Sometimes you just gotta rage

Like this broad.




I need to start bringing this kind of intensity to my workouts.

Well its Monday....

...and I really need to look at how I can better manage my time than I am currently. Its getting tough. I think I am finally seeing why some folks just shut it down completely when life decides to smack 'em upside the head with responsibility, relationships, work, bills, etcetcetcetc. Once your routine gets busted all up its tough making that switch and finding a new schedule. Granted I'm basically working 3rd shift at the moment and putting another 4-5 hours in my other two jobs. So 14 hour days with intermittent sleeping periods really does a number on the body. I think I got a plan its just putting it into practice is the tough part. So anyways think of this blog post as a help in time management or maybe just some insight.

Roughly my morning ends around 8-9am. I get into work anywhere from 1-2am if you're wondering how my morning ends when most of my friends are likely still sleeping. But theres the key to get my training in. I figure thats the go time since I'm still slightly amped up from being at the warehouse all morning so I need to start capitilizing on it before I get legitimately tired. I figure I can squeeze a good hour of training in right there before I crash. Which, if planned right, I can get home, nap, and get about my day. The other option is to just go to bed early like a normal human being would. But sleeping before 7pm is just wrong. Honestly, the more Im doing this the more the thought of a 7pm bed time sounds pretty damn good. Theres another factor into training immediately after work BEFORE I go home. Thats the key phrase; DO NOT GO HOME! For any reason whatsoever. Once I get home Im done. Plopped into my computer chair and its game over for anything physical. So with that I need to have my gear at the ready. Head straight to the gym. And get shit done. Period. I can be tired later.

I figure if I can get that routine going and make it daily I should be able to get back to my old self a little bit. I have to because damn Im getting weak. I've lost a bunch of weight (down 15lbs to about 245) and my strength numbers are showing it. I will say though that my forearms and lower legs are looking sweet. Its just too bad it's just toned out muscle and not legitimate strong muscle tissue that has built up. I figure I can fix that with about a 4-8 week cycle. Probably going to hit a GVT program that I used to do. I'll fill that in more later on.

Fat Gripz Review - Extreme's too

A long time ago I reviewed the Grip4orce grip trainers. I also wanted to pickup a pair of Fat Gripz as they seemed to offer some differences. Essentially the two trainers offer the same service- train up your grip strength by fattening up the bar or barbell you are grabbing onto during lifting.

The Grip4orce review can be found here- http://danprater.blogspot.com/2012/05/grip4orce-use-and-review.html

So for this article its all about the Fat Gripz and their bigger brother the Fat Gripz Extreme.

 Regular Fat Gripz










                                                   EXTREME!!!!









First off I will do my best to NOT compare these to Grip4orce. Instead I'd like this to be a standalone review of the product. Later on Ill get a writeup comparing the two products.

So what is the Fat Gripz system? Its basically a chunk of rubber that wraps around a bar to make it much fatter and therefore much harder to hang onto. The FGs do this extremely well as they maintain their original shape very well. This wraps the grip around the bar very tightly. Only very thin bars (<27mm by my estimate) have trouble with this as the opening in the gripper isn't small enough enough for those bars and it can slide. This only was a problem with the lat pulldown bar as if I wasn't careful the grips could slide off. However, the material is very clingy to knurled bars and even if the lifter doesn't grip tightly they tend to stick to the surface pretty well.

What about the difference between the FG and FGE? Almost an inch if I am not mistaken. The Extremes are MASSIVE compared to anything else on the market. Realistically this reduces their effective use to very limited amount of exercises unless you have Andre the Giant hands or a grip that can embarrass a gorilla.  Most of my athletes and clients cannot use them period and they give my older athletes a very hard time with simple lifts. To be totally honest I only bought them because they're just too ridiculous not to have. BUT I do find good use for them with very light small muscle work such as shoulder movements or holding exercises. If I'm feeling nutty then some pressing movements.

The material is pretty tough and durable. Even stretched it out it will find its way back to its original shape. What this means is it takes some work in order to open the grip up to get it on the bar. The FGExtreme is even tougher. I joke with my athletes telling them if they can't open the extreme then they shouldn't be using it. This really isn't too much an issue if you staying with one object at a time. I.E. just using a pair 40's for a few sets before moving on. However, if you are trying to superset multiple dumbbells or the like this will prove to be time consuming and a pain in the ass if you don't have a few pairs. And at $40+ a pair that is not likely.

As for training the FG and FGE give a very 'natural' expansion to the bar. You simply need to just hold on and pull or press to your hearts content. If the bar is wider than 28mm (which most are) the grips will stick to the bar and rarely ever move unless pulled open. This is great for when doing exercises that require a neutral grip like hammer curls or tri-extensions. Some fatter bars can be annoying as they grips will expand even farther leaving a gap. Not a huge issue.

I mentioned for a moment the material is very tough. I've had my pair for almost a year and between my athletes and myself they show no signs of degradation. So its a very solid design. My gripe with the FGEs is the steep angling on the ends. If your hand finds its way to either edge the grip will collapse slightly. This seems to be a design fault and hopefully they look into changing the sloping. It really should just go straight down instead of sloping inward as sharply as it does. The material isn't THAT strong.

Lastly, just something I wanted to note about the cost and the materials. The FG is priced comparatively to other grip trainers while the FGE is about 10-20 more per pair. What concerns me is where these things are made from. Likely China but to date I have not found anything listed. So if buying American or where the product comes from is a concern then it should be noted that FGs do not have that openly listed. It also makes me wonder why the price is so damn high.

Bottom line.
 I like FGs and the bigger Extremes as well. They add a unique variety to same old lifting routine and really do a number on the forearms and hands. I don't like the idea that they are not made in the good ole' U.S. of A. especially at the price. They do however offer a stable fat bar alternative to those on a budget that don't want to buy specialty bars.

Creatine Facts

 The following is an article originally posted on Elite FTS and it does an excellent job answering a lot of questions regarding creatine and usage.

You can find the original article here:
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/the-creatine-facts-needs-formatted/ 

 

The Creatine Facts

By

Nick Tumminello

Published: June 4, 2012

The Creatine Facts

One of the longest standing controversies in the world of health, fitness, and athletic performance is whether or not one should take creatine. I wrote the “Creatine Report: The Most Comprehensive, Unbiased Research-Based Resource on Creatine Ever Written“ to separate fact from fiction.
It seems that every few months, the media blames creatine for causing everything from muscle tears to kidney damage. There’s a growing number of concerned parents who are just as worried about their kids taking creatine as they are about them using illegal drugs. Are these controversies over creatine and its safety founded in legitimate scientific evidence? Or are they spawned from confusion, misinformation, and unfounded claims?
In this article, there aren’t any opinions or claims—just science-based facts on creatine from several leading peer reviewed research journals and some of the world’s most respected sports supplement experts. If you think you can “handle the truth” about creatine, read on!

