Today's a rest day. The heat is not off though; a day of hard training or a day resting brings us 24 hours closer to competition. Recovery needs to be taken seriously; additionally, rest day means gym time which means more stretch time.
I'm going to be asking for some feedback on this post on a few forums so, before going into the plans for the next week, I'll give just a little run-down of how things have gone so far.
This past week was the first one at full scale. I'm sore but nothing unexpected. I've been drinking about 1/3 to 1/2 of a gallon of milk a day, eating lots of meat, fruits and vegetables, as well as olive oil, nuts, and avocados.
Below is my plan for the next three days which will wrap up my second strength week (weeks start on Saturdays and are 2 on 1 off 3 on 1 off). I'm generally trying to follow the philosophy at Performance Menu/Catalyst Athletics regarding doing a high volume of exercises to strengthen the body to begin to perform these movements when connected together (more on that,
infra).
Tuesday, the workout will be at a gymnastics facility, and I can plan on having approximately 1:45 to complete the following:
~30 minutes of swings and dismounts into pit
~Cross pullouts with elastic band support: 3-3-3-3-3
~L-sit, press to handstand, inverted cross, press back to handstand with
counterweighted harness rig (effectively halves user's
bodyweight): 7x1
~Spotted 30sec. handstand hold on rings: 3x1
Wednesday, the workout will be at a local gym (Rocky Top Rec. Center in
Charlottesville). There is a set of rings with long straps, and places to mount lower rings. The owner has asked that only non-technical, strength-based moves be practiced there. Any major swinging or handstand elements are out. Here's the plan:
~On low rings, L-sit (5 sec. hold): 5x1
~Hang, inverted hang, spotted back lever, inverted hang: 5x2
~Bulgarian dips: 3x8
~Hang, inverted hang, spotted front lever, inverted hang: 5x2
~Dumbbell rows (rehab program for winging scapula): 3x10
~Maltese
postition dumbbell presses: 4-4-4-4
~Short
metcon (under 10 minutes)
Thursday, the workout moves back to the gymnastics gym:
~30 minutes of swings and dismounts into pit (again)
~Dislocates practice drill: 15x1
~Backwards roll to support: 5x1
~Muscle-up to L-sit: 4x3
~Spotted jump-to-
maltese hold: 5x1
~Maltese to iron cross with counterweight harness: 5x1
~Short
metcon (under 10 minutes)
Friday is a rest day. One of the weekend days, I'm going to try to get on rings but facilities may be extremely limited (travelling to Philadelphia); the other day I'll be doing
deadlifts or other heavy weight training, most likely a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1.
***
The other aspect to this training to which I am soliciting feedback is the macro plan. As is described at the very bottom of the page, I've been inspired by the Performance Menu / Catalyst Athletics program of a 4 week strength and then 4 week Bulgarian style training program, and am attempting to adapt this to my training.
The way that works is that the first and third 4 weeks are focused mainly on developing raw strength, getting the body used to the many positions and holds that will be required by my final competition rings routine. I'll be doing a lot of volume with crosses, presses, and levers. I'll also be specifically working on some of the more difficult connecting moves. I'll be working on swings and dismounts as well, generally 30-40 minutes per day when in the gym.
In the second and forth 4 weeks, I'll be doing considerably less volume in terms of raw strength, but will be doing a lot more of the "putting it all together" work. During these weeks, Here, I will put the competition routine together and go through it with a spotter a few times per practice session with a long rest period between efforts. When not working with a spotter, or when at a gym restrictive of certain elements, I'll be putting together routines with allowed moves which are approximately the same length as the competition routine. Because these workouts will be shorter, I'll be also able to focus more on working technique moves, spending even more time developing my swing, dismount, and other technical parts of the routine.
***
So, that's the plan in general. I would very, very much appreciate any sort of feedback on this concept, either from the micro or macro side.
My main question in terms of the macro programming is whether a 4 week/4 week schedule would be best, or if changes to that might be better. For example, starting with 4/2 right now to build strength, then do 4/3, 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 as competition approaches (plan on February or March 2009) and time becomes better used perfecting elements rather than building them. I realize that we're probably into theoretical/experimental ground here, but even some discussion and dialogue would be extremely helpful.
