Aug 12, 2024

2024 - 08 - 12

2024B - Strength Block - Volume Phase - Week 2 | Tempo Squats, Boxing, and Electrolytes

Austin Haedicke

722 Words | Read Time: 3 Minutes, 16 Seconds

2024-08-12 06:03 -0700

This week I tried to mix up my Zone 2 from mono-structural sessions, sat out a few sparring rounds, and drudged through tempo squats. In case anyone forgot, it’s still summer, and it’s tough to keep enough electrolytes in.

Summary:

The horror of the week was 5 sets of 10 tempo squats at 3-0-0; so I’m definitely not looking forward to adding a 1 second pause at the bottom this week. Elsewhere in strength and conditioning, I was able to keep a pretty good pace in my striking, which I’ve struggled to “lock in” to my Zone 2 pace with in the past.
Overall, my sleep and stress are improving, though I’m drawing close to my weekly work capacity of about 9-10 training hours per week.
In terms of grappling, I sat out a few sparring rounds, trying to conserve energy for the increased strength volume. That’s an acceptable trade-off for now because I’m specifically focused on building back strength (9 weeks off a torn meniscus).
Saturday’s open mat really packed in the density. While the intensity was moderate, the stagnant, 80’F room was ~80% humidity and a literal swimming pool of sweat; which reminded me of the importance of pre-hydrating. I was basically useless the rest of the day as a consequence of not.

9.25 total training hours

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Overview:

6-Month Goal (12/31/24): Compete as a black belt in 2024
8-Week Objective / Block (9/8/24): Strength
Phase: Volume, Week 2 of 3
Weekly Intention: Reduce sparring volume, increase fitness density / volume, continue sparring without brace.

Assessment:

Overall these trends are pretty positive. You can see sleep bumping up slightly, while stress — despite an increase in training volume — has gone down slightly (see below on recovery).

Intervention:

This week my training volume went down slightly (9.75 to 9.25 hours) and RPE went up slightly (6.14 to 6.57). That’s kind of the opposite of what I want in a “volume phase”, but you can see I wanted to be clear with my intention and what I was focusing on in training by siphoning some “sparring energy” towards the added volume in the weight room.

I also like the emphasis on setting a daily objective. Note that if I didn’t set one, that’s not a passive mark, it counts as a negative. Similarly, I’m not sure what a good range of “seeking discomfort” is. I’d probably say, off the cuff, somewhere between 30% and 50%.

If you’re only testing yourself (not always vertically with intensity, but also horizontally with breadth) less than 30% of your training time you may be limiting your potential. On the transverse, it’s that ~50% of confidence building that allows you to feel competent in those other endeavors.

Reflection:

Limiting Factors / Where to Improve:

Consider micro-dosing mobility for knee.
Open mat perspective:
- Focus on developing “overwhelming control” that forces a submission opportunity to present itself (difficult partners).
- Seek discomfort / try new things or bad positions (significantly less skilled partners).

Injury / Illness / PRs:

Right knee is still healing. Strength training feels good, but I can’t sit on my heels yet.

Action Plan:

One more week in volume phase, so be sure to add mobility to each training session.
Continue breath practice on drive home from work; seems to be helping sleep trend upward.
Continue to set daily objectives.

Training Sessions:

Monday: 8/5/24

Warm:
10 min x Zone 2
4 x 10 Step Up
Work:
5 x 10 Back Squat
Tempo 3-0-0
Support:
3 x 10 Front Squat
Results:
Air Bike x 81 cal
24” / Bodyweight
170#
95#

Tuesday: 8/6/24

Warm:
10 min x Zone 2
2 x 10 Ring Dip
Work:
5 x 10 Strict Press
Tempo 3-0-0
Support:
5 x 10 Piston Press
Results:
Heavy Bag Boxing x 110 bpm
Bodyweight
75#
50#

Thursday: 8/8/24

Warm:
10 min x Zone 2
5-4-3-2-1 Chest-to-bar + GHD Back Extension
Work:
EMOM / 12
5” Deficit Deadlift x 1
Support:
5 x 10 RDL
Results:
Air Bike x 85 cal
Bodyweight
295#
80#

Saturday: 8/10/24