Home Page   |   About   |   Testimonials   |   Videos   |  Articles

Friday, February 27, 2009

thursday-friday

Thursday I had a great session with Steve Cotter learning some of the finer points of the Jerk and playing with some juggling and bodyweight stuff.

Jerk:
2x32kgs
3:00 for 17 reps
3:00 for 18 reps

1:00 for 18 reps

I was still feeling pretty toasted after wednesdays training but my rack felt more solid as did my conditioning.

Today:
KB Yoga, goblet squat, etc
BJJ at noon
Muay thai at 7...now.

Much needed rest this weekend!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Great day

I've come to realize that the most efficient way for me to get stronger is going to be to optimize my movement patterns--hips, knees, shoulders. My training for the next month at least will at least partially reflect that. Right now I have a 500 horsepower engine mounted on a paddleboat shaped like a duck. So...

Lots of mobility
Goblet squat
Hip flexor stretch

ASLR
Single leg RDL
Goblet Squat


24kg Swing: 50 x 8
TGU: 1/1 x 8


Muay Thai:
Though my strength training will be rehabilitative, I'm still going to bring the intensity on the fight side;
Tonight we had a mini-tournament and I got 2 knockouts (out cold), and a TKO from a leg kick. Combos felt good, movement felt good, punches and kicks felt crisp.

10/10 today.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Back from a long trip

I'm back, elbow is feeling slightly better, but I'm going to take a few light weeks, the world won't end.

TGU: 24kg x 1/1 x 5
Front Squat: 155 x 5 x 5 (5-10 second hold at rock bottom working on hip mobility)

Later...
5 rounds
48kg swing x 10
burpee x 10

Today I'll hit some sprints and handstand walks.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

On the road...

Out of town until at least saturday, trained today nice and easy though...

Double 24kg juggling.
Double 24kg Get-ups. x 4 (2/side)

Jerk:
Assistance drills: 10 second rack, 10 second dip, 10 second catch, 10 second lockout.
then:
2 min
2 min
1 min
1 min: 31 reps in 55 seconds--I was flying and probably not standing all the way up with every rep but it felt good.

50m sprint x 4
stretch

Bon voyage.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Lots of mobility work today, then training.

Front Squat:
155x10
175x8
185x8
205x8
225x8

TGU:
24kg x 1/1 x 5

Band resisted partner sled drag (partner trails behind giving resistance and jerking side to side).
5 sprints with adequate rest between.

Muay Thai later tonight.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Short training today, let's not get too crazy...

2x24kg Jerks
3:00 x 1
3:00 x 1
1:00 x 1
1:00 x 1

First set was done with long holds in each position, rack, catch, overhead.
Last 2 sets were all out sprints--I like those much better, my rack position is still not restful, I would rather do more jerks than rest at this point, but I'm working on it.

50 yard sprint x 8
Stretch.
Rack walk x 100yards back to car.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Don't confuse strength with conditioning

In an attempt to rest my elbow. today looked like this:

TGU: 24kg x 1/1 x 5 (nice and easy, slow and controlled, about 1:30 per rep, this is what the get-up is all about)
Goblet Squat, ASLR, Hip flexor stretch

Back squat (cleaned from the floor, jerked overhead, set on shoulders)
100kg x 20
110kg x 20

Stretch

PM Session:
10x 3:00 heavy bag rounds (mostly kicks)

10 rounds:
10 grasshoppers (like a sit-out in wrestling)
10 tuck jumps
10 burpees


That's how you separate strength and conditioning. It felt good to just go all out on some nasty bodyweight conditioning.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Training update

Friday:
KB Yoga, for 15 minutes
BJJ for an hour at noon
GTG pistols all day
Muay Thai from 7-9pm.

Saturday:
Down to the beach with Robert Budd and we went to town with stones and kb juggling. Finished with a few band resisted sprints of varying resistance, some were more like a march and others were a sprint. The juggling was a lot of fun and we worked mostly with double 24's but also did some passes to each other back and forth which is seriously fun.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Underground Strength Coach

I spoke with Zach Even-Esh the other day on the phone and let me tell you, that guy knows what it takes to get strong. I did a phone interview and afterward he asked me if I wanted to be on his Expert Panel at Underground Strength Coach and I quickly agreed. There is a lot of cool, old school, strength and conditioning information there and I am thrilled to be a part of it. Check it out.