What is creatine?

Here’s what you need to know:

• Creatine comes from animal products like meat and fish.
• Creatine is derived from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine.
• It’s synthesized mainly in the liver and kidneys (and to a lesser extent in the pancreas).
• Skeletal muscle contains 95 percent of all creatine.
• The heart, brain, and testes hold the remaining 5 percent (1).

How does creatine work?

According to Jose Antonio, PhD, a professor at Nova Southeastern University and the CEO of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, “Creatine serves as a fuel source for rapid exercise through increased phosphocreatine (PCr) stores.”
Here’s some basic human physiology that will help you understand how creatine works as a fuel source: If you perform aerobic activity (like jogging), the main source of energy your body will use is glycogen. Glycogen comes from carbohydrates and is primarily stored in your muscles. When you perform anaerobic activity (like sprinting, jumping, weightlifting, or playing sports), your body gets its fuel from ATP and phosphocreatine. So the more creatine you have available, the more fuel you have in the tank to sustain intense activities. Studies show that “supplementation can increase phosphocreatine (PCr) and creatine (Cr) stores by 10–40%” (2).
“To date, creatine is clearly the single most effective dietary supplement for enhancing gains in anaerobic performance as well as increasing lean body mass and muscle fiber size.” — Jose Antonio PhD
Specifically, research has shown that creatine offers these benefits:

• Increased fat-free mass
• Improved maximal strength (as measured by a one-rep max bench press)
• Improved muscular endurance
• Increased anaerobic power and performance (shown in many activities including continuous jumping, jump squats, knee extensions, and repeated sprints by soccer players)
• Increased hydration in extreme outdoor conditions (3–7)

In addition to its strength and performance benefits, Alan Aragon, MS (nutritional editor for Men’s Health and consultant to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks), notes: “Clinical and therapeutic use of creatine is a very interesting emerging area in research.” For example, a recent study showed that creatine improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetics. “It’s also been shown to benefit those with knee osteoarthritis.”

Creatine

Here’s some more of the surprising health benefits of creatine:

• Fights inflammation following muscle damaging exercise
• Improves brain performance
• Improves long- and short-term memory for vegetarians
• Speeds recovery in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Helps mitigate symptoms for those with neuromuscular disorders
• Prevents DNA mutations in aging cells (8–16)

Who can creatine help?

The short answer is everyone! Creatine helps all age groups and everyone from the athlete to the non-athlete and from power sports to endurance sports. Even those with injuries and illnesses can benefit from taking creatine.
Here are the hard science facts to prove it.
More muscle and less fat:
“Creatine supplementation during resistance training resulted in increased fat-free mass, thigh volume, muscle strength, myofibrillar protein content, and Type I, IIa, and IIx MHC mRNA expression compared to controls” (17).
“Increase in total body mass and lean mass with no gain in fat with creatine” (18).
Improved endurance:
This study was done on rowers: “Creatine supplementation improves endurance (expressed by the individual lactate threshold) and anaerobic performance…” (19).
This study was done on cyclists: “This study showed [that] creatine ingestion improves submaximal cycling efficiency from [an] increase in muscle phosphocreatine” (20).
Creatine as an anti-inflammatory
This study used triathletes and showed that creatine serves as an anti-inflammatory: “Creatine supplementation before a long distance triathlon competition may reduce the inflammatory response induced by this form of strenuous exercise” (21).
Better hydration for outdoor sports in hot weather conditions?
This study shows creatine helps keep you better hydrated in hot outdoor conditions: “The effects of creatine supplementation on cardiovascular, metabolic, and thermoregulatory responses during exercise in the heat in endurance-trained humans were positive” (22).
Better sports performance in teenage athletes
“Creatine supplementation enhances the dynamic strength and may increase anaerobic metabolism in the lower extremity muscles and improves performance in consecutive maximal swims in highly trained adolescent swimmers” (23).

What are the side effects of creatine?

OK, by now you’re probably thinking, “Creatine has some amazing, scientifically proven benefits, but what’s the catch? What kind of side effects do I have to worry about?”
According to Jose Antonio, PhD, “Creatine is perhaps the most studied ergogenic aid in history.  Plus, the science clearly shows that there are no harmful side effects of creatine supplementation.” He goes on to address the specific claims of negative side effects and even issues a challenge: “There is zero scientific evidence that creatine supplementation causes muscle cramps or tears, harms the kidneys, [or] causes dehydration or a myriad of other silly myths promulgated by the mainstream press. If these side effects exist, show me the science!”
For instance, one study clearly states, “From 3 to 30 grams per day over periods ranging from 10 months to 5 years, neither short-term, medium-term, or long-term oral creatine supplements induce detrimental effects on the kidney in healthy individuals” (24).
Jose Antonio, PhD, describes another study performed during one season of NCAA Division IA football training and competition: “It was discovered that creatine users had significantly less cramping, heat illness or dehydration, muscle tightness, muscle strains, and total injuries than non-users. Thus, even for athletes who are well trained, it is clear that regular creatine consumption does not cause harm and in fact may have a protective effect against certain exercise-related issues.”

What about creatine use for kids?

According to David Sandler, the senior director of education for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), “Some of the first research studies on creatine were done on overly weak infants. So, yeah, it’s safe.”
A very small number of kids are born with an inborn error of creatine metabolism. It’s extremely rare, but if left untreated, the child could end up with severe neurological problems as well as cognitive problems like mental retardation or autistic disorders. Some of these children have been treated successfully with creatine monohydrate. One patient was given four to eight grams a day for 25 months, the equivalent of 80–160 grams a day for an adult. The patient experienced significant improvement, with brain and total body creatine levels rising to normal levels (26).
Additionally, Jose Antonio, PhD, notes, “Creatine has been shown to have beneficial effects in kids with traumatic brain injury, kids being treated for cancer, [and] kids with muscular dystrophy as well as teenage athletes.” Antonio then asks the question, “So why not give it to healthy kids who are training for a competitive sport or activity?”
Creatine has also been used on pediatric cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The corticosteroids they take to alleviate the side effects of the chemo are known to cause rapid gains in body fat. With creatine, that increase in fat was lessened greatly (28). With all this solid evidence of the amazing benefits creatine has for kids with severe health complications, Jose Antonio, PhD, drives home a key point: “What astounds me is that parents would rather give kids a sugar-filled soft drink than creatine. It makes no sense at all!”

