Becoming an Athlete

Another great day.  It's still week 1 of phase 2, so the weights are still conservative, but the conditioning is KILLER, but in small doses. warm-up complex: a. bent row:  95 x 5, 5, 5 b. Romanian deadlift:  95 x 5, 5, 5 c. Hang clean:  95 x 5, 5, 5 d. Front squat:  95 x 5, 5, 5 e. Overhead press:  95 x 5, 5, 5 Neutral grip pullup:  5 sets x 4+10sec negative Overhead press:  95x10; 105x8; 115x6; 125x6 Tiny Metcon: 5 mins max rounds of a. dip x 5 (hard after all the OHPs) b. hanging leg raise x10 c. kipping pullup x 5 total:  3 rounds, with 17 seconds left

WOW!  Hard hard work today.  My spinal erectors are still yelling at me.  My MetCon was supposed to be done with my 73lb T-bell, but mercifully, I forgot to take it to the gym.  :) All weights were easy and just break-in weights Kettlebell get ups: 5 mins with 25lb kettlebell Deadlift: 225x10; 245x8; 265x6; 275x6 Back squat:  135x15; 185x10  (lower back on fire by 2nd set) MetCon:  max rounds in 5 mins of: 1-arm KB swing:  35 x 10 per arm KB goblet squat:  35 x 10 Sprawl:   x 10 completed 2 rounds That little MetCon kicked my ass.

Well, I have decided to change my focus a bit.  I need more leg volume, and the only way to get that is to train separately from upper body.  I'm still going to be hammering the conditioning, and will get sufficient direct arm work, but abandoning the abs / arms days. New schedule: Monday: Deadlift day start with 5 mins kettlebell get-ups deadlift:  strength focused back squat:  few sets, high reps conditioning focus on Swings, Goblet squats, Sprawls Tuesday: Overhead pressing start with simple barbell complex overhead press:  strength focused chin up Conditioning: Dips, kips, leg raises Arm density set Thursday: Squat day Start with 5 mins kettbell get-ups front squat:  strength focused back squat:  few sets, high reps conditioning: Swings, situps, jumps, med balls Friday: Horizontal pressing start with simple complex incline dumbbell bench press:  strength focused t-bar row:  strength focused Conditio...

I went to the gym saturday morning to play around a bit.  All told, it was a good time, and was maybe even productive. Stretching in sauna:  10 mins various floor stretches:  10 mins Hang clean: 135 x 1,1,1,1,1;  155 x 1,1,1,1,1; 165 x 1,1,1,1,1; 185 x 1,1,1,1,1 Close grip snatch:  95 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Full snatch from floor:  95 x 1,1,1,1,1; 105 x 1,1,1,1,1; 115 x 1,1,1,1,1 Snatch + High pull + jump shrug:  115 x 3+3+5, 3+3+5, 3+3+5 Foam rolling:  10 mins, but it felt like 10192346987 hours

I am steadily progressing towards Highland Games competition season.  One of my goals for this year is to devote the proper amount of time to conditioning.  I saw my photos from Nov 2012, and my gut was entirely too big for my kilt!!!! The plan thus far has been working well. Completed Phase 1:  Hypertrophy (muscle growth) phase 6 weeks duration lower % of 1RM 8 - 12 rep range Higher volume marginal weekly variety Phase 2:  Strength and conditioning 6 weeks duration working as high as 85% of 1RM 6 - 10 rep range movement-pattern specific MetCons at end of each session Sample Phase 2 training session: warm-up:  3 mins jump rope Front squat:  10,8,6,8,6 (wave loading) Overhead press: 10,8,6,8,6 (wave loading) Chin-up:  5 x max reps MetCon:  max rounds in 10 mins of: a. alternating jump lunges x 10 b. dips x 10 c. squat jump x 10 d. kipping pullup x 10 A Note On MetCons: One of my complains against CrossFit is the over a...

late night workout.  Not the best, but better than skipping. lots of various ab machines:  9 total sets arm superset: a. barbell curl: 50 x 10 x 10 b. skull crusher:  50 x 10 x10 

I was stiff, sore, and felt "heavy".  Instead of running intervals, I went to the gym and spend about 45 minutes in the hot tub.  I stretched everything, and then cooled down in the pool. By the time I got home, I was utterly relaxed.  I slept like a baby last night