Vegan machine never break...

[wannalift]

Vegan machine fixed, what is the plan to avoid getting broken again?

1. Do my rehab exercises as part of my regular routine forever.
2. Shoulder dislocations - fantastic stretch that will also increase my shoulder flexibility and range of motion.
3. No climbing, ever. Suck, but those are the breaks.
4. Back off sooner next time I feel a flare-up coming on.

I'm optimistic that if I can do all of the above that I can hopefully prevent shoulder tendinitis in the future. We'll see.

[wannalift]

3/14/2012

Okay, rehab is still going strong. I'm very close to where I left off. Should definitely be there sometime in April. In the meantime, as many of you have seen from my posts in other threads, I have adopted a zone-type of diet with 30/30/40 protein/fat/carb ratios. I did this as kind of an experiment, but my body has taken very favorable to it. I've gained almost 3 lbs while losing 0.5" on my waistline in a month. This diet seems way more favorable to my body composition as I've simultaneously gotten slimmer and more muscular while increasing my calories. I'll give a full report at the end of the 12-week experiment. Additionally, I've added in some metcons and streamlined my workouts a bit. Hopefully I can continue this progress for a while.

Lunch break: Weighted pull/chin ups, shrug rows, grip medley complex

I keep on adding weight to the pull/chin ups. Since I do them unweighted as part of my metcon on Sunday I cut back to 5 sets total. Grip is going really well too. I added in extensor band exercises on my non-grip days and it has helped tremendously. Way better to do them more often.

Gym: Heavy front squats, Hungarian hang clean to RDL complex, 1-leg press (heavy 20 reps), abs, metcon (deadlift, box jump, 1 arm row 7:10)

After several months off, I finally started doing front squats again as of 3 weeks ago. Shoulders are loosening up with all the stretching and my legs are still quite strong so I'm hoping to get back to my PR-level within a month or so. I tried for 300, but got buried. I think I have the strength (or close to it), but my technique needs a lot of work. Still dumping the bar forward out of the hole. I'd like to get 350 for a single by the end of the year. I know my legs are already strong enough. I just gotta get the rest of me strong enough.

Mountain bike: (intense 1-hour conditioning ride)

Not as intense as I would have liked. My legs were shattered from an equally difficult ride yesterday and a taxing leg session at the gym. Still had a respectable ride though. Feel great, but I know I need to take tomorrow completely off of everything. It's quite nice to get an outdoor ride (or several) in during March where I live. Tomorrow will be 12 years as vegan. Beware the Ides of March!

[wannalift]

3-15-2012: Rest. Still put away 3,000 calories, but very little carbs. Maybe the fewest ever in my life? Not by design though as we were watching an important hockey game and I had seitan wings for dinner instead of a sweet potato.

3-16-2012:

Lunch break: kneeling dumbbell OH press, bent-over flys, dumbbell tricep ext, shoulder rehab

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts.

Gym: bamboo bench, glute/ham bench abs, plate walk, snatch pull to shrug complex, incline dumbbell bench (light), WYIT shoulder raises, bear complex (13:20, yikes!).

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts except incline dumbbell bench where I purposefully went very light. Perhaps went up a little too much on the bear complex as I was almost a minute slower than last week. Pretty exhausted by the end.

Mtn Bike: 1-hour conditioning ride. It's so nice out that I will do another mtn bike ride instead of doing sprints on my trainer. Gotta stay off the singletrack though as we had a big storm overnight. My legs are a little more tired than I would have expected so I won't go TOO hard. I'll make it respectable though.

[wannalift]

3-17-2012:

Mtn Bike: 1.5-hour technical ride. Rode the singletrack at Frick today since the weather is so nice and it is way less damp here than it normally is. Pretty tough ride as there was still a lot of mud and my legs are pretty beat from all the riding and leg work I've done this week. Did a decent amount of climbing and still had a pretty good ride. Wasn't far off my peak from last season. Heavy leg day tomorrow and then maybe one more ride before I have to go out of town for a few days.

