Becoming an Athlete

Barbell complex: a. Bent row: 95x8; 105x7; 115x6; 120x5 b. Hang clean: 95x8; 105x7; 115x6; 120x5 c. Clean pull: 95x8; 105x7; 115x6; 120x5 d. Front squat: 95x8; 105x7; 115x6; 120x5 e. FBGM: 95x8; 105x7; 115x6; 120x5 Chin-up ladders: 1-2-3-4-5; 1-2-3-4-5; 1-2-3-4; 1-2-3-4 (50 total) Overhead press: 130 x 8, 8, 8 leg press*: 270 x 7, 10; 360 x 5, 7, 10; 450 x 5, 7, 7; 540 x 3, 5, 6 * My back was still tired from the 1 rep maxes, so I skipped deadlifts today and went nuts with leg press.

I met a buddy at Lake Pflugerville for a 5K jog. It was windy as heck Saturday morning, so we walked when we were face to the wind. All in all, we jogged just over 2 miles of the 3.1 mile loop. After that, we finished with 5 hill sprints. The hill is the earthen dam, so it is tall, and steep!!! 5 of these and my hams and calves were numb. About 6 hours later, I tested 1 rep maxes, just to get a baseline. As predicted, the hill sprints really took a toll on my deadlift. My 1RM results: Back squat: 365 Overhead press: 175 Front squat: 275 Bench press: 275 Deadlift: 385

skipped barbell complexes. Tired Chin-up ladders: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 (50 total) bench press: 185 x 10, 10, 9 front squat*: 135 x 8, 10, 10; 155 x 10, 10, 5; 185 x 10, 10, 5 * I was feeling drained from many nights of poor sleep, so heavy back squats felt impossible.

Barbell complex: a. bent row: 95x8; 100x7; 105x6; 115x5 b. Clean pull: 95x8; 100x7; 105x6; 115x5 c. Hang clean: 95x8; 100x7; 105x6; 115x5 d. Front squat: 95x8; 100x7; 105x6; 115x5 e. FBGM: 95x8; 100x7; 105x6; 115x5 Chin-ups: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4; 1-2-3-4; 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 (50 total) Overhead press: 125 x 10, 10, 7 Deadlift: 275 x 6, 6, 7 Incline dumbbell curl: 30s x 12, 10 Side planks: Yup - did 'em

Fatigued hams make for crappy deadlifts! The sled-sprints and t-bell swings took such a toll on my hams that I was crap today on deadlifts. Barbell complex: a. Bent row: 95 x 8; 100 x 7; 105 x 6; 115 x 5 b. Clean pull: 95 x 8; 100 x 7; 105 x 6; 115 x 5 c.Hang clean: 95 x 8; 100 x 7; 105 x 6; 115 x 5 d.Front squat: 95 x 8; 100 x 7; 105 x 6; 115 x 5 e. FBGM: 95 x 8; 100 x 7; 105 x 6; 115 x 5 Chin-up ladders: 5 x 1-2-3-4 (50 reps total) Barbell OHP: 125 x 10, 10, 7 Deadlift (variety of grips): 275 x 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 3, 3, 1 Incline dumbbell curl: 35s x 12, 8

My wife is prepping for her first amateur physique show. She's been doing all the staples of bodybuilding - split routines, ultra high frequency, moderate volume, cardio, abs, cardio, cardio, cardio! This isn't for me, but my wife is looking great at only 2 weeks in. Keep in mind that she is training for peak appearance, not peak performance. This isn't anything I'd ever attempt as way to get better at sport. That said, I know there is plenty to be gained from training my core with her. So I did a core workout with Jaime Sunday night. Gobs and gobs of plank varieties Swiss ball crunches Modified weighted V-ups Bottom-half Turkish get-up and plank swiss ball step-offs leg raises, focusing on lower abdominal vacuum. My core is sore today. Very cool stuff.

