ben's journal

Wednesday 15th August 2007
Total Duration: 30 minutes

Warm-up: 5 minutes on Threadmill (0.7km) & calf static stretch

  1. Squats
    Warm-up: (95lbs) 1 x 5
    Work Sets: (140lbs) 3 x 5

Decent work, despite legs still feeling slightly sore from Monday’s workout. A -ve, I think my upper body bends forward too much at the bottom, guessing it’s because of a lack of flexibility.

  1. Military Press
    Work Sets: (60lbs) 3 x 5

Nothing too difficult here, light weight. Tried not to stress my hand too much, as it was feeling a bit awkward.

  1. Waiters’ Bow
    Work Set: (25lb plate) 1 x 8

Easy work, really concentrated on perfect form.

Then, static stretching for lower body…

Conclusion:
A quick workout during lunchtime…
Decent session.

Weight (as of Sunday 19th August '07): 77.6kg

Monday 20th August 2007
Street Soccer then Gym

#1) Played street soccer for over an hour. Very fun and intense, good test of my fitness, soccer skills and other necessary fitness components (like agility).

However, ended up with a couple of blisters near the balls of my feet, as well as aching heels on both feet. Shouldn’t be anything too serious.

#2) Gym work - 30 minutes workout, ~1.5 hour after soccer

  1. Squats
    (95lbs) 1 x 5 for warm-up
    (145lbs) 3 x 5

  2. Bench Press
    (105lbs) 3 x 5

  3. Pull-ups
    (BW) 3 x 3

Conclusion:

  • On squats, could feel it in my lower back and my legs - already tired from soccer.
  • Good decent session.

[u]Saturday 25th August 2007[u]
Gym + fitness work

Warm-up: 8 minutes on threadmill (easy walk, then jog) + movement prep

  1. Squats
    (95lbs) 1 x 5 for warm-up
    (155lbs) 3 x 5

I’ve been increasing the squat weight 5lbs each session, but decided to increase it by 10lbs this time around. And… It felt so terribly heavy on my shoulders, but went ahead with it anyway.

  1. Bench Press
    (Bar) 1 x 5 for warm-up
    (115lbs) 3 x 5

Felt pretty heavy, but managed to handle it.

  1. Pull-ups
    (BW) 3 x 3

Concentrated on perfect form, and it went well.

fitness work…
1/2 Tabata protocol
i. Jumping jacks
ii. Crunches

Cool-down: static stretching for whole body

Conclusion
I wasn’t able to train on Wednesday because i fell ill. I’ve recovered already now…

Good workout today. Had to work hard 'cos the weights felt pretty damn heavy, and of course I’m pleased with that.

Monday 27th August 2007
Street Soccer for an hour

Whole lot of fun again…

Just like last week, was playing pretty well at the start, and just faded away as the game went on - poor fitness plus blisters coming back again.

Tuesday 28th August 2007
Gym session - 52 minutes total

Warm-up: 20 minutes -> 1km bike (3:11 minutes), then movement prep

Did a long warm-up because the sole squat rack in the gym was taken up…

  1. Squats
    (135lbs) 1 x 3 reps - for warm-up
    (160lbs) 3 x 5

Good solid work. Bar felt heavy, but nailed all fifteen reps.

  1. Military Press
    (65lbs) 3 x 5

Focused on perfect execution here. Not too difficult…

  1. Waiter’s Bow
    (w/ 35lb plate) 3 x 6

On these, focused on powerful thrust on the way up… Good work on my hamstrings.


extras…

  1. Seated DB Cleans
    (15lbs) 2 x 10

Good form, good work.

  1. Swiss-ball Crunches
    (BW) 2 x 8

Tiring…

Conclusion:

  • Good workout, over lunch.

Thursday 30th August 2007
Gym work - 45 minutes total

Warm-up: Movement prep (10 minutes)

  1. Squats
    135lbs x 3 - for warm-up
    (170lbs) 3 x 5

These were tough! 170 felt bloody heavy… Pleased that I nailed all 15 reps.

  1. Bench Press
    Bar x 5 - for warm-up
    (125lbs) 3 x 5

Another tough one…

  1. Pull-ups
    (BW) 3 x 3

Not much strength left, after high levels of exertion on squats & bench…

Cool-down: walk on treadmill for 5 minutes

Conclusion:
The weights may look light, but boy was it a tough workout. Wasn’t looking forward to squats prior to the workout, so no doubt happy to get through the session successfully.

Saturday 1st Sept 2007
Speed + fitness work on track

After warm-up…

4 x 10m
&
4 x 20m

Followed by 1.6km run

Cool-down: 800m walk + static stretching

Conclusion:
Not much power, not fast enough on my starts - not surprising, still got quite a long way to go. But excited at the possibilities, i.e. if I can just be consistent with my speed training.

As for the fitness work (1.6km run), it was NOT fun - struggled, so unfit. This will take some time to train up as well.

