12 Dec MDLP: Baby Rhino Mode

So here we are huh? After such a climactic experience what is next? What will MDLP do? Well, its the same thing we do every night pinky… My body needs to recover on a major scale and despite having a great day I definitely feel my age. As much as I can blame my age for being a little beat up I can also use it as a source of experience as I realize I am not the same dumb kid. In previous years I would jump right back into training events and start “working hard”, never giving myself enough time to recover. Part of it was major ignorance to what kind of damage and metabolic decay Strongman can do, another part was being a wild animal. With my eyes set on remaining healthy into the next year I think it is important to start those habits now.

See that paragraph above? Thats just a fancy MDLP way of saying I need weeks of deload and body building work. As I jokingly portray it on social media as time to “Get Huge”, it really just means I need time to body build and get blood in my muscles. The last 4 months have put on acceptable size on me but I am far from where I need to be and where I want to be. I want to rebuild my body piece by piece and at the same time giving her time to repair. I have found that 1 week to recover after a heavy comp is a young mans game or a fools game. The demands of all those months only leaves me desiring more time off. There is no sweet spot for knowing how long time off can be but you have to think how important your future is. Knowing my body and my mind set, I am going to take 4-5 weeks of time off from implements as my learning curve for them is a lot smaller nowadays. Time to focus on eating high nutrient based foods, hanging out with my family and friends, having some weekend drinks but not letting my mind stray to far from the goal.

Yesterdays Back work:

• Face Pulls 1×100
• Banded Pull Ups 50 total reps broken down as you see fit
• Wide Grip Pull Downs 4×25
• Close Grip Pull Downs 5×20
• Barbell Rows 3×10, 1×20
• Land Mine Rows 4×20
• Forearm and Grip work

I will be posting some more of my volume work in the next few weeks if anyone is interested. It is going to be more of a Body building split with occasional complex lifts. I do want to gain muscle mass but at the same time less stress on the body. I will do high volume, low weights and avoid anything that spikes my back. Easier said than done but with good music, pre workout and mindset .. this should be pretty fun.

Never Stray From the Way

MDLP

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Mike De La Pava

Michael “MDLP” De La Pava is currently a competitive Strongman and owner of The Battle Axe Gym. Born in Miami, Florida into a Colombian household, Michael finished his schooling by attending Penn State University where he graduated with a Degree in Psychology. Having his roots in martial arts, he would go on to compete in various sports as a Muay Thai fighter, Powerlifter, and rugby player before committing himself fully to Strongman. During this time, he opened Miami’s first Strongman gym, The Battle Axe, where he currently coaches athletes from various disciplines including powerlifting, MMA fighters, Strongman, officers of multiple authorities and enlisted and active military operators. Competing in Strongman for over 6 years has given Michael the opportunity to rank as high as 15th in the nation (105kg), won Florida’s Strongest man (1st in 2014 and 2nd in 2015 in the 105kg class), lift and load a 420 pound Atlas stone, log press 335, pull 700, and most importantly, share the competitive battlefield with some of the best in the game. During this journey, Michael suffered what some would consider a potentially career-ending spine injury. It was at this time that Brian and Michael would begin working together to not only rehab his spine, allowing him to return to Strongman but also develop a new Strongman training program revolving around the 10/20 philosophy. Strongman and coaching have given Michael the opportunity to travel around the nation and the world to train, coach and be coached, as well as share ideas with various leaders in the strength community. Michael’s experience and network in strongman brings a welcome connection with the ever-growing sport of Strongman to the 10/20 team and PRS family.

Latest posts by Mike De La Pava (see all)

• MDLP: Training 8 weeks out - March 15, 2019
• MDLP: Deload week and Old Man Logan - March 6, 2019
• MDLP: Blood, Sweat and Flesh - February 28, 2019