Tights on Ice

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121

December 30th, 2009
Lower Body Focus

Condition:
I feel good. I got to sleep about 3am, but what are you gonna do?

Warm Up:
Some RW drills

A little bit of plyos

Workout:
Power Clean
Worked up to a miss at 330 lbs. Max made lift was 300 lbs, tying PR

A bunch of other stuff

Cool Down:
Light plyos

Notes:
Well, after failing with 150kg on the cleans (I didn’t really expect to hit it), I spent the rest of the workout screwing around with a ton of different exercise variations. After this session I’m going to put squats on the backburner and spend a couple of months focusing on glute and hamstring hypertrophy. I don’t know what exercises I’m going to use just yet, but I’ll figure it out.

122

Gonna have to work hard for those next 30lbs…

123

Not too hard, I think. A little form practice and some more muscle on my glutes, hams, and erectors should do the trick.

And for those who are interested, my training for the next couple months will probably look like this:

Warmup
Plyos + Weighted Jumps
1 & 1/2 Squats, 3 x 5
RDLs, 3 x 10
Single-Leg RDLs, 2 x 10
Ab Work

I’ll probably use the same weight for squats and RDLs the whole way through. I think I’ll start at 275 and try to work my way up to 335 over two months or so. When I can do 3 x 5 on 1 & 1/2 squats with 335, I’ll be considerably stronger than I am now. Oh, and I’ll keep the rest periods I’ve been using, meaning I’ll start a new set every 3 minutes.

This setup will allow me to get the heavy weights off my back and should seriously bulk up glutes and hamstrings.

As for my upper body, I’m just going to keep working on overhead DB presses and chin ups.

124

Great journal. Brings back many memories for me as a former boblsed athlete. Good luck with your training. You seem to be on the right track. Are you going to attend a try out during the spring?

125

Thanks. If finances allow, I’m going to try to attend a tryout sometime this summer. If I can max out their combine charts, I’ll definitely try to make my way down from Alaska.

126

You should get an early start and email someone at USBSF, sure they are competing right now, but if you can email your numbers and stats you might get some luck with finances. I believe the contact there is Darin Steele. I could be wrong though.

127

Sweet, thanks for the advice. As soon as I come out of the strength block, get my explosiveness where it should be, and start sprinting again, I’ll definitely shoot them my numbers.

Again, wow, thanks for the heads up. Any help getting to the trials would be awesome.

128

January 4th, 2009
Lower Body Focus

Condition:
A bit sleep deprived, but otherwise I feel great.

Warm Up:
Some RW Drills

Some activation drills

Workout:
Jumps (mostly broad jumps onto boxes)
About 25-30 total reps

Test CMJ (head measured)
Worked up to 32.5" (head touch of 8’9.5")

Hill Sprints (on ice, in TJ spikes)
4 x (30+30M), 240-300 sec. rest

1 & 1/2 Rep Back Squats
2 x 5 @ 275 lbs, ~240 sec. rest

Single-Leg RDLs
2 x 10 (per leg) @ 95 lbs, 120 sec. rest

Ab Rollouts, Levers, Etc.
Lots x More

Cool Down:
Some more activation drills

Mild plyos

Notes:
First training session of the new year and I’m happy with the way things are going. I tested my CMJ and got 32.5", a 3.5" PR when measuring this way. This is a nice little boost, especially since my quads haven’t hypertrophied too much. Seeing where all the muscle mass is accumulating, I wouldn’t be surprised if my SLJ was up by 8" or more.

After that, I got in my first sprints in a long time and they felt good. Getting started with awkward, but once I started doing a mini fly into each run, they started going well. For the first time in my life, my abs now feel strong enough to hold everything in place while running. This is awesome.

And by the time I got around to lifting I was a little tired. My body is nowhere close to being used to sprinting yet. I took it easy on the weights volume, but I think I did enough. 1 & 1/2 rep squats are hard as hell. Even 275 gave me some trouble. I like these.

Also, when reviewing the video, I just noticed how huge my glutes are getting (it’s especially noticeable when I’m setting up to squat). I look like a model for “King” magazine. :stuck_out_tongue:

Here’s video from today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBqVWF6BUZI

129

be careful doing starts/hill/sprints if you have bad traction… might do more harm than good. slippery surfaces can be horrible for sprinting. teaches girl power outputs (way of avoiding slip)

130

Yeah, without a short fly-in, they were useless. I’m not even sure how effective the “good” reps were. Thanks for the advice. I’ll try to find a solution.

131

If you plan to do any running on ice you may want to get some bob spikes. They’re pretty expensive and hard to find. Also, running on ice to train… Not necessary at all because at no point during course of a bob season will you run on ice for training unless they are runs down the track. But if you want to do some running on ice look at bob spikes. Much better traction than you’ll get from any track spike. You’re training is really interesting and I enjoy reading your journal.

