Athletic Dedication

Members Area My Training Journal
1

School is over and the summer is here, so it is time for me to start training. I plan on keeping everything online for anyone and everyone to critique.

Stats:

Height: 6’1”-6’2”
Weight: 172

My weight was a consistently around 172 at the end of the school year. I weighed myself every once in awhile around 10 AM. I am hoping to push my weight up some. Right now, 185 is my goal.

Recent History:

I just graduated high school as the valedictorian. (YAY!) I played basketball and ran distance in track. Neither season had any highlights, though I did get selected to a regional all-star basketball game. I will not be playing sports in college so I am just training to train. I spent last week maxing out and doing some long duration isometrics.

Goals:

As of right now I just want to become a better athlete. I want to be bigger, faster, stronger, and jump higher. I want to be explosive and look good doing it. As time goes on I may begin setting specific goals, but for now those are the general ones. As of now, I am planning on doing something with coaching. I am not sure what though.

Training:

I will be following a High/Low setup. I am only planning on sprinting once a week. This may change though because I really want to do more sprints and after to 6 years of distance training speed excites me :slight_smile: . My HI days are Mon-Wed-Fri. My LI days are Tues-Thur-Sat. I will also be incorporating some long duration isometrics. These really intrigue me and after using them for just one week I saw some noticeable physical changes (this could have all been in my head though). At this point, I am not sure exactly how they will fit into my scheme, but they will find a place unless I feel they are bringing me down.

Maxes:

Deadlift-215
Bench- 165
Full Squat (3RM) - 175
Pullup- BW+40

I know these are pretty weak. I haven’t done much lifting in the past 7-9 months. At the end of last summer my bench was between 185 and 200. Then school started and all went to hell after that. For squats, I don’t have a squat rack or spotter so I didn’t attempt anything after 175x3 because it was pretty difficult. I was kind of pleasantly surprised with my pullup max.

2

Monday, May 26, 2008

WT: 172

HR: 3 Trials- 50.33 Avg.
Pressure: 3 Trials- 114/54 Avg.

I felt good today. I was itching to start my new training, especially after a week of new maxes and boring isometrics. Going into the workout I was pumped and ready to go.

Workout:

Warm-up

ADA Squat Drops 3x3
ADA PF Drops 3x3
SL Box Jumps 3x8

Hang Snatch [ul]
[li]WM- 1x3 (65)
[/li][li]Work Sets- 5x5 (75)
[/li][/ul]Deadlift [ul]
[li]WM- 1x3 (135)
[/li][li]Work Sets- 5x5 (150) (70%)
[/li][/ul]Bench [ul]
[li]WM- 1x3 (95)
[/li][li] Work Sets- 5x5 (115) (70%)
[/li][/ul]
Circuit I- 15 Minutes

Comments:

Plyos- The Drops felt kind of useless from the step I was using. I may just switch to max vertical jumps into ADA Drops. I seem to feel like those are more effective for me.

Hang Snatch- Felt great. I limited the weight so I could focus on exploding with good form.

Deadlift- These were tough, but not too bad. I did not have to grind much, so I think I did alright.

Bench- All these sets felt nice and light.

Circuit I- This circuit consists of rotating through DB Bench/DB Rows, Front Squats/RDLs, Curls/Tricep Pressdowns, and Calf Raises/Shrugs. Reps were high and weight was low. I took practically no breaks between any exercises and got through the circuit two and half times. With little to no rest, this is a killer.

Overall: Great first workout!

3

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Everything is a little sore today. Nothing is terribly sore, but I am feeling yesterday’s workout all over. I did a little low intensity stuff today. These days are still a piece of work because I really do not want to do anything to draining physically. I definitely do not want to do tempo runs right now, so I will probably stick with isometrics, light plyos, jump rope, circuits, and/or calisthenics. Today I did:

Workouts:

2:00 PM- [ul]
[li]Iso Split Squat 3 Minutes each leg forward (3 sets)
[/li][li] Iso Pushup 3 Minutes (5 sets)
[/li][li] Iso Squat 5 Minutes (3 Sets)
[/li][/ul]
9:30 PM- Weighted Jump Rope [ul]
[li]5x50 Two Legs
[/li][li] 5x25 Single Leg (Each Leg)[/ul]
[/li]Core- 500 Easy reps

Comments:

Isos- Felt alright. I held the pushup for a whole minute my first set which is a PR.