How do you take creatine?

So now you know that creatine is 100 percent safe for everyone. You also know that it’s scientifically proven to work for everyone. All you need to know now is how to take it.
Experts like Antonio, Aragon, and Sandler all agree that for best results, take three to six grams of creatine monohydrate daily.
(Nerd) References:

1. Terrilion K (1997) Int J Sports Nutr 7:138.
2. Volek JS, Kraemer WJ (1997) J Strength Cond Res 10:200.
3. Kreider RB, et al. (1998) JEP online 1.1.
4. Willoughby et al (2001) Creatine supplementation (6 g/d for 12 weeks) during resistance training resulted in increased fat-free mass, thigh volume, muscle strength, myofibrillar protein content, and Type I, IIa, and IIx MHC mRNA expression compared to controls. MSSE 33:1674–81.
5. Balsom P, et al (1995) Increase in total-body mass and lean mass with no gain in fat. Acta Phhysiol Scand 154:303.
6. Grindstaff PL, et al (1997) Int J Sport Nutr 330–46.
7. Sim L, et al (1999) Increased Type I and II muscle fiber hypertrophy CJAP 23(5):507.
8. Chwalbinska-Moneta J (2003) Effect of creatine supplementation on aerobic performance and anaerobic capacity in elite rowers in the course of endurance training. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 13(2):173–83.
9. Kilduff LP, et al (2004) The effects of creatine supplementation on cardiovascular, metabolic, and thermoregulatory responses during exercise in the heat in endurance-trained humans. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 14(4):443–60.
10. Gualano B, et al (2011) Creatine in Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc 43(5):770–8.
11. Neves M Jr, et al (2011) Beneficial effect of creatine supplementation in knee osteoarthritis. Med Sci Sports Exerc [Epub ahead of print]
12. Bassit RA, et al (2008) Creatine supplementation reduces plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and PGE2 after a half-ironman competition. Amino Acids 35(2):425–31.
13. Rae C, et al (2003) Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proc Biol Sci2 70(1529):2147–50.
14. Bentonand D, Donohoe R (2011) The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores. British Journal of Nutrition 105:1100–05.
15. Bender A, et al (2008) Creatine improves health and survival of mice. Neurobiol Aging 2008 (9):1404–11.
16. Tarnopolsky MA (2007) Clinical use of creatine in neuromuscular and neurometabolic disorders. Subcell Biochem 46:183–204.
17. Fuld JP, et al (2005) Creatine supplementation during pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thorax 60(7):531–7.
18. Berneburg M, et al (2005) Creatine supplementation normalizes mutagenesis of mitochondrial DNA as well as functional consequences. J Invest Dermatol 125(2):213–20.
19. Willoughby, et al (2001) MSSE 33:1674–81.
20. Balsom P, et al (1995) Acta Phhysiol Scand 154:303
21. Grindstaff PL, et al (1997) Int J Sport Nutr 330–46.
22. Vandenberghe K, et al (1997) JAP 83:2055.
23. Chwalbinska-Moneta J (2003) Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 13(2):173–83.
24. Murphy AJ, Watsford ML, Coutts AJ, Richards DA (2005) Effects of creatine supplementation on aerobic power and cardiovascular structure and function. J Sci Med Sport 8(3):305–13.
25. Bassit RA et al (2008) Amino Acids. 35(2):425–31.
26. Kilduff LP, et al (2004) Int J Sport 14(4):443–60.
27. Juhász I, et al (2009) Creatine supplementation improves the anaerobic performance of elite junior fin swimmers. Acta Physiol Hung 96(3):325–36.
28. Poortmans JR, Francaux M (1999) Long-term oral creatine supplementation does not impair renal function in healthy athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 31(8):1108–10.
29. Gualano B et al (2008) Effects of creatine supplementation on renal function: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Eur J Appl Physiol 103(1):33–40.
30. Stockler S, et al (1996) Creatine replacement therapy in guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency, a novel inborn error of metabolism. Lancet 348(9030):789–90.
31. Tarnopolsky MA, et al (2004) Creatine monohydrate enhances strength and body composition in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Neurology 62(10):1771–77.
32. Bourgeois JM, et al (2008) Creatine monohydrate attenuates body fat accumulation in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during maintenance chemotherapy (2008) Pediatric Blood Cancer 51(2):183–7.

Pushup Challenge - Part 2

Tested out this evening. Not very impressive benchmarks I will say that. But at least its a start.

Pushups in 1 minute
38

Pullups
3*

*My shoulder (wah wah , I know) is still a limiting factor. BUT a few weeks ago I couldnt do any pullups so I'll take 3 for now. 

Pushup Training - A lil' Competition

A while ago I posted that cheap ploy to get some facebook likes for a pushup challenge. Well unfortunately it didnt draw the result I wanted. Everyone 'liked' the pic and not the Facebook Page....well lets try something else.

Since I've been fighting off so many injuries as of late I wanted to try out a little experiment similar to the Pullup training I did last year about this time.

Here's how it'll go.

Between now and my birth day (roughly 2 months and a week) Im going to try and knock out 5,000 pushups and an undetermined amount of pullups. The reason the pullups are questionable is I really dont know how well my elbow and shoulder will handle this sort of stress. So we shall see what my benchmarks look like.

Initial testing Im just going to get a standard warmup in and then for 1 MINUTE get as many pushups where elbow is breaking parallel (I believe thats the standard) as I can get. Then I'll start hammering out pushups from now until January 25th in which I'll retest and see how I did.

Sound fun? I think it'll be.

Pullups I'll just test to see how many I can get without letting go. I won't stress it too far and try for a minute. Maybe after my birthday if things go well. Hopefully my shoulder is mostly recovered by then. Unless I jack it up again which is a real possibility.

Im also going to throw in a heavy squat cycle for the next 6-8 weeks but Ill outline that later on when I have a better idea how that program will look.

Ultimate Sandbag Review

I bought these some time ago so its high time for a good ole review.

Well first off I'll admit I think I got carried away originally buying all these. I bought two regular sized and two larges. Or whatever they are called. Basically I wanted a 30lb, 45lb, 80, and 110. I came real close to buying a XL shell, as they are called, and putting together a 150+ bag but that sounded excessive. Im glad I went with what I did, however.

