#100DaysofSTRONG Week 4 - STRUGGLE, GAINS and an UNEXPECTED HIGH

Week 4 was a great week of training that ended in an absolutely unexpected high - a runner's high.
I have never ever been a runner. i hate running. as it is evident from my previous posts, running is probably the only thing i hate more than movies like MSG. But this week something incredible happened - i decided to push through my hate and keep on running, and i ended up clearing 10, 11 then 13 kms. And all these distances, i stopped running out of boredom, not fatigue. So now i'm determined to keep pushing through atleast once a week at the end of my weight training week as a celebratory torturous run. I aim to push my distance up to the half marathon and then work down the running time to a respectable level. I will be hiring a marathon training coach to help me keep track of the running schedules.

In the meanwhile, my strength levels are feeling awesome. Im hitting sets out of sets without failure. Which is a clear indication that my strength has indeed improved. So i can look at raising the weight soon with a new PR. Week 5 and 6 will be dedicated to training hard and strong - employing dynamic effort sets after the main sets in case of failure/fatigue.

This is the detailed update of the entire week through my instagrams:

#100daysofstrong periodization tables. The first three weeks began quite easy. The tough parts have just begun. Am Sharing this periodization chart of week 1-2-3 just to bring up to speed those who came in late. Am currently on week 5 and I will be sharing the periodization chart of week 4 5 6 7 in the next Instagram right away. Detailed explanations for the periodization and macro workout schedules will be available in the book. In short, the periodization has been don't to optimize rest, recovery and strength gains and to avoid fatigue - Which at high levels of training starts becoming quite a deterrent. I will be writing a blog and article purely on managing workout fatigue in this week. Hope it helps you all train stronger. #strong #training #workout #gym #fitness #weightlifting #periodization

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 23, 2015 at 12:31am PDT

#100daysofstrong periodization tables. The first three weeks began quite easy. The tough parts have just begun. The last post was the periodization chart of week 1 2 3. Am currently on week 5 and this is the periodization chart of week 4 5 6 7. Detailed explanations for the periodization and macro workout schedules will be available in the book. In short, the periodization has been don't to optimize rest, recovery and strength gains and to avoid fatigue - Which at high levels of training starts becoming quite a deterrent. Fatigue and body pain have become severe in this week. It's extremely tough to maintain a 3 continuous day strength training regimen. So it has to be scaled down to 1 day strength and 1 day cardio. So 6 days a week workout and 1 day of complete rest. There are a lot of ultra roided alpha idiots out there who keep talking crap like 'die in the gym or it ain't a workout' and all that crap. But the fact is that everyone has a few low days, and how you manage it and make sure that it doesn't hamper your long term progress is what determines truly how far you will go. There is no shame in sometimes just making sure you get a workout in even if it ain't 100% or even if you take a much needed off day. Listen to your body. It's the best machine you got. Keep your targets real and achievable. Work for it day by day. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. I will be writing a blog and article purely on managing workout fatigue in this week. Hope it helps you all train stronger. #strong #training #workout #gym #fitness #weightlifting #periodization

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 23, 2015 at 12:42am PDT

#100daysofstrong week 4 completed. I have begun to realise that I love deadlifts so much that I actually count down the days to the next deadlift day. It's the happiest day of my week! Something so primal and strong about deadlifts that it just makes me happy :-) This week I used 5 extra sets of 10 after my main 3x3 sets to retrain my messed up form on the deadlifts. No one is perfect. My hip rises up first and then my shoulders follow. I need to change that. Still working on it. But working on it after my main sets ensures that at least I don't drop my strength levels while retraining. No matter who you are. There will always be a few flaws or few points that need corrections so that one can perform better. There is nothing wrong in accepting a mistake - coz unless you really open to that, you can never improve. And a life without improvement, is a dead life. Anyways, looking forward to close this week with a great cardio session tonight and an amazing rest day tomorrow with a deep tissue massage. Mmmmmmm :-) weekend :-) #gym #training #deadlifts #happiness #strong #deeptissue #massage #cardio #weekend #planning

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 25, 2015 at 4:27am PDT

sumo vs regular deadlift - and why I deadlift sumo? In short - though I'm actually structured for a regular deadlift - people with long legs and short torso are better structured for regular deadlift for reasons of better leveraging. Sumo on the other hand better suits short, stubby people with short legs and short torsos. There is also a factor of practice and adaptation in there, but that is generally the principle. The sumo stance though stresses the sciatic nerve a little lesser than the regular stance due to partial involvement of the glutes. Which is why I moved from regular to sumo - due to a sciatic nerve injury. Now I'm better adapted to the sumo stance. But I'm working on moving back to the regular stance - s o I do my warm ups with both sumo and regular, to build up my regular stance deadlift again. But for my mains, I'm still on sumo stance so as to not risk injuring my sciatic nerve again. Coz the pure frustration of having to stop training due to an injury is what I never want to face again. Slow and steady - with full muscular stress, but no PAIN. That is my training motto. And it's served me quite well. #deadlift #sumo #regular #bodybuilding #strength #strengthtraining #k11 #gym #fitness

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 25, 2015 at 9:14am PDT

#100daysofstrong end of week 4 celebrated with a 13km run. The mixture of fatigue, runner's high, and sweat in my eyes causing them to squint makes me look like a dopehead. But I'm finally loving running now. It's the runners high that keeps me going for it. I started today's run aiming at 10 km. But I went past the wall with ease clocking upto 13 kms with ease. Again I stopped because a friend wanted me to spot her workout or I would have completed 15 today. Felt tottaly in the zone for it. No worries, will look to close next week with a 15 km run now. Soundtrack in my mind right now: I feel good tra LA LA LA ! :-p PS: I'm still high. #cardio #run #endofweek #weekend #marathon #strength #strong #training #endurance Pps: looking forward to week 5 now. And to my deep tissue massage tomorrow :-) ahhhhh rest dayyyyyy :-)

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 25, 2015 at 9:42am PDT

People with Gigantism almost always die of heart failure. It happens in big dog breeds like great danes also. But hey, when it happens to a boy who was wrongfully on steroids, and when people dont know shit about gigantism, lets just blame it all on steroids. After all, it makes a better headline given the rampant ignorance and fear about steroids. And yeah, lets throw in a reference to a celebrity. More readers yeahhhh! #badjournalism #socialmedianews #ignorance But let me state some facts that ought to be understood: 1. Like alcohol, No teenager should ever be on steroids, unless prescribed for a medical condition. 2. Without years of strength and sports training, steroids can and almost always will be a disaster for your life. 3. If your coach/trainer has put you on roids, you have the right to know and to say no. Just as with alcohol. 4. The fact is that even in tested sports, majority of the pro athletes are on roids. But that is their career. They have counsellors and experts who know what they are doing (most of the time). To just ape them and try something, will kill you if not maim you for life. 5. Being the best you can be is an ideal best followed by increasing your own knowledge and intelligence first. You have to be knowledgeable and wise enough to know whom to put your trust in, what to take and what not to, and to evaluate what risks are worth it. Just like alcohol and cigarettes, steroids are more often not worth it. But its your call. It's your life. Know the truth. Live it well. -Pushkaraj S Shirke

A photo posted by Pushkaraj S Shirke (@credosian) on Sep 28, 2015 at 12:27am PDT

- Pushkaraj S Shirke