Becoming an Athlete

Good workout today. i went through a full warm-up which included a lot of mobility drills. Russian twist: 20 x 10, 10 Ab wheel: 12, 15 Bicep tricep superset: a. Skull crusher: 95 x 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 5 b. barbell curl: 95 x 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 Rope grip tricep pushdwon: 100 x 15 Nautilus curl: 80 x 18 Fast and to the point. I'll have plenty left for some heavy-bag work tonight.

I don't make many false starts, but last week was one. With the kids out of school, and me trying to cram 5 days of work into 3, things got a bit hectic. Here's my Mulligan for 2010. But so far Phase 1 is off to a great start. I like the addition of unilateral work. The volume seems spot-on! v-grip cable row: 150 x 5; 165 x 3; 180 x 1; 165 x 3; 195 x 1 1-arm dumbbell row: 45 x 6, 6, 6 (per arm) Hammer Strength supported row: 180 x 12, 12, 12, 12 bench press: 185 x 5; 205 x 3; 215 x 1; 205 x 3; 225 x 1 Hammer Strength 1-arm supported press: 90 x 6, 6 (per arm) dumbbell bench press: 50s x 12, 12, 11 bulgarian squats: BW x 12, 12 (each leg) front squat*: 135 x 12, 10, 8, 8, 8 Nautlus leg extension: 120 x 21 (7top half, 7full, 7 bottom half) *Front Squat: My legs feel seriously weak after all the running. And let's be honest, weak after skipping leg work here and there. I won't be able to make it to Runtex Tuesday night, but I'm looking forward to some MMA training on T...

Well, just as you'd expect, all you get from a day like this is local soreness and fatigue in your arms. There is no metabolic conditioning, no gut-spilling systemic fatigue. Just biceps and triceps. Pffff. Well. I gotta do what I gotta do. Enough complaining. Here's what I did. Russian twist: 15lb x 10, 12 Leg raise off bench: 20, 25 (I forgot the ab wheel at home) Bicep tricep superset: a. Skull crusher: 95 x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 b. Barbell curl: 95 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Tricep cable pushdown: 100 x 22 Nautilus curl: 70 x 23 Stepmill: 4 mins @ level 8 (legs still haven't recovered from all the running. WTF?) Treadmill: 8 mins @ 5mph 6 & 7 were just going to get some minor cardio in since I missed the RunTex group training. I wasn't able to leave work early enough to get there. I have to say, my legs could use the rest. Wednesday will be some yoga before bed, but THAT'S IT! In the future, If I can't get to RunTex on Tuesday, I'll just d...

I'll never follow a true bodybuilding body-part split routine. It's just not for me. I can see that I perform better when I train to be an athlete: whole body, movement based training and gut-spilling intensity. The problem is that I want to be bigger, and LOOK more like a bodybuilder, while keeping all my functionality. So I am embarking on 6 weeks of hypertrophy training, but with a slight twist. Normally, when someone is training with the usual bodybuilding "volume method", they hit a muscle group once a week or once every five days, and they may do a little cardio to keep from gaining excess body-fat. I'm doing something different, but just as effective for gaining size. The upside is I'll also increase my athletic conditioning. Let me spell it out by day. Phase 1 This phase prioritizes neural activation, followed by the normal bodybuilder volume approach. Going heavy first gets the nervous system fully engaged, and able to handle heavier load and activate...

I am doing a simple 6 week program, that is comprised of 2 phases. Today is day1 of phase one. I am pressed for time right now, so I'll skip the details of the warm-up. V-grip row: 150 x 5; 165 x 3; 195 x 1; 180 x 3; 195 x 1 Hammer strength row: 180 x 12, 12, 12, 10 Bench press: 185 x 5; 205 x 3; 225 x 1 Dumbbell bench press: 50s x 12, 12, 9 skipped bulgarian squats because my legs are hammered from all the running skipped front squats because my legs are hammered from all the running Leg press calves: 230 x 40, 40, 35

Sad days. I placed 388 of 875 men in my age group. I bet I can get this down to top 100 by March / April race. And do that without sacrificing my performance at highland games in April

My wife and I decided to run the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Austin on Thanksgiving Day. So we tried to do a 4 mile jog today, but my calves and shins weren't up for it. We ran 1.5, walked .5, jogged 1, then walked another .5 miles. 4 miles in total. Time to start lifting again!