First off shipping was solid. I remember they arrived a few days after I ordered. Packaging was nice. They ship as empty 'shells' so there is some assembly required which I'll get into later. But they came packed up all nice and tight and ready to put in work. My first impression is they felt extremely sturdy which was well observed as a year and a half later they are still as good as the day I got them.

The regular shells came with 7 handles. Seems like a lot and it sort of is. The bag itself is not very big so when doing certain movements the handles are uncomfortable. Especially if the movements involve the bag resting on the body in any way. They simply dig into the skin. On the flipside having all those handles is a nice feature. Gives the bag a lot of variation. Whats interesting is the large bags do not have side handles like shown above. Instead they have ...flaps. Just a piece of extra vinyl hanging off with a little padding in them for a grip. I'm not really a fan of those. In fact they're pretty useless with a heavy bag.

I mentioned a few times already the material and structure seem to be solid. And after a years worth of punishment its holding up to its end of quality. I havn't even noticed any breaks in stitching, handles are still intact, and so far no sand has leaked either.

Speaking of the sand, USB does sell filler bags to put the sand in. They are essentially the same material only allow the sand to stay inside the bag and not spill out. The shell itself is not 100% sealed so sand will leak out if you just fill it up. I opted out of the filler bags and just went with some 3M Industrial Grade garbage bags from Home Depot. These worked just fine. I did layer about 3 bags for the bigger shells just in case. Then used zip ties to seal them shut. I probably should have filled the 80lb with rice to help fill the bag out. 80lb of a sand has made the shell itself rather awkward to work with at times as the sand will shift from side to side. So far the garbage bags have been holding up well. No leaks recorded to date.

As for effectiveness I really like using these things for just about anything. They don't offer the weight resistance or intensity to really hit some serious strength training but anaerobic or fitness work they're awesome. I will say the price tag is a bit steep. Most start around $70  and then theres the bags, ties, and sand to fill each one in. Oh yea, and shipping. So it is a bit of an investment. There are cheaper alternatives. Mainly just getting some old canvas duffel bags from a military supply and using the same methods to fill those up should work just as well. But if you want to drop the coin on some high quality, and good looking, bags then USB has some great products. Plus their site has a pretty extensive database on training and exercise programs to keep ideas fresh for clients.

Enjoy!

Training update - 11/5/2012

I've been messing around with some new workouts lately and here's a little update with how things are going. Between the new job, track starting up, rugby finishing, injuries, and the like things are getting a little stressful lately so finding that drive to keep moving forward has been getting difficult at times.

Lately, I've been doing what I can to keep things simple and relevant as much as possible. In other words cutting out bullshit lifts and sticking to the basics. I like my formulas and recently this is about how my workouts are looking.

Lower days-
2-3 primary lifts. Usually a jump, squat, and supplemental. Last one typically is a posterior chain such as RDLs or glute hams.
1-2 core exercises. Usually a twist and a complex situp (get up, TGU, windmill, etc.)
Fitness. I've been modeling these loosely after Crossfit workouts by doing either AMRAPS, rep sets, or something similar. Usually lasting between 10-20minutes continuously.

Upper days-
Shoulder mobility and rehab
*My right rotator cuffs are pretty bad and its possibly a tear in the infraspinatus or supraspinatus. Either way it hurts and its been reeking havoc on my training. Oly lifts are all but out. And Im very limited on many pressing variations and some pulls. Have a picture-

My thoughts are its really the Supra going bad and the Infra and Teres both are getting overworked as lately they have been knotted up to all hell.
Anyways for the rest of the workout;
Press variation , lately has been close grip fat bar incline press (long enough name?) or swiss bar presses. Either floor or close grip. I think Im getting enough stability back to start working on some slightly wider grips but the next day after upper work Its extremely sore.
High rep press
Pull variation, usually hanging rows, bentover rows, etc.
High rep pull, lat pulldowns, db row, etc.
Core (see leg day)
Fitness- Some goofy stuff involving some sorta barbaric things. Sledges, tires, sandbags, ropes, or rocks. I think tomorrow my workout is just going to be flip the tire as many times as I can in 10 minutes.

Day 3 and 4 are very similar just slightly lighter and more dynamic. I'm thinking Im going to try and train again for throwing this Spring but that remains to be seen. These injuries are piling up and I am definitely not healing as fast as I used to. Dare I say I may switch to a bodybuilding routine in the near future if this keeps up.

Oh yea, and on top of my right shoulder having issues my left elbow has decided it wants to start hurting again. Havnt had much an issue since Summer when it got hyperextended during a rugby tourny. I noticed my ROM is drasitcally reduced on both ends. Probably not a good thing.

Eh well. Moving on. 

300 Workout series - Round 2 Sandbag edition

Its been over 2 weeks. So lets have another go at this thing. Only this time lets bump up the intensity.

I've been having a rough time balancing energy with the new job and still getting some solid training in. Lately I've only been at it 2-3 times a week and usually am too gassed to get some of the more intense work in. Good news is my shoulder feels like its starting to heal. Back is somewhat ok. And I am down a whole 15lbs! Weighed in today at 245. About 2 months ago was about 260. So hopefully I can get a decent routine established, manage my energy (waking up at 4am is a bitch at first), and keep my diet in check and sufficient. But, anyways, onto the workout of the day...teehee- WOD.

300 reps

25 kb swings - 2x40lbs
50 sandbag squats - 45lbs
50 sandbag presses - 45lbs
50 burpees (seriously, fuck these)
50 sandbag rows - 80lbs
50 overhead sledge hits - 18.5lbs (threw a 2.5lb plate on the handle)
25 kb swings - 2x40lbs

Total time- 19:10
Damn thats embarrassing. The heavier swings using two kbs instead of one really set the tone and made an impact. I think that changed the everything for the worse. Not to mention presses were heavier, sandbag was almost twice as heavy, and sledge was 2.5 heavier than original bout.

...and fuck burpees. They can go to hell.

300 workout series - kettlebell

Was talking to a friend of mine this week and started to knock around some ideas in my head on workouts. The following was using the '300' workout template and give it a kettlebell theme.

Reps are the following; 25/50/50/50/50/50/25 for a total of 300 reps. Yay! Math!

Swings - 70#
squats - 45#
single kb press - 30 (weak rotator cuff)
Burpees - bodyweight
Double upright row - 30s
Sledge overhead tire hit - 16lber
Swings - 70#

Total time: 16:30

Those burpees were rough. Lets see how this pans out in a few weeks.

