Well, I've let this blog go dead for long enough, so I'm reviving this steaming pile of nothing-ness with a little update and to let you know what i have planned over my winter break from Rugby. RUGBY? I know, like I need to pick up yet another hobby on top of woodworking, powerlifting, strongman, Highland Games, and putting an edge on anything I can get sharp. So some of the guys I play with are curious to see what I have planned to up my conditioning over the month hiatus, so here goes...
The plan is to take my severely de-conditioned ass and turn it into at least a decently conditioned rugby forward. I am concentrating on energy systems here and the training and types of movements will reflect that. Rugby is a Medium Muscular Endurance sport, so that means it still has a strong anaerobic portion(scrums, rucks and mauls) in addition to the aerobic demands of an 80 minute match. This program is designed to help me cope with the pain and exhaustion of my time on the rugby pitch by exposing me to high amounts of fatigue.
Week 1
1. Double Kettlebell swings x 30
2. Gorilla Kettlebell Cleans x 30
3. Alternating Kettlebell Jerks x 30
4. Shouldered Sled Push (Right shoulder engaged) x 30 steps
5. Reverse Swings x 15
6. Jump Lunges x 15
7. Curvilinear Sandbag Cleans x 15
8. Side Lunges x 15
Rest 60s between each exercise. Perform this 3x in the week
Endurance conditioning will consist of High Intensity Intervals on the rower, weighted sled drags and yo-yo runs. Perform 2-3 sessions a week.
Week 2
1a. Double Kettlebell swings x 40
1b. Gorilla Kettlebell Cleans x 40
2a. Alternating Kettlebell Jerks x 40
2b. Shouldered Sled Push (Right shoulder engaged) x 40steps
3a. Reverse Swings x 20
3b. Jump Lunges x 18
4a. Curvilinear Sandbag Cleans x 20
4b. Side Lunges x 18
Rest 60s-120s between each set. Perform this 3x in the week
Endurance conditioning will consist of High Intensity Intervals on the rower, weighted sled drags and yo-yo runs. Perform 2-3 sessions a week
Week 3
1a. Double Kettlebell swings x 50
1b. Gorilla Kettlebell Cleans x 50
1c. Alternating Kettlebell Jerks x 50
1d. Shouldered Sled Push (Right shoulder engaged) x 50 steps
2a. Reverse Swings x 25
2b. Jump Lunges x 20
2c. Curvilinear Sandbag Cleans x 25
2d. Side Lunges x 20
Rest 120s between each set. Perform this 3x in the week
Endurance conditioning will consist of High Intensity Intervals on the rower, weighted sled drags and yo-yo runs. Perform 2-3 sessions a week
Week 4
1a. Double Kettlebell swings x 60
1b. Gorilla Kettlebell Cleans x 60
1c. Alternating Kettlebell Jerks x 60
1d. Shouldered Sled Push (Right shoulder engaged) x 60 steps
1e. Reverse Swings x 30
1f. Jump Lunges x 25
1g. Curvilinear Sandbag Cleans x 25
1h. Side Lunges x 25
Rest 60s-120s between each set. Perform this 3x in the week
Endurance conditioning will consist of High Intensity Intervals on the rower, weighted sled drags and yo-yo runs. Perform 2-3 sessions a week
After this we resume practice and have fitness testing. During this time I will also quit eating like a powerlifter and cut back on the bulk of food I eat. So instead of eating a whole chicken and a couple heads of broccoli for lunch, I'll limit it to 1/2 a chicken and 12oz of broccoli. I figure that at 260 I would be more formidable seeing that 244 is my lean mass as it is.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Example Day From the New Template
WARMUPS:
Powerplate to loosen the hips
Dowel Rod Good Mornings
Shoulder Dislocations
Various groin and Hip Flexor Stretches
LIFTS:
Main Lift:
ME Squat to low box. These were done to judge depth, not to sit back to a the box. The box was set, so I would hit at about 1.5" below parallel.
Bar x 15 or so
135x10
225x5
315x3
405x3 added belt
495x3 added suit straps down
545x1 straps up
I had to cut it there for time and I had a terrible headache for the lift
Supplementary Lift:
Good Mornings
135x10
225x10
315x10
Finished with 3-5 sets of 8-12 on:
Leg Curls
Pullthroughs
GHRs
Hyperextensions
Powerplate to loosen the hips
Dowel Rod Good Mornings
Shoulder Dislocations
Various groin and Hip Flexor Stretches
LIFTS:
Main Lift:
ME Squat to low box. These were done to judge depth, not to sit back to a the box. The box was set, so I would hit at about 1.5" below parallel.
Bar x 15 or so
135x10
225x5
315x3
405x3 added belt
495x3 added suit straps down
545x1 straps up
I had to cut it there for time and I had a terrible headache for the lift
Supplementary Lift:
Good Mornings
135x10
225x10
315x10
Finished with 3-5 sets of 8-12 on:
Leg Curls
Pullthroughs
GHRs
Hyperextensions
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Training for Strength???
"I'm in a strength phase right now"
Nothing makes me cringe more than this statement. I'm talking about full on make the hair on the back of my neck stand up cringe. This is usually when I have the ability to make the conclusion that this person has no idea what they are talking about. I walked into another Personal Training studio and one of the "Trainers" told me this today in so many words, it made my guts sink.
"But Matt, my Personal Training certification taught me that I need to go through a Strength Phase from four to six weeks after I finish my Hypertrophy Phase"
Cue the hysterical laughing from me. I promise I didn't actually laugh in this guy's face, even though I REALLY wanted to. This is a huge problem. If you need clarification look further down the page to see my feelings about certifications.
If you are in the gym for "general fitness", a typical Western Style of periodization can work for you. If you are shooting for getting bigger, better endurance, more powerful, or stronger it is not the way to go. Let me ask you this simple question; what happens to your strength or power when you switch back to your Endurance Phase?
Listen, I'm all for general fitness but come on... You can't pick a goal and aim for it? Don't tell me, "I just want to be fit". That is a weak excuse for, "I don't have the balls to make a decision". You want to lose weight, then do it. You want better endurance, go for it. Want to become a gigantic gorilla beast, be my guest. Just make an F'ing decision and go for it. This whole "lukewarm" attitude of complacency is one of the biggest problems with the people today. No one can make a decision about anything and then they flip-flop based on opinions put out by any Tom, Dick or Harry with the testicular fortitude to make a decision.
Find people who are bigger, smarter, faster, stronger, or leaner than you and learn from them. Trust me, no matter how long you have been lifting there is ALWAYS someone who is better than you in some way, shape or form. You just need to be smart enough to realize that.
LESSON OF THE DAY: Grow some testicles and make a decision!!!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Training Template for the PLing Meet in October
Here is my training template for the upcoming meet in October. I am not going to really kick it hard in the gear until I get about 10-12 weeks out. I am in the gear right now because I am still trying to learn it. The bench shirt is still a pain in my ass, but I am trying to get some work in it.
Monday: Dynamic Effort Upper
Main Lift: This will always be Bench Press, but I will switch it up every three weeks in between straight weight, bands and chains. Change grips with every set and REALLY focus on form.
Supplementary and Accessory work. The supplementary work will change every 3 weeks, with the main lift from ME Upper(see Thursday) and the accessory work will change every 6 weeks. Goal here is to key in on Triceps, Chest and Delts. I know that is pretty generic for the bench, but since my bench sucks so much I really don't have a specific weak point as of yet.
Tuesday: Max Effort Lower
Main Lift: Change every 3 weeks in a circa max type wave. Back Squat, Front Squat, Zercher Squat, Deadlift, etc...
Supplementary and Accessory work. The supplementary work will change every 3 weeks, with the main lift from and the accessory work will change every 6 weeks. I am keying in on the Hamstring and the Low Back in my accessory lifts. My Glutes take over for everything in a raw squat and now that I am in the suit my Hamstrings are taking a beating. My low back is a hot mess and I'm just trying to keep it healthy.
Wednesday: Off
No GPP, No Cardio, No Nothing. If I am caught up on work I try to head home in the middle of the day, when I normally train and try to catch a nap.
Thursday: Max Effort Upper
Main Lift: Will change every 3 weeks in a circa max type wave. Bench Press, Board Press, Floor Press, etc...
Supplementary and Accessory work. Same as above for DE Upper
Friday: Dynamic Effort Lower
Main Lift: Will switch between Box Squats and Speed Pulls. Depending on how beat up I feel I will alternate between straight weight and Chains. We don't have the setup here at the gym to handle band tension too well, so I'm going to keep it out of the programming.
Supplementary and Accessory work. Same as above for ME Lower
Saturday and Sunday: Recover and do conditioning work if I feel like it. Conditioning should read something like paddling around the lake while fishing or swimming.
Deload, in the beginning, will come every 3 weeks as my Central Nervous System gets used to the loads I can handle in the suit and shirt. I will cycle in and out of the gear up until 10-12 weeks out from the meet, then I will work straps down to a box, straps down free, straps up to a box and then straps down free. The Deadlift will not be the emphasis in the last few weeks as it kills my CNS.
Monday: Dynamic Effort Upper
Main Lift: This will always be Bench Press, but I will switch it up every three weeks in between straight weight, bands and chains. Change grips with every set and REALLY focus on form.
Supplementary and Accessory work. The supplementary work will change every 3 weeks, with the main lift from ME Upper(see Thursday) and the accessory work will change every 6 weeks. Goal here is to key in on Triceps, Chest and Delts. I know that is pretty generic for the bench, but since my bench sucks so much I really don't have a specific weak point as of yet.
Tuesday: Max Effort Lower
Main Lift: Change every 3 weeks in a circa max type wave. Back Squat, Front Squat, Zercher Squat, Deadlift, etc...
Supplementary and Accessory work. The supplementary work will change every 3 weeks, with the main lift from and the accessory work will change every 6 weeks. I am keying in on the Hamstring and the Low Back in my accessory lifts. My Glutes take over for everything in a raw squat and now that I am in the suit my Hamstrings are taking a beating. My low back is a hot mess and I'm just trying to keep it healthy.
Wednesday: Off
No GPP, No Cardio, No Nothing. If I am caught up on work I try to head home in the middle of the day, when I normally train and try to catch a nap.
Thursday: Max Effort Upper
Main Lift: Will change every 3 weeks in a circa max type wave. Bench Press, Board Press, Floor Press, etc...
Supplementary and Accessory work. Same as above for DE Upper
Friday: Dynamic Effort Lower
Main Lift: Will switch between Box Squats and Speed Pulls. Depending on how beat up I feel I will alternate between straight weight and Chains. We don't have the setup here at the gym to handle band tension too well, so I'm going to keep it out of the programming.
Supplementary and Accessory work. Same as above for ME Lower
Saturday and Sunday: Recover and do conditioning work if I feel like it. Conditioning should read something like paddling around the lake while fishing or swimming.
Deload, in the beginning, will come every 3 weeks as my Central Nervous System gets used to the loads I can handle in the suit and shirt. I will cycle in and out of the gear up until 10-12 weeks out from the meet, then I will work straps down to a box, straps down free, straps up to a box and then straps down free. The Deadlift will not be the emphasis in the last few weeks as it kills my CNS.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Quick one...
Monday was speed bech day and I felt like crap. My sleep schedule is crazy lately and it is starting to affect my performance. So here is the awful-ness that was Dynamic Effort
Speed Bench
185x3 for 8 sets, switching grip every set from wide, medium and narrow.
Triceps Pressdowns(straight bar)
150x10
200x10
220x10
230x10
240x10
Anterior Delt Raise
4 sets to failure
I threw a set of Jerks in there, after the bench and they felt so crappy I left it off there.
Tuesday was Max Effort Squat for this 3 week wave, but I still felt like crap and I worked out at 5pm instead of Noon. Had just enough time to Squat so I went:
Bar x a few
135x10
225x5
315x5
405x3 added belt
495x3 added suit straps down.
I wore an Under Armor shirt under the suit and the material was slick as hell and the bar ended up sliding off my back and making a huge commostion
545x1 straps up
585x1
600x1
Called it a day after that.
Until next time...
Speed Bench
185x3 for 8 sets, switching grip every set from wide, medium and narrow.
Triceps Pressdowns(straight bar)
150x10
200x10
220x10
230x10
240x10
Anterior Delt Raise
4 sets to failure
I threw a set of Jerks in there, after the bench and they felt so crappy I left it off there.
Tuesday was Max Effort Squat for this 3 week wave, but I still felt like crap and I worked out at 5pm instead of Noon. Had just enough time to Squat so I went:
Bar x a few
135x10
225x5
315x5
405x3 added belt
495x3 added suit straps down.
