The way I see it, the two most vocal groups on the recovery/rest issue are 1) the no pain, no gain folks who think you’re weak, and 2) the your-body-is-always-right folks who think the former are steroid abusing neanderthals. I’m just starting to formalize my thoughts on this issue, so chime in if you have a different opinion.

I just wrapped up a week’s worth of travel that included 48 hours of driving to and from Colorado, and little to no sleep on a floor in between. To boot, I ate like crap - sporadic and convenience oriented. During that week, I had what I feel were my two strongest lifting days to date. No PRs mind you, but the reps were higher and I simply felt stronger, like I brought more to the bar. I took the day off yesterday to “rest up”, which included a ton of sleep, paleo friendly food, and no training. Today, I’m lethargic, I feel weak, and I generally feel like I’ve been drugged. But I laced up for my training anyway. I put up the prescribed weight for my progression, yet if felt as if I’d doubled up the increase. I’d slated some conditioning work to follow up the lifts, but by the time I got to that point, I was tapped. So I called it.

This brings me to my point - sometimes, your body is right, and sometimes it isn’t. There is absolutely a difference between overloading and overtraining. Overloading is good, overtraining is bad. Assuming you don’t have a good coach who’s calling it for you, telling the difference between the two can be tough. I have some guesses as to what category the various personalities our clients and athletes bring to the table might fall under, but I’d rather discuss my own experience and how I manage it.

I’m a type AB personality - I fall into both categories, sometimes swinging into type A, and sometimes into type B. When my motivation is up, I can find myself on the edge of overtraining. That generally leads me to burn-out and a subsequent shift into no training at all. Then I’m fighting for the motivation to get my groove back. In the past, I’ve fallen victim to thoughts like, “Man, my body is begging to rest, so I should lay around for 3 months.” Ok, maybe not that dramatic, but you get the point. I’ve since learned to manage my training and balance the ebb and flow of recovery needs. It’s not perfect, but it’s getting better.

Given the outline of my last week, it’s no wonder I feel beat down. Poor food choices, poorer sleep, and general work/life stress to boot have simply primed me for overtraining. So today, I made some choices for the week: 1) condense my strength sessions to two days, 2) change my conditioning sessions to skill work and 3) move that skill work to non-strength days. This buys me a lighter load (no metcons), and more time for recovery over the course of a given day. I’m also forcing myself to be in bed at a particular time ensuring at least 8 hours of sleep. My workouts will be in the afternoons (normal for me anyway) so I’m not forcing myself out of sleep earlier than necessary.

I feel like these choices are a good middle of the road - I’m not giving all training, but I am scaling back. The general intesity of the week is lower. This isn’t new to anyone, though, is it? It’s called deloading. Deloading is an important tool in the arsenal of a strength/fitness coach and any athlete looking to improve their performance. Digging around, it seems most coaches are calling for a deloading week every 4 - 6 weeks. Seems fair, but I think it can/should be dependant on the athlete. This week marks the 6th of my 12 week summer strength cycle and given how shitty I feel, I think a deload is called for. But if you’ve got a good rhythm, if you’re making gains, by all means, stay in your groove. So long as you’re getting adequate nutrition and rest, ride that horse.

The issue arises, though, as to when you are actually in need of some dedicated recovery time and when you might just be feeling lazy. Here’s the questions I came up with for myself:

1. Am I sick or injured? If yes, then it is probably in my best interest to rest up.
2. What’s going on elsewhere? Is my nutrition and sleep up to snuff? Critical factors in many a good coaches opinion.
3. How long have I been feeling sub-par? If it’s just today, am I just being lazy? If it’s been a few days in a row, or if my previous 2 or 3 sessions have suffered, I should consider some deload/recovery time.
4. How long has it been since my last recovery/deload week? If it’s been awhile, even if I’m feeling strong, I might want to consider some deload time. It could ward off a future burn-out.
5. What does my programming look like? Am I overdoing it with conditioning work? CrossFitters are notorious for metcon addiction. Be wary. If you’ve just gone through several months of chippers, maybe it’s time to take a step back and re-examine your goals. And take a break while you’re doing it.