[wannalift]

3-18-2012:

Gym: Front squat (max reps @ bw), long pull, weighted leg raise, HHP to RDL complex, side bends, shrugs, weighted back hypers, metcon (pull ups, kettlebell swings, squat jumps ---> 7:35).

Great session. I was feeling pretty spent in my legs from the weeks training, but I wanted to finish strong since I won't be able to hit legs properly again until next Sunday. Decided to go ALL IN and rep out my bodyweight on front squats. Got 27 reps before the bar grinding into my collar bone stopped me. I had maybe 1 or 2 more reps in me. On my last set of HHP I had very good bar speed/height. Wish I had filmed it so I could see what I was doing different. Finished very strong on the metcon and only gained 5 seconds from last week despite adding more reps on the swings and purposefully jumping higher on the squat jumps.

Mtn bike: 1.5 hour technical ride. Well, I did the same ride as yesterday, but surprisingly I rode even better today. I didn't wear my upper-body gear and I suspect that may have made a major difference. I even made it up this one hill that I have literally never made it up before. It's a tough go around a switch-back where after a decent climb there is sharp turn and a small, steep hill with loose dirt/stones on the trail. I just kind of forced my way up and was very pleased to do so. Of course I had a minor crash about 1-minute later going over a rather easy obstacle to make up for it. Aside from that, I rode very very strong and especially well on the longer, steeper climbs. Might have been my last ride there for a while though since I suspect the weather will change by the time I come back later this week.

[wannalift]

3-23-2012:

Lunch break: kneeling dumbbell OH press, bent-over flys, dumbbell tricep ext, shoulder rehab

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts.

Gym: incline dumbbell bench (heavy), glute/ham bench abs, plate walk, snatch pull to shrug complex, bamboo bench, WYIT shoulder raises, Javorek complex with squat jumps (10:35, less than 90 seconds total rest).

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts. Very nice session after a few days of rest. Did a modified (harder) Javorek complex instead of Bear complex and may keep it that way. Too much technique breakdown on my last Bear complex and I don't want to end up like a cross-failer. Javorek complex is more intense for my upper body anyway.

Mtn Bike: 1.75-hour hard technical ride. Rode with some semi-expert riders at Frick. Very tough pace they set. Guess I wasn't riding those previous rides as fast as I thought? We did 3 800' climbs and I was feeling the hurt big time. I kept them in my sights for the most part and got 29'rd to some degree. I'm totally beat now.

[wannalift]

3/24/2012: Sprints (on bike trainer)

Lactate cycle:
- 3 x (8 seconds on, 22 seconds off x 3);
- 4 minute rest between sets;
- 8 x (5 seconds on, 10 seconds off)

Vomit. These were tough. Going to have to do sprints on my "off days" with mtn biking competing for attention. Basically on these I go ALL OUT for the intervals in a very high gearing and then slow pedal and or downshift for the rest. Legs felt calcified by the 2nd set and I still had 11 more intervals to go. The last set was especially tough because it tested my acceleration, repeatedly. Curious to see how it will affect my squatting tomorrow. Was done in less 25 minutes (including warm up and cool down).

[wannalift]

3/25/2012: Strength

Gym: Front squat (max triple), long pull, weighted leg raise, HHP to RDL complex, side bends, shrugs, weighted back hypers, metcon (pull ups, kettlebell swings, squat jumps ---> 5 rounds -----> 7:25).

INTENSE session. Went a little longer than I would have liked, but I had to pace myself since my legs weren't fully recovered from yesterday's sprints. Still got a nice heavy triple on front squats. Used the modified camber bar for back hypers instead of holding the dumbbell and it made a huge difference. Definitely felt like it hit my posterior chain harder. Added a rep on each round for kettlebell swings and still shaved 10 seconds off from last week. Not sure if I will do any cardio today since I went pretty hard the last two. I might try to sneak in a mtn bike ride, but it will have to be an easier one.

