Aziatik
Level 6 Valued Member
Good day all,
My name is Oak and I'm down here in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico working as a bodyworker. Originally i hail from the northeast with the majority of my years spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Born on Cape Cod, 4.5 years in LA training and then beginning the bodywork career. Moved to Vallarta in fall of 2012.
Began my training journey seriously in 2012 after feeling the first pangs of angina at 36...wayyy too young. I always loved participating in sports and even though i ran roughshod on my body, i always dabbled in training, going to the gym, playing basketball, swimming, paying soccer, training with martial arts buddies... Yet nothing consistent nor accountable up to that point.
From early 2012 I began crossfit, seeing quick progress and falling in love with the community aspect. In late 2013 i decided to certify in order to land a job that would pay my rent in the summers while tourism was on the lull. By summer 2015 I had my consistent coaching gig at Crossfit Vallarta. I had no idea about the cost of the constant lactic acid production yet I felt it natural to let my athletes back off the pedal whenever they liked. Push at 100% to me, in any area of life, is a recipe for disaster.
My fitness numbers peaked beginning the summer of 2016 just after my 40th birthday - 5:50 mile, 20 minute 5k, 440lbs for a double DL, 345lb front squat, among other notables. Most proud of those three. Shoulders were always a weakness. 155 strict press, 225 overhead squat, 255 bench press. Lats were good though with a 90lb weighted pull up... All that around 165 to 175 bodyweight.
From summer '16, then winter, spring and summer' 17, i was on comptrain masters program with friends also supplementing with aerobic capacity training at the local track. A footnote, since 2014 i noticed my shirts reeking of ammonia after every workout. Just thought it was part of the show, and it was, but not a part i should have accepted. In 2018 i stopped coaching. I had built up enough clientel doing bodywork that i no longer needed the extra income and emotionally i was also burned out. Mornings and early evening not so much but by 8 or 9pm i was crosseyed.
So back to the comptrain masters program - my buddies and i pushed eachother real well, too well. Theres some clips on my instagram from back then @aziatikk if anyone cares to have a laugh. I got very fit but as you might guess around spring 2018 i went down in the flames of overtraining. For about two years I had zero energy for life after my workout was over, dragging my "fit" carcass around, playing softball with little juice, low sex drive, etc... Had no idea of the dangers of what amounted to a consistent 4 years of lactic acid baths. My body was always sore and tired. Had energy each morning, but misspent it each day during training.
I was getting sick all the time winter 17 to spring 18, whatever bug was out there got me. Had an infection around one molar that seemed impossible to heal, and jusy felt s***ty. Ammonia shirts every session for 4 years. At this point i knew i was in trouble and began looking for alternatives.
Marcus Filly had a similar story to mine at a much higher level. Out of his burnout he created the awaken training series which I signed up for and stuck with for 9 months.... Could have gone another 3 on his last phase of that program but opted not to because it was only a year program at that point, billed quarterly but afterwards there was no where else to go but to hire one of his coaches at a cost that was way above my means. So at the end of those 9 months I began the 2nd phase of ATS again and modified to suit my energy level as my son was also born during this time... Pretty much all of 2018 was spent on awaken training, the last months were wayyy dialed back.
2019 arrived and I felt adrift so I reluctantly I went back to crossfit for the community aspect and kept it light mostly. I found crossfit lynchpin and started on that track because I appreciated that the head coach always laid out the option to do the workout not for time, so key for me at that point. Push when you want, ease up when you want, but get it done.
That lasted a year about and then the onset of covid began here in march of 2020. Lynchpin had a limited equipment option so when everything closed down i got the 50lb dumbbells and gymnastics rings, already having my speed rope, and kept on training. I got covid from one of my last clients in the middle of March and boy was I wiped out. It took 2 weeks to get through the hard part and by early april i began training again with some buddies who were stoked that i got the dumbbells before everything sold out. My lungs were at about 80 percent capacity. It took a full month and a half to get back to normal.
Summer 2020 we moved house and i was put on to a guy who opened a gym right on the beach. He exposed me to goata training and functional patterns. I was paying him to train lynchpin in off hours at his facility at first and man was it beautiful - Elev8ted Wellness Club. I picked up a pair of 15kg kbs during that time and eventually let go the lynchpin subscription to start training his program. Unfortunately we didn't mesh long term and he injured me at one point with an overagressive correction and by late summer I was back at home training. Not a bad place really. I had a pull up bar, 50lb dbs, 33lb kbs and rings to go with all the mobility tools and some bands.
Wayyyyy back i bought a 25lb kettlebell after being exposed to Pavel circa 2005, so i thought why not circle back and check out what was going on there. I kept an eye on dragondoor throughout the years and got into a bit of the viking warrior from Kenneth Jay i think, aimed at strengthening the heart but didn't keep it up. So my first foray back was to retry that program with the 15kg bell. I did it for a month and change before finding simple and sinister 2.0. And then i understood what happened to me in scientific terms.