This isn’t rocket surgery, but it helped me to examine where I am this week. I’m comfortable with my decision to deload this week, but I’m eager to kick it back up a notch next week.

DGF

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I just put my dad hat on…

Little Ms. Shortstack is attending an awesome pre-school not far from where we live. She’s head over heels about this place. Her teachers are all great, and I dig all the stuff this tiny person tells me about when I pick her up. It costs a bit more, but it’s well worth it. Except for the food.

As a busy parent, one of the perks of this school is they provide breakfast. I prefer to cook breakfast for the two of us, partly because I know what I’d prefer she eat, but also because it’s a few moments of guaranteed time with her holding (relatively) still. But, being busy and still getting settled in the area, I’ve made use of the school breakfast a handful of times now. The first time I dropped her off with the intent on her eating breakfast at the school, they were having plain scrambled eggs, toast, fruit, and milk. Not horrible, not awesome either. The next time, she got Fruit Loops and fruit. Another time, after staying at her mom’s, it was pancakes with syrup. Noticing the trend? So I looked back at the menu they send us each week, and it’s awful. Sugar, highly processed foods, and very little quality protein (dairy included). Breakfast, lunch, and snacks, all the same.

Take today, for example. I had planned for the two of us to go to dinner after school and have a little frozen yogurt afterwards because she filled up her little responsibility chart dealio this week. We were bantering about her day, when she told me, “Dad! I had a donut with jelly inside!” She’s 3. This was amazing to her. I thought, odd, a donut in the morning. “No, for snack, Dad. The kids had pancakes for breakfast, with syrup and blueberries.” Yesterday was ice cream day, kicked off with more Fruit Loops. Holy Mary…

As a nutrition student, I’m highly engaged right now with what I’m eating and how my daughter eats. I’ve got her to the point where she asks me to cook breakfast because, “Fruit Loops are bad for us, Dad.” I’m proud of that, yet I don’t force her to eat as strict as I do. I don’t deny her sweets here and there, she isn’t reprimanded for her cravings, and I try to teach her moderation when we do splurge. I want her to eat healthy, and I’m at a loss with the disconnect here - awesome intellectual preparation, horrible nutritional foundation. This school has been open for several years; have other parents not thought it odd? There is so much effort towards preparing these kids for a bright future, yet they are being short changed nutritionally. The habits they form now around food will be carried with them into adulthood.

Nutrition in schools has long been a mess, we all know that. I suppose now that I’m staring at it, that it’s my child, and I’m paying top dollar for it, my blood is heating up. Take note parents and educators alike - healthy food is NOT more expensive, and the only way to see change is to demand change. I’m starting simple, with a polite letter to the school director this week. Who knows where that will go, but if it comes down to me providing our own food for her to take to school, so be it.

Taking the hat off…

Today’s Workout

Standing Press

2 x 5, 1 x 8 @ 83#

Front Squat

2 x 5, 1 x 10 @ 135#

Conditioning

4 rounds for time of:

25 x dumbell thrusters @ 20#/arm
200m sprint 

Screwed up the clock but I think I finished right around the 10 min. mark, maybe a little longer.

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I came across a really great read today, second hand via the ultra-knowledgable folks over at Whole9Life. The author states his case for higher carbohydrate profile for hit athletes following the paleo nutrition model. You’ll have to cough up $2.75 to read the whole thing, but it’s well worth it - as is most of the content over at Catalyst Athletics. Here’s the link:

http://www.cathletics.com/zen/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=23_26&products_id=429

Brian’s comments in his introdoctory post got me thinking about trends in my own nutrition. I like the paleo model for my own needs, but I’ve never been fearful of carbohydrates. If anything, when less informed folks try to describe “paleo” as a low carb fad, I’ll usually correc them by saying, “Not, it’s not necessarily low carb. It’s more about the right carbs.” Perhaps that’s an oversimplification, but I always try to redirect them to appropriate sources, such as Whole9Life, Robb Wolf, and the like. 

