Monday 8/31/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets of 1 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

2 minute 24kg snatch test - 48 reps

24kg snatches 2x5/5

24kg swings 2x20

This was supposed to be a 3 minute test :). I lost focus on my breathing and form at minute 2 so I put the bell down. I tried to practice the hand switch at the bottom for the first time on this test. I got the first 2 switches down, but after that my form broke down a bit and I couldn't stay focused. I'll keep trying the switch though.

48 reps in 2 minutes is the pace I want though. 1 more minute at that pace and I would have had the 72 reps I wanted. Pretty fast pace, but that's the point of the 3 minute test...to get used to snatching faster. If I hit everything hard for this last month I should hit a pr at the TSC at least...and hopefully have a real chance at hitting 120.

Saturday 8/29/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 3 sets to 3 rungs, 2 sets to 2 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute - 100 reps in 5 minutes

It was 98 degrees today and I had to do my workout outside. It was in the shade, but it still took its toll on me.

The third reps of my c&p ladders in the first 3 sets wasn't the greatest on my left side, but I got it up and really worked hard on keeping the pressing groove correct.

I had visions of hitting a 10 minute pr today in my swings considering how quickly my endurance is coming on. However...the c&p ladders with renegade rows in the heat smoked me and on my 5th set of swings I started to get sort of light headed so I called it a day. Still a good solid workout and a stepping stone towards future progress.

Thursday 8/27/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical - Program 5 - 30 minutes

3 sets - 8lb sledgehammer levering 1/1 alternating with 28kg loaded cleans 5/5

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

The elliptical program is in there just to give me a mindless way to get rid of 200 - 300 calories and get warmed up for the rest.

I weighed in around 192 after my workout this afternoon...it was a lb or so more earlier when I was all hydrated. I've been pretty focused on my diet for the last week and it's really starting to pay off. I'm just about as lean as I was in April at the TSC and I'm about 5 lbs heavier. I'm still shooting for 180 - 185 in a month. Shouldn't be a problem at this rate.

Wednesday 8/26/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets to 2 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 8 sets of 20 on the minute, 4 sets of 15 on the minute - 220 reps in 12 minutes

Swings are coming on strong. My knee that I had surgery on is sort of sore. I guess I'm going pretty hard on it ballistically.

Tuesday 8/25/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical - Program 5 - 30 minutes

3 sets - 8lb sledgehammer levering 1/1 alternating with 28kg loaded cleans 5/5

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

I thought the deadlifts would be a cake walk...um...that would not be the case.

Monday 8/24/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets of 1 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute, 6 sets of 14 on the minute - 204 reps in 12 minutes

I missed Saturday but it was on purpose. I was feeling beat down and my joints were feeling creaky...especially my knees.

I'm going to simplify my routine just a bit more and ease up on my variety days. The circuit I was doing would most likely fit well into a size gaining cycle, but when I'm cutting calories it was kind of beating me down.

I'm going to add renegade rows in between my ladders. On my variety days I'll probably do loaded cleans (single bell) and either deadlifts or one legged deadlifts with some grip and ab work.

Thursday 8/20/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets:

double cleans 1x10
renegade rows 1x8/8
double clean to front squat 1x8

It's my breathing more than anything that is getting crazy as the reps climb. I'm pressurizing my abdomen for the rr and squats and on the last reps I really want to start breathing hard. Good workout though...this routine is a winner so far. We'll see what the results are like in a few more weeks.

Wednesday 8/19/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 7 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 14 on the minute - 210 reps in 12 minutes

This routine feels like an old friend. It's not actually that long ago when I first was doing the ROP though...only about 1 year ago. I've come pretty far.

My swings are feeling strong. I'm very happy with the way I feel like I'm moving in the swings. I am still practicing and looking for the perfect form.

I was about 195 today. I feel like I'm thickening up to be honest...I think its the circuit I'm doing T/Th. Still...I need to eat just a bit less.

Tuesday 8/18/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets:

double cleans 1x10
renegade rows 1x7/7
double clean to front squat 1x7

I got 7 reps this time for the rr and front squats (except for set 3 where I screwed up my breathing and had to put em down after rep 6 :) ).

