Dan's Home Resistance Cycle

[Dan]

New Cycle. Based on my last cycle, my goals are:
1) Re-establish healthy eating patterns - blog my weekly compliance to keep myself honest.
2) Finish on a high. I'm going to do 3 weeks work, take a weeks restoration, then start a new cycle, rather than fizz out.
3) Do some resistance work. My last few cycles have had a strong core & prasara focus, with additional work on mobility. I've really enjoyed that, but I started to crave some weights.
4) Try to keep quality restoration between sessions in mind.
5) Keep it simple. I don't want to spread myself too thin, so my goals are - get to class 2-3 times a week, do resistance work 2-3 times week & maintain 90% compliance with diet. I'll probably still do some other stuff, but that's not a goal.

The program itself is a a minimal equipment program I picked up at Precision Nutrition- a mix of some bodyweight work and some light dumbell stuff.

[Dan]

WEEK 1

Thursday 24 April

Warm-up - foot mobility, vibration (1 min), Flow-Fit int x 2, vibration (1 min)
Work-out - mix of excs
Cool-down - bit more vibration work, short walk

RPEDT 927

Was a relief to do this sort of work, my body had been craving it.

[Dan]

WEEK 1 (contd.)

Sunday April 28

Warm-up - foot mobility, vibration (1 min), Flow-Fit int x 2, vibration (1 min)
Work-out - mix of excs - improved at exactly the rate I'd plotted out.
Cool-down - bit more vibration work, short walk

RPEDT 838

Note - no 'dietary compliance' figure for Week 1 - my system was so bad I wasn't even recording compliance, but I guess 50-60%.

Note - for restoration work in this cycle I am using contrast showers and my foam roller. I'll listen to my Anna Wise meditation CD where I have time & inclination (but no fuss, as per my goals - trying to keep it simple).

[Dan]

WEEK 2

Tuesday 29 April
MMA/ BJJ

Wednesday 30 April
Felt tired before workout from doing first martial arts session in weeks night before, but wanted to stick to schedule. Wasn't the best workout, but I feel glad I did it.
Warm-up - foot mobility, vibration (1 min), Flow-Fit int x 2, vibration (1 min)
Work-out - mix of excs
Cool-down - bit more vibration work, short walk

RPEDT 74*6**
* slightly sore knee
** felt tired and wobbly

Thursday 1 May
BJJ/ Kickboxing
Very enjoyable. Did some light sparring. Was exhorted by instructor to use my jab a lot, which I felt I did well. Had slight DOMS on inside of left elbow for next few days from flicking arm out explosively.

Notes:
1) Continued to use foam roller and contrast showers for recovery during the week.
2) Woke up on sat morning with a nasty cold. Didn't do Sunday's workout (slept instead).
3) Am re-reading 'Eat That Frog', as I find it helps me connect with my moral compass.

Dietary compliance for the week: 75% - less than target, but I feel pleased that I have resumed consistently recording progress. I have identified my mid-week planned cheat meals and unscheduled cheats when I am feeling unwell or unhappy as barriers to improved compliance, but am unsure what to do with this thought.

[Dan]

WEEK 3

Between some work pressure and getting sick, was lucky to do a walk most days with my girlfiend.

Tuesday 6 May
Social Soccer


Dietary compliance for the week: 70%

[Dan]

End of Cycle Meditation

What is my definition of fitness?
The ability to do what you want, a joyful connection to natural athleticism.
Includes:
• strength
• power
• balance
• mobility
• movement, a movement palette
• grace
• exuberance
• co-ordination
• flexibility
• stability
• speed
• appropriate mental tools, &
• an ability to ‘tune’ the CNS appropriately ( I’m not sure exactly what this means, but intuitively it feels right.)

What’s most important to me?
• Health
• My martial arts training
• Some exuberance of movement
• Adaptability

How do I assess this cycle? What did I learn from it?
• I got sick again. There were lots of factors, but considering that I wasn’t starting at a point of great fitness, I think the intensity of my workouts didn’t help. I need to moderate my intensity better.
• As a result of being sick and work stuff I logged hardly any training at all – my scheduled workouts or my martial arts training. That sucked.
• I didn’t improve my diet as much as I hoped (more on that later), but I consistently logged my food, which is a positive step.
• I enjoyed doing some resistance work.
• I like the clearly defined end-point of my cycle (3 weeks + 1 weeks recovery).

What compensations does this cycle require?
• Not much in the way of movement patterns – I did a low volume of work & the work I did felt “right”.

What are my weaknesses?
• Lower abs (“if it’s sagging, it’s lagging”)
• Shoulders (ditto)
• Knees and elbows
• My resilience, physical and emotional
• My ability to tune my CNS to the right level (i.e. to ‘fire up’ and ‘cool down’ as needed).

So, what do I feel I need for my next cycle?
I was going to work on fat loss, but I think working on tuning the CNS and working with the lower abs is most important.
Therefore, I’m looking at 2 alternating workouts.
1. Fitball/ lower abs focus (lower intensity)
2. DB Complexes with some additional lower ab work (higher intensity)
I’ll also look to resume my martial arts training, which has taken a hit in recent times,

In each workout I’ll focus on gauging and setting appropriate intensity for the day, and trying for an overall feel of how the CNS is. To do this I’ll work with the RESET materials to look at throttling up and idling down (if these are the correct terms), and let the workouts themselves happen. Given that I haven’t trained much lately, that I haven’t done any Fitball work for ages, and haven’t done any real complexes work at all, I suspect that I can afford to keep intensity low, and I’ll get some cheap adaptations just for showing up.

Other Thoughts
I’ve been reading ‘Simple-ology’ by Mark Jaynor – it’s basically a personal efficiency course. One of the things he talked about that really resonated with me was the idea that you need to apply sufficient attention and energy to your target until you succeed – and to not allow yourself to become distracted.
I’ve got a library of half-read diet and self-help books, and the pattern has usually been the same – I get the book, find it interesting, and really engage with it. I have energy and enthusiasm not just for the book, but I get a general boost across all areas of life. Then, the novelty wears off. I try tough it out (as I’ve been doing with my diet), but end up making excuses, until my energy and attention are depleted. A bit of a low period follows, until the next book arrives…
I can see now that novelty is a free, easy, and temporary ‘cheap hit’ of energy and attention for me – but that it has kept me from doing the hard work to develop my own energy and attention. Now a journey begins…

I still feel that diet is as the key ingredient I need most to get right at this time. In addition to logging my compliance, and following my weekend ritual of food planning and preparation, I will do my best to give this goal as much energy and attention as I need to succeed.

[Dan]

WEEK 4 (RECOVERY)

The aim of this week is to dial back from the preceding weeks and (durrrr) focus on recovery. I can also use this week to prep for the next cycle.

Given that I logged 'stuff all' work over this cycle, this week may be unecessary, but I'm too attached to the idea to give it up just yet.

Friday 9 May
Accupuncturist for a tune up.

Sat 10 May
Beginners Fitball workout (along to DVD) - warm-up plus some technique
Vibration
Throttle Up (along to DVD)
Overall RPEDT 247
Doing a fairly gentle twist in the warm-up stage, my lower back clunked 'out' (although I didn't feel the effect for a day or so). This hasn't happened in ages - I suspect more a reflection on letting my body get out of tune by spending long hours sitting at work, rather than the movement itself. I'll see the chiro tomorrow, and approach this movement with a bit more caution next time.

Tuesday 13
Social Soccer