Lockdown Running

“What stands in the way becomes the way” – Marcus Aurelius

The New Zealand lockdown started on Wednesday 25^th March 2020 and ended on Monday 27^th April 2020 (roughly 5 weeks). Late in 2019 I had started to plan out my year of trail running for 2020. I wanted to peak for running 100km at the blue lake 24 hour event in September (post coming), and for a fastest known time (FKT) attempt of the Kaimai North-South Track in February (more details about this to come). My plan was to get in one big trail run per month. I was also choosing trails with a lot of elevation gain, ideally 1000m+.

After the FKT attempt in February I was ready to start my hard training runs in March, and was planning to run the Bell-Tahuanui track loop on Mt. Pirongia on Wednesday 25^th March (I even took the whole week off work). But this was not to be; instead on the first day of my week off it was announced we were going into lockdown, I would be stuck at home for 5 weeks.

A note on how I treated the Lockdown: We knew that the stricter the lockdown, the shorter it would be. With this in mind, I only left the property for food shopping once per week, and to walk the dog on a 2km loop once per day. While there was nothing legal to stop me from running the roads near my home, I chose not to. This isn’t some weird form of virtue signaling, or boast of how difficult my lockdown was. I just found that by deciding to stay at home, I was able to limit the moral fatigue that comes with choosing to leave the house.

If there was a hill or staircase near my house I would have found a way to accumulate 1000m of elevation gain for a training run. However, the closest hill was in an adjacent neighborhood which I deemed to far to travel to. After seeing a Frenchman who ran a marathon on his balcony I planned to run laps of my house to get in my training. I wasn’t alone is this, and many people on local running groups were planning the same, some even set up virtual events.

I paced out my course at approximately 50m (I live on a small flat section, with a small house in the middle) To run a 5k would be about 100 laps, and a 10km would be about 200 laps. My usual training run would be a 10km run on a Saturday or Sunday, so instead of a road run I substituted laps around my house.

Round and round like a hamster wheel

My start and finish point was my back deck where I kept a drink and white board, recording every 10 laps. I would run 20-25 laps in one direction before reversing to run the opposite direction. This training was harder than I expected; even when I felt like I was running fast, my fitbit/strava still recorded it as a rather slow pace. The constant turning made it difficult to ever get up to a good pace. During the lock down I ran 7km (150 laps), 4.4km (100 laps), 10.7km (200 laps) and 2.6km (50 laps). I considered running a half marathon or even full marathon, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my pistol squat training program. I can run a half/marathon anytime, but I probably won’t get another chance at my pistol squat program.

While this wasn’t amazing training I did get to run which felt great and I could call it an achievement for the day. You don’t have to be in lockdown to do this either, channel your inner crazy person and find a ridiculously short track to run far too many laps of. It’s mental training to set an odd goal which is easily achievable and you get to make a small win for the day or week.

In costume for a virtual event

My lockdown workouts

“What stands in the way becomes the way” – Marcus Aurelius

The New Zealand Covid-19 lockdown started on Wednesday 25^th March 2020 and ended on Monday 27^th April 2020 (roughly 5 weeks in level 4 lockdown). I had started a pre-planned week’s holiday on the Monday 23 March. I could see that a lockdown was probably on its way, so I started my lockdown workout that Monday. I wasn’t privy to any special information, it was a good bet were we heading to a lockdown given the way other countries were handling their more advanced outbreaks.

I saw a lockdown as an opportunity to get a lot of volume into my training, particularly to work on pistol squats which I had always struggled with. With pistol squats on the plan, I thought about what else I might add. I always enjoy pull ups and wanted to increase my max set (Here is a link to my outdoor pull up frame). With a pulling movement picked out I wanted to add a pushing movement. Push ups were an option, so were handstand push ups, but dips for me are approximately the same difficulty as pull ups, so they became the third movement. I considered adding ab wheel roll outs or hollow rocks, but thought that might end up being too much, or that the core work would negatively impact the other three movements.

