"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."
Pr day. Added two lbs to the ruck making it an even twenty pounds and bumped the walk up by one lap getting it two eight. Total time walking was one hour twenty five minutes. Not slower given the extra weight; each lap was between seven and eight minutes long.
Felt very strong and hit the road with no stretching or warmup. Much warmer today and didn't need hat, gloves or vest.
First four laps were continuous and then at the completion of the each of the next four I added in squat stretches for 1-2 minutes. Wanted the legs to get a bit fatigued before I stretched them as that helps kill the stretch reflex and get me deeper faster. Worked well.
After the walk I alternated hanging for 15 seconds with backwards crawls for 30 feet then reversing it for the same distance with forward crawls. Very tired but the crawling seemed to loosen things up. Shoulder (r) was tight going to sleep but opened up nicely this morning and even more so on the walk.
Four laps of crawling and four sets of hangs.
datsit. 24 kg snatches tomorrow. got to get ready :)
The Croatian Stair Challenge Part 2. I will be ready
ps oh yea, it's so weird as I forget that I have an artificial knee joint ,lol. I love my new knee, it works like a champ!
A very solid one. All the pieces were together this morning, plus, it was just the 24 kg so there was no fear factor. Of course that's when you have to be extra careful. Really. It's the light weights that usually get you hurt because you don't concentrate enough or get cocky. But the stretchout went well as did the warmups
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 10/10 x 10 set
x 20/20 x 1 sets
240 reps
12,720 lbs!
the last set of 20/20 was not that bad at all. just the lungs said anything but I kept the power output high , as well as the bell height, for the entire set.
Two kb swing
2 20 kg x 6
2 24 kg x 6
2 28 kg x 6
2 24 kg x 6 x 2 sets
these felt good once I got the groove back a bit. til then I was catching my inner thighs with the hands on the upswing. haven't done any of these since the TKR. Definitely stronger the weights were no problem. going to alternate these with the two hand swings each week,probably just doing a straight half pyramid with weight working up to 1-2 top sets and perhaps a down set.
after all the swing volume in the one arms I don't need much more :)
barbell curls
45 x 8
55 x 6
65 x 4, 5
55 x 8
Crawls- backward then forward
alternated these sets with the barbell curls
crawled backward 30 feet or so then went forward the same distance
4 sets. Geoff Neupert has challenged me to just crawl everyday for a week and I won't drop everything else but I will crawl each day AND focus on backwards crawling as well. No problem I like to crawl :)
lying barbell triceps ext
4 sets of 15 with 45 lbs
Hangs 3 x 20 seconds
adding 2 lbs to the pack tomorrow for the walk. 20 lbs even. can't wait :)
Yup I actually started back on getups, which I really haven't practiced much since my cert in '05. Since my knee wouldn't allow me to do them on the right arm and my left shoulder didn't need any extra work( it WAS my stronger side for most of the last 8 years) I just didn't do them outside of demos for student and certs.
But now that my knee will allow both sides and both shoulders desperately need something to restore my overhead position I thought now was a good time to re instate getups. Just the start at first please as this is the toughest part for me and the one that will translate the best for my shoulders right now.
7 am
45 minute full stretchout with emphasis on my legs. Since I increased my knee ROM 10 degrees since last visit ( 120 degrees!!!) I am really motivated to push hard and get the next ten.
rollout and basic stretches: brettzel, up and down dog, straddle sit stretch and behind the neck stick disloates.
onto
close, medium and wide stance squat holds: these really felt like they dropped down tons.
close stance lunges
cossack side stretches
box lunge stretch( tried these on a stair ala Mason's suggestion but the box with stick for support worked much better.)
three to four rounds of these. legs felt great and depth really getting down there!
Pullup bar hangs and mixed grip stretches
1:45 pm
1/4 getups ( to tall sit)
6 kg x 3/3
8 kg x 3/3
10 kg x 3/3
12 kg x 3/3
14 kg x 3/3 x 2
these went great and it felt very very good on my shoulder and thoracic girdle. How ironic it would be if these fixed my overhead position ? :)
Bottoms up press
16 kg x 3/3 x 2
20 kg x 2/2
x 1/1
ack these aren't going to work either. man my press feels lost!
