2024 - 08 - 26

Rest days are inevitable. If you don’t plan them, then illness or injury will find their way in. Sometimes, you do everything right and unexpected incidents still occur and force you to adapt.

255 x 2, 12 weeks post MCL and meniscus tear

Summary:

Over the past week I’ve done a lot of fiddling with my personal training logs and journals. As I mentioned last week, trying to sort out “signal from noise” and let subjective measures (journaling) and objective measure (data / logs) each do what their good at without duplicating tasks (i.e. busy work).

I’d like to think I was sacrificing my body for science, but drinking (alcohol) 5/7 days combined with ragweed season and flip-flopping weather resulted in a sinus infection. With that said, I’m still collecting data — for at least the next 4 weeks — with Morpheus and Cronometer to re-establish some primary, secondary, and tertiary metrics for the above documentation.

The week started with a decent deadlift day, the middle was a deadzone, and working back up to some open mats over the weekend was just the right protocol. The time off did remind me that my knee still isn’t 100% and until I can hyper-extend and contract it all the way I won’t feel comfortable wrestling.

It was a reminder that just because I could lift weights and grapple from my butt, my knee wasn’t completely heeled. I made the mistake of ignoring knee-specific mobility as soon as I was able to move on elsewhere.

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Overview:

• 8-Week Block: General / Specific Fitness
• Phase: Intensity
• Weekly Intention: re-assess data logs and progress tracking.

Reflection:

A couple months ago I released the first version of my Jiu Jitsu Training Journal template, and I still appreciate the simplicity. It’s easy to make things more complicated than necessary, especially when you care about them.

That log is still a great “manual” option. My goal for this week was to review my processes and figure out how to make them more efficient. Specifically, I don’t want to wast time with “busy work” where data is either double-entered or “just noise.”

As a result, for my personal records, my “journal” is for subjective processing (e.g. noting the stage of training, goals, daily objectives, and relevant accomplishments or setbacks). On the other hand, my “log” is mainly for long-term data collection — either for archival or data-analysis purposes (biometrics, training hours, progress and performance metrics).

What worked well?

“For science” I was drinking more than usual the week before last. Combined with ragweed season and flip-flopping weather, I came down with a mild cold. I caught the early signs and decided to rest for most of the mid-week.

I also feel like I’m doing a good job of keeping myself accountable for for trying new positions or submissions than my regular repertoire — see “discomfort” on the chart below.

Where do I need to improve?

With the rest, my right knee stiffened up badly. It was a reminder that I still have some progress to make in rehab and just because I can lift and roll again, doens’t mean I should be neglecting rehab.

Plan for next week:

I need to square off some time after each training session to work on knee specific mobility. Even if it’s 5 minutes / day I can’t afford to avoid this and go more than the past 11 or 12 weeks without working stand up (wrestling).

Session Details:

Monday:

Warm:
Zone 2 x 10 min

Work:
5 x 2 Snatch-Grip Deadlift

Support:
3 x 10 Banded Adductor Squat

Results:
79 cal
225#, 245#, 265#, 295#, 315#
Bodyweight

What I’m Studying: