Becoming an Athlete

Clean: 175 x 3; 185 x 3; 195 x 2 Front Squat: 225 x 5; 245x 3; 275 x 1 supersetted with depth jumps: 5, 5, 10 Leg press: 360 x 12, 10, 10 Bench press: 185 x 5; 225 x 3; 235 x 1 supersetted with plyo pushup: 6, 6, 0 Incline db press: 45 x 12; 50 x 12, 12, 12 Conditioning countdown: a. Pushup: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 b. Squat jump: 10, 9 , 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

MuscleUp ran a combined free group workout and Highland Games prep. We had about 12 people on the free workout, and just me and 1 other guy for the HG prep. After the group warm-up, we did: 12lb shot put: open style 16lb shot put: standing and open Braemar stone: 30lb concrete stone, standing put 2-handed standing put using 30lb stone 140lb stone clean and press This was the beast of the day. My back was sore on Sunday and Monday as from this. NOT an easy feat.

Warm-up: 20 burpees Deadlift: (warmup 225 x 5; 275 x 5) 315 x 3; 325 x 3; 335 x 3 1-leg db deadlift: 60 x 12/12, 12/12, 12/12 Overhead press: 145 x 3; 150 x 3; 155 x 3 1-arm push press: 65 x 6/6, 6/6, 6/4, 6/5 (left arm weaker / uncoordinated) lateral raise: 10s x 12, 12, 12, 10 (super strict form, short rest interval) 63lb T-bell swing: 53 consecutive reps

I'm training a guy to fight, and we are finally at the stage where he needs to to start sparring. So on Tuesday evening, we met up and sparred for 8 rounds. It was great work for me in that I had to coach and spar at the same time. Talking through a round made the work a little more difficult, but it forced me to stay in even btighter control of myself. I can see where this sort of practice makes you not only a better coach, but a better fighter. That was 6:00 PM. When we finished up, I ran home and got my gym bag and was headed to the gym to lift. I was already tired, dehydrated, and in need to some food. So I'm not too dismayed with my gym performance. Snatch grip high pull: 155 x 6; 175 x 6; 195 x 4 Neutral grip pullup: +15 x 3; +20 x 3; +25 x 3, 3, 2 1-arm db row: 55 x 12, 12; 60 x 12, 12 supine grip pulldown: 120 x 12, 12, 10, 9 rope grip seated row: 90 x 12, 9; 75 x 10; 60 x 10, 8

clean: 155 x 3; 175 x 3; 185 x 3 Leg complex: a. front squat: 205 x 3; 225 x 3; 245 x 4 b. depth jump x 4; 4; 4 Bulgarian squat: +20 x 12/12, 12/12, 12/12 Chest complex: a. bench press: 185 x 3; 195 x 3; 205 x 5 b. plyo pushup: 5, 5, 5 incline bumbbell press 45 x 12, 12, 12, 12

My wife was out of town this weekend, and I was busy getting the kids ready for back-to-school, so training fell to the wayside on Thursday and Friday. I woke up early on Saturday for a brief, but good training session. deadlift - worked up to 315 for 5 reps FBGM - worked up to 115 for 12 incline dumbbell curls: 35 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 EZ-bar rvs curls: 65 x 12, 12, 12 Nothing special, just good work

I freaking LOVE my home-made tire sled. Absolutely incredible piece of cheap equipment!!!! Back day entailed: snatch grip high pull: 135 x 6; 155 x 6; 185 x 6 neutral grip chinup: BW x 5; +10 x 5; +15 x 5 1-arm dumbbell row: 45 x 12, 12; 50 x 12, 12 left and right supine grip pulldown*: 100 x 12; 110 x 12; 120 x 12, 12 rope grip seated row: 75 x 12, 12, 12, 12 Tire sled explosive row**: max reps in 5 mins with 45lbs results: 108 reps for a just over one lap around the gym I'm going to add another plate next time *Supine grip pulldown: Man, these are rough on my wrists and elbows, I had to vary my grip each set to keep the mechanical strain down. The load on my arms and lats was just fine. **I made a tire sled and it is proving to be versatile, durable, interesting, and highly effective!!!! I had wednesday off and today, 2 days later, my traps are more sore than they have ever been.