Single bell press
16 kg x 3/3 x 2
20 kg x 2/2
24 kg x 2/2 x 3
x 5/5
lol did these like Pavel on the cover of the RKC book and they worked ok but nothing feels "right" on my press anymore.
Tomorrow I am going to do some handstands and see how they feel.
sled drags
80 lbs x 250 ft x 5 rounds
lol now THESE felt great. very fast pace on the walk as well as the rest periods.
cable curls 4 x 12 -10
pushdowns 4 x 10-12
still have to figure out this day! and my overhead position
Third hard training day in a row I realized today as I saddled up to do some snatches. My light recovery walk has turned into a weighted hike and that's more than cool but it's a workout in it's own right now and that has an impact on monday's training
No worries but I could tell I didn't have a full rest and recovery day yesterday. Surprisingly things went very strongly today.
Snatch
16 kg x 5/5 x 3 one arm swing warmup
16 kg x 5/5 x 2 snatch
20 kg 5/5
22 kg x 6/6
x 7/7
x 8/8 x 2 rounds
x 6/6 x 2 rounds
108 reps
5292 lbs work
overhead position was much better and easier and the groove has settle back in again. I don't have to think so much on each rep, just do as I've been doing. I hate having to problem solve and try to train at the same time. Lower back felt perfect and no excess strain on any muscle or joint for a change. Nice :) cardio was good to and the bell felt light. 22 is just a touch away from 24 and it's good to know I can do this workload with it.Need to get the volume up now that the groove has returned
For 20 kg : 150 total reps
22 kg : 130
24 kg : 110-120
at least for now :)
Belt squat
36 kg x 35 reps x 3 sets
this felt deeper than it looks on video but the bell is moving at least one foot and my knees are going forward well.I did these non lockout and it's a hellacious quad burn, just what I want. 35 reps is no joke.
rear leg elevated split squats
12 kg x 15/15 x 2
didn't like these very much . back to regular flat floor lunges
Crawls
3 x 50 feet ACK out of gas! done dun de dun dun. DONE. those squats kicked my ass
One of my goals in training is to be able to do more work than I have before and feel nothing from it the next day. Well, that's what happened yesterday and today and it's great! Big PR workout yesterday; hard one too; and woke up feeling like I didn't do anything heavy or hard at all!
In fact, nothing was achy or tight or jacked up at all! Can't remember when that happened last but I like it to continue.
Loaded up the pack to 8 kg and went into the cold,lol. Well cold for us :)
Maintaining the same pace, about 7.5-8 minutes per lap and did 7 laps plus then added another10 minutes to the get home loop for a whopping one hour and 25 minutes of weighted walking! Not bad at all if I say so myself.
After the fourth lap I started doing squat stretches at the end of each next lap and man, with my legs tired and the backpack on I got deeper than I expected pretty quickly. The stretch reflex just seemed to give out and let me drop down. Awesome. Plus the stretch really loosened up my legs for the next lap.
Had ideas to go a little further but my ankles started to get tired so I didn't push it anymore.I can remember VERY CLEARLY, how trying to walk from my house to the park, a grand total of two full blocks would kill me before. Now it's not even a beginning of a warmup. Unbelievably great stuff this new knee thingy.
Four sets of 30 seconds hang from the pullup bar afterwards and now it's time to roll out and stretchout. Have a bunch of 22 kg snatches to do tomorrow AND I have my Dr's appointment on Tuesday and I really hope I am at more than 110 degrees flexion. I think I do but I'm not sure. we'll see.
This was seriously tough. Not so much that is was done in sets of 6/6 and 8/8 but that damn thing was heavy today and it's still frozen in the cave and that makes it much much tougher.Want to get to the Beast once per month but wasn't sure if today would go.It did but it took mucho concentration.
