March

Q1

2026 is going decent. Winter is ending in Pittsburgh. I'm enjoying social stuff. I recovered from an injury and getting back to the gym after 3 months.

I've been practicing static holds at the gym and I think they are improving my strength a lot. I'm not worrying about tracking the data. I just have faith that tendon strength is a foundation of force transfer. But I should record a Q1 data point.

What I aim for is 10 second holds for my 2 rep maximums and do that on the weight machines for 10 minutes. I use my watch to track 30 second rests.

I do that for the Doug McGuff and John Little "Big 5" exercises from their book Body By Science:

1. Seated Row: Targets mid-back, biceps, and forearms.
2. Chest Press: Engages chest, front shoulders, and triceps.
3. Pull-down: Focuses on outer back, biceps, and forearms.
4. Overhead Press: Works shoulders and triceps.
5. Leg Press: Targets glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

All this tendon stuff is from Dr. Keith Baar research I've first learned about in 2025.

According to his research you should consume 15–25g of collagen with 50mg of Vitamin C about 60 minutes before the training session to maximize collagen synthesis in the tendon. This is flushes the tendons with collogen/precursors as they pump with the movements. The static holding sends uniform tension through the cross sections of the tendon (which help them to organize their collagen matrix/structure).

By the way, when I do my static holds or normal reps I always try to maintain slow and controlled form. Acceleration and jerk is where injury happens (ruin your season). This is just to bring up that I hate seeing/listening to guys at the gym do 3 bad reps at a machine and let the weights slam down.