Pistol squats, with and without a heel raise

With three movements chosen the next step was to plan the program - the sets, reps and days. I had Pavel’s grease the groove in mind when I decided to do one set, on the hour, for 10 hours each day (7 or 8am till 4 or 5pm). Note: I haven’t read the book for a long time, so I’m not sure my plan exactly aligns with Pavel’s, but the concept is similar. This workout plan was in addition to my normal workout routine (which I will also post about soon).  This meant I had to be fairly conservative with the total volume. This is an important point, if you are planning to add something like this hourly workout while still continuing your normal workout the volume can catch up on you quite quickly.

Pull ups and dips are a good pair

Starting on the first Monday I did 3 reps of each movement, 10 times per day Monday-Saturday, with Sunday as a rest day. This was 30 reps per day, per movement, plus whatever my regular workout was. Each set took less than 5 minutes. This first week went really well, pull ups and dips were fine, and I was starting to accumulate a lot of good pistol squats (with and without using a heel raise). Week two I increased the reps to 4 per hour, a total or 40 per day. Again things went well.

On Monday of week 3 I went up to 5 reps, 50 total per day. This is where the wheels fell off. Tuesday and Wednesday I was too burnt out for a workout of any kind, I had reached and exceeded my limit of volume in the last two weeks. After taking some time off, I tested my max pull ups on Friday and did 18, a new personal best, up from 17, so I guess the plan was a success.

Week 4 of lockdown I was able to do a full week of 5 reps each hour of pull ups and dips, 3 reps per hour pistol squats. I dropped the reps for the pistols down since I was able to switch to full sets of pistols with no heel raise, which I considered a huge win. I also felt that increasing the volume of pistol squats would be extremely difficult, and would likely lead to a lot of failed reps. I wanted the focus to be on better technique above all.

One major issue I found with this workout was increasing upper back tightness and pain. The huge volume (volume is of course relative to the individual) of pull ups was a lot of strain for my back and I was really feeling it. Not injured, just hurt.  Every house I added in some scapular and lat movements/stretches from the Gymnastic bodies program. Adding the stretches helped get the pain down and keep it at bay, but it was still a lot of volume. The other issue was the burnout in week 3. Both of these problems would have been mitigated with a slower progression, but I had planned for the 3,4,5 progression and wanted to stick with it, since the lockdown was only meant to be 4 weeks. If I could go back and change it I would try 3,3,4,4,5.

While the program didn’t go exactly to plan, I did achieve a good outcome. I got much better and more consistent at pistol squats, max pull ups went up, and I got in a lot of dip volume too. If you are ever in a situation where you can spare 2-5 minutes per hour for a few reps, maybe give this style of workout a try.

Note: Both my wife and I worked from home through lockdown.  Although we also have a toddler at home so only one of us could work at a time so the other could take care of our toddler.  My work allowed my flexibility to steal 5 minutes an hour in the garage; and my toddler often enjoys joining me in the gym. I know this won’t work for everyone, but it’s worth keeping in mind as an option or idea.

Pistol squats - Heel lift progression

Using a small heel lift

My recurring goal for several years has been to complete five sets of five good pistol squats, but I could never quite manage it. The main issue was my left ankle, which is missing some ROM after a bad break when I was 16 years old. It was always a struggle to get enough ROM in that ankle, and to link that up with the specific proprioception and muscle firing to perform a good pistol squat on that side. With consistent, focused training I would make headway slowly, but it was always difficult to lock in the progress and achieve consistent pistol squats within and between sets.

There are endless articles and videos teaching the pistol squat and various progressions, but I’m going to focus on the one small progression that I got a lot of benefit from.  I haven’t seen the specifics of this progression discussed in this way before. If you are early on in pistol squat progressions I would highly suggest looking at Al Kavadlo’s work, and would consider reading his new book on the topic (I have not read it, but his work is always good). My specific progression technique worked for me because I had sufficient strength and balance, but was missing both a small amount of ROM and the muscular control at that end range. The lack of muscular control is because I have been missing that range of motion since I was 16 years old.