Schedules are always a mess. I have had little time to do any training, but I was able to get some conditioning in at the park on Sunday morning, while my son hung out at the playscape. Weight over bar: 11 throws then I broke one of the weights. I am clearing the fence easily and with 100% consistency now. I plan to bump the load up to 43lbs as soon as I can. 73lb Ghetto-bell swing + 50 yard sprint I did 5 sets of this, and each one took everything I had. I did 15 swings on the 1st set, then 10 swings for sets 2 through 5. Sprinting after heavy swings is among the most challenging and systemically draining "WOD" I have done. Tire sled sprints: 45lbs for 50 yard I did this 4 times and was completely gassed. My calves, hams, and glutes are toast. Deadlifts are going to be fun today.

My feet and legs are exhausted. This is my 2nd trip to a skatepark, and I am amazed at how quickly you develop balance and "aliveness" in your feet by skateboarding. Don't get me wrong - I suck terribly at it. My 8yr old son gets better by leaps and bounds with each trip. I'm satisfied to see minor improvements in fluidity and more graceful "bails". The constant instability coupled with 3-dimentional changes in space and posture make this a leg and core challange unlike anything else I've ever done.

When schedules get crazy, hack your training to just the essentials. The other stuff is nice, but you need to focus on big basic lifts when time is short. chin-up ladders: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4: 40 total reps bench press: 205 x 6, 6, 6 squat: 275 x 6, 6, 6 Cool thing about last night's workout was that my 8yr old son did it with me. He did single chin-ups unaided, and used a band to assist with 2 through 4. He did pushups instead of bench press, and various stance bodyweight squats.

Barbell complex: a. Bent row: 65 x 8; 75 x 8, 8 b. Clean pull: 65 x 8; 75 x 8, 8 c. Hang clean: 65 x 8; 75 x 8, 8 d. Front squat: 65 x 8; 75 x 8, 8 e. FBGM: 65 x 8; 75 x 8, 8 Chin-ups: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 (40 reps total) Overhead press: 135 x 6, 6, 6 Snatch grip deadlift: 275 x 6, 6, 6 Incline dumbbell curl: 35s x 8, 8 Farmers walk: 350lbs (175 each arm) for 30 yards Side plank: 1 min per side.

Been a little off the last week as my dad has been in town visiting. Barbell Complex: a. Bent row: 65 x 8, 8, 8 b. Hang snatch: 65 x 8, 8, 8 c. Thruster: 65 x 8, 8, 8 d. Overhead squat: 65 x 8, 8, 8 e. Drop lunge: 65 x 8, 8, 8 Chin-up: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 (30 total) Bench press: 185 x 8, 8, 8 I didn't start lifting till 10:30 PM, so I was way too tired for squats. I skipped any biceps or abs

I can't speak highly enough of this training modality. I see rapid changes in my calves. My hips and hip flexors are getting looser. My sprinting stride is getting longer. My speed and stamina are both improving. I've lost 7 pounds since 1 January. 10 rounds of 2 minutes of walking, 30 seconds all-out sprint. When I first started running these a m onth ago, it was more like a 30 second jog. Now, I am able to hold darn near top speed for the full 30 seconds. I stopped after 10 rounds because my dog was crapping out and falling too far behind. Next time I'll run without Kodi.

33 lb weight over bar: 10 tries at 10 feet. Cleared them all, several with a few feet to spare. 30 yard tire sled sprint @ 45lbs: ran 10 sprints 1/4 mile tire sled drag at 45lbs: I did one full lap. Took several breaks along the way. This absolutely crushed me. 33 lb weight over bar: 10 tries at 10 feet. Cleared all but one.

The weather was crap on Monday. I was a day ahead of schedule because I lifted on Sunday, so I wanted to get a MetCon in on Monday. The plan was: 5 rounds for time of: 1/4 run 20 knee to elbow pushups 20 situps Since the ground was soaking wet, and it was about 45 degrees, I just did a 2 mile walk at a brisk pace. Better than staying in, and Lord knows I can't stomach cardio machines.

