A couple of days filled with experiments in free form training. No sets, no times, no numbers. Just movements for feeling. Trying out new things such as hands off pull ups (pull up hard, release grip, re-grip, repeat) and burpees transitioning to pull ups, single arm holds on the rings, etc. Climbing from the rope to the rings and back, working grip strength. We need some monkey bars/free hanging objects to climb around on.
Did the 100/100 both days…100 push ups, 100 squats in any order/set quantity. 2:55 both days. trying to get it to 2:45, gotta find the right combination.
Tomorrow it’s time to perform the Garage Strongmang. 20,000 pounds of lifts for time. High noon start time. AAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!
Friday morning we put a couple of guys through a damn grueling workout. Modified FRAN, 100/100, BAM! and more, all in one day. High quality stuff! Good job Randy and Mark. As stated, all star status.
Did a bunch of randomness on Friday, call it all day open source training. jump rope practice, pull ups, push ups, burpees, squats, cardio drills, bla bla bla
Saturday went to the court and got to play four games of two on two with Isaac, Bink and Billy. It’s interesting to see how fitness plays into these games as time ticks by. Game one and game four were whole different worlds. Fun times. Before I hit the shower, I decided to max out on push ups. I’ve never gotten above 55, but I have not tested in months. If I’m not super convinced about the visual results of my current program, I am more convinced than ever that visual results are not all they are made out to be in modern fitness. My goal was 60. I got through 50 easier than usual, started to slow at 58, broke 60, mentally refocused and banged out ten more for 70. There might have been three or four more left in the tank, but I lost focus and went to the shower.
Sunday, went to the South Beach track for 10×100 meter sprints. I decided four p.m. would be good for mental toughness as the 90 degree weather worked it’s magic. There were no markings for 100 meters, so I just walked off 125 steps and went for it, sitting right at 15 seconds per dash, walking it back in about 1:25 and repeating. By number 6 I was hitting the wall but focused on arm drive and kept the pace, really feeling it in the quadriceps.
20 bodyweight squats 15 ft agility ladder drill forward, two feet in each 10 push ups 15 ft agility ladder drill lateral, two feet in each 40 bicycle crunches Repeat circuit three times as fast as possible. Round one with 40 lb. X-vest 3:41 REST FIVE MINUTES Round two no vest 2:53
Later on, took a 6 block walk to the pool with a 41 pound squirming head slapping weight on my shoulders with a stop for a smoothie on the way. Thankfully the public pools kids area had what the life guard called ‘an accident’. I call it a kid crapping in the pool. We went to the kiddie park for a while to let it empty out and went back to the lap pool (separate from urine pond) and got a lane. My little girl is now goggled and swimming full laps without a problem.
200m freestyle warm up at quarter mile race pace 4×100 IM (one minute rest between)
1:26 1:27 1:28 1:30
50 meter single arm stroke work 50 meter kick
Walked back home with the ‘lil one on my shoulders. Darn thing is getting heavy.
Put on the 40 lb. vest and worked through the group workout. Kettle bell tosses, single arm rows, lots of jumping jacks, push ups, burpees, sledgehammering the tower. Good sweaty stuff.
Fast and Furious 20 minutes As many rounds as possible of:
1. 10 pull ups 2. 10 db swings overhead per arm (I chose 30 lb) 3. 10 plyo push ups (hands must leave ground) 4. 10 tuck jumps (jump as high as possible, tuck knees to chest)
My goal was 10, I got to 8 1/2 in the alloted time and finished 9 at 20:27. Grip strength really comes into play later, as the pull ups take it out and the db swings become a real challenge with the forearm locking along with the grip.
Finished with a few V-ups, turkish get ups and side bends.
Tuesday
Took myself to the local gym as Peter had the space for the eveining.
