Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Light day..again? Where'd my memory go?

I may have done another light day today. With reason!

Why is it every time I pick up one of Pavel's books, I read something I haven't ever read before? A few days ago I picked up Enter the Kettlebell...again and read it. I swear, I have never seen some of that material in print or in lecture format from the evil Russian or any other comrade RKC. I'm certain I've received the information before but did not have any reinforcement. Actually there is a reason.

Psych Lesson 101:

We don't retain information in memory due to ineffective encoding. One cause is simply not paying attention to what you are reading or hearing. So it's like you are reading words independent of meaning. Another theory is the decay theory which proposes that you forget because memory fades with time. Decay theory is debatable and research has yet to provide proof it occurs. Last, the interference theory says there is too much information coming in and something has to go. Have you ever crammed for a test? You didn't remember all of the material for very long due to the interference theory. Both new and previous learned materials compete with each other. As a result you only remember so much. The lesson? Go back and read it again.

Back to the light day.

Ok, I didn't forget. I admit it. I just ignored some parts because I listened to my ego instead of Pavel. When you do your ladders, it is ok to do uneven ladders. Unlike me, don't pull an Adrian Monk and make everything equal, it will only hinder progress in the long run. A typical ladder might be 5 sets of 1,2,3.

Let's say you got to the 3rd set of your 3 rung ladder. During the 2nd, you notice you are getting close to failure on the third rung. On the third set, don't even attempt the third rung. Just let it go. I will look like this: 2 sets of 1,2,3 (3rd set) 1,2, (4th) 1,2 (5th) 1,2). Next week on your heavy day, go for 3 sets of 3 rungs (not 5). Build the volume slowly if you need. Rushing the process will cause you to fall short of your goals.

The point is last week when I did 5 x 3 rung ladders, I pushed them all out it was perfect for a heavy day. My next heavy day should have 1 or more sets of 4 rung ladders and it is ok to do some 3 rung ladders for the remainder of sets.

This also caused me to rethink my light day. Hint: it is spelled out in ETK something like this in the Right of Passage section...[Comrade], if your heavy day looks like 5 x 3 rung ladder, your light day might be [say] 5 x singles.

Training today:
Znwu - r
bottoms up press 16,24k - some -I didn't count.
Clean and Press 28k 1x5, 5 x singles Light and easy day.
Swing - 32k 2x50

Tomorrow:
Indoor bicycle century (yuck).

Monday, December 28, 2009

Here we go...

I began the 2010 plan a while back. Last week I made an adjustment. I plan to alternate a few different strength training modalities for 2 week periods. I just finished up with several weeks of double kettlebell chains. I like them too much but I have a need to achieve some specific goals prior to next winter. So Enter the Kettlebell format will be used to reach this goal.

Goals?

The following are in prep for a 2011 re-cert of RKC2...
  1. Clean and Press the bulldog (40k) 5x5 -- I can press...but need to work back up to it. Pressing it 1x is not enough.
  2. Pistol - 40k
  3. Heck, let's just round it out and throw in the Pull up with 40k as well.
  4. Snatch - work it back up. I haven't done the test since last spring...Oh, I'll pay for this.
That pretty much sums up the strength goals. I have a secondary set of goals because I will hit these well before the year is over. I also have a few other goals. Some of them aren't exactly conducive to strength...oh well let's go.

  • On the bike: SR series (200, 300, 400, 600k); and (-)5hr century.
  • I also have a couple ideas I'm tossing around for next fall on the bike and running but I'm not sold yet. I can't compromise prep for the re-cert.
  • Oh, I do have 1 last PFT to take. I haven't set a goal for it yet. I need to do some pre-season testing to determine a viable goal.
  • Need to drop some weight before spring. Weight in the #170s is the goal. Need to get primal.
Training today:
Znwu - r
Ride 2.5 hrs - big headwind on the way out this am...ouch.
Clean and Press - 2 rung ladders x 5 sets (28k) (light)


Pressing last session-3 rung ladders.