A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

[ertyu]

I'm guessing the first steps would very much depend on what one already does re: health

[IlliniDave]

Do you have any "first steps" advice for someone to follow your path with health? Whether it be books/initial tests/whatever?

Of course, my first step should probably be to find a primary care doctor lol...

Of course the devil is in the details for each of us, and ertyu is correct we all have a unique starting point.

Being very general...

In the western lifestyle most of us get most of our chronic health issues from the way we eat. So the first and biggest step is optimizing diet and nutrition. Whole foods, virtually eliminate grains and most starchy vegetables, eliminate anything made with added sugar or seed oils, moderate fruit intake, etc. There are a number of variants of pretty decent eating regimens that are low glycemic. There are many good podcasts on topics like metabolic health, insulin resistance, and even longevity (longevity is predicated on staving off chronic disease) that will touch on nutrition considerations out of necessity. Even though it gets pretty detailed, I recommend Ben Bikman's "Metabolic Classroom" series to anyone who really wants to pursue self-directed health optimization.

Second would be to get active. Strength training, improving VO2 max, and just moving around. For me this is more of a psychological benefit than physiological, although there are indisputable physiological benefits. It just feels good to feel good and exploit a metabolism restored through nutrition. VO2 max and muscle mass both correlate with increased lifespan/healthspan. The "just moving" part for me is doing a good bit of walking/hiking. Repeated rhythmic contracting of large muscle groups at intensities that are not damaging to the muscle tissue is a great metabolic stimulus. And if you think about it, nature crafted humans to walk--a lot. So it's no surprise that our bodies have the ability to exploit such activity in ways that have nothing to do with moving from here to there. I use a little timer to break my salaryman habit of sitting at a desk for long uninterrupted periods. I've even started standing while I play guitar at least half the time I mess with it. Tons of little hacks to make sedentary activities a little less sedentary.

With specific concerns or goals there's a lot of fine tuning that can be done. Depending on a person's past habits, current health, and to some degree genetics, some people have to be a lot more strict on the low glycemic nutritional aspect, for example, and/or totally avoid foods they have particular sensitivities to (e.g., gluten for many). I'm just entering my 60s now and I pay a lot of attention to avoiding inflammation and cortisol. I'm trying some biohacking techniques to improve muscle mass and V02max without beating up my body too much.

I'm a believer in nutritional supplements as well, but they don't rate as what I'd categorize as first steps advice. They are more of the last fine tuning steps for someone inclined to push it that far. Much of my "stack" is centered around dealing with fairly advanced insulin resistance and resulting moderate liver dysfunction.

So yeah, start with what you put in your mouth, and demonstrate to your physiological self that it's required to work for you. And set some goals to support with the lifestyle mods. Mine are fundamentally to preserve physical capacity to enjoy the outdoorsy activities I like for as long as possible, and to extend my healthspan as close to my lifespan and I can.

As far as a primary care doc, it's something I'd recommend to everyone, but at the same time conventional medicine (aka Medicine 2.0) can be a slippery slope. Had I taken all the advice from my primary care docs over the last 15-20 years, at this stage I'd be swallowing a bunch of pharmaceuticals every day with maybe token improvement on the nutrition and activity fronts, so probably considerably less healthy at this juncture than I am with a DIY Medicine 3.0 approach. Ideally would be to find an MD or DO versed in Medicine 3.0--something I have not succeeded in. Medicine 2.0 has a lot of value in some circumstances, but when it comes to metabolic decline it's still well behind the curve. If nothing else, if you're old enough it's a means to start getting a look at some of you biomarkers via lab tests, where if you assess them a little more critically than Medicine 2.0 typically does, you can get some idea what types of issues might await you down the road which can help you fine tune lifestyle changes.

[IlliniDave]

Early Summary for May

If nothing comes up I'll be leaving Sunday to head up to the hideout. The first week or two are usually kind of busy and connectivity is sketchy at times, so I thought I'd do an early update for May.

Everything financially is fine. Spending is typical--slightly higher in May as I stock up on items that are hard to procure up there. I haven't been paying attention to the stash but I haven't heard news of any market crashes or anything so I'm assuming I'm still good enough and then some on that front.

