Build - Working on some lifts that we have not seen for a little while. When we are working up to a heavy weight, remember a couple things. The first being that we are trying to find a heavy weight for the rep range called out, not do a bunch of junk volume early, and get tired before getting heavy. We want to lift enough to warm up and adjust to the load as it increases, but not do so many reps that the volume builds a bunch of unnecessary fatigue. The second is that a heavy weight does have to mean a personal record…It can, but does not have too. And depending on training age and a host of other factors, you may find that you fluctuate week to week….That is ok, and should be expected, if you lifted more last week, and a little less the following week, that does not mean you are weaker, there could be a bunch of contributing factors. Just do what you can when you can, and the more consistent you are, the more gains you will make over time.
Grind - A bunch of variety here this block. Make sure to try and make each interval or round repeatable. Threshold pacing is hard to get right…You are consistently playing with how close you can go to redline, but not crossing over. And as with trying to find a heavy weight, maybe sometimes your intensity is not were it could be, but for whatever reason, you feel like you just don’t have it, and need to back it off a few notches to salvage the day. That is totally fine. The only thing with that is I would pay close attention to how often that is happening. I am guilty of this myself, but really try not to let it become a habit. Sometimes you really do need to back off and let yourself off the hook, and others you need to tell yourself to shut up and try and outwork everybody in the room.
Sustain - A couple Sustain efforts to round out the month. The duration is longer, but the effort should be equal to the task. Still not easy, just less intense because you have to do it longer. Play with speed changes and feel the difference from how you breath and what movements you are doing…Choose weight loads when required that challenge you in the spirit of the workout. Every time domain and strength exercise has its place, we all have biases and things that we would rather do, but having a well rounded approach to fitness is going to give you the best opportunity to explore and enjoy life.
Cool Down - Stretching, core and breathing.
Coach