Is it really that frightening? Everyone makes it seem like 10x worse than any roller coaster you’ve ever been on.
Frightening…no…but very very exciting…off course it depends on the track, and on the driver.
On some tracks,like IGLS, there are no high G-forces turns, overall very flat…and easy for the driver, even if he is unexperienced.
In Some tracks…like Cortina, Winterberg and others…you have very tight high speed turns…reaching 6g of acceleration…
and that for sure you cannot experience otherwise…( excpet if you are a jet fighter’s pilot)
Also…if you driver is not a very skilled one, every time the sled bounces on the ice…you’ll experience some very painful contacts with sled frame and your hips, thights, shoulders…At driving school, I saw people unable to run for 2 weeks after some…not perfect downhills:)
Finally picking a sport where the alaskan weather works to your advantage?
I hope training goes well and things work out for you. Definately keep the journal going. You always have an interesting view on things. So do you have a general outline of the training you plan to do yet?
Haha, I know. Alaska is a good place to be for once.
And thanks. I’m still working on refining my views, and they’re getting a Hell of a lot simpler.
As for a plan, I’m just flying by the seat of my pants now. I want to get my squat up to like 460+ lbs and to do it I’m just going to lift every 4-5 days for moderate reps. Besides the squat though, I’m really working on ab strength and coordination with plank progressions and various activation drills.
Once my strength gets to where it needs to be, I’ll start adding short sprints back in. Until then, I’m going to have to live with plyos before each session.
October 25th, 2009
Lower Body Focus
Condition:
I’m still running on far too little sleep. I was up late last night writing a report on alternate treatment methods for sub-periosteal haematomas, and I’ve got two more papers to write before tomorrow morning. Looks like my sleep deprivation is set to continue for a while. Oh well, I feel fine.
Warm Up:
Some RW Drills
Some activation drills (mostly non-tripods)
Some plyos
Workout:
Back Squats (close stance, start a new set every 3 minutes)
8 sets x (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3) reps @ 315 lbs (21 total reps), <180 sec. rest
Plank Progression
7 sets @ BW
Cool Down:
Some more activation drills
Mild plyos
Notes:
No PRs today, but this is more volume than I’ve ever had with 315 in one session before. It felt good. Every rep was nice, deep, and smooth. The set of 5 and the final set of 3 were fairly difficult.
As a side note, I’m really liking non-tripods.
mreoyn did 315x10 today. You got some work to do…
Haha, Ian is doing great. Looks like I’m going to need to start sleeping again if I want to keep up with him. 
October 27nd, 2009
Upper Body Focus
Condition:
I’ve finally been able to get some sleep recently. I’m still way in debt, but I’m working on it.
Warm Up:
Some push ups and chin ups
Some ab coordination work
Workout:
Chin Up Dropset
(6 @ 90 lbs) + (8 @ 45 lbs) + (6 @ BW), rested only long enough to strip plates
EZ Curls (pretty d**n strict)
2 x (6, 4 reps) @ 105 lbs, ? sec. rest
Handstand Push Ups on Cinder Blocks
A couple singles and a few negatives
Cool Down:
Some more ab coordination work
Shoulder prehab
Notes:
Today’s session went well. The chin up dropset was Hell, but I’m proud of how I did. I could have had 90 lbs x 7 reps, but I didn’t want to wreck the rest of the set. Immediately afterwards, the curls were surprising. If my arms weren’t completely dead, sets of 10-12 wouldn’t have been out of the question.
The handstand push ups were tough. I’d like to get better at these though.
Nice page, Rog. Pretty straightforward. Glad to see you back on the CF.
A GB bobsledder trains with Dave Lease at my training centre. They use a little buggy with 4 wheels, to push.
NS, thanks. And yeah, things are staying straight forward for a while.
Cheetah, thanks for that piece of info. I could probably study the real sleds they use and rig something up.
Seeing as your weakest test is going to be your sprints and it is also the one given the highest weight/importance in the selection process once you hit a certain bodyweight, you probably want to work on that a bit soon.
October 29th, 2009
Lower Body Focus
Condition:
My quads are still sore and my glutes are a little fatigued. I should wait until tomorrow to lift, but I don’t have the time tomorrow. I feel good though.
Warm Up:
Some RW Drills
Some activation drills (mostly non-tripods)
Some plyos
Workout:
Conventional Deadlifts
Worked up to 455 x 1, missed 505 twice, rest varied
Power Cleans
Worked up to 245 x 1 (eeeeaasy), rest varied
Back Squats (close stance, rock bottom)
1 x 10 reps @ 275 lbs, rest varied
2 x 5 reps @ 275 lbs, rest varied
Plank Progression
7 sets @ BW
Cool Down:
Some more activation drills
Mild plyos
Notes:
Well, today didn’t go too badly. I haven’t deadlifted (besides RDLs) in over a year, so 455 was nice. I even managed to budge 505 about 2" off the ground on my second attempt at it, but it didn’t want to come up.
After that, my back was tired, but I wasn’t done screwing around yet. I don’t do power cleans either, but I managed to catch 245 while standing up straight. I had a lot left in me, but my crappy bent bar makes it almost impossible to whip my elbows through. Not only that, but I lift on concrete with iron plates, so lowering it is a pain in the ass too.
And finally, the squats went well. I was pretty tired at that point, but all of the sets were nice, smooth, and very deep.
Things are going well.
You are about to prove FOG wrong, I smell 305!! 
Haha, I don’t know about that. But with how easy the 245 was (especially compared with the 225), I should have 275 in me right now.
And to Fogelson, I’ve been going back over all my old sprinting videos and besides just flat out sucking at it, I’ve found one thing really wrong with my sprinting. My abs are doing practically nothing out there. My pelvis is anteriorly rotated, my arms and head are a little wild, I’m just not running right.
After a lot of testing, my abs aren’t nearly as strong (relatively) as the rest of my body, and I don’t think they ever have been. This would explain my much better bounding and jumping numbers (where ab strength and function don’t play nearly as large of a role). To fix it, I’m going to start doing plank progressions after EVERY session from now on. It should have me fixed up in no time.
Don’t worry though, I’ll be doing plenty of sprinting too.
245 after deadlifting 455 you got 275 with ease.
Got 3 more weeks to get 285 and prove me wrong. lol Good luck.
Even if you have weak abs, I don’t see how not sprinting is going to get you to where you want to be. You said your goal is to max out the tests and the sprints will be the hardest to max out, so…
What is plank progressions?
I really don’t care to prove you wrong. Working on power cleans would just slow my progress right now. I’ll build plenty of pulling power just lifting otherwise. After that, it’ll just be a matter of getting the technique down.
And I agree on the sprints, but I want to squat 2.25x BW before I go back to sprint work. It’ll be a month or so until I can do that. After that, I will start sprinting again.
RB34, the plank progression is in my book. It involves doing the following:
Plank
Plank w/ right hand up
Plank w/ left hand up
Plank w/ right leg up
Plank w/ left leg up
Plank w/ right leg and left arm up
Plank w/ left leg and right arm up
The goal is to eventually do the whole thing for 60 seconds per exercise with 60-90 seconds rest between exercises. I can’t do the whole thing, but I’d like to be able to soon. After that, I’ll be moving to roll outs.
I’d switch deadlifts and power cleans. First power clean, then deadlift, for a number of reasons.