As far as the whole health and fitness rabbit hole no real changes. My weight has varied in the 164-168 lb range for over a month now. I'm still not as lean as I would like to be, but my IF/moderately low carb regimen gets me into ketosis for a several hours each day pretty reliably, so I think I'll still make progress on that front without any special effort. It'll just be gradual.

My main focus lately has been looking into "programs" to improve muscle. The first priority is muscle strength with the second priority to increase muscle mass. My original strength training goals were focused around slinging the yak on top of the roof of the Pilot and paddling it around. Very focused on overhead/shoulder strength/mobility under moderate loads. For total body work I relied on body weight exercises: push ups, sit ups, and squats mostly.

I'm now looking into ways to do movements like dead lifts and squats under load. I intend to stick with resistance bands. I'm happy with the results I've achieved with the ones I have, but it's time to graduate to big boy bands. The kind where you can load movements with up to a few hundred pounds of resistance. I also want to work to an actual program--a systematic organization of workouts coupled with matching nutrition (to the extent it doesn't go against my current regimen too starkly). I also want to adopt biohacking to prevent all the negative affects I experienced in Crossfit from excessive volume, as well as avoid having to dedicate multiple hours per day. A program that's out there that that seems on the surface like it might check all those boxes is the so-called "X3" program. The claims are bold and the critics are fierce. To buy the equipment designed to implement the program is a little pricey, but the premise is fairly simple and I might be able to replicate it independent of buying from them. But it will require a different type of bands than the ones I have, and much heavier ones than I think are available in the style. On the flipside, the bands I have allow me to do a larger variety of movements under lighter loads, so it seems like a case of both/and rather than either/or.

The reason strength/lean mass is coming to the fore is that I've heard it asserted by Peter Attia and others that when you look at aging populations, "strong" versus "weak" is actually a higher lifespan/healthspan multiplier than nonsmoker versus smoker. Every day that goes by I get a little older meaning gaining strength for me will get increasingly harder so I want to maximize it sooner rather than later because the ceiling going forward is sloping downward.

In a couple hours I'm going to take the kayak out to a small local lake to do a seaworthiness test before I haul it up to the hideout. I had some problems with the little electric motor I use while actually fishing. Fortunately I found them while I was here and the kayak was in the driveway. Hopefully the repairs will check out on the water.

The next couple days will be packing and spending some last time with my dad. Fortunately my reliable sister's health is pretty good and Dad's IHHC helper has an opening to come over an extra day per week, so I won't be missed too acutely. Unfortunately I'm getting the sense that this might be my last shot at a full season up at the hideout for a few years. His decline is slow but it's steady, and we might be looking at a few years requiring "all hands on deck" year round.

[Scott 2]

Why do you need 100's of pounds of band tension?

The PT I've been seeing encourages ways to reduce the load. Unilateral work. Unstable positions. Full range of motion. Long limb levers. Short rest periods. A heavy compound lift is the dessert, when everything else is already working. It's usually not.

Have you seen the bandbell? I just got mine back out, to take it easy on the shoulders. Might play with the landmine soon too. Same thinking.

[jacob]

Do such heavy bands even exist without doubling or tripling them up?

As an alternative to Force(distance)~distance, you can use chains that are long enough to touch the ground. The more of the chain that is lifted off the ground, the heavier it gets.

[Scott 2]

Yeah, powerlifters use them. A good rack includes band pegs. EliteFTS often discounts them by 40%+.

https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/bands.html

The resistance curve is non linear, which can become very inconvenient. Because of this, I assume the heavy band tension programs are setup around short range of motion partials or lockouts.

With a compound lift, the most value I could take from bands, is learning to accelerate into the bar. Chains are similar, and I prefer them. Easier to setup, no concerns over wear, linear resistance curve, and no stored tension. A taught band is essentially a giant spring under load, with all the potential dangers. A reputable vendor becomes essential, because you need a band that is made in layers, so it cannot snap.

I really like bands for accessory and mobility work. I touch them almost every time I lift. The bigger bands are great for tractioning or distracting joints during mobility work.

