It's no big secret how the my first semester back in school has affected me in terms of schedule and my lack of time in the gym. With a hectic full time load at George Mason University, a 40 hour work week and my family (who has been BEYOND supportive) my time in the gym, both personal and as a coach, have fallen off. The same can be said about my ability to spend time with my friends.
WOD and Personal Performance
Since I have had limited time in the gym, you can guess my performance and strength has probably suffered. An additional side effect has been balance. For instance, where I used to be pretty balanced in the bottom of a squat, despite hanging out down there basically on one leg, I am now unbalanced. No doubt due to some mobility regression as well. School has not been the only limiting factor but has made for a convenient excuse. I have also been dealing with a lower back injury and injuries/irritations as a result of my prosthesis. Still I soldiered on until it became unbearable and I finally did something about it.
I went from working out 5 days a week to barely making it 2-3 days a week. Now, I am a person who suffers from what I term as "gym PMS". Ladies, if this offends you, I'm sorry. When I don't go to the gym, I get really pissy! Additional stress from school and the need for calories to counter the late nights and early mornings have also led to some poor eating decisions. While I didn't fall off the wagon face first into grain and carb bliss, I did go from about 85-90% paleo to about 50% paleo and not so clean sometimes.
This all changes with the end of the semester! Beginning 2 December, I am starting my own mini-nutrition challenge and also getting back to the basics. The semester wraps up on 11 December for me, so beginning a week early only makes this better. My winter break ends 21 January. Here is what my mini challenge will entail:
1. A return to strict paleo. This means I will go back to my old ways of eating. Everything will be as clean as possible and I will only consume beer/alcohol at special occasions. (c'mon, it is still the holidays!)
2. 5 day workout schedule. I will be returning to the 5 day a week program with the addition of two nights a week where I will run or ruck. I have a ruck run and a 24 hour ruck in the spring so training shall commence immediately.
3. Strength! I want to get strong. I can already kip, now to get strong. So, all pull-ups (except chest to bar, for now), all handstand push ups, all dips and generally any other movement that requires a kip, will be done strict. Yes, I can kip the hell out of some toes-to-bar or knees-to-elbow movements, but I am going to choose to get stronger first! (well, second.....but, you know what I mean)
4. Mobility, mobility, mobility. I will mobilize to make sure I can continue this schedule and also to ensure that old injury bug doesn't make a return.
Coaching.....maybe a return of "Thurpee Thursday"
Since I started back to school, I have dropped back to coaching every other weekend. This makes me grumpy as well because I truly love coaching and the performance of my athletes is vitally important to me. I'm here to tell you Rubiconers, I will be back in the evenings a couple more days a week. Not the same old schedule, but at least a day or two during the week. I still need a little break myself.
Next semester will be a difficult one with Anatomy & Physiology 2, Functional Anatomy and Kinesiology all on my plate. I'll try to make the best of my return.
Goals?
It's pretty simple.... Lose the few pounds I gained and get stronger. Be a better coach!
