08-05-20 07:26 PM - Post#901068    

Lots of good discussion about what folks have done in the short term to keep training depending on individual circumstances. But what about longer term? Has covid altered your plans going forward for the next few weeks or months, or longer?

For myself, I like a seasonal periodization where summer is for the DMPM and MTB, culminating in a marathon MTB race. Winter is for barbell work, and spring and fall for Easy Strength. This year, all the races were cancelled or rescheduled. Regulations have meant trails were closed completely, or mostly. So, what about next season? Will there be one? Do I just keep on as I normally would, or find a different goal?

Here in the PNW of the US, I don’t see things improving in any significant way for a long time. It’s probably going to get worse, and stay that way for some time. This a diverse group, so there’s variety in circumstances.

Are you changing your goals or practices going forward?

08-05-20 07:50 PM - Post#901070    

Hello!

Looks like it's going to stay this way up here for quite some time for me. Not really changing my lifting plan for the last two months now and it's going real nice.

Hope everyone is finding plenty of joy and challenge in their lifting during this time!

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Covid vs Programming
08-06-20 01:38 AM - Post#901080    

Nothing has changed for me and nothing (hopefully) will change, I can’t say I’ve got any plans or goals other than to carry on carrying on.

During this last 5 months the chaos surrounding us actually allowed me to make my world smaller, focus and reach my target weight after 2 stuttering years of trying and failing. My world had got way too big, way too cluttered and way too stressful. I have to say I’ve thrived in this time and am in the best shape I’ve been for 5 years.

I’m lucky that I have a well kitted out little gym at home so I can train pretty much as I want to and have finally found what I was looking for, solace in training and enjoyment of the time I spend doing something mentally and physically constructive.

What I’d have done without the gym though I don’t know. I very nearly sold all of my kit when I fell out of love with training, thank heavens I didn’t.

I’m not planning on changing anything, I’ll just carry on and watch whatever the world does around me and see where this all ends up.

Life is a gift, the shape of it isn’t always under our control but what we do with our little piece of it is up to us.

Edit: the only downside is that Mrs Volumiza and I had decided to re-enter the competition dance circuit earlier this year but obviously that has all gone. But, we dance together, maybe only in the house but it’s surprising how much fun you can have waltzing round your kitchen table. Hopefully next year things can get going again.

'You can throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face and keep going' 'Well ain't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere.' Ulysses Everett McGill

Edited by Volumiza on 08-06-20 01:45 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-06-20 09:50 AM - Post#901089    

Great post Volumiza. Good job. I’m so impressed with the ways people have continued to train at home, especially those folks that used to train in commercial gyms. I’m still really curious about people’s plans for the future. How does so much uncertainty affect one’s goals? For instance, maybe I should give up on MTB racing and focus instead on reaching my strength goals?

08-06-20 10:18 AM - Post#901090    

• vegpedlr Said:

It's hard to have long term goals at present other than keeping going as best we can. We've obviously had to shelve plans for competing but we're just keeping our hand in, keeping moving, practising as best we can.

• vegpedlr Said:

Can you not keep your hand in on the MTB training and try and make sure you are in the arena if and when it does start back up at the same time as doing strength training?

Aside from the competitions not being there, has anything changed in your enjoyment of what you are doing?

I suppose it's just looking around you and getting on with whatever you can as best you can I guess.

Crazy times Vegpedlr that's for sure. I think my main goal is simply making through the year and out of the other side

'You can throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face and keep going' 'Well ain't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere.' Ulysses Everett McGill

08-06-20 10:47 AM - Post#901097    

If there's one thing I have learned, it is the utter contingency of plans. As Mike Tyson said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." My "plan" is to keep up my resistance band, dumbbell, pull-up strength work and my Airdyne and running sessions. I just got some rings, which have allowed me to diversify my strength portfolio, and I am hoping that someday I'll be able to buy more dumbbells. I continue to check out Youtube videos for ideas for resistance band exercises. I don't miss the gym much at all. While I would love to use some of the equipment again, I really don't miss the meatheads, posers, and equipment hogs at all. And it is has been fun to figure out how to alter the orientation of my body relative to a fixed point in order to mimic some of the exercises that I can't do now because of lack of equipment (such as overhead pulleys).

Why are you squatting in the curl rack?