After each of the exercises sweat showers from me and my breathing and heart rate are...pretty high. Once I get to 10 for each exercise I'll think about moving up. I don't have another 24kg so the jump would be to 24kg & 28kg bells which would be a 17 lb jump. Doable I guess...I'll see when I get there...lol.

Monday 8/17/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 ladders to 3 rungs

3 minute 24kg snatch test - 66 reps

Hey not bad...my snatch form wasn't as tight as when I'm hitting the Max VO2, but my wind is pretty good from the swings I've been doing. My hip drive has some strength also. Last test I got 61 reps and I wanted 64....66 is pretty decent. I wasn't breathing as hard at the end of the test compared to last time either. That will help when the test gets extended to the full 5 minutes. I need to increase my swing times.

Saturday 8/15/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute, 6 sets of 13 on the minute - 198 reps in 12 minutes

I had my pressing ladders all screwed up this week :). I should have gone to 5 sets of 2 rungs on Monday and 3 rungs on Wednesday. Oh well. Pressing was great today. In my later sets I was really feeling the groove on the way up and down. Very solid feeling - my lat was feeling more engaged than ever sucking my shoulder down. I'm still not second nature on everything zipping up as I still have to consciously squeeze my glutes and abs. I'm getting better control all the time. That's why I practice!

Swings are coming along. I'm going to have to get some kind of variation in intensity during the week to go with the ROP style light, medium and heavy days. I'm thinking something like 12 minutes on Monday, 15 on Wednesday and 20 on Saturday. I need to push the sets of 20 to at least 8 minutes soon. It is a matter of mentally driving yourself at that point as my heart is beating like a jackhammer and it's hard to commit to another set of 20 swings and control every breath during the set.

But that is part of the practice...the mental control over how much suffering you can endure. Not suffering in the sense that you are damaging yourself, but in the sense that you can push the limit of discomfort that can be endured. Trying to study it objectively almost in a meditative state seems to help. Observe what is happening and learn to control the fear reaction or whatever it is that holds us back when things become difficult.

Good workout today. I feel great. Weight is around 197 today. I've been back on the warrior diet since school ended and been fairly strict on it. I try not to eat anything at all until my overeating period starts, but I will have an apple before my workout, a carb mixture (that I'm almost out of and won't be using for a while) and a post workout shake of milk and protein powder. I also sometimes will have a handful of nuts or something very small. Tons of water constantly.

It's been hard to drop weight though I've been working hard and I'm getting leaner. I need to take a few hundred calories out consistently and I bet things start going down again. It's a fine line since I really want to keep all the strength possible.

Thursday 8/13/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set for 2 sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x7/7, double clean to front squat 1x7

2 sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x5/5, double clean to front squat 1x5

Moving up to 7 reps was tough...I backed off to 5 for the last 2 rounds.

I saw an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser. He immediately recognized that I need a surgery after looking at an x-ray of my left hip. He did refer me to a surgeon that does hip resurfacing to talk about the likelihood that I could get a resurfacing instead of a replacement. I will find out more later, but the surgeon I saw today did not think a resurfacing would work as the bone on top of the femur is dead and I have three large screws that would need to be removed as well leaving the femur weak. It may end up being a full replacement. I'll know more in the beginning of September.

Wednesday 8/12/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 7 sets of 12 on the minute - 184 reps in 12 minutes

I'm just going to keep adding a rep here and there to my sets of swings. I bumped it up to 12 minutes total.

Tuesday 8/11/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set for 4 total sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x6/6, double clean to front squat 1x6

This is a tough little routine. I need to work on that explosive drive with my hips. My abs are crying when I'm driving up in the squats.

Monday 8/10/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 3 sets of 5 rungs

In the interest of both simplifying my routine and being a little bit more goal specific I will be doing ETK pressing ladders M/W/F instead of TGU and the pushups. I'm going to do light, medium and heavy days as spelled out in RTK. Wednesday and Friday I'm going to do 4 rungs. Next week I'll jump to 5 rungs and hopefully the week after that I'll start from the beginning with the 24kg bell.