Kettlebell Workout- Single Arm Biathlon

warmup- usual stuff with stretches focused on back, shoulders, and hips.
*side note- I blogged this from my phone today. more annoying that id thought it would be. apparently it struggles with caps.

Protocol: Biathlon Single arm
clean and jerk 1:30 / snatch 1:30

double kbs;
clean to front squat 1:30 , 45s rest. 3-5 rounds. shorter rest for harder intervals

core work
half tgu's 1min each
hammer twist/ good morning/ 30s each x2-3 rds
crunch to leg raise 1min/ seated halo 40s x 2-3 rounds

fitness: double kbs
alternate row/ alt press/ sumo dl 30s each for 3 rounds

single kb
press to overhead squat/ lateral lunge/ high swing 40s each x3 rounds

amrap: 6-10mins base on time left
8 squat jumps
15 double kb curls, close stance
15 double kb laying press
10 double high swings

Kettlebell Full Body - Beginner to Moderate Level

This workout mostly hammered upper-body but still was an effective overall workout. I listed this as a beginner to moderate level as the movements themselves are simple but the workout itself can be difficult with some modifications. Also, like any workout, it's best to progress slowly with weights if the client or yourself are still new to training.

Lastly I need to note this was for my new group and it was the 2nd week. Most of the group is still relatively new so I had to go over some things at the beginning. Plus I wanted to do some double kb work however we just didnt have enough equipment. So I cut the double work. In the end it wasn't a prob as we just spent a little more time on warmup.

Warmup:
Usual stuff; shoulder and back movements and stretches
Went over tech a bit and basic movement patterns (swing, clean, press, etc.)

Protocol 1: 1 min each
Clean/ Press/ LC-Push Press

Protocol 2: 30s each , 2 rounds
swing/ clean/ press

Lower: 30s each, 3 rounds
Single KB- Front squat/ Rev. Lunge/ SL RDL (1st round right arm, 2nd rd left, 3rd hold with both hands)

Upper: 30s each, 4 rounds
Single KB- Both hands; Press, curl, Front raise, upright row

Core: 1min each arm
Windmill, SA Crunch, Seated twist

Finisher: x2 KB Pyramid , 30s rest between sets
Swings
5 reps- 10- 15- 20- 15- 10- 5

World's "Biggest" Biceps

Excuse the smell of bullshit as you read this...its bad.
 (FYI- for some reason blogspot spaced out a lot of sentences. Im working on fixing it)
So apparently they're letting anything into that record book these days. Regardless of how you come about it. 

 Quick back track here. If you bothered to look at the mans arm things he has attached to his shoulders you'd see very quickly something is very 'off'. Especially the massive disproportion of his biceps to his forearms. Biceps do not grow that size without some help from the shoulders and forearms in which he really doesn't have either.

Enter the magical shit known commonly as Synthol. In a nutshell this stuff is oil that is injected in the muscle to spread the fascia apart. Idea is that the body absorbs the oil to only then replace the space with more muscle tissue. Well as you can see it really doesn't work that way. Most of the oil sticks around and then you get this swollen mass of shit called a muscle. Not to mention most of these guys dont understand that one muscle growing to massive proportions looks ridiculous and incredibly fake.

Unless you're the Huffington Post or apparently 80% of the ignorant world of training.

Moustafa Ismail gets in Guinness

 He lifts an amazing 500 pounds! Eats pounds on pounds of meat!! Trains twice a day!!!

 Sorry but...wtf? For starts that article couldn't be any more vague. Second how can you even look at him without busting out laughing hysterical. I have to hide the picture while I write this for the sake of actually finishing this blog. 

You want to know what REAL biceps look like? 

See the difference? Need another comparison?

   

Sure Arnold was juiced to no end but at least he legitimately trained and earned those WMD's he regularly carried around in his prime. With Synthol you just need to simply inject and enjoy some gluttonous masses growing in your arms. Its pretty clear what 'popeye' here has been up to. Hell, those forearms are just incredible. You know who else has some massive arms??

Do ya????

 

This guy...

Worlds fattest man. Those 'guns' look sorta familiar. Like they may be filled with some excessive fatty oils. 

 

Truth be told I'm not sure what pisses me off more. Moustafa's following of this guy-

 

Or the shear ignorance of the articles sprouting up all over. Especially since how dangerous the internet is with information. Idiots the world over will read this article and think this sort of thing is not only normal but somehow possible for mere mortals to achieve. Even worse so is that synthol can be purchased through the internet allowing free use to fuck yourself up royally. 

I got to go get lifting...this shit gets me heated.

Another Leg Day, Another day for PRs

Last week jumped 49". This week jumped 50.5"
Last week hit 410 + 120lb chains in box squat. This week went 415 with a crack at 420.

So, yea, things are going well with leg work so far. Just hope this transfers well to the field as last Saturday I honestly thought I had one of my worst showings on the pitch in a long time. I may or may not, probably not, get into that later but for now lets discuss todays training.



Today was unfortunately cut short. Much shorter than I'd planned. Originally I wanted to get my training in early but was called in to cover a shift so my morning/ afternoon was shot. Got what I could done before a few prospects showed up to get their ass kicked via kettle bell.

Not to say the day was a waste. Still got some solid training in. Several jumps in all of which were over 48" on the tires. In fact I think I landed every one. Now just still chasing the magic 50+ range. Some reason that is a barrier I need to get over. Finally did but just barely with the 50.5". Im scraping cleans while Im in season. Unfortunately that lift just takes up too much time and I need to focus on movement and get my quickness/ first step faster on the pitch. I'll be tossing them back into the mix once track season rolls around in the next 3 months. Finished off with several sets of 3 on box squats and then rounded off with 4x5 on RDL's. Those are feeling solid as well. Finished at 330 and really felt I should've gone heavier.

Next week.

Deadlifting a Globe

Realistically I can use my atlas stones to do the same thing. However, the Globe is a little more versatile since its weight adjustable, the primary source of weight moves during the lift, and its much more portable than several stones.



I really felt this one in my biceps, hands, back, chest, and shoulders. With the ball adding another 14lbs I didn't think trying to pick up a 125lb kettlebell would be such a chore.

Another Globe Exercise

Continuing on my series of Globe Exercises heres one for the Triceps.



So what would be the usefulness of these variations over normal triceps work?
As for the press downs because of the Globe if you only place your hands on top there isn't going to be much change. Things like grip, shoulders, fingers, etc. really are not activated very effectively. Put those hands on the side and maintain a strong grip and now you got a full upper body exercise. Hands, wrists, forearms are all activated to maintain a hold on the ball. Shoulders, biceps, and chest are activated to clamp the arms onto the object to prevent it from slipping. So now we just made a simple triceps exercise into a monster 'isolation' workout.

