Becoming an Athlete

And I'm not talking about weights. Workload has been hellacious. I'm not saying I have worse than anyone else out there; just its been an atypical load, so my routine / schedule has been off. I have been staying up too late to wake up at 5:00 AM, and too busy during the day and early evening to train much at all. I did manage to squeeze in a strength session just now. Walking lunges: BW x 10 each; 65lb barbell x 6 each Bulgarian squats: BW x 12 ea; 20s x 10ea Squat: 185 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Supine grip pulldown*: 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 (45 total) Bench press: 195 x 5, 5, 5 Overhead press: 135 x 5, 5, 5 Dumbbell shrug: 70 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Deadlift: 275 x 12 (stick with this weight all next week) Nothing fancy, and not even that heavy, but up from Monday. Given the lack of sleep and crappy diet, I'm not too worried about it. Next week will be better.

My back is pretty solid, so I'm resuming squats. Conditioning I started with an easy barbell complex just to get warmed up and primed. A. Clean: 95 x 5, 5, 5 B. Thruster: 95 x 5, 5, 5 C. FBGM: 95 x 5, 5, 5 D. Bent row: 95 x 5, 5, 5 Strength work: Squat*: 185 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (easy on legs, taxing on back) Bench press: 185 x 5, 5, 5 (easy) Make-shift chin-up ladders**: 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2-3 Overhead press: 135 x 5, 5, 4 Dumbbell shrug: 65s x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 Deadlift: 225 x 15 (EASY) *Squat: I am going to start adding in some high volume pre-exhaust before squats to add more leg volume, and to ensure the loading on squats is light enough for my lower back. **Make-shift chin-ups: There is still no chin-up bar at my gym. I used a rope grip thrown over the square-frame bar on the cable stacks. After a while, I just grabbed the square bar. Both options taxed my grip more than my lats.

Well, I'm back to trying to get my lazy butt out of bed at 5:00 AM for some 5:30 AM Fasted Cardio. Dr. Lonnie Lowery wrote an excellent article on the benefits of fasted cardio. Keep in mind this is true sub-aerobic fat-burning cardio. it won't make you faster, it is slow going for an hour. What it will do is preferentially target stored fat for energy and leave enough in the tank for strength training or conditioning later in the day. Today I got in 40 minutes of walking-jogging.

The weather just keeps getting more perfect for our outdoor training group. We turned up the intensity dial, as well as the specificity. Sport Specificity is essentially training in a manner specific to the sport or event you participate in. While many of the attendees are still in the general preparation stage, it's a good idea to gradually introduce sport specific training. The Warm-up: Two circuits of: Squat x 10 Push-up x 10 Sprawl x 10 Plank x 30sec After that, a nice stretching sequence of: Down dog - Cobra - Inch Worm - Front split (or lunge) left Down dog - Cobra - Inch Worm - Front split (or lunge) right The Build-up: Since the workout was much tougher, we cut back on the build-ups. Build-ups are done 20 yard drill + 20 yard run walking lunge + run x 1 high knee + run x 2 A-skip + run x 2 Accellerations x 3 The Workout: I introduced everyone to my favorite and yet most hated workout. I call it Countdown From Hell. 3 movements done in circuit fashion. Each time thr...

We had work events that went well into the evening on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday had me going to a half-day work meeting followed by school function for my kids that night. I haven't trained since Monday, and my diet has been attrocious. I've eaten whatever has been presented to me. I had no more than a single alcoholic drink at each of the work evening events. Granted, 1 drink a night isn't bad for you, but it is more than I normally have. I'm physically and mentally drained from the schedule this week, but we have a group workout on Saturday morning. I can't wait to sweat this garbage out.

Let me start by saying Sunday, 20 MAR, was freaking awesome. The whole family went out to a park. My wife did the Countdown From Hell workout with a 35lb dumbbell and finished in 7:33. While that was going on, I was pitching balls to my son. I got him a Louisville Slugger from Wal-Mart, and we've already gotten our $15 worth. :) Later, I played on the playscape with my daughter, then helped her whittle a stick with the knife I got her for Christmas. THAT is a great day off! On to the workout. My work schedule is going to be jam packed, so I crammed in a lot into today's workout. Conditioning: Partial Countdown: a. T-bell swing: 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 b. Goblet squat: 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 Strength Work: Since the conditioning was so leg / hip dominant, I did the workout in reverse. Incline db bench press: 55s x 8, 8, 8, 8 Neutral grip pulldown: 140 x 8, 8, 8 Rope grip seated row: 90 x 8, 8, 8 FBGM: 95 x 8, 8, 8 Leg press: 330 x 15, 15, 15 I am wobbly, and I don't mean just my legs....

I can tell my rehab stage is over. I didn't make it to the gym on Friday. I had the day off, so I took the kids to the rodeo. We walked all over and rode so many rides and played so many games. My favorite ride was the mechanical bull. I only did it once, and I OWNED it! I must have stayed on for 20 to 30 seconds. My the time I fell, my right hand grip was shot and the insides of my legs were bruised to hell. I had to stretch out a good bit this morning to loosen up. I've never worked my hip adductors like THAT before! Today was a great workout. I got in some pullups and broke out the Ghetto-bell for some conditioning. Pull-up ladder: 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4: 30 reps total 63lb T-bell Countdown, untimed a. Swing: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 b. Goblet squat: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 c. Sprawl: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 This countdown is my all-time favorite. In addition to the getting gassed with the weight on the 1st 2 moves, the sprawls completely disrupt your breathing, so you ne...