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.