Monday, October 31, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

Back to the routine after a weekend of traveling and training in strange/different places. Not necessarily a bad thing just different.

Warmup: Wall slides, ankle mobs, tabletop hamstring, tabletop hip rotators, 1/2 kneeling adductor, sidelying t-spine rotation, Indian clubs, 1/2 kneeling hip flexor, Brettzel 1.0

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pullups 12,11, 11, 10,10; 2 KB single leg RDL 5 x 6 @ 16 kg; TRX suspended pushup-18, 28, 24, 24, 42; Rip Trainer punch 4 x 10; Face pulls 4 x 12 @ 50 lbs.
Rollouts 3 x 10

Comments: Good session; 2 weeks left in the chin and pushup program before retesting which should be interesting.

Train hard and train smart!
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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Today's Training Session: Extra Work

Was down in Charlottesville,Va visiting our youngest who is in grad school at UVA. Found a local gym near the hotel and decided to train there.

Warmup: wall slides , ankle mobs, low box hip flexor, 1/2 kneeling adductor, Indian clubs, leg swings

Workout: MB slams 2 x 8@ 12 lbs; Safety bar squat 1 x 8@135; 1 x 8@185; 1 x 6@205; 1 x 3@275;
Incline bench 1 x 8@135; 1 x 6@185; 1 x 3@215; Hammer Isolateral row 3 x 10@ 200 lbs.; TRX suspended incline press 3 x 8 supersetted with 45 degree back raise 3 x 10 w/ 45 lbs.

Comments: Good session at a commercial gym...haven't done that in a while. Always an interesting experience which may lead to another blog post.
Was a day to "test" some old exercises just to see how my "barbell" strength was holding up with all of the bodyweight training I've been doing lately.
Conclusion: not too bad.

Train hard and train smart!
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Friday, October 28, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

Today did a total body session incorporating a combination of kettle bells and bodyweight exercises.

Warm: wall slides, ankle mobs, side lying t-spine rotation, Brettzel 1.0, Indian clubs, 1/2 kneeling adductor, low box hip flexor

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pull ups-4 x 14,10,12,9; KB swings 4 x 12@32kg.; Ring pushups w/ feet elevated 4 x 20; KB front squats 3 x 10@20 kg.; KB Farmers carries 3 x 60 yds @ 32 kg.; Rollouts 3 x 10

Comments: Good, comprehensive training session...trunk, upper body, hip dominant lower body, quad dominant lower body, grip strength, power...covered a lot of bases!

Train hard and train smart!
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Today's Training Session: Sprint/power day

Today was a sprint/power day as I like to get 2-3 of these per week.

Warmup:Foam rolling, Wall slides, ankle mobs,Indian clubs, sidelying t-spine, 1/2 kneeling adductor, low box hip flexor, march series

Workout: Box jumps 2 x 5, then db squat jumps followed by box jump 2 x 4
Med ball circuit: chest pass, alt. hip toss, soccer throw 2 x 8 ea. w/6 lb. MB (idea is to move it fast).
Sprint ladder: 2 x 10-20-30-40-50 with walk back for recovery. 3 minutes rest between sets. Focused on mechanics esp. acceleration, good arm drive, and relaxation. About 75-80%.

Comments: Good training session. Don't know if I'll get outside for any training this weekend as we're supposed to have a Nor'Easter. We will see.

Train hard and train smart!
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Weight Gain's Impact on Performance

There was an interesting article in the Wall St. Journal the other day about Albert Pujols.
Arguably, he is the greatest hitter of this generation and he will be a free agent at the end of the World Series.
He is asking for enormous money and he will be 33 next season, an age when many hitter, post PED esp., start to decline. If anyone is worth it, or deserves that kind of money, it is Pujols as he could retire today and be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
But the interesting thing brought up in the article was his weight. They showed a picture of him now and in 2004 and there is a marked difference esp. around his middle. The article also mentioned that he is not the most diligent when it comes to off-field training nor is he very strict about his diet.
He may have been able to get away with that when he was younger but it is apparently catching up to him as evidenced by the pictures.
Now there will be those that argue "just look at him hit." But the fact of the matter is that additional weight just puts that much more stress on his joints esp. his low back, hips and knees. So regardless of how well he hits, his liklihood of injury is increased and that makes him a risk for a long term contract at his age.
The point of all of this is that as Masters athletes we have to be diligent about how well we eat because any added weight will increase injury risk as well as likely be a performance detriment esp. if your sport has any meaningful running in it.
Bear that in mind the next time you ask for seconds or just indiscriminately load up your plate!