The overhead variation I liked a lot better. Few reasons;
- It simulates more effectively the overhand throwing motions involved in a variety of sports
- It still forces activation from the target muscle groups listed above with the added BONUS of shoulder, core, and base stability.
- It can be tweaked to involve a rocking motion to involve the lower body as well. So what started out as one small muscle group just turned into a full body exercise for overhead throwers and hitters (think Baseball, Volleyball, Javelin, Rugby line-outs, Quarterbacks)

More to come later.

Pushup Challenge

Likewhoring at it's finest.

A little challenge for the week. It started as a weekend thing but figured I'd extend it and see how well I could do.

It's simple. LIKE my facebook page (The Body Forge - Strength Systems) and I do 5 push ups. Like the picture as well and its another 5. 10 total per individual. I think right now Im up to about 200. Pretty easy if you ask me. Ignore the date on there that says "Aug 20th" I lied.

Improving my vertical

I just BARELY missed 50" on an approach jump yesterday. Pretty bummed about that. Happy I hit a 49" jump but really thought I had the 51" that I had set up. Just couldn't stick the landing. Otherwise improvement seems to be moving right along. I think even my leg strength is improving very well despite everything Im trying to do lately.



Squat's felt good too. I switched to box squats because recovery is quicker and not as sore or tired the next day. Need my legs to function day to day so I can keep my fitness up and keep running for rugby. Once seasons over I'll be switching back to a 3 or 4 day squat program and get that depth back down. Mean time it's looking like once a week heavy squatting plus a dynamic power day. Top that off with 4 or 5 days of running plus game day and my legs will get plenty work.

Passing drill for Rugby With a Medicine Ball

This is a little quick drill I came up with before the weekend. Thought it would be good to try and improve my passing strength and just keep it fresh since I am limited on practices I can get to.



The idea with the short passes is to work on using a very quick and short hip rotation while using the fingers and hands to get most of the work done. Useful for very short but quick pop passes that need to be accurate. Then rounded off with some longer range passes for added hip involvement and shoulders.

I didn't do any particular sets or reps scheme but just wanted to get a lot of reps in a short amount of time. Most of the sets were anywhere from 12-20 reps either side and 1-2 sets each.

300lb 7th grader wants to play peewee football

I caught wind of this last week but it seems like its picking up some momentum and wanted to share my thoughts for a minute. If you have yet to hear about this situation check it out-
Texas Pee Wee Football Player

This is stupid.

Most organizations have set rules in place and typically follows those. Right? So why is this kid even an issue? He's close to 3 bills on the scale yet wants to play ball with kids that realistically are ONE THIRD his size! The worst is the comments and feedback this story is receiving. But I'll get to that in a second.

First off, I need to bring up both sides here. I'd like to say I am not just talking out of my ass on this one but I've been through both ends of this argument already. Growing up I was already 5'8" 180lbs in 7th grade. I was pretty damn fat but also a LOT bigger than many kids my age. You think my peewee league was going to let me in? Forget about it. I never played football before than either. So it wasn't until freshman year I decided to play. Turns out I just wasn't any good at it nor liked football that much to begin with. Hindsight really wish we had a rugby club back then...anyways.

Fast forward about 6 or 7 years and there I was coaching a peewee league. I may not have been a very good player (I sucked) but I could coach pretty well. Now because of this I have perspective on the entire situation not just the tear jerker story this kids mother is trying to spin. People need to understand peewee is a developmental league but realistically its a d-league for those kids whose bodies forget to hit their growth spurt until they turn 16. We had kids that were 12 years old but only 5' and 115lbs. We had a few close to the league weight limits of 125 to run the ball, 135 to play anywhere, or even 150 to play offensive line but those were rare since the big boys went to play for the school. Where they don't have weight limits.

So lets paint a picture. There's 22 kids on the field. Combined weight barely over a ton. Roughly the total weight of a high school side or a college front line. They run around and make plays and awkwardly tackle each other while screaming in their high pitched kids voices. Parents cheer and coaches are calling plays. Now lets screw that situation up and throw a 6'2" 300lb grown man in there. Only he's not a man but a shy 7th grader. At least I'm going to guess he's shy. Can't imagine a outspoken young man willing to play beginner league with midgets. Regardless lets say he's on the defensive line because, well, obviously that's where he's going to be. The ball is snapped and he stands up, most beginning big lineman do that, and just walks through the center straight into the backfield. Maybe he makes a tackle. Maybe he puts his hands up essentially creating a 8' roadblock for passes. Or the team makes the dumb idea to run up the middle with him standing in the way and then the 120lb ball runner gets a concussion from running into the Fiat someone parked in the middle of the field.

Maybe a little overexagerrated but lets be realistic. He's big for high school and maybe small college standards and he wants to play with kids. I am not sure how many of my readers have ever made contact with someone who weighs 300lbs but its a odd experience. To hit, block, tackle, etc. a human being that weighs as much as a bear is a task. Even if they are standing still, fat, and nonathletic there is still the issue that you moving a dead weight object of 300 POUNDS. Once again assuming my readers are typically teenagers or adults, now imagine a scared shitless 12 year old that weighs about the same as Snookie being told that behemoth is his assignment.

So what are some viable solutions? Send the kid to a trainer or coach or camp to figure out how to play. If she can't afford a good one then simply set up a donation account and start raking money from sympathizers since Im sure there are plenty. Plus it only costs a few hundred to receive the type of training he needs so it won't take long. Bottom line the boy needs some confidence and hitting the gym and field are the only two ways thats going to happen.

There is a reason, once again, there are weight restrictions in peewee leagues. So this DOES NOT HAPPEN. It is legitimately comparable to a heavyweight wrestler demanding to go 135lbs or lighter because he is 'inexperienced and wants to wrestle with his friends'. Can you imagine what kind of crap that would stir up?

Which then brings up the next point. The flood of ignorant comments under every article that I can find. Its also one way or the other. Parents are crying that the kid should play. Others agree with me and say he needs to learn how to play ball at the school. What blows my mind is how those can say he should be allowed to play with the little kids but have absolutely no way to justify their logic. Mostly it just sounds like they feel bad because there is a sob story involved and 'Baby Huey' can't hang out with his buddies. That's life. Get used to it. Sure he is only in 7th grade but kids seriously need to stop being babied and coddled all the time and get used to life.