Slept well, stretchout was good, nothing hurt and no reason not to go but it was serious. As I like to say if you're bored it's not heavy enough and I was NOT bored, I was scared :)
Also there are a LOT of warmups to be done and doing them correctly takes some skill. not too much but definitely not too little. Especially in this cold.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x3
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 5/5
32 kg x 3/3
40 kg x 3/3
48 kg x 6/6 x 7 sets ( pr for reps never done more than 5 per arm)
x 8/8 x 1
Wow.I wasn't really warm until after the 5th set! Only then could I start to get my entire body into the lift. Up to then I was just too cold and stiff and creaky
this is set five, still warming up
Two hand swings
32 kg x 10
36 kg x 10
40 kg x 10 x 2 sets
40 reps
this was it,lol. My glutes were gone! good sign but there was nothing left to swing with,lol.
barbell curls
45 x 5
55 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 5
85 x 3
lying extensions
4 x 15 with 45 lbs
bodyblade laterals
3 x 10/10
DONE! thank g-d I survived that! next week back to light bell and ramp back up!
wk 1 24 kg
2 32 kg
3 40 kg
4 48 kg
I could extend it one more week and put in either a 36 k or a 44 kg not sure but I'm considering it,:)
datsit.
Never Quit.
tomorrow we ruck :) can't wait. More weight to the pack too.
I have an entirely different attitude now towards the press since I decided to limit myself to no heavier than the 24 kg for the near future at the very least. I have to get this groove 'grooved' and trying to do that while attempting heavy weights, even weights I think should NOT be heavy but now seem to be, just doesn't work.
And today proved it.The shoulders felt great after the snatches on Monday and all the shoulder flex and mobility work I've been doing and just using the 20 kg today gave me a lot of latitude to find the groove that might work.
I went back to where I learned the press, Pavel's original RKC video and started there. Getting my hip under the bell, turning to look at the bell as I pressed and really focusing on getting and keeping the lat engaged.Worked very well
Warmup
one arm swings
16 kg x 5/5/5 x 3
Press
16 kg x 5/5
20 kg x 5/5 x 8 sets
these went great!Used the mirror a bit to check overhead position but it really
Sled drag
80 lbs x 230 ft x 5 laps.
these felt way better than last week as well. Not snatching first probably doesn't hurt, either :)
Cable curls
4 x 10
Triceps pushdowns
4 x 10
trained just 4 clients so I got off early and got to my training right away as well. Love to be able to do this all the time but I'll take it when I can get it. Nice start to the new year. Hope is back for my press :)
datsit.
Never Quit.
the Original Girya, The Art of Strength window sign back in 2003.And an interesting press position if I say so myself :)
As much as I've been working on my overhead position you would think it would be better. And my right side is, only to have my left side go wonky again and stay that way for weeks now. So weird. I think the fact my lower body is way more squared up is forcing the scoliosis to really throw things around.
It wasn't long ago that my left side lockout was seriously solid and my right nowhere to be found. Now just the opposite.Just a wee bit frustrating but I'm doing the best I can, AND it doesn't hurt and that's a big plus
6 am
full stretchout , 50 minutes
1:30 pm
Snatch
16 kg one arm swings 3 x 5/5/5
snatch
16 kg x 5/5 x2
20 kg x 8/8
x 9/9
x 10/10 x 2 rounds
104 reps
everything was easy except for my left shoulder. not only not overhead but elbow locked out. Ack.But looking back, not THAT much worse than in 2006 :)
belt squats
32 kg x 30 reps x 4 sets
non lockout technique
these, however are going great. close stance and really getting deeper every rep with lots of quad burn!
crawls super set farmers walks
50 feet crawl alternated with 60-70 ft with double 20 kg
these went well but farmers were too easy. too light or too short distance but lets see how things are tomorrow.:)
Another solid walk. Added one pound to the backpack and walked 7 laps instead of six. Total walk time 1 hour 10 min. Pace about the same although legs were definitely getting tired by lap four. Each lap took between 7 and 8 minutes. Finished faster too, negative split. Not as bitter cold either.
Next week add another pound or two to the bag and keep it at seven laps.
Will keep adding time til I get to ninety minutes. Feels so good to be able to walk so strongly for so long.
