So for about a year and a half, I've done a classic block periodization routine. This was great for gradually building up volume, and last August I benched 300 lbs, squatted 405, and deadlifted 475, which was the most I'd done on all the powerlifts in a while. Block periodization, however, is really boring, and at 37 years of age, I just can't handle long workout sessions any longer. Four sets of five squats followed by four sets of four deadlifts, followed by three sets of ten of four or five assistance exercises takes me about an hour to finish, and then I'm drained for the rest of the day. As an operator of a small apple orchard, my daily work involves a lot of physical labor. Add in two little kids and about seven hours of sleep per night, and you can see how the prospect of a grueling hour-long workout sounds daunting. I was starting to think about quitting training, and when that happens, you have to change. So I went back to something I'd experimented with years ago, and that's daily max training. Basically, I pick one lift (a squat, press, or pull) and work up to a heavy single and then do a couple back off sets. I might do a few assistance exercises or I might be done. Then later in the day I might fit in a ten minute pressing or pulling session. So the idea is to work as heavy as possible but for a very manageable volume, and then make up that volume deficiency by training as frequently as possible. This is probably only practical for people like myself, who have a gym both at home and at work (one of the perks of self-employment). Swinging by your Planet Fitness every day for two sessions would suck about as much as having to work out at a Planet Fitness. Anyways, frequent training has rekindled my love for lifting weights, and I'm currently trying to increase my military press and front squat, although I've also been benching four times a week.
I blew out my lower back deadlifting about two weeks ago. I did a Sumo single with 405, went upstairs, and then noticed that I couldn't bend my lower back. The muscle tissue never became sore; it was more like my spinal erectors had disappeared. Two days afterwards, the pain was so bad that it kept waking me up at night. Nevertheless, I kept squatting, since that didn't hurt, and I deadlifted 335 about eight days afterwards. Now my back seems fine, although I'm still hesitant to deadlift too heavy. I relate this boring anecdote because I think it's important to keep training while injured because it'll help recovery and result in faster healing. I'm sure that if I had sat on my ass for two week, then my back would probably still be fucked up. Instead, I did a three hour kayaking session five days after being injured, which was a whole lot of fun, even if I had to be pulled out of my boat at the end. Just some food for thought.
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