100 jumping jack warm up 15 45 lb. bears (clean, front squat, overhead press, squat, overhead press, repeat)
3 rounds of: -85 lb. jump squat x10 -1 arm/ 1 leg plank hold, 30 seconds each arm/leg -25 lb. plate chest flex (plate goes from midsection to shoulder level with elbows locked) x10 -45 lb. plate rotation (plate goes overhead in full circle first to the right and then left) x10 -hanging V-up (hang from a pull up bar,bring your feet to the bar, bending at the waist) x5 No rest between rounds
3 rounds of -85 lb. clean and overhead press x10 -bodyweight tricep extension x10 -lunge jumps x20 -close grip push ups x10 No rest between rounds
Assisted one arm pull ups x5 each arm 150lb x3 each arm 135lb, x4 each arm 120 lb, unassisted super slow down, two arm up
Protein, water, stretch
Then I jumped in the car and went to the local inner city track. Packed with people of all ages walking, running, doing field activities. Good stuff. Watched Olympic hurdler Bershawn ‘Batman’ Johnson run five 200’s at around 22-24 seconds effortlessly. I spoke with his coach, he said he was working on relaxing. Okay, right. I was also there to do 200’s, eight of em with 200 meters walking rest. The first two were at 27, the next three at 28, then a 29 and two 30’s to end. It amazes me that I used to hold these paces for 800 meters. Can anyone guess was my new quest is? Sub 2:00 half mile (again)? Why not. The first four intervals felt good, then the oxygen deprivation/side aches/lactic acid build up kicked in and it was a whole lot of mental push.
After I finished with the runs I went over to the pull up bar and traded sets with a couple of guys and got some new ideas for the bar. If you ever want inspiration for exercising, go to the inner city parks and watch. Anything can be used, there are no weights around and yet there is enthusiastic work being done on minimal or no equipment. These two guys were on nothing more than a pull up bar and managed to use every muscle in the upper body and core.
So,
10 baseball grip (hands together) side to side pull ups 8 L position seated chin ups 8 side to side pull ups 10 upside down pull ups 5 slow motion pull ups w/ 5 second hold, 5 second drop
I tried a few of the other moves that I saw the guys doing and got some advice. By this time my grip was failing and I was spent.
I found out that the big chain grocery is now carrying grass fed organic beef. MEAT for dinner.
Sunday, up at 5:00 am and on to Crandon Park for race 2 in the Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy. In the first five strokes of the swim I had my ankle timing chip stripped from my ankle by another swimmer, thus disqualifying me from the official standings. I was happy that I started my watch. It was a tough day. Choppy water made for a bumpy swim as the front four of us kept bumping and had a sloppy turn that included all of us getting tangled and then having to move around the slowest swimmers from the previous wave (these races are started in waves seven minutes apart to ensure safety) . I was third out of the water, about 15th or so after the bike and ended in 10th for my group, 52nd or 53rd overall, about 10 places better than last time. Not bad for a 1,000 person race. The bike ride was brutal as the last half was head on into the wind, some of it uphill.
58:49 total time, 40 seconds slower than last time…I know I was moving faster, but conditions take their toll. The run was very hot as the sun had gotten up and there was no cloud cover. Next time I will break 58:00. COnsidering last season I couldn’t break an hour, I feel pretty good about my overall fitness progress and look forward to racing. I used to get nervous and wonder why I was doing these things. Now I get relaxed and anytime the question of why enters into my head, it’s answered right away with , ‘To be your best stupid, NOW GO!!!’.
First saturday class. Did not have much of a turnout. Joe did make it though a bit late. We put him through the wringer. Ladder drills with pushup/bw squat at the tails, followed by FRAN in which he beat his previous time by 3 minutes to make his new time 9:36 . Followed that up with 60lb 1arm rows. Then abs, core. Finished off with a tire slam. This is Joe. GO JOE!
A few of the inevitable movements at the morning class…push ups, squats, balance work, etc. A few of the inevitable movements when a client brought a friend that wanted to see the space…ring pull ups, rope climb, ladder pulls, etc. Otherwise, rest and meat digestion. Tomorrow more of the same. Sunday, race time. food and lay down as much as possible til then.
12:40pm 10 miles on the bike. Realized that I can shift gears on the bike and not the rear wheel trainer. Helps out. 10 miles, 21:53, 27.3 mph I’m not sure how accurate the speed/time is with this thing, but It’s getting to be a good feeling on the bike, can’t wait to upgrade to a better, more fitted bike and see what happens.
Two thousand dollars of geometric speed…
To credit card debt or not to credit card debt…that is the question.
