The dreaded training and eating logs
24 August 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Almost without exception elite athletes log training results and do so in real time as the workout is actually occurring. As the weight train, immediately after finishing the set youll see them pick up their little spiral notebooks and with hands still shaking from exertion jot down what just happened. Why do they go to the trouble? The athletic elite review results every week to detect trends, mull over what has occurred and plot the next step. Based on the hard data they make in-flight corrections and institute minute or substantive changes. Often outsiders will mistake this continual, slavish adherence to written detail as unchecked ego, just another example of Narcissistic tendencies exhibited by people overly concerned with their bodies. In fact virtually every serious competitive athlete has a written game plan that structures workouts and training leading up to a competition. The log is the daily report card that identifies how reality is stacking up against projection. Progressive resistance training is particularly suited for logging since the results are numerical. Again, the elite athlete will set his game plan into a timeframe (typically 12-weeks) and project ahead of time where they want to be each successive week. If, by way of example, a shot-putter preparing for the collegiate national championships wants to peak his incline barbell press (because past experience has shown him that when his incline press improves his shot-put distance improves) he might structure the projected game plan as follows:
(After warm-up sets of incline barbell press previous best incline 365×1)
Week 1 250×10 three sets; week 2 260×10 three sets; week 3 275×5 three sets; week 4 285×5 three sets; week 5 295×5 two sets; week 6 305×5 two sets; week 7 325×3 three sets; week 8 335×3 two sets; week 9 345×3 one set; week 10 360×2 two sets; week 11 370×2 one set; week 12 390×1 one set
In conjunction he might push his bodyweight upward 1.5 pounds per week for twelve consecutive weeks. Starting at a lean, light and aerobically functional 260, over twelve weeks he gradually increases his bodyweight to 280 pounds; the slight, steady increase in mass results in muscle being added without additional body fat. As a result no loss in speed or dynamic power transference ability is experienced. To the contrary because his weight gain is 95% muscle, he actually improves speed while his pure strength and power skyrocket. In each workout session everything is logged. For example:
August 24, 2005 bodyweight 269.5 11:50 am, campus gym
Incline 135×15, 225×5, 275×3 workset 305×5 easy! 305×5 tough! more rest between sets!
Flat bench w/dumbbells 100×10, 120×8, 150×6, 160×4 missed fifth rep tired!
Dumbbell flyes 50×15, 50×12, 50×13, 50×10 massive chest pump!
Power cleans 135×8, 185×3, 225×3 worksets 285×5 easy, 315×3 smoked these!
Barbell rows 225×5, 275×5, 315×5, 365×5 - no sweat!
Finished 1:15pm, 87 minutes DONT RUSH BETWEEN TOP SETS!
This could easily be a typical workout log entry for a top athlete and so much is conveyed with so very few words: a lot of empirical data has been collected as this snapshot covers everything that happened and offers some instant impressions as to what occurred and why. At the conclusion of each training week the athlete takes 15-minutes to look back over the previous weeks training. The savvy athlete first determines how they are doing in relation to the projected training template: are they on schedule? Have the projected poundage in the various lifts matched the gym reality? Further, even if the lifts were completed successfully, were they gut-busting, barely-there limit lifts that forecast difficulty in hitting the heavier poundage scheduled for the subsequent week? Or were the lifts done with power to spare and bode well for the coming weeks training menu? How is the athletes bodyweight in relation to the projections? Past experience has shown the athlete that if the small, weekly incremental goals are achieved the big goal takes care of itself. By eating the elephant one bite at a time the entire beast is consumed by journeys end. If you are serious about renovating your physique, start by establishing an overall training goal (think in terms of months) and then begin to maintain a weekly training log. Tomorrow well talk about the more complex issue of a dietary log.
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