Training Roots
Sometime the best progress we made as beginners, but I’m not talking beginner gains, I’m talking the movements we do.
I was in my high school’s JROTC program and my sophomore year our PT test consisted of:
- Toe Touch Seated: Pass/Fail Based on how far past toes
- Pushups: Max in 1 minute
- Sit Ups: Max in 1 minute
- Walking Lunges : Max in 1 minute
- Shuttle Run: Pass/Fail Based on Time
- 1 Mile Run: Ace Standard was stupid fast sub 6 minute
This JROTC PT test was something I was training for before I started lifting weights in earnest. It was my sophomore year. My first time with a barbell was 2nd semester freshman year in PE class, and over the Summer I bought a 300lb weight set from Dick’s and a bench with squat stands from Walmart.
That summer, and sophomore year I really only hit some bench with friends or squatted sets of 10 by myself. That year I’d go to the school weight room and density train(unknowingly) dips and weighted calf raises in the gap between the bell and my bus.
Back to roots. The ace score for lunges was just under 60 in a minute, 58 I presume, so 29 reps per leg in a minute.My PR was about 72, and 1 or 2 cadets beat me. The 3 of us blew that Ace standard right out of the water.
You very well know my feeling towards pushups.(I love them with a scary OCD fixation),and aside from the run who cares about the other events.
Generally PT in class consisted of Stretching, Pushups, Flutter Kicks, then lower body meaning alternating A/B days. A days consisted of Lunges , and B days of wall sits super set with wind sprints. 3 out of 4 sessions were ended with a mile run.
Simply we did a shit ton of reps on all of them. Myself and a couple others also did PT at home.
Now I rarely squatted past 185 thinking(as a 15 year old would) that as long as I could squat bodyweight I was doing just fine on strength( my high school is pretty damn piss weak). One time i decided to test it and found I could rep my entire 300lb set for a set of 7. Every week for a while I’d do this,at the time weighing 174lbs at 6′ tall. So at 15 and 174lbs as a skinny fat kid I could hit 300 x7.
How the fuck did I do that?
The answer popped into mind yesterday(re-driven in this morning).
Lunges. Walking Lunges for high reps.
Yesterday I did 4 sets of 25 yards. 2 sets regular, 2 sets swamp lunges.
This leads me to:
Soreness
I don’t seem to get sore like most do. Yesterday’s end workout lunge fest caused some DOMS though.
My glutes are sore, whenever they are I’m stronger for it. Literally. If I squat today they’ll fire harder due to yesterdays activation. It’s part of why I advocate high frequency. Lots of sessions can act as primers for the next.
My traps are as well. Remember this 10 day ago?
Well I decided to shrug yesterday, and apparently I was stronger than on the 4th.
9 fucking reps with 675. Fuck your form, this is how one induces trap growth, and turns themself into a juggernaut.
Hell I even hit a fat bar power clean PR.
And repped it overhead because I can.
The session was a very much back to my training roots session. Knowing that forward rolls and backward rolls keep my spine feeling pretty(prehab style work anticipating shrug soreness) I did a 10 minute block of them(wrestling background)
Pound For Pound Strength
At 15 my squat reps pound for pound were just as strong if not stronger than now. It was do to all the walking lunges.
Pound for pound ability seems to be shown quite well by certain performance metrics. Pullups for one, and mile run ability for another.
When I was wrestling, and doing tons of mileage, or even running stairs post workout I made better gains. The aerobic work allowed me to train longer.
Back To Roots (Again)
Fuck mental feeling, I know what training makes me a juggernaut.
Outside the Gym: High Rep Calisthenics, Pushups, Chins,Dips, Lunges, Miles, Stairs, 40’s, 400m.
In the gym: High frequency squatting, regular volume squats, and heavy ass partials(squats, and shrug/rack pull/hand and thigh),stepper,rowing.
I know aerobic work must be kept in. It’ll only affect your leg strength for about 5 minutes.
Simply I need to combine my pre-gym training that worked, and my gym training that works. I’ve even mentioned this before only to slide after a few weeks of conditioning work.
I counted out how many times I’ve done lunges in the last two years. The result? 4 or 5 times. Sophomore year I did them 4-5 times weekly.
Back to the fucking roots. Calisthenics,Lunges, Partials,Frequency Squats, Volume Legs, And Motherfucking Cardio.
Gym Time.
Boom!
-J