08-06-20 10:56 AM - Post#901101    

The strange thing is that I took a sabbatical so I could just work in Europe this summer without worrying about proctors, quizzes and homework.

That didn't go well.

However, I really have trained well this summer.

Daniel John Just handing down what I was handed down... Make a Difference. Live. Love. Laugh. Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude) Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk. Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth. Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights. Reread great books. Say thank you

Covid vs Programming
08-06-20 12:45 PM - Post#901109    

No changes for me, PF reversed the mandatory mask rule so I am going to reverse my membership cancellation.



Edited by BChase on 08-06-20 12:46 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-06-20 01:57 PM - Post#901111    

Nothing changes for me since I have no particular goals and only train for myself, and I have all my equipment at home, so I'm lucky.

Further answering, I think everyone who isn't being paid or educated to play a sport (or who is beyond the age where that is a possibility) should focus 90%+ of his or her training on being healthy. This is a great time to focus on that. So stay balanced and use what you have available to address your strength, mobility/flexibility and cardiovascular system (not necessarily in that order).

As for MTB, I assume those races (Veg) will come back sooner than, say dance competitions (Volumiza). I also assume you can still ride, right? Maybe not on the trails you are used to, but why not ride on the road? There are still uphill and downhill sections, right? Plus, if riding your mountain bike, you get a great ride doing it on the road vs. someone riding a road bike...

08-06-20 04:47 PM - Post#901112    

COVID totally ruined my martial arts training and I won't probably be able to attend a class until 2021 at the very earliest.

The world is rapidly approaching another lockdown quite soon.

"I think we often spend too much time focusing on max fitness and not nearly enough on maintaining our minimums. It seems we need to think sustainable rather than obtainable. Meaning whatever we do today, we can do it again tomorrow. Never taking so much from ourselves that we can't." Dan Martin

08-06-20 05:26 PM - Post#901116    

• Dan John Said:

Any chance they will let you roll it over to next summer?

08-06-20 05:37 PM - Post#901117    

• iPood Said:

Yes, I have to think martial arts schools are going to be in major trouble/there may not be any left pretty soon...

08-06-20 05:52 PM - Post#901119    

• BrianBinVA Said:

Maybe some could survive reduced to training in parks with several meters separation between individuals for kata and maybe limited sparing in masks.

"Coyote is always waiting, and Coyote is always hungry."

08-06-20 08:10 PM - Post#901123    

When the pandemic hit I decided to play it safe and stick with the known quantities, specifically ES. After a round I thought that DeWine was doing a pretty decent job here in Ohio so perhaps I could ratchet things up a bit. Between programs I do a mobility transition phase and during that time I though that I would go with something a bit different and finally decided to go with "Simple Strength for Difficult Times" by Fabio Zonin (yeah, I know).

I had drifted away from back squats for quite some time and thought that a more bus bench approach was overdue. At first it was good, more frequent squatting was helping me groove the back squat again, just what I wanted.

After completing week five it was clear that I was simply unable to adequately recover. It seemed like recovery was still a good idea where the whole strong immune system thing was concerned so I scrapped it. After week four I had increased pop in my legs, after week five I felt like I was wearing leg irons.

Wanting to keep the back squats I selected Joe DeFranco's "Washed Up Meathead" routine. Covid has changed my perception of what comprises a bus bench workout for now.

08-07-20 01:37 PM - Post#901153    

• BrianBinVA Said:

I really wish I could do this. I'd rather either lift heavy or lay on the couch. I get so bored with moderate workouts.

"The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."~GK Chesterton

08-07-20 02:27 PM - Post#901155    

• Browser Said:

Maybe my mindset is based on the fact that I'm the total opposite. When I was younger, I sometimes wished I could/would push myself harder, but I didn't have that drive to leave blood on the bar or whatever. Now that I'm more "mature," I'm grateful for my love of medium, in workouts and most other things.

Covid vs Programming
08-07-20 02:41 PM - Post#901156    

• Quoting:

That's great to hear!

Some of us take a while to understand that it's okay to be good to yourself, but once we let that kick in,
life can be a real sweet deal here and there.

Enjoy Your Lifting!

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Edited by Neander on 08-07-20 02:41 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-07-20 03:16 PM - Post#901157    

• BrianBinVA Said:

I am legitimately envious! I am very moderate to downright lazy in just about everything else. Lifting is the one outlet that absorbed all of my many neuroses.

