A basic periodized training plan (courtesy of Ballard referenced below)

You can, in point of fact, teach an old dog new tricks. I’ve gotten older, made the same mistake many times and learned the hard way, and this year I hit 60. My body, like an old motor that has lost its compression, produces far less horsepower. It flat out refuses to train with high volume. Recovery time is longer. And so forth.

In short, the tolerances of the system are far more narrow.

I have had to apply everything I’ve learned over the last 10 years in order to stay fit enough to do martial arts and spar with people in their 20s.

Here are some of the hard-won lessons (should I have used the word “lesion” instead of “lesson?”) that I encourage you to keep in mind as you design your training programs:

There is a huge difference between traditional periodicity (TP), linear progression (LP), and undulating periodicity (UP). Here is a fun little 116-page read by Keith Ballard Painter called A Practical Comparison Between Traditional Periodization and Daily-Undulated Weight Training Among Collegiate Track and Field Athletes that explains some of this (thanks Keith, you’re the man). UP is better than nothing and LP is better than UP, but TP wins with a mic drop.¹
Time spent on the non-essential isn’t just time wasted — it’s actually time stolen from your focus. If you have 8 hours of training time available in a week — 3 for strength and fitness and 5 for your athletic focus — and you spend 1 hour on stuff that is no benefit, you didn’t just waste an hour. You also stole an hour from your athletic endeavor of choice. Focus is everything. Thanks to the immortal Mark Hatmaker for this nugget.
Injuries are proof of overtraining. Sure, accidents happen. But 9 times out of 10, if you get injured during training it’s because you’ve been overtraining.

This has taken years of hard knocks and injuries to learn.

Like you, I’m not a professional athlete. I’m just a guy who wants to be as fit he can be until they put me in casket.

If you let me help you, we can put together a training program that takes you to new heights. Sign up for the free Heritage Fitness program and let’s get started.

¹ There’s a lot wrong with the following blog post from back in 2016, but it’s kind of funny and it shows how hard you have to work at your craft if you’re going to get good at it. I’ve come a long way since then. Lessons learned!

Original Post from 2016:

Periods, Cycles and the Power of Greyskull

Posted on April 6, 2016 | 5 Comments |

About a month ago my son told me he started a new weightlifting program called the Greyskull LP by John “Johnny Pain” Sheaffer.¹ I was intrigued, so I did some research.

This is one hilarious picture (thanks to Matthew Oliphant, whoever you are). I can’t believe how perfect it is for this blog post!

My research revealed two things. (A) The Greyskull LP program is highly regarded by many experts, and (B) the science of strength and muscle hypertrophy has progressed a great deal since I got my fitness instructor certificate about ten years ago.

So I started the program, modified slightly for dumbbells because that’s what I have and I don’t want to spend money and space on barbells. Results are amazing. Only three weeks in, and I’m already pushing more iron that I ever have before.

Which brings me to another realization. The “LP” in “Greyskull LP” stands for “Linear Progression” and it’s probably what makes the program so effective.

Linear progressions, clipboards, and rigid systems have not been my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely rigid about my workout schedules. I don’t skip workouts and I repeatedly have to check myself to prevent over-training. But for many years, at least since 2013, I have been rolling dice to arrive most aspects of my solo workouts (except for grip strength). Does that give me good all-around fitness? Probably. Does it help prepare me for anything, in true martial arts fashion? Maybe. But random workouts cannot match the consistent gains of progressive, period-ized workout programs (especially when it comes to weight training).

Bottom line: I recommend a mix of progressive, random and static or maintenance workouts, depending on the goal or goals.

Here’s what my workout schedule looks like right now. I’ve added colors and the letters “STA,” “LP” and “RND” or “MIX” after each section so that you can see which ones are which type. Red blocks are static or maintenance workouts, green are progressive, and yellow are random or mixed.

I’d be interested in the opinions of other martial artists. How do you train? In your opinion, am I on the right track or lost in the weeds?

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¹ My understanding is that the program is called the Greyskull (with an “e” instead of an “a” to avoid copyright issues) because it makes you look like He-Man.