Strongfirst now had my full attention and i began to buy more bells - 28kg, 24x2, 20 as well as many smaller ones to train my girl - double 6kg (now door stoppers), 9kg,12kg...
I stuck with S&S for some months, entering the forum here around that time to get feedback on technique, and so began to soak everything here up. Strangely the local kb manufacturer I began to buy from makes 15 but not a 16kg, 34 and not 32...so seeing where S&S was going i got a 34 and later a 40 and began to work those in...but it was just sooo much it seemed so i pivoted late winter 21 and worked someQ&D, A+A Snatches, sprints, pullups, LISS etc....dabbling in a lot but not consistent in one track.
Summer 21 my gal and I split and my fitness, although alive with a couple of workouts here and there in a week, took a hit. Same as above but less frequent... Drinking a LOT of IPA and toking almost daily, recipe for fitness disaster, but it masked the difficulty of the transition back to single life. Hardest decision ever to leave, didn't want to, but had to... So getting into 2022 i knew things had to change and i began getting more frequent with the training again.
January I got back to S&S, going sober for lent and working that program 5x a week consistently for what amounted to a couple of months... I hit timeless simple on April fools day with a 34kg bell and had been deciding what to do since... Laying off a bit, doing A+A snatches and heavy swings... Pull ups, dips, running. You know, the high bang for your buck movements.
Over the last week I really decided i need shoulder strength and a new direction and so began to investigate RoP among other programs such as Strong! Victorious, Giant and DFW which incidentally i ran in 21 and forgot to mention. With the help of @James Sullivan and @Pete L, I pieced together the version I'm running of RoP, which is essentially what James runs. I had supposed i might pair it with the TNT TSC snatch prep program with all bells downgraded a level, but seeing as it's my first go at RoP, it made sense to follow James' suggestions and stick to A+A snatches, I'll probably go with swings as well based purely on feel day to day but stick to the ladders as they are written, with the pull ups. I go you go format as much as possible with timed rest between sets, again, based on feel. This season of bodywork ive been going deeper more often and my shoulders are creaky and sore. So my aim is to make them strong and shut them up. Variety work of LISS, sprints too like @Steve Freides, heaby cleans, heavy swings, maybe some Goata style leg workouts, and generally go by feel all the way through.
It was mentioned by Pete that this program has no deload, and so i may work that in, essentially making week 5 week 1 again and week 9 week 5. If that makes any sense. Seems right. Anyway, onward and upward.
I'll be 46 this July, 5'7", currently about 190lbs at an estimated low 20s bodyfat.
Long winded and cathartic write up of my training path, appreciate the space to do so
My name is Oak and I'm down here in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico working as a bodyworker. Originally i hail from the northeast with the majority of my years spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Born on Cape Cod, 4.5 years in LA training and then beginning the bodywork career. Moved to Vallarta in fall of 2012.
Began my training journey seriously in 2012 after feeling the first pangs of angina at 36...wayyy too young. I always loved participating in sports and even though i ran roughshod on my body, i always dabbled in training, going to the gym, playing basketball, swimming, paying soccer, training with martial arts buddies... Yet nothing consistent nor accountable up to that point.
From early 2012 I began crossfit, seeing quick progress and falling in love with the community aspect. In late 2013 i decided to certify in order to land a job that would pay my rent in the summers while tourism was on the lull. By summer 2015 I had my consistent coaching gig at Crossfit Vallarta. I had no idea about the cost of the constant lactic acid production yet I felt it natural to let my athletes back off the pedal whenever they liked. Push at 100% to me, in any area of life, is a recipe for disaster.
My fitness numbers peaked beginning the summer of 2016 just after my 40th birthday - 5:50 mile, 20 minute 5k, 440lbs for a double DL, 345lb front squat, among other notables. Most proud of those three. Shoulders were always a weakness. 155 strict press, 225 overhead squat, 255 bench press. Lats were good though with a 90lb weighted pull up... All that around 165 to 175 bodyweight.
From summer '16, then winter, spring and summer' 17, i was on comptrain masters program with friends also supplementing with aerobic capacity training at the local track. A footnote, since 2014 i noticed my shirts reeking of ammonia after every workout. Just thought it was part of the show, and it was, but not a part i should have accepted. In 2018 i stopped coaching. I had built up enough clientel doing bodywork that i no longer needed the extra income and emotionally i was also burned out. Mornings and early evening not so much but by 8 or 9pm i was crosseyed.
So back to the comptrain masters program - my buddies and i pushed eachother real well, too well. Theres some clips on my instagram from back then @aziatikk if anyone cares to have a laugh. I got very fit but as you might guess around spring 2018 i went down in the flames of overtraining. For about two years I had zero energy for life after my workout was over, dragging my "fit" carcass around, playing softball with little juice, low sex drive, etc... Had no idea of the dangers of what amounted to a consistent 4 years of lactic acid baths. My body was always sore and tired. Had energy each morning, but misspent it each day during training.
