FLEX Friday! - Welp, I gotta say this little tweak in approach to workouts these past two weeks is really yielding some phenomenal results, thus far.
After 6 months of hammering away at it - last week I finally took the 15.7 mile, 45 minute ride at level 18 resistance intervals on the recumbent to a record milestone of 16.5 miles for a record burn of 610 calories! I haven't burned 610 since I was at level 17!
Last night, after weeks of split sets with 3X20 push-ups wearing the 20lb weighted vest, I almost did a full 3 sets ---> NO SPLITS
Except for 1 darn push up.
It was literally 20...break 1 minute...20...break 1 minute...19....break one minute and do 3 TUT (time under tension)
I know some of you are probably like, "Really Egull - ya couldn't have just struggled, pushed, and strained through one last push-up to complete the set?!"
And, maybe I could have but when I hit a point and my head say is sayin - "You're going to collapse on the next one." Even if it's the last one in the set, it's time to break.
Besides, that last push-up was a humble reminder from the universe whispering in my ear,
"Just remember - this is a means to an end...not the end. One's strength does not end with the completion of these 3 sets. Persistence like creativeness is always, forever...in-finite."
So, yes this new approach to adapting the volume and length of workouts to the quality of active recovery is providing phenomenal results. I'm seeing Progression in a way I never expected or predicted.
But, can I just say mentally this has served to be as challenging as sliding into a deficit and changing one's lifestyle. In fact, in its own way - it is a bit like sliding into a "workout deficit" on some days.
And, folks - I don't know how to word this this except to put it out there. IT IS NOT EASY TO DIAL IT BACK!!! Even when this body is showing me exactly what it's capable of doing when it's ready to propel forward!
The first 3 years of this journey - I worked like a military soldier to be consistent with workouts. There was no "dialing it back". Closest to that was in the hospital shortly before I was diagnosed with the MS. It didn't matter if I was exhausted or this body wasn't realistically recovered, or able to reach "hypertrophy" because muscle fatigue due to lack of sleep and recovery set in before that happened.
I showed up and did the work and made sure every rep was completed, even if sets had to be split.
I don't know that I regret this - because, to a great degree I want this mind to "be" that conditioned.
But, for lack of a better word "Dialing it back" on some days just FEELS WEIRD! And, yet - how can I not be blown away at the progress when my recovery level is 50% or above and this body just FLIES!
Let me lay out the approach. Right now for the interim, I base the active recovery score very specifically on the "deep sleep score" on the fitbit. No, it's not as optimal as a Whoop fitness tracker, which will give the active recovery, AND the "day strain" so one knows exactly how much recovery they need.
And, no I didn't choose the "deep sleep" score on the fitbit arbitrarily. I do nothing arbitrarily. Yours truly has been doing some very critical research on what "deep sleep" actually provides these last few months. And, it's no joke. It's also no joke that most of our society's "sleep standards" and fitness trackers are "REM" biased and focus too much on "quantity" not quality. And, that's NOT very effective either, especially in the gym.
I can elaborate some on this in another post. But, for now - Just know I can readily track the PR's I'm getting to nights where I've had 50% or more deep sleep. And, for now until I stop being so stubborn about Whoop's subscription package - that's what I'm using. And, yes I'm readily aware active recovery has other factors apart from "deep sleep". But, DEEP SLEEP - IS A BIG FACTOR.
So far, this is the way I'm approaching it with regards to workouts and working with the premise that 2 Hours of deep sleep is the absolute ideal (almost a fantasy if you're over 40, LOL)
25% or below recovery (less than 30 minutes deep sleep)
No workouts whatsoever, light walking, and focus on NEAT exercise
Less than 50%, above 25% (basically less that 50 minutes deep sleep, but more than 30)
---> All volume (i.e. reps, sets, walking circuits, rpms on the bike) get CUT IN HALF
50% or above (50 minutes or more)
MAX volume (all reps, sets, circuits, and max RPM's)
And if it's over and hour and half of deep sleep - it's balls to the walls MAX VOLUME --> MAXIMUM EFFORT
And, as weird as it's been some days to dial back. It's working like in that "WOW" kind of way.
And, if it keeps working - I might break down and get the whoop just to see how I can optimize it further. But, for now we're going to work with this because I don't like subscriptions...nope, not so much. Although, I did just give into getting audible and so far really like it. I just dislike that some subscriptions make it hard to cancel if ya need too.
Anyhow, if ya got this far - this is what I'm tweaking and experimenting with for the time being. But, you know - I love to play inside and outside the lines. We'll see what adjustments and tweaks lay ahead.
Have a beautiful, blessed, weekend everyone!