"The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."~GK Chesterton

08-07-20 03:25 PM - Post#901158    

• Browser Said:

You can have both! Just not at the same time. Unless 12 oz curls count . . .

08-07-20 04:39 PM - Post#901159    

I've refined my approach because of the Covid...not. Given that if I did less, I wouldn't be doing anything at all. Three day cycle: Day 1, DMPM. Day 2, walk/stretch or rest. Day 3, walk/stretch or rest.

The rest of my time is spent sun bathing, reading the Bible and polishing my halo.

Mark it Zero.

Covid vs Programming
08-07-20 05:32 PM - Post#901161    

I really didn’t realize how much not knowing when the next meet will be messes with my head though. It’s been very difficult for me to get into the right frame of mind for heavy lifting. I’d probably be much better off just doing bodybuilding and light cardio for now but I’m too stubborn.

Perhaps I need an INTERVENTION.

"The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."~GK Chesterton

Edited by Browser on 08-07-20 05:54 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-08-20 12:21 AM - Post#901165    

• DanMartin Said:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Covid vs Programming
08-08-20 09:24 AM - Post#901171    

I had been doing mostly circuits and sled training at home during self isolation. Went surprisingly well. When the local gyms opened back up and I found "safe" daytime slots when they are sparsely populated (10:30-noon and 1:30 -3:00), I went back to my tried and true power-bodybuilding routine. Got bored and injured myself almost immediately.

After some experimentation, I found I can have the best of all worlds by combining low to moderate intensity circuits with a few moderate to heavy compound lifts, spread out over three days. I also walk in a pool for a half hour more often than doing weighted carries. Injuries have dissipated. (Wish I could say the same for my arthritis!)

So, apparently I learned a lot about how to train my aging body effectively with less inflammation during self isolation. Not going to set any powerlifting records on this path, but I'm still strong (for a geezer) and having a good time with a very productive routine.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 08-08-20 01:21 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-08-20 10:40 AM - Post#901174    

AAmunz, could you share what your routine looks like? Sounds interesting.

08-08-20 01:05 PM - Post#901176    

• vegpedlr Said:

Sure. I keep a detailed log in Training Logs section of this website. Check out the last two weeks.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

08-08-20 01:13 PM - Post#901177    

• BrianBinVA Said:

I dunno, think everyone should rage against the dying of the light a bit even if only once in a while. Letting go can be unhealthy for a lot of people, especially those who were competitive sportspeople (not sure what getting paid has to do with it).

Re: Covid vs Programming
08-08-20 02:11 PM - Post#901179    

• AAnnunz Said:

Yeah! First smile of the day there, Al

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Edited by Neander on 08-08-20 02:11 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-08-20 02:29 PM - Post#901180    

"Further answering, I think everyone who isn't being paid or educated to play a sport (or who is beyond the age where that is a possibility) should focus 90%+ of his or her training on being healthy. This is a great time to focus on that. So stay balanced and use what you have available to address your strength, mobility/flexibility and cardiovascular system (not necessarily in that order)."

I'll be 64 a month from today and largely agree with this sentiment. Having used Dan's workout generator for at least half of my park bench workouts I occasionally change course for a while. To select a routine that involved squatting three times a week was great until it wasn't. The possibility of increased Covid activity in the fall convinced me that now was the time to do a bus bench or challenge workout. The transformation program was one such challenge about a year ago. I didn't like stopping the Zonin routine but it was clear after five weeks that I had made a poor selection.

Covid vs Programming
08-08-20 02:50 PM - Post#901184    

• Matt_T Said:

Keeping yourself healthy keeps the light shining longer, ya know? I don't think we disagree on that, I just think less raging gives more light. Could be just me.

Getting paid or having education paid for has to do with it to the extent that if you haven't been one or the other, you're not elite, and if not at that level, it's far more beneficial to just enjoy the training. What's the point of hammering yourself into the ground and leaving yourself (not you, of course, just the royal you) open to a lifetime of orthopaedic issues so you can beat five other people in the Greater Podunk Valley bench-only meet, 45-49 age group, 190-205-lb weight class? (Just an example, and a facetious one at that, but you see where I'm going.)

Of course, your mileage may vary, as they say.

And Dylan Thomas died at 39...




Edited by BrianBinVA on 08-08-20 04:35 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-08-20 07:17 PM - Post#901186    

It depends...