I’ve noticed a few things in the past 3 - 4 months, particularly with regards to strength training. I’m a tall lanky guy, and my base level of strength in power and olympic lifts is low compared to my overall endurance. I’m addressing that through a focused LP program with my coach. While there is progress, I think it may be slower than it could be. And similar to what Scott Hagnas has described in his article, I’ve got a lot of negatives in my court right now: lack of sleep, low level of energy, and yes, a low libido as I’m overworked and under-rested. I don’t journal my foods, and don’t pay particular attention to macronutrient profiles of my food (i.e. how many grams of protein did I just eat vs. fat vs. carbs?), but I think it’s safe to say I’m low on caloric input, and now that I’m thinking about it, I’m probably stupid low on overall carbohydrates. I eat a big sweet potato after my workouts, and salads accompany most of my meals, but looking back, I think I derailed myself somewhere and actually became “low-carb” without intending to.

It’s hard to argue with the science in Scott’s article (at least for me, since I’m still learning it), but the anecdotal commentary is dead on. Food for thought. Pun intended.

Today’s Training

Hang Power Cleans 5 x 3:

95#, 115, 125 135, 145 - failed on the last rep @ 145#

Deadlifts 1 x 5+:

Warmed up with: 5 x 135#, 3 x 205#
1 x 13 @ 230#

Conditioning:

For time -

400m run, then
3 rounds of:

20 box jumps +
10 dumbell renegade rows @ 30#

then,
400m run 

I finished in 9:34. I was a little wobbly after this one. Could have been the mid-day heat, could have been the pink panties I had on… ;)

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Today I want to welcome and introduce a new contributer to Die Going Forward, Mr. Brian Noyle. Brian and I have been friends and co-workers since 2005-ish(?). We have similar backgrounds and life experience, and are both opinionated about how we individually chase health and fitness. I’m eager to read Brian’s contributions to this blog and the fresh perspective he can offer to what has so far been a solo effort.

Yesterday’s Workout:

Kicked off the strength LP again yesterday. I’m still lacking a little bit of gear in the garage, and am hoping to get that squared away soon. In the meantime, pullups and such will be harder to come by. As far as weight is concerned, I looked back at my journals and set my expected loads to 10% less than the last recorded efforts. I hit my rep numbers, but I am surprised that the level of intensity was so much higher than I expected at those lower weights.

Primary Lifts

Bench Press: 2 x 5, 1 x 10 @ 115# (previous entry had me at 1 x 16 @ 124#)
Squat:  2 x 4, 1 x 6 @ 165# (previous entry had me at 1 x 10 @ 187#)

Supplemental

OHS: Find 1RM in 5 attempts - 65#, 95# (fail), 75#, 80#, 95# 

My last OHS entry had me lift 85# x 12, so my 1RM result disappointed me. Again, the layoff is likely the primary culprit. The weakness was definitely in my shoulders, less so in my legs or back.

L-Sits: 60 seconds (cumulative)

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Popped into CrossFit Fishers today for their (free) Saturday session. They run team wods on Saturdays, offering up a coveted WWF belt to the winning team’s leader. I was placed on Trisha’s team, so we aptly named our team after “Tenacious Trish’”. We won, but it was close.

Alright, so we had two teams of 5 run the following:

200m relay, then:

n x pushups
n x knees to chest
n x overhead lunges
n x goblet squats

where n was 5, 10, 20, 30. The rules were that you only did 5 reps at a time, so the movements were done relay style as well. The 200m relay was repeated at the top of each round.

It was sort of a complicated Rx, and I was a little unsure of how it would play out, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I haven’t done a team wod in a long time, and being new to the area, it was a great way to meet some new folk.

Locally grown, organic burger and sweet potato fries for lunch, and I’d call that a good day.

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I knew it would happen. DOMS! My legs have been ridiculously sore since Monday’s workout. I thought I scaled it back enough, but I was wrong. Oh well. Rest on Tuesday and a light movement session yesterday seemed to help. I was able to do a full workout today without too much trouble. This week was my ramp-up towards restarting my LP strength program on Monday. In conjunction, I start classes with Integrative Nutrition Institute start on Monday as well. I’ll be doing a Whole 30 to celebrate the start of that year long nutrition and health counseling education. Take that, Monday!