[Frita]

Enjoy the time with your dad, followed by a summer season at the hideout! I find with my mom, each time seems like it could be our last goodbye or a future distant memory after more intensive caregiving becomes reality. It is a strange juxtaposition.

[black_son_of_gray]

My main focus lately has been looking into "programs" to improve muscle. The first priority is muscle strength with the second priority to increase muscle mass.

I'm now looking into ways to do movements like dead lifts and squats under load.

Two quick questions for you: 1) Have you experimented with isometric movements? For example, wall sits or glute bridge holds? There are a lot of variations (both easier and harder, so they are scalable), they are joint friendly, safe, and don't involve loading the spine up with lots of compressive loads.
2) Have you tried Bulgarian split squats? I've found them to be a very effective unilateral exercise (and because unilateral, a little/lighter load goes a long way). They are also less spine load and easy to safely bail out of.

[Slevin]

2) Have you tried Bulgarian split squats? I've found them to be a very effective unilateral exercise (and because unilateral, a little/lighter load goes a long way). They are also less spine load and easy to safely bail out of.

Yeah, asymmetrically loaded Bulgarian split squats, Tripod squats, shrimp squats, and pistol squats will heavily engage the core while building tons of muscle mass and can all easily be bailed out of / don't need heavy weights for muscle building. Most of the god tier athletes I know graduate out of weighted squats and move to the unilateral movements because they also teach balance and athleticism while being much more functional movements that translate to real world actions in a way that the basic movements don't. Pushing on one leg does an equally good job or better for building muscles and also teaches you the balance and stability that is foundational to aging well.

[mathiverse]

don't involve loading the spine up with lots of compressive loads.

This may be a stupid question, but why would one seek to avoid loading the spine with compressive loads? Is there important long term consequences or risks?

[Slevin]

@mathiverse spinal injuries are debilitating, long lasting, and can require surgery to fix. One of the “nicer” ones is a herniated or slipped disc, which causes radiating pain every time you move your back for months in the case where you can just recover naturally. If it is bad, you may need surgery, but the treatment starts conservatively, so you go 2-3 months, then get surgery, then spend 3+ more months recovering.

One of the more common stories with muscular degeneration as you age is that you end up getting some major injury due to a fall, etc, and then get bound to not moving much for weeks or months, then lose a lot of muscle mass from disuse which then makes it easier to injure yourself, and then you lose more muscle mass, etc in a vicious downward spiral. Risk of this increases as you age because you stop being able to quickly regain the lost muscle mass.

The old Chinese proverb is: “you are as old as your spine”, because you can make do with one hand, one leg, one foot, or one arm, but if you hurt your spine, you have to deal with the inability to do almost anything.

Tl;dr, you want to avoid massive injury to critical parts of your body (@jacob made a post on this somewhere recently) especially as you age and can’t regrow your muscle easily, your spine and neck and head are the most critical places to not hurt, and heavy loading of the spine is one of the most common ways to hurt your spine (ask me how I know ).

[IlliniDave]

I'm going to try to address all the band-related things to the extent I can. My research on this is still nascent.

Yes, there are single bands that can produce 100s of pounds of force. It may not be what I use in the end, but they are out there. I believe they are constructed in layers in such a way that the increase in force in nonlinear, but that (the nonlinear force increase with stretching) may be a misunderstanding on my part.

The system Jaquish (X3 "inventor") came up with is an outgrowth of a system he co-developed for clinical treatment of osteoporosis (which his mother had and thus his interest/involvement) ultimately called OsteoStrong. I can't speak to the details, but apparently bones have to be loaded at several multiples of one's body weight to really stimulate bone growth. Gymnasts/former gymnasts have about the strongest bones as a cohort--in their landings they can achieve forces 10x their body weight, and infrequent short-term bearing of such loads is what the bone strength/density is attributed to. The OsteoStrong system replicates those short term loads (lower levels than 10x though) in a way that is safe for the patient population.

As part of that development he observed that the initial users of the system, generally elderly females with osteoporosis like his mother, were able to generate muscular force several multiples of their body weight with their arms whereas weightlifters generally top out lower, around 1.5x, during their lifts.