Train hard and train smart!
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

This week is a deload week as far as the dead lifts are concerned....less volume, lower loads.

Warmup: ankle mobs, wall slides, Indian clubs, 1/2 kneeling hip flexor, 1/2 kneeling adductor, side lying t-spine, Brettzel 2.0

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pull ups 10,10,9,7,6; sumo dead lift 4 x 6@ 155; TRX suspended pushups 21,27,23,23,35; KB swings 4 x 12@ 32 kg; TRX Rip Trainer punches 4 x 10

Comments: Good session; getting some serious pushup volume--over 100 reps

Train hard and train smart!
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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

Today was another total body training session. Did a lot of mobility/movement work in the warmup to keep on top of that issue.

Warmup: ankle mobs, forearm wall slides, Indian clubs, Swiss ball chest/shoulder stretch, tabletop hamstring, tabletop hip rotators, 1/2 kneeling adductor, Brettzel 1.0, 1/2 sidelying t-spine rotation, low box hip flexor

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pullups-10,10,10, 2; KB sumo squat iso-hold 3 x 35 sec. w/ 20 kg.; TRX suspended pushup-23, 27, 21, 21, 35; KB swings 4 x 12 @ 32 kg. ; Face pulls 4 x 12 @ 50 lbs.

Comments: Good session w/lots of good mobility work. More volume with both chins and pushups. 3 more weeks on the pushup/chins program.

Train hard and train smart!
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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Another Study Says “No Problem” With Dietary Fat

Another Study Says “No Problem” With Dietary Fat
Yet more evidence that fat is not the evil too much processed carbs (sugar) is.

Today's Training Session: Power Training

As we age we lose power, the ability to produce force quickly, twice as fast as we lose strength. Yet many Masters athletes don't train power at all in their training programs. Every Masters athlete, even endurance based athletes, needs some power training in their program.
This is a very simple, short power program based off of Joel Jamieson's principles.

Warmup: Leg swings, lateral squats, arm circles, march series, forearm wall slides, no moneys, skip series

Workout: 6 x 8-10 sec. w/ 90 sec. rest intervals: Med ball work-Tornado ball horizontal chops, hip toss, chest pass, side toss
10 x 5-6 seconds steep hill sprints w/60 second rest

Comments: This entire session took about 35 minutes. If that is too long for you (which it shouldn't be) cut back the volume a bit. Always emphasize quality over quantity esp. at our ages.

Train hard and train smart!
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Today's Training session: Total Body

I think at our age that if you are doing more than 3 strength training sessions per week then you are likely overdoing it.
Because when will you have the time and energy to do other training like agility/sprint work let alone the skill work of your respective sport.
You can still make amazing gains/progress on a 2-3 times weekly training program if done properly.
So today was another total body training session along the lines of what I just mentioned.

Warmup: tabletop hamstring, ankle mobs, wall slides, tabletop hip rotators, Indian clubs, sidelying t-spine, Brettzel 1.0, 1/2 kneeling adductor

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pullups-10,8, 6,6, 6; Sumo deadlift 5 x 5 @ 135, 225, 235, 255 (2); TRX suspended pushups, 15, 19, 15, 15, 27; KB swings 5 x 12 @ 32 kg; Landmine 1/2 moons 4 x 10
KB Farmers walks 2 x 70 yds. @ 32 kg. ea.

Comments: Good session; still a little sore after the weekend of kettlebells but feeling better.

Train hard and train smart!
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Today's Training Session: Interval Sprints

It was a beautiful day outside and forecast calls for rain tomorrow so I decided it would be a good day to do some outside sprint work.

Warmup: Leg swings, lateral squats, arm circles, toe walks/heel walks, march series, butt kickers, high knees, skip series

Workout: 10 x 70 meters w/ 1 min. rest. BOOM! Done!

Comments: Great day to be outside on the turf. Won't be too many of these nice days left where you can train in shorts. Have to take advantage!

Train hard and train smart!
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Monday, October 17, 2011

Today's Training: Mobility & Restoration

As I recently mentioned I had the privilege of doing Steve Maxwell's Level 1 Kettlebell certification program this past weekend. And one of the take home messages was the importance of recovery and mobility. That is what today is about, my friends.

