Training 11-30-07

Token Asian Roommate and I blasted through this workout in about 50 minutes from walking into the gym to walking out, since we had a dinner with some friends to go to. As a result, the Power Clean learning was dropped from the workout. I think I'll head to the gym for an hour or so tomorrow to practice hang cleans and jump cleans and and do some light Deadlifts.

Week 1, Day 3

Squat
5 x 5 x 205

Press
5 x 5 x 130

Chinups
3 x 5 x 45

Squat form is staying solid as the weight increases. One bad rep today -- 3rd rep of the last set. But even that rep was way better than what I was doing on every rep a short 3 weeks ago. 215 next time, again with the qualifier that I immediately go back down if form struggles.

Press was also solid. Overhead situps yesterday helped me feel the sensation of really pushing my torso through while locking out overhead, which I think helped. 135 next time.

Doing only 3 sets of Chinups across lets me use a bit heavier weight. I'll try 45 on weighted Pullups next week, then 50 on Chinups the week after.

Training 11-29-07

Did a little bit of nothing at the gym today. New Workout Buddy wanted to lift, so I spotted him and did a couple of really light sets of Squats and Bench Press to get the blood moving. Then I did some light work that was worth actually writing down:

Overhead Situps (decline)
3 x 10 x 45

Good Mornings
2 x 10 x 45

Elliptical
10 minutes

Overhead Situps are exactly what they sound like -- situps while holding a weight overhead. It should help build ab strength to help support me on Press.

Good Mornings are a posterior chain exercise in which you place the bar on your shoulders in a Squat position, keep your back straight and bend from the hips until your back is parallel to the floor.

Was a good light exercise. I'll get as much sleep as possible tonight after the Cowboys game and I should be feeling good for the weights tomorrow afternoon. Woot!

Training 11-28-07

Worked out before work, as I'll have to do on every Wednesday. Getting up early is a little rough, but about halfway through Squats I began to feel alive, and by the end of the workout I was feeling fully awake and ready to face the day -- a full 20 minutes before I'm usually even awake!

Week 1, Day 2

Squat
5 x 5 x 195

Bench Press
4 x 5 x 225
4 x 225

Deadlift
1 x 5 x 285

Chinups
12, 9, 8

Squat form was a bit rougher than usual at first, probably because I'd only been awake for half an hour and was still tight. It got much better as the sets went on, and my very last rep was the best of them all. I need to remember to take more time warming up for my next morning workout. 205 on Friday, if the form stays solid.

Missed the last rep of Bench Press, but only by a hair. I stalled about halfway up, but a light spot from Token Asian Roommate was all I needed to get past that point and finish the rep. I'm only benching once every other week, so I'll stay at 225 when it next rolls around.

Deadlift felt good at 285. I like one heavier work set better than sets across for Deadlift. 295 next time.

Chinups for reps were harder than expected, probably since I haven't done them in a while. This is my baseline, so aim for at least one more rep next week.

Training 11-27-07

Generally, I let my hair grow out until I look like one of the Beatles and my hair is constantly in my eyes. Then I shave it all off. My Mom doesn't like it very much when I shave it all off. She says my hair looks good long. My hair's been getting very long lately, so I shaved it all off this afternoon. Sorry, Mom!

4 x 400 meter sprints, 1 minute rest between
9:50

Calf Raises
3 x 10 x 150

Spinal Decompression Hangs

When I came in, I was planning to do a heavily scaled down Michael, but I wimped out because I didn't want to draw stares by leaving a treadmill running while going back and forth between the treadmill, the back extension station and a situp mat.

I remembered a WOD from the Crossfit main page that was basically four 400 meter sprints, so I did that on the treadmill instead. I went all out on the last 2 sprints, which might not have been the best idea since this was supposed to be a light workout between lifting days. D'oh!

Training 11-26-07

Thanksgiving vacation is over, and I'm as unmotivated as ever at work. On the plus side, I'm learning that I really really do enjoy this whole physical fitness thing -- reading, learning, doing and teaching anything and everything to do with fitness and, more specifically, lifting weights. I'm feeling more and more confident that I want to do something like this professionally after I quit my current job.

First day on the new program, and an additional friend was added to the stable of occasional workout partners. Good times!

Week 1, Day 1

Squat
5 x 5 x 185

Press
5 x 5 x 125

Hang Clean (learning)
3 x 10 x 45

Bent Over Row
5 x 5 x 155

As previously discussed, Squats are starting off light and the focus will remain on preserving PERFECT form as the weight advances. The form was damn good with 185, and I'll move up to 195 next time. If form struggles on the first set, though, move back down.