Jump Rope- I kept recoveries short to get a little conditioning out of it. I did these on grass barefoot. It has been raining the last couple of days here, so the ground was soggy.

Core- I did 200 crunches, 100 oblique crunches per side, and 100 supermen.

Overall- Simple, easy, effective… hopefully.

I think I may use short sets of isometrics to cool down on HI days, and then do long duration holds on LI days. I did them 6 days straight last week and did not have a problem, so I think my body can handle it. As of right now this seems like a good plan to me.
4

Wednesday, May 29, 2008

I did not get the amount of sleep I wanted last night because of people texting me early this morning. I probably ended up with 7.5 or so hours, not too bad. I’m still a little sore throughout my body, but overall I was looking forward to training. Today I did:

Workout:

1:00 PM

Warm-up

[ul]
[li]Short Sprints 3x
[/li][li]Long Sprints 3x
[/li][/ul]
Hang Clean [ul]
[li]WM-1x5 (75)
[/li][li]WS- 5x5 (115)
[/li][/ul]
Full Squat
[ul]
[li]WM- 1x3 (95)
[/li][li]WS- 5x5 (130)
[/li][/ul]
Pullups
[ul]
[li]WM- 1x3 (BW)
[/li][li]WS- 5x5 (BW)
[/li][/ul]
Circuit II- 15 Minutes

Isometric Cooldown

11:30 PM

Isometrics

Regeneration/Recovery:

Contrast Shower- Alternating between Cold then Hot (4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot)

Comments:

Sprints- I don’t know about the distances. I did these outside in Frees on the soggy ground. My fastest short sprint was 4.33 and my fastest long sprint was 10.15. These were also slightly uphill.

Hang Clean- Felt alright. Not as explosive as I would like, but I’m not a huge clean fan anyways. I prefer the snatch usually.

Squats- Felt light for all the sets. I should have used more, but during the last week of school I squatted for the first time in forever. I did 2x6 with 135 and my legs felt like they could cramp at any moment for the rest of the day. Not fun.

Pullups- Felt pretty good. I did a little grinding on the last rep of the last 2 sets, but it wasn’t bad at all.

Circuit II- This circuit consisted of Farmers Walks with 45 lb. DBs for 102 feet followed by carrying a 40 lb. punching bag in 5 different positions for 68 feet per position. I got through 3 sets with a minute rest between each.

Iso Cooldown- I did Squats for 1 Min., Pushups for 20 sec., Split Squats for 45 sec., and Pillars for 1 Min. I did this circuit 3 times.

Isometrics- I did Calf Raises and Glute Bridges for 3 minutes each and Curls for 2x1.5 minutes.

Overall, today went great in my mind. Both sessions were fun and felt good. Tomorrow will bring even more.

5

Thursday, May 29, 2008
I’m a little sore today. Most of the soreness is in the shoulders and upper back. My lowerbody is just a tad bit sore. I only got 6 hours of sleep unfortunately. Today was a LI day.

2:00 PM
[ul]
[li]Dynamic Warm-Up Drills 4x20-30 yard each
[/li][li]Med Ball Throws- 200 Reps
[/li][li]Normal Jump Rope- 2x50
[/li]

[li]Iso Split Squat- 3 Min Each leg (3 Sets)
[/li][li]Iso Pushup- 3 Min. (5 Sets)
[/li][li]Iso Squat- 5 Min. (3 Sets)
[/li][/ul]
Core- 500 Easy Reps

Comments:

Dynamic Drills- I did High Knees, Butt Kicks, High Knee/Butt Kicks, Carioca, and Shuffles.

Med Ball Throws- I did 25 reps for 8 different types of throws.

Jump Rope- I did two-legged hops.

Isos- All these felt alright. Nothing big happening.

Core- Same as Tuesday. (200 crunches, 100 oblique crunches/side, 100 Supermen)

Today went well. I felt fresh and ready to go shortly after the session.

