Deload this week. Didn't really have a plan, just went in and did whatever my heart fancied. I've got a little more stress than I normally do right now (goddam Packers). Only one thing to do in that situation...blast some punk rock with some NWA and Public Enemy sprinkled in and get the fuck after it.
Pause Squat: 135x5; 185x5; 225x5x3
I paused for about a two count at the bottom of each rep. I might add these in to help with strength out of the hole. We'll see.
Deadlift Carry and Load: 155x1; 265x1; 308x6
I loaded a bar on the turf. I put two pulling blocks that are just below my knee in height ten yards away. I then picked up the bar, walked it the ten yards, set it on the blocks, came around to the other side of the bar, picked it up, and walked it back to the starting point. It was more of a grip and cardio challenge than anything
Slide Board Leg Curls: 3x15
w/
DB Arm Curls: 3x12
This next part will make some people happy. I put my old football cleats on and went to the turf and did about twenty minutes of route running. Joe and Matt play for a local semi-pro football team and have been in my ear about playing for them. I may or may not be getting the itch. Time will tell.
Song of the Day:
"It is foolish to pretend that one is fully recovered from a disappointed passion. Such woulds always leave a scar." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Saturday
Log Clean and Press: 5x5 ended with 160ish
Bent Row: 3x6 @ 260ish
Lateral Raise: 3x10
Band Pulls: 3x30
Wrist Curls: 2x25
I"m going to deload next week. I'm still a touch sore from squatting on Tuesday. This is one week before I had hoped to plug a deload in but it's ok. No big problem. Everything felt pretty good except I'm feeling a pinch in my lower left back. I think my glutes are just tight and it's causing a little irritation in my sciatic nerve. Just need to stretch and roll it. Time for football and food.
Song of the Day:
“Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Bent Row: 3x6 @ 260ish
Lateral Raise: 3x10
Band Pulls: 3x30
Wrist Curls: 2x25
I"m going to deload next week. I'm still a touch sore from squatting on Tuesday. This is one week before I had hoped to plug a deload in but it's ok. No big problem. Everything felt pretty good except I'm feeling a pinch in my lower left back. I think my glutes are just tight and it's causing a little irritation in my sciatic nerve. Just need to stretch and roll it. Time for football and food.
Song of the Day:
“Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Thursday, September 23, 2010
200th Post
Blogger tells me this is the 200th post of 200 Pounds Is 200 Pounds. Thanks everyone for all the support and visits. I hope to keep doing this for as long as people keep enjoying it. Again, if there are any subjects or if you have any particular questions, whatever they may be, that you'd like to see discussed please leave them in the comments.
Today was a bench day. I definitely don't get as excited about these days as I do for squat days. I think this is part of my problem. I need an intensity and attitude adjustment when it comes to benching. It's all mental which hopefully isn't too hard to fix. You never know what's going on up there.
Bench: 265x3
DB Bench: 80sx10, 90sx8, 100sx6
w/
Sgl. Arm Row: up to 120sx15
TRX Inverted Row: 2x15
w/
Band Pull Aparts: 2x20
Piston Triceps: 2x20 each arm
w/
TRX Arm Curl: 2x12
Totally wiped after this. I didn't stop sweating for about an hour after I was finished. I needed a towel just to keep my face dry. Overall a decent session. Not the best but it'll do for now.
Song of the Day:
“Who is not satisfied with himself will grow, who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things" -Chinese Proverb
Today was a bench day. I definitely don't get as excited about these days as I do for squat days. I think this is part of my problem. I need an intensity and attitude adjustment when it comes to benching. It's all mental which hopefully isn't too hard to fix. You never know what's going on up there.
Bench: 265x3
DB Bench: 80sx10, 90sx8, 100sx6
w/
Sgl. Arm Row: up to 120sx15
TRX Inverted Row: 2x15
w/
Band Pull Aparts: 2x20
Piston Triceps: 2x20 each arm
w/
TRX Arm Curl: 2x12
Totally wiped after this. I didn't stop sweating for about an hour after I was finished. I needed a towel just to keep my face dry. Overall a decent session. Not the best but it'll do for now.
