The Stratagem’s Archive

Tag: Training with pain

  • Active Rest Days and Why Adding Them to Your Vacations Could Save You Some Pain

    Wherever You Are Visiting, Don’t Forget That Daily Pains Accrue Regardless

    Vacations feel relaxing in theory — but they’re secretly endurance events. That’s why building active rest into them is essential.

    I’ve been doing a lot of walking — so much walking that my ankles feel swollen and my hips are protesting in pain. Constantly standing from taking multiple subways and trains in one day just to get to a single destination. And all of this happening while I’m “on vacation.”

    I’m very fortunate that my busted knees decided not to fold on themselves from all the walking, climbing, and navigating the sea of people that either flow or crash through everyone else’s way. All while I’m trying not to get separated from my family or get lost.

    Despite the cold — previous days were around 19°C, which my sad American brain cannot convert to Fahrenheit on the fly — the usual twisted pain that creeps into my knees gave me a temporary reprieve.

    That’s something people don’t talk about much when it comes to vacation.

    You expect to leave home, go somewhere new, and do nothing but relax, right?

    You’re going to hate yourself for how wrong that expectation is.

    Why? Because your body is still active. It doesn’t know you’re on “vacation.” All it knows is:

    • you’re walking through stores and crowded streets
    • you’re running to catch trains and hoping they’re the right ones
    • you’re carrying snacks, water, coats, and souvenirs in your backpack
    • you’re navigating someone else’s itinerary
    • you’re underfed, underhydrated, and running on overstimulation

    Your pains don’t go away.

    Vacation or no vacation.

    In fact, your existing pain gets worse when you weren’t the one who built the itinerary. Forget about taking breaks. Forget about putting your feet up. Forget about sitting down for more than five minutes. You’re on borrowed time and someone else’s clock, and your body will make sure you know it.

    Vacationing, am I right?

    Introducing the Merciful Active Rest Days

    Most of us pack our schedule like we’re trying to speedrun a country. But pain still accrues, and your body still keeps score. That’s where active rest days come in.

    Active rest days are your off days from the gym — except you’re still moving, just less intensely. You’re not pushing your usual weights, you’re not chasing PRs, you’re not doing crazy calisthenics. You’re simply being a slower, softer version of your usual chaotic self.

    Each morning while I was on vacation, I woke up as early as I could and, if space allowed, I took 10–30 minutes to myself to engage my body:

    • Cat-cows
    • Bird-dogs
    • Walking lunges
    • Shoulder, forearm, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle circles
    • Cossack squats
    • Regular squats
    • Split practice
    • Butterfly stretches
    • Any stretching I could do with limited time and space
    • And contrast showers — from hot, to proper cold (not cool), then back

    After warming up and stretching (10–15 minutes), I did two sets of push-ups:

    My baseline of 10 reps for the first set, and a smaller second set starting at 5 and slowly increasing each day.

    I recorded everything in the Notes app on my phone, and I’ll transfer it to my workout book when I get home.

    This technically counted toward my two-day training schedule, but realistically, I mostly managed stretching, mobility, and a little strengthening with my time constraints.

    Did Any of This Help?

    I want to be very clear: my rushed routine of warming up, doing push-ups, stretching, and taking contrast showers did help.

    Until it didn’t.

    Active rest is merciful — not magical. It doesn’t erase pain. It teaches you how to manage it when you don’t have your usual tools.

    For me, those tools include:

    • A foam roller
    • A decent amount of floor space
    • And, ultimately, TIME

    On vacation, you don’t get any of that.

    So instead of dragging myself through pain, I moved with intention — because that was all I could control.

    You get creative enough to manage your pains. At least until you get back home and return to your normal pain-management rhythms.

    Next Time I’ll Be Better Prepared

    I underestimated what was going to happen on this trip, and I paid the price over four short (but painfully long) days.

    Next time, if I want to keep my training and pain goals in mind, I’m bringing one set of exercise clothes and using the hotel gym or spa facilities. Especially if they’re open 24/7 and there’s a washer and dryer. Clean clothes are as important to your health as sleep, food, and training.

    Doing this might mean deviating from someone else’s itinerary — but breaking yourself on vacation and arguing with your travel group is completely counterproductive.

    For the Fellow Archivists Beaten Up by Vacationing Too

    If anything here resonated with you, feel free to:

    • like
    • subscribe
    • share
    • or quietly reflect on your own vacation-war stories

    If you’d like to share your thoughts, leave a comment below or send them anonymously to:

    whatimtryingoutnow@gmail.com

    Thank you for making it to the end of this post. Below are other articles you can explore in the Archives to satisfy your curiosity.

    I’ll see you in the Archives later.

    Explore the Archive

  • My Quest to Pre-GMB Certification Bio: Learning to Be Chaotic Life Strong, Not Just Gym Strong

    Author’s Note:

    For the record, GMB stands for Gold Medal Bodies — a movement-based training organization that focuses on building strength, mobility, and control that actually works in real life, not just inside a gym.

