This is only sort of a book by my reading log standards, but my list, my rules, right?

I’ve been training heavy for quite a long time now, training mostly 5/3/1 the last few years. As I plug along through my Masters I years in competitions, that means, well, it means I’m constantly battling some sort of ding. Ankle arthritis/gout, knee pain/possible meniscus tear, shoulder pain/possible rotator cuff, elbow tendinitis. At this point in my career, I’m lucky to have never had a major injury, but the nagging ones have piled up.

So, as I drove to a game a couple weeks ago listening to podcasts, Episode 353 of Joe Defranco’s podcast hit home. Joe has battled major injuries, and as i sat and listened to him talk about Rebuilt, it sounded like exactly what i need right now. Rebuilt is how he, ahem, rebuilt himself post surgery. So, I purchased the program as soon as I got home that night.

Rebuilt 2.0 is a 35-page ebook, accompanied by access to links to exercise demos done by Joe. The program focuses on joint health and stabilization. It has a heavy focus on dumbbell, band and cable work. There is virtually no barbell work, or, the exact opposite of what I’ve been doing for quite a long time. I have followed Joe’s work since Brian Cushing’s days at USC and the WS4SB days. I trust and believe in his work.

I try to do a competition every December. And might add a summer one back into the plan now that the local one has returned. But, I like the idea of starting the year off by running through this program right after that December meet. My hope is it gives my body a change to recover after beating it up with high intensity powerlifting work in the leadup to those meets. Rebuilt is a 12-week program I fully expect to take me 14-15 to get through (extra rest days on occasion). I tend to do better alternating lift and rest days while the program is four days a week. That means a summer meet would not be peaking but testing. But I’m okay with that. At my age, I have to strategize how to throttle the work down in the name of long term improvement. I think Rebuilt is going to be a valuable tool in that regard. I look forward to seeing how I feel three months from now.