But I was thinking about things I was doing that were complicating my routine and overlapping. My goal that I can current work on without anything getting in my way is my pressing....so I should do some pressing instead of tgu AND pushups. I'll work my swings hard as well. My elbow isn't too sore, but it is weak feeling. And even though I love doing them I'm going to ditch the hindu squats. The double bell front squats twice a week will be plenty. An effective routine is a simple one.

Just finished the summer quarter at Foothill College with two online courses: Concepts of Exercise Physiology for Fitness and Nutrition for Sports and Fitness. I got an A in each of course. I have the time now to invest in learning more about fitness...summer was tough because it was condensed into a six week quarter.

Friday 8/7/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 80

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 1x18, 2x17

Afternoon:

Tgu - 24kg - 5x1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 11 on the minute

My morning routine is more along the lines of a wake up type of thing to get my blood pumping first thing. I don't think I'm going to go for very high reps in the hindu squats. For me 100 seems like a decent amount for muscle endurance without really going too hard. The elevated pushups are for a few reasons: vanity (to get some balance to the back and shoulder mass I've been slowly adding) and to help with my pressing in the long term. In the few weeks since I've started with my feet elevated I swear my triceps have already added some mass. This is one area that I've wanted to do a little work on to help my long term pressing goals.

Thursday 8/6/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 70

Afternoon:

Circuit with 2 bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets of: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x5/5, double clean to front squat 1x5

This routine is awesome! It was fun to do but definitely challenging. I won't need any ab work other than this that's for sure. I'm thinking that this is what I will do on T/Th for now with the PM on M/W/F. It feels good and I really like working the basics hard. I also feel that this will contribute to the goals I have set while allowing me to work around the injuries I'm sporting.

Wednesday 8/5/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 60

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 1x17, 1x15, 1x11

Afternoon:

Tgu - 24kg - 3x1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 10 on the minute

I'm just going to go with this simple routine for now and concentrate on getting lean. Once I can get up to 10 sets of 20 on the minute I'll start adding time and work up to 20 minutes.

Tuesday 8/4/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 90

Afternoon:

Pullups - bw ladders 4x 1,2,3,4,5 1x 1,2,3,4 2x 1,2,3 - 82 total

Kind of a bummer, but my left elbow was extremely sore and weak feeling after these pullups...looks like tennis elbow. My theory is that (Jordan had told me this before) that the snatches were hitting alot of the same areas that the pullups were. I think that with the volume of pullups I was doing as part of the Armstrong Pullup Program and possibly along with the snatching I was doing that I developed an overuse issue in my left elbow. I think it's clear that the APP was too much volume for me (at least for now) even though I was regularly getting stronger on it. In the future I think that Pavel's Fighter Pullup Plan may be a bit easier on me volume wise but that would most likely depend on the program I am using aside from pullups.

This is a setback for sure as...it looks like 3 weeks minimum without doing any aggravating exercise is recommended for recovery from tendonitis. Even though I couldn't deadlift I was still happy doing pullups and snatching.

Right now, I'm starting to wonder if I should move back into just a simple Program Minimum routine three days a week (M/W/F) and maybe add one or two simple movements on two days (T/Th). Dialing back from what I'm doing would be the smart decision.

Monday 8/3/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 80

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 3x17

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 52 sets of 7 reps

Feeling good. The MaxVO2 went well and I could have ground out more sets, but I'm moving forward and I know that once I start doing 50 and (soon) 60 sets that 80 is just around the corner.

I saw my new primary care physician today and got a referral for an orthopedic surgeon next Thursday.

Saturday 8/1/09

Afternoon:

3 minute 24kg snatch test - 61 reps

I had enough time to get at least two more reps in, but my breathing was starting to get out of control so I figured it would be prudent to put the bell down. Not bad....I was hoping for around 64 reps. I had the cadence speed correct, my cardio is hard pressed to support that rate though. I'm back on MaxVO2 now, so it will be interesting to see how fast I pick up reps. If I want 120 at the TSC I'm going to have to hit 72 reps in the 3 minute test.