    Before I pursue their Level 1 Coach certification (because yes, I’m seriously considering it and want to level up my repertoire), I wanted to document where I’m starting from, what I’ve learned the messy way, and why this path even makes sense for someone like me.

    This is less a résumé and more a field report from the chaos trenches.

    ⸻

    Learning to Be Chaotic Life Strong, Not Athlete Strong

    I’ve had a lot of time to play with different training programs: boxing-inspired circuits, football conditioning, wrestling drills, bro-splits, calisthenics routines, you name it. My logic was simple:

    If I trained like an athlete, maybe I’d become stronger, faster, and harder to mess with — even as a regular person.

    And to be fair, I did get stronger.

    But… then real life slapped me in the face.

    I’d get winded pushing a grocery cart up a slight incline.

    I’d struggle carrying my groceries out of the cart, into the car, out of the car, up the steps, and into the house.

    I’d finish a “monster workout” only to be absolutely useless at my actual job.

    It was embarrassing, despite being the only one who knew this.

    I was young, healthy, training hard…

    And I couldn’t perform basic human tasks without feeling like I was about to collapse.

    What was wrong with me?

    Turns out nothing was “wrong.” I just discovered that the way I was training — and the way most people train — doesn’t transfer well to real life.

    That realization hit me like a medicine ball to the ribs.

    Suddenly, I had a swarm of uncomfortable questions:

    • How does bench-pressing more than my bodyweight help me haul trash bags or move boxes at work?

    • How does eating “clean” 24/7 help me reach my goals if I’m miserable, under-fueled, and ready to bite someone?

    • Why is my “gym strength” not showing up when I actually need it?

    It was distressing. Everything I “knew” about fitness felt flimsy.

    Because what if I wasn’t training for:

    • the NFL

    • the UFC

    • the Olympics

    • the military

    • or any other institution that requires an identity and lifestyle I don’t want?

    What if all I wanted was to be capable, mobile, adaptable, and strong in the weird, unpredictable ways my life expects from me?

    What then?

    That question — what then? — kickstarted five years of experimentation, logging, testing, failing, recovering, and trying again.

    Some days I trained intensely.

    Some days I did active rest.

    Some days I said “fuck this” and didn’t train for weeks.

    All of it went into the log.

    Because all of it was data.

    ⸻

    How Shows Like Physical 100 Broke My Brain (in a Good Way)

    A huge part of why I’m pursuing this style of training came from watching shows like:

    • Physical 100 (Korea)

    • Physical: Asia

    • Siren: Survive the Island

    They exposed how incomplete athletic training can be depending on the demands.

    CrossFitters struggled with grip tasks.

    Bodybuilders gassed out.

    Martial artists couldn’t always apply leverage under unusual constraints.

    People who looked like “monsters” on paper were suddenly ordinary.

    And some people — including a few women — surprised me by pushing back against bigger, stronger opponents.

    It was fascinating.

    It also validated the exact questions I’d been asking myself.

    Because even with all my job demands (heavy lifting, pushing thousands of pounds of product, long hours on my feet) I don’t think I would survive half of Physical 100’s challenges.

    But I want to.

    Not to win.

    Just to see what I’m capable of.

    Just to show up and make it difficult for someone to run me over.

    GMB’s approach — strength + mobility + control + adaptability — clicked perfectly with that goal.

    ⸻

    Why I’m Writing This as a Pre-Certification Bio

    This isn’t a “look how fit I am” intro.

    This is:

    • the starting line

    • the messy context

    • the real-life background that traditional fitness ignores

    • and the mindset behind why I want to be a coach in the first place

    I’m not trying to become an athlete.

    I’m trying to become chaotic life strong — resilient, adaptable, useful, capable in unpredictable environments, and confident in how my body moves through the world.

    And confidently push a grocery cart up the smallest of inclines too.

    GMB feels like the right framework to refine what I already know and fill in the gaps I’ve collected through years of experimenting alone.

    So this is my pre-GMB bio — where I’m coming from, what I’ve realized, and what I’m heading toward next.

    Reflection Questions for Your Own Training Journey

    Before you bounce, take a minute to check in with yourself:

    • Are you training for the life you actually live, or the life you think you should be living?

    • Do your workouts make your real-life tasks easier — or just make you tired on top of tired?

    • Where are you strong on paper but weak in practice?

    • What tasks in your daily or job life expose the gaps in your fitness?

    • What part of you wants to become “chaotic life strong” — and what’s stopping you from exploring it?

    • If you took away aesthetic goals and athlete fantasies, what kind of movement would you genuinely enjoy?

    • What skill, sport, or discipline secretly interests you but you’ve never allowed yourself to try?

    • Are you tracking the things that actually matter to you — or the things you think you’re supposed to measure?

    • What would you want your body to be capable of in the next year, if “looking fit” wasn’t even on the table?

    Answer them out loud, in a journal, or while staring at the ceiling at 2am — whatever fits your chaos.

    ⸻

    Call to Action

    If you vibed with this, learned something, or felt unusually called out in a helpful way, you can:

    • Like this post

    • Share it with someone who trains but hates the gym-robot approach

    • Subscribe to The Stratagems Archive

    • Or honestly?