Song of the Day:
“Who is not satisfied with himself will grow, who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things" -Chinese Proverb
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Overtraining and Central Nervous Fatigue
The idea of overtraining with a resulting decrease in performance is not a new phenomenon. Russian scientists have been researching ways of staving it off for decades (1). Overtraining is also relatively easy to recognise as long as you know what you are looking for. Recognizing the symptoms is the easy part. Identifying the physiological processes that cause it is a bit more tricky. First the easy part.
Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining
There are two different types of recognizable overtraining, A-overtraining and B-overtraining (1). Both have different accompanying symptoms. A-overtraining is much tougher to recognize since the symptoms are less drastic and not easily noticeable (1). B-overtraining, however, is easy to recognize. There are many noticeable symptoms involving different physiological and psychological markers. Among them are: increase in blood pressure, impaired coordination, decrease in weight, loss of vigor, chronic fatigue, mood swings, lack of motivation, reduced appetite, increased recovery time, decrease in immunity, sleep disturbances, and an elevated resting heart rate (1, 2, 4, 6).
Causes
The causes of overtraining are as varied as the signs and symptoms. In reviewing the research it seems that the causes and effects become a cycle that can get out of hand of left unchecked. Much research has been done on the oxidative stresses placed on the body during exercise. While this is true and is necessary in order for the body to adapt, there is evidence that a decrease in the body's ability to handle this stress can lead to overtraining syndrome (OTS) (6). When this happens there is often a decrease in performance as mentioned above. While getting enough antioxidants through the diet to supplement the body's own stores is important, there is not sufficient evidence to suggest supra maximal antioxidant supplementation (9). This is not as cut and dried as it seems. In my opinion when one does not put as much effort into rest and recovery as they do into their actual exercise regime this sets them up to not be able to handle the oxidative stress and the accompanying OTS.
There has also been some research done on neurotransmitters in the brain. Researchers hypothesise that when there is an increase in 5-HT (serotonin) there is a hastening of fatigue in the muscles, and vise versa. The research that I have found has been limited to acute bouts of exercise rather than the accumulative effects of a long term exercise regime. Again, this is not as cut and dried as it seems. There are many different mechanisms at play here since there are many different systems that go into brain function. Due to this it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of OTS (7).
To be honest I couldn't care less what chemicals in my body are involved in the cause of the OTS. What concerns me is what chemicals are effected by the OTS.
Consequences of Overtraining
This is probably the number one reason I am going to put more time into my recovery. Many studies have shown that overtraining in both men and women causes a decrease in leutinizing hormone (2, 3, 4, 6, 8). This hormone is central in creating sex hormones in both sexes. In females decreased estrogen often leads to and decrease in body fat and amenorrhea, or a loss of menstruation. In men it means a decrease in testosterone. With this comes a decreased ability to build muscle mass, muscle catabolism, loss of sex drive, and an overall loss of awesomeness (4). Unacceptable. I don't lift to live with the symptoms of low testosterone. I lift to be the very picture of male virility. Lot's of chest hair and strong as hell.
Since overtraining usually involves an impaired ability to recover trying to push through it may cause overuse injuries (6). These can include shin splints, and stress fractures in runners, and muscle strains and tears in resistance training (4). I, for one, don't want to be sidelined with an easily preventable injury. I get so frustrated when I'm hurt I could strangle a drifter. It sucks ass to say the least. Sometimes, however, these small injuries can be a blessing in disguise. I'm talking hooker-dressed-as-a-clown blessing in disguise. Scary at first, but awesome in the end.
What To Do About It
The best way to combat overtraining is to prevent it in the first place. This means adequate nutrition, monitoring all the warning signs and symptoms, and, first and foremost, proper rest and recovery (2). Proper rest and recovery includes sleep and taking a proper amount of rest days. When you sleep is when you release the most amount of growth hormone than at any other time of day (10). Growth hormone is central in rebuilding and repair. It's like a foreman on a construction site. It gets all the different mechanisms for growth and repair into action. "Get off your asses and build these walls!" "Frank, this foundation is cracked! How the hell should I know, fix it!" "You guys see that blond broad with the huge cans walk by? Yeah I yelled something but she didn't look." Yep, that's growth hormone to a T.