6

Friday, May 31, 2008

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning. I was ready to get a good workout in later that day. I will be alternating between the two workouts I have done this week for 3 weeks before I unload for a week. Today look liked:

Workout:

1:30 PM

Warm-Up
[ul]
[li]Max VJ into ADA 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running SL VJ (Each Leg) 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running VJ (Two-Legged) 2x3
[/li][li]Two Legged Box Jumps 1x15
[/li][li]SL Box Jumps (Each Leg) 1x8
[/li][/ul]
Hang Snatch [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (65)
[/li][li]1x7 (75)
[/li][li]1x5 (80)
[/li][li]1x3 (85)
[/li][li]2x5 (80)
[/li][/ul]
Deadlift [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (135)
[/li][li]1x7 (150)
[/li][li]1x5 (155)
[/li][li]1x3 (160)
[/li][li]2x5 (155)[/ul]
[/li]
Bench [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95)
[/li][li]1x7 (115)
[/li][li]1x5 (120)
[/li][li]1x3 (125)
[/li][li]2x5 (120)
[/li][/ul]
Wrestling

Isometric Cooldown

Recovery/Regeneraion:

Contrast Shower- 4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot

Comments:

Plyos- Most of these felt average. I did these outside and the ground is still soft though. Plus it rained again tonight so who knows when I will be able to run or jump on a decent surface. The box jumps felt quick though.

Hang Snatch- These were explosive for the most part. I think my form was solid too.

Deadlift- These were tough once again, but not horrible by any means. I got all the reps without to much struggle. I think these will be the toughest lift this cycle.

Bench- These reps were a little harder than on Monday, but overall not to difficult.

Wrestling- I didn’t feel like doing Circuit 1, so I challenged my brother to some wrestling. He has no idea what he’s doing so I beat him rather easily all 3 times. I got him with an armbar and with a couple of chokes. I have become very interested in MMA and might start training for that when I move off to college.

Iso Cooldown- This was the same as last time, but I added Iso Pullups to the rotation.

I am satisfied with today’s work. Tomorrow is a LI day and then Sunday will be a rest day. I am going to make sure that I don’t push the weights to much this first cycle. Even when the sets feel relatively easy, I’m just going to keep on slowly adding weight. I don’t want to add too much too fast.

7

Friday, May 31, 2008

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning. I was ready to get a good workout in later that day. I will be alternating between the two workouts I have done this week for 3 weeks before I unload for a week. Today look liked:

Workout:

1:30 PM

Warm-Up
[ul]
[li]Max VJ into ADA 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running SL VJ (Each Leg) 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running VJ (Two-Legged) 2x3
[/li][li]Two Legged Box Jumps 1x15
[/li][li]SL Box Jumps (Each Leg) 1x8
[/li][/ul]
Hang Snatch [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (65)
[/li][li]1x7 (75)
[/li][li]1x5 (80)
[/li][li]1x3 (85)
[/li][li]2x5 (80)
[/li][/ul]
Deadlift [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (135)
[/li][li]1x7 (150)
[/li][li]1x5 (155)
[/li][li]1x3 (160)
[/li][li]2x5 (155)[/ul]
[/li]
Bench [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95)
[/li][li]1x7 (115)
[/li][li]1x5 (120)
[/li][li]1x3 (125)
[/li][li]2x5 (120)
[/li][/ul]
Wrestling

Isometric Cooldown

Recovery/Regeneraion:

Contrast Shower- 4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot

Comments:

Plyos- Most of these felt average. I did these outside and the ground is still soft though. Plus it rained again tonight so who knows when I will be able to run or jump on a decent surface. The box jumps felt quick though.

Hang Snatch- These were explosive for the most part. I think my form was solid too.

Deadlift- These were tough once again, but not horrible by any means. I got all the reps without to much struggle. I think these will be the toughest lift this cycle.

Bench- These reps were a little harder than on Monday, but overall not to difficult.

Wrestling- I didn’t feel like doing Circuit 1, so I challenged my brother to some wrestling. He has no idea what he’s doing so I beat him rather easily all 3 times. I got him with an armbar and with a couple of chokes. I have become very interested in MMA and might start training for that when I move off to college.

Iso Cooldown- This was the same as last time, but I added Iso Pullups to the rotation.

I am satisfied with today’s work. Tomorrow is a LI day and then Sunday will be a rest day. I am going to make sure that I don’t push the weights to much this first cycle. Even when the sets feel relatively easy, I’m just going to keep on slowly adding weight. I don’t want to add too much too fast.