What I needed to do was practice the movement as close to the perfect position as possible to grease that groove. One option often used is to hold a weight out in front of you for a counter balance, then slowly reduce the weight to remove that assistance. I could do pistols with a 2kg weight, or even a 1kg weight, but the specific adaptions didn’t feel correct to drop the weight entirely.

Instead I tried using a very small heel lift (using a heel lift is a standard suggestion by most trainers). I was able to do full pistol squats with the heel lift compensating for my missing ROM. I started with a 7mm piece of plywood and could manage several reps quite well.

I wanted a system where I could very slowly lower the heel lift and therefor reduce the assistance for the missing ROM. One option would be a deck of cards, slowly removing cards, which is something I did consider. Instead I found some scrap acrylic sheet of various thicknesses. In fact, I dropped into a local acrylic product manufacturer and asked from some samples; they pointed me to their off cut bin and said take what I like. I found pieces approximately 5mm and 3mm thick. 

Scrap acrylic and plywood - Cost $0

Using these blocks I could warm up with 7mm, and then switch to 5mm for my main sets. Later when this was easy I could switch to 3mm during the middle sets, eventually performing pistols without the use of blocks. The trick here is getting in lots of good reps, as close as possible to the desired outcome. Now I just do my first 2 reps of a workout on the 5mm block, before my main working sets with no blocks.

The right hand picture shows me using a 5mm block, the position is almost identical, but slightly easier to hold. I am able to keep a straighter back as using the block requires less ankle flexion. 

Combined with this method was collecting many reps daily over our covid-19 lockdown, which I will discuss in detail in a further post. This allowed me to get to a point where I could do 5 sets of 5 pistol squats with what I would consider good form. I am constantly working for better form (particularly a straighter back) and better control but I am very happy with my progress. If you need something to help lock in good reps of pistol squats try a small heel raise and reduce this as you get better.

A note short note on pistol squats: I think pistol squats are a movement worth doing and they are worth working towards even if you can’t do one. The end range position is something important to train as it often comes up in nature (particularly when hiking or climbing in rugged environments). I’m not worried about a rounded back during pistol squats, as the back isn’t loaded, though I think it’s worth working to reduce the amount of flection. I think heavy back squats are great if you have access to the equipment and can do them safely.  I train both back squats and pistol squats.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments.

I’m Back

Yes, that’s right, I’m back to writing after nearly three and a half years off.

From a 40km 'training' run

I guess I should explain the name change first. The old name (Back to primal) was never something I felt suited me, but it was the only name I could think of at the time which put together some of the themes in my thoughts. Both the natural method and a more ancestral view of health and fitness (Paleo/primal diets etc) were central to my journey at that stage. While I still feel strongly connected to these two themes, they are less central to my own path now; not to say they won’t take a greater role again in the future.

For a long time now I have thought of myself as an enthusiastic amateur (so much easier to say than to spell for a dyslexic like myself). I love getting stuck into a topic or pursuit as an amateur. I’m there to have fun, improve myself and learn new things, without needing to compete at a high level or ever be the best at a thing. This is how I feel about gymnastic strength training, powerlifting, trail running and Brazilian jiu jitsu. So the change of name makes it a bit easier for me to write about these different topics, without feeling like I have to keep tying them back to the natural method or ancestral health and fitness.

So, what have I been up to for the last three years? The biggest change in my life has been having a child (figure of speech, really it was my wife who had the baby). As of writing (Jan 2021) I have a two and a half year old daughter.  I have spent the last three years trying to figure out what my new ‘normal’ routine is before everything changes on me as our child grows.

