humbled

Nothing gets me more interested in programming than getting injured. I look at training modalities like a starving man looks at a Chiles menu. Ohhhh ya those fucking kettlebell jalapeno poppers gaaaaargle snarf snarf.

I finally get war story bros even though I still hate them. When someone says I used to deadlift as much as you before I took an arrow in the knee, they may actually be genuine and not moving the goalposts. I have no idea if I'll ever be able to deadlift 2x bw again and frankly, I don't give a shit. My priorities have shifted from get huge and strong at all costs to - be mobile in shape and explosive. 

I am humbled by this neck injury. I am also embarrassed. Every back injury I had was an opportunity to get a jacked upper body and I squandered my time. I had no idea how integral neck health was to literally all movements, so this injury has been as damaging psychologically as it has been physically. For the past year I've been more or less ignoring the problem. This was a mistake. I've been able to lift what I want but at a VERY low level. Wtf is the point? Eventually the pain and the numbness got worse and I had to back off completely. In retrospect, it would have been a better idea to lose progress for 3 months in recovery instead of 1 year of shitty workouts where I lost progress anyways.

This by no means STOP EVERYTHING. I still maintain that physical activity is the lubricant needed for recovery. A true war story bro just gives up. We aren't giving up. We are pivoting.

Things I've learned bullet style

- physical therapy doesn't necessarily know wtf they're doing. If what they are asking you to do hurts or makes the problem worse and their response is well just try harder, leave.

- lower body options that do not load the neck exist in spades: bw squats, bss, sled drags (a+++++). These are all low impact and can be done every day. 

- work on your grip every other day. 

- when you return, a heavy emphasis on chest mobility, kb oly variations, and neck strengthing is in your future.

- daily trap self massage is money. Professional massage is a must and not a luxury. Strive to go 2x a month 

There is no reason to get out of shape because you can't do hard or heavy movements. Something > nothing always.

justa singles

I tried a Justa singles routine years ago. What did I get? Just the ability to pull 405 like it was air. So obviously I quit saying that it was a dumb routine and I could do better. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Justa singles falls extremely well into daily training. The piece I missed last time was ONLY doing Justa singles. This is one of the strats Dan John designates as easy strength - focus on a single quality then GO PLAY YOUR SPORT. 

Well, my sport is getting jacked and mobile to play with my future kids. Yolo. As long two things are avoided - failure, excessive lower back loading - multiple daily sessions have felt amazing.

How we do

Morning

Warmup - sled or suitcase carry

Justa singles (3-20min)

Ab wheel 10 reps

Curls

Afternoon (grab bag)

Kb press hypertrophy ladders

Kb snatches

Suitcase carries

Explosive pushups

peas and carrots by bodypart

Last post: eatin your fuckin peas and carrots. I.e. doing the things you dont want to do so you can get to the fun stuff.

Back

Bulgarian split squats

McGill big 3, heavy focus on side planks

Suitcase carries for distance

Leg curls

Neck 

Standing tucks

Planks and side planks

Suspension rows

Shoulders

Suspension rows

Releasing those fucking rear delts

peas and carrots

No one likes peas and carrots. Name one fuckin person who says ah fuck you know i cant wait to get home...danny, to eat mom's homemade peas and carrots. If you know someone that is like this get better friends.

What are your training peas and carrots? Something that you know is good for you and you damn well should being doing on the reg but arent. You arent until life tells you to. And then what? Then you have to eat a lot of peas and carrots to catch up to a daily level of peas and carrots. That's way too many fuckin peas and carrots.

My peas and carrots? Easy.

- ab work

- neck work

Two things that when I've got them locked in I'm unstoppable. But guess what. Theyre not fun. Theyre not good. I hate them and i hate them and i hate them. But when i eat peas and carrots, everything else falls into place. I get to eat the things i really want to eat. So get over what you dont want to do so you can have dessert.

