Becoming an Athlete

Holy crap! My upper body and core are SORE from the Kali / Escrima drills with a bat. My rear delts have never gotten a beating like this before. I didn't hit the garage gym till 10:00 tonight, which made me feel extra week. Turkish get-ups: 35 x 5, 5 each side Mobility combinations: a. Lateral drop stance - side slide: 2 x 5 each side b. Inch worm - drop splits: 2 x 3 each leg c. Windshield wiper - Bow stretch: 2 x 5 Strength Complex: a. Bent row: 125 x 3; 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3 b. Clean: 125 x 3; 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3 c. Thruster: 125 x 3; 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3 d. FBGM: 125 x 3; 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3 e. SGHP: 125 x 3; 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3 Simple circuit (beach muscles) a. Pushup x 13, 13, 13 b. Decline twisting situp: 13, 13, 13 each side c. Hammer curl: 25s x 13, 13, 13 Leg Superset: a. Squat: 135 x 10, 10, 10, 10 b. Squat jump: 10, 10, 10, 8

It's been a long time since I did a fight training workout. I have to say, that skill deteriorates faster than any other I've ever had. It may also be because I have been at a very high level in the past. I kept all rounds at 2 minutes on, 1 minute rest. Jump rope: 3 rounds Straight punches: 1 round Lead kicks (left-lead stance): 1 round Lead kicks (right lead stance): 1 round Straight punches: 1 round Rear leg / round kicks (left-lead stance): 1 round Rear leg / round kicks (right-lead stance): 1 round Hooks: 2 rounds Full-on heavy bag work: 5 rounds Kali / Escrima drills with wooden baseball bat*: 4 rounds Kali / Escrima drills with a bat: This was a tremendous workout in and of itself, and was more fun than I've had in ages on the heavy bag. If you don't know, the Philippines are the birthplace opf stick fighting. They use light ratan sticks that are lightning fast and rock hard. I don't own any rattan sticks, but my son has a wooden baseball bat, t-ball size, th...

I am so out of shape right now. Strength isn't nearly as important as conditioning at the moment. I just goofed around a bit with complexes, but spent the better part of Monday night creating a structured plan for the next 3 weeks. 1. Turkish get-ups: 2 x 5 each @ 30lbs 2. Walking lunges: 2 x 12 @ 60 lbs 3. 1-arm snatch: 2 x 5 each @ 30lbs 4. Strength / Conditioning Complex: a. Bent row: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 b. Clean: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 c. Front squat: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 d. Overhead press: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 e. Back squat: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 f. Flat back goodmorning: 115 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 5. 3 movement circuit: a. Pushups: 12, 12, 12 b. Decline twisting situps: 12, 12, 12 c. Hammer curl: 25s x 12, 12, 12 I'm not the leaqst bit sore, as these are chump-change weights, but I was incredibly fatigued during the training session. It felt good to get my heart rate up and pump some blood.

The plan was to ride the 10 mile loop at Town Lake, then kayak first to Tom Miller Dam, then to Longhorn Dam and back. We did the 10 mile loop, but my wife was gassed from the workload we've both been under for the last 3 weeks, so we called it a day after the ride.

Well, it's been a rough month for me, and an abnormally challenging year so far. Between injuries, sickness, and workload, I have trained less in the last 4 months than I normally would in 6 weeks. I finished my last antibiotic today, and workload is finally manageable. I got a promotion at work, which starts 2 MAY, and have been working both the current role and the new role for the last 3 weeks. Also, my wife and I have been burning the midnight oil to launch the boot camp / personal training business. I am ashamed to say that as the boot camps launch (also on 2 MAY), I am approaching the worst shape I have been in in 3 years. It's not rock bottom or anything, just nowhere near the level I was at even 6 months ago. So I am just going to jump in and start right where I left off. Normally after a layoff, I start with a ramp-up period. But FUCK IT! I may have to use lower weights, or cut the distances of my runs down, but I am going to stick the same plan I had been tracking to ...

I came down with a fever on Tuesday. By Wednesday I felt absolutely miserable so I called in a prescription. My sinuses felt like a car tire inflated just before the exploding point. The antibiotics are helping, but there is one very interesting side effect: Users should not engage in strenuous activity as this antibiotic causes susceptibility to tendon ruptures. TENDON RUPTURES?!?!?!?!? As Robin Williams would say, that's not a side-effect. That's an EFFECT! So now I have 2 good reasons to take time off of training: I feel like dog crap I don't want to rupture my connective tissues

I'm still keeping it simple. Nice linear progression so far. Walking lunges: BW x 12ea; 95lb x 8, 6 ea Bulgarian squats: BW x 12ea; 20s x 8ea Squat: 195 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Supine grip pulldown *: 190 x 1-2-3-2; 170 x 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5 Bench press: 200 x 5, 5, 5 Overhead press**: 140 x 5, 5, 5 Dumbbell shrug: 75s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Deadlift : 275 x 16 *Supine grip pulldown : I had been using a bar with a slight camber in it, and it was solid steel/chrome. I switched to a hollow straight bar, which made it much more difficult. Looks like I'll stick 170 for a while longer. At least until the gym gets a real pullup bar **Overhead press: The sewing circle took up residence in the squat rack area today. These ladies are funny, in a less than amusing way. The show up in their underwear to huddle around the squat racks and chat and pose for passersby. That said, I took a barbell to a nice empty spot on the floor and cleaned the bar to starting position. I think I...