So with that said the last three years have been a strange time for me fitness wise. I have continued to train as I can, with the time and energy available to me. I have some posts to write discussing what I chose to focus on, and the how and why of it. I have been enjoying trail running, the more difficult the better, including 24 hour and ultra distance events (as an enthusiastic amateur).  I’ve been able to maintain, or slightly increase my general strength, I can knock out good sets of 5 pistol squats, my back squat is the best it has ever been (5x5 at 120kg) and a max set of 18 pull ups. While these numbers are not in any way ‘impressive’ I consider them to be a good base level of strength for a generalist.  I also received my blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu (I will mention this very infrequently; as a blue belt I have very little of value to add to the internet about jiu jitsu other than to say it is well worth trying out).

Going forward, I’ll write up some of the more interesting things I been up to in the last few years and will continue chronicling my trail running and hiking adventures. I like to test my limits in the most extreme ways that I can, so expect to see fastest-know-time attempts and challenge runs that I set for myself, as well as the training and preparation for these challenges. I also have a few more homemade pieces of equipment I have made, which I will write posts on.

Stay tuned from more regular posts, weekly is the plan but I’ll see how that goes.

Hiking the Tongariro Northern Circuit

Floor sitting – Change your environment (slowly)

We’ve all heard the line ‘sitting is the new smoking’ and all the hyperbole that goes with it. I’m not here to talk about how good or bad sitting is because Netflix is amazing and I’m not going to watch it standing, or in a squat position. I’m also not about to get rid of my couches and go furniture free (As Katy Bowman does). So the best option as I see it is floor sitting.

Sitting on the floor is something natural to humans; Stone Age people weren’t building chairs. The issue is that modern life and all its sitting has left us unable to sit comfortable on the floor for any length of time. It was one of the hardest things about camping on the North-South track, to find somewhere to sit comfortably to relax and eat. So we have to ease into it in a productive manner.

No a lot of seats around

My floor at home is rather hard lino over wood, so it’s extremely uncomfortable to sit on without padding. My first thought was to go out and buy some big cushions to sit on when I realised I already had a bunch, on my couch. So pull one off the couch, throw it on the floor and sit down.

No need to buy an extra cushion

Now I wanted to sit in a productive way, working on mobility in good positions, so I didn’t want any leaning on my hands, against a wall, or in internal rotation. So my main sitting position is cross legged. The first goal was to collect 15 total minutes per night. To start with this was 5 minutes until my legs got pins and needles, then stand up, move around, take a break on the couch, then collect another 5 minutes. After a few weeks of this every other night or every couple of nights per week I was able to go a full 15 minutes without a break. The next step was the same, but collecting several 15 minute blocks (2-3 per night).

Just collect time in that position

I’m currently at the point where I do 15 minutes cross legged, then 15 minutes of various stretching positions, then another 15 minutes cross legged. The point is I didn’t throw away my couch; I made simple changes to my daily life, which required no extra time. I was already sitting, I didn’t add a mobility practice, my sitting is becoming my mobility practice.

Some mobility work while watching tv.

Try it out for yourself: Take a cushion off your couch put in on the floor and sit cross legged until it gets too uncomfortable to stay there (not painful, if it’s painful you have other things to work on first). Repeat daily until sitting on the floor becomes a normal part of your routine.You can shape your environment.

Focus on the process

This is something that I’m not great at and have to keep reminding myself. If you focus on the process, not only will the particular end point you’re chasing come, but many others will as well. I have two related examples of this, one I’ve been good and one I haven’t.

I’ve only ever trained muscle ups once (for a few weeks), to no great success. I could get up, with an ugly kip and struggle past the transition, but I could never get much better. So I stopped training it, and focused my attention on basic pulling strength, mostly through gymnastic bodies. So when Omar Isuf posted a video on the muscle up something clicked with me, and I was finally able to do a decent muscle up on a bar. However I still couldn’t do a clean ring muscle up. I continued training ring row and pull ups on the Gymnastic bodies program, and recently re tested my ring muscle up. I got it very smoothly with what I would call ‘minimal kip’ (really I just pull up fast and use that momentum to help the transition). By focusing on the process towards the ring row, I was able to get a ring muscle up ‘for free’. Focus on the process and great things happen.

