Bandana Training

Yesterday’s contrast bathing produced a clean heart-rate pattern:
three smooth climbs to ~120 bpm, followed by rapid drops into the mid-40s.

From an exercise physiology standpoint, heat drives HR up through thermoregulation (skin blood flow, reduced venous return, cardiac output doing its job). The sharp drops that follow reflect a strong parasympathetic rebound, triggered by cold exposure. Think of it as the nervous system slamming the brakes after revving the engine.

It’s not exactly cardio, although the comparison is commmon. It’s better understoon as autonomic stress and release.

Important to note:
this is not exercise HR recovery and shouldn’t be compared to HRR norms. Different stimulus, different rules.

What it does highlight is autonomic flexibility - the ability to move quickly between stress and recovery. That’s a useful trait, just not one you PR.

Heat and cold don’t replace training, but they’re a good reminder that recovery is a physiological skill.

Solstice Rae Sulaver was welcomed into the world on April 4th at 1:38pm.

The 48 hours leading into her stressful but ultimately triumphant delivery convinced me that childbirth is the most grueling endurance sport on the planet. You can prepare and pray, but the event has its own agenda. What did Mike Tyson say? “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the uterus?” I’m probably paraphrasing.

The carnage of childbirth is a complicated mix of adrenaline, stress, exhaustion, and euphoria. Mel was doing cervical Cirque du Soleil in every position imaginable. There were things on the outside of her body that I’m pretty sure belonged on the inside, and things on the inside that most definitely needed out.

We labored through the night: in tubs, on beds, and against balls. Time moves in fits and starts - some moments last for hours, while large chunks blur into nothing.

Although we had enough snacks to feed Napoleon’s army retreating from Moscow, at one point I was sent on a coffee run downstairs to Joe’s Java. God bless Joe and his Java. I drank so much caffeine I could feel my mitochondria making ATP.

And through it all - there was Mel. This powerful woman I love so dearly, weathering trauma, exhaustion, and pain with nothing but ice water and this superpower we call motherhood. As we neared the finish line, Soli’s vitals began to fluctuate wildly. With alarms buzzing, time became urgent. She had to be delivered now, or decisions to ensure her safety would be made for us.

After nearly 18 hours, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Mel popped up on the hospital bed. Her eyes were filled with the strength of a thousand suns and while nobody else could confirm, I swear I saw sunflowers exploding from her v***a.

Nothing comes between a mother and her cub.

Within minutes, Soli was born. In the end, there was more drama than I’d hoped for…but this is our story. There are moments in life that change you. They crack something open. And now, on the other side, everything feels a little more sacred.

Solstice Rae Sulaver. Our heart is yours, you lil’ drama queen.

Let the party of four begin.

What is RSI Modified?

RSI Modified (Reactive Strength Index Modified, or RSI mod) is a performance metric used to assess an athlete’s explosive strength and ability to rapidly generate force. It is calculated using a Countermovement Jump (CMJ) as follows:

RSI mod = Jump Height (m) / Time to Takeoff (s)

Why Should Wrestlers Measure RSI mod?

For wrestlers and combat athletes, RSI mod is particularly valuable because it provides insight into their explosive power, fatigue resistance, and readiness to generate force in a short time frame, all of which play to account in our sport.

A higher RSI mod suggests an athlete can produce force quickly and efficiently, improving reaction speed in dynamic exchanges. RSI mod can also serve as a readiness metric and may signal accumulated fatigue or insufficient recovery.

By tracking RSI mod over time, wrestlers and coaches can optimize training loads and ensure athletes are peaking at the ideal times throughout the season.

Dangerous athletes see winning and losing as data points, not endpoints. Wins reveal what works; losses expose blind spots. Every outcome is a tool for constant refinement, making the process their greatest weapon. Are you more focused on internal score cards or external score cards?

Research Review // High-Intensity Conditioning for Combat Athletes: Practical Recommendations // , , , , , // https://doi.org/10.3390/app112210658

Wayne Miller was a true Michigan Man.

He wrestled for the University of Michigan in the early 1960’s and his senior year (1964) he was a captain and All-American. He was also my dad’s high school wrestling coach.

