Introduction
I’m 20 years old, 180cm tall and currently 77kg. The sports i train for are rugby and basketball. I’ve always liked track as well, and was part of my high school track team - however, not the most gifted sprinter around, as my fastest time was a 12.02 seconds 100m (hand-timed) then.
Just coming back after a two-month layoff due to injuries - injured the side of my knee and my left hand during rugby - right now, my knee seems like it’s fine already, no problems with sprinting, but my hand is still hurting, preventing me from doing weights as i can’t grip the weights.
So right now, I want to start a GPP of my own, focusing on improving my speed, starting today…
Monday, May 14th '07
Evening, 50 minutes altogether, “hill work”
Warm-up with some easy run & shuffles on a badminton court to start, then static stretching and then some movement prep work (backpedal, power speed drills, hip mobility etc).
Warm-up took about 17 minutes in total…
Main:
6 x 10m
5 x 20m
w/ walk back recovery
then, core circuit - 6 exercises, 20 seconds on, 20 seconds off, alternating between movement & stability work.
Comments: Did my “hill work” on a slope at a carpark. I reduced the volume on the sprints because of the hard surface, and the fact that I’m really unfit and weak at the moment.
Rugby and basketball should be starting in early July and September respectively.
However, I’m considering not playing competitive sports this year, especially rugby. Reason being I want to prepare myself for uni sports in the UK next year, and would like to see how far i can go with a full year of training under my belt.
I would like to take part in an athletics meet early next year though, so my priority is working on my speed now.
At this point, had an old ‘injury’ - centre of my left calf hurt when i squat on my toes, when i press my hamstrings against the calves.
Static stretched my calves out a bit then, and tried not to squat for the rest of the session…
Continued with 5 x 20m
Then, 2 x 1 minute of Prone Pillar Bridge
Cool-down: Static stretching for lower body
Comments: very average workout, the pain in the calf didn’t help matters.
#1) Foam rolling
~ 10 minutes;
It’s been awhile since I last used my roller, will attempt to use it more often;
Calves were really tight after using the foam roller on them.
#2) Pool Session
~ 25 minutes;
Did a bit of everything - e.g. arm swings, leg swings, short sprints in the water, a bit of freestyle, ~30m of breaststroke;
Good session…
Did some push-ups prior to breakfast:
3 x 12 push-ups on push-up bars
Comments: Back again, after a long break. I’ve been extremely frustrated with my injuries, especially with my hand injury (it comes and goes, every now and then). But it feels better now, not 100% yet still though, I’m going to start training again.
So sick of feeling so weak and unfit and slow, losing muscle with each passing minute and gaining a tummy in the process. I’m embarrassed with how my body looks now.
I’ll try to start slowly, with focus on general fitness and general strength for the time being.
Re: today… Didn’t have much time so just did a very, very brief “workout”. Hope to hit the gym tommorrow.
Warm-up (15 minutes): 5 minutes on Rowing machine (1008m) + mobility work
Box Squats (on bench)
(95lbs) 2 x 6 for warm-up
(135lbs) 3 x 5 reps
Much weaker now, 135 actually felt heavy. Will stick with this for now, and shall slowly build it up.
Superset:
i. Push-ups 3 x 15 reps
ii. Inverted Rows 8, 8, 6 reps
Tough work, wasn’t about to complete 8 reps on last set of the rows. I think i might switch this to alternate sets instead of superset the two exercises.
Waiter’s Bow
(25lbs) 3 x 8
Good decent work.
Seated DB Cleans
(10lbs) 3 x 10
Light DBs, just in case my hand hurts again.
Plank Bridge
2 x 45 seconds
Then, did some static stretching for my lower body.
Comments: Nice to be in the gym again. Did everything with caution not to get injured again, especially with my hand. All in all, it was a pretty decent session.
3 x supersets (90 seconds rest)
of 12 Push-ups on push-up bars & 20 Crunches
Then, after quite a long break (had to sort out some stuff)…
Did stair running - ran up to the 13th floor, with a time of 1 minute & 4.5 seconds
Had to rest for quite some time, to finally catch my breath, before…
1 set of 5 pull-ups
Finished off with some static stretching for my quadriceps & hamstrings.
Comments:
Stair running was tough as hell - was able to run up the first few floors, but soon i was becoming very fatigued. I actually felt pretty dizzy, and completely out of breath, by the time i reached the 13th floor.
For pull-ups, i tried to do one set of max reps, and 5 was I could do. Pretty disappointing, but shall work to increase it then.
Overall, a pretty decent workout. Will try to beat my time the next time i run up the stairs.
Warm-up: 5 minutes on exercise bike followed by 10 minutes’ worth of mobility + stretching work
Back Squats
warm-up -> (95lbs) 2 sets x 5 reps
Then, (115lbs) 3 x 5
Bench Press
warm-up -> (Bar) 2 x 5
Then, (75lbs) 3 x 5
Chin-ups
2 sets x 5
Core Circuit x 2
[Sprinter Sit-ups x 16 total reps; Russian Twists on floor w/ 3kg medicine ball x 30 total reps; & Prone Pillar Plank x 45 seconds] (no rest between exercises, 90 seconds between sets)
Then for cool-down… static stretching.
Comments:
Nothing too heavy today - wanted to start off with easy weights. Tried not to stress my hand too much as well.
Monday 13th August 2007
Total Duration: 1 hour 5 minutes
Squats Warm-Up: 10 x BW squats, hip flexor stretch, (95lbs) 2 x 5 Work Sets: (135lbs) 3 x 5
These felt pretty heavy. Depth was fine, so I’m pleased with these.
Bench Press Warm-up: (Bar) 2 x 5 Work Sets: (95lbs) 3 x 5
Bloody hell, these felt pretty damn heavy. But managed to concentrate on the reps, trying to complete them as perfect as possible.
Chin-ups Work Sets: (BW) 3 x 3
Good work.
Then, fitness work…
‘1/2’ Tabata Protocol - i.e. 4 x (20 secs on, 10 secs off) at least 2-3 minutes rest in between exercises…
i. Mountain Climbers
ii. Sit-ups
iii. Leg Raise hold
iv. Push-ups
Not sure why but my left kneecap was hurting when I started mountain climbers. Just kept at it despite the pain. All the exercises were tough. Struggled big time by the 3rd/4th set of each exercise.
Finally, cool-down - static stretch, especially on lower body
Conclusion: Good workout. The fitness work at the end was tough but good, something I really need to do more of.