Alrighty, here goes. My recent nagging injuries have predicated a shift in philosophy for the time being. Light(er) weights and high volume. My elbow is a train wreck right now, and I need to try this one last option before I would have no choice but to rest it. My thought process is that by pounding it with submaximal weights for tons of volume, I will be able to strengthen the tendon to the point where it won't bother me anymore, easier said than done, I know.
The groin issue is another problem. I am too stubborn to quit playing hockey, and my squat stance places the stress right on the area that is bothering me, so it was squats or hockey. I am reluctantly choosing hockey, I say reluctantly, because I am on the fence with that too. My soon to be 36 year old body just gets beat up from playing. See, I am not one of those people who can leisurely just go out there and play, I need to play balls to the wall, and even if I say to myself before the game to just take it easy, something will fire me up during the game, and that goes right out the window. Hockey cannot be played leisurely apparently, lol. Not to mention I broke my $150 composite stick last night, so I am not too thrilled about that either. Definitely not buying another one. But I digress...
OK, so what can I do for my legs that doesn't aggravate my groin? trap bar work. So trap bar deads are in, squats are out.
Ok, next thing to figure out is how to go about the volume. Well, I've decided to just do 3 exercises, yup, only 3...trap bar deads, incline bench press, and chinups. I will be doing these three exercises 3 days a week in a 4 week cycle with the weight increasing each day by something like 2%. I will be starting at 60% and scaling up to 80% over 4 weeks. The sets will start at 7 for the deads and 8 for bench and chins, and wind up at 5 sets in the last week. If I complete the cycle (a huge IF for me, for those who follow my work, lol), I will add 10lbs to my trap bar max and 5 pounds to bench and chins, and start over at 60%.
so there it is....TONS of volume on those big 3 exercises, and light weight to accommodate the volume, and hopefully work on healing some of these injuries. We'll see...stay tuned.
The groin issue is another problem. I am too stubborn to quit playing hockey, and my squat stance places the stress right on the area that is bothering me, so it was squats or hockey. I am reluctantly choosing hockey, I say reluctantly, because I am on the fence with that too. My soon to be 36 year old body just gets beat up from playing. See, I am not one of those people who can leisurely just go out there and play, I need to play balls to the wall, and even if I say to myself before the game to just take it easy, something will fire me up during the game, and that goes right out the window. Hockey cannot be played leisurely apparently, lol. Not to mention I broke my $150 composite stick last night, so I am not too thrilled about that either. Definitely not buying another one. But I digress...
OK, so what can I do for my legs that doesn't aggravate my groin? trap bar work. So trap bar deads are in, squats are out.
Ok, next thing to figure out is how to go about the volume. Well, I've decided to just do 3 exercises, yup, only 3...trap bar deads, incline bench press, and chinups. I will be doing these three exercises 3 days a week in a 4 week cycle with the weight increasing each day by something like 2%. I will be starting at 60% and scaling up to 80% over 4 weeks. The sets will start at 7 for the deads and 8 for bench and chins, and wind up at 5 sets in the last week. If I complete the cycle (a huge IF for me, for those who follow my work, lol), I will add 10lbs to my trap bar max and 5 pounds to bench and chins, and start over at 60%.
so there it is....TONS of volume on those big 3 exercises, and light weight to accommodate the volume, and hopefully work on healing some of these injuries. We'll see...stay tuned.