Road to Nationals Weeks #4 and #5

Hey all,

This post is going to be brief. I had a bunch of stuff written already, but I lost all of it somehow (thanks Google).

Two weeks ago, I tweaked my knee. It turned out to be super-minor tendinitis in my patella (that's in the medical books somewhere, I swear). As a result, I had to dial down the programming big time.

I also had a chance to see Dr. Shane McCann at South Jersey Sports Chiropractic, and he was able to set me straight with a few things I could do to get me back on track. That, coupled with some Mobility WOD tutorials, and I seem to be right as rain.

It's been an interesting two weeks, though, as I was forced to realize something very important. As you age, if you want to train, you absolutely need to take care of yourself.

Most of us get away with a lot in our early 20's. We eat whatever we want. We move however we want. We drink however we want.

And then, as we roll over into our 30's, we say, "I'm getting too old... blah blah blah."

In reality, though, most of the reason why we can't do things the right way in our 30's is a result of the poor habits we established while in our 20's. The good new is, there is hope. The bad news is that it's going to take you longer to warm up, longer to cool down, and you're going to have to pay more attention to how you sleep, when you sleep, and what you do to recover. It's the price you have to pay.

The only way you're going to be successful is if you make success a priority. It's that simple.

Training Recovery video #1 - After two weeks of light rep-work and tons of mobility/pre-hab/re-hab, I'm back up to a comfortable and confident deadlift. Here's 445 for 4. My hand slipped on the last rep, but I'm counting it because all i was concerned with was the volume. I can settle up with my grip strength later;

Training Recovery video #2 - This is something I'm really proud of. I'm back up to squatting 365 comfortably. I'd originally injured the knee squatting to begin with (the squatting wasn't what caused the injury... I'm phrasing it that way to give you an idea of WHEN it happened, not HOW). Here's HOW the injury happened: Overloaded quads and not enough rehab/mobility work. I was a time-bomb, more or less, especially because I'm a quad dominant squatter:

All in all, though, I'm happy with my progress.

Both Jess and I were able to sign up for the Winter War powerlifting meet in north Jersey on January 24th, so I'm hoping to crack into a 1200lb total by then. That would help my placement going into nationals. The goal for January is to hit at 425 in the squat, bench 275, and pull around 515. We shall see.

Here's some Kelly Starrett goodness for you all before you go: