A Day in Life – A Day of Study

November 21, 2018 by

As I mentioned earlier, successful learning requires more than repeated intensity. If you constantly launch yourself into the ground, it’s just a matter of time when your body pays the price. Speaking as an active participant of the 40+ crowd, I consider it's important to turn on brighter days to facilitate recovery and prevent burnout. These days can still be difficult, but differently from what was experienced when lifting maximum loads or pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion.

This entry includes a video review of one such workout that I did this week.

Sample Training Day

First, I will share a demonstration of training and video, and then discuss the session.

November 19 – Easy Session

Warm up with 10-15 minutes of hand-eye coordination
Train 3 to 5 weight exercises for about 15 minutes
- On this day I did pushups, sit racks and scrolls
Skip the rope for 3 rounds (3 minute rounds, 30 seconds of rest)
Speed bag for 3 rounds (3 minute rounds, 30 seconds rest)
Complete the session with a short finisher
- On this day I did 5 minutes with light sleds

The logic of the bright day

Being a former athlete and current coach of professional athletes, I know all about hard work and intensity. I essentially try to push myself. I do not know the other way. With this in mind, I have to be sure that my lighter sessions do not include movements that wear me. Because, regardless of my intentions, I always find myself in the process of a session.

Therefore, my light workouts consist of movements and actions, such as:

Hand-eye coordination training
Weight exercises
Jump rope
Shadow boxing
Work with light bags (eg speed bag and double end)
Lighting (for example, light sledgehammers)
Hiking

Warming up the eyes

I start almost all my light sessions with a hand-eye coordination workout. Difficult hand-eye coordination is not physically taxable and has obvious advantages for athletes. Such work is also great for the brain (see here). That's why I need to challenge hand coordination regularly.

During my light workouts, I simply choose several exercises (for example, juggling with variations, a reflex ball, etc.) and randomly perform them for 10-15 minutes. I do not track sets or replays. I just move from one class to another, depending on how I feel. It should not be more complicated than effective.

Easy work is subjective

When reviewing my list of body movements, it is important to note that the light for one athlete can be intense for another. And so I always hesitated to share the day-to-life workout. I do not want anyone to blindly copy what I am doing. Instead, it is important to adapt the work to satisfy your own abilities and needs,

For example, my light session included standing scrolls. Earlier in my life this exercise would have been considered intense. However, after performing the scrolls for more than 20 years, I no longer risk myself breaking out of the movement.

The same logic applies to the sledgehammer. The sled I used for this session was only 6 pounds. I regularly shake a hammer that is much harder, so dropping to 6 pounds will not wear me down. Of course, my heart will beat, but I can quickly recover from work.

volume

In addition to monitoring intensity, I also minimize volumeIn fact, I don’t even track representatives. Instead, I confine myself to small blocks of time, but I never push myself to failure. For example, you can see how I limited myself to 15 minutes of rhythmic gymnastics. Naturally, only such a volume can accumulate in such a short period of time.

The same logic holds true for time rounds with tools such as a speed bag or a jump rope. As you can see, I completed only three rounds. Three rounds are not enough to wear me regardless of my pace and intensity.

Last thoughts

In general, as an active trainer at the age of 40, I need to be fresh for my athletes. Running into the ground every time I train, I will not only break my body, but also make it difficult for me to do my job. Thus, while I still enjoy hard sessions, I also have days when I deliberately unlock intensity and volume.

I firmly believe that these brighter days played an important role in allowing me to not feel differently in my 40 years, as was my age in 20-30. Physically, I do not feel that I refused at all. So, if you like hard work, like me, think about adding a few lighter days to help you keep feeling fresh when weeks, months and years go by.

Your future will be grateful to you.

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