3:45 pm
Infinite Intensity Day 18
A. 2 dumbbell split snatch (side variation) 5 sets, 3 reps each, 45 seconds rest. 40lb, 40 lb, 60 lb, 40 lb, 40lb B. 2 dumbbell push press 5 sets, 3 reps each, 45 seconds rest. 45 seconds rest C1. One arm push up, hand on cinder block 4 sets, 5 per arm (Last set had assisted positive) C2. 25 lb Sand filled basketball Shot Put 4 sets, 5 per arm (supersetted with C1) 60 seconds rest per set, no rest between C1, C2 D1. Dumbbell Lunges 4 sets, 5 per leg 70 lb first set, 60 last three sets D2. Lunge Jumps (same as alternating lunges, just jump it) 4 sets, 10 reps (supersetted with D1) 60 seconds rest per set, no rest between D1, D2
Finisher: Double arm DB swings (db”s go from between legs in squat position to straight over head in standing position). 25 lb per arm, 3 sets, 15 reps, 30 seconds rest per set.
7:15 Sitting here typing this, I couldn’t sit still. The sweat still hadn’t dried from earlier, I knew I had my ball shoes in the car…Screw it, basketball courts it is. Warmed up with single arm grab and hangs on the rim.
Three games of full court to eleven. Picked up a young girl that didn’t speak english to run the point and she kicked ass. Two younger guys played with us. No hustle, no passes, set a pick for em, roll and get no feed. The fifth guy was a hustler that kept getting beat on D by an old school fireplug from the other team. It’s something to see schooled ball players play with completely blind, bad shooting, bad passing players. We won two in a row and were down 9-8 when the lights got shut off.
10 side to side pull ups 10 slo-mo dips 10 side to side chin ups 5 one armed pull ups on assisted machine 150lbs. 4 one armed pull ups on assisted machine 135lbs. 2 one armed pull ups on assisted machine 120lbs.
We did a good high level class, working on one arm push ups, shoulder presses, pull ups, sprints, single leg squats, pliometrics and more. After, I hit the bike for 7.6 miles at 23.8MPH for 19 minutes of fun before the clients started coming in. After the clients, I did the Sweet 16. 16 minutes of Tabata Intervals. Click the link for a bit of detail on this fun, grueling way to exercise. Simply put, it is 20 seconds of intense-as-possible work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times for the chosen exercise. The Sweet 16, day 16 of the Ross Training Infinite Intensity program, uses heavy bag punching, bodyweight squats and push ups.
Round One: Heavy Bag (minutes 0-4)…feel your power decrease… Round Two: Squats (minutes 5-8)…started at 20 the first round, ended at 17 on the last Round Three: Heavy Bag (minutes 9-12)…feel what it feels like to lack power… Round Four: Push Ups (minutes 13-16)…yeesh, not so much. Round one got to 10 before I had to go to my knees, by the last rounds I was getting to only five full pushes before having to use knees. Humbling to say the least.
Pete set the bar with a smart effort, breaking the larger sets into smaller sets like 7/7/7, setting an awesome first time mark of 7:04. I followed suit, breaking them into larger sets of 11/10, 8/7, 5/4. Hit 6:05, would’ve broke 6:00 but I locked out and lost rhythm on the very last pull up. That’s okay, previous PR was 13:38, dropped to 8:57 last time, and now 6:05. I’ll take it. Goal is four minutes.
Later, after lunch and a hardware run to get sand…
CORE CIRCUIT 5 standing wheel rollouts 20 Russian Twists with 25 lb ball 12 back extensions 6 side bends to each side w/ 80 lb. dumbbell 100 bicylce crunches
repeat circuit x3
and then, after a little rest 10 miles on the bike. 26:31, average speed 22.5 mph, focusing on a cadence of more than 100 at all times.
Ross Training workout from Infinite Intensity -Burpees as explosive as possible -Jumping jacks touch hands at top, touch hips at bottom -Split runs, hands on top of head, touch flat fotted front and back -Squats, parallel or better -Push ups, arms to 90 degrees or chest to ground, feet or knees
15 minutes of push, push, push, striving to hit numbers equal or greater in all sets. Feels about the same as running a kilometer at full speed, resting one minute and going again. Very nice and challenging.
