On the Grind: My Endless Pursuit of Athletic Aspiration

Warmup (long static stretch, light jogging, sprint drills)

Light route running and getting used to catching a football again.

It’s been a challenge teaching my training partner the right technique for a 3pt stance on the 40. He’s never ran track before and can’t really move his arms very fluidly due to his huge lats from natural bodybuilding. He still manages to muscle his way to a mid 4.7 which means he has a lot of potential…

Warmup (light static stretch, hip mobility, sprint drills)

Route Running - ~20min

Went in the weightroom later and started to do RDLs but I was feeling it in my back so I instantly stopped. I wasn’t feeling anything in my glutes. My hamstrings are actually still sore from Monday’s workout. They were also pretty tight.

Plank Progressions - 30sec on/60sec off
Split Squat Holds - 2 x 30sec
Non Tripods - 120 reps

Long static stretch, foam roll, and iced hip flexor afterward. I forgot to mention that I’ve also been using DMSO on my hip flexor this week.

Warmup (hip mobility, light jog, light static stretch, activation drills, sprint drills, 2 x MB throws)

Catching Drills - ~30min

RDL - Bar x 8, 95 x 8, 135 x 8, 155 x 8, 175 x 8
SL Leg Curl - 3 x 6
Reverse Leg Press - 50 x 12, 70 x 12, 90 x 12

I still don’t feel my abs and glutes activated completely. My T-spine is a little tight and I’m going to hit it hard with foam rolling later on. Overall my hip flexor felt great in the warmup today. I’m probably going to do some runs up to 60% on Wednesday.

I think those planks progression could be causing your hip flexor problems.

Agreed. If you don’t do those with great technique you can cause significant tightness.

I’ll have to find a better alternative. More landmines and decline russian twists is what I’m thinking I’ll do.

Decline Russian twists are going to load your psoas pretty strongly…

Thought so, but didn’t assume they would be as bad as planks… I really thought the planks helped with my spinal stability, it’s too bad they’ve given me problems.

Why you can’t stay with simple body weight ab circuits, mb core work, and GS circuits for the core?

I just feel like those circuits tightened my ES and glutes up too much. Seriously!

What circuits are you talking about?

The Dan Pfaff general strength stuff like Pillar, Pedestal, Bataan, Waterloo, etc. I’m not saying that they aren’t good, it’s just that I’m having a hard time doing them with my issues of constant re-occuring tightness.

Read again, I said body weight circuits (crunches, bicycles, sprinter situps etc).

Weighted Chins - BW x 5, BW x 5, 5 x 5 w/ 35lbs
Bench - 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 3 x 8 w/ 185
Chest Supported Rows - 3 x 6, 55lb DBs
Declince Pushups on Swiss Ball - 2 x 25

Abs ~ 100reps

Felt tired today, not the best quality.

Another body weight movement I like for the abs is body curls.

Much appreciated…

Warmup (light jog, light static stretch, sprint drills)

Spent one hour doing route running, catching, and 1on1 drills

I hate to write about this but I jammed my pinky on the last pass that was going to be thrown to me today. I’m icing it a lot right now. Bad thing now is that I won’t be able to grip stuff in the weight room. The dude that was throwing to me was this baseball player who could throw missiles. I barely caught most of his passes as I simply wasn’t used to it.

Damn man you may have to take up a different sport, maybe bobsledding like RJ.

I have ~4 months to get into top notch condition. It’s better to struggle now than later on. I will be practicing cornerback as well, so I have a plan B if wideout doesn’t work out.

I wouldn’t have a chance at bobsledding. I’m nowhere near big, fast, or strong enough to compete in that sport!