Finished up with bar hangs, all tactical pullup grip , four sets of 30-20 seconds. These are definitely stronger.
Man it was cold in that garage this morning! Barely 32 degrees and it never really got much warmer, even after we did all our sets,lol! This was a tough one even though I pulled out a slight PR with the 40 kg, doing 6 sets of 5/5 and 4 sets of 6/6 for 108 reps. Never have done 6's with the 40. It's these little pr's that add up to big ones, even though it doesn't seem like much at the time.
Left hip stopped bothering me and promptly switched over to the right hip. More whack a mole but it wasn't too bad. Nowhere near as bad as the left hip was earlier. Got a solid 45 minute stretchout this morning and that helped. Very pleased with my knee rom of late and it's still there, even early in the am.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5/5 x 3
20 kg x 5/5/5
24 kg x 5/5/5
28 kg x 5/5/5
32 kg x 5/5
40 kg x 5/5 x 6 sets
x 6/6 x 4 sets (pr)
108 reps
9504 lbs!
My training partner Glenn hit a great pr today as well ,one arm swinging the beast for 120 reps in 10 sets of 6/6 no problem. It's amazing how far he's come, just unbelievable. But given his background not really so much to imagine. Tough man indeed.
Two hand swings
40 kg x 10
44 kg x 10
48 kg x 10
52 kg x 10
32 kg x 10
my lower back was talking a little so I started light and ramped up. Worked out perfectly and the 32 swings were the highest and easiest of all time. I like this method.
Barbell curl
45 x 8
55 x 6
65 x 5
55 x 8
Lying barbell ext
5 sets of 20-10 supersetted with close grip pushups to low bench
this worked great with the close grip and the shoulders didn't bark at all. great triceps/pec work without the shoulder stopping things.
Got tweaked pretty hard by Monday's workout. I knew I was forcing it too much, the third rep on the presses was too far above 80% effort and the cleans were not so much too heavy but I didn't warm up enough for them and my form was off and my groin didn't like it either.Everything was rushed and "off" and I just pushed through instead of listening.
But I listened for the last two days as my left SI/piriformis and hip in general were not happy at all and let me know it all day AND night.Even lying down as achy and it didn't want to release easily.This is the first real tweak since the knee surgery and let me know I don't want another, and I certainly don't want to go back to the days of being so restricted plus being in pretty good pain at the same time.It brought back many bad memories which I am more than willing to forget.
But not this lesson: I don't need to try to go so heavy with my overhead lifts. My upper body mobility is just not up to it, and, just like I did in the squat but working it as a stretch/corrective pattern instead of a loading lift I need to have a somewhat similar approach to my press and snatch days as well.
I don't have to stop loading them completely but just moderate the loads in the press just as I do in the snatch and make the 24 kg my top weight. At least until ( if) I get my overhead mobility much much better.
Cycling them with the 20, 22 and 24 kg weights should give me plenty of loading and be much safer.I've done my time with heavy grinds on my shoulders and I think those days are gone.I've gotten used to it with the snatch, now it's time to do the same thing with the press.
5:30-6:45 AM full stretchout
another thing I realized is that I really haven't been putting in enough time with the stretching and it's been adding up- in the wrong direction- since going to Israel. Today I put in the full lower/upper body roll and stretchout and the hip pain and restriction just melted away :) Lots of work however but it was so necessary.
Stretchout
100 ups( almost ready to run in place!)
Foam rolling full assessment
back bends over stab ball
OS resets/rocking, four positions
bretzell
hamstring strap stretch
up and down dogs
frog squat stretch
straddle stretch and pike stretch
hangs from bar with feet on and off floor, three grips
overhead stick stretch, reverse grip and behind back from overhead.
coffee table pigeon stretch
kneeling hip flexor stretch
close med and wide stance dynamic squat mobs
heel to toe lunges
10 minutes on treadmill at 15 Deg elevation
Feels like my squat depth in the supported squat is really gotten to another level of late and it feels great. the quads are just letting go as I hold the bottom position for longer and longer periods and I have more hope than ever that I will get my full deep squat position in the future.Seiza would be nice too but one thing at a time
11 am
one arm swing warmups
16 kg x 8/8 x 3
Snatch
16 kg x 5/5/ x 2
20 kg x 5/5 x 3
22 kg x 5/5 x 3
24 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets
this was perfect. Didn't even know last night if I would be able to swing and I certainly didn't think I could snatch and there was NO possibility of snatch the 24 kg given how I was feeling. Motion is lotion indeed.