My first experience with bands was with Crossfit where we used them in a couple of ways. One way was to assist with motions, we'd do something like a bench press with a band initially under tension pulling upward to assist with the weight, but as the bar was lifted the band would slacken so more of the load was borne by the lifter (who was working near or even above their max bench press). And the opposite, where the band was set up to oppose the lift, initially under low tension and would add to the force of the weight as the bar was pushed up by the lifter (who would be repping with a weight well below their max). The techniques were borrowed from the power lifting community.

Sticking with something like a bench press, we are are our weakest (and our joints most compromised) at the beginning of a lift when the bar is on our chest, and strongest when the lift is about 80%-100% complete--the last several inches before lockout. So what we can bench press is limited by our strength to execute the first third of the lift, and doing bench presses never really fully taxes the strongest part of the range of motion, when the arms are approaching full extension (unless the band-assisted approach is used).

The "insight" Jaquish claims was realizing that most people out there are not competitive lifters and really don't care how many pounds of steel they can raise in the handful of standard competitive lifts. They just want to be stronger (and/or simply look better). So the bands answer the call since in certain motions they give minimal load/resistive force during the weak portion of the movement (the movements generally mimic "lifts") then load the muscles with 5-7X the force at the end of the motion where we are strongest. The claim is that working in that manner/his technique can more quickly fatigue a higher fraction of the muscle tissue involved in a motion. And similar to bone strengthening muscle strengthening appears to be greater when loads approach multiples of body weight. The protocol with a given movement is to do a reps to failure of the full motion, then a few ~half reps until failure of the half motion, then a few ~quarter reps to failure. Then you are done with that motion for the day--just the one set.

The program has 8 total motions, 4 "push" motions done on days 1,3,5 and four "pull" motions done on days 2,4,6, and rest on day 7.

That's not dissimilar to what I've been doing with my light/moderate bands, except I hadn't been doing the partial reps to failure after failing with the full motion reps. And because the band style I have aren't easily adaptable to motions that parallel squats and deadlifts, nor are they heavy enough to be meaningful.

That's about all I know so far. I'd never heard of Jaquish or X3 until about 10 days ago when I listened to a Dave Asprey podcast where he was the guest.

From my perspective I'm considering something styled after his program because of the following:

-It's just time for me in my health evolution to give more priority to strength increases.

-I already know that traditional pumping iron is hell on my joints and I don't want to replicate some aspects of my crossfit experience. The claim is that the system virtually eliminates injuries compared to traditional weightlifting by avoiding the pairing of heavy loads with our biomechanically weakest/most compromised positions.

-because of my dual address lifestyle I want a small, extremely portable equipment set. Bands fit the bill.

-I want to work out in my home or the hideout, not at a gym.

I've been using bands for over a year now and I have gained strength and increased muscle mass. I've just been limited on which muscle groups I use them on, and haven't been as efficient with them where I do use them as I could be. Another aspect came in an aha moment where Jaquish said something like 'we are strongest when the body is in it's shock absorbing postures'. Intuitively that rang true--if you imagine iDave(2044), a newly minted octogenarian tripping and falling face forward, he's going to put his arms out in front of him, nearly straight but not locked out, to brace himself--where his arms are strongest and the force of the fall is shared between muscle and bone (assuming he still has the reflexes to get his arms out in front of him faster then gravity drops him, lol). In the past I'd only thought of getting off the ground after a fall, hence the utility of pushups. But if I was falling I wouldn't allow myself to hit the ground face-first then try to push myself up. Similarly, landing from a jump we'd naturally land in a position similar to the last fraction of a squat, not down at the bottom of a squat, nor standing upright with legs locked. So paying attention to those portions of the range of motion makes sense from a functional perspective.

I have not heard Jaquish claim this (yet), but it seems like if I could develop strength with bands that was 2-3x my body weight or more at the terminal part of the movements, I should begin to trigger bone strengthening processes, which will further enhance iDave(2044)'s resilience in terms of minimizing injury from everyday mishaps.