Pullup variety

Lately my arm has been a hot mess and its starting to take its toll during training. Mostly affecting my pullups which I hate to say I started to take a liking to recently. Unfortunately, now that my left bicep is strained from a shot I took to the elbow my last rugby tourny I've had to look at alternatives. Since I got my new S-4 rack up from Rogue I think I may have found something.




Pretty simple- Climb up. Climb down. Doesn't require much flexion in the arm so the bicep stays relatively inactive during the movement while back and forearms still get some work. Plus its just something different than what I've been doing lately.

I think my next challenge is to hang a rope down and climb that first before reaching the bars. We shall see.

Ultimate Ginger

This made me laugh and figured it was worth a share.



Would love to see this happen.

What to Wear to a Personal Training Job Interview

Sitting here just staring into cyberspace I came across a post that caught my interest on facebook. It asked the question "What should you wear to you interview as a PT?" I sort of thought that was a pretty legit question considering this really was not covered in my PT manual and looking around its not a very often discussed topic. When you think about it it's still pretty important. Here was my experience with interviewing and what I wore. Mind you, this worked for me so I can't exactly say this is the universal truth. I really can't imagine other gyms across the country would be a whole lot different.

First off, this is not your typical job interview. Not a minimum wage job nor some high end business opportunity. I've seen around that it was suggested business casual, a suit coat, nice pants, tie, etc.etc. Really that is overkill. Good pieces of advice I found originally were to dress the part. Not the part of if YOU are going in to get a lift but how would you look to train someone while at the same time still look professional. You may need to bring a change of clothes depending on the interview. I haven't run into an interview where they wanted an assessment workout the first day. Usually that is saved for the second interview. Still, bring some workout gear just in case and leave it in the car. Of course it doesn't hurt to ask ahead of time when they call.

Shirts. Something nice but sport professional is the best way I can describe this. So in other words that cut-off size too small tee from jr. high is NOT something you want to walk in with. To be honest you can't really go wrong with a sporty polo. In fact many gyms I'm seeing this is standard dress. It looks good and is still functional for the job. Underarmor has some pretty good golf polos. In fact that is what I wore was a solid black polo I picked up about a week beforehand. If you know me I am not much a golfer...at all. The shirt itself is still comfortable enough that it looks good and if I wanted I could get a workout in it. But the way I train there's no chance in hell I am wearing a $50 shirt to my gym.

What about pants? This can be a little tricky. I wouldn't exactly recommend athletic pants. If they look good then they may work but I opted for a pair of cargo khakis. Slacks or jeans just dont fit the job description. Anyone I see lifting in jeans is usually not taken too seriously while dress slacks just are not functional for the part. Looking back I think cargo khakis are a good option for physical therapists as well since at my gym the rehab guys almost always seem to be wearing that.

Shoes? Something athletic but nice. I went with a pair of 'dressy' sketchers I bought some time ago. They essentially go with any pants I choose so figured those will work well. With footwear I honestly think that anything would work as long as they look good and are not boots or loafers or something along those lines...or sandals. Thats a big NO.

As for anything else its always a good idea for any job interview to check the jewelry and be clean shaven. Have a recent haircut. Smell nice. Standard procedure there.

Just a couple other pointers. I've heard some crazy ass horror stories from interviewers and I really could not believe the crap some people say or do. Here's a decent list of DO NOT's;
-Wear clothes with mystery stains
-Forget to wipe the lunch off your mouth
-Come in drunk or wreaking of booze
-Swear like a sailor. Or trucker
-'Bro' talk doesn't fly
-Show up late
-Act disinterested
-Make demands (you CAN, however, negotiate within reason)


I may come back to this down the road and touch up some things. Once again this is what worked for me. Some facilities may be much looser on their impressions and might be looking for someone who is a little more down to earth. I've talked to a few guys that got jobs just by showing up to a workout. These are usually private or small gyms. Corporate places not so much. Other places may think that casual dress is under dressed. Frankly with how uptight and prissy gyms are getting I wouldn't want to work there anyways.

Easy body weight workout

Ok, so I need to shift focus back to some training. This one is another easy as hell workout to do with just your own body! Pretty cool, right?

The rep schemes are what can be a little complicated. Theres options. Lots of options. Plus rest time and all that mess. So what Im going to do here is just outline a few workouts to give you an idea and hopefully depending on your environment you can formulate your own workout from there.

So the basics is a 1-2 upper body workout. This requires something that you can do a pulling movement from. We want to hit not just chest but back as well. Is a continuous superset of 10 reps. You can use a sturdy shelf, pullup bar, branch, picnic table, regular table, rings, or what have you to perform some sort of pulling motion. The chest work is just done with pushups. You can use any variety of pushups based on your skill level but it needs to be a pushing motion. So heres what one workout I did awhile ago-

Pushups 10 reps
Pullups 10 reps (cheated like crazy)
repeat for 10 sets. Minimal rest.

So in the case of that the idea was to hit 100 total reps. Trouble is my pullups are ,and have been for a long time, terrible. So had to almost go into a kip. Ideally this would have been better off replaced with a hanging row or something that I could have unloaded some of my body weight off my arms. But at the time I only had a branch that somehow was sturdy enough to support my 255lb ass outside the hotel I was staying at. The "fitness" room was total garbage.

Heres another;
Pushups 20 reps
Pulls 20 reps
Squats 20 reps
Repeat for 5-10 sets

Once again alter as you need to. A good option if you can do the pull motion is to get yourself a band. They're relatively cheap and extremely easy to transport. But with this workout I altered squats to be more of a squat jump. 20 body weight squats really didnt do much for me. Even for 140 reps.

Last example;

Pushups 10,12,14,16,18,20,18,16,14,12,10 - Mixed it up with wide, reg, and narrow hands
Squats (same) - Squat jumps
Pulls (same) - Hanging row (low branch with feet on a rock)
Situp variation (same) - did V-ups at the time

This one wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been in my head before giving it a run. When you add so many different exercises that are unrelated the rest time increases before returning to the same muscle group. So the superset I mentioned first really hit the upper body hard. Add in some legs and ab work and suddenly those arms are getting a lot more rest.

So anyways next time you're traveling and need a good workout in a pinch try one of these or any mix you can think of. Better to get some volume work in then just take a day off.

Usually. 

Crappy service...again?!?!

Man, I don't if I'm going to learn my lesson here. Buy from trusted sources and you can't go wrong. Even if it costs a few extra bucks. If you read my McMaster Carr post you already know where this might be going.