I wore an Under Armor shirt under the suit and the material was slick as hell and the bar ended up sliding off my back and making a huge commostion
545x1 straps up
585x1
600x1
Called it a day after that.
Until next time...
Friday, June 24, 2011
An Update...
I have been a serious slacker as of late when it comes to blogging. In between setting up new hire orientation, a Master Level Personal Trainer's class and setting up a in-house Kettlebell Certification my time has been devoted to other things. I am going to still give you the lovely blog posts on things that make my blood boil, as well as try to keep you updated on my lifting habits.
As of late I have found my cruising weight. I feel my strongest in the 295-305lb range and I plan on staying here. If I lose a little I'm not going to worry, I just don't want to come in too much heavier than 305. Even at this weight I can make 38" box jumps from a seated position and do 200m weighted sled drags for 6-8 trips. I am trying to eat to help fuel my training and trying to cut weight while looking for a PR almost every week is just not conducive. I structure my meals with protein first, some sort of green leafy vegetable and some form of other carb source, usually brown rice.
For my lifting I have gone back to the Conjugate Method with a 3 week wave on the Main Lift and changing the accessory work every 6 weeks depending on my weak points. I have started to lift in gear lately and I absolutely love it. It feels great and it allows me to really concentrate on my form. I got my gear from Titan Support and they pissed me off. I had gotten recommendations to go through Ken Anderson, but like the stubborn ass that I tend to be I went directly to the manufacturer. I took almost 8 weeks to get it from them and they sent the wrong size in both my squat/deadlift suit and my bench shirt. The squat suit was ridiculously hard to get on and the bench shirt is too loose and has very little pop. I like the Titan Gear, but I may switch to Inzer or Metal for my multi-ply stuff.
Since donning the squat suit my lifts have skyrocketed. I should have 600lbs in the bag this coming Tuesday and I start my 3 week cycle of deadlifts after that. I am having some trouble with depth, not because of the suit, but an injury I sustained 5 weeks ago. I have a torn muscle in my low back that is killing me. I am going to have to eliminate Good Mornings all together from my programming and find another Supplementary Lift. That sucks because I LOVE Good Mornings.
PRs since my last update:
Squat: 585
Rack Jerk: 255x3
Good Morning: 455x3
I had have been consistently PRing in each lift, but these are the most recent numbers. I have finally committed to the bench press, even though it is pathetic. I can hit 335 to a 3 board with a shirt and I'll work my way down to the chest in the coming weeks.
There is my update.
As of late I have found my cruising weight. I feel my strongest in the 295-305lb range and I plan on staying here. If I lose a little I'm not going to worry, I just don't want to come in too much heavier than 305. Even at this weight I can make 38" box jumps from a seated position and do 200m weighted sled drags for 6-8 trips. I am trying to eat to help fuel my training and trying to cut weight while looking for a PR almost every week is just not conducive. I structure my meals with protein first, some sort of green leafy vegetable and some form of other carb source, usually brown rice.
For my lifting I have gone back to the Conjugate Method with a 3 week wave on the Main Lift and changing the accessory work every 6 weeks depending on my weak points. I have started to lift in gear lately and I absolutely love it. It feels great and it allows me to really concentrate on my form. I got my gear from Titan Support and they pissed me off. I had gotten recommendations to go through Ken Anderson, but like the stubborn ass that I tend to be I went directly to the manufacturer. I took almost 8 weeks to get it from them and they sent the wrong size in both my squat/deadlift suit and my bench shirt. The squat suit was ridiculously hard to get on and the bench shirt is too loose and has very little pop. I like the Titan Gear, but I may switch to Inzer or Metal for my multi-ply stuff.
Since donning the squat suit my lifts have skyrocketed. I should have 600lbs in the bag this coming Tuesday and I start my 3 week cycle of deadlifts after that. I am having some trouble with depth, not because of the suit, but an injury I sustained 5 weeks ago. I have a torn muscle in my low back that is killing me. I am going to have to eliminate Good Mornings all together from my programming and find another Supplementary Lift. That sucks because I LOVE Good Mornings.
PRs since my last update:
Squat: 585
Rack Jerk: 255x3
Good Morning: 455x3
I had have been consistently PRing in each lift, but these are the most recent numbers. I have finally committed to the bench press, even though it is pathetic. I can hit 335 to a 3 board with a shirt and I'll work my way down to the chest in the coming weeks.
There is my update.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Let the Cutting Begin
I am a firm believer of getting stuff done the way it should be done. No half-assing, no giving it a try, either you do it or you don't. I take the same approach to weight. You should actively gain(bulk), actively lose(cut) or actively maintain. Notice that the word actively is included here. That means that you are making an effort at each one of these phases and not just letting them happen to you.
Over the past few months I maintained after a good bulk from August to December, where I went from 285 to 310. Since then I have tried to maintain the weight of 310 with some fluctuation that was due to added activity that I did not account for. Now it is time to cut and when it is time to cut I don't like to take a slow approach to it. I want it done now and I want it done right. I think that Dave Tate's philosophy of Blast and Dust is a good way to describe it.
It started yesterday at a body weight of 311. It is a modification of a diet given to morbidly obese patients by their physicians so they can drop weight to have surgery. Basically it consists of tons of protein, lots of fiber, fish oil and one refeed a week. The refeed is put in to help reset leptin levels as well as keep the body out of ketoacidosis. It is similar to the Velocity Diet, which I have done twice in the past. This time I had a client of mine show me the original plan and I modified it to suit my needs and schedule.
I will eat 6-7 times a day, get 400-450g of protein (1.3 g/lb of bodyweight), 35+g of fiber, 3000-6000mg of salmon oil and copious amounts of water. All this with less than 50g of carbohydrates, excluding the fiber. The plan is to lose 20-25lbs over the next 28 days.
The last time I did this I kept the weight off for over 6 months, lost no muscle mass, and maintained strength levels. To boot, I think I have the opportunity to lose even more this time within the same time-frame.
During this time I will do very little traditional weightlifting. I will keep with my throwing drills so that the weight difference doesn't affect my throwing in a negative manner (like it could get too much worse at this point). There will be some added cardio, but nothing to write home about. Lots of inclined walking and maybe some weighted walks.
Well, wish me luck. This is the hardest 28 day cycle I've ever experienced. The first week the brain suffers a little because of the switch between fuel sources. The second week is great because you are burning a ton of energy and you actually feel really good about the whole process. Week three you get absolutely sick of eating the same friggin' thing day in and day out. Finally, in week four you've lost a good bit of weight and think about stopping every time you go to eat because, well, you've already lost a considerable amount of weight.
Here goes nothing...
Over the past few months I maintained after a good bulk from August to December, where I went from 285 to 310. Since then I have tried to maintain the weight of 310 with some fluctuation that was due to added activity that I did not account for. Now it is time to cut and when it is time to cut I don't like to take a slow approach to it. I want it done now and I want it done right. I think that Dave Tate's philosophy of Blast and Dust is a good way to describe it.
It started yesterday at a body weight of 311. It is a modification of a diet given to morbidly obese patients by their physicians so they can drop weight to have surgery. Basically it consists of tons of protein, lots of fiber, fish oil and one refeed a week. The refeed is put in to help reset leptin levels as well as keep the body out of ketoacidosis. It is similar to the Velocity Diet, which I have done twice in the past. This time I had a client of mine show me the original plan and I modified it to suit my needs and schedule.
I will eat 6-7 times a day, get 400-450g of protein (1.3 g/lb of bodyweight), 35+g of fiber, 3000-6000mg of salmon oil and copious amounts of water. All this with less than 50g of carbohydrates, excluding the fiber. The plan is to lose 20-25lbs over the next 28 days.
During this time I will do very little traditional weightlifting. I will keep with my throwing drills so that the weight difference doesn't affect my throwing in a negative manner (like it could get too much worse at this point). There will be some added cardio, but nothing to write home about. Lots of inclined walking and maybe some weighted walks.
Well, wish me luck. This is the hardest 28 day cycle I've ever experienced. The first week the brain suffers a little because of the switch between fuel sources. The second week is great because you are burning a ton of energy and you actually feel really good about the whole process. Week three you get absolutely sick of eating the same friggin' thing day in and day out. Finally, in week four you've lost a good bit of weight and think about stopping every time you go to eat because, well, you've already lost a considerable amount of weight.
Here goes nothing...
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
What Planet Did This Garbage Come From?
I did a little tour of a couple of gyms here in town and I REALLY got pissed off by one of them. The reason I got pissed is probably not reason you were thinking of. We'll call the place (I'm refusing to call it a gym) PF.
Yes, they have the lunk alarm. Yes, they have all purple equipment. Yes, everyone there was either a pencil-neck or looked like they were smuggling bags of loose nickels in their pants. The culture of the "place" was what killed me.
This judgement free zone dog-squeeze is exactly what is wrong with society as a whole. Disclaimer: The next four sentences should be read with your best "whiney-bitch" voice. If you are weak, no one should be stronger than you. If you are stupid, no one should be smarter than you. If you are lazy, no one should have better work ethic than you. If someone makes more money than you it is because they were luckier than you were. This type of mentality is exactly what you should stay away from. It is no one else's fault that you are stupid, weak, or lazy. It is your fault you are that way.
Guess what? There are supposed to be stupid people, there are supposed to be weak people, BUT there are supposed to be intelligent people, and there are supposed to be strong people, and there are supposed to be successful, intrinsically motivated people. If you want to be one of those that are strong, intelligent, or successful, you have to work at it.
You know what drives me nuts? Dodgeball and trophies. Dodgeball drives me insane. Why? It is non-existent today because of the same mentality that keeps PF in business. But Matt, someone will have to be picked last for teams and some kids will get knocked out of the game first. Guess what? It is a lesson for life that every kid needs to learn. Trophies are handed out like candy for kid's team sports. You came in last place little Johnny, so here is a trophy. What the hell is that? I remember being in sixth grade and we just lost the last game of the season, which happened to be the championship game for the athletic association. When we had the team party we got trophies and I can specifically remember thinking, "Why did we just get trophies for losing".
You shouldn't be angry that someone is better than you in any way, shape, or form. That sort of thing should drive you to become as good, if not better, than that person you are looking at. When I see other guys throwing better than me in the Highland Games it makes me angry. Not because they threw higher or farther, rather I get angry at myself for not being able to match or beat their marks. It is not their fault that they are better than I am, hell, they are working just as hard as I am to throw the way they do. Which brings us to an old saying that I will probably butcher:
So, next time you encounter someone that is more successful than you at anything, don't run home, put your head down in the pillows, and turn on some Morrisey or The Smiths. Make yourself better so that the next time you encounter that person you are more successful than they are. Then you get to walk away looking like this guy:
All in all, don't be a sniveling piece of crap. If you think you "deserve" better, think to yourself, "Have I EARNED better?". No one deserves anything, you have to earn. If you want stop being a worthless vagoo, drop the PF mentality and grow a set of testicles. Little bit by little bit the world will become a better place for you and it will keep my blood pressure down. At least until I find the next thing that lights a fire under my ass.
Yes, they have the lunk alarm. Yes, they have all purple equipment. Yes, everyone there was either a pencil-neck or looked like they were smuggling bags of loose nickels in their pants. The culture of the "place" was what killed me.
This judgement free zone dog-squeeze is exactly what is wrong with society as a whole. Disclaimer: The next four sentences should be read with your best "whiney-bitch" voice. If you are weak, no one should be stronger than you. If you are stupid, no one should be smarter than you. If you are lazy, no one should have better work ethic than you. If someone makes more money than you it is because they were luckier than you were. This type of mentality is exactly what you should stay away from. It is no one else's fault that you are stupid, weak, or lazy. It is your fault you are that way.
Guess what? There are supposed to be stupid people, there are supposed to be weak people, BUT there are supposed to be intelligent people, and there are supposed to be strong people, and there are supposed to be successful, intrinsically motivated people. If you want to be one of those that are strong, intelligent, or successful, you have to work at it.
You know what drives me nuts? Dodgeball and trophies. Dodgeball drives me insane. Why? It is non-existent today because of the same mentality that keeps PF in business. But Matt, someone will have to be picked last for teams and some kids will get knocked out of the game first. Guess what? It is a lesson for life that every kid needs to learn. Trophies are handed out like candy for kid's team sports. You came in last place little Johnny, so here is a trophy. What the hell is that? I remember being in sixth grade and we just lost the last game of the season, which happened to be the championship game for the athletic association. When we had the team party we got trophies and I can specifically remember thinking, "Why did we just get trophies for losing".