His system isn't the be-all, end-all of physical fitness. He does claim it is the most timewise efficient means to gaining muscle mass/strength, and among the safest. Once familiar with the motions the time sink is under an hour per week, and only a few minutes per week under load. The short time under load minimizes stress/inflammation responses which in excess can have adverse overall impacts on health. The bands can be used for volume training as well for someone interested in bodybuilding per se, but for that endeavor the variety of motions is insufficient. In general I see them as one component of an overall regimen, and I'll continue using my lighter bands for things like compromised positions and developing strength in motions that aren't really part of the primary mechanical power systems of the human body.

[IlliniDave]

Enjoy the time with your dad, followed by a summer season at the hideout! I find with my mom, each time seems like it could be our last goodbye or a future distant memory after more intensive caregiving becomes reality. It is a strange juxtaposition.

Thanks, Frita. Yeah, that's weighing heavily on me. Honestly, every time I leave his house I wonder if he'll even remember me next time I see him (even though he's not to the point yet where he's failing to recognize people he knows). And certainly being away for weeks at a time intensifies that. But at the same time I need the time away to recharge for the daily 8 month grind while I'm here. It is indeed a difficult situation to manage.

[jacob]

If you like HIIT type workouts, the Tapout XT series uses bands. It has an MMA theme, which can feel a bit gimmicky, especially if you had actual training. Just make sure the curtains are drawn!

I don't recall if you're a HIIT fan. Personally, my body responds much better to HIIT than traditional 3x10 or 5x5 lifting. If you don't want to haul a lot of weight around, there's still the good ole' kettlebell. You only need one.

[Scott 2]

So the #1 activity rule in my book, is do what you enjoy. If the movement is dosed purely as medicine, it's not sticking around long term. If the X3 program appeals to you, I'm all for it.


I would like to offer a few challenges though:

If you cannot strain through a full range of motion, doesn't addressing that offer your highest return? Why retreat to the most advantaged ranges of motion, ceding 80% of your joint function by default? I'm fighting to protect the functional reserve every day. Muscle loss follows postural imbalances. It's a self reinforcing spiral.

The band thing is a high margin gimmick. The fitness industry is rife with grifters. You need more tension in those ranges of motion, because the lever arms are advantaged. It's not a superior load. The tension your bones experience, comes from the pull of your muscles, via the tendons. When you are applying full effort, you are applying full tension.

Population specificity matters. You're not an old lady with osteoporosis. Given the extra weight you were carrying, and the activity you do / did, is bone loss one of your high risk factors?

The notion your equipment has to be portable introduces an unnecessary constraint. Buy two sets.


FWIW - Slevin is a super experienced fitness guy. This a case where one person on the thread knows dramatically more than everyone else.

[Slevin]

Another aspect came in an aha moment where Jaquish said something like 'we are strongest when the body is in it's shock absorbing postures'. Intuitively that rang true--if you imagine iDave(2044), a newly minted octogenarian tripping and falling face forward, he's going to put his arms out in front of him, nearly straight but not locked out, to brace himself--where his arms are strongest and the force of the fall is shared between muscle and bone (assuming he still has the reflexes to get his arms out in front of him faster then gravity drops him, lol). In the past I'd only thought of getting off the ground after a fall, hence the utility of pushups. But if I was falling I wouldn't allow myself to hit the ground face-first then try to push myself up. Similarly, landing from a jump we'd naturally land in a position similar to the last fraction of a squat, not down at the bottom of a squat, nor standing upright with legs locked. So paying attention to those portions of the range of motion makes sense from a functional perspective.

Wait I feel like we are maybe missing the trees for all the forest here. If you want to learn to take a fall well, you should practice taking a fall well and having the proper responses (force redirection like rolling and breakfall techniques, not putting your arms out in front of you). Tripping, same issue. With both of these things, your center of mass gets away from your legs, causing the falling issue. You can maybe recover from a trip by getting your legs underneath you, but in either case it seems like you would get much more benefit from just practicing rolling out of falls and learning to breakfall, which requires a very small fractional amount of effort compared to something like building muscle.

Then you worry about the getting up bit (push-ups etc).

