Thursday - 7/29
Just weightlifting today, then tomorrows off cuz i have my drivers test and i dont need anymore stress than I already have. I’ll start back with sprint work on saturday, and hopefully my knees will stop hurting.
PM Weightlifting 2:00 - 3:00
Benchpress 4x6 115, 125, 135, 145
Standing Military Press 4x6
Tricep Pushdown 4x6 60, 60, 70, 70
Skull Crushers to CG BP Superset 4x8 45, 45, 50, 55
Saturday - 7/31
Well today sucked, but it wasnt cuz of training. I was actually moving along nicely with my squats and had just finished hang cleans when my mom stops me and informs me that my granddad has a stroke and is in the hospital. Apparently, he can move just fine but he has no sensation of feeling on the right side of his body. I guess it just goes to show that there are more important things in life than training and personal accomplishments. With that said, heres what I managed to complete.
PM Weightlifting 3:15 - 4:15
Full Squat 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 2
Bar, 155, 175, 185, 195, 200
Hang Clean 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 2
105, 115, 125, 135, 140, 140
Monday - 8/2
Today was a decent training day. Instead of working out by myself this morning I went to one of the volunteer S and C sessions up at school for football, and that was nice because I didnt have to depend on myself for motivation. Howver, it did mean that I had to follow their lifting and running, but it wasnt so bad. The only thing that really pissed me off is the fact that my knees are still hurting! I have no explanation for it, and I really hope the pain goes away either through massage, or hydrotherapy, or tempo or something, because there’s no way I’m gonna make it through my fall camp for football if my knees are hurting me like this.
AM Workout 10:00 - 11:30
Warm-Up
40 yd sprints
Weight Room
Power Clean 3x6 135, 145, 145
DB Front/Lateral Raises 3x12
Seated Cable Rows 3x12
BB Shoulder Shrug 3x12
Wide-Grip Pull Ups 3x12
Wednesday - 8/4
I could only do weightlifting today; I wont be able to run until I get my hips realigned. I also had a scare on the benchpress because I was lifting without a spotter and the bar nicked something on the rack and came down like a rock and almost crushed my throat. It was probably the scariest thing thats happened to me in a while. After that I really didnt feel in the mood to lift anymore, so I just finished that set and did one more excercise and called it a night.
PM Lifting 9:45 - 10:20
Bench Press 3x6 115, 125, 135
1x5 145 (the bar hit the rack, prevented me from finishing last rep)
Skull Crushers to CG BP Superset 4x8 45, 45, 50, 55
Friday - 8/6
I wasnt feeling up to CNS work today so I’m putting that off till Saturday and instead I did some tempo in the pool.
Well its been a while, and I just got back from vacation. Honestly, I feel as if I didnt do enough while on vacation (at the beach) and now I’m gonna have to give myself a crash course before football starts on Friday (7 days). I’m gonna step it up for 4 straight days of hard work, and then taper it off for practice on the 20th. Also, my training for this last week is gonna be geared more toward surviving hell week and doing well in practice as opposed to getting faster. That means more lactic and aerobic work and less true speed development. I just hope I can survive.
Saturday - 8/14
I tried to go out and run, but my knees were killing me when I tried to decellerate, and since today I only had a about 15m to work with this was a problem. So instead I did one of the most grueling condition circuits ever. It was 15-20 minutes of non-stop excercise. I need to increase my capacity for lactic acid for football, and so if this is how I’m gonna have to do it until my knee gets better than so be it. I’m gonna stop by the store today and see if I can get a brace for it or something.
Sunday - 8/15
Well my knees were feeling much better today, but I kept it easy in terms of running. However, I did another conditioning circuit that was a little longer than yesterday, and I’m starting to round into form for football. I also picked up a brace for my knee, and I’m thinking I might have either a strained ligament or tendonitis, but I’m not gonna let a doctor hold me out of practice. I’m gonna test running with the brace on Tuesday, and then I’ll take it easy Wednesday and Thursday so I can come into camp on Friday at full strength.
Monday - 8/16
Did some light work today that basically equated to tempo. Football starts on Friday so Tuesday will be my last day of actually doing something that would be considered difficult. Then I’ll do pool tempo on Wednesday and take Thursday off.
Tuesday - 8/17
Well today was a mixed bag. I tested out my knee with a brace on, and it seems to do the trick cuz it really isnt bothering me anymore. The only thing I have to remember is to warm up a little longer and make sure to massage around my kneecap. The bad news is that now that I can do some running, I feel as if I’m really out of shape for football (compared to last year), and I might have some trouble once fall camp starts. For a workout today I did 2x300yd (25yd intervals) with a 5 minute rest between runs. The times werent that good, but hopefully I’ll be well rested for football and I’ll see some improvement.
