Archive for September, 2008Resting my legs a bit today from running so I went on a nice bike ride. Beautiful day, and the trails were dead. I can definitely tell my cardio has improved a lot compared to the last time I went biking. Biking: + stretching Duration: 80 minutes Squatting felt great today, but it was bittersweet. After completing my second rep with 485, I was contemplating a third rep and then my left lat insertion (the one I mentioned I tweaked previously) tweaked again. It did the ‘release/unflex’ then ‘flex/grab/spasm’ thing. It hurt like hell at that moment so I racked it, but it subsided to a dull throb soon after; now it is just annoying, and I can stretch it and arch my back again just fine. I was already planning on skipping jump squats this week to rest my calves, so I just skipped DE squats as well. I probably could have done them just fine, but no point in really putting my lat at risk. Warmups: ATG Squats: Leg Extensions: Seated Calf Raise: + stretching Duration: 50 minutes Good running today. I managed to complete each mile in around nine minutes, with a four minute rest between the mile intervals. A very nice improvement over the two miles straight I ran last Saturday. Saturday’s workout calls for a 2.25 mile run, but I am thinking of doing a good bike ride instead to give my legs a rest from running. Week 6 - Workout 2: Total Distance: 2.75 miles + stretching Duration: 30 minutes Good workout. Tired from zerchers last night, but everything went smoothly. Warmups: BB Row (wide overhand grip): Wide-grip Pulldowns (wide as possible): Closer CG Seated Rows: Rear Lateral Machine: DB Hammer Curls: Overhead Cable Curls: + stretching Duration: 50 minutes Today is my ‘off’ week for deads so did zerchers instead. I completely annihilated my previous PR of 515×1. I will post the video later. I did some light SLDLs and RDLs for the hams, and finished off with some hang cleans. Great session. Warmups: Zercher Squats off Pins (bar at 28″ from floor): Sumo SLDL: High-Speed Conventional RDL: Hang Cleans: + stretching + power yoga (30min) Duration: 100 minutes Damn good workout tonight. Last week 285×3 on paused bench was brutal and today I easily got 300 for a double (had another rep or two in me). My bench speed was even faster than last week. I used a narrower stance (feet tucked together under the end of the bench, on my toes), and that felt great. Tried the flared elbows thing again, but 235 felt heavy doing it that way so I went back to my normal form and killed 270. After the main bench work I decided to do some pin presses with the bar starting 4.5″ off my chest. Despite being pretty fatigued these still felt good on the tris and I got some decent weight moving. My weak point right now is definitely my chest. Warmups: Paused Bench Press: DE Bench Press: Ballistic Smith Bench Press: Pin Presses (bar starting 4.5″ off chest): Paused Exaggerated Incline DB Bench: Cable Pushdowns (hard tower): DB L-Laterals: + stretching Duration: 60 minutes I was planning on going to the Y to run on the indoor track today to spare my legs a bit, but it was too nice outside to ignore. My calves were very tight from Saturday still, and that really made things tough over my last intervals. I tried to push myself harder than usual, and I ended up running my first half mile interval a minute faster than my usual pace. Nothing spectacular, but I ended up a lot more fatigued by the end of the workout, and that is what I was going for. Week 6 - Workout 1: Total Distance: 2.4 miles Duration: 30 minutes I consider this workout the first ‘real test’ of the running program I am following. The program more than doubled the previous longest distance ran at once and had me go 2 miles today. I was very slow (maintained my typical 6mph pace), but I got it done. My legs were fine the first ~1.25 miles, but then my right leg (clot leg) started to do its old burning and ‘feeling really heavy’ thing. That seems to happen everytime I increase distance, though, so it should go away as I keep increasing my distances. Five weeks ago today I was barely able to cover a half-mile in 5 minutes. Progress is coming, slowly but surely. Week 5 - Workout 3: Total Distance: 2.5 miles + stretching Duration: 29 minutes Tired! Not sure how, but I managed to work through the fatigue and soreness and hit my squat rep goals for the week. My calves are beat to hell from the last few months of ATG squatting (and running) so I decided to cut volume on my speed work for a while (6 sets of 2 instead of 10), and eliminate the dive-bomb portion of the speed reps. Since I dropped volume on the speed work I added bands to make them harder, and I setup a 12″ box to touch-and-go off of instead of going all the way down hams-to-calves. I am hoping these changes, coupled with the thicker heel on my shoes will let my calves heal up. I have never used bands on oly squats and I really liked how they felt. The full-rom machine hacks were brutal, despite the light weights. Warmups: ATG Squats: DE ATG Squats (against green/average bands): Hack Squats (full machine-rom): + stretching Duration: 45 minutes I was a bit nervous about this session, but I cruised right through it. It is rainy and wet out today so I used the running track at the Y. Nice little track. Week 5 - Workout 2: Total Distance: 2.4 miles + stretching Duration: 30 minutes |
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