When I trained with one of the Israeli special forces hand to hand combat teachers back in 2019, one of his main takeaways was that you need to program sequences automatically into your body, so that they just happen without thinking about it, and that’s probably the best answer here. Train the break falls and rolls to happen naturally, then train strength for all the fun and resilience it brings when other things happen to you. I’m also with Scott here, best program is anything you can keep up for a long time (decades plus). If that’s bands for you, awesome. Chasing different techniques to try and switch up every couple years to keep you interested , also great.

[IlliniDave]

Okay, I'll try to hit everything all at once,

I like bands. Been doing them for over a year now and am very happy with the results. I've increased strength and lean mass in about 20 minutes per week under load. I don't think bands are "fun", but 16 minutes 5-6 days a week total time sunk is tolerable (what I've been doing). Taking it to the next level is the logical next step.

Why work out/develop the portions of ranges of motion where we are strongest? That we're strongest in those ranges is at the heart of our functional strength, what nature designed for us. Why not spend inordinate amounts of time developing the weakest portions of our ranges of motion? Risk of joint injury mostly for me, and I already have issues in my shoulders and hips from load bearing in mechanically disadvantaged positions.

Part of this is just putting on muscle and gaining strength for the sake of putting on muscle and gaining strength. Why? Epidemiologically speaking, it is a substantial booster to lifespan and health span. Ditto for preserving/increasing bone density.

On fall resilience, I already know how to roll and stuff, but that knowledge/those reflexes do me no good if I have to jump down off of something and my legs shatter and/or I'm too weak to hold myself up long enough to redirect momentum. Stumbling and falling doesn't seem conducive to using acrobatics (remember, iDave(2044) will be 80 years old, not 25 or 40 or 50 or even 60). Sure I could practice that, but I hate burpees, lol, done more of those than any sane person should do in a lifetime.

In this particular endeavor I'm after the combined effects of muscle growth and bone density growth that (allegedly) require forces a few multiples of body weight. And I want to do it in a way that takes the least amount of time and with the lowest risk of injury. That's the promise of the paradigm. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. The injury part of it I buy from already using bands. I also know variable load bands work for building lean mass. Will I be able to get some heavier bands and actually work up to achieving a few hundred pounds of loading force to strengthen my bones? Dunno. Will his program/technique increase the rapidity of gains over what I've experienced with lighter bands? Dunno. But likely I'll try it for the 4 months I'm at the hideout.

And whatever I do with bands, it'll only be a portion of my fitness regimen.

I don't disagree that that buying X3-branded products are not cheap, and maybe all bands are high margin. Gimmicks? I don't think so. Are some of the marketing claims overdone? Almost certainly. The OsteoStrong program is a completely different thing. It's not a band system. I think they are franchised centers with specialized equipment geared towards people with osteopenia or even osteoporsis. One out of 5 people with osteoporosis are male, and I don't wanna be in that cohort.

My main cardio training is HIIT and generally I like it. My technique with bands to date is essentially the same premise as HIIT. One set to failure, rest 5 minutes, then a set of a different but related motion to failure (e.g., chest press and overhead press), rest 5 minutes, then repeat with two variants of a substantially different motion. The reason I like it is pretty simple--I seem to get better results in less time with less disruption due to injury and DOMS (for whatever reason, when I was a crosfitter I was prone to epic DOMS, hence my interest in biohacking/more for less approaches).

No disrespect to anyone's expertise, but just like with investing, deciding when/how to retire, my nutrition, my interaction with the medical community, my fitness is something I've got to do for myself based on my specific goals, my temperament, my present physiology, and how it fits into the weave of my overall life and lifestyle, guided ultimately by trial and error. I'm open minded and do quite a bit more exploration and rabbit trail following than it may seem, but I don't do much without quite a lot of thought.

[Scott 2]

Understood. I do think the band program would offer a metabolic boost. It is more strength training. Always a good thing.

[IlliniDave]

Understood. I do think the band program would offer a metabolic boost. It is more strength training. Always a good thing.

