Smashing Cats: A fat guy's fitness odyssey

[CatSmasher]

Solid day for legs yesterday.

4x3 @ 85%

4x6-8 Pendlay rows

Metcon: Group of three, one person at a time. Heavy (60% 1RM Push Press) DB thrusters, 150m row. AMRAP for 18 mins. Our group got 18 sets, which was tied for the lead when I left the gym.

This summer I got a promotion that also afforded me some better benefits so I have started to get massages in an attempt to bolster my recovery. I'm not sure about the efficacy, but I know that at least for a few days after i feel good. Any thoughts on massage as an accessory to mobility and recovery?

[Baphomet3]

Massage is a great recovery tool. Most of the professional- and international-level athletes in weightlifting, cycling, and other sports all use it regularly. It's particularly useful if you have a knowledgable therapist who understands anatomy and fascia and can work on soft tissue, break up knots, relieve pressure around joints, etc.

Sometimes I travel and I'll book a massage. I ask about the therapists' backgrounds and choose carefully. They don't seem like they're used to being grilled prior to a session. And when I walk in they start up with their little aroma therapy schtick and I have to let them know that I'm here with an agenda. I've got tight IT bands. I want you to really mash on the calves and achillies area too. Loosen that up. Get some quad and hip flexor stretching in after that. Look for knots in my back. Really focus on the traps and neck. Attack the upper pecks and anterior delts. Get my shoulders to open up and sit back. Then . . .

And she's looking at me like WTF? Should I be taking notes?

[boboplata2.0]

This summer I got a promotion that also afforded me some better benefits so I have started to get massages in an attempt to bolster my recovery. I'm not sure about the efficacy, but I know that at least for a few days after i feel good. Any thoughts on massage as an accessory to mobility and recovery?

foam rollers.

[CatSmasher]

I also use a lacrosse ball.

[Baphomet3]

A foam roller (I use the Grid 2 from TiggerPoint or the Rumble Roller) and a lacrosse or field hockey (I prefer the latter for it's smoother surface and less "grab" on clothing) and a pair of these as a peanut, along with some various yoga/band work/mobility stuff can take you a long way. But having a pro dig into deep tissue and find litle knots in your back and work them out, and do some resistance stretching, and sking rolling (we can all afford kineseo tape), and active release therapy is a genuinely valuable tool to keep somewhere in your bi-monthly orbit.

[warriorsoul]

I need to invest in a foam roller, can you use them on your upper and lower back? that's where I get the most problems with tension, flat bench and back squat are my only set lifts each week but as the weights have gone up, so has the stress on my back

might need to add this to my christmas list

[CatSmasher]

Another bench day yesterday.

5@80%
3@90%
1@95%
3x2@85%

Used 205 for reps in the last sets, and there was still a bit of room. I was dialled in yesterday though. Great sleep, perfect breakfast, and a 12pm workout, which is ideal for me.

Metcon was a beast,
10 rounds for time
10 hand release push-ups,
5 pull - ups
8 wall ball

Took me around 15 mins. brutal.

[Baphomet3]

These are some of crossfit's best programs. Simple couplets and triplets, low-to-moderate rep schemes, contrasting movements - all compound and functional, intensity without overkill, go hard for 10 or 15 min.

I used to do a 5x5 bench/dead couplet that was a thing of beauty. Bench 225 x 5; hop-up, grab Bar #2, dead 315 x 5 - 5 Rounds: I'd burn through that in sub-90 seconds and people at Gym 24 would shjt themselves.

Then get a drink. Foam roll a bit. And go 15, 9, 5 on pull-ups with a light, rocking kip, 1st and last rep go chest-to-bar + a 135# OH squat. Smooth transitions. Huge range of motion. Good power. Good control. Lot's of snap. Athletic. Don't blow your load, excellent technique, steady-but-aggressive pace, finish strong. That is fitness as art. Performing art; conceptual art; theoretical art; biological fine-tuning: ArtFit.

[CatSmasher]

1RM day yesterday, pretty pleased with my results. We have been building towards these lifts for a couple of weeks.

Bench 230lbs
Back Squat 270

I feel like I might have had some room for another hack at 275, but it was a lot of work for one day. Super pumped about it. Thanks for the input gentlemen.

[CatSmasher]

Break time is over.

I had a lovely holiday but slacked on my diet. I was still incorporating everything I needed but with some dessert and baked good slammed on top.

Today will be my third session this week.

Last session,

Front Squat
5@75
3@ 85
1@ 90 - nailed 215 which is a PR, and had some room to spare IMO