Mtn bike: 1.4 hour technical ride. Well, we all knew I'd end up riding. I still ended up riding at a strong (enough) pace. Had a few pedal strikes as I was trying to get a little more flow over some technical sections. Climbs were good, but not great. Got some air over a couple obstacles instead of just rolling over them. Felt nice. Glad I rode.

[wannalift]

3-26-2012: Strength

Lunch break: kneeling dumbbell OH press, bent-over flys, dumbbell tricep ext, shoulder rehab

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts.

Gym: incline dumbbell bench (heavy), glute/ham bench abs, plate walk, bamboo bench, WYIT shoulder raises, kettlebell tricep extension

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts. Session took a little longer than it should have, but I got in a good workout. Advancing nicely on the plate walking and my abs can tell the difference. Getting closer to my pre-injury strength level so hopefully I can incorporate some real periodization at that point. Weighed in 1 lb less than my pre-injury weight and am still down over 0.5" on my waistline. Starting to look rather ripped in terms of body composition, or at least getting there.

Bike trainer: 0.75-hour aerobic spin. It's a really nice & sunny, yet cool day here but I had to stay indoors instead of on the trails. My legs are just too hammered to subject myself to more mtn biking. Hamstrings are more like guitar strings today from the weighted back hypers yesterday. Went slightly harder than I expected on the trainer, but not too much. Watched 2 episodes of Married w/ Children from season 5 while on the bike. I really have to buckle down and do my studies tonight though.

[wannalift]

3-27-2012: Mtn bike

1-hour technical ride. Beautiful day, but not a great ride. Chain popped off midway on the first downhill. Got that straightened out and then got a flat at the bottom of the hill. I was in a hurry too so just my luck that this would happen. Back up and running after changing tubes, but a little cautious since I am riding with no other spare tubes. Guy was building a new obstacle on one of the trails and I was literally the first person to get to ride. Pretty cool feeling to ride over it a few times and give him feedback. Rode a little more, but had to cut my ride short so I took the long hill out. My butt was really hurting for some reason too so probably best to cut my losses. Still an okay workout. Maybe leaves me some energy to ride tomorrow if the weather holds out. I wasn't really itching too much over the offseason (or at least I kept it in check), but now that mtn biking is back on I am way way into it again.

[wannalift]

3/28/2012: Strength & Sprints

Lunch break: Weighted pull/chin ups, grip medley complex

Finally got some weighted pull/chin ups in. I have a plan to hopefully increase the weight by 40 lbs in the next year. Basically just 5/5, 5/5/5, 6/6, 6/6/6 every week in four week intervals and increase the weight by 2.5 lbs every 4 weeks. Let's see if this works.

Gym: Heavy front squats, Hungarian hang clean to RDL complex, abs, metcon (deadlift, box jump, 1 arm row, 5 rounds, 6:35)

Front squats were very strong. Went up in weight on HHC, but it kind of tweaked my knee a little (this happens when I use too much weight on that lift). Skipped the 1-leg press since I didn't want to chance anything. The metcon went really well. Did the first three rounds with no break at all. I shaved 35 seconds off from two weeks ago. I don't feel like skipping the 1-leg press gave me a huge advantage, but who knows. Time to up the weight again and find out.

Sprints (on bike trainer): Lactate cycle
- 3 x (8 seconds on, 22 seconds off x 3);
- 4-minute rest between sets;
- 8 x (4 seconds on, 11 seconds off)

It was another beautiful day to ride outside, but I opted for indoor training since I didn't want to stress my knee. Sprints were grueling and the last set felt like death. Actually was rather sloppy on the last set and didn't get the 5-second intervals I was hoping for. I did though do a nice 10-minute spin after to some trendy techno music (because that's what you do when you are spinning indoors). Knee didn't hurt at all though and it actually feels pretty much fine now. Hopefully I get to mtn bike tomorrow.

