I'm depressed that I can't insert line breaks. Really. That's terrible.
Today didn't work out exactly as planned, mostly because I had extremely unrealistic expectations. But I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish.
Circuit: Turkish Get Up 1x3 (45), Overhead Bulgarian Squat 1x3 (45), Power Snatch 1x3 (65), Planks 1x30s (0)
I did the circuit twice. It was a pretty good workout to be honest. So many of the same movements are involved with each exercise that I was really willing myself through it, as out of shape as that may indicate I am. I was out of breath and nearly shaking near the end. This is a good thing. I believe I was pretty successful in delivering a shock. My bodyweight was at an all-time training low of 168 (weighed in at 172, 167, 167, 168 for four trials - was going to throw away the 172 but it really doesn't need to be that accurate; weight was with tennis shoes).
I've become quite fond of a theory I first saw posted by Duncan's Donuts (or something similar). Smart fellow. It went something like this: Increase your maximum strength and apply that newly obtained strength to other movements that are more intricate and which can not or should not be practiced with weights. For example, if you wanted to increase your vertical jump, you could increase the strength of your legs. Practice jumping to improve form and neural efficiency of the movement. With more strength, the jump will still benefit further.
Using this theory, it just hit me today that I've been thinking of it all wrong when it comes to my training. My lifts are pretty intricate and, while designed to be used with weight, might really benefit more from this type of thinking. For example, doing squats and deadlifts with the heavy weight can probably boost my overhead bulgarian squats quite a bit.
The trouble is that, to be quite honest, I'm afraid of the higher weights with the big exercises. My PR for a deadlift is 425 and for an ATG back squat 285. To me, those are some pretty big numbers, particularly when I weigh about 170 (apparently I've lost weight since coming to school - and quite a bit of it). I was always safe when doing them, having my own system of spotting with sawhorses (AKA cheapest squat rack in the world). But I hate asking other people for spots, and I hate even more trusting people with something like this. So, in short, I don't think I'll be moving any large weights with the squat anytime soon. Nor with the deadlift, because putting that much strain on myself in that particular way also scares me. Mentally, car pushing seems much less intimidating and much safer for me. I guess the idea I had will have to wait for another time. The other one may still work, though.
On one last note, I now know exactly why people start threads complaining or making fun of others in gyms. There are simply some very funny things to be found. As fantastic as I feel using just the bar for my exercises while surrounded by people who are easily 50 pounds heavier with probably a fourth of the body fat percentage, I at least have my dignity in my training knowledge. Or so I tell myself when I see them 'shrugging' weight and doing other things with completely improper form.
I really hope those line breaks show up, or I may cry.
