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Reclaiming Simple

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So I am attacking the RMFB program from Geoff Neupert. My DLCCJ 10RM is 24kg.
As I am starting mid week I am shifting the days around (basically monday- lower reps, wednesday - ladders, friday -higher reps). This also works for martial arts practice as I my heavy day should not impede recovery

Day 1. Ladders 2,4,6
Got to 40 reps total in 30mins. Not as high numbers as I expected but my legs and lungs knew about it. Really felt my legs taking over towards the end to provide the drive. Fatigue and exhaustion built quickly. Next session should be brutal
 
Day 2- Sets of 7
Wow these smoked me. Got a real pump on as well in my shoulders, upper back, quads and lats. Time under tension is certainly going on here!
42 reps total
that 2016kg of volume :)
 
Feeling okay after yesterday. Bit of a tired upper back but thats okay.

Tae Kwon Do - a session almost exclusively set around new patterns. Some of the guys from the club are competing next weekend so last time we sparred, this time we did patterns. It basically turned into 90 minutes of mindful movement. Pretty much exactly what I need on a Sunday night
 
Day 4
LCCJ - 3,5,7 ladders - rough. Hit 38 reps total

Tae Kwon Do yesterday was a LOT of kicks, hips and legs are very tired. Also haven't had a rest day for the last 4 days so tomorrow will be nice for some rest.
 
15/9/16 - Sad reality check

RMFB is a great program but demands more recovery than I'm able to give it at the moment. I'm going to turn to something less intense, and will spend the next couple of days working out what that might be. Another run through of STRONG seems likely, with some added swings/loaded carries to keep up the conditioning. I'm a little sad to accept that recovery demands are too high, but I don't want my newly found enjoyment of martial arts to be compromised by the exercise that should be making it easier - not harder.

Learning process continues.
 
16/9/16 - playing around with weights today and seeing where I am and where I can go with training.
Ideally I need something basic that covers most of my strength and GPP needs for martial arts, without leaving me sore or in need of more recovery (sorry RMFB - you're the right fit for old me, just not when I have a martial art!)

Practiced my patterns quite a lot today as well. Hardstyle.

I'm enjoying using double KBs again so I tried something a little drastic whilst playing around - heavy double push press with 32kgs.
Hit 4 reps and could have grinded a 5th one out. That hit's the requirement for me to run a cycle of KB STRONG with the DPP, hopefully with a move towards a stricter double press with it (hitting STRONG with 32kg C&P this year was my primary aim, which has been put on the back burner by injury).

That said going that heavy is probably a bad idea right now for being so new to martial arts so I might step back with the intensity of lifting. Going heavier right now seems pretty dumb.
Hinge, Press and pull can all be covered by C&P, I squat daily in my reset so don't need to add load to that (and can always warm up with a few prying goblet squats). I can add carries and jump rope for conditioning work and to get myself a bit lighter on my feet.
The frog sequence seems to be doing my hips some good and I might increase how often I do this.

So the slow and steady phase 2 KB strong program seems like a good fit. 24kgx2 is my 7RM (set today, feeling pretty under the weather though so whether I could have got another reps who knows).

16 weeks of simple programming. At least Tae Kwon Do can give me the variety I often crave.

My other option Is the new and old program minimum - that is alternating TGU/Swings with Bent Press/Snatch.

Aim for 70 snatches/session. 5 minute snatch test to progress.

I'll decide after the weekend
 
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18/9/16

Daily reset - cross crawls, standing supermans, prone nods, neck mobility, elbow and hip flexor rolls, body weight squat with diaphragmatic breathing -20 breaths.

24kg double c&p 10x3
Loaded carries 10 mins alternating between farmers and rach carries with double 24kgs. Setting bells down as necessary.
Deadbugs 3x10

Later - tae kwon do. Actually ended up doing a Hapkido session because there weren't many of us in the class. Good fun to learn something a bit different.
 
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19/9/16

7 mile hike with an old school friend of mine. Was good to catch up and talk rubbish for a few hours.
 
20/9/16
Reset
Double C&P 24kg 5x4
Sandbag carries 100m total
DFSQ 24kg 2,3,5
Pull up 2,3,5
Ab Wheel 2x8

I'm not sure that getting a hugely strong overhead press is not necessarily what I need right now. It's fun to chase, but I think I need to round out my strength with something a bit more straight forward. I've been struggling to find the right volume to fit with martial arts recently, and I'm not sure that building to 180c&P in a week will do me that many favours.

Also I re-read Pavel's fantastic article The Cost Of Adaption again. In this he recommends and easy strength approach to strength for the martial artist, and an increase in focus on flexibility.

So Easy Strength 3 times a week template.