I definitely need to go up slowly as it was taking a while for my hips to reset to where they were before the tweak. I believe that the "newer" the tweak the easier it is to shake it out by trying to move as close to normally as possible as soon as possible and as much as possible. I feel like this presses a 'reset' button in my nervous system and my body goes back to the state of being it had before the 'injury' .
You can't push it too fast though and pain usually restricts anyway but I do this everytime I get tweaked and it works well. Did today as well.
By the time I got to the ninth set and the 24 kg was done I was feeling 90% of normal and still do 5 hours later as I write this
Split squats ( Bw\)
2 x 10 each leg ( prepping for next week)
these felt great and will take the place of walking lunges
Sled pulls
80 lbs x 230 feet x 5 rounds
these were good but tough I used 70 lbs last week and could feel the difference but I'm ready for it.
Cable curls 4 x 10-12
Pushdowns 4 x 10-12
this was a great Christmas day present to me! Feel SO much better than I did the last two days and won't neglect my stretching or floor work. It's my key to muscular recovery.
One of those weird days when I did everything "right" but just never got it going well in the gym. Slept well, ate well, decent amount of rest and warm up just didnt feel strong. perhaps the weighted hike took more out of me than I thought.
Didn't get a real stretchout this morning and that hurt a bit too I think. But it's just one of those workouts that you just get through. All in all not a bad day after all.
KB press
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 3/3
22 kg x 2/2
28 kg x 3/3 x 5 sets
these were TOUGH! The bell felt heavy I didn't get my lats in enough and the bell, while not all over the place, was no where near where I wanted it to be.I think, in retrospect, the problem was not committing to pushing back instead of pushing up.Just in a hurry to get to the bigger weights :)
The good news is that I didn't hurt myself and while the lifts weren't pretty they moved strongly.
Greased the groove today four times hanging on the pullup bar 99 % tactical pullup grip. this is going really really well and getting easier all the time.Can feel the difference in my back as well as my shoulders.
KB Cleans
32 kg x 5/5 x 3 sets
these were tough as well although the form was much better. Sucker was HEAVY.I just didn't really warm up or stretchout enough I think
Belt squat
44 kg x 25 x 4 sets
Now these went well even though I forgot to put on my knee sleeves and I think that made a little difference. lots of good quad burn.
Crawls
60 ft x 4 laps
these were solid and I added on another 10 feet of length to each laps. definitely gets the whole body going
Took my backpack on my walk today, loaded with about 6.5 kilos of books.It definitely made a difference in the work for my lungs, legs and lower back. Nothing drastic at all and I still made my six laps in the same time as last week 55 minutes, but I was working harder, that's for sure.
And the point. Will keep adding weight to the pack until it's about 30 lbs or so and I can do the hour no problem. Then I will start increasing the distance until it's 1.5 hours. I have to make the time to get another walk in, sometime in the week- the only real time available would be thursday after noons so we'll see. There's plenty of time to increase things
Greasing the groove with my straight arm hangs from the bar after the walk with the four grips definitely getting easier every day, this time 30 second sets were no problem at all.
If I am going to be able to hike for real I gotta start somewhere :)
This worked out really well. Jumping from the 24 kg last week to the 32 kg this week was no trouble. This cycle just might work out and get me to the heavier loads once per month, regularly.It was 30 degrees in the garage this morning so warming up took a little longer than normal, but my regular 10 min hot bath passive warmup helped a bunch
Short stretchout/mobility session (20 min) and off we went. Still greasing the groove with the overhead hang and it really seems to be making a difference, both in shoulder/ neck pain reduction and ease of overhead ROM. Nice. Mainly the tactical pullup grip for now (overhand) and inching my hands in closer until I am two thumb lengths apart ( grip for hanging leg raises ).
