August 30, 2009

I was pretty sore in my upper calves and around the hip flexor/gluteus medius area from the prowler yesterday but definitely wanted to get a workout in. On bench and deadlift I am on the 3rd week (heaviest week) of a 4 week cycle. I felt weak on the bench and ended up having a friend spot me and help me out on a couple of reps but it wasn't until my last set that I realized I had added 20 extra pounds from the previous week rather than the 5 I was supposed to add. So all in all not bad.

3 min rowing

10 min LaX ball/foam roller

10 min joint mobility

Warm-up: Bench 135# * 5, squat/lunge/push-up variations, Deadlift 225# *5

Alternating Set:

1A: Bench Press

5 sets * 5 (last one assisted), 4,4,4,5 @ 235#, 205, 205, 205, 185

1B: Deadlift

5 sets * 5 @ 325#, 295, 295, 295, 295

2: Turkish Get-ups

4 minutes @ 40# KB

Rotator cuff rehab

August 29, 2009

Prowler Sled Sprint Training

My friend Scott Roberts got me up bright and early out to an artificial turf field to push his prowler sled around. This was a great workout! Here is our workout plus a video clip of prowler pushes.

5 min warm-up

10 * 40yd prowler pushes @ 215# (3:1 rest:work ratio)

6 * 25 yd prowler sprints @ 215# (~6:1 rest: work ratio)

5 min cool-down

August 28, 2009

Long week of meetings and no gym time :-(. Quick garage workout before some prowler sled sprint intervals first thing tomorrow morning.

Warm-up: 20 prisoner squats, 2 sets * 30 reps kettlebell swings @ 42#

Superset:

1A: Kettlebell Swings

5 sets * 10 reps @ 70#

1B: Ring Pull-ups

5 sets * 5 reps @ BW

KB Clean and Press/Ring Pull-ups Russian Ladder

5 sets * (1/2/3) @ 53#/BW

(55 total pull-ups tonight!)

August 23, 2009

My grip on the deadlifts tonight was not great. Mental note not to do the marathon pull up evenings before deadlift day. Hands are definitely a bit tender.

3 min rowing

10 minute LaX ball/ foam roller

10 minute joint mobility complex

Warm-up: Bench press 135 * 5, squat/lunge/push-up variations, Deadlift 225 * 5

Alternate Sets

1A: Bench Press

5 sets * 5 reps @ 215, 190, 190,190,190

1B: Deadlift

5 sets * 5 reps @ 315, 285, 285, 285, 285

2: Turkish Get-ups

4 minutes @ 40# KB

Rotator Cuff rehab

August 22, 2009

Another night where time got away on me so I ended up doing 80 ring pull-ups throughout the evening.

August 19, 2009

3 min rowing

10 min LaX ball/foam roller SMR

10 min joint mobility

Warm-up: Squats 5 @ 135, squat/lunge/push-up variations

Superset:

1A: Squats

5 sets * 5 reps @225#

1B: Box jumps

5 sets * 3 reps @ 36" box

Continuous Superset (no breaks for 5 minutes)

2A: Grappler Press

10, 8, 6, 5, 5 @ 40# DB

2B: Bent-Over Rows

10, 8, 6, 6, 5 @ 100#

3: Dynamic Med Ball circuit: overhead, underhand, right side, left side

2 sets * 10/10/10/10 @ 8# MB

Superset:

4A: Med Ball Power sit-ups to ball slam (I finally found the video where I got these from. They are at 1:43 and 2:25 of the below video)

8, 10 reps @ 8# MB

Gym Jones - The Captain

4B: Kettlebell Windmills

6,6 reps @ 40# KB

Rotator Cuff Rehab

August 18, 2009

No real workout tonight but decided to just get a bunch of pull-ups in while prepping and eating dinner. My stretch goal was 100 but wanted to get as many in as the number of millilitres Selena had consumed today so final total was: 78!

August 17, 2009

Well, first workout back after the birth of my little girl, Selena. I can tell it is going to be challenging in the next couple of weeks to hit the gym consistently due to the huge difference in my sleep patterns vs. hers!

3 min rowing

10 min LaX ball/foam roller SMR

10 min joint mobility

Warm-up: Bench press 135 *5, squat/lunge/push-up variations, Deadlift 225 * 5

Alternate sets:

1A: Bench Press

5 sets * 5 reps @ 205, 185, 185, 185, 185

1B: Deadlift

5 sets * 5 reps @ 305, 275, 275, 275, 275

Rotator Cuff rehab

2: Exercise Bike Sprints

1 min light warm-up, 6 sets * 15sec/45sec intervals, 1 min cool-down

August 12, 2009

3 min rowing

10 min Lax ball/foam roller

10 min joint mobility complex

Warm-up: Deep Squats 135 * 5, squat/lunch/push-up variations

1: Deep Squats

5 sets * 5 reps @ 225#

Superset

2A: Windshield wipers

2 sets * 10 reps/leg @ 135#

2B: Kettlebell windmills

2 sets * 6 reps @ 40#

3: Kettlebell Snatch Tabata Interval

20s/10s * 8 @ 40# (~66 snatches)

Rotator Cuff rehab

Stretch/cool-down

August 10, 2009

I went through my posts since I have started keeping this training log and got a bit disheartened at first since it didn't appear that I have increased the weight I am using of the past 4 months. However after further review, the big difference now is that I am not getting injured from using the same weights. It was interesting to see the progression as I have iterated to my current routines. Hopefully now that I will focus more on periodization I can start increasing the weights. The other positive item is that I have stayed roughly the same weight but feel I have gotten thicker through the chest and shoulders during this time.