Training today will be some light energy systems work and possibly some kettlebell snathes/jerks.

click me

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Scrap the plan

The plan was just not happening today. I just felt exhausted in some ways. So I just changed it up.

Turkish Get Up: 24kg x 1/1 x 5 : Done very slowly and deliberately
Lots of mobility work

Front Squat: 225x 10, 12--these actually felt pretty good mechanically after all the mobility work

No Muay Thai tonight, I just need a day off it seems. I'll be smart and listen to the body.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Double your fun

Light training today, but fun.
Double 24kg kb's for everything.

Double Juggling, flips, transfers, hand to hand.

Double Snatches

Double Bottoms-up pressing

Jerk: 3 min @ 10rpm x 2 sets
1 min @ 30 reps

20 double swings and a loooooong farmers walk to finish

When in doubt, keep it simple

Cold today, so a long warm up with the light kb's, mobility stuff and then to business.
Deadlift:
383x5
403x5
403x5
403x5
First time over 400lbs since july of '08, I am a happy boy.
Jump Squat: 185x 50, 30
(stole this one from steve cotter, love it.)

Rolled BJJ for 1.5hrs.
8/10 for monday, probably some jerks/snatches tuesday.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Bull Strength Manual

My friend Joe Hashey just finished a Massive manual set to release tomorrow, sunday at high noon. If you want a huge arsenal of full body exercises to ensure than you never get bored while still getting ludicrously strong, I highly recommend it. There is a lot of innovation that is worth the book alone. Check it out!

Bull Strength

Friday, February 6, 2009

Training update and notepad:

Tuesday: Juggling, windmills, goblet squats, kb yoga

Wednesday I felt wiped (not enough sleep) so I took it easy and worked some bodyweight stuff, handstands, front lever pulls, skin the cat and gtg pistols.

Thursday:
Did some 3 minute jerk sets with double 32kg, this was my first time at this and it was painful. Averaged about 18 reps, not pretty but I made it the whole time, shows me what I need to work on (flexibility in the rack)
Then some sets with the 24kgs at 3:00 and a sprint to finish at 1:00 I hit 28 reps (very happy with that!)
Then Lifted stones down at mission gorge (mostly stone loading but some push presses) and ripped my forearms up again (awesome).

Friday: KB yoga, goblet squats, 2x24kg jerk sets, 3:00, 1:00
Rolled BJJ for an hour at noon
Muay thai for 2 hours at 7. I got kicked in the head by a ufc fighter tonight which was eye opening, don't worry didn't get knocked out, kept on coming, I was just a bit surprised.
I should probably rest tomorrow

Notepad: We all know to keep track of our workouts, but I am starting to find a lot of value on keeping a notepad handy for all walks of life. I stole this idea from Mike Boyle. In fact, I wrote down the idea for this post in my notepad. I just started this recently but am already seeing the benefits of staying on top of things. If I have a thought, I write it down so I don't have to maybe remember it later. So long story short, you should get a notepad and just write your thoughts down throughout the day. All of them. Trust me it works.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Angles

If you train alone and have access to a video camera, it's probably a good idea to take some video of your lifts. I noticed today that I could have a slightly better arch in my back during deadlifts and I addressed that during the next set and it got better. Side view is good for most things but it depends on the lift. Give it a try if you lift alone and don't have someone to watch "spot" you.

Deadlift: 383 x 5 x 5, last set did 6 (no problem, 400+ next week)

Zercher Squat:
337 x 3 x 3 (video of 3rd set--that was tough! I might have to do these on a separate day from DL's)
Handstand Pushups
4 x 10

Long Cycle Clean and Jerk: 24kg kb's x 5:00 (most difficult part is the rack position)

BJJ for an hour and a half 7 hours later.

8/10