The race has come and gone. I did better than I expected in some respects, and worse in others. All in all, it was informative as a self-assessment and the most fun physical activity I've done all year!!! Highlights: The obstacles were easy. I was much "bolder" than some of the others as far as hitting the obstacles at full speed. I was much faster uphill than at any point in the past. Lowlights: I TOTALLY underestimated the terrain. It wasn't so much the hills that got me; it was the uneven footing. One foot might fall 8 inches lower than the other at any given time. My calves and shins gave out at about mile 2. In general, my aerobic conditioning needs some work. I made it in 35 and change. I could have cut about 30-40 seconds off, I but I had fun with the last two obstacles. I stepped over the fire logs as slowly as I could to see if they would burn any leg hair. Then I did a full on diving belly flop into the mud pit. I hit so hard that I went to the bott...

We ran with the RunTex Tuesday run group. The workout was simply running the Town Lake loop from 1st Street bridge to MoPac bridge and back. It was a hard 4 miles!!! This is my last run till the race on Saturday.

My wife joined me Monday night for a run around Lake Pflugerville. She's so awesome! She isn't able to run as fast as I can, just because of mechanical/structural differences between us, but she can sustain any effort as long as she has to. Anyway, we did more 100/50 pace intervals. She didn't count paces but just followed me. I would barely hit 90 paces as she finished her 100; her strides are much shorter and turn over quicker. So she was doing more like 115/60. :) It was nice to have a partner out there, because I could feel myself pushing harder during the 100 count runs. These runs were closer to sprints. As we neared the end of the loop, we decided to race the last 1/4 mile. My plan was to run at a pace that was near her max, and the turn it to a full sprint in the last 100 yards. That's what I did, and I finished well ahead of her. My lungs were on fire. 20 seconds later, my wife was talking like nothing had happened, and I was still sucking wind!!! I...

My boxer Kodiak ( Kodi for short) really screwed up my workout today. We've run the loop at Lake Pflugerville a hundred times, and for some reason, he just wasn't up for the intervals today. We started with a warm-up walk of about 1/4 mile, then went right into 110/50 pace intervals. I bumped up the run portion to 110 (from 100) just for fun. By mile 2 or 2.5, my dog was so damn slow that I took him off the leash and let him play in the lake for a bit to cool down. After that, he was good for a leisurely trot, while I continued on with the intervals. I wanted to sprint the last 1/4 mile, but I was getting far enough ahead of Kodi that I ended up waiting for him to catch up, and we both just walked it in. I'll do some abdominal and rotational strength work tomorrow, which will give Kodi a day off. After that, he should be good to join me on some 400m sprints. I may even get in an 800m, if I feel like it. Days till Warrior Dash: 9

Man, I can't even say how freaking pumped I am! I have validated that 1) I know how to train specifically for an event or goal and 2) I'm pretty athletic! I placed 3rd in the novice division of the Highland Games in Austin last Sunday. This event is all about explosive power. Endurance has NOTHING to do with it. I'm going to train for another Highland Games in March. Hopefully I can get my hands on some throwing implements by January. Even if not, adding some cleans, snatches, and push press varieties should help quite a bit. If I can get some degree of technique down on Heavy Weight for Distance and Weight For Height, I might have a shot at 1st or 2nd.

I suprised myself today. I might have mentioned that my wife and I took Monday and Tuesday off. After the 22 mile ride on Monday, I thought today would be painful, but I felt great. So I decided to get in some distance work, since the Warrior Dash is around the corner. I didn't have a stop watch, so I decided to count strides or paces. A pace is one step of both my right and left. I did intervals of 50 paces walking, and 100 paces running for the four miles. I have no idea how many intervals this was. But it felt great.

Well, I have 2 weeks to get out of the power / fast twitch mode and switch it over to aerobic and anaerobic endurance / slow twitch mode. The Warrior Dash is at 8:00 AM 20 NOV. So to get a jump start, my wife and I did a Monday ride between Bastrop State Park and Beuscher State Park. It is a 22 mile round trip ride and it is up and down the entire way. Two hills got the best of me and I had to walk my bike up. Aside from that, I am happy with how I did, and felt great at the end. My legs were engorged from pushing so much blood and a massive build-up of lactic acid.