This should mimic the desired overhead position with double bells I am aiming for. Whether I hit the target or not who knows, but that is not the point, anyway. But I will also go back and work the mixed grip as well as chin up grip and perhaps the neutral grip as well ( we have such a setup at No Excuses).That would give me five different grips to hang from.
The stick dislocates and behind the back shoulder stretch have also been
One arm swings
16 kg x 8/8 x 3
24 kg x 5/5
28 kg x 6/6
32 kg x 8/8 x 8 sets
x 16/16 x 1 set
160 reps
11,200 lbs
took five sets to really warmup but last five were powerful and fast. I thought the last set power stayed up til the end as well. Cardio is much better in general these days,especially now that I am respecting my individual mechanics and movement patterns and really deriving more strength and power with less energy drain at the same time.
Two hand Power swings
44 kg x 5,6,7,8,10
These were strong but tough! I wanted to do a set of 9 as well as the last set of 10 but I knew there wasn't power for both so I took the last set. Very happy with this.
Barbell Curls superset with Lying bar extensions
45, 55, 65 x 6 x 2 sets
45 lbs x 15-12 4 sets
bodyblade laterals 3 x 10/10
solid training very pleased. Long walk tomorrow and I add the back pack :)
These went great, in my eyes. My overhead position is still tight, even though I am working doubly hard on stretching mobility and correctives. I think something shifted, truly, after I got my knee replaced and my lower body "squared up" and push the imbalances north. My scoliosis seems work and scap mobility very weird. So that I could find positions, this week actually, that allow me to press and snatch comfortably, and strongly , it makes me happy, even if they wouldn't pass 'standards".
I can only do so much and I keep trying. But this snatch session felt like the best of the old snatch workouts where I loved it more than any other lift and felt I was good at it.Staying flat on my feet at the top of the movement, not back on my heels makes all the difference.
Yes it does put my more foreward on the descent but with my lumbo pelvic rhythm that puts me in my hips and these last snatch workouts prove it. LOTS more reps with a decent weight then of late and NO back pain at all.It feels fluid and powerful.I really feel I have build up my reps very strongly with this technique.
Full hour stretchout this morning mainly focusing on overhead mobs. arm circles, sky divers,overhead stretches and hangs on pullup bar with four different grips. Hangs are getting better; stronger and longer and shoulders are not adjusting at all, really.Being able to stretch out on the hang seems to be a key thing my instinct is telling me to do. So I will.
Still lots of squat stretches in three positions as well as close stance lunge work as well.
Snatch
16 kg x 6/6 x 3
20 kg x 5/5
22 kg x 6,7,8 x 3 rounds
126 reps
6300 lbs
Glenn and I moved through this very fast, and not even just for us.I good sign. It's time to up the reps again.I need to go back to sets of 10+ on the 20 kg, 8-10 on the 22 kg and 6 and 7s on the 24 kg.
With this form my HR doesn't go up so high and I purposely tried to breathe lightly although still bio mechanical match
Sled Drag alternate with walking lunges
2 sets of sled with 80 lb for 200 ft
Walking lunges, first two sets of 50 ft with clubbell in side to side rotations with gait but just bodyweight on last set. Lots of experimenting here to do BUT the knee(s) felt fine. Did the last lap on grass and that was better . The concrete with vibrams was not good.
cable curls and black band leaning tri extensions
3 set of 12-10 each and that was that.
about an hour all told.
very good workout and super pleased with my technique and work capacity just one week off such a big trip
Today= 16 week post TKR. The only thing that would make it better is another 20 degrees of knee flexion but now I have serious time to work on that, too
Easy day at work today with a late start and a cancellation near the end of the day. The late start let me get a solid hour plus stretchout in right from the start, nothing better for me. Got a lot of time in on the pullup bar working up to 15-20 second hangs with double overgrip, mixed grip with both hands and reverse grip. Really concentrated on holding it up with the scapula/upper back and it kept feeling better.
