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Kettlebell Your go to "park bench program" - training depression

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taedoju

taedoju

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Does any of you have your "park bench program" on which you go when things in life go rough ? How everyone here deals with hardship of the life and the need for training ? I got situations like , "training depression" which is something i go sometimes after 3 -4 weeks of training, i get no desire to train, i feel close to sickness but it passes during the day.. i think it might be that i am letting myself go a bit or it might be that i work too much. Its relative, i see people working harder in gym and in work and they manage, so i am missing something or not planning the work properly. I must admit that i sometimes fail with my diet so that may also contribute.

note :
->my work, i work with personal clients and groups 8 - 12 h a day , once a week i get 4-5 hours only
-> i do workshops on the weekends (easier to pay mortgage) 6h - 8h sunday and saturday with breaks but still around 5 -6 hours, i travel to those workshops 3 -4 h one direction
-> my workouts last from 60 + to short 30 min sessions 4 - 5 sessions a week

reading this i think i might need to cut the sessions (i can't work less..) shorter ?i am pushing my goal of half bdw press...=/ . i will also try to make my diet better
 
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Hello,

@taedoju
When I feel that way, I tend to go to "basics" : lots of pull ups and lots of swings. Generally, that is enough because I do them on a circuit (kind of supersets). It permits me to reduce stress fast, while exerting myself a lot. I put a timer, I do maximum rounds of 10 swings - 15 pull ups in the decided time.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I grab my jump rope. A few rounds on a heavybag does wonders too.

Variety and lots of sweat. Resistance training just doesn't cut it when I'm feeling low. And sometimes you just have to take a week off, spend the time on other pursuits.
 
My minimal program is designed for such times. I do one light, one heavy on the Farmer's Walk. And reverse pyramid close to failure, two to three sets, on everything else except DL where that's Rule of 10 (usually 3x3 or 5x2). To be honest, I don't know why I don't stick with this as I get excellent results and joints stay good. But like a crack addict I always return to higher volume, more complex programs until I injure myself or burn out then back to this I go

Sunday
Farmer's Walk
Bench Press
Lat Pull-Down
Leg Press

Wednesday
Farmer's Walk
Deadlift
Tricep Ext
Bicep Curl
 
I like grip Training because it requires little warmup, and gives me a satisfying training effect with relatively light weight. Grippers, Sledgehammers, Two Hand Plate Pinch, Thick Grip Dumbells, etc. I can use a variety of tools quickly. I can play and it makes me feel strong.
 
@taedoju, do you count your time with clients, groups, and workshops as part of your training? Although it's structured differently, I'm sure you get in some training when you demonstrate and as you're working with people. Maybe when you really look at your training volume it will be just too much.

But to answer your question... basic S&S is my go-to program when I want a good training session and I'm just not sure what else to do.
 
Anna C said:
@taedoju, do you count your time with clients, groups, and workshops as part of your training? Although it's structured differently, I'm sure you get in some training when you demonstrate and as you're working with people. Maybe when you really look at your training volume it will be just too much.

But to answer your question... basic S&S is my go-to program when I want a good training session and I'm just not sure what else to do.
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well i don't , i take more days off, sometimes between heavy sessions , . I do demonstrate but i try not to go heavy (on barbell i usually use just empty bar). I have a program, and its working great, but i am not doing great job recovering.. if i would analyse myself i would point out that
-> sleep is disturbed (kids)
-> eating is not perfect
-> no truly day off work
I keep repeating the scheme off 3 -4 weeks on feeling good /1 -2 weeks of feeling down emotionally , i think i must plug in deload sooner than 5th week..
 
Like many said, I think nothing beats S&S. It's direct, short and well rounded. Plus, if one ventures beyond Simple, he/she will attain vast amounts of strength too.

Also, if anyone hasn't looked through @taedoju's Socials (I follow you on Instagram, my friend), do yourself a favor and go see him. Many times in this Forum we talk about tremendously strong people, yet we (at least I know I do) forget there are terrifying individuals in here too!
 
taedoju said:
note :
->my work, i work with personal clients and groups 8 - 12 h a day , once a week i get 4-5 hours only
-> i do workshops on the weekends (easier to pay mortgage) 6h - 8h sunday and saturday with breaks but still around 5 -6 hours, i travel to those workshops 3 -4 h one direction
-> my workouts last from 60 + to short 30 min sessions 4 - 5 sessions a week
Click to expand...


Obviously I don't know your age / background / other demands on your life but my first thought is that you are working a lot - and it is physical work.
Add in travelling time at weekends and I would be getting grumpy at not having enough 'me time' (I am pretty lazy and selfish). I certainly try and avoid working that hard now I am in my 40s and have plenty of non-work pressures in my life.

As for park bench programme I would lean towards S+S but with swings done in 20 sets of 5 rather than 10 sets of 10. I do find walking, particularly with a dog and preferably on a beach, to be very restorative.
 
