Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The one thing to never ask

before a workout: ' Do I feel like training'? Because mostly the answer will be no and then what do you do?Especially for me after I've trained six or seven people in a row.The desire to dive right back into the gym and give myself a solid ass kicking just really isnt there.I truly love being able to train first thing in the morning . When I "retire",lol, I will train myself first and then my clients.
Today was especially hard to get restarted after a ten minute power nap but,like usual, it turned out to be a stellar workout. Sometimes you just can't trust how you feel.Especially when you are not moving.!-2 pm has never been a good time for me to train. I always started gymnastics practice at 2 pm and I remember always wanting to take a nap at that time after classes all morning. Oh well, this is when it fits so:

Max Vo2
16kgx35 sets of 7 reps per 15 sec
10 sets of 8 reps per 15 sec
325 reps
11,700 pounds.

this was suprisingly easy! I took my heart rate at set 20 and it was only in the mid 150s so I decided to step it up to 8 reps per set.HR at the end of the 45 sets was 185.This was fine as well.I will do 50 sets next week and then restart with 8 rep sets the week after.I am ready for it now.

Barbarian( two hand cast to flag)
15lbs x10 reps x 6 sets

These are great but it's too light. Just ordered a 25 lb CB for my two handed work and the presses.great move though. My elbows are finally locking out fully again.

One arm barbarian
10kbs x8 x 4

Shield cast
2 sets of 10 each arm with 10 lbs
2 sets of 8 each arm with 15 lbs( first time with this weight!)

Mill
3 sets fo 10 each arm with 10s
Finally figuring out this move correctly.

datsit. staying loose.

BW 159.8
BF 8.9%
Water 60.2%

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn Rif! great work on the Vo2....
You are really getting in to this CB thing huh? I myself cannot get excited about them.

Howie B said...

Hey Rif, looking at those heart rates, you're blowing the doors off of the conventional '220 - Your Age' intensity ranges. I realize you would at this point be considered an elite endurance athlete, but how do you gauge when a high heart rate becomes too high? Or does it?? I ask because early on I would strap on my Polar Heart Monitor and very easily would see my heart rate rise over 100% of the '220-Age' limit. But then I would let it ease back down to somewhere in the 70-80% range before starting my next set. (I haven't done that in a while.) Just wondering how to tell if one is pushing too hard or just increasing their capacity beyond the static standards. Thanks.

Mark Reifkind said...

thank you kenneth for coming up with such a great protocol. I can really feel a huge difference in my lung capacity and overall "wind" since I've been working it.Next week will be the 50 sets with 15 sets of 8 reps at the end then I will start over with 8's from the front.
another suprise gift from this work is has really improved my snatch form.
as far as the clubbells go yes I am digging them although to be honest a lot of it is because I am so limited in what I can do with my upper body. They really work the triceps hard which I cannot get anyother way without it bothering my shoulder.
but the gains I've made in shoulder mobility with these moves has been significant. it's like weighted Z,lol.

Mark Reifkind said...

howie,
I am nowhere NEAR an elite endurance athlete but thanks anyway.
I think for you HR safety one should stay UNDER 90% of your age adjusted hr max and slowly let it creep up, seeing how you feel as you do so.
I did quite a bit of vo2 work building this up very slowly.personally I dont believe the regular formula is that accurate as I dont feel the 185 is really my max hr.
another thing is linking the hr to respiration. Many times my respiration is higher than my hr and I can't go on because of that, not the HR.
I think if you build up slowly, over time you can adjust safely.
I think Kenneth would have more insight into the safety issue.

Brett Jones said...

Rif - great work - and on the HR max: the Dr.s that developed the max heart rate formula developed it so that deconditioned and people in a disease state could begin to exercise safely - it was not meant to be the end all be all of exercise.
A great place to start and reference but it is a guideline not a rule - when you have the VO2 max testing, lactate threshold and other testing at your hands you can specify heart rate to your goals and abilities.
Otherwise - you are just guessing.

Caveat - if you are beginning to exercise or under treatment for any health issue - use the target zone chart.

Howie B said...

Thanks guys. I guess for now I'll use my HR monitor as well as the feedback from my own body to gage whether the intensity is too great. It's usually quite easy to tell when one has overdone it. I've recently seen an improvement in my blood pressure which I know is a result of consistent kb work. I'll continue to research more on my own as things progress.

Jes said...

I'm a fan of the CB's too.. they have been great for my shoulder stability and even did away with my "teacher arm"!!! Keep up the good work...you're a beast!

Mark Reifkind said...

Thanks Brett,great info to have.I hate even coming NEAR lactate threshold, thats nasty stuff.I'm a big beleiver in having a base of science but cultivating the instinct as well. I am always feeling my way through this stuff, the variable of real life are so many and so everchanging.

Mark Reifkind said...

brett,
just thought of something: so the HR recomendations are basically the equivilant of a training force maximum as opposed to the competition force maximum of what your REAL max hr might be?Set to the lowest common denominator for safety. makes sense;leaves room for individuation and would explain why we get high end values like Mike C 227+ after five minutes of kb introducion work.

Mark Reifkind said...

jes! good to have you post here.yeah it's strange about the cb giving stability to the shoulder when it looks like it would de stabilize it with the big ranges of motions.
hope your training is going well.

More press mistakes from today

 1) Gotta engage the rhomboids when setting the low rack position.Lock in 2) Elbows up is crucial 3) 'Straight  up' on the unracking...