Friday, March 25, 2011

End of the week thoughts.........


I'm not gonna lie, my first week back after the wedding / mini-honeymoon has been rough!  It does feel great normal to be eating quality nutritious food and beating myself up in the gym.

Taking some time off from training heavy and eating whatever I wanted actually did a lot of good mentally (well, at first).  It's crazy that I was craving grilled chicken and huge salad of mixed greens when I got back from vacation.  I did train once in NYC, at least it was something.....

Enough babble, here are some things that have been running through my mind this past week;

-Moderation.  I really don't know what that means.  I know the definition, but I really can't put it into practice.  When I eat I eat.  I put on over 10 lbs. these past two weeks, and I'm surprised I didn't add 20 from all the crap I ate.  NYC has great food.  Combine that with left over wedding cake and some heavy caloric beverages and that's a recipe for disaster.

I did eat more than my fair share of tasty food.  Nothing was off limits and I really can put a way a lot of food.  I did weigh 265lbs back in college.  I feel like I can still eat the same amount as I did back then, but if I did - I might not be able to see my toes after a few weeks.  I also feel like crap after more then a day of "throwin' it down"! 

Now that I am back on track, I didn't ease into it like I should have.  There was no yellow light, it was pretty much green (eat crap) to red (say no to crap).   As far as lifting, by the way my body feels- I should have taken this week to work on movement patterns and used it as a "deload" type week.  Instead I hit it hard in the gym, on the field doing sprints, and on the hill.  For some reason I just enjoy pushing myself, if I'm gonna do something- it's gonna be done 100%.
Not a  moderate meal by any means!  "The Melo" at Carnige Deli


-Hotel Gyms.  As long as there are dumbbells and an area to lunge and lunge, squat, and jump- I can get a pretty damn good workout.  At The Standard Hotel, there were dumbbells up to 50lbs, plenty of floor space, and huge windows on the 17th floor overlooking the Hudson River and the city- it wasn't too bad.  I wasn't expecting more than machines, so dumbbells, even up to 50lbs. was nice.

Here is my hotel workout:
-20 jumping jacks, 20 mountain climbers, 10 seal jacks, 10 push ups, 10 body weight squats (repeat 3x)
-Squat to shoulder press w/dumbbells, Bent over row w/dumbbells, Burpees (3 sets of 10 reps each)
-Reverse lunge w/dumbbell-8 reps each leg, Dumbbell chest press-15 reps, Squat jumps 10 reps (3x)

Not too bad considering I had a great view of the city from my comfy bed....

-Getting a plan together.  I am in the process of changing some things up with my current lifting and conditioning regimine.  I am lifting 3 days a week and will most likely stay on that current plan, however I will switch the style of workouts up and change up the rep / scheme on a regular basis.

I realize that some strength need to be gained over the next 3 months as well as getting in better physical condition (7 day cruise mid-June).  In order to achieve both goals I need to have a systematic process and focus on diet for the physical improvements.

As far as the strength gains, I'm in the process of looking at a few different programs to fit my schedule / goals.  I loved 5/3/1, but I need a break from it- more mental than physical.  These next couple weeks I am going to keep the reps low on the power movements and perform a "metabolic" style approach to the other lifts.

For example:
DB squat jumps 3 set of 3 (neural warm up) 
Deadlifts 275x 3, 315x3, 365x2, 405x2, 425 x1 (3 sets), 315 x 5
Reverse lunge, 1 arm DB shoulder press, wide grip pull-ups 4 sets of  6-12
Barbell Complex (hang clean, shoulder press, front squat, RDL, Bent over Row) 5 reps each / 3 sets / 1 min between sets.
Ab wheel, 3 sets of 12 reps

I realize this isn't the "perfect" routine- however, it is a nice little break from the traditional stuff.....

Conditioning wise, I'm thinking about adding in some 200m sprints one day a week.  I am so used to sprinting 100m and less- I figure 200m would definitely be a kick in the butt.

Married Life- Awesome!  Yeah, it's only been 2 weeks, but honestly - my life is better than ever.

-Weekends.  I love them! Enough said, have a great one........

2 comments:

BryanFrancis said...

Damon, great thoughts & I definitely know what you mean about some training being "more demanding mentally then physically". It takes the nervous system 5-6 times longer to recover from a mental challenging workout and the extra rest or change in routine can be great! Excited to hear how your new program goes and the picture of that big-ass sandwich (I think that was a sandwich) was awesome!

Damon Brobst CSCS said...

Bryan,
Being an experienced trainer / coach, you understand the CNS and possible burn-out. I don't want to get to the point where I need an IV of l-tyrosine and a gallon of caffeine to have a productive lifting session, therefore the much needed change.