And dont forget, eat your fuckin peas and carrots.

injury workarounds

If it causes pain or the injury to get worse, don't do it. I could stop right there, but this is another lesson I've had to learn time and time again.

Your body is pretty fantastic at giving feedback when something isnt right. Often, this feedback can come weeks or months before the actual fuuuucccckkkk. And that's exactly what most injuries are. They arent the 'well i did one weird thing and my body didnt like it.' Oh no no. That's what i tell God, my wife, and the gram. It's more like, ya my neck is constantly nagging at me and i have to foam roll this giant knot in my back daily to avoid pain but ill just do some farmers to stretch it out. This is a child talking.

The fact is, the more pain free days you have, then the more pain free days you will have. Read that again Roger. If you are pain free for 3 months after an injury while still staying mobile and active, you won the prize. If you are over the main ouch but still feel pain 3/7 days of the week, you have not addressed the problem.

Fast forward to today. For me, working around an injury satisfies the first sentence of this blog. Whatever you do, it does not hurt or cause the injury to last longer. 

Status report: neck injury

- acute pain in neck when it stretches towards my right side.

- extreme weakness in my left arm.

- extreme pressure felt in my neck when i assume a pushup positon.

This counts out most bodyweight pulls and presses, barbell squats, barbell deadlifts, and (sad enough) keg carries. This sucks, but more importantly it leaves behind some gems that can be exploited. DB floor press, ghr, sled drags, light farmers walks, high angle bw rope rows, and bulgarian split squats. This, is, a nice little corner I'm backed into.

All of the nono list items are on hold. My goal is to remain pain free for a month before venturing outside of my hole. This leaves a month to get amazing at movements ive never really paid attention to before.

New rule: 

Every workout has a feeler tab. What hurt. Is it persistant. Scale from 1 to 10. Be aware and remember.

Brain droppings 9/12/21

Everyone should be prioritizing:

• Their conditioning
• Their knees, neck, abs, and spinal erectors.

I should never, ever, give anyone fitness advice. Besides the plain fact that I'm a poor model to build off of, the universe tends to break me via a karmic reaction. Me giving advice = me getting hurt. 

One meal a day (OMAD) is fucking fantastic and an easy way to feel great. At my peak last year, I was leaner than my 20s self, had no injuries to speak of, and could visibly see my arms/shoulders stretching my t-shirts. All the while, I thought I was wasting time because I was unable to squat, deadlift, or oly lift. My biggest change was OMAD was a staple in my life. Funny that.

I've never done a deload past my brief jaunt with 5/3/1. I also have failed to make meaningful progress over the past 6 years and have accrued an impressive amount of injuries. I'm sure these things are unrelated.

Daily low impact work feels great on the joints. My right knee went from 'shit do I need surgery' to 'nope I'm fine' in a week. Babying an injury only allows for scar tissue to take up residence.

Most barbell movements just don't feel great anymore. I should feel disappointed but I'm not. I depended on pseudo oly moves (snatch high pulls, power cleans) to feel fast and lean out. While these movements definitely helped from a speed component, they have safer alternatives (see: KB swings, cleans, and snatches) and are overall not needed if I just lose some god damn weight. Seeing video/pics of myself from my height of oly moves, I really was not as lean as I thought I was. Weird enough, I bet if I lost 30lbs, I would get faster. 

I love mythical strength's blog post about granting permission. Do you want to do something? Instead of researching for 10yrs, just try it. I let a Layne Norton video lambasting fasting make me second guess OMAD. Why should I care what the science says when I know fasting feels great, makes me look great, and generally has very little impact on overall performance.

morning power, afternoon condition

Morning: Quick and the dead 40reps

KB swings: done in 5s

Power pushups: done in 5s

Note: Left the workout feeling awesome.

Afternoon: Random condition 15min

Jump rope x100

BW squat x40

60lb KB suitcase carry 30ft (each hand)

Repeat  

Note: Left the workout feeling great but sweaty af.