Now, as I write this, my left thumb is a bit out from all the reverse grips but it will be ok. supinators just a bit overworked but the direction is correct.overhead behind the head stretches were immediately looser too after the hang work.
Also doing prone skydivers with straight arms from 90 deg to side working my way overhead a few inches at a time until I can't get the arms off the floor. very weak so I need it. Just need more extension work in general. Could really feel the right spinal erector kicking in as well. another good sign
Lots of static squat stretches in three positions and the longer I held them the deeper I got. Good start to the week.
2 pm
KB press
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 3/3
24 kg x 3/3 ( easy!)
28 kg x 2/2 x 6 sets
I really liked his technique and wanted to play with my variation of it today and see how it went and I liked it alot. The idea was pushing the bells "out" as much as I pushed myself away from the bell.Just like how I used to bench press. Azlan's technique reminded me of a standing bench press with serious lat involvement and very vertical forearms.
He starts to lean back and gets a solid arch but then locks it in and presses from there.
My left shoulder still not locking out as well as it was but this technique didn't hurt to press at all! and that's a big deal. Instead of thinking "up" or "back" I was thinking push forward :) weird. but then my cues have always been backwards :) It feels like the same initial motion as in a bent press, with it's heavy lat and bicep involvement.
Double KB press
2 16's x 3 x 2
2 20's x 3 x 2
tried the same technique but it didn't work and make my lockout worse. I pushed out and up with the pair and it went very well.. Still not a locked out lockout but not bad either. AND, no shoulder pain
Belt squats
36 kg x 25 x 3 sets
x 30 x 1
these were strong, did the last set with full tension, non lockout style trying to maximize the quad and calf stretch and it was still strong!
Crawls
4 laps of 50 feet
strongest yet with 15 feet of back crawl after the last lap
Solid walk today, the first long one in two weeks. Hit a personal best today, going one lap more than usual( 6 instead of 5) in 5 minutes LESS than usual. Of course I didn't use my pedometer for the first time and don't know my MPH but one more lap in less time is faster.
Then into the gym to do
close stance squats
close stance lunges
wide stance squat stretch
about 50 total squats and the same lunges and hold the static squat stretch for a minute. 3 rounds
alternated with hanging from chin bar and scap pullups ( mini) in between rounds. determined to get my pullup back now
Feel very good from yesterday's training and ready to get my routine back in gear and gain some serious momentum in the coming weeks and months.
Pretty much back in this timezone and on the right schedule sleep wise as well. Back was tight for three days coming off all that sitting and not enough extension work or stretching but everything's squared away now. Even my shoulders feel better and I've added in shoulder dislocates with a light band and very wide holds with the bar behind my back and really getting the front delts and pecs. As well as back to hanging on the bar more. Time to get back my ability to hang and PULLUP again. In some way shape or form.
I have to get my overhead position better than it is. It's not only bad for my presses and snatches it's uncomfortable with shoulders this tight. You have to move your arms overhead, in real life, ALOT, all the time.
Also adding in floor skydivers ( prone) as these are super weak. they will be done every day. grease the groove style when I get on the floor to do other stretches as well.
Went way back to the 24 kg today for swings and it was totally the right move. Been doing almost nothing but heavy heavy and heavier the last four months and I need to add some lighter, faster and crisper work to the mix as well as add in some more volume at the start of the cycle
Shoulder look like this:
week one 24 kg 10-15 rep sets 200-300 total reps
week two 32 kg 8-10 rep sets 160 -200 reps
week three 40 kg 5-6 rep sets 100-120 reps
week four 48 kg 5-6 rep sets 100-120 reps
I will use the intermediate weights as I warm up but not going to focus on them as training weights. at least for now. this way I will get to the 48 kg once a month and can build up to the goal of 5 sets of 10/10. and this is just ball park numbers, I will go by feel, as always.
If the cycle is too short I will add in another bell but we'll see.
One arm swings
16 kg x 5/5 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
24 kg x 10/10 x 10 sets
200 reps
10,600 lbs!