8

Friday, May 31, 2008

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning. I was ready to get a good workout in later that day. I will be alternating between the two workouts I have done this week for 3 weeks before I unload for a week. Today look liked:

Workout:

1:30 PM

Warm-Up
[ul]
[li]Max VJ into ADA 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running SL VJ (Each Leg) 2x3
[/li][li]Max Running VJ (Two-Legged) 2x3
[/li][li]Two Legged Box Jumps 1x15
[/li][li]SL Box Jumps (Each Leg) 1x8
[/li][/ul]
Hang Snatch [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (65)
[/li][li]1x7 (75)
[/li][li]1x5 (80)
[/li][li]1x3 (85)
[/li][li]2x5 (80)
[/li][/ul]
Deadlift [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (135)
[/li][li]1x7 (150)
[/li][li]1x5 (155)
[/li][li]1x3 (160)
[/li][li]2x5 (155)[/ul]
[/li]
Bench [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95)
[/li][li]1x7 (115)
[/li][li]1x5 (120)
[/li][li]1x3 (125)
[/li][li]2x5 (120)
[/li][/ul]
Wrestling

Isometric Cooldown

Recovery/Regeneraion:

Contrast Shower- 4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot

Comments:

Plyos- Most of these felt average. I did these outside and the ground is still soft though. Plus it rained again tonight so who knows when I will be able to run or jump on a decent surface. The box jumps felt quick though.

Hang Snatch- These were explosive for the most part. I think my form was solid too.

Deadlift- These were tough once again, but not horrible by any means. I got all the reps without to much struggle. I think these will be the toughest lift this cycle.

Bench- These reps were a little harder than on Monday, but overall not to difficult.

Wrestling- I didn’t feel like doing Circuit 1, so I challenged my brother to some wrestling. He has no idea what he’s doing so I beat him rather easily all 3 times. I got him with an armbar and with a couple of chokes. I have become very interested in MMA and might start training for that when I move off to college.

Iso Cooldown- This was the same as last time, but I added Iso Pullups to the rotation.

I am satisfied with today’s work. Tomorrow is a LI day and then Sunday will be a rest day. I am going to make sure that I don’t push the weights to much this first cycle. Even when the sets feel relatively easy, I’m just going to keep on slowly adding weight. I don’t want to add too much too fast.

9

My computer was messing up last night so I guess I posted the same thing like 3 times. My bad.

10

I woke up this morning and everything felt pretty good. I didn’t feel very fatigued or sore. My body is getting back into the groove of lifting.

11

Your running isnt getting much attention. Your speed work needs to be high quality and exact. You need to know distances, have a track surface, have spikes, adjust your position on the track to have wind behind your back.
Hill sprints are good, but I dont see how very small inclines have good benefits, a decent incline should be used at least.
I didnt take very close looks, but are you doing tempo for recovery work as well as to get your sprint form together.

12

Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

As of right now I’m not training specifically for speed. If I decide to I would definitely start driving to the track and making sure everything is high quality. Right now I’m just training to train and get a little better in everything overall.

On tempo days I’m not doing tempo runs. I just got out of track season. I was a distance runner and got plenty of running. I’m kinda burnt out on it honestly, so I’m taking a break. Instead of tempo runs, I am just doing some other LI activities.

I’m pretty weak so strength work would probably benefit me most for the future. Once my strength gains start slowing I’ll probably move to focusing on speed.

13

I didn’t end up working out yesterday because a couple things came up during the day. Then when I got home around 12 the electricity was flashing on and off due to the thunderstorms we were having, so I didn’t bother working out then either.

Right now I think I will do my LI work today and start back on the normal schedule tomorrow.

14

I wanna go fast!

I just watched the Reebok Grand Prix. Bolt is crazy fast. He looks like a giant out there too! Makes me wanna go sprint :smiley:

15

Sunday, June 1, 2008
Today was LI. I did:

3:30 PM

[ul]
[li]Iso Split Squats 3 Min. (2 Sets each leg)
[/li][li]Iso Push up 3 Min. (5 sets)
[/li][/ul]

7:00 PM

[ul]
[li]Squat 5 Min. (2 Sets)
[/li][/ul]
Comments:

All the isometrics felt good. I set PR’s in both split squats and squats.