You shouldn't be angry that someone is better than you in any way, shape, or form. That sort of thing should drive you to become as good, if not better, than that person you are looking at. When I see other guys throwing better than me in the Highland Games it makes me angry. Not because they threw higher or farther, rather I get angry at myself for not being able to match or beat their marks. It is not their fault that they are better than I am, hell, they are working just as hard as I am to throw the way they do. Which brings us to an old saying that I will probably butcher:
"Nothing worth having comes to you without hard work."
So, next time you encounter someone that is more successful than you at anything, don't run home, put your head down in the pillows, and turn on some Morrisey or The Smiths. Make yourself better so that the next time you encounter that person you are more successful than they are. Then you get to walk away looking like this guy:
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Results From the Bay Area Rennaissance Festival
I did okay at best. I can't bitch too much, but performed poorly on a few throws where I thought I would do well. Here is how it broke down:
Braemar Stone: Threw a PR here and it actually felt pretty good. I had plenty of pop, I drove well and I feel like I did an alright job of keeping my high and throwing up.
Open Stone: Threw another PR here. I didn't hit 40' like I wanted, but I had some good pushes and had 38'+ throw. Special thanks to Dan Jessop and Dave Robinson for helping out with my form.
56# Weight For Distance: I don't even want to write about this one. It seems that every other Games I forget how to throw it. The only PR I threw in Jax was the 56 and it felt like a crappy throw. I have to make it down to Ocala to practice with another A Division competitor to get this one down. I'm taking up about 1/2 of the box on the first spin, when the guys who are good at this are almost staying in place on their first spin.
28# Weight for Distance: I needed to get my head clear, so my first throw was my old school single spin. It went something like 47', but it was a throw away attempt, so I didn't care too much. I concentrated on keeping my first spin tight on the next throw and it went 55'+, a PR. Final throw I kept it tight and got a better pull and I threw 56'+ which is a huge PR and one of my goals for this Games.
Hammer: This was frustrating. I threw 69' in Orlando but only hit 64' in these Games. I keep releasing after 2 spins because I feel like I'll lose it after the third. In practice I keep my hips on a good rotation and stay stable, but the last two Games I've just screwed up. Again I need to practice with someone who has technique.
Caber: I usually am in the top 4 or 5 with this, but I had no pop after lunch. It was too damned hot and I did not have the energy. I need to start doing my workouts outside from Noon-2 to get used to the heat, so I don't suffer after our lunch break.
Sheaf: To be honest I don't even want to talk about it. Too many people trying to tell me too many different things and I just got screwed up. Just like the caber, no pop.
56# Weight For Height: I made it to 11' and barely hit the bar at 12'. No excuse here, just no gas left in the tank.
I had a great time with some great people and I got to spend some time with my Uncle Bobby and Aunt Marty. I need to spend less time in the gym and more time on the field.
Braemar Stone: Threw a PR here and it actually felt pretty good. I had plenty of pop, I drove well and I feel like I did an alright job of keeping my high and throwing up.
Open Stone: Threw another PR here. I didn't hit 40' like I wanted, but I had some good pushes and had 38'+ throw. Special thanks to Dan Jessop and Dave Robinson for helping out with my form.
56# Weight For Distance: I don't even want to write about this one. It seems that every other Games I forget how to throw it. The only PR I threw in Jax was the 56 and it felt like a crappy throw. I have to make it down to Ocala to practice with another A Division competitor to get this one down. I'm taking up about 1/2 of the box on the first spin, when the guys who are good at this are almost staying in place on their first spin.
28# Weight for Distance: I needed to get my head clear, so my first throw was my old school single spin. It went something like 47', but it was a throw away attempt, so I didn't care too much. I concentrated on keeping my first spin tight on the next throw and it went 55'+, a PR. Final throw I kept it tight and got a better pull and I threw 56'+ which is a huge PR and one of my goals for this Games.
Hammer: This was frustrating. I threw 69' in Orlando but only hit 64' in these Games. I keep releasing after 2 spins because I feel like I'll lose it after the third. In practice I keep my hips on a good rotation and stay stable, but the last two Games I've just screwed up. Again I need to practice with someone who has technique.
Caber: I usually am in the top 4 or 5 with this, but I had no pop after lunch. It was too damned hot and I did not have the energy. I need to start doing my workouts outside from Noon-2 to get used to the heat, so I don't suffer after our lunch break.
Sheaf: To be honest I don't even want to talk about it. Too many people trying to tell me too many different things and I just got screwed up. Just like the caber, no pop.
56# Weight For Height: I made it to 11' and barely hit the bar at 12'. No excuse here, just no gas left in the tank.
I had a great time with some great people and I got to spend some time with my Uncle Bobby and Aunt Marty. I need to spend less time in the gym and more time on the field.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Goals for This Weekend
Goal setting is here again on "From the Mouth of Mallard". This weekend I am throwing at the Bay Area Renaissance Festival. Throwing in a Highland Games with chicks in corsets and wench dresses galavanting around- I'm all for it.
Here are my goals for the weekend:
1. I really want to hot 40' in the Open Stone. This has eluded me in the past and I feel I've got it this time.
2. 12'+ in the Weight Over Bar. 12' is my PR, so as long as I tie it I'm happy. I haven't had as much single arm Snatch work as I have in the past, so I'm not banking on much improvement.
3. Caber: I want to do away with all the 2:00 I've been getting. Hopefully my form work will have helped correct it.
4. Sheaf: I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE SHEAF
5. 56# Weight For Distance: 27'+
6. 28# Weight For Distance: Still looking for 55'+. I've thrown over 57' in practice, but I seem to not be able to carry it over to the competition.
7. Hammer: I'm not wearing spikes this time as I need more practice with them. I'm looking to break 70'
8. Overall I want to see at least 3 PRs in these Games
That is what I expect out of myself for these Games. I'm gonna drive down to Tampa today and spend some time with my Dad's side of the family before I throw tomorrow. Should be fun...
Here are my goals for the weekend:
1. I really want to hot 40' in the Open Stone. This has eluded me in the past and I feel I've got it this time.
2. 12'+ in the Weight Over Bar. 12' is my PR, so as long as I tie it I'm happy. I haven't had as much single arm Snatch work as I have in the past, so I'm not banking on much improvement.
3. Caber: I want to do away with all the 2:00 I've been getting. Hopefully my form work will have helped correct it.
4. Sheaf: I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE SHEAF
5. 56# Weight For Distance: 27'+
6. 28# Weight For Distance: Still looking for 55'+. I've thrown over 57' in practice, but I seem to not be able to carry it over to the competition.
7. Hammer: I'm not wearing spikes this time as I need more practice with them. I'm looking to break 70'
8. Overall I want to see at least 3 PRs in these Games
That is what I expect out of myself for these Games. I'm gonna drive down to Tampa today and spend some time with my Dad's side of the family before I throw tomorrow. Should be fun...
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Deloading for the Games
Now is deload time. Yesterday I had my last training session before the Highland Games this weekend. I am starting to get nervous because I am really hard on myself about achieving results. I have completely changed my training regiment and concentrated a lot more on my throws, so I'm hoping it will pay off. Only time will tell if the change has paid off. Today I only did:
Shot Put Drills: 10mins
Hammer Drills: 5mins
Weight for Distance Drills: 10mins
I really concentrated on foot speed on the shot put and weights for distance. I also changed my spins a little to make the first one shorter and the socond more of a sprint. Lets hope it all pays off...
Shot Put Drills: 10mins
Hammer Drills: 5mins
Weight for Distance Drills: 10mins
I really concentrated on foot speed on the shot put and weights for distance. I also changed my spins a little to make the first one shorter and the socond more of a sprint. Lets hope it all pays off...
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Weekend Bloat(Experimenting on Myself)
Over the past few weeks I dropped weight that I was not planning on dropping. Don't get me wrong, a certain amount of fat loss will not hurt anyone, however I did not want to be 295 until April 10th. With all the work capacity training I had been doing I dropped 10lbs like it was nothing. Hell, I wasn't even trying. So, I took the opportunity to see how well I could bloat. Wednesday I weighed in at 293 and was the first time I had seen the other side of 300 since September or August. I used this experiment to benefit not only myself, but the readers of my blog, so here is how it went.
What I used for the bloat:
Simple and highly refined carbohydrates
Salt and lots of it
Liquid calories
Gatorade and Water
I started off Wednesday night by taking in a ton of highly refined carbs and simple sugars, finished off with salt and 64oz of water on top of the 1.5 gallons I had already ingested that day. Thursday I already had some swelling going on. So I woke up and had 1.5 cups of rice 6 eggs and doused it in soy sauce and continued the trend throughout the day. Friday was a screwy day, but I managed to down a gallon of 1/2 water 1/2 Gatorade before I ate some smoked turkey(like real smoked turkey, not that Oscar Meyer "turkey") and drove to Jacksonville. From there I spent some time with my brother and ate some more salty, highly refined carbs. Saturday and Sunday was more of the same but with more coffee, NOS, and Rockstar thrown in there.
I weighed in this morning at 305 on the nose. What information could be gleaned from this "experiment"? I ate a diet that was pretty typical of your average American and I gained 12lbs in a matter of days. There is no way in hell I ingested enough calories to elicit that amount of weight gain. That means I would have had to eat 42,000 kCals over my maintenance levels over, roughly, four days. So why did I gain it? Mostly water retention. For every gram of glycogen you store in your body you store 2-3 grams of water. By filling up those glycogen stores I effectively gained the ability to hold onto more water. Combine that with the salt and there is the 12lbs I gained.
How can this help you? Don't eat this shit, plain and simple. Imagine how much lighter you could be walking around just by cutting this garbage out of your nutritional profile. Try it for a month and you'll never go back.
What I used for the bloat:
Simple and highly refined carbohydrates
Salt and lots of it
Liquid calories
Gatorade and Water
I started off Wednesday night by taking in a ton of highly refined carbs and simple sugars, finished off with salt and 64oz of water on top of the 1.5 gallons I had already ingested that day. Thursday I already had some swelling going on. So I woke up and had 1.5 cups of rice 6 eggs and doused it in soy sauce and continued the trend throughout the day. Friday was a screwy day, but I managed to down a gallon of 1/2 water 1/2 Gatorade before I ate some smoked turkey(like real smoked turkey, not that Oscar Meyer "turkey") and drove to Jacksonville. From there I spent some time with my brother and ate some more salty, highly refined carbs. Saturday and Sunday was more of the same but with more coffee, NOS, and Rockstar thrown in there.
I weighed in this morning at 305 on the nose. What information could be gleaned from this "experiment"? I ate a diet that was pretty typical of your average American and I gained 12lbs in a matter of days. There is no way in hell I ingested enough calories to elicit that amount of weight gain. That means I would have had to eat 42,000 kCals over my maintenance levels over, roughly, four days. So why did I gain it? Mostly water retention. For every gram of glycogen you store in your body you store 2-3 grams of water. By filling up those glycogen stores I effectively gained the ability to hold onto more water. Combine that with the salt and there is the 12lbs I gained.
How can this help you? Don't eat this shit, plain and simple. Imagine how much lighter you could be walking around just by cutting this garbage out of your nutritional profile. Try it for a month and you'll never go back.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
How Is the New Training Going?
Quite well, actually. I have an easier time recovering and the work capacity work (yes, that is right) makes me feel healthier, even through the higher intensities. Today's training broke down like this
FRONT SQUAT
Bar x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
270x3
285x3
300x3
These felt good, but I always have to rerack the last rep on my highest % set. Probably form breaking down.
DEADLIFT
5x10 with 315(60% of 1RM).
I switched up stances with each set, so I did 2 sumo and 3 conventional. These sets showed me how low my work capacity is. These took too long to recover from and I ended up pulling 5 or 6 reps in a row and the rest were doubles and singles with 3-5 breaths between to finish the sets.
JUMP PULLUPS
I was supposed to do 5x10 here, but my grip was so fried from the deads that I only made it through one sets and had to call it quits.
BLAST STRAPS ROWS
4x12
Nothing special here
EXPLOSIVE WOODCHOPS
8x3 unidirectional to compliments throwing
THROWING DRILLS
Line Drills
Shot Put Drills and Throws
All in all it was a great day of training. I have been going M, T, R, F, but I missed Monday because I felt like garbage. The night before I was a little too sore for my liking so I took a contrast shower, and did some SMR while in there. I think that it released a lot of toxins, much like a too deep massage, so I had to listen to my body and call it quits. Now I'm rested up and back. Tomorrow is conditioning day, so I'll push Dynamic Bench and Hang Cleans back to Friday and Saturday.
FRONT SQUAT
Bar x10
135x10
185x5
225x3
270x3
285x3
300x3
These felt good, but I always have to rerack the last rep on my highest % set. Probably form breaking down.
