Powerlifting and dealing with Stress

I have learnt some interesting lessons recently about the bodies capacity to deal with stress.

For the last 5-6 years I have worked in high pressure roles and while you learn to adapt it's important to understand your limits .

This year I took up a fantastic new role but with the pleasure came significantly more responsibility and a much larger time commitment. As is my nature I put my head down and got into the new role with plenty of gusto. However what I didn't count on was how the day to day new stresses of the role would impact me systemically.

Typically I use training as a great de-stress from day to day life: effectively a retreat that you can just focus on no matter how good or bad the day was. However this role has been different and it was quite insidious how the stress started to accumulate.

To be fair this has been a busy year training for me as well with my first States and backing up in 7 weeks to my first Nationals. So on all levels my body was under a fair bit of stress. Add to that that I didn't appreciate the impact of preparing for my first two big contests relatively close together and how beat up I would be afterwards.

As a consequence I hit the wall about 5 weeks ago feeling some really significant lethargy and a desire to just sleep constantly. The problem was when I hit the sack the mind was still racing so sleep wasn't delivering me the recovery time I needed.

So what do you do, man up and push through.....ahh..nooo that just puts you in a bigger world of pain. Simply sit back acknowledge what you are feeling and agree it's time for a break.

For me that involved a full panel of blood work to get some feedback on what was going on in the body, a break from training to give the body a little time to heal and changing the stress levels in the rest of my life.

Thankfully the blood work came back ok though cholestorol was up but that I believe is due to some shit diet habits in the heavy part of Nationals prep along with overall inflammation from the stress.

The point of this little story is that stress can sneak up on you. As powerlifters we can be very regimented and push through with training using it to deal with our stress. It is easy to get lost in the mental fog of a regimented routine.

Now maybe for some that works but remember sometimes a break is needed to reset get the head right. It worked for me.

Take some time out when you need it, your body and more importantly your mind will thank you.

Stay Strong
Thomo

Power lifting at Conventional Gyms

After today's second session in the temporary gym I feel like Alice in Wonderland: I've really gone through the looking glass into some strange shit.

Observations from training today:

1. Apparently the power rack is for curling or standing inside to press
2. I appear to be doing way too little biceps work
3. I need sleeve tattoos to blend in...and that's just with the girls
4. I need to use Bro in a sentence more often

Now to be fair having been spoilt at PTC I can't be too harsh...$23 a fortnight and 4 mins from home will suffice for the moment. 

It does reinforce in my mind how us guys left on our own make the dumbest training choices. Honestly I haven't seen so many upright rows and delt work in a long time..probably since I had the misfortune to train in Fitness First in Brisbane a few years back!

Anyhoo it is what it is and I will just hunker down now go a little under the radar and get somelifts happening.

Training went well 5/3/1 work sets of bench follow by assistance incline press. Had sets of dumbell rows and chins between the pressing sets.

Finished off with Goblet squats and may try flat footed squatting again for a while. It's funny but in the shoes I think sitting back irritates my adductor so will focus on goblets for a while and see if I can get some decent flat footed mobility. Thinking about it I didn't really have issues with the adductor until I switched to the shoes, though it might just be correlation not causality.

Time to chill now, middle of the week tomorrow lets see what shit storm awaits!

Stay Strong Thomo

Same Training Different Venue

Given our previous labour government had done its level best to take their hands off the wheel and royally fuck with the economy and business confidence I have found an inordinate amount of time taken up with work.

Consequently I have been blogging less and though I am convinced there is only probably myself and one other person that actually reads this it was heartening to get more than a couple lift your game queries from readers wondering where the fuck I had got to.

Firstly I have had to make a few changes and leave the beloved PTC for a while. Given work commitments and the need to juggle my schedule for work and getting time to see my daughter each night I cant keep up my previous regime.

So for the moment I have jumped in the deep end at a commercial gym approximately 4.5 mins from my front door! Now while it doesn't have a quarter of the equipment or camaraderie of the crew at PTC it is close to home and half the price which works for me while I am banging the early starts at late finishes at work.

Where I am now has a power rack, platform and bumpers and not much else that I need. However as a bonus it has a prowler with a nice long 30 metre carpet strip. So for the next 2-3 months  I am going to go anonymous again put the ear phones in and focus on making the most of the sessions I can do.

I suppose the bonus is I will have plenty of crazy fodder for this blog given the first day of trying the new gym two numpties were curling in the power rack...sigh :(

I will stick with Wendler 5/3/1 for simplicity and once the PTC lads confirm GPC states for next year I can start planning my programming for the rest of the year.

I'll post later on some of the diet changes that have made a change in my outlook but for now it's good to be back.

Stay Strong

Thomo

Phil Heath takes the Olympia 2013

Its been a quiet month for blogging given that thing called 'life' has gotten in the way of my normal routine. Today I had the house to myself so kicked back in the study logged into BodyBuilding.com and watched the Mr Olympia live cast. In fact an interesting Olympia given it was the first since the passing of Joe Weider who to a very large degree served as a catalyst for the whole body-building movement and sport.

I have never competed in body-building, no desire to, nor do I really follow body-building any more. However I have followed every Mr Olympia result since first being exposed to the sport back in 1983...fuck where did that 30 years go??

It's is amazing to watch the guys on stage today and see where bodybuilding is today. On reflection I think the 212 class is am interesting addition over the years and throws back to a slightly (just) more aesthetic physique. 