These went great. fast and powerful, it was good to have a lighter feeling bell in my hand and not have to focus on surviving the weight but throwing it around as strongly as I could.BUT the heavier loads I've been doing definitely made this feel lighter than usual.
Two hand swings
40 kg x 10 x 5 sets
50 reps
wow, that got tired fast. that was all I had and keep the power up.
barbell curls
45 x 8
55 x 7
65 x 5 ( hard!)
55 x 6
45 x 8
barbell extensions
45 x 12 x 2
35 x 15 x 2
just tired from the heavy swing volume now. First heavy workout back too. very pleased . Strict kb presses on Monday, not push presses.My back didn't like them or the heel :)
datsit.
Sisu/
The 1969 Boss 429, the only Mustang I like more than my version.
It was a great but very taxing trip, with me teaching 99% of the course and going from 5 am to 10 am everyday. Not counting the 15 hour plus flights each way and dealing with serious jet lag. It usually hits me coming back , not going but this time I got nailed. But taking the red eye back seemed to work well as I got back on my normal schedule today without too much trouble( at least so far)
My back was great the whole trip but got pretty tight last night and didn't want to open too easy even though I get a full one hour stretchout this morning at 6.
It took swinging and snatch some bells today to loosen it up. My new/old snatch technique worked great today as well. It felt just like it used to.I'm not thinking about what is right, I'm just going where the moves feels best, with the most speed and power and is the easiest on both my shoulders and back. Not the greatest lockout for sure but I can't really do much about that with my shoulders ROM and trying to force it, as I've been doing, wasn't working.
Snatch
12 kg x 8/8 x 3
16 kg x 6/6 x 2
20 kg x 5/5
x 6/6
x 7/7
x 8/8
x 9/9
x 10/10
Belt squats
32 kg x 20 x 4 sets
these were strong. very close stance toes straight ahead.Getting deeper all the time
Sled Pull
80 lbs x 200 ft x 1
70 lbs x 200 ft x 3
80 was too heavy after the squats
that's it. late day, not much food and I could feel energy draining so I cut it off
We have this excellent nature preserve 5 minutes from where I work in Palo Alto and 25 minutes from where I live in San Jose. Since I walk early every Sunday now I thought this would be a very cool place to watch the sun come up and get my walk in on nice, forgiving, natural dirt.I hate driving anywhere on Sunday but I thought this would be worth it.
It wasn't, but it was close. The place was empty, full of ducks, geese, cranes and all kind of other waterfowl, quite and beautiful . But it wasn't that much more than the nice park I have right around the block, in all reality.
Walking for me right now is training. Just like I was swimming laps in the pool working on my time and my stroke that's how I approach my long walks on Sunday just . As long as I have dirt path to walk on and fresh air and some trees, I'm good. So until I'm really ready to hike I will just keep to walking my laps at the neighbor hood park.
That said it was a great place and I walked a solid hour and got to watch the sun come up over the marsh.Very nice.
Today is the last workout before I'm wheels up for Tel Aviv tomorrow and the first ever Israeli SFG level 1. VERY excited and it was hard to keep some focus on the workout and work as well today.
Push press/ long cycle
16 kg x 5/5 x 3
20 kg x 3/3 x2
24 kg x 3,4,5 x 2 rounds
x 3/3 x 2 short cycle
these felt excellent and the bell light. I wore the oly shoes but actually think I'm going back to vibrams for these as well.
Belt squats
24 kg x 20
32 kg x 20 x 3 sets
close stance and flat foot( vibrams) my best depth yet and I can really feel the lower quads kicking in! compared depth the last two weeks with heel on and flat foot and flat wins each time. barefoot it is! Close stance too feet straight ahead.
crawls
3 x 50 feet forward
1 x 50 feet forward and 30 or so backward!
these best backward has felt yet and forward is getting very strong indeed. love this move
AM stretches and mobility including lots of rocking , both kneeling ( knee can tolerate some now) and 4 point stance on floor and on the bench. really digging these of late, can really feel it helping my knee and hip flexion( ankles too)
datsit.
Sisu/
the next week all updates will be on my facebook page if you are interested.
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