Back to the injury part. Hopefully you never get seriously injured in the weight room. But sometime the little nagging injuries are the ones that signal it's time to back off for a bit. This is where deload weeks come in. Deload weeks are not weeks off per se. They are weeks where you do the same lifts you normally do but just at lower weights and sometime lower volume (sets and reps). The purpose of a deload week is to assist in recovery and recharge the batteries for the next few weeks of increased activities. Taking regular deloads really helps to stave off overtraining and if you do them right with proper intensities (weight), volume, sleep amounts, and nutrition you may even come back stronger than when the deload started.
Wrap Up
Overtraining is a part of training. Sometimes it creeps up slowly and sometimes it rears its ugly, wart infested head in the form of an injury. The old remedy of telling an overtrained person to stop being a pussy is very outdated and at times inappropriate. With proper rest, recovery, nutrition, and a smart training plan with deloads sprinkled in, it can be avoided.
Overtraining is not, however, an excuse to slack in the gym. If the weights you use rarely exceed the pink dumbbells you are probably not overtrained. If you do tricep kickbacks and anything on a bosu ball, you are not overtrained. I could go on but hopefully you get my point. If you encounter someone who does the above mentioned exercise or something similar and complains about being overtrained then calling them a pussy is a viable and entirely appropriate remedy to the situation.
Sources:
Siff, Mel C. (2003). Supertraining. Denver, CO: Supertraining Institute.
Eichner, ER (1995). "Overtraining: consequences and prevention." J Sports Sci. 1995 Summer;13 Spec No:S41-8.
Safarinejad MR, et al. "The effects of intensive, long-term treadmill running on reproductive hormones, hypothalamus-pituitary-testis axis, and semen quality: a randomized controlled study." J Endocrinol. 2009 Mar;200(3):259-71. Epub 2008 Dec 9.
Johnson MB, et al. "A Review of Overtraining Syndrome- Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms."
Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining
There are two different types of recognizable overtraining, A-overtraining and B-overtraining (1). Both have different accompanying symptoms. A-overtraining is much tougher to recognize since the symptoms are less drastic and not easily noticeable (1). B-overtraining, however, is easy to recognize. There are many noticeable symptoms involving different physiological and psychological markers. Among them are: increase in blood pressure, impaired coordination, decrease in weight, loss of vigor, chronic fatigue, mood swings, lack of motivation, reduced appetite, increased recovery time, decrease in immunity, sleep disturbances, and an elevated resting heart rate (1, 2, 4, 6).
Causes
The causes of overtraining are as varied as the signs and symptoms. In reviewing the research it seems that the causes and effects become a cycle that can get out of hand of left unchecked. Much research has been done on the oxidative stresses placed on the body during exercise. While this is true and is necessary in order for the body to adapt, there is evidence that a decrease in the body's ability to handle this stress can lead to overtraining syndrome (OTS) (6). When this happens there is often a decrease in performance as mentioned above. While getting enough antioxidants through the diet to supplement the body's own stores is important, there is not sufficient evidence to suggest supra maximal antioxidant supplementation (9). This is not as cut and dried as it seems. In my opinion when one does not put as much effort into rest and recovery as they do into their actual exercise regime this sets them up to not be able to handle the oxidative stress and the accompanying OTS.
There has also been some research done on neurotransmitters in the brain. Researchers hypothesise that when there is an increase in 5-HT (serotonin) there is a hastening of fatigue in the muscles, and vise versa. The research that I have found has been limited to acute bouts of exercise rather than the accumulative effects of a long term exercise regime. Again, this is not as cut and dried as it seems. There are many different mechanisms at play here since there are many different systems that go into brain function. Due to this it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of OTS (7).
To be honest I couldn't care less what chemicals in my body are involved in the cause of the OTS. What concerns me is what chemicals are effected by the OTS.
Consequences of Overtraining
This is probably the number one reason I am going to put more time into my recovery. Many studies have shown that overtraining in both men and women causes a decrease in leutinizing hormone (2, 3, 4, 6, 8). This hormone is central in creating sex hormones in both sexes. In females decreased estrogen often leads to and decrease in body fat and amenorrhea, or a loss of menstruation. In men it means a decrease in testosterone. With this comes a decreased ability to build muscle mass, muscle catabolism, loss of sex drive, and an overall loss of awesomeness (4). Unacceptable. I don't lift to live with the symptoms of low testosterone. I lift to be the very picture of male virility. Lot's of chest hair and strong as hell.