Yeah, I need to not lose sight of that. At a first principles level I want all roads to lead to optimized metabolism/metabolic health. Fortunately strength training is low fruit on that tree, as long as a person can do it without injury. I fall pray to the foibles of vanity sometimes when it comes to appearance related things like body composition/leanness though. There's metabolic advantage associated with optimizing that, but it's not always at the front of my mind. Reminds me I'm overdue for some more aggressive attention to autophagy. I shed body fat much more readily than I recycle excess skin, and now that I've all but depleted visceral fat and started making a bigger dent in subcutaneous energy stores, excess "wrapping" is building up.

I did a quick seaworthiness test of the yak and all the fishing-specific gear. In doing that I'm once again reminded that my Concept2 is not a great proxy for paddling a kayak. I'd even tried some variations in my (little) band pulling/row motions this winter to mediate the effects of not paddling for 8 months. The upside of that is that within a few days when I get back on the water regularly, I'll begin increasing that capacity again. Dunno if there's science to it, but periods of rapidly increasing capacity make me feel better in a general sense.

[IlliniDave]

May addendum.

I lucked into a loaner set of X3 bands and bar to try out over the summer. I'm going through the process of trying to find demos of all the movements online. I also got a copy of Jaquish's book. A set is performing full range-of-motion reps until exhausted/failure, then continuing with ~half reps until failure, then with ~1/4/less reps until you can't move the bar from the resting position. Per movement you do one set per day then move on to the next movement. Movements are grouped by day into "push days" and "pull days" with a schedule something like push-pull-rest-push-pull-rest-rest for a weekly schedule. Technique-wise the emphasis is slow, controlled movements, with a 2-3 count in each direction while keeping the muscles under tension the whole time (meaning don't lock out at the far extent of the motion nor let the bar rest at the starting poisition). The slow movement is intended to induce stability firing of muscles and the overall set design is geared towards complete exhaustion of targeted muscles/muscle groups in the shortest amount of time. The overall goal is simply to provide stimulus for muscle growth and increase lean mass over time. There is no emphasis on feats of strength (ala power lifting) or "athletic performance" (ala Crossfit). It's arguably most similar to body building albeit not so focused on appearance and generally limited to more functional movements.

It's quite similar to what I was doing with my lighter bands, which isn't a total surprise. I was influenced by Dave Asprey's book Smarter not Harder, and Asprey was in turn influenced by Jaquish. The main things I was missing were emphasizing slow movements, continuing with increasingly partial reps when I could no longer do full reps, refraining from locking out at the full extent of the range of motion plus maintaining tension at the beginning of the motion. Interestingly, Jaquish implies that those aspects provide the greatest anabolic stimulus. If he's correct I probably left a lot on the table, as it were, over the last 16ish months. Also, I wasn't doing any lower body movements and will now be adding deadlifts and squats (split front squats being the ultimate goal). Even if his interpretation of "science" is off base, I'm still progressing by increasing upper body loads and adding lower body movements.

I've had a couple practice runs with the lightest X3 band trying my best to learn the movements and adhere to the technique from the scant information I have. It looks like I'll maybe need to get an even lighter loop band unless I can find some way to adapt one of my old bands without messing up my cousin's bar (my bands are tubular instead of flat and have a carabiner affixed to each end rather than being a fused loop). The recommendation is to use a band you can do 15-40 full ROM reps with and I wasn't quite there with the lightest band on a couple of them. The degree of fatigue is pretty intense compared to what I was able to achieve with my old procedure. On the downside I'm experiencing some mild DOMS, especially in my left deltoid after my first attempt at a push day yesterday. Today is my first attempt at a proper pull day.

I'm up at the hideout now and mostly settled in. Unfortunately I'm looking at having to travel back to civilization next week to have a minor dental issue attended to. The nearest dentist I could find around here that could see me in less than a month is 4 hours drive away, and it would likely take 2 trips there on separate days. Their usual process is doing a full exam initially, then schedule a second appointment for the actual work (which is just to have a loose crown reseated). I'll try negotiating that with them again Monday morning. The office is part of some sort of chain/network/franchise and the person I talked to was part of their general call center. If I call the office in question directly and can get them to agree to simply reseat the crown without all the preliminaries, or at least do both back-to-back in the same visit I'll probably do that. If not, for the same 16 hours of total driving that I'd invest in two trips I can just go back home and have my regular dentist do it without the added headache and expense of the exam.