Just my 2¢

Covid vs Programming
08-09-20 09:12 AM - Post#901202    

• WxHerk Said:

Yep. For some of us, those seemingly meaningless age division victories are among the highlights of our lives. I shit you not: I am prouder of powerlifting accomplishments in the age 60-64, 65-69 and 70-74 divisions than I am of my two masters degrees. Chronic dings notwithstanding, I'd gladly do it all over again. Fatuous? To most, probably, but not to me.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 08-09-20 09:48 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-09-20 09:34 AM - Post#901204    

• AAnnunz Said:

BIG time "Man Swoon.." Al, I always love reading you and this resonates so loudly with me.


I gotta side with you and Matt_T here. Don't ever stop raging against the light...ever. Some days, not very often but very consistently, I gotta grab it and keep going.

I'm fortunate because I'm the "old man" at work (military flier) and work with plenty of youngsters who can outtalk me but barely any who can outwork me. Funny how the talkers and doers are almost never the same people....

C/19 has actually improved my training. A dozen kettlebells on my carport and a 24kg rucksack. Either 32kg A&A snatches or an hour ~ 1:15 ruck in the Gulf Coast heat and humidity. If it's raining on ruck day swings, getups, front squats, jerks, what I call "fun..."

SO very much of this game is between the ears. The tools and methods are important but not as important as one's mindset. How many times have we heard, read, and seen that a perfect program done half/heartedly doesn't compare to a sorry program done wholeheartedly ? ? ? Quite often.

Just my 2¢

08-09-20 04:24 PM - Post#901213    

Thanks, John. I like the way you rage. Stay strong.

#oldmenrule

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Re: Covid vs Programming
08-09-20 08:03 PM - Post#901218    

• AAnnunz Said:

Dammit this makes me want lift right this minute. While chewing broken glass. Winning my age group and placing second in the open at Regionals is probably my proudest moment as a human. I can also remember milestone lifts very vividly. Nothing else in my life is like that.
That’s probably not necessarily a good thing, but it’s true. And I’m not prone to self analysis so I don’t see it changing.

"The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."~GK Chesterton

08-09-20 08:29 PM - Post#901219    

I have my weights in my basement and the park where I run did not close. So it did not change my training any.
I still push the weights hard,

08-10-20 02:58 AM - Post#901226    

Al, thanks for relighting a bit of fire! Likewise, I have far more vivid and prouder memories of what I did at 47 than at 27, even though the former was objectively better.

Of course, easier to remember details for 7 years than for 27 too - this may distort things ;-)

08-10-20 08:59 AM - Post#901232    

People are different, I guess. Who woulda thought?

Few things:

1) Veg, sorry for what appears to have become a hijack of your thread -- not intentional!

2) I definitely don't mean to suggest no one should compete, or enjoy competing, or be proud of results in competition. There are lots of personal and cultural reasons people are drawn to competitions, and clearly those things are great for many people -- carry on.

3) I definitely, definitely don't mean to suggest you shouldn't train hard. Being healthy includes doing some hard things sometimes, within reason.

All that said, though, I do think the emphasis on competition and PRs/PBs/whatever that seems to have taken over discussions of training and physical culture over the last 10-15 years is most definitely not a good thing for a great many people. Or maybe it's just the parts of the internet I frequent.

I'm not surprised that this board (or any board related to physical activity) is populated with a lot of driven people who are into the competition side of things. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, it just is, and brings a lot of helpful perspectives on many subjects. But for most people, my view continues to be that they would be far better off in the long term just moving, putting in some effort and enjoying training. And right now, with a lack of competitive outlets in a lot of places, seems a good time to me to consider that health and wellness side of things.

Of course, I know there are a good many people who won't train at all if they don't see something at the end they are working towards, whether it is a competition or a lifetime PR or whatever, so it's probably just me!

Covid vs Programming
08-10-20 09:51 AM - Post#901237    

Great post, Brian. You and I are thirty years apart. As the father of young children with a full time job and other family concerns you’ve shared, your priorities and perspectives will naturally differ from a retired grandpa who would be bored to tears if it weren’t for his lifting OCD. What we and I dare say every other regular contributor to this forum share is a love of iron, fitness, and the strength that never fails to accompany consistent training. The fact that we’ve become a community is what makes this forum so precious.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

Edited by AAnnunz on 08-10-20 09:58 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Re: Covid vs Programming
08-10-20 10:02 AM - Post#901239    

• AAnnunz Said:

Here, here, Al. I look forward to being a retired grandpa, and will resurrect this thread in 30 years! (God willing, this community will still be going strong in some form.)