Today’s Workout

Warm-up:

3 rounds of the following - 1 min. jump rope + 10 squats + 10 pushups + 10 situps + 10 good mornings @ 45#

Conditioning:

Followed along with EmerFit.com, but changed it to as many rounds as possible in 15 min.:

With a 95# bar, AMRAP in 15 minutes of - 5 deadlifts + 5 hang power cleans + 5 thrusters.

I got 6 rounds and stopped at 12 minutes and change.

I liked this workout. The deadlifts were easy, the hang power cleans started to tax my grip, and the thrusters just sucked. But, those 95# thrusters represent a boost in weight from my previous ground to overhead session by 15#. And that’s after this month long break. Pretty stoked with that result, and I’m even more amped to finish my LP and getting back to regular conditioning work.

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1st official workout in the new digs. The garage is far from set up, but it can’t wait any longer. Hey, did you know there’s humidity in the midwest? And that a 3pm workout - outdoors - is significantly harder in said humidity? Whatev, we still got after it. I haven’t seen pukie in awhile. I heard him walking down my street, but he never showed up.

This first week of workouts will be geared towards greasing the groove after 5 weeks of little to no training. I’m planning on jumping back into the remainder of my strength program next week, while programming some GPP for my GF and friends. More on that later.

For today, the CrossFit main site hero WOD is fitting for a 4th of july session: “Morrison”. We’ve modified it a bit since we were lacking some gear and are just coming off a break. 

The formal WOD looks like:

50-40-30-20-10 for time of:

Wall Ball @ 20# +
Box Jumps @ 24# +
Kettlebell Swings @ 24kg/16kg

Our scaled/subbed version was:

Deadlifts - 5 x 5, then:

30-25-20-15-10 for time:

Kettlebell Goblet Thrusters @ 16/12kg +
Tuck Jumps +
KB Swings @ 16/12kg

Steph pulled: 55#, 65, 75, 95, 105 then finished the metcon in 23:06.

Nick pulled: 135, 155, 185, 195, 205 then finished the metcon in just under 18:00. As expected from a break, workout was difficult, and the heat/humidity completely took me by surprise. I’m hardle recovered 20 minutes later. Headed to the cold pool with an ice water in hand. Catch you next round.

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1st official workout in the new digs. The garage is far from set up, but it can’t wait any longer. Hey, did you know there’s humidity in the midwest? And that a 3pm workout - outdoors - is significantly harder in said humidity? Whatev, we still got after it. I haven’t seen pukie in awhile. I heard him walking down my street, but he never showed up.

This first week of workouts will be geared towards greasing the groove after 5 weeks of little to no training. I’m planning on jumping back into the remainder of my strength program next week, while programming some GPP for my GF and friends. More on that later.

For today, the CrossFit main site hero WOD is fitting for a 4th of july session: “Morrison”. We’ve modified it a bit since we were lacking some gear and are just coming off a break. 

The formal WOD looks like:

50-40-30-20-10 for time of:

Wall Ball @ 20# +
Box Jumps @ 24# +
Kettlebell Swings @ 24kg/16kg

Our scaled/subbed version was:

Deadlifts - 5 x 5, then:

30-25-20-15-10 for time:

Kettlebell Goblet Thrusters @ 16/12kg +
Tuck Jumps +
KB Swings @ 16/12kg

Steph pulled: 55#, 65, 75, 95, 105 then finished the metcon in 23:06.

Nick pulled: 135, 155, 185, 195, 205 then finished the metcon in just under 18:00. As expected from a break, workout was difficult, and the heat/humidity completely took me by surprise. I’m hardle recovered 20 minutes later. Headed to the cold pool with an ice water in hand. Catch you next round.

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Again Faster shipment just arrived. Bar, bumpers, rack… It’s been nearly a month since my last strength training, and only a few metcons sprinkled in there to boot. Can’t wait to get the garage put together. 

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