this likely may just be me and you likely already know and or do/tried this. But back in my youth, before arthritis, the stretch that helped all my kicks most was a stretch for the Quadriceps. Not exactly sure why that helped my front kicks so much, but it did more for me that virtually any other stretch when it came to kicks.
That's a good area to stretch, as an office worker is gets tight in the hip flexor region, so lunge stretching, followed by front splits make sure I don't neglect that.
Tuesday Deadlift. Warm-up: 60kgx 5, 80x5, 90x5, 100x5, 110x5, 120x5, 130x5. Working sets 7 sets of 142.5kgx3. Over and grip was falling, and I grated my thumb last night by accident, so alternated switch grip instead of hook. Last set AMRAP 142.5kgx6 Bent row 60kg 3x5. calf raises 3x15 Stretching 30 minutes focused on side splits. 6x ~2 minute side split stretches. Incrementing 15s per set, 3 min of last set before switching to the last 2 sets with weighted vest measured 5inches groin to ground. Front split 3x 1 min each side. Finished with continuous head kicks on each side. 10 turning kick, 10 hook kick 10 side kick Then into an ice bath to curb the inevitable DOMS.
Wednesday Feeling the soreness from yesterday. Not as bad as I expected, so I could be in for day 2 megaDOMS™ Onto today's planned bench. Warm-up 20kgx5, 40x5, 60x5, 70x5. ws: 7 sets of 85kgx3 AMRAP 85kgx7 Pushups 3x10 With all the extra food it felt a lot easier than before Christmas break. I feel I may regret the lifts during tomorrow's kickboxing session
Thursday 2x 2min shadow boxing, very light, mostly footwork. Kickboxing 1 hour Felt good to be back, but some of the warm-up was painful due to lifting soreness. Stretches felt fine, then onto pad work. A few rounds of body "conditioning" with the other partner hitting mid section with the pad. Drills on the kick pads, followed by some punch kick combo's. I'm feeling less hesitant about spinning hook kick after some focus on it. Reaction drills with pads, punch, weave, punch block. Finished with some plank work -oh now my body remembers I did deadlifts 2 days ago, and I barely hold out. When I got home I did a few kick drills including chamber kick 10 each side then 5 for: turning kick, hook kick, side kick.
I knew it wasn't going to go we'll as my body was wobbling the moment I got into plank, then we held that bringing knees to elbow, and to high plank, repeat knees to elbow. I think I managed 30s before I collapsed Next week I'm back to deadlift on Monday, bench Tuesday to give an extra day recovery.
Friday I'm feeling the cumulative strain from the training, mostly my calves which are an ongoing problem. The pain stems to either my achilles tendon or knee when it's cramped. So I stretched a bit throughout the day and did some light trigger point on the lower leg which loosened it up and relieved the pain. Laced up my new shoes to break them in, also put on my new running hat and gloves as it's windy out. 8.5 mile 1h32m average HR 152bpm 10'49" min/mi I stuck with just HR on my watch, as if I saw the pace I know I would run too fast. Had to stop after the first mile to adjust my laces, I think I need to redo the mid part for my wide feet. I also forgot to treat my seed corn so that was painful throughout I felt alright for most of it considering I was carrying an extra 9lbs with me from Christmas indulgence. The last mile I had to focus, light headed weak and hungry feeling; I expected it to be hard as it was the first run for nearly 3 weeks. Hit the sweets cupboard as soon as I got back (we have a very full cupboard from Christmas) which made me feel back to normal. 5 mins light stretching. Definitely full rest tomorrow, and maybe bench/bag work Sunday depending how I feel.
That sounds like a tough run! Still, I admire just the fact that you made yourself run when it's so cold It's probably best not to overdo it if your tendons hurt. I hope it gets better soon
Not the positive reinforcement or encouragement that these logs are meant to embody, but, this is my favourite part of this post! Travess
Thanks, I'll focus on it more over the weekend. They had a fair amount of jumping type warmup exercises in kickboxing which exacerbated it. Good point, I usually go for a protien shake or fruit smoothie after, but today I felt like I needed a quick sugar hit and I knew it was a very full cupboard at the moment
It's partly why I haven't done much skipping for a while. Strangely it was worse after Christmas even though my perception was I barely did anything. I'm including stretching, strengthening accessory and rehab in my weekly routine for it.
Oh, that's quite discouraging.... :/ Good you're working on it, though. One of my friends has long lasting trouble with her Achilles tendon. A few months ago, we did some stretching (when you kneel and sit on your heels, then put the heels to the side of your body and try to lie down), she was next to me and a terrible sound was heard, which sounded to me like a few of her vertebra broke, but she said it was the tendon and it actually relieved the pull in it or whatever she felt. And she was surprised how it helped her despite also doing rehabilitaions and stuff that hadn't worked. Unfortunately I think she still has trouble with it.
Saturday/Sunday Rest and some rehab, light stretching and trigger point roller. Spent a lot of time removing Christmas decorations which kicked up a lot of dust in the attic, so asthma was triggered quite bad. As a result I cancelled the idea of bag/bench in Sunday. Monday Despite a bad night sleep I felt strong and ready for deadlifts. Warm-up 60kgx5, 80x5, 90x5, 100x5, 110x5, 120x3, 135x1, 147.5x1. Was using hook grip again, but pull my thumb scab off, so back to switch grip alternating between working sets. 5 sets of 157.5kgx3 Last set AMRAP 157.5kgx4 I didn't think I could squeeze 5 out without a lot of form break down, so stuck at that. Recovery between sets was better than expected, normally 6-8 mins between heavy sets, but I was ready to go under 4 mins. Bent over row superset with calf raises with deadlift overhand. 60kg 3x6 row 60kg 3x8 calf raise 5 minute leg stretch.
Tuesday Felt my asthma playing up a bit in the morning, so I waited until later to check it was ok for bench press. 2 minute shadow boxing, hands only. Bench Warm-up 20kgx5, 40x5, 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x1, 90x1 Working sets 5 sets of 95kgx3 I thought my old shoulder issue was coming back as I struggled on the left for the first set. I then realised I only loaded the extra 2.5kg plate on the left side, which I quickly rectified. Last set AMRAP 95kgx5 Bicep curl 25kg 3x12 Push up 3x10 Shadow boxing hands only 3 minutes with gloves for extra resistance. 5 minute leg focused stretch I did a few side kick back kick drills 10 each side. I'd like to run and do bag work tomorrow, but if I do it will be very light, and depends if my chest is ok tomorrow morning. Normally if it's a bit bad then I know I can do lifting, but cardio is usually off the cards (especially outdoor). Peak flow measuring at 700 which is about normal for me.
As someone that has never really 'benched' (not since a teen at least) and who has never ever attempted a deadlift or even used a squat rack, I always find myself quite envious reading some of your strength training posts. Travess
I used to feel the same looking at other people's lifting logs, lucky I have the space and capacity for a setup at home, and being unable to go to a gym of martial arts training for a few years meant it was my main focus along with running as a secondary. Starting back at training a year ago I have seen the strength gains slow down; it's difficult trying to fit the time in and allowing my body to deal with it all. I forgot to add, average weight this week 91kg. Cutting out the beer and extra junk this week, so that weight will probably level of.
Yeah programming strength, conditioning and skill around classes, family and work is an uphill struggle at the best of times. I'm frequently impressed with @Travess for his ability to squeeze a session in! Having a home gym solves so many issues around adding in strength. I wish I still had one. But then as you said, it's about allowing recovery time and not having it impact on your skill work. I don't think anything short of a lottery win is going to allow me to the train all the areas in the volume I would like without burning out my body in a month.