Training Monotony is real, pot-nah (said like 2Pac as Bishop in Juice). You may be under the false assumption that it’s just becoming bored with your workouts. That is not the case. From fellrnr.com:
Training Monotony is not about boredom, but is a way of measuring the similarity of daily training.
Today, I drove from Palm Desert to Phoenix, Arizona following a horseshit training session this morning. Fresh on my mind was the fact that I have had many of those un-mollifying lifts recently. I’m still in the throes of a training plateau, and I’m certainly not digging my 5 x 5 workouts presently. On a desert stretch of I-10, I caught up in a phone conversation with Carl Valle, who writes cool shit like this. He schooled me on the value of looking at monotony as the “strain of training and competition over time.”
This is a concept that I have no choice but to examine. I have been training and competing daily since I was 16 years old. I’m 39 now. Sure, I’ve made changes to my routine from time to time, but the routine has almost always been training at high intensity or unreasonably elevated volume levels. Additionally, baseball, by its very nature, is Groundhog Day, routine to a damn fault. This, for an elite athlete, is not ideal.
It is long been recognized the athletes cannot train hard every day. Modern training plans recommend a few hard days per week, with the other days as easier or rest days. A lack of variety in training stress, known as Training Monotony, is considered a key factor in causing Overtraining Syndrome. There is also evidence that increased training frequency results in reduced performance benefits from identical training sessions as well as increased fatigue.
I definitely have a tendency to become habitual with my training and my eating. I’ve trained for years on end at nearly identical times with a carbon copy approach. I can go weeks eating the same breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m Rainman-like when it comes to health work. I dig order. I trust I’m strong enough to make an adjustment.
Periodization might just be my move. According to Carl, it’s about creating a seasonal plan to improve and keep fresh. From umn.edu:
Periodization is an organized approach to training that involves progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period of time. The roots of periodization come from Hans Selye’s model, known as the General Adaptation Syndrome, which has been used by the athletic community since the late 1950s (Fleck, 1999). Selye identified a source of biological stress referred to as eustress, which denotes beneficial muscular strength and growth, and a distress state, which is stress that can lead to tissue damage, disease, and death. Periodization is most widely used in resistance program design to avoid over-training and to systematically alternate high loads of training with decreased loading phases to improve components of muscular fitness (e.g. strength, strength-speed, and strength-endurance).
Look, you know how we approach things around here. We are constantly mining for value at the margins. Additionally, you know I don’t write with rules. Therefore, I can tell you what I’m aware of in the moment without a real agenda. Sometimes, I’m simply in the market for some inspiring conversation without providing a conclusion or takeaway. I can share what’s on my mind and choose to take action later. I like that you know where my head is. That’s what makes this relationship work. You have a voice here, too. What are your thoughts on Training Monotony and periodization? Whatcha’ got?
Kap
Mike says
Kap – I’m with you. Just last week I was feeling like this and have been doing the 5×5 for almost 6 months (which I love). My personal opinion is it is the squats! Probably the best exercise one could do but 3x a week with a day in between has become almost torturous mentally, maybe just for me. Every other part of the 5×5 has just enough variation between days to mentally keep my mind fresh and what I look forward to. Any alternatives to the squat that you think could spice it up? Back Chest Shoulder and Deads are basically done 6x per month alternating workouts, where the squats are 12x per month every workout. I would do anything to keep the 5×5 but have some new exercises to cycle in for squats. Any ideas? I like the compound movement mentality of the 5×5 but I would love to see your thoughts on a modified version – I noted you do weighted pull-ups here and there to mix up back.
Riggo says
Head over to power athlete .com pay the 20 bucks a month for field strong and follow the program. It is written in cycles that changes every 6 weeks with a focus on bench, squat and dl working on linear progression of 5rm.
Chester says
Gotta mix it up. Shock the muscles, get sore. Re-read that last sentence. I don’t think I have ever done the same workout twice, at least not within a short time span. 5×5 is cool, but it is not all to do.
Mike says
Mixing it up is not accurate. If you are gaining as little as one rep or one pound, new muscle has been stimulated. If you are arguing whether 5×5 is a good program, that is personal opinion – I am not arguing that changing it up is a fresh perspective but there is no truth you can’t continue to improve doing the same workout. Kap probably has more insight to this than I and I would be interested due to his depth and experience if he is considering altering or abandoning the program for something new.