A lot of focus on strength and explosiveness until game day. Noon workout: Clean: 135 x 3, 3; 155 x 3 Leg Complex: a. Front squat: 135 x 5; 185 x 5; 205 x 5 b. Depth jump: 6 ; 6 ; 5 Bulgarian squat: BW x 12, 12, 12 each leg Chest complex: a. Bench press: 185 x 5; 185 x 5; 185 x 5 b. Plyo pushup: BW x 5; 5 ; 5 Incline db press*: 50 x 12, 7; 40 x 12, 12 *I was gassed for my first day back, and was still not ready for the Texas heat. So I quite before doing 5 mins of squat jumps for max reps. I came back later for a PM workout. 7:00 Pm Workout: Hatfield bar squat: 135 x 10; 185 x 10, 8, 5; 205 x 10, 8, 5; 225 x 5, 5; 235 x 5, 1; 205 x 6, 6, 6; 135 x 14 Bodyweight superset (no rest between) a. Burpees x 5, 5, 5 b. squat jumps x 10, 5, 7

I had a great family vacation in Seattle. My 11 yr old daughter was a few feet from landing her first salmon!!! That's something I have yet to do; I have never even hooked one. I took the kids for a little hike around Mt. St. Helens, and took my son to a couple of skate parks. Seattle and the surrounding areas are fantastic for skaters. There are more parks than Central TX, and they are bigger and more elaborate. I have signed up for another Highland Games this September so, I'm working hard as of Monday, 8/15. I can't wait to see how I do compared to last year.

I go on vacation this Thursday, so I just wanted to do some whole-body strength training that would hurt deep enough to carry me through the shortened training week. squats: 5 x 5 neutral grip pullup: 5 x 5 wide grip seated row: 5 x 8 wide grip pulldown: 3 x 15 bench press: 5 x 5 leg press: 1 x 10; 1 x 30 I am exhausted today (2AUG) but have an MMA class to teach later this evening. That'll be my cardio if we do enough rolling.

One of my best buddies brought his son over to work on his grappling. His son is 16 or 17, and is a wrestler, but has never done jiu jitsu or any other form of ground fighting. We drilled a handful of basics for quite a while: guard pass 4 different arm-bar variations 2 chokes 1 ankle lock sweep from side control sweep / escape from mount After that we worked on what I call Position Recognition. In essence, I am the defender and he is the aggressor. I try to roll with light resistance and feed him different opportunities for the submissions we previously drilled. The goal is for him to start spotting the opportunities as they present themselves. This is the way to win ground fights. Recognize what opportunity is present and exploit it fully. After a lot of Position Recognition drills, we did some more competitive rolling. I didn't go all out of course. 3 hours in the garage on the mats was more than enough for us.

I did another round of AM deadlifts with high rep squats, and PM upper body. This twice a day madness is taking a toll on me, but my overall stamina is improving rapidly as a result. I got in some pretty heavy sets of deadlifts, working up to 315 for sets of 5. On front squats, I worked up to 205 for 15. On the evening session, it was the usual fare, but in slightly different order: HammerStrength incline press: 3 x 12 cable cross overs: 3 x 12 1-arm DB row: 3 x 12 wide-grip seated row: 3 x 15 overhead press: 3 x 12 lateral raise: 3 x 15 supine-grip pulldown: 3 x 12 wide-grip pulldown: 3 x 15 I am responding well to the higher rep range and higher frequency. I am adding muscle and dropping fat. But vacation is 3 days away, and when I come back, I'll shift gears to power training, as I have signed up for Highland Games on 24 SEP. http://sherwoodforestfaire.com/celtic-festival/highland-games/