08-10-20 10:12 AM - Post#901240    

No apologies needed. This is the discussion was hoping for.

For those of us who train for its own sake at home, I imagine covid has changed little.

For those thatvtrain gyms, are you back in the gym? Are you comfortable training indoors with others? I don’t think I would be. Are you stockpiling gear at home in case your gym closes again?

What about you who are involved in other sports? Who train for “something else?” Has covid changed planning for that “something else?” In addition to competitions, I was thinking of those in martial arts.

Using myself as an example, I like marathon MTB races even though I’m super slow, back of the pack. I assumed everything would be cancelled. Some were, others rescheduled. The one I was most interested in, the High Cascades 100 in mid July had a potential reschedule for Sept. Since I was sick in March, I lost a lot of fitness. No way I could race in July. But if it moves to Sept. and I could snag a spot, then maybe . . I got suckered into a little magical thinking in May like a lot of others. Maybe the worst was behind us. Maybe being hit first here in WA we’d be first out.

Silly rabbit, pandemics are for Everybody!

What’s happening is pretty much what I expected, so no racing for me.

The question remains, planning in such uncertain times. This will be with us for the next year at least. Will there be any races next year? Is mass start racing a thing of the past?

I do believe that with our chaotic and undisciplined response, from the very top levels down to regular people, ensures that there will be no significant improvement. It might even get worse. The new school year for K-12, college towns, and cooler weather moving people back inside will coalesce into more, or at least continued virus.

So, how are planning for the next months? Same as always?

I think the questions of training volume and intensity and immune system health are important for individuals to consider.

08-10-20 10:51 AM - Post#901243    

• vegpedlr Said:

This has been my biggest lesson over the last 4 months. At the start of this all I was constantly fending off little colds and feeling a bit run down so I intentionally scaled back my training weights and inhabited the 60 - 70% effort range for pretty much all lifts.

I've felt so much better for it, my body reacted very well to it and (touch wood) I have barely had a sniffle for months.

There's a lot to be said for training a bit lighter and not pushing every session. I've read it loads from people with way more experience than me but I guess you have to learn this one on your own terms.

It will be my norm from now on. My body loves it and I feel in the best condition I've been in for half a decade.

I was really looking forward to competing again, it has always been a big part of my life but I guess I'm ok without it too. My goals are to feel good and look good, the spillover from this into the rest of your life is immense.

'You can throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face and keep going' 'Well ain't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere.' Ulysses Everett McGill

08-10-20 11:45 AM - Post#901245    

• Volumiza Said:

Nice!

And yes, this generally has to be learned from personal experience. At least in my experience. :-)

Covid vs Programming
08-10-20 01:05 PM - Post#901246    

Thanks and and WxHerk for the inspiration. Both animals. I saw the 237 in 10 minutes with the USST Snatch test on SF.

Cooperstown qualified men here.

Last 3 days I have pushed it workout wise. Got back from the Doctor on Tuesday and in great health.

For my Kettlebell Burn, for snatches, did 200 in 14:50 with a 45, thought a modest time, it is a baseline to work off of AND no hand issues. I can do 108 in 5 minutes

Sunday banged out 5.3 miles outdoors in 46:30

Finally today, did Farmer's Carries in the gym after National Chest Day and Pullups, then did......

HILL SPRINTS! 10 of 80 yards at about 80%.

A 51 year old sprinting up a street must be quite a sight for the unenlightened.

Thanks guys for pushing me.

Edited by BChase on 08-10-20 01:06 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Re: Covid vs Programming
08-10-20 01:21 PM - Post#901248    

• BChase Said:

Looks like you're headed uphill to Cooperstown, yourself, Young Man..

Congratulations on the terrific medical report!!

(Keeping it G rated) HECK with the unenlightened!! As I say when training outdoors with our Special Operator Airmen: "let's give the doughnut eaters something to shake their heads at.."

Also, more than a few of those unenlightened are likely a bit envious. Not so many greybeards are waving an extended middle finger at ol' man time.

Rage on, BC!!

Just my 2¢