Dynamic Effort Workout

3 minute rowing
10 min LAX Ball/Foam Roller
10 min joint mobility complex

Warm-up: Squat/Push-up variations

Superset (30 seconds rest between sets)
1A: Box jump squats
10 sets * 2 reps @ 155#

1B: Pull-ups
10 sets * 5 reps @ bodyweight (had to switch to kipping near the end)

2: Dynamic Bench Press (30 seconds rest between sets)
8 sets * 3 reps @ 135#

3: Power Clean and Press (45-60 seconds rest between sets)
6 sets * 4 reps @ 135#

Rotator Cuff rehab
5 min Cool-down

August 9, 2009

Had what was supposed to be a lazy day that turned into where have all the hours gone. Was spent from doing gardening and other household stuff so decided to just get in a "grease the groove" style workout so I can say I did something.

Over a few hours I did 30 softball grip pull-ups. I will try to find a video or post a picture of these. I got the idea off of a Diesel Crew or Synergy Athletics clip and made these contraptions for under $20.

August 8, 2009

This was a lighter volume de-loading day.

3 minute rowing

10 minute LAX ball/foam roller

10 minute joint mobility

Warm-up: Bench 135# * 5, Squats/Lunge/Push-up variations, Deadlift 225 * 5

Alternating Set:

1A: Bench Press

5 sets * 3 reps @ 195#

1B: Deadlift

5 sets * 3 reps @ 295#

Superset:

2A: Pistol squats (using rubber band for assistance)

5 sets * 3 reps per leg

2B: Churpees (pull-up/burpees)

5 sets * 5 reps

3: Kettlebell Turkish Get-ups

4 minutes constant @ 40# KB

Rotator Cuff rehab

Cool-down

August 5, 2009

Quick garage workout before some entertaining tonight.

Joint Mobility

Warm-up: bodyweight squats,lunges, pushups

1: Kettlebell Swings- Russian Ladder

10 sets * (5/5/5) @ (42/53/70#)

2: KB Clean and Press/Ring Pull-up ladder

4 sets * (1/2/3) @ 53# and 15#

Cool-down

August 3, 2009

Wanted to get a quick workout in today before work entertaining got underway. My quads and glutes are so f*?!@ing sore from my squat workout that I am still struggling to get up the stairs. This is seriously the most sore that I have been from a workout in 2 years. Getting moving felt good though and I should have done at least some SMR and joint mobility yesterday. I also added a new device to my garage gym yesterday and will post a photo of it soon.

10 min LAX ball/foam roller

10 min joint mobility

Superset:

1A: Rope grip Kettlebell swings

6 sets * 10 reps @ 53#

1B: Ring pull-ups

6 sets * 5 reps @ BW

1C: Battling Ropes

Various patterns for 20s (longer than it sounds!) with 50' - 1.5" rope

Rotator cuff rehab

August 1, 2009

Off to a much better start in August than my intoxicated July!

3 min rowing

10 minute LAX Ball/Foam Roller

10 minute joint-mobility

Warm-up: Deep Squat 135#*5, squat/lunge variations

Alternating Set:

1A: Squats

5 sets * 5 reps @ 205#, 225#, 245#, 245#, 225#

1B: Box jumps

5 sets * 3 reps to 36" box (this was a bit scary!)

Superset:

2A: Floor Wipers

3 sets * 10 reps per side @ 135#

2B: KB Windmills

3 sets * 8, 6, 6 reps @ 30#, 40, 40KB

Rotator Cuff rehab

5 minute cool-down stretch

Foam Rolling & Self Myofasical Release

I have been telling a number of people about foam rolling and using a lacrosse ball for soft tissue work or self-myofascial release. Though I would put up a few resources for this. This definitely doesn't take the place of a deep tissue massage but I find that it lets you go a lot longer between visits especially if you are on a budget.

Two great articles from tmuscle.com:

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/soft_tissue_work_for_tough_guys

Good video with foam roller and tennis/lacrosse ball work. I can't do the lacrosse ball on the floor since it hurts too much so I usually go against a wall where I can vary the pressure.

Free e-book from Robertson Training Systems with a lot more detail:

http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com/downloads/SMR-manual.pdf