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Open Thread: Week 5

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Welcome back to our open thread. C’mon in, the water’s fine.

Mike:

Kap, on the 5×5 how do you breakdown the weight per set… Of course after doing it a few times you know where the final weight is for the last set so if your working weight is 225 for bench as an example, do you do 20% on set 1, 40% on set 2, 60% on set 3, and 80% on set 4? Just curious on how you are pyramiding up on the weight distribution for all of these moves.

I genuinely appreciate this question. It allows me to riff on how I warm up. By the time I reach my first set, I’m loose. I’ve already done the 20%, 40%, etc. you mentioned. I call those warm-up sets and set one a “working” set. As such, if my max weight for 5 reps on the bench is 275, I’m hammering between 250 and 275 for my first set and building in tiny increments to my max. Depending on how strong I feel on any given day, it might look something like:

45 for 5, 135 for 3, 225 for 3, 255 for 5, 265 for 5, 275 for 5, 275 for 5, 275 for 5.

Hope this helps,

Kap

Mike S:

As someone who coming out of college out of shape nearly a year ago your blog has been immensely helpful in keeping up with the journey and losing over 50 lbs. As it the weather starts to get cold again I’m finding my motivation being sapped and a cheat meal turns into more than what it should be. Any advice on not losing sight and keeping it going? I’m not worried about a few days of being in a lull, but It’d be a real shame to fall back on old bad habits.

You mean to tell me you’re human? My first and most important advice is to go easy on yourself. I’m thrilled you’re holding yourself accountable. Just make certain that you remember you’re in good company when you slip and fall. We all have experience in that regard.

Now, I’ve got you, brother. A few days back, I posted this about breaking habits:

Focusing on halting habitual poor behavior before it starts is critical to changing those ingrained behaviors. Essentially, the idea is to direct your attention on unwanted behavior before you engage in it.

I propose that you take a similar tact with your eating habits, i.e., keep a running dialogue in your mind about what is unacceptable behavior for you. That’s the not losing sight you speak of.

Finally, motivation can come spectacularly in the form of an accountability partner. Find someone who you expect to stay on point and who will do the same for you. Not disappointing another can be a splendid kick in the ass. I’ll issue you a challenge: Every week, on this thread, tell the group how you did with your meals. I reckon you’ll get encouragement you didn’t expect.

Kelebek:

So my question today is still along those lines: do you reward your son when you see he has gotten back to his throwing program and is improving? Also if one of your sons has something to do for school that they clearly don’t want to do and the above tactic doesn’t work, what’s your plan B?

I reward my sons by expressing clearly that they’ve made me proud. Every once in a blue moon, I might buy a little gift. Most importantly, I acknowledge the effort, not the result. “Chase, I’m proud of the courage you displayed” rather than, “Chase, I’m proud of your touchdown.”

As far as school goes, my men are generally on point. They got the good student gene from their mother. They require zero motivation and maintenance. I won the damn lottery.

The thread is in your hands now. Questions, comments - remember, no rules, no judgment. Talk to y’all next week,

Kap

 

  • http://kbeyazdancer.wordpress.com kbeyazdancer

    Thank you for tackling my question Kap! I like the approach of rewarding the effort and not just the result (see the second paragraph). I asked the question because it was posed to me by one of my student’s mothers. She feels her daughter lacks motivation and she has tried different things to get her to put more time into her dancing as she is a very gifted dancer. I told her I was uncomfortable giving her advice on how to motivate her daughter. What I use to motivate this student in class twice a week may not necessarily work at home. She responded by saying that her daughter views me as a role model and has looked up to me for several years now. In her daughter’s eyes, my opinion really matters. I again re-iterated that I’m not her mother and that our student-teacher/mentor relationship is different.

    I did make one suggestion about taking away what my father called the signing bonus strategy.
    Like you, every now and then I would get something small from my parents but it wasn’t based on my actions, it was my effort. My father said he didn’t understand parents who would buy their kids gifts or give money for getting good grades, He called it the signing bonus strategy. There was no bonus in our house for getting an A.

    So recently, you invited the KapLifeFam to your place for breakfast (I love a good omelet), but what does dinner look like in your house on days when you don’t get home late from the studio? You have a busy schedule but from following your blog since the beginning of the year, it is clear you like to cook. To be more specific, what does a good Sunday night primetime football watching me consist of in your house?

  • Chester

    Ginger? Or Mary Ann?

    • Ed H

      You into old chicks? :)

  • https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=727282023 Michelle Williams

    I’ve been really into a routine at the gym lately(which is good) and I’m seeing great results(fantastic). The problem is, I’m getting bored with it. So now I’m torn. I don’t want to change it up because it’s working, but I know if I don’t change something the motivation’s going to lag. What do you do when you start to get bored with a routine?

    Thanks!