 I think the mid to late eighties were the golden years of the sport. Importantly the  physiques still looked attainable for the average schmuck like me. Classic looks like Labrada or Bob Paris below didn't repulse the general population and you could still identify with the look as one promoting health.

I still loved the reign of modern stars like Ronnie Coleman but probably more so for the training videos than the actual result of such a 'supplemented' look.

In was strange watching it live today and compare back to when I was a kid. In those days you were reliant on the results in the next edition of Muscle and Fitness or Flex. This would usually be 1 month or two late as there was no Internet. Right about now someone reading this is going..'no fucking Internet..no way!'

Despite the excesses the sport it still hangs in there and continues to appeal as a sub culture. For me I will probably always watch it given the link to my childhood. 

Stay Strong

Thomo

Travis Mash unloads on Rippetoe

I just finished reading a post on JTS and frankly a little non nonplussed (here it is if you haven't read it yet http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2013/09/18/truth-experts-part-2/. )

As a summary Travis has essentially performed a very nice character assassination of everyones favourite punching bag Mark Rippetoe. If Rip isn't fighting with Lyle MacDonald, Pendlay is taking anonymous but pointed swipes at him.

Clearly old Rip has wound Travis Mash up and he really had a few things to say. It's always kind of unseemly when coaches do that online e.g. Lyle Mac Donald versus everyone and Rip against a few. However here are my thoughts:

1. As a professional coach calling out another well known coach by name on a well respected site without talking to the individual first is far from ideal and diminishes JTS as a professional forum
2. Alluding in the article to an 'anonymous' Olympic lifting to bolster your claims is again probably less than ideal. Either man up and quote the source (we all know its likely one of two individuals) or better to refrain from using someone to anonymously support your position.
3. Suggesting someone has to have elite numbers to coach is an analogy that doesn't hold up. Because to be fair if that were the case then every red faced  hypertensioned, water bloated, geared to all fuck roid head shouldn't tell me how to program or recover because roided lifters don't know the first thing about what works programming and recovering naturally?  Can't have it both ways!
4. Similarly we could all quote bad form if we scoured the internet. I mean nobody at all worries that every MDUSA or Attitude Nation Oly lifters knees collapse inwards big time on their squats?

I frankly don't care if Rip is right.Personally Starting Strength has been  a good resource for me and to be fair its pitched at the new and clueless like me! Regardless I took the advice with a 'grain of salt', discarding what didn't work for my build/leverages and keeping what did. There is no absolutes with form, go to a true raw meet and tell me if those squats all look the same.

In fact scroll half way down Paul Carters post here and tell me if those world class lifters need  to eliminate their hip drive as suggested?
http://www.lift-run-bang.com/2013/08/thoughts-about-life-crap-training-and.html

I suspect Travis is spot on with his commentary and clearly he is passionate about great coaching I just think all this shit should be dealt with one to one not on popular training sites. The real loser in this is JTS, typically Chad Wesley Smith moderates very balanced articles but the article in question wasn't in the spirit of the site.

Stay Strong

Thomo

***post script** good to see within 48 hours Chad pulled the offending article and issued an apology re the tonality in effect suggesting he let us down for letting an article of this nature on his site. Classy response to admit he was wrong and perhaps next time it would be good to see if Travis provides something a little more moderate as I am sure we would benefit from one of his articles.

**** I had a great e-mail from Greg Nuckols , one of Travis's trainers at Mash Elite who wrote a great piece that provided a more articulate take on the whole issue  and provided a great summary of Travis's concerns.  Have a read
 http://gregnuckols.com/2013/09/19/travis-vs-rippetoe-revisited/.  ****

Lazy sunday deadlifting

Kicking back right now, 30 mins post workout guzzling the last of my protein shake and feeling pretty damn pleased with myself.

Deadlifts today and my focus was continuing to lock down my pre-lift routine. I noted in my first two comps every pre-lift preparation was different. So now I am stripping my prep down to several repeatable steps that result in me being as tight as possible and ready to lift.

For me I focus on standing in front of the bar screwing my feet into the floor and getting really tight before I reach down to the bar with tension already pulling me tight and down into the bar. Now this all sounds obvious I know but I need to have the same 3-4 steps to ensure each time I am in the right position with maximum tension.

It worked really well today and consequently had a great session. Sunday afternoon meant I had the gym to myself until a couple of the lads arrived mid session.

Gute ham raises and shoulders finished off the session So now I am all about a nice kick ass protein meal and chlling with my daughter.

Bench Tuesday and cant wait!

Stay strong

Thomo

Missing in Action

Sunday morning the sun is shining after a week of god awful rain and I have finally found 5 damn minutes to blog.

I took a break over the last 2 weeks due to some heavy work commitments but looking forward to hitting the keyboard, though my 2 year old daughter currently has other ideas.I am going to hit deadlift and military press today and if my timing works out well the gym will be completely empty for a late Sunday afternoon.

I am not sure about you but some days I prefer to bang the iron in a quiet empty gym and leave the cacophony of busy nights behind.

Annoyingly my adductor pain has kicked back in big time on squats and tends to pass over into the deadlift too. It tends to kick in as the weight gets above the 75% 1RM range and often it's triggered when I start messing with my stance etc. I am working harder than I ever have on mobility but I I think long term this issue is structural and it's something I have to manage when it arises.

Enjoy your sunday!

Stay Strong
Thomo