Monday 3rd Sept 2007
Gym work (40 minutes total)

warm-up for 5 minutes - movement prep + 135lbs x 3 Squats

  1. Squats
    (175lbs) 3 x 5

  2. Military Press
    (70lbs) 3 x 5

  3. Waiter’s Bows
    (w/ 35lb plate) 3 x 8

  4. Calf Raises machine
    (180lbs) 2 x 8

Cool-down: 5 minutes walk on treadmill

Conclusion:
Not too bad a workout…

Sunday 28th October '07
Speed Workout
~ 46 minutes total

Warm-up: (12 minutes) 400m jog + movement prep

  • 4 x 10m (flat position start)

  • 3 x 20m (sprint start)

  • 2 pull-ups

Cool-down: 400m walk + static stretching

Comments:
Not too bad a workout.

Had a mixture of pretty good runs and some slow ones.

Monday 29th October '07
RE Upper
~ 55 minutes total

A. Flat DB Bench (3 x max reps, 90 seconds rest)
(35lbs) 20, 16, 12

B. superset
i. LifeFitness Pulldown Machine - (45kg) 3 x 10
ii. Seated DB Cleans - (20lbs) 3 x 10

C. Seated DB Shoulder Press
(30lbs) 3 x 10

D. superset
i. BB Shrugs - (155lbs) 3 x 10
ii. BB Curls - (55lbs) 8, 8, 4

E. Weighted Swiss ball (plate held behind head)
(10lb plate) 2 x 10

Comments:
Good workout.

Monday 29th October '07
Workout TWO
Fartlek Training
~ 35 minutes total

At around 9:15pm, suddenly felt like training, and so got changed and off I went:

[ul]
[li]20 minutes of fartlek training
[/li][li]Cool-down: walked around for 10 minutes & then stretching for lower body for ~ 5 minutes
[/li][/ul]

Comments:
Not much energy this time around, and frequently jogged at a very slow pace.
Will need to up the intensity next time, but still lot’s of sweat and a considerable aerobic workout.

Tuesday 30th October '07
ME Lower
During lunch - ~ 50 minutes total

A. Deadlifts - all DOH grip except last set
135lbs/3, 155lbs/3, 195lbs/3, 225lbs/3, 245lbs/2, 265lbs/1
275lbs/1 (mixed grip)

B. Pull-throughs
(14) 2 x 10

C. DB Farmer’s Walk
(70lbs) 1 round through gym (~20m)

Comments:
[ul]
[li]Good workout
[/li][li]Really could feel the difference between DOH grip & mixed grip on deadlifts - felt like I can go heavier with mixed
[/li][li]Grip almost gave up on me, with about 3 m to go on farmers’ walk - good hard work
[/li][/ul]

Tuesday 1st November '07
ME Upper
~ 55 minutes total

A. Incline Bench Press
Bar/5, 65lbs/5, 95lbs/5, 115lbs/5, 135lbs/5,
140lbs/2 - PR: +5lbs

B. Incline DB Bench Press (w/ 3 minutes rest)
(30lbs) 15, 13

C. superset
i. BB Rows (100lbs) 3 x 10
ii. Chest-supported High DB Rows (15lbs) 3 x 10

D. DB Shrugs
(60lbs) 3 x 10

E. BB Drag Curls
(Bar) 2 x 8

Comments:
Good workout.
Only negative was not being able to get third rep on the final set of incline bench.

Friday 2nd November '07
Went for rugby training - 1 hour 15 minutes worth

Rusty, and poor handling, but it was fun - it’s been a while.

3rd November '07 Saturday
Speed Session
~ 47 minutes total

[ul]
[li]10 minutes warm-up: 400m jog + general mobility
[/li][li]4 x 10m
[/li][li]2 x 20m
[/li][li]1 x 30m
[/li][li]Cool-down: 400m walk + static stretching for lower body
[/li][/ul]

Comments:

  • Decent…

Monday 5th November '07
Street soccer for 1.5 hour

Fast, high tempo games, one after another, which got pretty damn aggressive towards the end. Good fun though - except I ended up with blisters on both feet, and didn’t play particularly well.

Tuesday 6th November '07
RE Upper
~ 1 hour total

  • 10 minutes warm-up: mobility work

A. Flat DB Bench (3 x max reps, 90 seconds rest)
(35lbs) 22, 16, 15
Total: 53 - PR: +5 reps

B. superset
i. Pulldown Machine (55kg) 10, 10, 8
ii. Seated DB Cleans (20lbs) 3 x 10

C. Seated DB Shoulder Press
(30lbs) 4 x 10

D. superset
i. BB Shrugs (135lbs) 3 x 10
ii. BB Curls (Bar) 3 x 10

E. Swiss ball Plate Crunches
(w/ 10lb plate) 3 x 10

Comments:
Good workout.

Wednesday 7th November '07
Rugby Training

  • Not too good today - poor hands, poor passing and poor energy.
  • Not getting enough sleep every night…

Friday 9th November '07
Rugby Training

  • Touch rugby the whole session…
  • Very, very disappointing play - no pace, no energy and little skills on the pitch today.

Weekend: 10th & 11th November '07

[ul]
[li]Didn’t train at all during the weekend
[/li][li]Low on motivation, after the rugby sessions - they really sucked
[/li][li]Anyway, after two days off, feeling the urge to train again, can’t wait to get back on track
[/li][/ul]