This week, we resume barbell training.  After two weeks of teaching kettlebell classes and barbell skill training, I am over the DOMS threshold for more frequent training and my joints feel much more stable.  It took two weeks of pain, but now I feel good and can get back to daily practice.

Huh?  Aren’t you always yammering about overtraining and overuse injuries?

Yes, as a matter of fact I do.  However, the key to avoiding overtraining and overuse injuries is to work with adaptation and not against it.  The way a person’s body responds to training is unique and a personalized approach is always good.  We often urge people to listen to their bodies, but this can sometimes lead to individuals not pushing themselves hard enough or sticking to a consistent program.  Inconsistencies or deficiencies in appropriate intensity, volume, or training can  actually cause a lot more discomfort and potential for injury than consistent practice.

A lot of adaptation is neurological and for those adaptations to occur, you need to practice.  Just like studying a textbook helps you to learn and maintain knowledge, studying, or practicing movements makes you better at those movements, regardless of load.  And as your body “learns” more about the movement and the associated stresses, you get stronger and more coordinated.  Knowing when to back off and allow adaptation to occur versus getting back into the gym and creating more stress to adapt to is more difficult.

So, to make a long story short, if you want to increase your backsquat, don’t just train with max loads, practice with lighter weights more often.  You’ll find that your capacity to train more frequently will increase. 

So, on to the training schedule!

Monday, October 25th

Snatch 5-4-3-3-3-3
Overhead squat 5×5
Push press 3-3-3-3-3-3

Tuesday, October 26th

Kettlebell training
After warming up, complete 3 rounds of each cycle:

Cycle 1:
15 Goblet squat
15 snatches, each side
1/2 Turkish get-up, 10 each side

Cycle 2:
15 lateral lunges, each side
15 diagonal wood chop, each side
10 windmills, each side
20 double swings

Cycle 3:
15 reverse lunges with clean, each side
15 single swings, each arm
10 squat to single arm press, each side
15 Rotating situp, hold kettlebell in front, rotate to alternate sides

Wednesday, October 27th
Rest Day

Thursday, October 28th
Clean 5-4-3-3-3-3
Clean pull 2-2-2-2-2-2
Jerk 3-3-3-3-3-3

Friday, October 29th
Squat- Pushup-pullup ladder
Perform 1 squat, 1 pushup, 3 pullups
Then, perform 2 squats, 2 pushups, and 3 pullups
Continue until you reach 8-10 rounds keeping the number of pullups at 3.

If you cannot perform a deadhang pullup, perform 10 bodyrows instead.

Saturday, October 30th

Hmmmmm, sandbags maybe?