    Just sit here quietly and soak in the fact that you made it all the way to the end.

    Either way, thanks for spending time in the Archives — it means more than you think.

    Now go train for the life you actually live, not the fantasy highlight reel everyone thinks they need.

    Check out My More Than Muscle Articles

    Other Pages That Might Interest You

  • More Than Muscle: My No-Gym, No-Excuse Home Setup

    Welcome — However You Found Your Way Here

    Life Outside of the Gym Setting

    Most people go to the gym for more than just equipment. It’s the energy, the people, the buzz — the sense that you’re part of something. I get that. I used to train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and felt that same rush — sparring, learning, getting my face shoved into the mat, and still getting back up. There’s a kind of community there that makes you feel like you belong.

    But life doesn’t always let you belong.

    Pain, exhaustion, work, debt, and the kind of schedule that doesn’t give a damn if you’re sore or soul-tired — those are real. So instead of wishing for a better time or waiting for a perfect gym, I’ve built a home setup that fits my life as it is — not the life I wish I had.

    This is strength — to me, it’s not the numbers I lift, but the fact that I still show up, even when my lower back flares up with acute and electric pain shooting up and down my left leg.

    My Apartment Friendly Home Gym

    No, I don’t have a power rack or squat bar. I’m not looking for “absolute strength.” Anymore at least. What I want is to feel good in my body again — powerful, capable, like I’m a character out of the games I love:

    • The Tarnished from Elden Ring.
    • Kassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
    • The Hunter from Bloodborne.
    • Wolf from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

    Characters who don’t just survive — they move, they fight, they climb, they persist, they endure and thrive, even starting out as faceless nobodies at the ending of a life changing event or in the middle of it.

    I train to feel like I can handle whatever the world throws at me — physically and mentally, even with my current limitations because life tends to beat you until you’re within an inch of your life, no matter what you do and don’t do.

    Here’s What I Have For My Set Up

    • 25–35 lb sandbag – For squats, rows, carries, and controlled chaos
    • Kettlebells (10–30 lbs) – Versatile and easy to grip for swings, squats, and more
    • High dip bars – Bodyweight rows, dips, and pushups with range
    • Resistance bands – Mobility, control, and variety without weights
    • 8 lb weighted vest – Makes everything harder and humbles you fast
    • 2.5 lb ankle/wrist weights – Subtle burn, especially for rehab-style days
    • Foam roller – For recovery and mobility sessions Mindset – The 2nd most important thing in the room
    • Myself — the MOST important thing in the room.

    Since I also live above people, I have to make adjustments and choose appropriate workouts, so ballistic movements (like jumps) are out — but likely anyone can still get strong no matter their circumstances and restrictions.

    A Glimpse into My “Routine” — If You Can Call It That

    Today, after a long shift and traffic that tested my last nerve, I came home and:

    • Washed dishes
    • Threw tomorrow’s steak in the fridge to defrost
    • Picked up my sandbag and knocked out: 2 sets of sandbag squats 2 sets of sandbag rows

    Was it a “full workout?” Maybe not. But it was something. My journal has been filled with “rest days” lately, but today I reminded myself that I don’t need to be perfect — I just need to keep going.

    Some days, it’s:

    Pushups and bodyweight squats Sandbag carries or deadlifts Follow-along yoga (especially on flare-up days)

    I’m doing what I can until I can do more — boxing, parkour, rock climbing — and anything else I’ve been eyeing from a distance to compliment my wrestling and BJJ experience.

    This Regime Isn’t About Aesthetic or Approval

    I don’t train to look pretty. I never cared for makeup or the kind of attention I didn’t ask for. I train to earn the respect I don’t get just for existing. I train to feel comfortable in this body that’s carried pain, loss, anger, and fire for years.

    I don’t believe strength has to mean lifting more weight and just building absolute strength. There’s more to life than that. Sometimes, it’s lifting again — even after days, weeks, months, hell even years, that tried to kill your spirit, body, and break your mind.

    In Conclusion

    You don’t need a gym to be strong.

    You need a reason — even if that reason is rage, pride, spite, or the quiet belief that maybe, just maybe, you’re not done yet.

    For my recurring and quiet readers:

    What’s does strength look like, feel like, to you?

    Not the strength people keep shoving into your face when you don’t agree with it or what people say it is — what it actually means to you.

    You don’t have to comment. But if you’re reading this in silence, still breathing, still getting up, still moving — I see you.

    And if you’re building your own training setup, small or scrappy or silent — tell me about it. Or don’t. Just keep going. That’s enough.

    If this spoke to you, leave a comment — I actually read them. They remind me I’m not alone in this either.” Sharing helps others find this space too. That matters more than you know.

    — The Stratagem’s Archive

    More Than Muscle: What Real Strength Looks Like to Me.

    It’s All Perspective: On Writing, Struggle, and Using the Tools That Keep Me Going

    Trunk Logic: Thoughts From the Pre-Shift Void

    Thank You + Free Download

    Letters from the Void Newsletter