APH-2025-092

Overview:

• Quarterly Goal: Emphasize better rather than more or harder.
• Monthly Focus: Bad Position / Addressing Deficits
• Weekly Objective: Upper Body Attacks

Intention:

Today was all about chill and restore. The pollen count is still awful, my eyes feel like they’re being scratched out of my head. So, the goal was to move a little, and explore different recovery strategies. Since I’m not drinking alcohol during camp, I’ve got a few bucks to spare gym hopping.

Warm Up:

• Private Lesson x 60 minutes:

  • Instructing only, minor drilling, no rolling for me.

Work:

• PAIL/RAIL

  • Shoulder External (10# KB)
  • Shoulder Internal (5# KB)
  • Hip External (kneeling)
  • Hip Internal (kneeling)

• Sauna x 40 minutes

  • Pass the time with CARs:

    • Elbow, 2 x 5
    • Knee, 2 x 5
    • Wrist, 2 x 5
    • Ankle, 2 x 5

• Pool x 5 minutes

• Hot Tub x 5 minutes

• Contrast Shower (2:1 hot:cool) x 9 minutes

Reflection:

What worked well:

• I did a good job keeping the intensity reeled in today and all movement was very mild.
• I like the (dry) sauna and cool (not cold) shower the best.

What didn’t:

• The pool time (was admittedly short), but kind of felt like a waste of time. It would have been fun though if I was there with a group to cool off and move around in very low impact.
• The hot tub was nice, but similar to an ice bath, the intensity makes it difficult to maintain, and the stress level is likely more than what’s productive.

Plan for next time:

• Sauna is very analogous to endurance work; particularly from the experiential standpoint of “this will not be over soon, so find a way to settle in.”
• I’ve never heard anyone say “I hate hot showers.” The contrast made the cold a lot more bearable, and as I’ve commented before, “cool” is refreshing – especially in summer. Cold is a stressor that may be just enough to send you over the edge – which there is more an more evidence of and people coming around to realizing.