Becoming an Athlete

I've been working on the ability to hold a front lever. I'm still not there yet.  This picture is a still frame from a video of me getting there. I can pull to a nice parallel position, but the hold is just a millisecond. How I got here: Planks, especially side planks I've noticed side planks really get deep into the abdonimal connection (insertion?) at my pelvic bone. Holding a side plank for a minute is becoming routine, if not completely easy. Parallel bar pikes These are much harder than leg raises, as they require total body tension. I've learned a great deal of body control. Toes to Bar I remember when I could OCCASIONALLY get 1 rep. These have become routine also, and I can bang out 10 or more now. The pikes really built my weak links and now I'm able to engage my abs much more. Dragon flys / Dragon flags I do a normal leg raise off the bench and then thrust my torso into the air so I'm supported on just my shoulders.  I accentuate the lowering...

Monday 13 FEB 2017 I have to say, all the focus on stability and mobility is paying HUGE dividends. I can almost perform a front lever, but I'm a few months away from holding it solidly. side planks: 1 minute per side Toes to bar, a few sets of 5 easy reps, then a few sets of front lever attempts a. chinup: bw x 3,3,3,2,1 b. pushup x 5,5,5,5,5 Clean: 125x5; 145x3; 165x2; 185x1,1,1 Bench press: warmup up to 245 for an easy single, then 205x4,4,4,5; 155x20 (rest pause set) 1-arm dumbbell row: 70 x 10,10,10,10 per hand Tonight: 2 mile run for time. Gonna be some serious suckiness.  

Man, it's barely Wednesday and I feel great.  Soreness everywhere, but feeling strong, mobile, and motivated.  Here's a snapshot of the training week Monday AM: side planks, wood choppers chinups / pushups Cleans: 5,3,2,1,1,1,1,1 bench press / 1-arm row: 4x6 / 4x12 bench press: 1 rest pause set face pulls: 3-50 method incline dumbbell press: 3-50 method Monday PM : 2 mile jog Tuesday AM: side planks, hollow body rock chinups / wall ball Overhead press / pullup: 4x6 / 4 x max Overhead press: 1 rest pause set Dips / barbell curl: 5x5 / 5x5 Dumbbell skull crusher / hammer curl: 5x10 / 5x10 Tuesday PM: 1 mile for time Wednesday AM: side planks, pike trap bar deadlift: 4x6 squat: 4x15 Leg extension / leg curl: 4x12 / 4x12 Leg press calves: 4x20 Wednesday PM: 4x100, 1 mile walk Thursday AM: side planks, wood choppers chinups / pushups Cleans: 5,3,2,1,1,1,1,1 Chest triset:     Incline db press- flat db press- db fly: 4 x 12-12-12 Back tri-set:     Snat...

I've just started on block II, and its going great.  I'm mastering the stability movements, increasing range of motion / mobility, and starting to add in a bit of evening running to prep for Spartan Super and Tough Mudder. So what's the additional athleticism component?  Well.... 1. Running 2. Power Cleans Running: Nothing sexy here.  Just following a REALLY simple 14 week running plan. I have more than 14 weeks till the races, but may as well build capacity now. Power Cleans: I'm just walking it up SLOWLY every Monday and Thursday e.g. Wk1 Monday: 95x5; 115x3; 135x2; 155x1; 165x1; 175x1 Thursday 115x5; 135x3; 155x2; 165x1; 175x1; 185x1 The volume here is low, and I'm doing it on Chest & Back day, but starting with an explosive movement fires up the CNS and makes moving heavier weights more fluid and efficient. These weights are REALLY easy.  I won't miss a rep

I finished the full week, but I'm only going to dig up Day 1 to describe how it address the 4 pillars (Stability, Mobility, Endurance, Strength): Monday 23 JAN 2017 Side/Front/Side plank: 2 x 20sec/20sec/20sec Stability.  Front planks are easy for me, Left side is really hard.  Right is OK.  Progressing to 3 straight minutes (60/60/60sec) will be a massive improvement in stability and endurance Parallel bar pike (aka leg raises) 3 x 10reps Doing these from parallel bars requires so much more total body stability that with your back supported against something.  This is incredibly difficult 1-arm dumbbell snatch: 60# x 3 x 2reps per arm Mobility and Strength.  Next week I'll hit 3x3ea arm, then 3x4ea on wk3.  After that, I move to 70#. Dumbbell snatches require a ton of stability and mobility Bench press: 185# x 4 x 6reps; 155x12,10,10 (will stick with 155# till I hit a total of 50  reps in 3 sets. This is  called the 3-50 method) Incline ...

I can't say this is an all-encompassing model of health, wellness, or even fitness, but it is a great model for healthy and efficient athletic movement: Stability Mobility Endurance Strength Stability is the foundation on which you build the rest.  if your core can't be tight and strong, injuries will manifest in bizarre ways. Knees, ankles, lower back, hip flexors, shoulders, you name it.  You need a solid platform to support heavy loads without injury. Mobility serves the same purpose, but also allows for efficient movement without wasted effort or over-reliance on some joints to make up for immobility in others. Endurance is pretty damn clear. Without it, you're just a 3-rep Hercules who can't hike a mountain or run a few miles.  Plenty has been written about the various forms of endurance.  I'm not going to rehash anything. Same for strength.  We all know there are various ways to express strength and innumerable ways to train for it. Ge...

My finger is still broken and still in a plastic cast, but I'm starting to use my grip again, with an outstretched middle finger.  I have to be honest, I really like curls now, because it looks like I'm flipping off myself in the mirror, or passersby. Now that I can hold a barbell again, I'm on an undulating periodization for the forseeable future for the big lifts: squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press.  Accessory work will change every 3 weeks So current phase for 2017 looks like this: Monday: 1. bench press: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 2. bench press: 3-50 method 3. incline dumbbell press: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max 4. Hammer Strength row: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 5. Hammer Strength row: 3-50 method 6. Wide grip cable row: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max 7. Squat: wk1-4x6 wk2-4x4 wk3-4,3,2,1 8. Squat: 3-50 method 9. Leg extension: 1 dropset of 12-10-8-max Tuesday: 1. Turkish getup: 5mins 2. Windmill: 5 mins 3. Parallel bar pikes: 5 x max (add reps ev...