4 Weeks until Surgery
Monday, 6.10.13
HRV - 92, RHR - 57.8
Bulgarian SS from Deficit - 3 x 10, 60’s
Prone SL Leg Curl w/ foot IR 3020 - 10, 5, 5, 5 45-60lbs
Seated SL Leg Curl w/ foot ER 1010 - 4 x 6, 40lbs
Hip Abduction - 2 x 15
HRV and RHR somewhat returned to normal this weekend after taking two days off. On Saturday it was 84/67, Sunday it was 94/60. For those interested, I’ve attached a picture of what my HRV looked like this past week. If you’ve paid attention to the numbers, they were really high 2 weeks ago during my vacation and were very low last week because of how hard I trained. The numbers are slowly rising back up after a restful weekend. Sometimes I get skeptical of using HRV, but last week the numbers well represented how I felt those days. Take a look:
I know HRV cam seem a little bit like voodoo at first, but it really becomes interesting after a few months of readings are in the bank. Once you have more days of readings, you will find what stresses your body appropriately and what stresses it inappropriately. I remember Charlie’s advice regarding Omega Wave readings was to “do what you want to do.” Then you can go back and look at how the work affected your readings, compare it with how you felt, and you should be able to start making adjustments from there.
Also, with regard to taking days off to wait for recovery to occur- over the past six months of readings with one of my athletes, it is clear that tempo work speeds recovery noticeably more than passive rest does, so active recovery is something you may want to incorporate more of between heavy workouts, as it will likely allow you to get more high intensity sessions in over the long run.
I’m certainly starting to see the benefits of HRV now that I’ve found exercises that will allow me to train hard around injury. I also think that switching from the standing measurement to lying measurement helped give me a more consistent reading. I’m trying to set up somewhat of a HI-Low approach with my training right now by doing somewhat lighter upperbody+EMS active recovery days after heavy lowerbody days. It’s amazing to see your readings and how tempo work is spot on with Charlie’s recommendations.
Tuesday, 6.11.13
HRV - 85.4, RHR - 63.9
A1). Single Arm braced DB OH Press 40X0 - 5 x 8 - 25, 25, 30, 35, 40lbs
A2). CG Chin-ups 40X0- 5 x 6 - BW, BW+10, BW+15, BW+20, BW+25lbs
B1). NG Flat DB Press 2121- 4x10, 40, 40, 45, 50
B2). BO Lateral Raise 1010 - 4 x 8-10, 15-20lb DBs
C1). Incline DB Curl 3010 - 4x8, 25’s
C2). OH Tricep EZ bar ext 3010 - 4 x 12, 30-50lbs
D1). DB Ext rotation 5020 - 4 x 10-12, 5-10lbs
D2). Prone wrist ext 1010 - 4 x 15, 30lbs
EMS Active recovery - 20min on each muscle group
My glutes were a bit sore from Monday, could have been slight pad placement switch I used on the glute muscles. I finally got a chance to do EMS active recovery and felt better immediately after using it. The single arm braced DB OH press is a recommendation taken from Poliquin’s book on balancing OH strength and I’m quickly noticing improvements. Last week, I could barely do 40lbs five times with my left arm and this week I did it with no problem. He says that I should be able to handle 80lb DBs for 8 reps based on how much I can bench, I’m far from that.
I used a different position for EMS hamstrings. I’ve always lied down pronated, but yesterday I lied down supinated with a pillow underneath my knees (Cedric Unholz recommendation) and felt a much better/even contraction between my left and right hamstrings. I also hate laying down pronated and still only do this when I’m stimming the glutes.
A1). Single Arm Braced DB OHP 40X0 - 5x7, 30, 40, 45, 55, 45
A2). Prone Pullups 40X0- 5x7, BW
B1). Incline DB Press 3020 - 3x10, 45’s
B2). Lean Away Lateral Raise 2020 - 3x10, 15lb DB
C1). Prone Incline Hammer Curl 1010 - 3 x 15, 25’s
C2). DB JM Press 4020 - 3x10, 25’s
D1). Shoulder Ext Rotation 5020 - 3x10, 5lbs
D2). Prone Wrist Curl 1010 - 3x10, 30lbs
I woke up a bit earlier than usual today and wound up having an extremely high HRV/RHR this morning. It was so much higher than normal that I even redid the test and wound up being a 110 HRV. I remember the last time something similar to this happened, I was sick two days later.
The extremely high HRV reading yesterday was probably not correct since the batteries were close to dying at that time. EMS session went well and will try to get 3 sessions in this week. I’m also 21 days away from getting surgery.
Thursday, 6.20.13
Still no HRV reading, bought a new battery today…
A1). Single Arm Braced DB OHP 40X0 - 5x6. 30, 40, 50, 60 (fail, only got 3), 45
A2). Prone Fat Grip Pullup 40X0 - 5x6, BW
B1). Incline DB Press 4020 - 3x10, 40’s
B2). Lean Away Lateral Raise 2120 - 3x10, 15lb DB
C1). Prone Incline Hammer Curl 1011 - 3x10, 25’s
C2). DB JM Press 4010 - 3x10, 25’s
D1). DB Shoulder Ext rotation 5020 - 3x10
D2). DB Wrist Ext 1010 - 3x10
EMS Active Recovery: 25min all muscle groups
I’m far from the “poliquin” standard on the single arm DB OHP but have come a long way. His book says I needed to rep out 8 reps with an 80lb DB to meet the requirements in relation to my bench press. I’ve still made a lot of progress. The first week I tried these, I could barely rep out 40lbs for 3 on my left arm and now I’m doing 60’s for 3 equally on both sides. My right side has always been stronger and for once my strength is equal.
Great week of training this week! I still dream of lifting on the platform every damn day, but this single leg work and max strength EMS is doing a good job of keeping me sane. The structural balance work is also paying off, my strength between left and right sides is a lot more equal than its ever been. Not that this has ever been a huge goal, but something to work on during an injury period like this.
Interesting… I’ve always had awful aerobic fitness. Growing up, I always came in last in every aerobic fitness test they every put us through. Even fat offensive lineman could beat me in a mile run in high school. It could be the training that I’m doing now, which is more bodybuilding/high rep stuff.
Glad to hear you’ve finally got your HRV set-up working, it took a while. Let me know what you think of the book when you finish it.
I’m fat/weak/slow right now - I was planning on doing 2-3 days of tempo and easy 10’s this week would this be a problem or would you recommend total rest? I am a little stressed from work and outside factors etc.
Had to shift my training week back a day since I had to do some grueling workout outside yesterday. I’m going to do 7 EMS sessions before my surgery starting back with lv1 and progress to lv4. My pain tolerance has also gone up considerably lately.
I forgot to mention this, but remember that Kyle takes the reading seated, which should result in a lower heart rate and therefore a presumably a higher HRV score (lower heart rate generally means more recovered, higher HRV score means more recovered).
Once you stand up your heart rate generally increases by 10 to 15 beats per minute, thus Kyle’s score may seem impressively high. I don’t think this matters much, as it is how your score fluctuates over time that really seems to help.
What you say about speed power athletes scoring poorly is interesting, as my most talented guy, who is a total speed creature, tends to score very poorly.
I’m interested in who Joel Jamieson credits in his book, as he is certainly not one of the leading lights in the HRV movement himself. He may have a decent working knowledge, but I presume he borrows heavily from others.