DEADLIFT
5x10 with 315(60% of 1RM).
I switched up stances with each set, so I did 2 sumo and 3 conventional. These sets showed me how low my work capacity is. These took too long to recover from and I ended up pulling 5 or 6 reps in a row and the rest were doubles and singles with 3-5 breaths between to finish the sets.
JUMP PULLUPS
I was supposed to do 5x10 here, but my grip was so fried from the deads that I only made it through one sets and had to call it quits.
BLAST STRAPS ROWS
4x12
Nothing special here
EXPLOSIVE WOODCHOPS
8x3 unidirectional to compliments throwing
THROWING DRILLS
Line Drills
Shot Put Drills and Throws
All in all it was a great day of training. I have been going M, T, R, F, but I missed Monday because I felt like garbage. The night before I was a little too sore for my liking so I took a contrast shower, and did some SMR while in there. I think that it released a lot of toxins, much like a too deep massage, so I had to listen to my body and call it quits. Now I'm rested up and back. Tomorrow is conditioning day, so I'll push Dynamic Bench and Hang Cleans back to Friday and Saturday.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Why Your Certification Doesn't Mean Sh*t
What Personal Training certification do you hold? NSCA? NASM? ISSA? ACE? ACSM? In my opinion, no matter how you cut it, it doesn't mean jack squat. I know that certifications are a vital part of the industry and they help to develop some sort of standards, but holding one certification over another does not make you a better strength coach or trainer.
Sure there are some certifications that hold higher esteem than others, but let me put this in perspective for you. Are there any regulatory bodies that govern what each individual certifying organization puts in their tests? No. I could go out today and form the Sports, Hypertrophy, Integrative Trainer certification and people would pay me money to have S.H.I.T. put behind their name on their business cards as their certification. Likewise, there are organizations out there where you do a weekend workshop, pay them "x" amount of dollars and you are magically competent enough to train a client. Does that make a lick of sense?
Next, look for education. In this case more is not always better. Look for a relevant field of study such as Physiology, Kinesiology, Biomechanics, Fitness, Wellness, Human Performance, Athletic Training. A Master's trumps a Bachelor's, but a Bachelor's is probably on the same level as a Ph.D.. All three of those will trump a H.S. diploma for obvious reasons. Why rag on the Ph.D. Matt? If you have ever spent any time in college, aside from hanging out in your frat house, you would realize what Ph.D. students actually do. THEY SPEND ALL DAY IN A FRIGGIN' LABORATORY. They have probably forgotten all of the things they learned that practically apply to exercise and retained all the stuff they needed to chop rats up in the name of science. At UF I had plenty of professors teach me how to resistance train that looked like they had NEVER picked up a weight themselves, much less coached anyone else in their life.
The most important thing is to look for experience. Nothing, in my opinion, trumps experience. I would rather have an ACT certified (free cert) Personal Trainer with 15 years of competition and "under the bar" experience than a pencil-necked geek right out of college with his NSCA-CSCS, along with his NASM-PES. I'm sure that the 6'2" 155lb college kid had to learn more to earn his certification, but he has no idea what it is actually like to train. You have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the one you work with.
Has the person been training for a while and can they carry clients? If you are a strength coach or trainer and do not have the ability to carry 15 clients at a time, you are just an enthusiast. Make a living and support yourself and possibly your family off of this industry and maybe I'll start to listen to you. Experience is king.
You can read all day long on how to do a Snatch, but until you walk up to that bar, put your hands on the iron and yank that sumbitch over your head, you have no idea what you are talking about. You see this all the time on the internet. They are the keyboard experts that carry about 4 clients at a time, but will try to sell you on their "secrets" of training leaving you with buyers remorse and a sour taste in your mouth about the whole industry.
I get asked a lot, "Matt, why don't you start writing articles?". I feel as though I have not fully earned the "experienced" title. Sure, I've been lifting since I was 15 years old and have competed in strength sports since I was 19. Hell, I've even come back from an accident that was supposed to kill me. However, I have only been earning a living off of this industry for 3 years now. I have been coaching people on lifting for the past 6 years, but not making a living off of it. While I have been successful in what I do 3 years does not make me "experienced" in my own eyes. Until that time when I deem myself "experienced" I will continue to educate myself, I will continue to grow, and I will continue to share my passion with new up-and-coming trainers. So, until that time, my thoughts and experiences will be published here.
Sure there are some certifications that hold higher esteem than others, but let me put this in perspective for you. Are there any regulatory bodies that govern what each individual certifying organization puts in their tests? No. I could go out today and form the Sports, Hypertrophy, Integrative Trainer certification and people would pay me money to have S.H.I.T. put behind their name on their business cards as their certification. Likewise, there are organizations out there where you do a weekend workshop, pay them "x" amount of dollars and you are magically competent enough to train a client. Does that make a lick of sense?
So what should you look for in a strength coach or trainer?
First look for certification because at least you know that the person know enough not to kill you. This is the least important thing to look for. If you didn't get the point from the previous paragraphs you are too dense and proably deserve to have a crappy strength coach/trainer.Next, look for education. In this case more is not always better. Look for a relevant field of study such as Physiology, Kinesiology, Biomechanics, Fitness, Wellness, Human Performance, Athletic Training. A Master's trumps a Bachelor's, but a Bachelor's is probably on the same level as a Ph.D.. All three of those will trump a H.S. diploma for obvious reasons. Why rag on the Ph.D. Matt? If you have ever spent any time in college, aside from hanging out in your frat house, you would realize what Ph.D. students actually do. THEY SPEND ALL DAY IN A FRIGGIN' LABORATORY. They have probably forgotten all of the things they learned that practically apply to exercise and retained all the stuff they needed to chop rats up in the name of science. At UF I had plenty of professors teach me how to resistance train that looked like they had NEVER picked up a weight themselves, much less coached anyone else in their life.
The most important thing is to look for experience. Nothing, in my opinion, trumps experience. I would rather have an ACT certified (free cert) Personal Trainer with 15 years of competition and "under the bar" experience than a pencil-necked geek right out of college with his NSCA-CSCS, along with his NASM-PES. I'm sure that the 6'2" 155lb college kid had to learn more to earn his certification, but he has no idea what it is actually like to train. You have to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the one you work with.
Has the person been training for a while and can they carry clients? If you are a strength coach or trainer and do not have the ability to carry 15 clients at a time, you are just an enthusiast. Make a living and support yourself and possibly your family off of this industry and maybe I'll start to listen to you. Experience is king.
You can read all day long on how to do a Snatch, but until you walk up to that bar, put your hands on the iron and yank that sumbitch over your head, you have no idea what you are talking about. You see this all the time on the internet. They are the keyboard experts that carry about 4 clients at a time, but will try to sell you on their "secrets" of training leaving you with buyers remorse and a sour taste in your mouth about the whole industry.
I get asked a lot, "Matt, why don't you start writing articles?". I feel as though I have not fully earned the "experienced" title. Sure, I've been lifting since I was 15 years old and have competed in strength sports since I was 19. Hell, I've even come back from an accident that was supposed to kill me. However, I have only been earning a living off of this industry for 3 years now. I have been coaching people on lifting for the past 6 years, but not making a living off of it. While I have been successful in what I do 3 years does not make me "experienced" in my own eyes. Until that time when I deem myself "experienced" I will continue to educate myself, I will continue to grow, and I will continue to share my passion with new up-and-coming trainers. So, until that time, my thoughts and experiences will be published here.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
New Breakdown of My Training
Here is the new training, now that I have had to re-plan EVERYTHING.
Day 1:
Close Grip Power Snatch from Hang
Push Press
Lateral Raise
Upright Row
Russian Twist
EXPLANATION: Close Grip Speed Snatch is for speed in the WOB. There is no drop involved in this snatch and the grip mimics the motion of the WOB. Push Press is there because I suck at OH Press and I need to get better at them. Lateral Raise is there to help with my sheaf. Upright Row is for my weak traps and the Russian Twist is more for range of motion (ROM) through my core.
Day 2:
Front Squat
Barbell Row
Jump Pullups
Blast Strap Rows
Pulling Woodchops
EXPLANATION: Front Squat to build up the Quadriceps, but also help me work on my Squat form as a whole. All the back work is thrown in to build up my upper back which has become weaker than I want it to. I am incorporating both horizontal and vertical pulling to get the best gains. The pulling woodchops are put in to help built rotational speed, which I seem to be lacking lately.
Day 3:
Conditioning
High rep Kettlebell work (Snatches, Cleans, Swings)
Weighted walks at an incline (40-135lbs added)
Throws work
EXPLANATION: To increase work capacity and endurance
Day 4:
Dynamic press: Specific lift changes every week
Dumbbell press: Specific lift changes every week
Triceps work
Caber Curls
Speed Ladder work
EXPLANATION: No big secret here, just trying to build up my shot put and caber. My upper body is seriously lagging behind my lower, so I need as much work as I can get. Speed ladder is included so foot speed will increase.
Day 5:
Power Cleans
Explosive Good Mornings
Depth Jumps/Reactive Jumps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts
Standing abs
EXPLANATION: General speed day, really keying in on the hips. Standing abs... you almost never use your abs when you are lying on the floor, so why train them in the gym that way?
Day 6:
Meathead Conditioning and Throwing
Throwing will come first, then the Meathead Conditioning. Tire flips, truck pushes, sled drags, caber carries for distance, etc... If it is heavy and I can move it, it is fair game
Day 7:
Rest
Three main lifts (Snatch, Squat, and Clean) are all done on a percentage based periodization determined by my one rep max on each lift. I'm going to re-try an older % based method from Bigger, Faster, Stronger. It is what I used when I first started lifting seriously and I got strong quick and stayed very healthy. The Press will be done at 40-60% of my one rep max and will change between incline, overhead, and flat. Every program will work, you just have to work the program.
All the accessory work is done between 3-5 sets and 8-15 reps and vary week to week. This will allow me to accumulate as much lean mass as possible while, hopefully, keeping my work capacity high. This is a representation of only one microcycle and it will change over time depending on where my competitions lay in a specific time frame.
During this time my conditioning will change, and most days will have some sort of weighted walking or sprints/sled drags. The goal here is to lose some fat mass, but I am not going to really focus on that until I have my next cut. I do not like a lukewarm approach when it comes to losing weight, either you are or you are not. It is as simple as that, so when I go on the next cut my goal will be to lose about 20lbs in 28 or so days. When I start the cut I want to be around 295, so I only need to drop 8lbs until then. This is where the conditioning work and portion size changes come into play.
Well, here is the plan and here is to setting goals and making them.
Day 1:
Close Grip Power Snatch from Hang
Push Press
Lateral Raise
Upright Row
Russian Twist
EXPLANATION: Close Grip Speed Snatch is for speed in the WOB. There is no drop involved in this snatch and the grip mimics the motion of the WOB. Push Press is there because I suck at OH Press and I need to get better at them. Lateral Raise is there to help with my sheaf. Upright Row is for my weak traps and the Russian Twist is more for range of motion (ROM) through my core.
Day 2:
Front Squat
Barbell Row
Jump Pullups
Blast Strap Rows
Pulling Woodchops
EXPLANATION: Front Squat to build up the Quadriceps, but also help me work on my Squat form as a whole. All the back work is thrown in to build up my upper back which has become weaker than I want it to. I am incorporating both horizontal and vertical pulling to get the best gains. The pulling woodchops are put in to help built rotational speed, which I seem to be lacking lately.
Day 3:
Conditioning
High rep Kettlebell work (Snatches, Cleans, Swings)
Weighted walks at an incline (40-135lbs added)
Throws work
EXPLANATION: To increase work capacity and endurance
Day 4:
Dynamic press: Specific lift changes every week
Dumbbell press: Specific lift changes every week
Triceps work
Caber Curls
Speed Ladder work
EXPLANATION: No big secret here, just trying to build up my shot put and caber. My upper body is seriously lagging behind my lower, so I need as much work as I can get. Speed ladder is included so foot speed will increase.
Day 5:
Power Cleans
Explosive Good Mornings
Depth Jumps/Reactive Jumps
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts
Standing abs
EXPLANATION: General speed day, really keying in on the hips. Standing abs... you almost never use your abs when you are lying on the floor, so why train them in the gym that way?
Day 6:
Meathead Conditioning and Throwing
Throwing will come first, then the Meathead Conditioning. Tire flips, truck pushes, sled drags, caber carries for distance, etc... If it is heavy and I can move it, it is fair game
Day 7:
Rest
Three main lifts (Snatch, Squat, and Clean) are all done on a percentage based periodization determined by my one rep max on each lift. I'm going to re-try an older % based method from Bigger, Faster, Stronger. It is what I used when I first started lifting seriously and I got strong quick and stayed very healthy. The Press will be done at 40-60% of my one rep max and will change between incline, overhead, and flat. Every program will work, you just have to work the program.
