Great journal with lots of solid information, thank you. I was wondering do you take any time during the year completely off from training hard, and just do some light exercises like walking and mobility work, and if so how long?
Depends how long my season was, when i was racing winter-spring-and late into the summer I would take 2 weeks of passive rest before starting my fall gpp…
Friday: 1600
Warmup S
4x7x60 (10s/30s/3m)
Bench 3x10
A1: Seated row 3x15
A2: Shoulder complex 3x8
B1: Pushdowns 3x15
B2: H curls 3x15
C1: Snatch Shrugs 3x20
C2: 4 way neck 2x10
Saturday:
Cardio choice 10m+Dym F
Podium Trap bar deadlift 3x10
Mid thigh pull 5x5
Db split squat (rear foot elevated) 3x10
1a: Hip thrust 3x10
1b: 45 degree hypers 3x15
Cardiac output 30mins (140-155 bpm)
The general rule of how much time you take off has to do with what level you are at.
On one end of the spectrum you have the top tier 100m Olympic Champion such as Ben Johnson who used to take up to 1 full month off but here is someone who was traveling around the globe monthly and running times no others have run.
On the other end of the spectrum you have the beginner who can’t afford much time off but possibly the structure would be a week or two of low intensity training performed 4, 5 or 6 days per week. Added into that would be continued therapy and active recovery accordingly.
The summary is it’s a relative amount of time off for the competitive person male or female.
Sunday:
Warmup B
3x5x100 (17s/60sec)
Db incline 3x15
A1: Back circuit: 2sets
Pullups x6 60s
Lat pd under x8 60s
Floor chinups pronated x10 3m
A2: Db jm press 3x10
B1: Side lying lat raises 3x15
B2: Db hold 2xmax 60s
C1: Db flys 2x15
C2: 4 way neck 2x10 r60s
Week 2:
Friday:
Cardio choice 10m+Dym E
Squat 3x10+3x8
Rev lunge 3x8
Rdl 3x12
1a: Hip thrust 3x10
1b: Pull thru 3x12
Cardiac output 30m (140-155 bpm)
High volume alert!!!
Saturday: 1600
Bench 3x10 3x8
A1: Seated row 3x12
A2: Shoulder complex 3x10
B1: Pushdowns 3x12
B2: Db hammer curls 3x12
C1: Snatch Shrugs 3x20
C2: 4 way neck 2x10
Warmup S
4x7x60 (10s/30r)
Monday:
Cardio choice 10m+Dym F
Mid thigh pull 5x5
Podium Trap bar deadlift 3x10
Db split squat (rear foot elevated) 3x10
1a: Hip thrust 3x10
1b: Hypers 3x12
Cardiac output 30m (140-155 bpm)
Tuesday: 1800
Warmup B
3x6x100
Db incline 3x12
A1: Back circuit: 3sets
Pullups x6
Lat pd under x8
Floor chinups pronated x10
A2: Db jm press 3x10
B1: Side lying lat raises 3x12
B2: Db hold 2xmax
C1: Db flys 2x12
C2: 4 way neck 2x20
Week 2 in the books… Feeling stronger the past couple days - let’s see how things go with lower reps in week 3…
Week 3:
Friday:
Cardio choice 10m+Dym E
Squat 8x225 6x245 4x295 8x235 6x255 4x315
Rev lunge 3x8
Rdl 3x10
1a: Hip thrust 3x10
1b: Pull thru 3x10
Cardiac output 30m
Pb: Barbell squat 550x1 and Bench press 365x1… Long road to go, that’s what a 3yr layoff do to you…
Early morning session - endless 60’s and upper body… Looking fairly lean this morning…
nothing like the early morning leaness.
Now my calf is fucked up… My body do not like creatine at all…
Damn, what happened? I only take creatine on hard days. If i take creatin everyday my muscles go haywire also
You remember when creatine first came out they recommended to do a loading phase? I use to do this back in my early years of college and every time I would pull muscles… Later researched showed and Charlie recommended me to drop the loading phase and take 2-5grms on hard days. I wanted to push these final 8 weeks, i started a 3 day loading phase follow by 5grms on training days. I wish i was doing my HRV because this injury probably could have been avoided… Not 100% sure if it was the creatine or the higher running volume, various running surfaces etc. Never had any calf injuries, im hoping i can resume lifting on monday and keep my cardiac days the same and move my 2 tempo sessions to the bike while adding in med ball work over these final 4 weeks before moving to strength template.
Already done some easy stim, icing, advil.
Which area of your calf did you blow?
Last year I blew outside of my right calf, this year it was the inside of my left calf. Back when I did that creatin loading i would pull a groin or ham. Never failed. Now its only hard days. Back when loading, I’d get strong as shit and my muscle would be rock solid. Good for girls feel on, bad for running.
How bad was the injury. Each time I felt a pop in my calf, I thought I had got hit with a rock.
Ice first 48. Also do stem and ultrasound. After 48 of icing go as much as possible with the stem and ultrasound.
In 3 days if you know a good soft tissue therapist go see them. Let them put you through that pain to get the inflammation out. I saw my therapist twice about 48 hours apart. The first session hurt like a bitch, then the next was much better. In between that I was doing ems and ultrasound on my own. Get a calf compression sleeve and wear it all the time.
I was able to jog today, and I’m able to do all my lifts.
You can do all your lifts now as long as it doesn’t require calf use.
Oh and you can do the bike and pool work
After icing, stim, and advil all day saturday i feel much better this morning (was able to grocery shop etc). Gonna treat all day today and my wife just massaged some heating cream and wrapped with a plastic bag… If all go well i will treat on monday and do upper body with cardiac work on tue and resume lower body and bike tempo on wednesday. I’ll rest on thursday and start my unloading week on friday. The rest of this block 3-4 weeks all the lifting will remain the same but all running will be indoors on bike etc… No biggie its all basic aerobic work.
3 years from not lifting weights at all?