I was getting sick all the time winter 17 to spring 18, whatever bug was out there got me. Had an infection around one molar that seemed impossible to heal, and jusy felt s***ty. Ammonia shirts every session for 4 years. At this point i knew i was in trouble and began looking for alternatives.
Marcus Filly had a similar story to mine at a much higher level. Out of his burnout he created the awaken training series which I signed up for and stuck with for 9 months.... Could have gone another 3 on his last phase of that program but opted not to because it was only a year program at that point, billed quarterly but afterwards there was no where else to go but to hire one of his coaches at a cost that was way above my means. So at the end of those 9 months I began the 2nd phase of ATS again and modified to suit my energy level as my son was also born during this time... Pretty much all of 2018 was spent on awaken training, the last months were wayyy dialed back.
2019 arrived and I felt adrift so I reluctantly I went back to crossfit for the community aspect and kept it light mostly. I found crossfit lynchpin and started on that track because I appreciated that the head coach always laid out the option to do the workout not for time, so key for me at that point. Push when you want, ease up when you want, but get it done.
That lasted a year about and then the onset of covid began here in march of 2020. Lynchpin had a limited equipment option so when everything closed down i got the 50lb dumbbells and gymnastics rings, already having my speed rope, and kept on training. I got covid from one of my last clients in the middle of March and boy was I wiped out. It took 2 weeks to get through the hard part and by early april i began training again with some buddies who were stoked that i got the dumbbells before everything sold out. My lungs were at about 80 percent capacity. It took a full month and a half to get back to normal.
Summer 2020 we moved house and i was put on to a guy who opened a gym right on the beach. He exposed me to goata training and functional patterns. I was paying him to train lynchpin in off hours at his facility at first and man was it beautiful - Elev8ted Wellness Club. I picked up a pair of 15kg kbs during that time and eventually let go the lynchpin subscription to start training his program. Unfortunately we didn't mesh long term and he injured me at one point with an overagressive correction and by late summer I was back at home training. Not a bad place really. I had a pull up bar, 50lb dbs, 33lb kbs and rings to go with all the mobility tools and some bands.
Wayyyyy back i bought a 25lb kettlebell after being exposed to Pavel circa 2005, so i thought why not circle back and check out what was going on there. I kept an eye on dragondoor throughout the years and got into a bit of the viking warrior from Kenneth Jay i think, aimed at strengthening the heart but didn't keep it up. So my first foray back was to retry that program with the 15kg bell. I did it for a month and change before finding simple and sinister 2.0. And then i understood what happened to me in scientific terms.
Strongfirst now had my full attention and i began to buy more bells - 28kg, 24x2, 20 as well as many smaller ones to train my girl - double 6kg (now door stoppers), 9kg,12kg...
I stuck with S&S for some months, entering the forum here around that time to get feedback on technique, and so began to soak everything here up. Strangely the local kb manufacturer I began to buy from makes 15 but not a 16kg, 34 and not 32...so seeing where S&S was going i got a 34 and later a 40 and began to work those in...but it was just sooo much it seemed so i pivoted late winter 21 and worked someQ&D, A+A Snatches, sprints, pullups, LISS etc....dabbling in a lot but not consistent in one track.
Summer 21 my gal and I split and my fitness, although alive with a couple of workouts here and there in a week, took a hit. Same as above but less frequent... Drinking a LOT of IPA and toking almost daily, recipe for fitness disaster, but it masked the difficulty of the transition back to single life. Hardest decision ever to leave, didn't want to, but had to... So getting into 2022 i knew things had to change and i began getting more frequent with the training again.
January I got back to S&S, going sober for lent and working that program 5x a week consistently for what amounted to a couple of months... I hit timeless simple on April fools day with a 34kg bell and had been deciding what to do since... Laying off a bit, doing A+A snatches and heavy swings... Pull ups, dips, running. You know, the high bang for your buck movements.
Over the last week I really decided i need shoulder strength and a new direction and so began to investigate RoP among other programs such as Strong! Victorious, Giant and DFW which incidentally i ran in 21 and forgot to mention. With the help of @James Sullivan and @Pete L, I pieced together the version I'm running of RoP, which is essentially what James runs. I had supposed i might pair it with the TNT TSC snatch prep program with all bells downgraded a level, but seeing as it's my first go at RoP, it made sense to follow James' suggestions and stick to A+A snatches, I'll probably go with swings as well based purely on feel day to day but stick to the ladders as they are written, with the pull ups. I go you go format as much as possible with timed rest between sets, again, based on feel. This season of bodywork ive been going deeper more often and my shoulders are creaky and sore. So my aim is to make them strong and shut them up. Variety work of LISS, sprints too like @Steve Freides, heaby cleans, heavy swings, maybe some Goata style leg workouts, and generally go by feel all the way through.
It was mentioned by Pete that this program has no deload, and so i may work that in, essentially making week 5 week 1 again and week 9 week 5. If that makes any sense. Seems right. Anyway, onward and upward.
I'll be 46 this July, 5'7", currently about 190lbs at an estimated low 20s bodyfat.
Long winded and cathartic write up of my training path, appreciate the space to do so
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