All the accessory work is done between 3-5 sets and 8-15 reps and vary week to week. This will allow me to accumulate as much lean mass as possible while, hopefully, keeping my work capacity high. This is a representation of only one microcycle and it will change over time depending on where my competitions lay in a specific time frame.
During this time my conditioning will change, and most days will have some sort of weighted walking or sprints/sled drags. The goal here is to lose some fat mass, but I am not going to really focus on that until I have my next cut. I do not like a lukewarm approach when it comes to losing weight, either you are or you are not. It is as simple as that, so when I go on the next cut my goal will be to lose about 20lbs in 28 or so days. When I start the cut I want to be around 295, so I only need to drop 8lbs until then. This is where the conditioning work and portion size changes come into play.
Well, here is the plan and here is to setting goals and making them.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Highland Games Report and Revamping EVERYTHING
To sum it up, this was one of the most disappointing experiences I have had so far competing in a Highland Games. Not only did I not achieve a single goal I set for myself, I can't say anything too positive came out of the experience. I'll give you the run-down by events.
STONE: They had us throw one of the worst stone in the history of man, Herman's Head. This is really a Breamar Stone, but they use it as their Open Stone at the NEFL Games. It is a 22lb pain in the ass with a funky shape and no sweet spot. I had no "pop" on the throw and I felt as if I could not get any rotational force going on the throw. I only threw it 28'
56 lb Weight For Distance(WFD): My first throw looked like absolute garbage. The cast was too low, the first spin took up 3/4 of the box and I was falling backwards with the throw. It went 21' something. Second throw went a little bit better, but I had no pull on the throw. Third throw was the best, I got my first spin around quick enough and I got a small amount of pull out of it. It went 26' 9" which is a PR, but still 3" short of my goal.
28 lb WFD: I'd rather not talk about this one, but I'll go ahead and do it anyway. All three throws sucked. My feet were too slow, the mechanics felt poor and I threw almost 10' shorter than I threw in practice. I didn't even break 50' which in my eyes is pathetic and inexcusable.
HAMMER: This one was all poor practice methods. This was the first Games using spikes. I practiced the spins with spikes, but never the release. I fouled my first two throws, which felt really powerful, because I lost control and hit the ground on the first two throws. I ditched the spikes and went on for my third attempt. I got good speed, but on the fourth rotation I hit the ground and lost all power and the Hammer only went mid-50s.
CABER: This one went fairly well. I consider myself an average Caber thrower, but I seem to do really well. I placed fourth overall with a 2:00, 1:00 and a 12:00. At least I corrected some of my form errors.
56 lb Weight Over Bar: This one I tied my previous PR, but I was so defeated mentally and worn out physically, I could only touch the bar at 13'.
Sheaf: I suck at it and that is all there is to it. Tied my previous PR. I REALLY need coaching and form work on this one.
REVIEW: I am too slow. Too much Powerlifting and not enough Olympic and Speed training makes Matt a slow boy. So, this weekend I went back and totally revamped my training protocols. I plan to cut out a lot of my Max Effort work and work on a percentage based system. I am going to include speed ladder work and footwork drills. I am also going to change all my main lifts to include more speed/throws-based lifting. They will include Dynamic Incline and Overhead Pressing, Hang Power Snatch, Hang Power Cleans, and Front Squats. Two days a week will include throwing drills and the other two speed and footwork drills. One day on the weekend I am going to try to get a day of real throwing in. I am going to video record each session and only concentrate on two throws at a time.
As you saw I went 0 for 7 on my goals for this Games. I have VERY high expectations of myself because I know that I am better than this. I just need a way to transfer my "out of competition strength" to my "in-competition strength".
I tested Training Maxes for Front Squat and Close-Grip Power Snatch yesterday and man, am I ever slow.
Front Squat: 335. I feel like I had more in the tank, but I ran out of time and had already performed too many sets to work up to 335
Close-Grip Power Snatch: 185. WTF?! This is how slow I've become. This is a pathetic number for me, but a max is a max and I'm going to be smart and stick with the percentages for each given lift.
I am also debating on whether or not to drop weight, but that is another post for another time. My feet have been bothering me way too much for weight to not be a factor. I just need to decide how much I want to lose and how it will affect my throwing. Oh well, I guess that is how the iron game goes...
STONE: They had us throw one of the worst stone in the history of man, Herman's Head. This is really a Breamar Stone, but they use it as their Open Stone at the NEFL Games. It is a 22lb pain in the ass with a funky shape and no sweet spot. I had no "pop" on the throw and I felt as if I could not get any rotational force going on the throw. I only threw it 28'
56 lb Weight For Distance(WFD): My first throw looked like absolute garbage. The cast was too low, the first spin took up 3/4 of the box and I was falling backwards with the throw. It went 21' something. Second throw went a little bit better, but I had no pull on the throw. Third throw was the best, I got my first spin around quick enough and I got a small amount of pull out of it. It went 26' 9" which is a PR, but still 3" short of my goal.
28 lb WFD: I'd rather not talk about this one, but I'll go ahead and do it anyway. All three throws sucked. My feet were too slow, the mechanics felt poor and I threw almost 10' shorter than I threw in practice. I didn't even break 50' which in my eyes is pathetic and inexcusable.
HAMMER: This one was all poor practice methods. This was the first Games using spikes. I practiced the spins with spikes, but never the release. I fouled my first two throws, which felt really powerful, because I lost control and hit the ground on the first two throws. I ditched the spikes and went on for my third attempt. I got good speed, but on the fourth rotation I hit the ground and lost all power and the Hammer only went mid-50s.
CABER: This one went fairly well. I consider myself an average Caber thrower, but I seem to do really well. I placed fourth overall with a 2:00, 1:00 and a 12:00. At least I corrected some of my form errors.
56 lb Weight Over Bar: This one I tied my previous PR, but I was so defeated mentally and worn out physically, I could only touch the bar at 13'.
Sheaf: I suck at it and that is all there is to it. Tied my previous PR. I REALLY need coaching and form work on this one.
REVIEW: I am too slow. Too much Powerlifting and not enough Olympic and Speed training makes Matt a slow boy. So, this weekend I went back and totally revamped my training protocols. I plan to cut out a lot of my Max Effort work and work on a percentage based system. I am going to include speed ladder work and footwork drills. I am also going to change all my main lifts to include more speed/throws-based lifting. They will include Dynamic Incline and Overhead Pressing, Hang Power Snatch, Hang Power Cleans, and Front Squats. Two days a week will include throwing drills and the other two speed and footwork drills. One day on the weekend I am going to try to get a day of real throwing in. I am going to video record each session and only concentrate on two throws at a time.
As you saw I went 0 for 7 on my goals for this Games. I have VERY high expectations of myself because I know that I am better than this. I just need a way to transfer my "out of competition strength" to my "in-competition strength".
I tested Training Maxes for Front Squat and Close-Grip Power Snatch yesterday and man, am I ever slow.
Front Squat: 335. I feel like I had more in the tank, but I ran out of time and had already performed too many sets to work up to 335
Close-Grip Power Snatch: 185. WTF?! This is how slow I've become. This is a pathetic number for me, but a max is a max and I'm going to be smart and stick with the percentages for each given lift.
I am also debating on whether or not to drop weight, but that is another post for another time. My feet have been bothering me way too much for weight to not be a factor. I just need to decide how much I want to lose and how it will affect my throwing. Oh well, I guess that is how the iron game goes...
Friday, February 25, 2011
Highland Games Stuff
Tomorrow will be the 1 year mark of me throwing in the Highland Games. I LOVE the Northeast Florida Highland Games. They were my first Games when I threw the first time at 20 years old and they were my first Games back after my accident. Now I say it is my first year throwing in the Highland Games because when you have to learn how to throw all over again, I consider it a new start.
These Highland Games are huge. We throw at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs, FL. The venue is big, the Masters and the A's get to throw indoors for the height events and the Caber, and there are always a ton of spectators. I love the crowd. There is nothing better than hearing the crowd after a big caber is turned or a weight for height is made. It just makes you feel good. Last time I threw I had a partial tear to my Achilles Tendon, so I didn't hit most of my goals, so here are my new goals for these games:
Stone of Strength: 40'
56# Weight for Distance: 27'
28# Weight for Distance: 60'
Hammer: 70'
Sheaf: 24' (pathetic, I know)
56# Weight for Height: 13'
Caber: Looking for one turn
I need to look at my form for the caber. I'm turning them and turning them easily, but I always end up between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock. I think I am pulling from the shoulder, but I'll try to get my wife to shoot some video for me.
I had the opportunity to work with Andy Vince this past weekend. Andy Vince is a throws coach based out of Clermont, Florida and is a phenomenal teacher. Here is part of his resume:
Former British Director of Throws
Great Britain Under 23 National Team Head Coach
Scottish Team National Coach
Senior United Kingdom Shot Put Champion
Record Holder, Indoor Shot Put/Outdoor Shot and Discus throw at Murray State University USA
This guy made sense of the throws. He was able to explain it practically as well as biomechanically. In fact, at one point during the clinic he was talking about the biomechanics and physiology of some of the throws, one of the other throwers looked at me and said, "I bet this is really turning you on, huh."
We had about 6-7 hours of coaching which included drills for hand, body, and foot position as well as foot speed and throws techniques
These Highland Games are huge. We throw at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs, FL. The venue is big, the Masters and the A's get to throw indoors for the height events and the Caber, and there are always a ton of spectators. I love the crowd. There is nothing better than hearing the crowd after a big caber is turned or a weight for height is made. It just makes you feel good. Last time I threw I had a partial tear to my Achilles Tendon, so I didn't hit most of my goals, so here are my new goals for these games:
Stone of Strength: 40'
56# Weight for Distance: 27'
28# Weight for Distance: 60'
Hammer: 70'
Sheaf: 24' (pathetic, I know)
56# Weight for Height: 13'
Caber: Looking for one turn
I need to look at my form for the caber. I'm turning them and turning them easily, but I always end up between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock. I think I am pulling from the shoulder, but I'll try to get my wife to shoot some video for me.
I had the opportunity to work with Andy Vince this past weekend. Andy Vince is a throws coach based out of Clermont, Florida and is a phenomenal teacher. Here is part of his resume:
Former British Director of Throws
Great Britain Under 23 National Team Head Coach
Scottish Team National Coach
Senior United Kingdom Shot Put Champion
Record Holder, Indoor Shot Put/Outdoor Shot and Discus throw at Murray State University USA
This guy made sense of the throws. He was able to explain it practically as well as biomechanically. In fact, at one point during the clinic he was talking about the biomechanics and physiology of some of the throws, one of the other throwers looked at me and said, "I bet this is really turning you on, huh."
We had about 6-7 hours of coaching which included drills for hand, body, and foot position as well as foot speed and throws techniques
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Some Thoughts on Nutrition Part II
Let's talk about me, for instance. My goal is to stay 285-305, sure that gives me quite a bit of wiggle room, but that is where I feel the best. I've walked around heavier than that and I feel like a slob. I've also walked around at 240 and I just don't feel as strong or powerful, not to mention that my lean mass is in the high 230s right now. So how do I eat? I try to eat as clean as possible. I found out while giving speeches at a local high school that my co-presenter (a figure/bikini IFBB pro competitor and marathon runner) and I both ate relatively the same. Both of our nutritional profiles were very similar. The big difference, portion size and types. We both eat tons of chicken, beans, green leafy vegetables, etc..., but I will eat everything on the entire chicken, while she sticks with the tenders or the breasts. Where she may eat 1/2 a cup of beans with her meal I'll eat the whole can. You can see where this is going, but we have totally different goals and the "technical profile" is the same.
Now, can I eat completely clean all the time? No. {INSERT HORRIFIC GASP HERE} I'll be the first to admit that I do not eat clean 100% of the time. When I lose my appetite and can't eat as often as I should, I have to make up for it with pretty calorically dense stuff. This isn't saying I sit down with gallons of ice cream, I will however, pick fattier cuts of meat(dark poultry, chuck beef, etc...) or add extra oils to my meals like olive, flax, and grapeseed. Remember that my goal is to maintain a certain weight that is 100+ lbs over that of your average male. When my training gets really intense and I feel my body "shutting down" to the stimulus, I have to eat more. In my personal opinion there is no such thing as over-training in non-elite athletes. There is only under-eating and under-resting.
