It being the second day of another new month, I think it's about time to look over the programming and make changes where changes need to be made. First off: I will be finishing up my second go round of the 5/3/1 program this week and must say that I think it's not doing it for me this time. My squat gains have been very noticeable, my strict press gains are there, but extremely minimal, by bench is the same, but it is the deadlifts that have been giving me the most trouble. I have been much more critical about my form, but still, today with my 1+ set being at 415#, I struggled big time. Not good at all. But before anyone decides that the 5/3/1 program just does not work, I must point out that I think I know the reasons behind this.
I have not been getting enough sleep, and I am not feeling good with Paleo. My sleep has been rough because of nerves with preparations for my move out West and getting my business squared away. When I get to sleep, it is tossing and turning, and quite honestly, the best sleep I get is when I nap on the floor after my morning clients. This is very frustrating to me, and I know that I need to figure something out fast if I expect to continue to make gains. The first change is my fuel. I am now on 6 weeks of Paleo (with a couple misses here and there, but for the most part, I have been pretty damn strict). I have been tempted to go all out strict for a few weeks to really see how it works. But the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that I function better with grains in my diet. But that being said, yesterday I went to this place that actually makes their own bread, and I just did not eat it. I don;t now why. Perhaps I am subconsciously wanting to truly test it out. But, then I go back and think that if I am going to put myself on such a restricting diet, I will be going against a belief system I have that restrictions only lead to abuse and negativity (in terms of diet). What this means is that I should not hold back on something I can feel my body is really asking for. I know certain things to be bad for me: sugar, dairy, lots of red meat and shell fish (bad fr ME mind you, perhaps not bad for YOU). So why would I restrict all grains and legumes and cut back on my fruit intake as well? This is my on-going struggle with all this. By all means people, share your opinions! I have a pretty good idea of what I am going to get into over the course of this week, and I will post it all up when I conclude everything, but I am always excited to hear what people think.
In terms of resistance training and conditioning, I am struggling with how minimal my gains have been. So, I am going to cut back for about two weeks on major strength training (even though I posted just a few days ago that August would be a strength month...) and then set up a new program to attack. The main think I know that will be a focus is shoulder strength and core stability/strength. Shoulders are my weakest point, and core strength is something I, and everyone needs to work on forever, so key.
I'll be back to running a bit more; I am mere seconds from all my running goals, and I would love to get out to compete in some trail runs, and, of course, some fun triathlons one shipped out West. So, in the same line of thinking, I know it would hugely beneficial to jump in the pool a few more times a month. Will be doing that for sure.
So much information, so many ideas, so little time! I guess I'll just continue to list them all out and get to them slowly but surly! I would love to post something up every day, but I know that I will get pretty distacted with this move coming in a month, that I may miss a day or two. But I will be sure to get my programming and nutrition is the best I can. I will also be sure to get WOD's posted up on the site each day like I was doing before, that's going to be a habit I will need to have going for some time with the new gym opening in the coming months. Well...time to get to work!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
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