Update…
Well football Hell Week started on the 20th. I ran the 300yard shuttle in something around 57 seconds - well below the limit - and so I was happy with the first day. Since then everything has been a blur of running. All I know is that I’ve got tons of cramps, muscle aches, a pulled quadriceps, a moderate muscle contusion, a hip pointer, and just a ton of pain. And we just started in full pads today! I’ll try and come back with updates as I go along, but I’m so exhausted that it might be some time before that happens cuz two-a-days last all the way though the end of the week.
Holy crap, they dont kid when they call it hell week. The past two years on JV have been nothing compared to Varsity this year. Running galore, intensity through the the roof, people not just hitting hard, but actually looking to hurt you on purpose. The bruises that cover my arms are horrible compared to how they were in the past, and I wake up every morning with headaches from all the hitting. My legs are so tight and my body so sore that I have to stack acetometaphin and ibuprofen to mask the pain before every practice. Luckily, tomorrow (Saturday) is the last true day of hell week and then we start with regular practices on Monday. My body’s pretty much broken down, but I’ll start getting my legs and everything back as they tone down the volume.
On a brighter note, I’ve been making some nice plays on offense and I’ve shown the coaches that I can hold onto the ball even when running across the middle and getting clobbered by a 200lb+ linebacker. Also, we have a new strength coach and this guy knows his shiat. So I’m looking forward to working with him and getting stronger as the season progresses. Overall, I think our team has a good shot of winning league (or 2nd place) and going on to CIF playoffs and getting pretty far there. Time will tell, and in the meantime im gonna get to work on some recovery to get back up to speed.
Thursday - 9/2
Well the past week has been toned down a bit so we could get our legs back, but we did do some major hitting yesterday, which was fun. It sucks cuz school started, and I’ve got tons of homework already in the first week. I guess thats what I get for taking 3 AP classes and a couplee honors classes as a junior. Tomorrow we have a scrimmage where we should do well, and I’ll probably be rotating in at receiver at some point.
Where in SoCal are you? Good to see you’re doin well at catchin the ball. I myself just returned to practice this week after a 3 week layoff from a left hamstring strain… I had about 4 drops in 3 days of practice (still not acceptable by me… haha but it happens). I wasnt in pads though, just worked in the drills with my helmet jersey and shorts. Let me know if you need any tips or advice, coming from a fellow wide-out.
I’m in Burbank, but I go to school at St. Francis in La Canada. We play in the mission league with Notre Dame (defending CIF champion) and St. Paul (league champs two years ago). In pretty much any other league we’d be a lock for either 1st or 2nd, but its so tough that we really have to fight to get there this year. Good to hear that your hammy is getting better, and I had to sit out a couple of practices with a pull quad that still hasnt fully healed. Also, I actually do have a question you might be able to help me with. In regards to blocking, what do you do technique wise? Because I dont have much strength to rely on and I’m gonna have to learn to block better if I want to see more PT.
try adding in some tempo sessions in the pool. they should really help with your overall conditioning, esp with ur knees. this should help you in football
(leg extensions in the gym should be focussed on as well)
gluck
For stalk-blocking, you gotta get down low first off. See his chest use your arms and hands to violently get into his pads and steer him. Also, you wanna seal off the inside shoulder to steer the defender out of the play so make the effort to get to that correct shoulder and get him outta there… Keep your legs driving and don’t get into him too close or he will throw you off like nothing… Blocking by a wideout doesnt have to be like a knockdown everytime (even though its funner that way), the main thing is to keep that DB occupied and to stay on him…
Thanks for the tips, it helped a lot the other day in practice.
komy, I have been doing the pool and other recovery techniques, but right now the overall rigors of football are going to keep me sore and in pain pretty much no matter what. Its just something I have to deal with in season, cuz football is not like track. You play through the pain and recover when the season is over.
In other news, I’m pretty excited cuz we have our season opener tomorrow. Wish us luck…
Well last night our season opener was awesome. We came out and shut out the other team in the first half 21-0, but then we got kind of complacent in the second half and the final score was 28-6 in our favor. I got in on more plays than I expected on offense considering the depth of receivers, but they never subbed the starters out on defense cuz of the other team’s running back. He was the best back I’ve ever see in high school; he rushed for 1700 yards last year as a sophomore on varsity. So look out for this kid, his name is Audarrius Bailey.
Well heres a picture of me in the game, it’s only one of me blocking but there was nothing else I could find. If the link asks you for a password just type in “guest”
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=1788400&IID=56714668&INUM=43&ICT=47