If you are trying to lose weight is this a good protocol to follow? NO!!! If you want to lose weight you have to eat clean and be consistent. Consistency is the key for dropping weight. Not, "I did well the past three days, so I can take it easy today". IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! If I said, "I got in 5500 cals for the past week, I think I'll only eat 2200 today", would I stay at my desired weight? There is not a snowball's chance in hell I would. Match your nutrition to the goals you want to accomplish.
To be frank: You eat like shit...You're gonna look like shit! Garbage in = garbage out.
"Ma!!! Where's muh proteeen?!
My opinion: the more you get the better. It helps with satiety(feeling of being full) and ensures you have all the building blocks you need to make all the necessary repairs. Remember that fat and protein are the building blocks for everything in the body. The biggest key is knowing when you need to get certain types.
After Training:
Whey Protein Isolate by far is the best for post-workout. It is the fastest absorbing, most biologically available form of protein. This is what you want to pump your body full of post-workout. Get the protein in the system as fast as possible so that you can stay anabolic. Pair this with a high Glycemic Load carbohydrate (Vitargo, Turbinado sugar, Honey), no fat and you have the perfect post workout shake. Fruit is so-so to use but remember that there is also fructose in fruit, so the glycogen produced from fructose will be most likely stored in the liver, not the muscles. Fat will slow down the digestion and absorption, so leave it out here.
For Meals:
Turkey and eggs are king here. Both are extremely biologically available and absorb well. Eggs are also full of great fats and other nutrients you need like cholesterol. OOHHH NOOO NOT CHOLESTEROL. Different post for a different time, but cholesterol is the main building block for your sex hormones, like testosterone. Turkey breast has less than half of the fat of the leanest cut of beef. Now this means Thanksgiving type turkey breast, not the chopped, boiled, formed crap you get in the deli and on sandwiches.
Don't be afraid to eat red meat either. Red meat had tons of things that are phenomenal for you like: creatine, B-vitamins, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and the list goes on and on. Choose the leaner cuts like: meat from the Round, Loin, Sirloin, and Flank. Stay away from the Chuck, Rib, Shoulder and Brisket as they are very fatty. Expand you horizons and try other sources of red meat like Buffalo and Lamb. Mmmmmmm, Laaaaaammmmmb.
Chicken is a staple for most people trying to get lean. Stick with the breast and the tender when trying to lean out, but eat everything if you are trying to maintain or gain. Consider yourself a "hardgainer"??? Eat a whole chicken every day and you'll not longer have "hardgainer" issues. Its cheap, easy to cook and you can make it taste like anything you want.
Slow absorbing protein:
Micellar Casein rules the roost. Remember when Met-Rx protein first came out and it was phenomenal? Everyone saw great results and it was the best thing on the market. Then they reformulated it and left out the Micellar Casein because it was too expensive to keep in the product. Met-Rx protein got crappier and most of it was due to the exclusion of Micellar Casein. Get it in shake form or from cottage cheese for slow absorption. Casein form a gel in the stomach and has been shown to release amino acids into the blood stream for up to 6-7 hours after ingestion. Pair it with some soluble fiber and some fish or flax oil for an even more drawn out release. Those "old-people fiber powders" actually work well for this. Just be sure to mix it and SLAM it down. If you let it sit in the glass too long it is gonna get gross, quick.
That is all for today. If you want to hear about a specific topic write a comment and I'll do something up for you.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Some Thoughts on Nutrition
First do something simple; think about foods that upset your stomach in any way, shape, or form. Does it make you nauseous after you eat it? Do you get gassy? Does it make you feel bloated? Chances are that you have a insensitivity to a food. Now, insensitivities are not full-blown allergies, but they can be just as detrimental to your nutrition. Lets take wheat(and other cereal grains) into consideration.
People that are insensitive to wheat have absorption issues. When they eat wheat and it is introduced into the small intestine the villi(small finger-like projections) in the small intestine will lay down. Now the purpose of these villi is to increase the amount of surface area in the small intestine to increase chances of absorption of nutrients. They lay down and you are not absorbing the nutrients that you need.
I hate that "Paleo" has become a fad, but there is some merit to it. If you could not go out and pick it or kill it yourself, don't eat it. What does this do? It just eliminates processed foods. The exception that I make to this is supplementation. You have to think like this. We have been around for 1.2-2 million years, depending on who you ask. We have only had agriculture for the past 10,000 years and most of that was centered around Northern Europe. That is a flash in the pan when you think about the grand scheme of things. You can't go out and take wheat off of the stalk, throw it in your mouth and digest it. You have to process the ever-loving bejeezus out of it to be able to digest it. With that processing comes extra crap that does not need to be put in your body.
Chances are, unless you are of 100% northern European descent you will have an intolerance or an insensitivity to agricultural products like wheat or milk. It is more uncommon to be able to digest milk properly than it is to be lactose intolerant. Why is this? Milk has not been in the human diet long enough to elicit an adaptation. A great example is Native Americans. Dairy has never been in their diet so intolerance is 100% in adults.
Next point...Eat things in their natural state. Wheat grows in nature, but we have turn it into something else before we can use it. Same thing with corn. Not to be crude, but you can always tell when the last time you ate corn was. If it looks the same way coming out, as it did going in, you are getting no benefit from it. Chicken grows naturally, but a chicken nugget isn't natural. There are 38 different ingredients in a single chicken nugget. Pretty gross right? Now look at a box of Cheerios, there are over 20 ingredients in a single Cheerio. They beat the crap out of the grains they are using and process them so much they have to add back vitamins and minerals that were already in the original grain. Plus, the more you pulverize something, then more the surface area is increased. Why is this important? Surface area affects the Glycemic Load of a food. The higher the Glycemic Load, the more it affects your blood sugar levels, which in turn affects insulin response.
I'll go into more depth a little later, but if you got nothing else out of this, remember the bold points. When you shop, ask yourself these two things when you pick up an item. Next time we'll talk about portion sizes and protein selection. Trust me...I worked my way through college as a Meat Cutter/Butcher.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Goals
What are your goals?
Pretty simple question right? If it took you longer than half a second to start rattling off answers you are doing a pretty crappy job of setting goals. I know that it tends to be a loaded question, but if you have to think about your goals to be able to verbalize them you have already started off on the wrong foot.
The first question you need to ask yourself is, "What do I want?". This does not have to exclusively apply to training, you can apply it to any part of your life. Ex. "Matt what do you want?", to which I would reply, "A 600 lb raw Deadlift by the end of 2011".
The next important question to ask yourself is, "Why do I want it?". This is a crucial part of the goal setting process. If you want to do something because your old lady thinks you should, it is a bad choice. Make sure that the thing that you want is something YOU want, not what someone else wants for you. You have to be intrinsically motivated, which means the source of motivation has to come from within you.
Now, I know that acronyms end up being cheesy most of the time, but this one works and has been effective for a long time. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.
S-Specific. Your goals need to be specific. Not, "I want to lose weight", or "I want a heavier Deadlift". Go take a leak, congratulations, you just lost weight. Put a napkin over your plates and lift it, good job chief, you just lifted a heavier amount of weight. Are those significant improvements? Hell no. "I want to lose 10 lbs". Now we are getting somewhere, you just listed what you want to do in a specific manner.
M-Measurable. You need to be able to measure to track your results. "I don't keep track of my lifting." You sir, are a friggin' idiot. How do you know you are making progress? Keep a log of some sort, even if you jot it down in a notebook that is enough to help keep you accountable. Now when you are tracking your weight, don’t weigh in every day, especially if you are a female. Hormones, water, salt, etc... All these things affect your weight from day to day. Hell, you give me two hours, a wet sauna, a hoodie and sweat pants and I can shed 5 lbs. Did I really lose 5 lbs? No, I just manipulated fluid levels.
A-Attainable- Can you get to the goal? What if my goal was to Deadlift 800lbs by the end of 2011? Or, I want to have a PhD by the end of this month. It is just not attainable. If we changed that up to something more attainable the goal has the opportunity to be met. Which feeds right into the next point...
R-Realistic. Is your goal realistic? This ties right in with attainable. This one should be common sense, but you would be surprised at some of the unrealistic goals I've seen before. Say it is February, and I'm training some frat boy (yes, they are boys) and he wants to gain 10lbs of lean mass and lose 5% body fat by Spring Break in 30-some-odd days. It is just not realistic.
T-Time Restricted. Have a cap on when you want to achieve your goal. If your goal is to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? 5 weeks? 12 weeks? 3 years? Give yourself a time-frame and make it challenging. Don;t make your goals too soft on the time restriction. Chances are you'll slack off and not reach them in the end anyway.
Make short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. Make sure your short-term goals are getting you to your mid-term goals and your mid-term goals are getting you to your long-term goals. Set a "big picture" goal and make sure that you have a step by step process to get yourself to place you want to be. If you have to sit down and re-assess the goals you have set somewhere down the line, which is no problem. In fact, that is a good thing, it means you have the goal setting process down.
Now go out, make some goals, and work your way towards them.
Pretty simple question right? If it took you longer than half a second to start rattling off answers you are doing a pretty crappy job of setting goals. I know that it tends to be a loaded question, but if you have to think about your goals to be able to verbalize them you have already started off on the wrong foot.
The first question you need to ask yourself is, "What do I want?". This does not have to exclusively apply to training, you can apply it to any part of your life. Ex. "Matt what do you want?", to which I would reply, "A 600 lb raw Deadlift by the end of 2011".
The next important question to ask yourself is, "Why do I want it?". This is a crucial part of the goal setting process. If you want to do something because your old lady thinks you should, it is a bad choice. Make sure that the thing that you want is something YOU want, not what someone else wants for you. You have to be intrinsically motivated, which means the source of motivation has to come from within you.
Now, I know that acronyms end up being cheesy most of the time, but this one works and has been effective for a long time. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.
S-Specific. Your goals need to be specific. Not, "I want to lose weight", or "I want a heavier Deadlift". Go take a leak, congratulations, you just lost weight. Put a napkin over your plates and lift it, good job chief, you just lifted a heavier amount of weight. Are those significant improvements? Hell no. "I want to lose 10 lbs". Now we are getting somewhere, you just listed what you want to do in a specific manner.
M-Measurable. You need to be able to measure to track your results. "I don't keep track of my lifting." You sir, are a friggin' idiot. How do you know you are making progress? Keep a log of some sort, even if you jot it down in a notebook that is enough to help keep you accountable. Now when you are tracking your weight, don’t weigh in every day, especially if you are a female. Hormones, water, salt, etc... All these things affect your weight from day to day. Hell, you give me two hours, a wet sauna, a hoodie and sweat pants and I can shed 5 lbs. Did I really lose 5 lbs? No, I just manipulated fluid levels.
A-Attainable- Can you get to the goal? What if my goal was to Deadlift 800lbs by the end of 2011? Or, I want to have a PhD by the end of this month. It is just not attainable. If we changed that up to something more attainable the goal has the opportunity to be met. Which feeds right into the next point...
R-Realistic. Is your goal realistic? This ties right in with attainable. This one should be common sense, but you would be surprised at some of the unrealistic goals I've seen before. Say it is February, and I'm training some frat boy (yes, they are boys) and he wants to gain 10lbs of lean mass and lose 5% body fat by Spring Break in 30-some-odd days. It is just not realistic.
T-Time Restricted. Have a cap on when you want to achieve your goal. If your goal is to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? 5 weeks? 12 weeks? 3 years? Give yourself a time-frame and make it challenging. Don;t make your goals too soft on the time restriction. Chances are you'll slack off and not reach them in the end anyway.
Make short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. Make sure your short-term goals are getting you to your mid-term goals and your mid-term goals are getting you to your long-term goals. Set a "big picture" goal and make sure that you have a step by step process to get yourself to place you want to be. If you have to sit down and re-assess the goals you have set somewhere down the line, which is no problem. In fact, that is a good thing, it means you have the goal setting process down.
Now go out, make some goals, and work your way towards them.
Monday, January 31, 2011
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!
Any who, I figured I'd do something totally different than normal and blog about something else in my life. Today I'll cover shaving. For most guys shaving is seen as a chore. There is no joy in it, no pride and there is certainly no craftsmanship involved in it anymore. The blades are numerous, sharpened by chemicals, the "shaving cream" is nothing more than "goop" that comes from an aerosol can and the act itself is usually carried out in the shower just like any other maintenance-type grooming.
I used to HATE shaving. It chewed up my face, gave me bad acne and burned for almost an hour after I got done. I tried everything; 2 blade, 3 blade, 4 blade, different types of shaving gels, creams, and soaps. My beard is not coarse by any means, but it is quite dense, so if I wanted to keep a razor as sharp as it needed to be, I had to change out the cartridges out every third shave. That got really expensive and my face was not getting any better treatment. So how did I solve this? I grew a beard. Well, that got old and I decided to start shaving again, but this time I went all out and started shaving my head for the first time. I'm not going bald by any means, actually it pisses a lot of people off when I shave my head because, to quote, "You have such gorgeous, thick hair". That was when I discovered HeadBlade products.
