: @28kg x 3, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 4: @32kg x 1, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 5: @32kg x 2, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 6: @32kg x 3, 2 sets each side on day 1, add a set each day - 6 sets each side on day 5
Week 4 might be sets of 28kg x 4... I'll see how it feels.
Week 7: Rest and test.
Bounce (aka power) program:
Near daily: Gada swinging - the learning progression from
https://www.indianclubs.com.au/gada-mace/
2-3 times a week: Power sessions from
Dynami
I planned the work. Now it is time to work the plan.
