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.
All he has to do is visualize. Remember the stories of people in POW camps visualizing golf for years them getting out and shooting 68?
This isn’t a workout I intend to repeat. I just wanted to see what I could do on the DL, and then decided I’d like to power clean as well. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be doing much of either exercise again. I’ll just be sticking to squats and RDLs.
dsj;fjs;ldjg;sjg ;ls
RJ’s book was a great read. I really wish I would have had this book when I first took the interest in sports training.
Thanks Kyle. I thought it was pretty good, but then again, I’m selling the thing.
October 31st, 2009
Upper Body Focus
Condition:
My spinal erectors are still sore. Not much of a surprise. I feel great otherwise though.
Warm Up:
Some push ups and chin ups
Some ab coordination work
Workout:
Chin Ups
1 x 6 @ 90 lbs, ? sec. rest
1 x 8 @ 45 lbs, ? sec. rest
1 x (7 wide grip pull ups + 7 pull ups + 7 chin ups) ? sec. rest
Military Press (to clavicles)
3 x (8, 7, 5) @ 135 lbs, ? sec. rest
Plank Progression
7 @ BW
Cool Down:
Some more ab coordination work
Shoulder prehab
Notes:
Well, no easily noticeable progress on the chin ups, but that’s because I haven’t talked about my BW yet. I weighed in before the session @ 214 lbs, this is 9 lbs higher than last session. Not only have I been eating a little too much, but I was fully dressed during this session. Either way, that brings the total weight lifted to 304 x 6 on the chins, this is 9 lbs better than my previous PR. I’m counting it.
After that, the military presses were smooth, but my sore lower back got in the way. I should have 10 in me without any further practice. I’d really like to press 225 before too long.
First off, I am a former World Cup team member and can offer you a lot of insight into the sport. My advice to you is not to worry about numbers, especially lift numbers. Too many guys on the team get bogged down on who does what in the weight room or on the track, but when it comes down to it all that matters is what happens on the ice at the top of the hill. The reason for the combine is that the USOC requires objective criteria for determining an athletes potential for success in order to be funded to stay in the training center. If you do not meet the criteria it doesn’t mean you can’t participate - you’ll just have to pay to stay at the training center. They’ll get splits at 15m, 30m, 45m, and 60m and extract a flying 30m, broad jump, shot scoop throw, back squat and clean. The only thing anyone will ever mention is the 30m. But if you’re interested in stats there are several guys on the current roster with 10.5x FAT 100m, sub 21 200m, and 40+ inch verticals (all weighing between 210-225lbs). But by the same token there are successful pushers who can’t break 11sec. The nice thing about trying out right after the Olympics is that it will be a very relaxed atmosphere and a lot of the veterans will be retiring or taking time off. This gives you a much better shot at landing on a quality sled. Sadly, politics also plays a part in team selection (as it does everywhere), so staying on a drivers good side is always a good thing. The best way to do this is to always help out (i.e. moving sleds) and push whenever possible. The more you push the better you’ll get, pretty simple, and don’t hold back even in practice. I know that goes against training theory, but somebody is always looking at push times in practice and you can make a name for yourself there. One last piece of advice - save some money. Unless you can grab a spot on USA I or II, you’ll be paying your own way all season. And during team trials everybody pays their own way for flights to and from Lake Placid and Park City. Sponsorships are next to impossible to come by as a pusher, especially if you’re not on a top team and in an Olympic year. Unfortunately, a lot of guys (myself included) have to quit the sport for financial reasons. Hope this doesn’t scare you away, it’s just some things that I learned over the years that would have been nice to know from start.
Flsstrack, I completely agree…the same her ein Italy, just luckily had no expenses even for team competitions.
November 2nd, 2009
Lower Body Focus
Condition:
I’m still giving my body far too little rest, but my mind is sharp and I feel good.
Warm Up:
Some RW Drills
Some activation drills (mostly non-tripods)
Lots of plyos
Workout:
Back Squats (close stance, start a new set every 3 minutes, full ROM)
7 sets x (4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 2, 3) reps @ 315 lbs (22 total reps), <180 sec. rest
Plank Progression
7 sets @ BW
Cool Down:
Some more activation drills
Mild plyos
Notes:
I did more reps with 315 than I’ve done in a session before. Last time I did this type of workout, I got 21 reps over 8 sets, starting a new set every 3 minutes. This time I got 22 reps over 7 sets while starting a new set every 3 minutes. Eventually I’d like 4x10 in this manner @ 315 lbs.
Oh, and I did my squats especially deep this time. I usually go well beneath parallel, but this time I did them to rock bottom. Those last 1-2" make a huge difference. My glutes were fatigued as hell.
After the session I got a bite to eat and then sat down for a minute. I don’t know what happened, but I just conked out. I’m really running low on energy. Still, I’m making progress every session, so I can’t complain.
Also, I love doing depth drops in reverse. Stepping off the box backwards loads up the glutes and hamstrings so much better.