HeadBlade is a company that makes products exclusively for guys that shave their heads. They make shaving creams, aftershave and even a razor system designed for shaving your head. Well, the razor sucked just like every other razor I had tried in my life, but the shaving cream was what I got the "Ah-Ha" from. I started to use the shaving cream on my face as well as my head and I begun to see good results on my face as well as my scalp. Then it dawned on me, shaving was not about just the razor but the total system that you use. I then started doing research.
Come to find out there were bigger and better things out there for shaving and to boot the vast majority of them were not all that expensive. First I started working on building a better lather. I started out with Kiss My Face shaving creams and using a brush. For those of you that have never shaved with a brush and hot, hand-made lather, you are doing yourself a great disservice. If you change nothing else about your shaving, this is the one thing to convert over to. A good lather will make a shave ten times better. Invest in a good brush, not the crappy boar hair brushes you get in the pharmacies and Walmart, but a good badger hair brush. A crappy brush makes a crappy lather, just like crappy soap makes a crappy lather. There are some good videos on YouTube on making your own lather.
Once I became pretty proficient in making a good lather and saw better, but not good results into my shaving, I went for a different razor system. I looked for all kinds of different options and the two that made the most sense were the double edge razors, like your grandpa used to use, and the straight razor, like you see in the movies. Straight razor shaving completely intrigued me. Buy on razor for the rest of your life, sharpen it to your liking and you get a clean close shave every time. I already had the vast majority of the hones I needed to get the job done, all I needed now was a razor and a strop. Being the handyman that I am, I wanted to do things my way. I went to eBay and found some old razors and strops I could restore. I cleaned the razors, reconditioned the strops, and started honing the razors. After about a week of making sure everything was in order I did my first straight shave and loved it. I've fallen in love ever since.
Shaving has become more of a part of my evening wind-down time. I take pride in it, hell, I even look forward to it. This evening I just took all of my stuff, put it on the coffee table and shaved while I talked to my wife. If you look at the picture at the top that is all the shaving stuff that is required to do a shave wherever you want. It is a scuttle(white thing to keep the lather warm), Silvertip Badger brush, shaving cream, a straight razor, a mirror and a damp cloth. I also had to strop the razor, but the strop was not in the picture. Being the nostalgic nerd that I am, I took the badger knot that I ordered and installed it into the shaving brush handle that my Dad used when I was a kid.
As you can probably see, the vast majority of these blades are stained, or have a patina. I love a good patina, not only does it protect the blade, but it shows that the razor has history. Not just some thing that someone used to shave with at one point but a tool, used for a purpose. Patina tells a story to me just like the pits and scratches on the old shotguns and rifles that I restore(another blog post for another time). Who am I to take that away just to make the metal more aesthetically pleasing to someone else? But, that is just one man's opinion.
So try it out. If not straight shaving, at least try making your own lather. But watch out, it is just as easy to get addicted to acquiring new soap, creams, and brushes as it is new razors. Right now I have three different soaps, two different creams, two double edge razors, eight straight razors, two complete brushes and two vintage brush handles that need new knots. To make it worse, that is considered pretty bush league compared to some of the collectors (read addicts) out there.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Been a while
It has been one of the longer hiatuses I've taken from blogging since I started this blog back up. It has been a crazy past week or two. New intern, new hires, master level class and new hire orientation to plan and instruct. I'll be instructing three classes this go 'round, The Anatomy of Training, Interval/Metabolic Training and Facility Orientation. To be honest, the Facility Orientation is the most difficult to keep track of and remember everything.
The facility I work at is HUGE and I have to go over everything from the cold pool to the group ex. room to the free weights to the two Personal Training rooms. The biggest challenge is going over all of the equipment in the Personal Training rooms. Kettlebells, Macebells, dead and live medicine balls, bands, chains, blast straps, Vertimax, and ALL the other stuff that we have in the room. Not to mention I have to go through and show them all how and why all these things work. It is especially a challenge when the vast majority of these cats have never handled any of the non-traditional equipment. I just have to make sure that they become proficient in the use of the stuff before they give it to their clients.
I went to the Hoggetown Medieval Faire yesterday with my wife, son and the in-laws. I figured at least I'd get to see some good looking women in wench outfits or corsets. Oh boy was I wrong! I used to work with a guy that was into the DragonCons and ComicCons and all that stuff. He used to talk about how these things and Ren. Faires had all these hot chicks in outfits. I was lied to I tell you, lied to. On the lighter side, it was fun. Kaine and I shot some dude with a bow and arrows, we stared at weirdos that dressed up as God knows what and had nothing to do with medieval times, and watched dudes beat the ever-loving crap out of each other with foam weapons.
The facility I work at is HUGE and I have to go over everything from the cold pool to the group ex. room to the free weights to the two Personal Training rooms. The biggest challenge is going over all of the equipment in the Personal Training rooms. Kettlebells, Macebells, dead and live medicine balls, bands, chains, blast straps, Vertimax, and ALL the other stuff that we have in the room. Not to mention I have to go through and show them all how and why all these things work. It is especially a challenge when the vast majority of these cats have never handled any of the non-traditional equipment. I just have to make sure that they become proficient in the use of the stuff before they give it to their clients.
I went to the Hoggetown Medieval Faire yesterday with my wife, son and the in-laws. I figured at least I'd get to see some good looking women in wench outfits or corsets. Oh boy was I wrong! I used to work with a guy that was into the DragonCons and ComicCons and all that stuff. He used to talk about how these things and Ren. Faires had all these hot chicks in outfits. I was lied to I tell you, lied to. On the lighter side, it was fun. Kaine and I shot some dude with a bow and arrows, we stared at weirdos that dressed up as God knows what and had nothing to do with medieval times, and watched dudes beat the ever-loving crap out of each other with foam weapons.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Central Florida Highland Games
I am officially an Amateur A Division competitor. Let me tell you, it feels pretty damned good. The morning of the competition they were predicting an overflow of B Division competitors, so they allowed me to throw with the big boys based on my past throws. I was really excited to learn and boy did I ever learn.
Lessons Learned
1. My form is absolute garbage. No lie, I looked like some hulking galoot out there on some of the throws. I don't pick up my chest in time for the stone, pull too late on the weights for distance, have horrible timing on the weight for height, and God help my sheaf. I did okay in some events, but I was always at the back of the pack.
2. My Caber is not as bad as I thought. I was the third athlete to turn the caber on the day, finished fifth, but at least I got the thing to turn. It was only 2:00, and I need more pull out of my upper body.
3. I was stronger than most of my competitors. At least in the weight room anyway. Hearing some of these talk I'm smashing weights in the weight room they won't even touch. This leads me to believe that I really need to work on my throws and not concentrate so damn much on my numbers in the gym. Practice on the throws is going to be my main concern over the next month and a half to get ready for Jax. The only guy that I talked to that was stronger than I was ended up being Wes Kiser. This guy is fixing to go pro in the Highland Games and is an absolute animal in the weight room as well as on the field.
4. I've been relying way too much on brute force. I LOVE getting in the gym and hitting MY Big 5: Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Power Clean, Power Snatch. Being strong as a bull is great when all you do is actually lift the weights, but when you have specialized throws, you need technique. I will still hit up the big lifts, but from now on it will not be my big focus. I need to find a park or a field around town to hit up throws practice at least once a week.
5. My upper body strength is pathetic. I can blame it on my shoulder all I want, but if I want to succeed in the Highland Games the way I want to, I HAVE to just suck it up and JFDI, as my Dad would say. For crying out loud I have a 500+ lb deadlift, an almost 300lb clean and I can only 3 board press 275!? It is absolutely pathetic. I may take a trip down to Orlando Barbell to get some help from Brian Schwab. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and a world record holding powerlifter. I talked to him Sunday and he said it would be okay to come down and train every once and a while.
Overall I had a great weekend. Thursday morning I tweaked my left Achilles Tendon that left me with a pretty significant limp. I sought some advice from two Athletic Trainers we have on staff at work and they both recommended Achilles taping. Basically this tape job creates an artificial external Achilles Tendon. I had my wife do it the morning of the competition and it kept me from getting hurt any worse than I already was. Don't get me wrong I threw like garbage because I threw like garbage, but I just didn't have that "oomph" that I usually have on my throws. If you want you can check out my field of competitors HERE.
I hit 2 Prs. A 1 foot PR on the sheaf which brings me to 22 whole feet. It makes me sick to even say that. I also hit a 5 foot PR on the Hammer.
I'd like to thank Kevin Dupuis and Jim Gibson for pointing out some errors in my throwing. Jim won Athlete of the Day and Kevin smoked just about everyone on every event. The only setback is that Kevin fouled out of the 56 WFD.
Now its is back to the drawing board. Remember that programming I was talking about earlier? Yeah, that is in the trash now and I have to reconfigure things. Oh well, that is the way the game is played. Time to go back to the drawing board...
Lessons Learned
1. My form is absolute garbage. No lie, I looked like some hulking galoot out there on some of the throws. I don't pick up my chest in time for the stone, pull too late on the weights for distance, have horrible timing on the weight for height, and God help my sheaf. I did okay in some events, but I was always at the back of the pack.
2. My Caber is not as bad as I thought. I was the third athlete to turn the caber on the day, finished fifth, but at least I got the thing to turn. It was only 2:00, and I need more pull out of my upper body.
3. I was stronger than most of my competitors. At least in the weight room anyway. Hearing some of these talk I'm smashing weights in the weight room they won't even touch. This leads me to believe that I really need to work on my throws and not concentrate so damn much on my numbers in the gym. Practice on the throws is going to be my main concern over the next month and a half to get ready for Jax. The only guy that I talked to that was stronger than I was ended up being Wes Kiser. This guy is fixing to go pro in the Highland Games and is an absolute animal in the weight room as well as on the field.
4. I've been relying way too much on brute force. I LOVE getting in the gym and hitting MY Big 5: Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Power Clean, Power Snatch. Being strong as a bull is great when all you do is actually lift the weights, but when you have specialized throws, you need technique. I will still hit up the big lifts, but from now on it will not be my big focus. I need to find a park or a field around town to hit up throws practice at least once a week.
5. My upper body strength is pathetic. I can blame it on my shoulder all I want, but if I want to succeed in the Highland Games the way I want to, I HAVE to just suck it up and JFDI, as my Dad would say. For crying out loud I have a 500+ lb deadlift, an almost 300lb clean and I can only 3 board press 275!? It is absolutely pathetic. I may take a trip down to Orlando Barbell to get some help from Brian Schwab. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and a world record holding powerlifter. I talked to him Sunday and he said it would be okay to come down and train every once and a while.
Overall I had a great weekend. Thursday morning I tweaked my left Achilles Tendon that left me with a pretty significant limp. I sought some advice from two Athletic Trainers we have on staff at work and they both recommended Achilles taping. Basically this tape job creates an artificial external Achilles Tendon. I had my wife do it the morning of the competition and it kept me from getting hurt any worse than I already was. Don't get me wrong I threw like garbage because I threw like garbage, but I just didn't have that "oomph" that I usually have on my throws. If you want you can check out my field of competitors HERE.
I hit 2 Prs. A 1 foot PR on the sheaf which brings me to 22 whole feet. It makes me sick to even say that. I also hit a 5 foot PR on the Hammer.
I'd like to thank Kevin Dupuis and Jim Gibson for pointing out some errors in my throwing. Jim won Athlete of the Day and Kevin smoked just about everyone on every event. The only setback is that Kevin fouled out of the 56 WFD.
Now its is back to the drawing board. Remember that programming I was talking about earlier? Yeah, that is in the trash now and I have to reconfigure things. Oh well, that is the way the game is played. Time to go back to the drawing board...
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Writing My Own Programming
I'm sitting here trying to plan out my programming for the next few months. Decisions, decisions, decisions... Conjugate Method? Block Periodization? Hepburn A and B? Westside Template? Wendler's 5/3/1? Or try my own blend of programming?
I'm already very explosive and I don't feel like I get too much out of Dynamic Effort work, but I do feel speed work is needed. Just not utilized as its own day during the week. Over the past two months I haven't put all of my training on my blog because I've been experimenting a little bit. Going back to a previous post, you have to stick with something for a considerable amount of time before you get to see the true results. Well, you've seen some of the PR's I've put up in the Squat, Deadlift, and various presses, so the template I'm using is working. Now, I just need to see if I continue to see more gains after a planned deload. In a month or two I may write about the findings and the method.