Stretch, Big nice tuna salad, sam adams beer and the best pizza in the world at ANDIAMO. Bring on the weekend. We are adding a Saturday class at One pm. Come join us.
Monday was Work Capacity day, which meant that I got the pleasure of procuring a sledgehammer from the local hardware store as well as a tire from one of the less luxurious tire dealers in the city. I pulled up as three rough necks tossed old tires into the back of their pick up truck for disposal.
When I asked if they had any tires they wanted to get rid of, they gave me a funny look. I told them I wanted an old used tire they were going to throw out. They gave me a nice SUV tire which I cleaned up and used, although it proved to be a little weak and got replaced the next day….
Anyway….
10 minutes of: -two 35 lb. dumbbell snatches per arm -six burpees repeat as many times as possible in ten minutes.
Followed immediately by…. 10 minutes of 12 lb. hammer swing into tire, alternating sides every five swings
Finishing with… 5 minutes hitting the heavy bag, focusing on power, mixing in speed at the end to finish.
TUESDAY I hit the local pool and did… -300 yard warm up -8 50 yard fly/free splits -4 100 yard IM -8 25 yard sprints, focusing on minimal breathing -100 yard cool down -big stretch
Went and played one sweaty game of full court pick up basketball at the local park. Played hard, lost. What to do when the rest of the guys on the pick up team are all at least 40 pounds overweight? RUN and GUN, alone.
Brute Strength Wednesday
A. Single arm dumbbell push press w/ 70 lb. db x4 each arm, 4 sets with 90 seconds rest
B. 100 lb. heavy bag shoulder (pick it up, get it on your shoulder) x8, 4 sets with 90 seconds rest
C1. Step ups onto 16 inch block w/ two 60 lb. db’s x6 each leg C2. Deadlift w/ two 60 lb. db’s x8 4 super sets with 60 seconds rest in between
D1. 40 lb. weighted vest pull ups x5 D2. 40 lb. weighted vest ring dips x10 4 super sets with 60 seconds rest in between The first three sets were completed, set four I failed on the fourth pull and the sixth dip.
FINISHER Farmers Walk with two 80 lb. dumbbells…all this is is pick it up and walk until you can’t hold it any more, usually due to grip failure. Three sets
Afterwards, we were lucky enough to have a freeway entrance blocked off right next to the track so we did eight 70 yard hill sprints, walking back for rest. All were in the mid 9 second range.
A good use of a Sunday.
I hung the door pull up bar up in my new place so I have been ‘greasing the groove’ with many sets of ten pull ups/chin ups every day. Also, a lot of one leg squat/one arm push up practice using the GTG model.
POPCORN!
The rest of last week was spent on Ross Training week two. -Strength Training with Snatches, one arm DB chest press, wall sits, jump squats and more -GPP training with rounds of burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, more burpees, etc. -Core Training with standing wheel roll outs, russian twists, V-ups, bicycles, and more Good stuff Maynerd.
Friday was supposed to be a rest day but turned into more of a ‘greasing the groove’ day with pull ups, rope climbs, and and several group class warm ups, cool downs, stretches.
Saturday was a complete crash rest day. Stayed in bed, got up to eat, slept, fell into the pool, slept, repeat.
Sunday picked it back up, though I didn’t feel 100%
135 lb squat x20 ring push up x20 135 lb deadlift x20 ring dip x20 first set/x15 second set
two circuits, rest for 30 seconds between exercises.
30 lb. dumbbell two arm jumping overhead press x20 40 lb dumbbell chest press x20 30 lb kettle bell swing x13 per arm baseball grip side pull up x15
two circuits, rest for 30 seconds between exercises.
Tough workout, cardiovascular and strength.
Monday was back to Ross Training Infinite Intensity.
10 rounds of:
5 pull ups (alternating between rings and bar) 10 ball slams (alternating between 25 lb sand ball and 12 lb ruber ball) 15 burpees (ouch) 20 jacks
For time. 22:59 Closer to puking than I have come in a long time. Figured out the sand ball is too heavy for this workout. No more than 12 lbs.