A one arm chin up is a feat of strength I have wanted to achieve for years now. I have trained for it on and off for years, however after starting gymnastic bodies, that has been my main training focus. More recently I have been focusing on one arm hangs in various positions. After taking a few weeks off this training focus I came back to it and tried some one arm negatives. This lead me to the realization that I was training much too close to my one rep max. This meant I wasn’t able to put in enough reps (or time under tension) to get a maximal training benefit. It was ego training, with a high risk of injury. Like training only heavy singles for squats or dips, it just wasn’t a good idea. So I have re-focused my energy. I will train the one arm town hang for grip and shoulder strength, and I will focus on the gymnastic bodies course. These are the areas where I can get a lot of reps in, and get solid training. If I follow this process I will get the one arm chin up, or I will get close enough that targeted training is then a viable option. 

Holding the top of a one arm chin (fairly tough).

90 Degree hang, quite hard on the biceps

One arm towel hang, a good option for my strength level

It is worth mentioning that my main focus is the gymnastics bodies program, this means I don’t have any ‘spare’ training volume to use on things like archer pull ups etc. which would definitely help in training for a one arm chin up. I’m not saying you can’t focus on the one arm chin up on its own; you just need to know where your main focus is because you can’t always split your attention.

So pick a focus, and stick to the process. Great things will happen along the way.

Movement Vs Exercise

This isn't exercise, its movement. 

In the book Move your DNA, Katy Bowman makes the distinction between movement and exercise. The distinction is that an activity done for exercise is most often solely for the benefit of exercise, while movement may be the same movements, but done for a purpose other than its own sake. So for instance walking around the block to get your step count up for the day is exercise, it is an end unto itself. Walking down to the shop for milk is movement, sure you got your steps in, but that wasn’t the goal.

Often when I have gone for a short hike the point has been for exercise. Maybe I have added some weight to make it a ‘work out’ or maybe I am specifically training for an even longer hike. More recently I have been enjoying hiking for movement’s sake (and not just as an ad hock justification). I’ve been going out Saturday or Sunday morning for a moderate hike (2 hours or so) at a reasonable pace, but not fast, pace isn’t the point, I’m just moving comfortably. I’m going out as an opportunity to stretch my legs after a week in the office, to explore new places, get some sun, some time with my thoughts, and some time with the thoughts of others (podcasts).

Getting some sun.

I’ve been enjoying this time to just wander, and the benefits are more than just the movement alone. This makes it movement, not exercise. An even simpler example is my Saturday morning routine of getting up late and walking down to the local café for a coffee. I get to stretch my legs, wake up slowly and have a relaxing start to my weekend. The few thousand steps I clock up along the way aren’t even considered a bonus, they just are. The main point of the movement is got get my coffee, not the walk.

The point here is that we can move more if we change our view point. It’s not about exercising more; most don’t have the time or the energy for that. The point is look at what we do and add more movement. I could sit on the couch to listen to a podcast, or drive to get my coffee, but I can do so much more by adding some movement to the mix. It’s as simple and choosing to walk.

Now for the how. While the ideal might be to get out in nature, bare foot, getting a bunch of sun for a few hours its' often hard to find the time for this. Often I hear the suggestion to park far way, but I don’t really like this practice. Mainly I’m busy and tell myself I don’t have the time, plus I hate shopping so I want to get in and out as fast as I can. Instead I just look for the easiest park, not the closest. So often the easiest park is further from the door, but I get parked quicker, win-win. Another dead easy option is to take the stairs, instead of an escalator. It generally takes the same amount of time, and there’s less people parked around you another win-win. Another easy one for me is to walk to the furthest cafe from my desk at work (there are three places near me where I can get my 10am coffee). I get out of my chair for a 5 minute walk each way, but the point isn’t the walking the point is to get my coffee. There is also walking to pick up shopping, visit friends and family etc, but the smallest actions are the easiest, they take no extra time, only a change in mindset.

Do it for the views.