Andersonian heavy workload staggered interval training
13 May 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I took off yesterday altogether. No nothing no weights, no cardio, no nothing. Why? My body needed it. How did I know? Telltale signs: I woke up dog tired though I had gone to sleep early the previous night and slept well. My chest region was sore-to-the-touch…big time! It could all be traced back to the previous days experimental workout. My crazy routine had me doing sets of weight training in between yard work. Yep, in between mowing, pruning, sawing, shoving grass clippings into garbage bags I would hit a set of bench presses. Every 15 to 20-minutes (or thereabouts) Id stop what I was doing, walk back to the unheated garage and hit a set of flat bench presses. This went on for five hours. It sounds crazy on account of, it is crazy! But its crazy with pedigreed precedent.
The procedure is simple: warm thoroughly in a particular exercise until you hit the top poundage on the daily menu. In my case I wanted to work up to an explosive set of eight reps. I might be able to make 9 or 10-reps with this particular poundage if you put a gun to my head. Certainly I would not be capable of more than 10-reps with this weight. Once I worked up to my 1st set of eight reps, I went outside and started mowing the grass. Again every 15-20 minutes Id just stop what I was doing and head to the garage. Id flop down on the bench a do a set. Surprisingly my strength stayed high for a prolonged period. Check it out: set 1, 8-reps; set 2, 8; set 3, 7; set 4, 8; set 5, 8.
After I mowed I raked and bagged grass clippings. I was feeling good. My extended workout was easy in the sense that I was fully recovered between every effort. My sustained strength was surprisingly good. Plus I was getting chores done that were on my must do today list. My yard work was better quality than usual, not rushed and frantic. Well hell, I said, I feel so good that lets keep this groove going! So I rolled into pruning and trimming the bushes that lined the side of the yard. I dropped the bench poundage by 40-pounds and began doing 8-rep sets with a super-wide grip using a purposefully slow rep speed: I hit 8-reps for three successive sets. More yard work. I then dropped 30-pounds off the bar and using a narrow 15-inch grip blasted out three final sets of 8-reps. I thought about rolling right into triceps but a little voice in my head said, Even though you feel great and exhilarated, even though it doesnt seem like youve done a lot, lets not do anymore and see how this impacts you tomorrow. That inner voice is smart as hell and I should always listen to it.
The next day my entire chest region felt as if steroid monster baseball players had beaten the muscles with 36-ounce Louisville sluggers. I was a mess. No weights today. Modified Marvins were on the lifting schedule but there was no way. 10-pound dumbbells would feel like 100s. No yard work either. A rake would too heavy. I will use this tactic again but will keep in mind the cumulative effect. This training approach was bought to my attention by Purposefully Primitive Uber-God Paul Anderson. Paul was the greatest strength athlete in modern recorded history and his exploits are legendary and enumerable. Paul owned a farm in Vidalia, Georgia. He constructed two putting greens 300-yards apart. Big Paul weighed 360-pounds yet was athletic and graceful and spry enough to be able to leap up onto a 40-inch table. He could squat 1200-pounds and was the greatest overhead presser (and squatter) of all-time.
Back on the farm, Paul would tee up a golf ball and blast it towards the other putting green. Hed power walk to the ball, chip shot to the green, putt in and walk to a barbell set on an outdoor lifting platform adjacent to the green. It was a crude homemade rack that held a barbell loaded to 400-pounds Paul would take the bar out of the rack and knock out a set of overhead presses. After pressing 400 for 5-6 reps hed tee up his ball and drive it back to the other green. Hed power walk the 300-yards, chip up, putt in and walk to a squat rack hed set up adjacent to green 1. On a second platform a barbell was loaded to 800-pounds. Hed full squat for 6-8 reps before teeing up once again. Back and forth hed godrive the ball, walk, chip, putt, lift the pre-set weight, drive, walk, chip, putt, lift, drive, walk, chip, putt, lifthed go all afternoon and found this extremely relaxing and restorative.
After hed had enough, hed walk back to the farmhouse where Glenda would have a huge pot of homemade stew and biscuits or a platter of fried chicken all ready. Big Andy would eat his fill and take a nap on the front porch in his oversize rocking chair. Some egghead sports scientist later proclaimed this, Andersonian heavy workload staggered interval training. Paul and Glenda would have had a thigh-slapping belly laugh over that one. His sonic boom laugh could be heard for a country mile.
So I have taken it upon myself to keep this most elemental of Purposefully Primitive training regimens alive! Say it loud, were Andersonian-heavy-workload-staggered-interval-trainers and proud! I am making a pact with myself to engage in this crazed approach one day per week. I got more lawn work done in those five hours than I had the previous six months. I just have to crank the volume back a tad. And get something to eat afterwardsand take a long nap. Does this have any relevance to you or your training? Probably not but it is illustrative of the incredible variety of modes and methods available to those with open minds and an adventurous spirit. Sameness begets sameness.
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