#progressiveaspirations

So guys, a quick recap on the USAPL meet from this Saturday. Basically, i went in with a plan and i executed. I wanted to qualify for nationals while being conservative enough to not need much recovery post meet. So, all of my attempts were loads that i have at least doubled or singled with and RPE of 8.5-9, except for my deadlift. I opened at 515 on deadlift and was pretty stoked to attempt a PR as my opener felt great. So, i took a long shot of 540 and missed it. So, to follow the plan I simply didn’t take my third attempt as it would of been to taxing toward my recovery. The next day I chilled at the beach, ate a slight surplus of food, and got a great night sleep. Come Monday, just 2 days later, i was training at full intensity. Mission achieved.

I am now starting a low intensity volume block. Some things that i am doing in this block that i haven't done regimentally in the past are adding some variations that are aimed to target weak points in my lifts. Most perioisation models lay out increased variation from competition movements while for out from the competition itself. I disregarded this for a while. Today i actually learned the basis behind that recommendation.

 So here is the one thing i learned today part of my blog: the cerebral cortex responsible for motor function can grow, contrary to popular belief, all through adulthood. Not only this, but it can literally grow within MINUTES of some repetition of a motor pattern. New dendrites and synapses can be synthesized, and you can become neurally more efficient. Applying this to training, my introducing variation, the nervous system can learn new movement patterns and recruit different muscle groups in synergy to give you a more efficient lift. If there variations are specific to your competition movement, and even more importantly emphasize your weak points in the competition movements, you can see some great carry over from the variations just from the neural adaptations. Not to mention structural adaptations to weak muscles that may be partly responsible for the weak point in your competition movement. Additionally, my accessory work is geared more towards improving my lifts rather than working on show muscles, although i still expect to see am improved physique.

On top of the variability added to my training block, i have actually decreased the frequency of my squats and deadlifts. Yes, i would argue with anyone that frequency is better compared to training movements less frequently, BUT only if you have a work capacity great enough for the level of frequency you are performing, and also depending on what phase of your training block you are in. I was squatting and deadlifting 4x/ week which lead me to an overreached state (although it was planned) and also lead to some overuse hip tendonitis. So, cutting that back the frequency will allow better recovery for me as well as mitigate the hip issues to allow me to perform at my best more often. 

As far as nutrition, i will be eating in a slight surplus as i am trying to improve to my max potential over this 12 week training block for nationals. I am looking to gain around 4 lbs in 8 weeks for the whole of my accumulation block and the majority of the intensive training, with 4 weeks at the end there to shed a kg or so or even just maintain and cut water. We shall see. Macros are bumped up to 60/315/180 for now.

I am going to attempt to share with you how I got started and how I ended up going for what I am going for today. This will not be an easy task, as I would be typing for hours and hours if I wanted to remember every detail, so I will keep it as concise as possible.

I started training at age 15. I was a very troubled kid who was getting in all sorts of trouble all of the time. Lets just say I was headed down the wrong road. At first the gym was just something to do with my dad, who actually got me into the weight room for the first time. Soon, I branched off and started training with my best friend so we could try different routines; all the while it was keeping me off of the streets. At this point, my drive to train was to impress people with my physique and to be able to defend myself. After no time at all training on our own, I started getting extremely interested in how everything works and what we should be doing to be getting the best results. I completely turned from my harmful ways and put all of my focus on the gym (and my new girlfriend who also helped me turn over a new leaf, and who I am still with today) Thus, I delved into the literature (unscholarly) that is provided online so abundantly. Eventually we ran 5x5 and made all kinds of strength gains. This was my first real taste of results and it hooked me even more. Next, some inspirations came upon me like Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler, the mass monsters. At this point I wanted to become a bodybuilder. I trained without any structure except looking at what the pros did for about 2 years and progress was always slow. This is noteworthy though; I recall a time when one of my friends told me I should just be a powerlifter rather then a bodybuilder. The reason he said this was because when given a choice, I tended to lift in lower rep ranges, move some heavy weight (quite sloppily I might add), and just focus on strength. And this was true, my natural inclination was to train heavy and get stronger.

           So now we are probably around year 3. I picked up a bodybuilding coach, and he had good intentions (I think) but he was just bad. The problem was he didn’t know how to train drug free athletes, but he definitely made an individual plan for me. So, I moved on to a bigger bodybuilder who I figured knew more and would be a better coach. Unfortunately, this guy was worse. He gave out generic plans and his answers to questions were “just follow the plan”. So, I figured he was just a bodybuilder trying to fund his prep, but he has a great physique, so I found who was coaching him. Now this guys charged 250 a month, had me eat 200 dollars worth of food each month, and had me pay 150 dollars worth of supplements (by his sponsor company) monthly. It was an arm for a leg, and if I might add he did not even personalize my plan.

             Later I signed with 3DMJ and saw what real, genuine coaches are like and they set the standard for how id likes to treat my athletes. Even better, they specialized in drug free athletes and they knew their shit. I learned a lot from the coaches and the community there. I began using powerlifting as a means to stay on task in bodybuilding offseason, and I grew a passion for competing in powerlifting that matched the passion I had for learning about the human body and how it responds to different stimuli.