Frank_IT said:
Like many said, I think nothing beats S&S. It's direct, short and well rounded. Plus, if one ventures beyond Simple, he/she will attain vast amounts of strength too.

Also, if anyone hasn't looked through @taedoju's Socials (I follow you on Instagram, my friend), do yourself a favor and go see him. Many times in this Forum we talk about tremendously strong people, yet we (at least I know I do) forget there are terrifying individuals in here too!
Click to expand...
well, Frank i do not know what to say, thank you for following me, it is really nice to read such thing ! My mind tells me i am weak all the time!
@krg i am 28 years young,94 kg , 190cm(6,2 ?) long spoiled brat , the reason for such amounts of work is that i build my new house :), i coach at Crossfit, i teach beginners basics of lifting, gymnastics and kettlebells before they join the normal groups and i work as personal trainer and do workshops.
 
Think I've just found a you tube video of you. You can ignore any training advice from me - you look strong enough to build a house with your bare hands!

If I could have managed that strength and physique in my 20s I would have had my body cryogenically frozen for posterity.

Respect for juggling such a work-load and kids. As someone who used to routinely over-work I would just advise - a) don't lose track of what it is all for.
b) everyone needs a day off a week.
 
You are (as we say here in the States) burning the candle at both ends and in the middle.

Less is more in this case

Take one day a week and go for a walk (seriously a walk - with pet and/or family and friends even better).

Finish a training session feeling better than when you started it and stop at that point.

Your training will become a focus again soon but right now all stress comes out of the same "bucket" and work is draining most of it.

Brett
 
taedoju said:
well, Frank i do not know what to say, thank you for following me, it is really nice to read such thing ! My mind tells me i am weak all the time!
@krg i am 28 years young,94 kg , 190cm(6,2 ?) long spoiled brat , the reason for such amounts of work is that i build my new house :), i coach at Crossfit, i teach beginners basics of lifting, gymnastics and kettlebells before they join the normal groups and i work as personal trainer and do workshops.
Click to expand...

Well, tell your mind Francesco said it/she's a damn liar! :D
 
taedoju said:
Does any of you have your "park bench program" on which you go when things in life go rough ?
Click to expand...
Do something every day, e.g., 50 kettlebell swings, or 5 deadlift singles @ 60-80% 1RM, or 1 set of 5 kettlebell military presses each side. Do whatever you feel like doing that day, do it for about 5 minutes, and you're done.

-S-
 
Pressing with the 32, normally sets of 3 and I try to get to 5 sets. This is a VERY easy workout for me compared with S&S, has nothing like the benefits of S&S but it still does good things for me and works some different muscles, so it's a good, relatively easy thing to do when I'm not up to the half hour adventure of S&S at the 40 on a given day.

I sometimes choose to go for a long walk instead of weights if I feel really weak but not too sick.

Both weak and sick I do nothing - drink lots of water, eat well, things like that, try to sleep.
 
Hello,

@taedoju
I am 27 yo, 1,83m and 60kg, but I do not have kids. Last week (or the week before, do not remember), I only slept 4 hours a night. I do not know why. Plus, it was not 4 hours straight... It was something like 30 minutes...awake...30 minutes, etc..

Of course, rest was not enough. So I modified a bit my routine. I put a little bit more bodyweight moves, and I also modified my diet. I ate things easier to digest, including for the breakfast. I think diet is the easiest thing to change to improve recovery. The good thing is that my girlfriend and I are going to change our diet together (I ran paleo with IF but will switch to Japanese diet). Plus, I introduced lots of bdw moves, including arm balances, etc..

Sometimes, these changing in life are quite positive. When things turn "wrong", it may help to figure out what is really necessary, what is good for us to maintain both mental and physical performance, even when we are tired.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
It looks like there's a lot going on in your life right now @taedoju. House, kids and a lot of work are definitely taking its toll on mind and body. As others say maybe it's time to give yourself more rest.

Are your goals (Beast Tamer & SFG2) still valid? Some kind of minimalistic program focusing on mantaining press, pistol and pull up until you feel better isn't a bad idea.

You can also consider getting back to writing your training log, the support of great folks here helped me push through tough times.

PS Pozdrowienia z Trójmiasta, może będzie kiedyś okazja poznać się osobiście gdy zdecyduję się na certyfikat. Niestety brakuje w okolicy instruktorów :(
 
taedoju said:
I keep repeating the scheme off 3 -4 weeks on feeling good /1 -2 weeks of feeling down emotionally , i think i must plug in deload sooner than 5th week..
Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is kind of funny. Louie Simmons made the observation a loooong time ago that the longest most guys could sustain even moderately aggressive training was four weeks. The fifth week was almost always a sh*tty week. He's not the only, or the first, person to make this observation. You'll notice, many powerlifting program have a de-load week every fourth week. Even if you think your training isn't very aggressive, I would say that, based on what you've said, your training+life is enough stress that a deload on week 4 might be in order, assuming you don't want to drastically alter your training.
 
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