Balancing Schedule w/other sports & PT

[Melina Park]

Hi everyone!

I am new to GB, but excited about its program. In this post, I am looking for suggestions on how to schedule my week of GB with my other sports.

My background:

I used to cross country ski competitively and after I finished, I sustained an overuse, running injury to my right psoas. Never got imaging, did physical therapy for two years and now about three years later I still have notable inbalances and am not running yet. My brother turned me on to GB, and the stretching is the only thing that I have felt helps balance. And I am excited to do the program!

I’ve seen in the form to balance sides adding reps on one side and stretches on the other tight side.

However, I am a very active person and was wondering if someone could suggest a weekly schedule that would merge well with;

mountain biking 2-3 times a week

body weight strength (mostly PT still working on) 2x wk

And cross country skiing 1-2x wk

And sometimes I do long distance days on the weekend 3hrs+

When do you suggest stretching? Combining strength ie core/upper body/legs into one or two strength sessions a week?

any suggestions help! Thanks!

[Étienne Lajeunesse]

Hi Melina!

GB will certainly help you to improve your imbalances!

By bodyweight training, does it include GB?  Do you do more than one workout a day? 

Can you post an overall weekly schedule?

As for the stretch series, you can do them either in off days or at the end of your workouts.  Do them once a week each and make yourself some daily limbering to keep working on your biggest issues.

[Jennifer Marie]

Hi Melina, 

You keep busy! 

I have two general suggestions. First, listen to your body. If you're tired, or cranky, or just too sore, be willing to change up the schedule a bit. For me, I get moody and snarky if I've been training too much, or not balancing the different trainings well. 

Which brings me to suggestion two. Be flexible. For example, I try to put the Upper Body GST on Mondays - get the one I need the most done early in the week -- but if my lifting on Sunday is more shoulder intensive, I swap and do upper body Wednesday and move Core to Tuesday. It's easier to get off track and forget a session when I change things last minute, but the quick changes let me get in a good workout while listening to what my body needs to recover.

Be aware that doing other physically demanding activities will slow your progress in GST as well. It's already a slow progression, so be easy on yourself mentally for the goals you have. This stuff does help with those other activities, and I've seen improvements in my own muscle imbalances, but improvement is not always obvious right away with these lessons.

Lastly, stretching, I agree with Etienne. Daily mobility, for the win, (but not the entire stretch program daily, pick what you need most)

Welcome and good luck!

Jennifer

[Melina Park]

Thanks Jennifer and Etienne for your reply!

Right now I am traveling, so my “schedule” has been changing every week depending on activities or stomach bugs. But when I get back state side I’m hoping to be more consistent.

This would be my ideal schedule:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Core + Upperbody stength + Skiing

Wednesday: Front Splits + Biking easy

Thursday: Legs + Upperbody + Skiing+ middle splits

Friday: Biking + thoracic 

Saturday/Sunday: Long distance bike/ski/backcountry skiing

*I’ll add in body weight strength on Tuesday/Thursday. Right now this is mostly high rep activities like leg lifts/rotator cuff so it’s not too demanding.

I like the idea of working everyday on imbalances. 

Do you think it’s okay to do the core/Upperbody 2x a week? 

Just looking at my schedule, do you have any suggestions? I am pretty good now at going slow and doing things right but I really enjoy my outdoor sports and want to merge the two... 

[Tom Durham]

Hi Melina,

I’m similar to you and combine reasonably competitive cycle and MTB training with GBST, and skiing as well in the winter. Over the last 7 months or so of GB I’ve played with a few schedules to balance that and family life / work commitments. 

For me, the stretching gives the biggest benefit ( albeit slowly) so I try to ensure I keep that as regular as possible. Alongside that I fit in Foundation strength sessions around other training and am a bit flexible with what I do - which in turn keeps it interesting - but I try to remain as consistent as possible. 

Ive found though that a full stretch series of either front or side splits leaves me weak and sore for at least 36 hours, and doing a cycle session even the day after is not beneficial. So I try to schedule these at the end of 2-3 leg (cycle/MTB/ski) days and then have a rest day, or concentrate on upper body and core the day after. 

All this means there aren’t enough days in the week unless I could train full time. So I’ve settled on a 2 week cycle for completing all stretch series and accepted that progress will be slower but I’ll still retain realistic consistency. 

I would agree though that a daily limber is really worthwhile and pays back almost immediately.