Monday

I came to the realization today that I'm on the cusp of being over trained. My sleeping sucks, my recovery is horrible, everything feels heavy, and it's right where I want to be. Being over trained a few weeks out from a competition is actually a good thing, as long as you manage it properly. I am going to severely limit my volume and intensity over the next 2.5 weeks. In a previous post I outlined my plan heading into the meet. I may tweak it a bit depending on how I'm feeling.

The reason over training at this point is a good thing is called "supercompensation." Supercompensation can happen in many forms. In this case my body is worn down and not recovering very well. As I give my body the proper rest from training and eat a good diet (increased protein, slight increase in carbs and fat) it is going to recover to a state that was better than before. Here is an example: lets say at the end of a hard training cycle I can squat 455x5 with the last rep being an absolute grinder. I then take a deload week to recover. The next week I come back and do 465x5 with the feeling that I could have done another rep or done five with an even greater weight. My body recovered and built itself back stronger to accommodate for the stress that I was putting it through.

This is one reason why some people never progress in the weight room. They never give their bodies a break to rest, recover, and build back up stronger than it was before. The body is an amazing machine and if you treat it well it will do amazing things for you.

That said here is what I did today.

DE Bench: 8x3 @175 w/ 5 chains/side
Standing Press: 3x5 @ 135
Weighted Dips: 3x5 w/ 45#
w/
Weighted Chins: 3x5 w/ 453
Internal/ External Rotators: 2 sets each

Song of the Day:

“Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” -Ralph Marston