I bought a skateboard on Friday, and went skating for just under 2 hours. My legs were trashed from all the lateral instability. My knees are finally normal again as of Monday. Since I skated on Friday, I didn't do any running but lifted on Sunday. Barbell complex: a. Bent row: 45 x 8; 55 x 8; 65 x 8 b. Clean pull: 45 x 8; 55 x 8; 65 x 8 c. Hang Clean: 45 x 8; 55 x 8; 65 x 8 d. Front Squat: 45 x 8; 55 x 8; 65 x 8 e. FBGM: 45 x 8; 55 x 8; 65 x 8 Chin-up ladders: 1,2,3,4;1,2,3,4;1,2,3,4 (30 total reps) Overhead press: 125 x 8, 8, 8 Snatch grip deadlift: 245 x 8, 8, fail on 3rd set Incline dumbbell curl: 30s x 10, 10

WOW! I did a barbell complex before lifting. Freaking awesome. Got my heart rate up, my body loose, and just the tiniest bit of fatigue in my traps before the normal strength work. I ended up using just the bar, as I want to slowly adapt to the load and not sacrifice weight on my straight sets. Barbell complex: a. bent row: 45 x 8, 8, 8 b. hang snatch: 45 x 8, 8, 8 c. thruster: 45 x 8, 8, 8 d. overhead squat: 45 x 8, 8, 8 e. drop lunge: 45 x 8, 8, 8 chin-up ladders: 5 x 1-2-3 (30 reps total) bench press: 175 x 10, 10, 10 squat: 245 x 10, 10, 10 (almost ate it on last rep of last set. back will pay the price next week) EZ-bar preacher curl: 75 x 12, 8 leg raise off bench + toes to sky: 15, 15 (like doing top half of dragon fly)

I decided to change it up a bit. A little more volume, a little lower intensity. 12 rounds of 2min walk / 1min jog. I opted for 1 min jog over 30 second sprint for a variety of reasons. Mental training: After running a mile, I realized I get bored easily after running for more than 30 seconds. :) Additional volume of impact: My shins and calves need a bit more pounding to adapt to running for any distance. By doubling the interval time, I could feel the increased demand to my feet, shins, and calves Energy conservation: With a heavy dose of squats set for Thursday, and a hard core MetCon coming up on Friday, I wanted to lower the intensity today. I'll be back to 30 second runs / sprints on Friday or Saturday.

I timed myself for a 1 mile run. I won't make any excuses. I ran slow, but at least I have a baseline by which to measure progress. 1 mile time: 9:37

I freaking love these! The intensity of the 30 second sprints is enough to get my heart rate way up, but the 2 minute walking is well more than enough to recover. I start each 30 second sprint fully recovered which is why I call these low intensity. With High Intensity Intervals, my heart rate never comes down to rested / recovered until a few minutes after the session. As a result, the quality of my sprints suffers. Low intensity is the best option for me now. I feel how much faster I am getting, as a result of focusing on quality, and it is sufficiently intense that I see rapid improvements in my body composition (i.e. shrinking love handles). Today I did 12 rounds of 2 minutes walk and 30 seconds sprint and came 100 - 200 yards or so shy of 2.5 mile marker. I'll hit a full 3 miles by end of the month. Once I accomplish that, I'll move on to a mix of steady-state cardio and High Intensity Intervals.

Same as last Monday. I thought I'd add in the complexes at the end, but my biceps hurt too acutely to even row with good form., so I'll hit complexes later tonight. Going forward, I'll start with complexes and then do the straight sets. Chin-ups: 5 ladders of 1-2-3; 30 total reps Overhead press: 115 x 10, 10, 10 Snatch grip deadlift: 225 x 10, 10, 10 Incline dumbbell curls: 25s x 12, 12 OUCH!!!! The Complex should have been: 3 circuits, 8 reps each of: a. bent row b. clean grip pull c. hang clean d. front squat e. flat back goodmorning I'll hit it tonight with 95 lbs, just for conditioning effect.