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Other/Mixed What have you learned in 2019?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Bauer

Bauer

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I am curious, what have been your key insights and lessons learned?
Looking back, this has been an exciting year. Like reading Q&D and
S&S 2.0.

Exercise wise I have learned to do one-hand swings.

And principle wise I have learned to wave the load naturally to train "as heavy, as often, and as fresh as possible". I have learned from reading Q&D that sessions with as little a 4x10 2H swings can be beneficial and that this can actually be better (for me and following S&S 2.0) than 10x10 if it allows me to stay consistent.

And then it has been an amazing year, watching my daughter acquire so many skills during her first your of life. So marvellous!
 
Continuity. A really wet West Coast winter interrupted by endurance training continuity, then getting out on the trails a lot, interrupted my strength continuity.

So my 2020 goal is to better maintain the second tier. So, better maintenance of my aerobic base during winter strength focus, and better maintenance of my strength during the summer MTB season.

Better to do a little less more often than lose the plot.
 
2019 was the Year of Pavel for me. I started on April 1st performing S&S and reached Simple timed standards in 10 weeks. I followed this by ROP achieving the 1/2 BW press but could not make the 10 minute SSST. This was followed by Total Tension and now I am back to S&S after dabbling in double KB work.

So in 2019 has been the most enlightening for me in terms of StrongFirst philosophies.
 
Two big ones for me:

First is that sleep really matters. When I started tracking and prioritizing sleep early this year, I saw a real difference in my mental clarity, sense of well-being and general health.

Second is that for training you can really just have one major and even then you have to limit your minors. Pick a number one goal and minimize the extras until you hit the goal. For a lot of people this is easy. For me it takes a ton of willpower, but is already proving to be more satisfying.
 
To pick a plan and stick to it. I basically wasted all of 2019 by program hoping. I started From Simple To Serious Endurance today and will stick to it with a 28kg for the length of the program. And then I'll do it again with a 32.
 
Bauer said:
Would you care to elaborate a bit or would it be too tedious to summarize it?
Click to expand...

Food intake is paramount, but needs to be matched to energy output to avoid fat gain. I also kept fat intake on the low side - when training regularly it is pretty much imposible for excess carbs to be converted to fat, but excess fat won't be burned in a high carb environment.


Protein was 40+g 4x/day.


I normally train 3x/week whole body and do HIIT and some form of metcon on my offdays, weekends off. For the most productive part of this I eliminated the HIIT and metcon days to avoid burning those calories.


Switched from a rep based plan to more of an effort based one, though still kept track of how many and at what loads, I approached my sets with an effort level and didn't look at my notes from my last session till I had finished, so I never knew 100% what my last rep count at a given RPE was.


Three sets per, first set using roughly 12-15 of a 15-20 RM load taken close to failure. Then up the weight to a 5-8RM for a quick 2-3 rep set, mostly for mental prep. Last set is a full blow in using a Rest/Pause or drop set, sometimes using several repeats. The last set is the only real fatiguing one. Limited myself to 4 compound exercises with a few sets of crunches and bi or triceps to finish.


Really felt like I was in the middle of a triangle balancing demand, recovery, and food intake pretty well. Gained nearly 15lbs from June to end of Oct and my waist only just started to expand at the last two weeks or so. Dropped back to 200lbs and felt that loosen up. Ultimately will hold at 195, which is still 10lbs heavier than my previous hold steady weight.


All in all a real good experience. Was hitting 250lbs for 10 reps on my loaded pushups, putting me dang close to a projected 300lb bench. Not great for a younger man at 205lbs, but for a 52yr old man it felt great. Was tagging all my weights very close to my historic bests from 28yrs ago powered by an extra 15-20lbs BW.
 
Like most years you learn, move forward in some areas and regress in others. Completed SFG and competed in TSC comp this year. Basics matter and the 2.0 version of S S will provide a platform for next years training along with Q and D. In terms of goals I was consistent with meditation and not so much with OS. As Dan John would say “it’s the journey not the inn” good luck for 2020 everyone
 
Well i did planche ( kinda), i deadlift heavy ( kinda), i press bodyweight, i press half bodyweight with each arm, i did handstand push up ( bAnAnA one, that means some arch, not hollow body). So my lessons from that are:
- i'm strong ( kinda).
- every program works, i just need to put time and effort ( right time and right kind of effort are important too).

The posture is also very important , not only exercise posture but daily one - that is what i learn in 2020. Farmer walk is amazing in term of fixing it.
 
I've learned how to eat and how to sleep. Educating myself on nutrition to learn how to add lean body mass and lose fat. I've accepted that I cannot claim to care about strength and health while sleeping 6 hrs per night. I now sleep 8.

In terms of training... I thought I was fairly strong. But adherence to the basics and abbreviated training has yielded some great results. I now believe myself to be an intermediate with a lot more potential. I've learned to train "smarter", not "harder".
 
How a really significant warm-up improves my training. I now use a sub maximal S&S as a warm-up rather than it's own training and, after it, the barbell goes up faster and with better technique.

I have 3 types of training during the week. Strength, Aerobic, and Event Prep. Depending on how many days I have to train that week, I prioritize with:
  1. Strength
  2. Event Prep
  3. More Strength
  4. Aerobic
  5. More Aerobic
  6. More Event Prep
  7. More Aerobic
 
Good Coaching makes a big difference

I had worked with a SFG off and on in 2018, and I think it really helped me get to the "Solid" time standard back in February, and then hit "timeless" sinister in late April. Didn't realize that "timeless" was a milestone until reading S&S 2.0, But I guess I'll take it.

Just because you've worked yourself up to heavy weights doesn't necessarily mean that your technique is great. There's always room for improvement. I'm currently working with a SFG2(Sinister), and that's been pretty humbling. Reading Pavel's books are great, and maybe doing a form check online is better than nothing, but one-on-one coaching can't be replaced. My instructor is an hour away, so I can only go a couple times a month, but very worth it, if you hope to accomplish something meaningful in your training.
 
@JamesPTA, if you haven't already, please post a review of S&S on amazon.com

JamesPTA said:
2019 was the Year of Pavel for me. I started on April 1st performing S&S and reached Simple timed standards in 10 weeks. I followed this by ROP achieving the 1/2 BW press but could not make the 10 minute SSST. This was followed by Total Tension and now I am back to S&S after dabbling in double KB work.

So in 2019 has been the most enlightening for me in terms of StrongFirst philosophies.
Click to expand...

-S-
 
1st lesson: Training in nature
I re-discovered the joy of training outside in nature, including running, jumping, climbing and balancing on trees - all the things I did as a child. However, now I approach the different movements systematically.
I still love lifting barbells or kettlebells, but I really enjoy also the variety of movements and how they support each other. And to be in nature is most stimulating and satisfying.

2nd lesson: movement snacks
Many of the aforementioned movements such as running, jumping or balancing I like to do during the day when there is an opportunity. Perhaps I hang from a tree branch, jump on a stone or run up a small hill. This really helps to satisfy my desire to move and the more I do it, the better I become, the more joy it brings me.
 
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