Becoming an Athlete

I know I was going to talk about mobility drills next in this series, but I decided that mobility drills are best understood through video, so that will have to wait for a bit.  Trying to describe the spiderman crawl, leg-under bridge, revolving square etc. would just be tedious and confusing.  :)  So, on to endurance drills.  I'm not a gadget guy, but there is one cheap piece of equipment that has become indispensable over the years - My Everlast round timer. There are other interval timers out there, gym-boss being the most prolific and sophisticated.  I've also heard you can get free interval apps for your smart phone, too.  I may try that soon, but my timer has been with me for about a eight years now, and it just feels right. Low Intensity Intervals Many articles talk about the benefit of sprints or high intensity intervals, and that is fine for competitive athletes.  They do indeed work well, but not everyone is ready for those.  Th...

Starting my 2nd round of these training routines.  everything is still headed in the right direction, but the 16 mile hike on Saturday, followed by deadlifts and swings on Monday made for some difficult squats today. jump rope:  3 x 1min work / 30sec rest Wood chopper:  100 x 12/12, 12/12 Arm strength: a. barbell curl: 70 x 8, 8, 8 b. skull crusher: 70 x 8, 8, 8 Horizontal strength: a. bench press: 165 x 6; 170 x 5; 175 x 12 b. bent row: 145 x 5; 150 x 5; 155 x 8 Vertical size a. OHP: 95 x 10, 10, 10, 10 b. chinup: BW x 6, 6, 5, 6 Front squat: 175 x 5; 185 x 5; 195 x 8 Safety-bar squat: 175 x 10, 10, 8, 4 I'll progress the weights on Front squats when I do them again on Friday  20 JUL, but I'll leave the weight at 175 for safety-bar squats.

Man, another great session!  I'm a believer in starting light and building up some momentum.  It is an incredible feeling to have your weights planned in advance, and show up, get your mind focused, and then just crush your weights. Treadmill:  0.55 miles 10 mins - 3.5mph at 3.5 degree incline leg raise off bench:  BW x 15, 15, 15 Bicep superset: a. alternating dumbbell curl: 27.5 x 10, 10 b. EZ-bar curl:  65 x 6, 8 Tricep superset: a. bench dips: BW x 10, 10 b. rope grip pressdown: 50 x 8, 8 Vertical strength: a. Pullup: BW x 5, 5, 5 b. Overhead press: 120 x 5; 125 x 5; 130 x 8 Horizontal size: a. Archer grip 1-arm db row: 65 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 b. pushup: BW x 12, 12, 12, 12 Deadlift: 225 x 5; 245 x 5; 265 x 10 T-bell swing:  73lb x 40 total (10, 10, 10, 10) I had been using neutral grip pullups because that is where I am strongest, but I'm much stronger through my lats and arms now, so I'm sticking with traditional pullups from here ...

Today was incredible.  My wife and I hiked 16 miles in 6 hours.  We parked near Deep Eddy swimming pool in Austin, then took the MoPac bridge to the Ladybird Lake hike & bike trail.  We took that trail to Zilker Park, and headed righ to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.  We took every detour we could find, picking our way through trails that had fallen into disuse and were overrun with weeds, and walking through the dry creek bed.  We ended just a little shy of Twin Falls. On the way back, I got a little turned around and we added an extra 3 - 4 miles to our return trip.  "My bad, honey!" I haven't been this tired since I don't know when.  A little pizza from Home Slice and 2 glasses of wine with Season 2 of the Sopranos made for an excellent recovery evening.  :) Oh, and my wife made AMAZING bannana bread.  Time for bed.

To quote George Pappard as John "Hannibal" Smith, I love it when a plan comes together!  Everything is going the right direction.  I can still feel the hernia surgery when I hit abs, but in a good way.  I feel the weakness that is slowly and progressively being taxed and becoming stronger. jump rope:  4 x 1min work / 1min rest russian twist:  10lb x 10each, 10each Upper arm strength superset a. barbell preacher curl: 65 x 8, 8, 8, 8 b. close grip dumbbell press: 45s x 8, 8, 8, 8 Horizontal strength: a. bent row: 140 x 5; 145 x 5; 150 x 10 b. bench press: 160 x 5; 165 x 5; 170 x 15 :-) Vertical size a. Chin-up:  BW x 5, 6, 5, 5 b. Overhead press: 90 x 10, 10, 10, 10 Squat: 205 x 5; 215 x 5; 225 x 10 Squat jumps: 50 total (8,8,8,8,8,5,5) Squat jumps gas me!  I perform them continuously, and drop as low as possible.  envision a human pogo stick!  Maximal time airborne - minimal time on the ground.

I've started shooting archery again, and joined a forum to learn as much as I can.  In doing so, I've broadened the audience to this here little fitness blog.  :-) This post is a simple thing on what every can do, regardless of their sport, to get fitter, quickly and simply.  Normally I write in short-hand, but today I'll use my big boy words. Priorities: I've talked about this before.  Unless you are a specialized athlete and at an elite level, you should always have these four priorities: Stability Mobility Endurance Strength Getting them out of order, or spending too much time on one and ignoring another is a sure fire way to get injuries at worst, or never realize your full potential at best. Stability Personal trainers and infomercials talk about core strength.  And it means different things, depending on who you talk to or what is for sale.  To my way of thinking, stability is the root quality we need to train.  The ability to supp...

Happy 4th of July!  God bless America.  Die Pinko Commie Bastards!  Oops.  Scratch that last one.  Anyway, I had a great day of session Jump rope: 3 x 1min jump / 30sec rest Hand-to-ball Plank*: 2 x 10/10, 10/10 Bicep tri-set** a. Cross-body hammer curl: 20 x 10/10, 10/10 b. Concentration curl: 20 x 10/10, 8/8 c. 1-arm Zottman curl: 20 x 10/10; 15 x 6/6 Tricep tri-set** a. Cross-body lying extension: 20 x 10/10, 10/10 b. Reverse grip cable push-down: 20 x 10/10, 10/10 c.Neutral grip cable pushdown: 20 x 10/10, 10/10 Vertical strength a. Neutral grip pullup: BW x 4, 5, 5 b. Barbell OHP: 115 x 5; 120 x 5; 125 x 9 Horizontal size: a. Archer grip 1-arm dumbbell row***: 60 x 10/10, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 b. Pushup:  BW x 10, 10, 10, 10 Flat-back goodmorning: 95 x 10; 100 x 10; 105 x 10 T-bell swing:  73 x 35 total (12, 6, 8, 9) I ended the session with a 2 rotations between hot tub, pool, sauna, pool * Hand-to-ball Plank: This is a basic plank fr...