As it stands I'm pulling ideas from all over the place. Just like everything else in this industry I'm sure it has been done before in some way, shape, or form. I like all of the methods mentioned before, but some don't have enough explosiveness built in for the Highland Games, others are geared too much toward powerlifting to have too much crossover. As I said before, I'm going to give it some time and post results later.
I'm already very explosive and I don't feel like I get too much out of Dynamic Effort work, but I do feel speed work is needed. Just not utilized as its own day during the week. Over the past two months I haven't put all of my training on my blog because I've been experimenting a little bit. Going back to a previous post, you have to stick with something for a considerable amount of time before you get to see the true results. Well, you've seen some of the PR's I've put up in the Squat, Deadlift, and various presses, so the template I'm using is working. Now, I just need to see if I continue to see more gains after a planned deload. In a month or two I may write about the findings and the method.
As it stands I'm pulling ideas from all over the place. Just like everything else in this industry I'm sure it has been done before in some way, shape, or form. I like all of the methods mentioned before, but some don't have enough explosiveness built in for the Highland Games, others are geared too much toward powerlifting to have too much crossover. As I said before, I'm going to give it some time and post results later.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Update and Last Games as a B
Well it has been a while since my last blog post, so here goes.
I have spent the past two weekends of my life moving. Nothing makes me more inscenced than moving. I loathe it, but it had to be done. Instead of living in the thriving metropolis that is Melrose, FL we have decided to move back into Gainesville. We found a house to rent here that is pretty alright, but it is a HUGE change from 18 acres of land on a lake. We will still make it out there as often as possible, but the commute was killing us and we were spending something like $700+ a month in gas alone. The best part is my drive to work is now 15 minutes, where it was 40-45 minutes before.
Training has been going very well and now I'm deloading to get ready for my competition in Orlando this weekend. I feel strong and fast, which is a big change over the past few Highland Games I've competed in. In the past I've felt strong and slow or fast and weak, so the current combination is what I've been looking for. A lot of it has probably come from me not worrying so much about my weight. I'm going to compete at the weight I walk around at and not worry about bulking or too much of a salt bloat. Another thing, I'm not going to drink the night before the competition. I usually get together with some of the guys and have a pint or nine, but this time I'm not going to drink at all. I find that my endurance is much better without drinking the night before.
Equipment will be different this time too. I thought about getting a pair of lighter Powerlifting briefs to help out, but I decided against it at the end. I'll be using hammer spikes for the first time in this games and that should put some extra oomph on my throws. I've decided to stay away from the throwing spikes and just throw in my Five Fingers. Sure, I get a ton of crap for throwing in them from the other competitors, but they work and I throw farther than the guys that laugh at them. I should start giggling at the guys in soccer cleats. I'll be wearing a belt this time it will be a Spud Inc. 3 ply Deadlift Belt. It will probably only be used for the 56# Weight For Height and the Caber. I finally got my sheaf fork tuned in and filed/sanded down the way it needs to be, but I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.
Here are my goals for the weekend
56#WFD: 26'+
28#WFD: 52'+
Heavy Hammer: 70'+
56# WFH: 12'+
Stone of Strength: 40' This is a mark I cannot seem to beat, but I feel much more confident in reaching this goal this go 'round
Caber: At least one 12:00. I'm always one of the few guys that turns it, but I usually end up over-muscling it and jacking up the turn.
Sheaf: Try not to embarrass myself too bad. I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.
I don't care if I win or not, I just want to be in the A's. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the guys I throw with in the B's, but I'm not learning anything from them. So this will be my last Highland Games as a B regardless of if I win or not. It is time for me to move on and start throwing with the big boys and learn a thing or two. I know I'm definitely strong enough to be in the A's, I just need to translate the technique a little better.
All I need now is to pack up the Blue Heat, ammonia, and the kilt...
I have spent the past two weekends of my life moving. Nothing makes me more inscenced than moving. I loathe it, but it had to be done. Instead of living in the thriving metropolis that is Melrose, FL we have decided to move back into Gainesville. We found a house to rent here that is pretty alright, but it is a HUGE change from 18 acres of land on a lake. We will still make it out there as often as possible, but the commute was killing us and we were spending something like $700+ a month in gas alone. The best part is my drive to work is now 15 minutes, where it was 40-45 minutes before.
Training has been going very well and now I'm deloading to get ready for my competition in Orlando this weekend. I feel strong and fast, which is a big change over the past few Highland Games I've competed in. In the past I've felt strong and slow or fast and weak, so the current combination is what I've been looking for. A lot of it has probably come from me not worrying so much about my weight. I'm going to compete at the weight I walk around at and not worry about bulking or too much of a salt bloat. Another thing, I'm not going to drink the night before the competition. I usually get together with some of the guys and have a pint or nine, but this time I'm not going to drink at all. I find that my endurance is much better without drinking the night before.
Equipment will be different this time too. I thought about getting a pair of lighter Powerlifting briefs to help out, but I decided against it at the end. I'll be using hammer spikes for the first time in this games and that should put some extra oomph on my throws. I've decided to stay away from the throwing spikes and just throw in my Five Fingers. Sure, I get a ton of crap for throwing in them from the other competitors, but they work and I throw farther than the guys that laugh at them. I should start giggling at the guys in soccer cleats. I'll be wearing a belt this time it will be a Spud Inc. 3 ply Deadlift Belt. It will probably only be used for the 56# Weight For Height and the Caber. I finally got my sheaf fork tuned in and filed/sanded down the way it needs to be, but I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.
Here are my goals for the weekend
56#WFD: 26'+
28#WFD: 52'+
Heavy Hammer: 70'+
56# WFH: 12'+
Stone of Strength: 40' This is a mark I cannot seem to beat, but I feel much more confident in reaching this goal this go 'round
Caber: At least one 12:00. I'm always one of the few guys that turns it, but I usually end up over-muscling it and jacking up the turn.
Sheaf: Try not to embarrass myself too bad. I SUCK AT THE SHEAF.
I don't care if I win or not, I just want to be in the A's. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the guys I throw with in the B's, but I'm not learning anything from them. So this will be my last Highland Games as a B regardless of if I win or not. It is time for me to move on and start throwing with the big boys and learn a thing or two. I know I'm definitely strong enough to be in the A's, I just need to translate the technique a little better.
All I need now is to pack up the Blue Heat, ammonia, and the kilt...
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Intern and Make That 3 days in a Row
I have a new intern in from the University of Florida and her first day was yesterday. If I wasn't with a client I was getting her set up for the upcoming semester. I love interns. Not in that "Mentor on a power trip" way where I get to make them do busy work and all the crap work I don't want to do. I hate when I hear that people's internships are full of that kind of stuff. I eat up the opportunity to teach people fresh out of academia. Get them in the trenches, get them lifting, keep them away from the "fitness trend" stuff that makes this industry reek of douche-baggery. So far I'm batting .500 on interns as far as success, but the last guy I had didn't have "it".
You have to have a certain amount of personality and presence to succeed in this industry. You have to be able to carry on a conversation, think on your feet, and speak clearly without mumbling. The cat had the knowledge and all the book smarts he needed, he just could not get it going on the other front. Too timid, too soft spoken and just had very little confidence. I can teach you all day long on Block Periodization, Conjugate Method, Non-Linear Periodization, stretching, flexibility, etc..., but he couldn't come up with the things I can't teach.
The other intern has become one of our busiest trainers. She logs in hours to rival the big dogs and gets her clients phenomenal results. She is logging in double the hours of the other trainers in her hiring class. This new intern has the potential of the first intern, I just have to make sure that I give her all the tools she need to succeed. Plus, it helps that now I get to hand-pick the interns and she was one I picked out of four others that applied.
I had only 30 mins yesterday to lift, so I was going to work up to 405 on the Squat and do a pain set. A pain set in my book is a 75-80% of your 1 Rep Max done for max repetitions. Well it is New Year's Resolution time in the gym and both Squat racks were occupied and the rest of the straight bars were being used for Power Biceps Curls. So I hit up the Trap Bar and SFW.
Trap Bar Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x3
545x4 (Rep PR!!!)
I love a PR even if it is 5-10lbs or 1-2 more reps with a set weight. It keep me going and gives me drive. I'm going to take today off and do some Accessory work Friday then deload next week to get ready for the Highland Games. Right now my Erectors and Glutes are fried.
Highland Games PRs here I come. I want to set at least 5 PRs next weekend
You have to have a certain amount of personality and presence to succeed in this industry. You have to be able to carry on a conversation, think on your feet, and speak clearly without mumbling. The cat had the knowledge and all the book smarts he needed, he just could not get it going on the other front. Too timid, too soft spoken and just had very little confidence. I can teach you all day long on Block Periodization, Conjugate Method, Non-Linear Periodization, stretching, flexibility, etc..., but he couldn't come up with the things I can't teach.
The other intern has become one of our busiest trainers. She logs in hours to rival the big dogs and gets her clients phenomenal results. She is logging in double the hours of the other trainers in her hiring class. This new intern has the potential of the first intern, I just have to make sure that I give her all the tools she need to succeed. Plus, it helps that now I get to hand-pick the interns and she was one I picked out of four others that applied.
I had only 30 mins yesterday to lift, so I was going to work up to 405 on the Squat and do a pain set. A pain set in my book is a 75-80% of your 1 Rep Max done for max repetitions. Well it is New Year's Resolution time in the gym and both Squat racks were occupied and the rest of the straight bars were being used for Power Biceps Curls. So I hit up the Trap Bar and SFW.
Trap Bar Deadlift
135x5
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x3
545x4 (Rep PR!!!)
I love a PR even if it is 5-10lbs or 1-2 more reps with a set weight. It keep me going and gives me drive. I'm going to take today off and do some Accessory work Friday then deload next week to get ready for the Highland Games. Right now my Erectors and Glutes are fried.
Highland Games PRs here I come. I want to set at least 5 PRs next weekend
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
PRs Two Days in a Row
Well I have been really busy trying to move back into Gainesville, so the blog has gone on the back burner for a while. Work has been kicking me in the teeth too. I have people wanting to come back and train with me, but I'm not sure if I have room. I've been trying to find the correct balance of training clients and taking care of both my Personal Training Team and my duties as Education Team Leader. To make it even better, I have a new intern coming in and I need to find time to make sure that I can devote enough time to her so that she can get the most out of the experience. I've got to suck it up, be a big boy and just get it done.
I've still been training and still been working my butt off trying to get everything ready for the upcoming Highland Games "season". I've been forgoing almost all accessory work to fit in time for throwing drills. I have been working mostly on footwork for the 28 and 56lb Weight For Distance throws and the Stone of Strength(like a shot-put). Here is how my past few days have broken down:
Monday: Deadlift
135x a few
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3(Rep PR in itself)
495x1
525x1(PR)
I almost called it quits after pulling 495 as every other pull felt slow and way too heavy. Hell, 405 felt like it didn't want to budge, but I sucked it up and lifted anyway.
Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish the day
3 Board Press:
Bar x 5 or so
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1(PR)
295x0 bombed
275 flew up faster than I expected, so I decided to go straight for 295. I flared my elbows too soon and stalled. Oh well, a PR is a PR.
Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish
I am feeling ready for the Central Florida Highland Games and I look forward to throwing a ton of PRs. My double spin is coming along well for the weights for distance and I have been throwing close to 60 feet in practice. I hit over 75 feet in the Hammer which would be a huge PR if I could make it translate to the Games.
Well, wish me luck
I've still been training and still been working my butt off trying to get everything ready for the upcoming Highland Games "season". I've been forgoing almost all accessory work to fit in time for throwing drills. I have been working mostly on footwork for the 28 and 56lb Weight For Distance throws and the Stone of Strength(like a shot-put). Here is how my past few days have broken down:
Monday: Deadlift
135x a few
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3(Rep PR in itself)
495x1
525x1(PR)
I almost called it quits after pulling 495 as every other pull felt slow and way too heavy. Hell, 405 felt like it didn't want to budge, but I sucked it up and lifted anyway.
Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish the day
3 Board Press:
Bar x 5 or so
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1(PR)
295x0 bombed
275 flew up faster than I expected, so I decided to go straight for 295. I flared my elbows too soon and stalled. Oh well, a PR is a PR.
Footwork and Throwing Drills to finish
I am feeling ready for the Central Florida Highland Games and I look forward to throwing a ton of PRs. My double spin is coming along well for the weights for distance and I have been throwing close to 60 feet in practice. I hit over 75 feet in the Hammer which would be a huge PR if I could make it translate to the Games.
Well, wish me luck
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