If progress motivates … I am at full motivation. About 2.5 months ago, I started working out at a “regular gym” (ie, not a CrossFit gym), following Power Athlete’s CrossFit Football Amateur programming pretty closely (my roommate is CFFB/Power Athlete staff and amazing at life/lifting, so this is helpful). The main reasons:
- I want to focus on strength training. I get plenty of cardio from the sports I enjoy: football, volleyball, basketball, biking, and vinyasa yoga.
- The set time of a CrossFit class just wasn’t working with my schedule, which meant I wasn’t working out enough (I had dropped to only around 2 gym sessions per week, low for me). On my own, I can sneak in and out in the mornings, at lunch, or even later in the evenings—not just after work. The gym also gives me the flexibility to make more yoga classes—aka more Restoratives classes, which are basically super important stretching and meditation, not “exercise”. [Right now I’m averaging one vinyasa, one restorative class per week]
The results have far exceeded my expectations. And as a result, I have been even more motivated to stay committed to the programming—success begets success.
Check out these BIG numbers:
- Squat: 250# for 3×5 (raw)(max test 11/23 was 275# BUT this will be higher next time I test)
- Deadlift: 325# for 5RM (shattering max test 11/23 at 325# so this will be higher next time I test)
- Power clean: 180# (previous tested max ~5 months ago was 165#)
- STRICT pullups in a row: 4 (from 0 a mere 2 months ago!)
AND ALSO I CAN DO THE SPLITS.
Didn’t see that one coming, didja? Yup, I can now do the splits. And a headstand. And side Crow. Are yoga gainzzz a thing?! That’s kinda anti-yoga.
While discussing my progress with said jedi roomie, she pointed out that my success was awesome but also the combination of a perfect storm of factors, which I think are important to mention.
- Volume adjustments. Most of last year, I was still coming off of my hamstring injury—forced complete rest. So when I added more strength training volume, my body was ready. Think like a huge training cycle.
- Volume adjustments part two. I cut back on flag football to only playing once a week, which cuts down significantly on the cortisol demands I was making on my body. While it didn’t feel like football was “tiring” me out, it was taking a toll on my body that impacted my ability to gain strength.
- Yoga adjustments. That whole listen-to-your-body thing works. I’ve been doing lots more restorative and yin, and less vinyasa or hot/bikram. Forgoing medium-time isometric holds means in simplified form that my muscle fibers aren’t taxed when I get them under heavy loads and ask them to lift them up. And the meditative state means my mind and spirit are in the right place—for gainzzzz.
- Get yo mind right. In that same vein, we obviously just got through the holidays, when I got to spend tons of time with my family, who I love very much, in beautiful locales such as Park City and Austin. These vacays and mini breaks allow for moderate and natural strength de-loading as well as the less-quantifiable mental recovery. Being with people you love = beneficial for attacking a training cycle.
- Nutrition. It cannot be ignored that because many of my friends are cutting back on booze, I also cut back on social drinking for the past two months. Body just feels better. The body simply doesn’t function as well when you tax it with alcohol. I still enjoy adult beverages, just not as many.
Just food for thought if you’re itching to change programs/see new results!