This workout actually took place yesterday (2/20/10), but I wound-up not having a chance to post it due to being tied-up with work issues. The way the day shaped-up created a nice little n=1 study. A tough workout, performed in a fasted state, followed by very little food – how would I hold-up? Well, very well as it turns out – and this morning, as I write this, I’m still not all that hungry. I could eat, sure – but I’m not at the point where I have to eat, if you know what I mean.
First, let’s look at the workout itself. The following took place at approximately 14 hours fasted:
The “MetCon for Sprinters” portion of the workout –
4 rounds of this, with the only rest resulting in the moving between work stations:
DB snatch + single arm press, push-press and push-jerk – (x number of db snatches with the right arm, followed by the right arm press, push-press, push-jerk complex, immediately followed by the same with the left side).
DB snatch (R) DB Snatch (L) Press Push-Press Push-Jerk
60 lbs 5 5 1 1 1
70 lbs 5 5 1 1 1
80 lbs 5 5 1 1 1
80 lbs 5 5 1 1 1
Straight Bar Muscle-Ups –
bodyweight x 3, 3, 2, 2
Ab Wheel Roll-Outs (minimal knee/thigh ground contact) –
7 on each of the four rounds
So four rounds of that got the blood pumping nicely, to say the least. Then I moved on to some unilateral work, 3 rounds of a single-led deadlift, pistol squat superset complex. I haven’t done pistols in quite a while, and what I found was rather surprising – while my left leg pistol was fine (good balance, good strength), my right leg was absolutely pathetic – my movement pattern sucked, balance was off, and, as one might expect from that combination, my strength was non-existent. On the upside however, at least I now know exactly where the kink in the ol’ armor resides. I have no idea, though, why this imbalance developed. The only thing that I can point to is that in the last three years I have been in a working environment that is mostly sedentary. Maybe that’s it, I don’t know. I do know, though, that from what I saw in the pistols, I must be essentially one-legging (with scant help from my right leg) all my bilateral, lower-body movements. At least I’m aware of it now, and I can work on getting that flaw fixed. Anyway, 3 rounds of single-leg deadlifts (with 70 lb DBs x 7 reps each leg, and same knee-bend angle as in this clip) in a superset with 3 rounds of bodyweight Pistol Squats, 8 reps each leg, each round. Left leg could have used substantial added weight, and I needed balance help (especially past parallel) on the right leg. Wow. Lots of work needed here. Note that the single-leg deadlift clip depicts a trainee performing a reaching single-leg DL version, though I did mine in the more conventional fashion, i.e arms perpendicular to the floor at the bottom of the movement.
So anyway, after a a couple rounds of steam room/cold shower contrasts, I cleaned-up and ran by the house for some Trader Joe’s brand Greek Yogurt (full fat, of course – and good stuff, by the way), along with a couple of handfuls of a pecan/walnut mix. I then went on in to work for an engineering evolution that I expected to take about 4-hours; as it happened, the evolution wound-up taking approximately 12 hours. So much for predictions. I did have time to wolf-down a large PaleoKit and an avocado in the meantime, but that was it for the day. No hunger pangs, no light-headedness, no blood sugar crash – none of that. Just continued, fat-burning, Paleo cruisin’. I expected that I’d wake up famished today, but that wasn’t to be. I’ll eat a little later, but right now I’m still cruisin’ right along.
Theory to Practice 
Still upset over here that Trader Joe’s only carries 0% and 2% FAGE.
I feel your pain, brother. The Trader Joe’s brand Greek yogurt isn’t bad, though. It’s not Fage, but…
Agreed; I’ll give TJ’s brand partial credit, even though there’s no partial credit on the SAT.
Keith,
How do you strike a balance between progress and variety in your training?
IE: Let’s say my goal is to increase my 1-rep max in the squat, deadlift and bench-press.
I know that the quickest route to this goal is to train those lifts specifically, but how would I best incorporate variety – in the form of assistance work or alternative lifts – to avoid over-use problems (and also, just to mix things up).
Thanks,
Scott
Ahhhh, the 64-thousand-dollar question. Finding the sweet spot here is the essence of “strength & conditioning”. The problem is, the “right” answer is highly, highly individual and changes day-to-day, workout-to-workout. The first step though is to define your goals. Are we increasing bench, dead and squat for powerlifting purposes (where these are the competition), or are we pursuing these lifts for the benefit of other sports…or for overall health in general? What my goals were at 20 are a world apart from what they are today, and my workouts (along with how I proportion progress and balance) have morphed appropriately. Generally speaking, though, both aspects should complement one another; over-reliance on either at the expense of the other will, no matter your goals, ultimately hold you back. I don’t mean to sound so vague, but this is a question that could consume an entire book-length answer.