AIMING FOR THE FINISH

“Never Back Down”

You know ity’s amazing to me how many people just give up before they reach their shiny carrot. It’s disheartening and upsetting to me, because as humans, we are cable of so much more…. so wether you want to write a book, climb Mount Everest, or lose 100lb’s, it’s all possible, you just need the correct BLUEPRINT.

I think alot about the in-depth, creative content in Ross Edgely’s book ‘BLUEPRINT’ (and yes, I see the irony). He delves deep into Sporst Science and Stoicism, and combines them with the methods of General Physical Preparedness (GPP) and the Russian Conjugate Sequencing System (RCSS), which helps YOU, the individual, develop your own plan. And this got me thinking about the blueprint that I used to:

1. Improve my client’s health through assessment, educating and applying the principles of Naturopathic Nutrition, and allowing time for it to take effect. And,

2. Giving them real time feedback during sessions and providing guidance, consistently, on how to improve their approach and their performance.

Although I didn’t realise that was my blueprint for helping others at the time, sometimes it takes time to develop your perspective on the matter. Nevertheless, I adapted this formula further when I worked at a gym in Stockton-On-Tees, Thornaby. There, I begun to APPLY what I learned about the GPP and the RCSS. I drafted mesocycles for people, which started off wherever they were in their fitness cycle really. And it took a sequence of trials, errors and observations to successfully assess where they were in their own fitness macrocycle.

I need to clarify something with you here, the term ‘MACROCYCLE’ is basically a fancy way of saying ‘your Fitness Plan For The Whole Year’ and it follows the seasons of nature (Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer) (Edgely, 2021). Your MESOCYCLES are basically your MACROCYCLES split into four different, but related time periods of training, and all of them are absolutely essential for improving ANYONE’S TRAINING. It’s these four training periods that guide you through each of the four seasons. Back in Ancient Greece (431-404, CE) they did something similar, and by ‘they’ I mean the Spartan Warriors of Ancient Greece. These men conditioned themselves for optimal performance in battle, and developed their mental resialliance as well as work capacity (stamina) so they had ‘the fuel in the tank’ to perform for long bouts without getting tired.

Consider this - If YOU wanted to build your stamina, how would ‘YOU’ do it?

My goal for you today is to literally give YOU a small sample of a BLUEPRINT to take a photo of, take away with you, or whatever, so you have this knowledge in your pocket, literally! This is a sample of what I would typically do in a microcycle (meaning, involving your individual sessions), given the correct REST, ACTIVE RECOVERY, NUTRITION, INTENSITY, and VOLUME of training. This sample is shown below:

Notice the structure? Additionally, notice that the PURPOSE of the session is focused around strength-based prehab/rehab, this can be use for anyone to follow. So for any man or woman wanting to crush it on the squat machine, improvre their personal best for their deadlift, compete in a 10km bike ride or compete in CrossFit, you can use this approach to your training. Another thing I will say that I believe is important for you to do, is record how your feeling during training: how do you feel after your workout? Sluggish? Fatigued? Weak? Strong? Energetic? This is vital because you adapt accordingly and improve one of these areas:

1. Sleep

2. Nutrition

3. Hydration

4. Intensity of training

5. Volume of training

6. Mesocycle (potentially)

These adaptations are vital, as there are challenges when you are first figuring out how to frame your sessions into effective tools to gain optimal performance (Gamble, 2006). For example, the variations in which the literature explains (Baker, 1998), are one of those challenges, but I think it’s important to note here is that if you are following a traditional plan then you can follow this just fine, but if YOUR PLAN follows those of the UNCONVENTIONAL adventure of training, like a great swim or CrossFit for example, then you definitley need to TEST, TEST, TEST, and keep going until you found something that works!

Again, jot down your notes and then put them to use!

I hope this segment has helped you guys, I aim to serve.

Thanks so much for reading!

Brad

References:

Baker D. (1998). Applying the in-season periodization of strength and power training to football. Strength and Conditioning Journal 20(2):18-27.

Gamble P. (2006). Periodization of training for team sports athletes. Strength and Conditioning Journal 28(5):56-66.

Edgely R. (2021) BLUEPRINT.