Mark says
The opposite of insanity ought to be repeating the same behavior and expecting to get the same results, right? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. I could eat the same, train the same, and do everything else the same and I could hit a peak, or crash in a valley. In today’s post, I read an emotional component to training and plateauing (and living in general). In all honesty, it’s nice to hear Superman talk about what Kryptonite does to him, Kap. It reminds me that even the most dialed in dude on the block has lackluster days. For me, any physical activity has been more about self-expression and who I am than what I’m doing. When those don’t line up, it’s frustrating as hell. And, if physical activity is a manifestation of the self, then there needs to be room for creativity. Suffice to say, this post hits close to home at the moment, and I genuinely dig the foray into the dark side of things–it helps us learn, and further affirms that everything is a choice with an upside and a downside (I reckon choosing between upsides isn’t really a choice). I’m going to choose to crush my plateau with some creative energy at lunchtime today. Thanks, Kap–mean it.
bill says
Ask yourself what you are training for. Maybe step back, get a different, perhaps larger perspective. Think outside the box. Maybe a bit different way of doing it. Think of it like cooking…experiment, try adding a little spice, a different ingredient.
Bryan says
Kap, have you ever tried doing some Olympic-style weightlifting? With your attraction to power and speed, along with the desire to lift heavy shit, I’d think you’d be a perfect candidate for some clean+jerks and snatches. Most weightlifting programs are tailored in periodization with the pursuit of hitting PR’s at a meet or competition (not required). Your predisposition to deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses, in addition to your quick hips from countless visits to the batters box, in my mind would make you an exceptional weightlifter. Check out California Strength, Catalyst Athletics, or the Outlaw Way for examples of these programs. Watching their YouTube channels gets me pretty fired up.
~ Rhys says
I like the idea of mixing up the routine. While I am nowhere near an elite athlete, I can absolutely see the benefit of diverting a training plateau, or monotony. Maybe you can also be inspired by the thought of training to your recreational interests, by season, to support the periodization technique?
As an amateur/recreational athlete in a variety of sports, I find it appealing to have variety in preparing for excelling for each sport or activity. I’ve seen snowboarders train their legs by balancing on a bosu ball with a dumbbell and doing one legged squats, which is killer for strength and balance. Not to mention the benefit of enjoying your boarding more and for longer.
So the point is, train with focus on your recreational interests might be another way of preventing monotony. If your recreational interests are seasonal, it could be pretty easy, to mix up your routine.
Chester says
Agreed on this. Balance + strength exercises such as Bosu on one leg doing mils, squats, combo thereof. Mixing in Yoga, beneficial. Speaking of boarding, awhile back the tv was on some exercise show, I wasn’t really paying attention. I happen to look up as Laird Hamilton, 25-lb DB in each hand, jumped up on top of a swiss ball, landed on his feet, started curling. A bit intimidating, humbling.
gavin says
Last night I attended my first yoga class. Never felt more incompetent. I knew 5 minutes in it was not for me. I’ll never go back. Could I have benefited? Of course. But there are dozens of alternatives to get comparable results. I’ll pick the ones I enjoy the most. You are a man of perpetual journey. Monotony and dread fun bunk mates? Freedom of choice is what you impart here. Letting anything trap you – that’s anti- KL.
Bryan says
I will not consider myself a yogi by any means as I may have done roughly a dozen classes in the past 3 years. That being said, yoga is definitely something that can cause you to be discouraged on your first try. Most attendants have been practicing for a while and have grasped the intro movements and are quite flexible from the time they’ve put in. Don’t look at your session as, “I suck at yoga, I won’t do it again;” think, “This is something that I could improve at, as I haven’t put a lot of time into improving my flexibility.” Your train of thought on improving and practicing the things we are already good at is definitely a viable option, but why not also include working on improving your weaknesses. I think the relaxing benefits and emphasis on breathing of yoga are what you should focus on to begin with; not trying to bend yourself into a pretzel, that will come with practice. (see what I did there?)
gavin says
Thanks for taking the time, Bryan. I will take your words into account. I forgot that I never like to say never. I can safely say, though, that the time is not right for yoga and I. Later? Who knows.
joe says
Checkout Madcow 5×5. Its still 5×5 training (clearly ha), but its built upon progressive build up and really makes everything about the last set. Switched to it from regular 5×5 and love it. Bonus – make it week 6 and you have a new PR
Hollie Hamilton says
I like all the comments here. What’s in my head? I am in PT (physical therapy) I tore up my knee. I went from 90 mins yoga classes to barely walking up the stairs. I recently got bored at PT and was doing everything they asked me. I thought this is great I’m getting better. Then as I was leaving the said next session ” we are going to work you” and they did, More weight, harder exercises. I felt weak again. I was sad and the PT said ” when you leave here you will be doing 90 mins of yoga again. That’s why we are working you so hard. Then she said time for squats. I looked at the K on my shirt and said ” hot damn” KL is my inspiration. We can’t do anything without inspiration.