Push: Dip (add a couple of TGUs to keep healthy shoulders)
Pull: Pull up
Hinge: Double clean (50 reps)
Squat: Goblet squat - shifting to DFSQ when over 32kg
Carry: Farmers Walk

I don't have access to a barbell at the moment which is a pity.
 
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23/9/16

Not much training this week, just bits and pieces whilst I work out what to do. I've decided that simple systemic strength traiing is what I need right now, aiming my training primarily at martial arts or anything else makes little sense so sticking to tried and tested programs seems like a better plan.
Therefore KB STRONG slow and steady 3 times a week with C&P 24kg plus some farmers walks should cover most strength bases.
Plenty of flexibility work.
Jump rope for some conditioning when practicing martial arts outside of class.

So today
C&P 3x10
Farmers walk 32kg - 3 sets of 30 seconds heel to toe
Ab wheel 8x2

Felt about right.
 
24/9/16

Jump rope 15:15 split - 15minutes. Felt good, got the blood pumping nicely. Good use of an off days. Also seemed to do my forearms some good after farmer's carries yesterday.
 
25/9/16 - Tae kwon Do - staff defence practice. Also did patterns with staff - although not traditional ITF stuff my instructor is a weapons (Kabudo) specialist as well and did some integration of weapons into patterns, it was really interesting.

26/9/16 - 3 mile hike with 8kg with old school friend and girlfriend around Brimham rocks. Very pleasant for an early autumn morning
Later : Prying goblet squats 5x3
Double C&P 4x6
Farmers carry 40+48 - kept it short today with heavier weight as I'd done a bit of loaded carrying earlier
Ab wheel kneeling 8x2
 
27/9/16

Tae Kwon Do session. Good pattern work. Kicks are coming along well. Re-read RIS, SJ and FS- I'm certainly lacking some strength in abduction of the hip, so have started to target that specifically with some small amount of GTG accessory work.

29/9/16
Pull up 5x4
Dip 5x4
DFSQ with 24kgx2 - 5x4

Okay so this does not reflect my above plan, but is somewhat based upon Geoff Neupert's "strength shortcuts". This workout alternating with KBSTRONG and some S&S sessions might actually aid in recovery - as KB STRONG needs a lot of recovery when higher volume is hit. Deloading my spine, but keeping some basic movements in play might work. I'll see how it goes over the next week.

If all this angst and experimentation fails I think I'll revert to S&S and try for the "solid" (40kg) standard. I'm quite stressed with work at the moment and often find that fiddling with programs comes off the back of feeling stressed. Clearly attempting to gain some control. I keep looking for what would be the best program for my Tae Kwon Do, and in the end I imagine a run of S&S would be the correct thing. I'm sure I'll finally admit this in a week or two.
 
I'm quite stressed with work at the moment and often find that fiddling with programs comes off the back of feeling stressed. Clearly attempting to gain some control. I keep looking for what would be the best program for my Tae Kwon Do, and in the end I imagine a run of S&S would be the correct thing. I'm sure I'll finally admit this in a week or two.

Thanks for the insight on the fiddling, this may explain some of my past fiddlings. I'll try to keep it mind going forward.

Good luck on integrating your work with your TKD. I'm currently chewing on the idea of returning to martial arts after I achieve the Simple goal, so I'll be following along to watch your progress.
 
@Bonkin it's unfortunately a bit of a curse wanting to find the "optimal" program. Thankfully when you hit upon something which demonstrates consistent improvement like S&S, whilst giving more than it takes, these feeling of angst fall into the background quite quickly.
Thankfully there has been a very timely article in Preparing a Soldier for Competition in the Croatian Army which seems to offer the kind of program I wish I was experienced enough to write myself. Now that someone else has written it I think I might give it a go for a few weeks. I'll have to sub out a couple of movements due to lack of access to a barbell, but that shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem :).
 
Shifting gears to the above plan.

1/10/16
10minute warm up
Weighter pullup +8kg 4,3,2,1,1 5minutr rest between sets
2 hand swing 48kg 10x3
Ab wheel 5 reps

Tul practice and kick practice later
 
2/10/16
Tae Kwon Do practice. A lot of punching in that session. Self defense practice. Really felt the punching in my shoulders the next day.

3/10/16
Strength endurance day
OS reset
TGU 32kg 3 singles each side
Double C2P1Sq3 with 24kg ×5 with 2 minutes rest between sets. Maybe increase by 1 set/round
 
4/10/16
Tae Kwon Do. Turning kicks need a lot of hip power

5/10/16
MetCon day
OS rest
Farmers walk 36+40 (to bodyweight)
16kg snatch 7 reps EMOTM - 14 sets. Really concentrating on the hip snap made a lot of difference. Snatch technique hasn't been good in the past, but today these felt good. Will build up to 20mins and then increase to 20kg.
 
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