Focusing on speed is really tempting right now after watching T&F all day. I’m going to go ahead and stick with what I have for now though. Maybe next cycle I’ll start to do sprinting 3 times a week. Who knows…

16

Monday, June 2, 2008

I’m not really sure how much sleep I got. I stayed at a friend’s house so not a lot, but it wasn’t horrible either. Due to tornado warnings and just hanging out I didn’t get home until 6ish. I ate dinner and started my workout around 8. Today I did:

8:00 PM

Warm-Up

[ul]
[li]Two-Legged Box Jumps 2x20
[/li][li]SL Box Jumps 2x10 (Per Leg)
[/li][/ul]
Hang Clean[ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95) []WS 1x7 (115) []1x5 (120) []1x3 (125) []2x5 (120) [/ul]
[/li]Full Squats [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95) []WS 1x7 (130) []1x5 (135) []1x3 (140) []2x5 (135)
[/li][/ul]
Pullups [ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (BW) []WS 1x7 (BW) []1x5 (BW+5) []1x3 (BW+10) []2x5 (BW+5)
[/li][/ul]
Isometric Cooldown

Recovery/Regeneration:

Contrast Shower- 4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot

Comments:

Plyos- The two-legged jumps felt quick and light. My left leg felt similar. My right leg is my weak leg, but it’s catching up.

Hang Clean- These felt a little better than last week’s. The last 2 sets felt pretty explosive.

Squats- Slightly tougher than last week’s.

Pullups- The first few sets weren’t too bad, but I started to grind out some reps the last couple sets. I do pullups on a tower device in my room, so the dumbbell kept hitting parts of it on the way up.

Isos- I did Squats, pushups and pillars.

Overall, today went well. A little fatigued going into the workout because of the long day and lack of sleep. I think everything went smooth considering though.

17

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Today was a LI day. I got up early. Went to Springfield to go shopping with my girlfriend. I walked a bunch and ate like crap. I got home at about ten and did this:

10:30 PM

Iso Lunge 3 Min. (2 Sets/per leg)
Iso Pushup 3 Min (4 Sets)
Iso Squat 3 Min (2 Sets)

Prior to Bed

Iso Squat 3 Min

Comments:

Iso Lunge- These are the same as split squats, I just decided to switch the name. I was able to do these in 2 sets again, but I didn’t take as long of a break in between legs so it was a little tougher.

Iso Pushup- I kind of had to cheat on the 4th set, so that I wouldn’t have to do a 5th set for less than 10 seconds.

Iso Squats- My legs were completely dead! I only did 3 minutes worth but will do some more later.

18

Ok so about five or ten minutes after I posted that I lost all power and the tornado sirens close to my house went off. Needless to say, I did not get anymore Iso Squats in.

I hate living in Southwest Missouri right now…

19

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Hola. Today was a very good day I guess. I hung out with a few friends, had an excellent workout, and had some fun.

1:30 PM

Warm-Up

[ul]
[li]Two-Legged Box Jumps 3x15
[/li][li]SL Box Jumps 2x12
[/li][/ul]

Hang Snatch
[ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (65)
[/li][li] 2x5 (85)
[/li][li] 2x4 (90)
[/li][li] 1x3 (95)
[/li][li] 1x2 (100)
[/li][/ul]
Deadlift
[ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (135)
[/li][li] 2x5 (160)
[/li][li] 2x4 (165)
[/li][li] 1x3 (170)
[/li][li] 1x2 (175)
[/li][/ul]
Bench
[ul]
[li]WM 1x3 (95)
[/li][li] 2x5 (125)
[/li][li] 2x4 (130)
[/li][li] 1x3 (135)
[/li][li] 1x2 (140)
[/li][/ul]
Wrestling

9:30 PM

Iso’s

Ground & Pound 3x2 Minutes

Recovery Regeneration:

Contrast Shower- 4x1 Minute Cold, 3x3 Min. Hot

Comments:

Plyos- These were quick and explosive. Everything felt nice.

Snatch- Surprised at how explosive/easy the set of 2 with 100 lbs was.

Deadlifts- These felt great. I really love deads for some reason.

Bench- All the reps and sets here went well. I didn’t have to struggle at all.

Wrestling- Still Undefeated against my friends and brother :smiley:

Isos- I did these a little differently than normal. I just held each position for 1 set. I held it til I was within about 15 seconds of failure.

Ground/Pound- This was fun. I unloaded on my punching bag. This is really tiring though.

Great Day!

20

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Nothing eventful today… I cut out the isometrics. I just did not feel like doing them for some reason. Instead I went an easy 15 minutes on a stationary bike. I went 5 miles.