Press was just a 5 pound backoff from the last time I did the exercise (over 2 weeks ago), but it felt easy. A good sign! Move up to 130 next time.

Hang Cleans were for learning purposes, as the first step in progressing to the Power Clean. I think I did pretty well. Token Asian Roommate struggled, and New Workout Buddy was getting the hang of it by the end. Next time I'll move on to Jump Cleans, and the other two might as well, depending on how they do at Hang Cleans to start.

I'm doing Bent Over Rows like Pendlay Rows -- complete deload on the floor between reps, which makes the movement harder because you lose the elastic bounce out of the bottom of the rep. I don't want to advance too fast on an exercise I'm only doing as assistance once a week, so 160 next time.

Overhead Press & Squats Galore

A disclaimer to begin: this program is a work in progress. I'll probably be revising it as time goes on. I might even come back and edit this post to reflect any such revisions.

First, my goals:

1. Press my bodyweight (~200 lbs)
2. Squat double my bodyweight (~400 lbs)

After reviewing some numbers and estimates online, I've decided that the first goal might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm sticking with it. "Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" and all that crap. The second should be attainable, especially since my Squat form is now officially BADASS.

So how am I going to get there? With the following unnecessarily complicated two week program:

Week 1
M: Squat (5x5), Press (5x5), Power Clean (5x3), Bent Over Row (5x5)
W: Squat, Bench (5x5), Deadlift (1x5), Chinups (3x failure, unweighted)
F: Squat, Press, Power Clean, Chinups (3x5, weighted)

Week 2
M: Squat, Press, Power Clean, Bent Over Row
W: Squat, Dips (5x5, weighted), Deadlift, Pullups (3x failure, unweighted)
F: Squat, Press, Power Clean, Pullups (3x5, weighted)

Note that if a set & rep scheme is listed once for an exercise, that scheme is used for all iterations of that exercise unless otherwise noted. Thus, all Squats are for 5x5, all Power Cleans are for 5x3, etc.

Now for some explanation of the reasoning behind the madness:

I'm Squatting 3 times a week because if you don't Squat 3 times a week, you're a pansy. And also because Squat has been the least trained of the core exercises for me over the past few years, so I need to get my reps in to get the weight up.

I'm Pressing heavy twice a week, with Bench and Dips alternating on Wednesdays. This is because My focus is obviously on improving Pressing strength, but I also want to at least maintain my Bench and Dip strength. Plus, I think that working in a variety of pushes will help keep my Press progress from stagnating.

Deadlifting heavy once a week is plenty to get stronger on that lift from what I've read (and experienced), so Wednesday morning is Deadlift time! Power Cleans on Monday and Friday to work the posterior chain and help overall power development. The first few weeks will be learning the exercise with the progression outlined in Starting Strength, since I'm brand new to Power Cleans.

Pullups/Chinups are great assistance exercises for the Press, and I originally had them programmed on every day, but I added in Bent Over Rows for the same reason I added in Bench and Dips -- variety and warding off stagnation.

I'll be doing metabolic conditioning workouts from Crossfit on Tuesday and Thursday, quite heaviliy scaled down at first. I won't be aiming to push myself as hard as those Crossfit guys generally do, at least at first. It's more to keep above a minimum level of GPP ("General Physical Preparedness") and keep the habit of getting into the gym as often as possible. Oh, and to freak people out by doing weird Crossfit things at the gym.

So that's the plan. Modifications will be made as the necessity for doing so becomes obvious, and will be noted on this blog. If you, o random denizen of the internet, have any thoughts or ideas about how I could improve this, please leave a comment!

Training 11-24-07

I'm back from the annual Thanksgiving Family Reunion. It was good times -- I slept in a converted box car decorated with way too much railroad paraphernalia and ate disgusting amounts of yummy food. Surprisingly, I didn't do too bad of a job of sticking to my eating rules. (I refuse to call it a diet, dammit!)

On Saturday, I decided to freak out my relatives by doing some Tabata intervals. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 4 minutes per exercise with 1 minute or less of rest while switching between exercises. I didn't keep very good track of my totals, but I recorded my lows:

Pushups
low: 6 girl pushups (pitiful!)

Dumbbell Deadlift
(30 pound dumbbell in each hand)
low: 10

Situps
low: 10

Sprints

I was wiped out by the time I got to sprints, and the last few felt like sprints but looked more like slow-motion zombie shuffles. I know this to be true because apparently some of my relatives saw me running from their windows and asked me if I had a good jog. D'oh!