The Dip – Whole30 – Day 7

So it’s usually around the 7-10 day mark that things start to go south in terms of my overall outlook and energy levels – I call it “the Dip” As I write this I’ve been able to look back at the last week’s worth of posts and notice that each of my training sessions have been more of a battle then they normally are.

Last Friday I missed a double snatch (from blocks @ 80kg – something I normally get with ease…) and dropped to all fours on the floor. I didn’t swear or shout but just put my head down on the ground between my hands and contemplated having a cry. I didn’t (as I was in the middle of a training session with the rest of my Outlaw crew) but I did seriously consider it. I did manage to pick myself back up, nail the 80 for a double and then go on to snatch 90 for a double too.

I experienced a major low in Saturday’s Invictus style conditioning piece (I don’t usually hit metcons that run for longer than 20 mins) and I can clearly recall a feeling of despair as the timer clicked past the 34 min mark. I lost all my juice and was ready to throw in the towel.

“Noticing that you notice” is something that’s much easier to do when you’ve been tracking your training and food intake. I can see (and feel) that my energy levels are at an all time low but at the same time I am calmed by the fact that I know this is part of the Whole30 experience. I also know that around the halfway mark: Day 15 (via previous Whole30s) that my energy levels start to pick back up again and what’s more it’s a different kind of energy too – I’m quite looking forward to it…

Until then though, I’m going to dial things back a bit. Spend a bit more time on an unloaded barbell, hit some squats (tomorrow) and have a bit of fun with my Outlaw training buddies. I’m booked in for a massage with Craig on Wednesday and after he loosens everything up I’ll go see Sam (Chiro) on Thursday – By the end of the week the month will be half over and I know things are gonna pick up the following week so bring it…

Food & Training

6am – wake (alarm) – actually went to bed quite late: 11pm after watching Noah (big mistake: save yourself 2 hours and don’t bother watching it)

8am – breakfast – last night’s left overs: sweet potato cottage pie + broccoli and carrots + almond butter

11:30am – pre train – last night’s left overs: sweet potato cottage pie + broccoli and carrots + almond butter

12pm – train

A: Clean and jerk play – worked up to 80kg (regular clean and jerk) and then did 2x triple TnG power clean 2 push jerk @ 80kg (focusing on cycling the movement quickly and hitting the jerk straight out of catching the dip)

B: Pull-ups – 3 sets of ME butterfly – 21,15,11 – these felt pretty horrible today

C: Conditioning – For time:

• 50 double-unders
• 12 muscle-ups (3,3,3,3)
• 12 DB shoulder to OH w/ 2x 20kg (didn’t have 27.5kg DBs)
• 50 DUs
• 9 MUs (2,2,singles)
• 9 DB shoulder to OH
• 50 DUs
• 7 MUs (all singles)
• 7 DB shoulder to OH

— result: 14:01 (failed a couple of muscle-ups)

2:30pm – post train – sweet potato cottage pie + broccoli and carrots + 1 banana + coconut water + half a jar of almond butter

4:30pm – arvo snack – banana and almond slice + sauerkraut + almonds

6:45pm – dinner – pork and beef meatballs, sweet potato wedges and broccoli