132

I wish I weren’t training on ice, but I’ve got no real alternative right now. The only indoor track is too far away and far too expensive to use. I’ll probably be able to work something out when I go back to school next week though. No need to buy bob spikes just yet.

And thanks. I like your journal (and the old ones here and at ET) too. You’ve put up some amazingly fast times.

133

Do you have access to any basketball courts or long hallways (I think I recall you saying that you did have some hallways at school)?

134

Basketball court availability will depend on the team schedules, but I will have hallways to run in along with the hard rubber track around the ice rink. Next week I’ll probably start taking advantage of them.

135

I don’t know if I read over it or not, but what is your weight at right now? What are you trying to get to if you’re trying to put weight on?

136

I’m not really focused on gaining weight, but I am letting my body do its own thing, and that appears to be the direction it’s going. I was 213.4 lbs straight out of bed this morning. While I have no real goal, I think I should top out at around 220 lbs or so.

137

My lower back is screwed up, mostly around the SI area. I think I did it with the 1 & 1/2 squats. When I shifted into an RDL/GM position on the half reps I may have overloaded the area and I’m paying for it now. It may have also been from the sprints, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Other than my back, I’m sore in some places I haven’t felt for a while. Sprinting was rough, especially since I gained so much weight and didn’t even try to ease my way into it. It’s always like that after a layoff though, and my back never suffers, so I’m going to place the blame on the squats. I’ll have to watch out next time around.

138

January 8th, 2009
Lower Body Focus

Condition:
My back is still tight. I shouldn’t train today, but I’m too stubborn to do otherwise.

Warm Up:
Some RW Drills

Some activation drills

RFI Drills

Workout:
Jumps (mostly broad jumps onto boxes)
About 20-25 total reps

Repetitive DB Jump Squats
4 x 8 @ 25+25 lbs, 120 sec. rest

1 & 1/2 Rep Back Squats
2 x 5 @ 280 lbs, ~240 sec. rest

Ab Work

Cool Down:
Mild plyos

Notes:
My back loosened up during warmups, but I could still feel it during the workout. Still, the loading didn’t seem to do anything to it and it feels no different than before I worked out. I don’t think I did any additional damage. Even the 1 & 1/2 squats were solid.

I did leave out sprints, SL RDLs, and altitude landings, just to be safe. The rotational and shock loading from those movements were too risky. I’ll see how I’m feeling later, but right now I’m glad I trained.

139

January 11th, 2009
Lower Body Focus

Condition:
My lower back is fully recovered, but I spent every night this weekend out. No drinking, but it did affect my sleep. School also started back up today. I’m actually happy about it.

Warm Up:
Some RW Drills

Some activation drills

Workout:
Single-Leg RFI
8 sets

Broad Jumps onto Boxes
About 10 total

Repetitive DB Jump Squats
4 x 8 @ 25+25 lbs, 120 sec. rest

1 & 1/2 Rep Back Squats
2 x 5 @ 285 lbs, ~240 sec. rest

Single-Leg RDLs
2 x 10 (per leg) @ 105 lbs, 120 sec. rest

Ab Work

Cool Down:
Mild plyos

Notes:
Everything felt great today. I was a little tight from sitting in class all day, but I loosened up real quick once I got moving. Everything was smooth and I feel good. I’m keeping the volume low until my body gets used to a school schedule again, and then I’m going to ramp things back up. As it is, I’m not sore or tired in the least. I’d like to keep it that way for a while.

Oh, and once again, I cannot believe how hard 1 1/2 squats are. I can do regular sets of 5 reps with 365, but when you slow down the tempo and spend more time near the bottom of the ROM it gets a lot harder. 2 x 5 @ 285 wasn’t maximal, but it was a good workout.

Here’s a clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc1vtLteWnc

140

January 15th, 2009
Lower Body Focus

Condition:
I got a little bit of extra sleep last night and I just feel great. My weight has also been down at around 210 lbs for the past week or so.

Warm Up:
Some RW Drills

Some activation drills

Workout:
Single-Leg RFI (focusing on the feet)
4 sets

Broad Jumps onto Boxes
About 25 total
Worked up to a 40" box from 72" away

Single-Leg Depth Jumps from 20"
10 reps per leg
Worked up to leaping over a 44" hurdle

1 & 1/2 Rep Back Squats
2 x 5 @ 290 lbs, 240 sec. rest

Single-Leg RDLs
1 x 8 (per leg) @ 110 lbs, 120 sec. rest

Ab Work

Cool Down:
Mild plyos

Notes:
Another great training session. Since I was feeling so good, I decided to mess around and do some explosive work. Box jumps were higher and farther than I’ve ever done them from before, so I’m happy with them. And single leg depth jumps were a new stimulus, but I handled them just fine, even from 20". I’m really liking my new strength levels. It feels good.

Looking forward to a solid weekend of rest and relaxation before heading back to school on Tuesday (Monday is MLK day).