Since overtraining usually involves an impaired ability to recover trying to push through it may cause overuse injuries (6). These can include shin splints, and stress fractures in runners, and muscle strains and tears in resistance training (4). I, for one, don't want to be sidelined with an easily preventable injury. I get so frustrated when I'm hurt I could strangle a drifter. It sucks ass to say the least. Sometimes, however, these small injuries can be a blessing in disguise. I'm talking hooker-dressed-as-a-clown blessing in disguise. Scary at first, but awesome in the end.
What To Do About It
The best way to combat overtraining is to prevent it in the first place. This means adequate nutrition, monitoring all the warning signs and symptoms, and, first and foremost, proper rest and recovery (2). Proper rest and recovery includes sleep and taking a proper amount of rest days. When you sleep is when you release the most amount of growth hormone than at any other time of day (10). Growth hormone is central in rebuilding and repair. It's like a foreman on a construction site. It gets all the different mechanisms for growth and repair into action. "Get off your asses and build these walls!" "Frank, this foundation is cracked! How the hell should I know, fix it!" "You guys see that blond broad with the huge cans walk by? Yeah I yelled something but she didn't look." Yep, that's growth hormone to a T.
Back to the injury part. Hopefully you never get seriously injured in the weight room. But sometime the little nagging injuries are the ones that signal it's time to back off for a bit. This is where deload weeks come in. Deload weeks are not weeks off per se. They are weeks where you do the same lifts you normally do but just at lower weights and sometime lower volume (sets and reps). The purpose of a deload week is to assist in recovery and recharge the batteries for the next few weeks of increased activities. Taking regular deloads really helps to stave off overtraining and if you do them right with proper intensities (weight), volume, sleep amounts, and nutrition you may even come back stronger than when the deload started.
Wrap Up
Overtraining is a part of training. Sometimes it creeps up slowly and sometimes it rears its ugly, wart infested head in the form of an injury. The old remedy of telling an overtrained person to stop being a pussy is very outdated and at times inappropriate. With proper rest, recovery, nutrition, and a smart training plan with deloads sprinkled in, it can be avoided.
Overtraining is not, however, an excuse to slack in the gym. If the weights you use rarely exceed the pink dumbbells you are probably not overtrained. If you do tricep kickbacks and anything on a bosu ball, you are not overtrained. I could go on but hopefully you get my point. If you encounter someone who does the above mentioned exercise or something similar and complains about being overtrained then calling them a pussy is a viable and entirely appropriate remedy to the situation.
Sources:
Siff, Mel C. (2003). Supertraining. Denver, CO: Supertraining Institute.
Eichner, ER (1995). "Overtraining: consequences and prevention." J Sports Sci. 1995 Summer;13 Spec No:S41-8.
Safarinejad MR, et al. "The effects of intensive, long-term treadmill running on reproductive hormones, hypothalamus-pituitary-testis axis, and semen quality: a randomized controlled study." J Endocrinol. 2009 Mar;200(3):259-71. Epub 2008 Dec 9.
Johnson MB, et al. "A Review of Overtraining Syndrome- Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms."
J Athl Train. 1992; 27(4): 352–354.
Davis JM, et al. "Possible mechanisms of central nervous system fatigue during exercise." Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997 Jan;29(1):45-57.
Tanskanen, et al. "Altered oxidative stress in overtrained athletes." J Sports Sci. 2010 Feb;28(3):309-17.
Meeusen R, et al. "Brain neurotransmitters in fatigue and overtraining." Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2007 Oct;32(5):857-64.
Hartman MJ, et al. "Comparisons between twice-daily and once-daily training sessions in male weight lifters." Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2007 Jun;2(2):159-69.
Konig D, et al. "Exercise and oxidative stress: significance of antioxidants with reference to inflammatory, muscular, and systemic stress." Exerc Immunol Rev. 2001;7:108-33.
Fox SI. (2004) Human Physiology. Madison, WI: McGraw Hill.
Tuesday
Squat: 455x3
Reverse Band Squat: 505x3; 555x2
Deadlift: 530x1,1
Glute Ham: 3x10
w/
DB Shrugs: 3x12
TRX Fallouts: 3x10
I was spent after this. CNS was shot and will probably stay that way until tomorrow. It was a great session though and I was glad I was able to push through it. Everything is feeling good and I feel like I'm progressing nicely. Not too much else to say.