Wayne spent 15 years at DeKalb High (Illinois) teaching PE, health, and Special Ed. He coached football and wrestling and his teams were not to be trifled with. They won 15 straight IHSA Districts, 12 conference titles, and 3 Sectional championships. His team maintained a .900%-win percentage and went undefeated for six seasons.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Wayne over the past handful of years. We bonded over our love of Michigan and wrestling - two things we both care deeply about. As Cindy (Wayne’s wife of over 50 years) wrote to me, Wayne’s middle name was “Go Blue.” 

Before his passing, in an email exchange, he told me the last time they wrestled he took my dad down. I didn’t want to question him, of course, but in my lifetime I’d never seen my dad taken down by anyone (except me 😈.) Wrestling my dad was like wrestling a brick wall with a mustache. I recently asked my dad about this and he reminded me the last time they wrestled he was in high school (and indeed Coach was tough!) To think…those were the before-mustache days.

It’s quite moving that Wayne wanted me to be steward of his beloved Michigan Letterman Jacket which I told him I will cherish like my own. Always a coach, even in passing it along, he seems to be offering some advice.    

This M-Jacket is a reminder that we’re all part of a lineage. The transformative figures in our lives were themselves mentored and guided by coaches who fundamentally changed their life. The best way to honor the legacy of those who mentored us (and those who mentored them) is to live up to their high standards of excellence and embrace our role in passing on the knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration to future generations. 

Wayne’s positive impact spans across time and generations. THAT is legacy.

May Coach Miller rest in paradise and may we all be fortunate to stand on the shoulders of such giants. 

Go Blue.

Consistency is the cornerstone of any success training program.

In order to stay consistent with your training, you’ll likely need to rely on some strategies for chaos management. After all, life is messy, filled with challenges, distractions, and disruptions that can derail even the most well-planned and well-intended routines. Therefore, our training programs must be designed to accommodate this mess.

Here are some strategies I use with my clients and athletes for chaos management:

1. Control the controllables: Focus exclusively on what you can control and influence, specifically actions, attitude, and your response to situations. Let go of things beyond your control to conserve energy and maintain a proactive mindset.

2. Prioritize and focus: Identify and prioritize essential tasks, goals, and objectives. Spend most of your time on high-priority activities that align with your long-term vision. Spend less time on low-priority activities that may feel urgent, but ultimately detract from your progress.

3. Effective time management: Time blocking, task prioritization, and scheduling all help to allocate time for training, minimize distraction, and maximize focus especially during chaotic periods.

4. Resilience & stress management: Building resilience is a practice. Mindfulness, meditation, and active recovery are game-changers when it comes to mental clarity and emotional balance during challenging times.

5. Be kind to yourself: Self-compassion is an essential part of self-care. Find grace. Be understanding and forgiving of yourself during chaotic periods, acknowledging that setbacks and challenges are part and parcel of doing difficult things. Give yourself permission to celebrate even the smallest of victories to nurture your well-being and resilience.

If this is helpful, throw me a like and feel free to add to the list below.

Some facts on aging:

Does hypertrophy get more difficult as we age? Yes.
Does cardiovascular development get more difficult as we age? Yes.
Does max strength development get more difficult as we age? Yes.
Does velocity and acceleration training get more difficult as we age? Yes.

Should any of this prevent us from getting better at any age? No.

Here’s what is also true but is often not reported:

Can you add muscle at nearly any age? Yes.
Can you improve your cardiovascular system as nearly any age? Yes.
Can you improve your max strength at nearly any age? Yes.
Can you improve your max velocity and acceleration at nearly any age? Yes.

The best version of you begins when you decide to commit to the process and it continues as long as you remain committed to the process.

Because wrestling is generally thought to be a high intensity intermittent sport, one of the common miscalculation wrestlers make is to rely exclusively on high intensity interval training for their conditioning. This is a mistake & here's why:

Bulletproof Conditioning for Wrestlers & Combat Athletes + The Lactic Acid Myth The Physiology of Conditioning  Because wrestling is generally thought to be a high intensity intermittent sport, one of the common miscalculation wrestlers make is to rely exclusively on high intensity interval training for their conditioning. This is a mistake because there are adaptations at low...