  • Chris

    I’ve read at length on grains and generally try to avoid them. The kicker for me was learning that 2 slices of wheat bread had a higher glycemic load than a snickers bar. However, we live in a nation that has been told for years by the “health experts” that they are neccessary, leading to grocery stores filled with grain based products. I occasionally will have some sprouted grain toast or pasta and am turning to quinoa in exchange for rice. But being a Kaplerite since day one, I’ve been anxious to read your true thoughts on the subject. You’ve thrown out a few teasers, but haven’t fully divulged. So what’s your grainy take?

    • Ed H

      I believe the correct term is “Kaplerian”…

  • Ed H

    Kap, Great advise on changing behavior and rewarding. I need to bring pieces of both together and recognize my mistake of not making rewarding either often enough or with the right amount of emphasis.

    My U8 soccer daughter loves playing goal keeper and tends to be very aggressive. Usually it’s good because she out of goal retrieving the ball before the girls can get a shot off. I warned her she’d get burned with that approach… and eventually she did. I did not rub her nose in it but instead told her I was proud she did not meltdown about it and part of playing goal is accepting you take the fall for goals… I should have emphasized this a few more times…

    It’s so important that kids learn that losing is a byproduct of playing.

  • darby wright

    Wonder what your thoughts on rookie hazing is G.k. Had lot issues with high school kids going overboard. Days of carrying a senior equipment are bout over.

  • Jon

    Kap,

    Really enjoy the blog, a few questions from someone who has taken a ton of what you recommend and implemented it in my life with great success.

    First, I eat clean and organic for the vast majority of my food intake, even when I’m not so healthy with my choices I stay away from things that are chemical and sugar based. I drink only water (well, sometimes beer but I save it for the weekend). But for some reason I still rely on my pre workout to get me motivated and energized to get to the gym after work. If I don’t have it I feel like a zombie come 3PM. I teach high school math and coach AAU baseball, so my time is filled with energized kids who make me feel like a geezer when they have energy and I’m dragging. I’m 25, so it’s not as if I’m up there, but still teaching all day and the 5:30 wakeup call catches up to me no matter what. My usual eating habits are as follows; wakeup and eat breakfast right away (usually cereal is all I have time for), after my first class I eat some type of fruit. Then after my second class is lunch where I eat a protein (usually chicken), a yam, and another piece of fruit. After teaching my next class I eat greek yogurt with walnuts, almonds, and raspberries or blueberries. I teach an extra class this year, so each day consists of three 84 minute classes and one off block, some of which are harder to teach than others, I’ll leave it at that… So basically, I feel like this pre workout issue has something to do with my food intake or my early wakeup (even though I average 7:30 of sleep per night). I want to get off it for all the chemicals involved, but it is such a reliance for me that I cannot figure out how to rid myself of it.

    Secondly, I am an avid 5×5 lifter, I have seen my squat go up to 315×5 and my bench up to 265×5 since I started the regimen. Also, with my sprint/jump days I have seen a noticeable difference in my leanness, which has been a goal of mine for a while. However, about a month and a half ago I was deadlifting 405 to max out (the week prior to starting 5×5) and I slipped on some chalk I put on the bar that fell on the floor. Needless to say I should have quit the rep and dropped the weight, but my ego got in the way and I yanked up the 405 with pretty much no leg help. My lower back has not been the same since. It has been improving, but I cannot keep up with my deadlifts on the 5×5 and am wondering what might be a suitable substitute for my rehab period.

    Lastly, off of that last comment. While I feel pain in my back from the deadlift and that is undeniable, I can’t even stretch it since my hamstrings and glutes are as inflexible as humanly possible. It is an issue I have ignored my whole life and now has come to bite me in the ass, well back, but still I was wondering if you had some stretches that would be effective for loosening my lower back as well as giving me more flexibility in my hamstring and glute areas. For reference sake, with locked knees I can stretch down just below my knees at this point, used to be around my shins but this back thing has really hampered me. That being said, my other exercises have not suffered, but I feel like I need to take care of this sooner rather than later. I have tried a few of the common stretches but with my limited range of motion they have not been as effective as I would have hoped.

    Thanks for hearing my questions and sharing some of your secrets on here, has definitely made a positive impact on my health.

    Jon

  • Mike

    Kap, one more 5×5 question as I look to switch things up this winter. I have seen your early post about the routine - 2 questions

    1. you do no additional targeted exercises for bi/tri?

    2. how long does this workout typically take you from bell to bell? Thanks!

  • Bruce

    Kap -

    You referenced eating 4 to 7 eggs every single day. I know the cholesterol and fat content of eggs is overstated but that still seems like a lot! Most research I’ve read call for 1 to 2 max per day.

  • Mike S

    Kap,

    I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question here (I’m the same Mike S.), I actually saw that post you referenced before you posted this thread and it really helped get me going again. I’m sure you do this because you like it but I can’t tell you how much I (and I’m sure the other people who read daily) appreciate the blog. The posts are great, and the responses are all truly thought out and meaningful. I’ve incorporated stuff I’ve seen here where I can and it definitely makes a difference. Thanks so much for all your help and your work on Fox Sports (The SABR centric broadcast you did with Kevin, CJ and others was incredible).

    Thanks,

    Mike S.

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