Song of the Day:
“Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Reverse Band Squat: 505x3; 555x2
Deadlift: 530x1,1
Glute Ham: 3x10
w/
DB Shrugs: 3x12
TRX Fallouts: 3x10
I was spent after this. CNS was shot and will probably stay that way until tomorrow. It was a great session though and I was glad I was able to push through it. Everything is feeling good and I feel like I'm progressing nicely. Not too much else to say.
Song of the Day:
“Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday
Bent Row: 245x5x2
Chins (various grip): 5x5
Band Pull Downs: 3x30
Lance, Eric, and Joe all came over to train. Lance had a bit of the bottle flu and wasn't even going to train. He decided to cowgirl up and he ended up hitting a PR on the overhead press. It's weird how it works that way. There have been days when I've been sick or hungover as hell and would go in not expecting much. Then, I have a great session. I'm not advocating getting sauced up the night before an important lift, just that sometimes you have to get shit done in spite of how you feel.
On another note I'm really liking just doing a lot of upper body pulling on my third day. It keeps me fresh and gives me some extra work on a muscle group a lot of people could bring up.
Song of the Day:
"You can't get much done if you only work on the days you feel good." -Jerry West
Chins (various grip): 5x5
Band Pull Downs: 3x30
Lance, Eric, and Joe all came over to train. Lance had a bit of the bottle flu and wasn't even going to train. He decided to cowgirl up and he ended up hitting a PR on the overhead press. It's weird how it works that way. There have been days when I've been sick or hungover as hell and would go in not expecting much. Then, I have a great session. I'm not advocating getting sauced up the night before an important lift, just that sometimes you have to get shit done in spite of how you feel.
On another note I'm really liking just doing a lot of upper body pulling on my third day. It keeps me fresh and gives me some extra work on a muscle group a lot of people could bring up.
Song of the Day:
"You can't get much done if you only work on the days you feel good." -Jerry West
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday
Bench: 275x1; 280x1
DB Standing Press: 3x8
w/
Lat Pull Down: 3x15
Barbell Shrugs: 3x12
w/
Inverted Row: 3x10
Nothing too exciting today. I got in, got my shit done, and got out. Bench went kind of weird. 275 felt heavy and slow, but 280 went up fast and smooth. Sometimes it's weird that way.
I'm not sure if standing presses help my bench or not. I don't really care because I like doing them and they give my upper body some balance. Too much horizontal pressing without as much or more vertical pressing and upper body pulling is a recipe for shoulder injury. I see it all the time in swimmers and old meat heads that don't know any better.
My CNS (central nervous system) is in the very early stages of fatigue syndrome. It's not there yet but if I let it go unchecked it could get bad. It's kind of a weird feeling. You feel tired and extremely weak. It's almost like you feel you have to put in twice the effort to get the same return. I can sometimes be moody, lack motivation to be in the gym, and be a little slower upstairs when this happens. The best way to prevent this from happening is with proper diet and lots of rest between sessions. For those that partake in heavy lifting you may need to take deload weeks to let it recover. In writing this I've stumbled across a great idea for an article. TO THE LIBRARY!!
Song of the Day:
“I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way.” -Robert Frost
DB Standing Press: 3x8
w/
Lat Pull Down: 3x15
Barbell Shrugs: 3x12
w/
Inverted Row: 3x10
Nothing too exciting today. I got in, got my shit done, and got out. Bench went kind of weird. 275 felt heavy and slow, but 280 went up fast and smooth. Sometimes it's weird that way.
I'm not sure if standing presses help my bench or not. I don't really care because I like doing them and they give my upper body some balance. Too much horizontal pressing without as much or more vertical pressing and upper body pulling is a recipe for shoulder injury. I see it all the time in swimmers and old meat heads that don't know any better.
My CNS (central nervous system) is in the very early stages of fatigue syndrome. It's not there yet but if I let it go unchecked it could get bad. It's kind of a weird feeling. You feel tired and extremely weak. It's almost like you feel you have to put in twice the effort to get the same return. I can sometimes be moody, lack motivation to be in the gym, and be a little slower upstairs when this happens. The best way to prevent this from happening is with proper diet and lots of rest between sessions. For those that partake in heavy lifting you may need to take deload weeks to let it recover. In writing this I've stumbled across a great idea for an article. TO THE LIBRARY!!
Song of the Day:
“I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way.” -Robert Frost
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