It's been nice to have the experience of having one garage gym and then sell everything and start fresh. I have a lot less gear now but I pretty much use everything almost every workout. I figure, monetarily and health wise, its probably one of the best long term investments in life you could probably make. That said I have also made some foolish buys too, I have a wet suit just hanging in my way, a Garmin that I have only used once in a couple of years and a 1,500 lumen bike light that's still sitting in the box. Plus a whole bunch of random running handhelds I don't seem to need anymore like I did back home in the desert. Oh and a pair of hiking poles I haven't touched since August. Clothes are definitely more important when you have to deal with winter too.
Thanks for the kind words, I was really happy they had a race for the kids they had a great time running it. It's definitely more motivating for them to be running with a big group of others. Gets the competitive spirit pumping.
Here is a grip article for BA. And preaches the same kind of things we have been discussing. Maybe a little negativity about increasing every week.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/5-simple-ways-to-get-stronger
Yah, some of our purchases are impulsive, but sometimes, you just never know what's going to click until you try it. My dumbbells just sit there, and take up needed space in my cramped workout area, so I kinda regret not selling them last summer when I was revamping my workout space. But there's a good chance I'll make use of them in the future when I transition into more conditioning-type workouts. I would also like to do assistance things like db presses, but right now I'm focused on basic mass-building and strength-training with the barbell. It was actually my wife who dissuaded me from selling the dumbbell set, and anyway, the resell value wouldn't be that good.
I went through a half-dozen minimalist running shoes before I found out what works for me there too.
I think DJ's article might actually support the idea of micro increases. It's the bigger jumps that lead to injury I think. It's funny when I was searching for info on fractional or micro loading, there isn't a lot around. Poliquin endorses it, as does old school Doug Hepburn (
http://www.t-nation.com/article/bodybuilding/10_strength_tips_from_a_legend&cr=). Poliquin say it's like the Japanese business concept of Kaizen. So it's still not a well-used protocol I guess. Some of the macho posters over at Starting Strength call them fag plates. I'm crushed.
The way I envision it, is I keep using my formulas and percentages to keep things progressing towards the Iron Ratio of 2:3:4:5, based on some kind of prescribed rate of increase for the OH Press and/or Squat. Say, something like a pound per week for the OH Press. That's two pounds per week for the squat (once the Squat reaches a 2:1 ratio to the OH Press). If I'm able to sustain that for a year, that would lead to 50- and 100-pound increases, respectively. If at some point I'm no longer able to sustain that rate of increase, no biggie, with fractional plates, I can easily take it down to a 1/2 pound per week. When that's no longer sustainable, then 1/2 pound every two weeks, and so on. I think this is a better way to go than increasing by a larger increment and then missing reps or degrading technique until one's strength catches up. Even for the Squat, it seems like it would be beneficial to increase the load without being able to perceive it, or without having to refocus on form to make sure there's no degradation of technique, which can happen even with a five-pound increase.
We'll see. I'm sure there will be times when I can't be bothered with monkeying with the little plates, but like you say, for at least the OH Press, probably the Bench Press, and possibly the Squat and Deadlift, this could be an valuable tool. I'm pretty happy and proud that I've been able to adopt a more gradualist or patient approach while rehabbing the glute/hip injury, so anything I can use to maintain that attitude is worth trying.
I'm also seeing the hills training as a form of micro-loading, insofar as it's easier to control the doses precisely and build up very gradually.
It's funny Dan John also endorses the idea of weak points, but so far, I've never been able to feel like any particular phase of a lift is weaker than the others. I always just experience it as the entire lift being weak or strong, or relatively hard or easy as a whole. The sticking points are always the same, and they're always overcome by simply letting time and repetition do their thing. I think I would rather just trust in volume to lead to continuing increases than doing partials, working with chains, or what have you.
For grip, Dan John might be right, that it's keeping a lot of people's lifts back, but like we've discussed with BA's deadlifts, I've found just doing more deadlifts, that is, more volume, pretty much took care of things. Once again, I tend to opt for the stupid or simpler protocol. The body adapts to specific stimuli, just got to trust it and get on with it.
One thing about gripping the bar during the bench press, I experimented a little more on Saturday, but I think I exaggerated the straightness of the back of the hand and forearm. If it's too straight, it actually creates a moment arm on the other side. I think that's why I found it harder on Saturday. The hand has to be cocked back a little in order for the bar to be right over the forearm. It's not like throwing a punch.
Dan John also endorses isometric holds. I guess I should try them, but I just don't see the sense of it. I'd rather do OH Squats or his Farmer's Walks or something involving a movement that tests stability.