Well, still no word on results yet, but I feel very good about how I did. This was a 9 hour event, starting at 9:00 AM and running till 6:00 PM. Now that I know better, I'll bring a cooler and lawn chair to the next event I compete in. Events were: Braemar Stone: basically a standing shot put with a large rock Open Stone: more of a traditional shot put but with the same large rock Heavy weight for distance: for us novices, it was a 42lb weight connected to a chain and ring. I didn't do so hot on this event Light weight for distance: Novices used a 28lb weight and did the same throw. I kicked ass at this event!!!! Caber toss: That's the crowd favorite. Flip a big-ass log end over end. Weight over bar: Like high jump, but you are throwing a weight over your head. Novices used a 42lb weight. I only cleared 10'. I hope to find out results today or some time this week.

I took Friday off thinking I'd be throwing at the Highland Games on Saturday, but it turns out the novices were throwing on Sunday. Since we had Saturday free, my wife and I did a 6 mile hike after goofing off at the Austin Pow Wow. 6 miles felt really easy, and we kept up a VERY fast pace. I hope the miles I'm logging help my run times at the Warrior Dash on 20 NOV.

I didn't have much time for lifting on e Thursday, so I skipped much of a warm-up and just got after it. And I had poor results to show for it. And once I started deadlifting, these two women, took up residence in the squat rack near me. If you can do squats and gossip DURING your set, you aren't training hard enough. And you are breaking my concentration My workout: jump rope: 3 mins deadlift: 275 x 5; 315 x 5; 365 x 4, 4, 2 lying single-leg curl: 50 x 10, 10, 6, 6+2negs each leg Hammer Strength supported row: 230 x 12, 10, 10; 180 x 9 wide grip pulldown: 120 x 10, 10; 110 x 9, 8 My rest intervals for all but DLs were under a minute, as I had to rush home and get the kids ready for BMX. So I'm not too worried about the results of this workout.

My legs were sore from the run on Tuesday, so I didn't do any cardio on Wednesday. Just abs and arms. jump rope: 4 minutes to warm up. The gym is getting cold leg raise off bench: 15, 15 russian twist: 15 x 10, 10, 10 (time to move up to 20lbs) 1-arm preacher curl: 25 x 8ea; 30 x 5, 5, 4ea Superset: A. Skull crusher: 95 x 5, 6, 6, 7, 1 B. EZ-bar rvs curl: 75 x 6, 6, 7, 4 Nautilus curl: 70 x 14; 80 x 10; 70 x 8 Hopefully I have enough in the tank for heavy deadlifting today, 4 NOV. That run workout really taxed me.

So my wife and I do date night at least once a week. This week, we did the RunTex track class. It's free, and it's a lot like the warrior dash prep workouts I had been coordinating. The difference is that this one is strictly running. side suffle: 2 x 100m karioke (scissors): 2 x 100m butt kickers: 2 x 100m high knee: 2 x 100m plyo skipping: 2 x 100m 1 mile for time. I'm not even going to say what my time was. It was awful. I won't even use my AM leg workout as an excuse. But now that I'm recovered from the surgery, it's time to run like a madman.

Why do I treat me like I do sometimes? I didn't go too crazy, but I still felt like 75-80% normal this morning. That'll be my last drink for the rest of the year. jump rope: 4 min warm-up front squat: 155 x 10; 175 x 10, 10; 185 x 10, 5 bulgarian squat: 25s x 6ea; BW x 12ea Nautilus leg extension: 120 x 15, 15 leg press calves: 270 x 25, 21 bench press: 155 x 5; 185 x 5; 205 x 5, 5, 5 dumbbell shoulder press: 45 x 9; 40 x 7; 30 x 8; 25 x 10 I can't believe I made it through.

I am SUCH a fan of the old-school Stepmill! That thing is an amazing torture. Stepmill: 7 mins @ level 7 1-arm preacher curls: 30 x 4, 4, 4; 25 x 5, 5, 4; 20 x 6, 6 (each arm) Alternating hammer curls: 30s x 8, 9, 7; 25s x 10, 11, 8 Nautilus curl: 60 x 15; 70 x 13; 8 Russian twist: 15 x 7, 8, 10 I am seeing considerable improvement in all areas I am targeting: bicep anaerobic endurance size of brachialis and brachioradialis rotational strength and rotational endurance All in all, I'm hugely satisfied with the gains I am seeing in performance and aesthetics. I may one day be accused of lifting weights or being fit! :)