Today's Session: Foam rolling,Cobra, 3 way hamstring w/rope, quad rocks, cat & camel,band wind mill iso hold, quadraped t-spine rotation/extension, Indian clubs

Comments: A lot of these movements focused on the thoracic spine (t-spine) as that is one of my big "issues" as this weekend revealed yet again. Any movement issues I have stem from the dysfunction I have in that area. My focus for the next 30 days will be on doing daily, if not twice daily, mobility and soft tissue work for that area.

Train hard and train smart!
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Friday, October 14, 2011

Today's Training Session: Hill sprint intervals

Again, following some of the ideas of Joel Jamieson, I did one of my regular hill sprint workouts today.

Warmup: leg swings, march series, skip series

Workout: 8 x 15 seconds w/ 60 second recovery; 2 min. recovery, then: 5 x 6 seconds (steeper hill) w/60 second recovery.

Comments: Intense but the hills definitely take some of the pounding out of the training. Good stuff!

Train hard and train smart!
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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Today's Training session: Total Body

Today was another total body session but with a little less volume and intensity as I have the Maxwell KB cert. course coming up this weekend in NYC. Caution is the better part of valor when it comes to training sometimes as well.

Warmup: foam rolling, wall slides, ankle mobs, Indian clubs, sidelying t-spine rotation, low box hip flexor, 1/2 kneeling adductor

Workout: Mini-circuit: chins/pullups 5 x 12; TRX suspended lunges 5 x 10; TRX suspended 1 leg pushups-5 x 17,19, 15, 15, 25; KB swings 5 x 12 @ 32 kg; Landmine "1/2 moons" 4 x 12
KB Suitcase carries 2 x 50 yds. @ 32 kg.

Comments; Good session; challenging but not too draining. Will need all I have this weekend to survive Maxwell's challenge.

Train hard and train smart!
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Today's Training Session: Intervals

Today was a "conditioning" day on the turf.

Warmup: leg swings, lateral squat, march series, toe walks/heel walks, skip series

Workout: 10 x 70 meters w/ 1 minute recovery

Comments: Right ankle a little stiff to begin but loosened up after several repeats. Had to finish in the drizzle....needless to say, no company on the field!

Train hard and train smart!
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Yesterday's Training Session: Total Body

Yesterday was a total body training session and as it looks like I'll only get two sessions in this week due to the weekend seminar I had to make sure I got maximum bang for my buck.

Warmup: tabletop hamstring, tabletop hip rotators, wall slides, ankle mobs, sidelying t-spine, Brettzel 1.0, Indian clubs, 1/2 kneeling adductor, low box hip flexor

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pullups 5 x 12; Sumo deadlift 5 x 6 @ 185, 215, 225, 235(2); Pushps-ft elevated 5 x 25; KB swings 5 x 15 @ 32 kg; Rip Trainer punches 4 x 10;
KB Farmers walks 3 x 70 yds. @ 32 kg. each

Comments: Good workout; getting back into deadlifting and will ramp it up over next 4-5 weeks along with pushups and chinups.

Train hard and trai smart!
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Friday, October 7, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

Today was another total body training session. Normally don't go back to back with strength training days but this was an exception due to a weekend of playing baseball.

Warmup: leg swings, ankle mobs, wall slides, Indian clubs, march series

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pull ups-6,9,5,5,5; KB swings 5 x 12@32 kg.; pushups(feet on box):16,19,14,14,25; KB suitcase carry 3 x 40 yds. @36 kg; TRX fallouts 4 x 8

Comments: Good session; no squatting/lunging to save legs for weekend--4 games in 3 days!

Train hard and train smart!
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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Today's Training Session: Total Body

I am starting to post at least some of my training sessions on this blog as it will show some samples of what type of training I believe is applicable and useful for Masters athletes. If I were training someone I would prescribe and design something similar.

Warmup: foam rolling, tabletop hamstring, tabletop hip rotators, wall slides, ankle mobs, 1/2 kneeling adductor, 1/2 kneeling hip flexor, Indian clubs

Workout: Mini-circuit: Chins/pullups- 5 x 12, TRX suspended lunges 5 x 10 @ 16 kg., pushups 5 x 25, KB swings 5 x 15 @ 32 kg., Rip Trainer overhead chops 4 x 10
Then: KB Farmers walk 3 x 70 yds. @ 32 kg.

Comments: This session had an upper body push, upper body pull, hip dominant lower body, quad dominant lower body, and two trunk/core exercises. That seems to cover just about everything.

Train hard and train smart!
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