The Hell Was I Thinking?

[Gary Gibson]

Sitting here on my rest week after squatting 70-95% four times per week for a total of 130+ reps/week for three weeks. I'm wondering if my knees will ever feel normal again and if I'll ever run and jump again.

What the hell was I thinking? I must absolutely be overtrained right now and I'm wondering if I'll ever be normal again and if so, how long will it take? I probably have two years of cumulative overtraining to overcome at this point. I want to do a meet in July and one in August and I wonder if I shouldn't wait till September after that before I squat again.

Edit: And there we so many cycles of squatting three x/week for 10 of 5 w/50-70% before that...

[blowdpanis]

Those are just the dark times talking. If you've done enough to absolutely steamroll yourself in terms of feeling like it'll take months to squat well again, you've probably generated quite a stimulus for awesomeness. Rest, recover, adapt, and dominate.

[Braindrop]

Large plastic trashcan + bags of ice and water == your friend.

And the overall pain will take your mind off of your knees!

Good luck.

[ZKP]

Gary

For the love of god. Stacking Somolov's on top of eachother over and over again, what did you think pal? Train for something more than the next few months man. Injuries make things harder for years....and when it's avoidable it's just tragic.

Sometimes, you just need to hear what you already know. You are the antithesis of lazy or a bitch, and if you're letting us all know how fucked up/painfull your knees are (more than normally) it's concerning. What happened to the great revelation that you recover like an intermediate? You are too smart to let you lifting career be shortened by 10 to 15 years just because you want to squat 3 times a week rather than 2.... Bless your crooked heart Gary use that goddamn Russian nightmare once or twice a year like every other self loathing bastard and start lifting like you're strong (because you are) and give yourself proper time to recover and get stronger and not just drive your self into the ground. Fuck. If so many people I know had half the motivation you do their training would be unfucked. You and Kit dont know when to calm the fuck down and just let it happen. Good luck you crazy asshole.

[gamedog]

Any pain you experience isn't from the squats... Its because you have two, huge, cast-iron balls swinging to and fro and they're whacking you in the knees LOL

[Gary Gibson]

I think I have a problem...

This isn't fortitude; it's addiction.

[gzt]

My uninformed opinion is that programming advanced volume to stay in your weight class when you should be intermediate and go up a weight class may be a bad idea for your knees. I also think I might be stronger than you now on the squat.

[TomF]

I think I have a problem...

This isn't fortitude; it's addiction.

That is wisdom talking; listen to it.

It leads to harder drugs too. Like triple-ply suits.

[Gary Gibson]

"I'm ready! I'm ready eady eady!"

It's been seven days since my last squat session and six days since I last (failed at) bench. Almost on cue, I feel ready to lift again. Knees aren't perfect, but they're as good as they usually are. My mood is elevated and I really feel like I'm on the upswing, like I'd been coming back from a deficit but now am stronger than I was when I started the cycle.

Going to go test my 1RM's today. Check the log later. Thanks.

[Alex Bond]

Don't be afraid to push a sled or something once in a while. If you are addicted to training hard, that doesn't always need to be heavy squatting. Maybe you should spend a bit of time working on your weighted pull-up or something. It won't make you weaker, and it's a chance to do something hard and let your knees feel better at the same time.