[wannalift]

3/29/2012: Mtn bike

1.6 hour technical ride. Got a real nice ride in. Pushed myself pretty hard and added some distance to my normal base route. It adds about 400' of climbing with about half of that coming from singletrack over technical terrain. Really focusing on adding more flow to my rides and finding ways to conserve energy and carry a little more speed. Makes the ride even more enjoyable. Some heavy rain coming tomorrow so might not get to ride outdoors for a few days or more.

[wannalift]

3-30-2012: Strength & Sprints

Lunch break: kneeling dumbbell OH press, bent-over flys, dumbbell tricep ext, shoulder rehab

Went up in weight or reps on all lifts.

Gym: incline dumbbell bench (light), glute/ham bench abs, plate walk, wide bb shrugs, WYIT shoulder raises, Javorek complex with squat jumps (9:35, less than 90 seconds total rest).

My chest was still sore from Monday so I took it easy on benching. Didn't want to load up my knee too heavy either so I just did shrugs instead of snatch pulls. Went up 1/2 lb on the Javorek complex and I still shaved off a minute from last week. I guess it's easier because the complex just doesn't tax my legs like the others do. Good stuff.

Sprints (on bike trainer): Lactate cycle:
- 3 x (8 seconds on, 22 seconds off x 3);
- 4 minute rest between sets;
- 8 x (5 seconds on, 10 seconds off)

It's another beautiful day and I'd love to hit the trails, but I am short on time today as I have a performance to attend at 7:30. As if that wasn't enough of a bother, on my way home I drove by the university and there was a hammerthrow competition. Just my luck, my favorite track & field event and I couldn't even stop in to watch a round or six. As much as it kills me not to ride and watch a hammerthrow competition, I swore I would make more of an effort this year to have a life outside of the gym/trails. If I don't like it I swear I will change back very quickly. As for the sprint session - painful. I took out my frustration on my fast twitch muscle fibers.

[downhillingdemon]

It's another beautiful day and I'd love to hit the trails, but I am short on time today as I have a performance to attend at 7:30. As if that wasn't enough of a bother, on my way home I drove by the university and there was a hammerthrow competition. Just my luck, my favorite track & field event and I couldn't even stop in to watch a round or six. As much as it kills me not to ride and watch a hammerthrow competition, I swore I would make more of an effort this year to have a life outside of the gym/trails. If I don't like it I swear I will change back very quickly. As for the sprint session - painful. I took out my frustration on my fast twitch muscle fibers.

You are a much stronger person than me! I have sooooo much important stuff I should get done, but riding always takes priority!

[wannalift]

It's another beautiful day and I'd love to hit the trails, but I am short on time today as I have a performance to attend at 7:30. As if that wasn't enough of a bother, on my way home I drove by the university and there was a hammerthrow competition. Just my luck, my favorite track & field event and I couldn't even stop in to watch a round or six. As much as it kills me not to ride and watch a hammerthrow competition, I swore I would make more of an effort this year to have a life outside of the gym/trails. If I don't like it I swear I will change back very quickly. As for the sprint session - painful. I took out my frustration on my fast twitch muscle fibers.

You are a much stronger person than me! I have sooooo much important stuff I should get done, but riding always takes priority!

Well, it didn't turn out to be that great of a decision. After last night's performance though I decided I probably don't really need a life outside of the gym/trails. I still have to watch though that I don't get tunnel vision when it comes to my activities or next thing you know I'll end up on 5 different hockey teams like I did last year.

3/31/2012: 0.75 hours light aerobic spin of bike trainer

I decided to just have an active rest day today and that is probably for the best. I probably could have ridden the trails, but the sun never really came out of the clouds today and the trails are likely pretty muddy from last night's storm. I just didn't feel like having a slow, slippery ride. Want to hit the gym really hard tomorrow morning so I'll save my legs for the front squats.