Becoming an Athlete

5 mins on treadmill front squat: 185 x 5; 195 x 5; 205 x 5, 5, 5 safety bar squat: 185 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 single leg extension: 80 x 10/10, 10/10 leg press calves*: 295 x 10-10-10-10-10-10 *leg press calves:  too tied for sets of 30, so I did clusters of 10, with about 20 seconds rest between reps.

Dips: +25 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Incline bench press: 135 x 10, 10; 115 x 10, 7, 3 Bent row: 155 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 too tired for 1-arm row

10 mins treadmill deadlift: 275 x 5; 295 x 5; 315 x 5 lying leg curl: 110 x 8, 8, 8 seated calves: 45 x 27, 27, 20 turkish get-up: 25lb kettlebell.  3 mins continuously alternating wood chopper: 100 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10

1. OHP: 135 x 5; 145 x 3, 3, 1 2. 1-arm dumbbell press: 50 x 10/10, 10/8, 6,6 3. Lateral raise: 10s x 15, 15, 12 4. Neutral grip pullup: BW x 4; +10 x 4, 3, 4, 3 5. Wide grip pulldown: 110 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 8 6. 1-arm decline dumbbell extension: 30 x 10/9; 25s x 7/7, 6/6, 6/6 7. EZ-bar curl: 55 x 10; 45 x 21s

Short evening workout.  Sets of OHP and chin-ups between skateboarding with my son in the driveway. A. OHP: 135 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 B. Chin-ups: BW x 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 3

I have been very busy with work and life at home, but I haven't missed any workouts.  I just haven't made time to post.  I'm getting caught up tonight.

6:00 PM:  I ran 5K with a buddy of mine.  Not very fast, considering the 40mph winds we had. 9:00 PM: Weights.  Because it was late, I had to train at 24HR instead of my normal gym. Front squat:  185 x 5, 5; 195 x 5, 5, 5 Single leg hack squat*: 90 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 single leg extension: 70 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 I ended the session by alternating between the hot tub, lap pool, and steam room.  Falling asleep was a breeze last night.

dips*:  BW x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Incline bench press:  125 x 10, 10, 7; 115 x 7, 5 Bent row:  155 x 4, 5, 5, 5, 5 1-arm dumbbell row:  70 x 10/10, 10/10, 8/8, 8/8 rope grip tricep pushdown: 50 x 10; 40 x 21s** EZ-bar reverse curl: 55 x 10; 40 x 21s** * Dips:  I forgot my weight belt, so I couldn't do weighted dips.  Instead I kept the rest intervals to 20 seconds or less. ** 21s:  7 reps top half (midpoint to full contraction), 7 full range reps, 7 reps  bottom half (full stretch to midpoint)

No cardio before deadlifts.  my shins and calves were already sore from Thursday. deadlift: 245 x 5; 265 x 5; 275 x 5 flatback goodmorning:  85 x 10, 10; 95 x 10, 10 wood chopper:  80 x 15/15; 15/15 reverse wood chopper:  80 x 5/5, 7, 7

The gym was busy, so I wasn't able to get in any of the accessory work.  Just the big lifts, and that is still solid work. Treadmill:  .6 miles in 10 mins @ 2' incline bench press: 185 x 5, 5, 5 bent row:  135 x 8, 8, 8 incline bench press: 115 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Warm-up:  10 mins on treadmill - 0.58 miles @ 2deg incline Front squat:  155 x 5; 185 x 5, 5 Safety-bar squat:  185 x 9; 165 x 10, 10, 10 Leg press calves:  320 x 30, 27, DONE Going running and doing abs later tonight

Monday was Day1, wk1 of my H (Hypertrophy) Phase.  It's just a break-in week.  I'll go all-out next week. warm-up: 10mins on treadmill: 0.54 miles @ 2degree incline A. Clean & Press:  115 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 B. Neutral grip pullup: BW x 5, 5, 5, 3, 2 Lateral raise: 20s x 10, 10, 10, 10 Wide grip pulldown:  130 x 10, 10, 10 decline dumbbell skull crushers: 25s x 10, 8, 8 Incline Zottman curls:  25s x 10, 8, 8

I went skateboarding (skating) for 2 hours Sunday morning.  My feet, shins, and calves are toast!  My legs and groin are somewhat sore too. I was able to work a few new skills on Sunday. Pumping in bowls - where you pump your legs as you round the walls of a bowl to develop speed. Ollies - I suck but I can get 1 of 25 or 40 tries Drop in.  I can't drop in off a real ramp or 1/4 pipe, but I was practicing on a small slant.  My problem is committing - just do it and do it fast.  I fight against my instinct to pull back.  I was never scared as late as into my 20s.  But now at 36 (37 in Dec), I've got a few more hangups than I used to.

I trained Saturday Morning. I cut it short but went hard. Deadlift: 225 x 8; 245 x 8; 265 x 8, 9 Bent row: 125 x 8, 8, 9 Barbell preacher curl: 70 x 8, 8, 9  Later that evening I played tennis with my wife for about 2 hours.  It was a great way to pump some blood to the legs and back.

It's June 1st, and it's the last day of my current training plan.  I'm happy with what I've done over the last three weeks, but I know I'm ready to take on a longer term plan and hammer away four days per week. I'll be back to the training template that I've gotten the best long-term gains from: Monday: Squat-dominant training, Abs Tuesday: Vertical Push / Vertical Pull, Arms Wednesday: light cardio Thursday: Deadlift-dominant training, Abs Friday: Horizontal Push / Horizontal Pull, Arms For the 1st two weeks, I'll be doing 3 x 5 for my primary lifts, and 3 - 4 sets for my accessory lifts. In weeks 3 through 6, I'll do 5x5 for my primary lifts, and 5 x 10 for my accessory lifts. My diet and supplementation will be much more aggressive / size-oriented during weeks 3 - 6. I can't wait for Monday!!!!!