So before I blow up on some uncontrolled fit of rage theres a few things that any business should be good at-

NUMBER F&$%ING 1!! (so much for holding back already)
COMMUNICATION- Is it so damn hard to respond to emails? I know it takes time but if you are so busy go hire an intern or some broke college kid under the table to at least answer the easy shit and forward on what he/she cannot reply to. Wait...can't afford someone? Once again if you are THAT busy and still can't spring for some help then your prices are simply too low. Hey its great you want to cut the public a deal but when you can not even respond to some very concerned questions then you are going to have some pissed off costumers.

Number 2- Keep your stock updated
This I understand can be a little more complicated as it requires regular updating to the website. But my gripe here is how eagerly a company will charge you for a product that is not in stock nor won't be for some time. That essentially goes back to number-effing-1 on communication between supplier and distributor.

Number 3- Customer is always right
And for this the company that I am referring to just saved their ass from me bashing them on every forum I could find (of course, looking around there seems to be plenty out there doing that already). Sure I got better things to do with my time (lies) but when you almost get ripped for 1,500 you need to spread the word. Anyways, if the customer didn't get their product in a somewhat reasonable time frame then a refund needs to be issued. Most business I can think of won't even charge if they don't have the item in question and I like Best Buys policy (did I just say that?) that if it is not shipped in 30 days its automatically refunded. 

So anyways to my closing statements I need to make a note that I seriously need to only buy from Rogue as much as I can and, at times, EliteFTS. Seriously some hands down best service I could imagine so far. Granted EFS is a little pricey but when they have a sale Im all over it. Especially their bands.

Gym update 8/6/12

Well its been a bit again since I posted last so heres a little update with the goings on at the new gym.

Everything is in! Well for the most part. Truck is a little fubared for the moment so transporting a few hundred pounds of concrete and rubber in the form of balls and tires is turning into a problem. At least until I can find someone with a vehicle and a few hours. Everything else is in. Racks, bars, weights...those damn weights. That reminds me to email this supplier on why the hell my bumpers are not in yet.

DERAIL---- So over 2 months ago I ordered about 1100lbs in bumpers and still have yet to hear about them coming in. Apparently they were out of stock with the rest of the country. Well word is going around that they are now in. Except this company I bought from has been dodging my emails for the past 2 weeks. Needless to say Im getting a little annoyed. Getting close to demanding my money back.

Back on track....

Theres a few things I think I want to tweak before I am really settled in. The flooring I bought took up a lot more space than I originally thought so I may reorganize it slightly. I need more mobility room on the one half of the facility. Right now theres barely enough room to fit my 2 prowlers without crashing into each other. Plus theres a slight angle to the floor so if you're not paying attention its very easy to drift into the wall. Done it twice so far.

So phase 1 is about finished. If you're wondering I have an idea of different 'phases' that this gym will go through. Phase 1 is what I have now. Phase 2 involves a turf floor of about 12'x50' and band anchor stations on the far wall. Phase 3 is the addition of an indoor throwing area. Probably hanging heavy mats and nets from the ceiling to allow every indoor and outdoor event possible. Phase 4 is the addition of dumbbells and squat rack. Phase 5? Probably a bigger facility. Chock full of good shit to play with including but not limited to a a tred sled, Woodway treadmill, proper testing equipment (laser speed test, vertimax, etc.), and a full compliment of strongman equipment. But thats sometime far down the road Id imagine.

Anyways apparently most of the pics I thought I uploaded never made it. Looks like my 4g doesn't work too well down in the basement that is my gym. May just need to spring for internet but coughing however much a month it is for that just is not worth it right now. Which stinks since I need some sort of connection for my credit card terminal. Hmmm. Well thats something for debate later.

Anyways, Im wondering on having a "Grand Opening" next month but not sure if there would even be a point. Could be fun. Will have to see what happens between then and now. Meantime I got to find me some more athletes and get some signups.

Sport Conditioning - 1000 meter shuttle

Theres a couple ways to go about this workout. Realistically it's not a workout by itself by a 'finisher' at the end of one. Whether it be practice, lifting, or some sort of other training.

Structure is simple enough. Need a field and a stopwatch helps. Unless you want to count in your head.

Theres 5 sprints total. 100 meters (length of field) and back. You can use a football field and run yards instead just know the times will be shorter. Running on the clock. Depending on your starting time is the key here. The whole point is to run on set intervals to strictly limit rest. Remember, the title says CONDITIONING. This is not a speed workout.

Once again, depending on the individuals fitness will determine how long the time is. If we are talking young kids you may want to drop the time to 3 minutes. More conditioned athlete under 2 minutes.

Just for an example here was my workout from yesterday;
-Set my intervals at 1:45.
-Hit start and get running there and back for a total of 200 meters. 
-When the time runs out then that starts my next set. So the faster I run the more rest I get.
-Repeat for a total of 5 times for 1000 meters.
-Takes about 9 minutes.

So really thats about it. Pretty simple right? And its easy enough to do. If you want more of a challenge then add a few or knock down the time. Run 1500 on 2 minutes or 1000 on 1:30 if you're going by mine.

I did this after my heavy leg workout and the hammies were pretty gassed afterwards. Still a good finisher to the day regardless. Give it a shot!

Rugby Conditioning - Prop Scrum and Maul with a sled

Man this one burned my quads up something fierce.

Simple enough. Load up a sled with some weight and push it X-amount of distance then pull it back. Repeat until life's answers are found.

Two a days - Its not just for football

Quick little blurb about training twice a day.

Probably thinking "well ain't that overtraining?"

Maybe. Everyone is different. Handling stress, fatigue, and training as such. Combating over training in this manner can be pretty simple when you go after it right.

Two-a-days can help this.

Not saying you need to train balls out double duty every single day BUT you can do a similar workout to reinforce the skills used in a prior workout. Poliquin even cited in one of his blogs quite a while ago about training similar muscle groups on the same day with about 5-7 hours apart. Granted most would think this is crazy and complain about "well I have a hard enough time getting ONE workout much less TWO every day!" Thats to each their own. But if you got a serious goal in mind don't trick yourself into thinking that one and done is the standalone approach to training.

Some of you may already be training twice a day and not realize it. If you got a workout in would you turn down a pickup game later on citing that you already got some work done and thats all you're allowed? Hope not.

Gave me an idea for the future. Now that Ill have my own facility I may be able to throw in some 2-a-days during break and downtime when the kids do not have school. Could be 'fun'.

Never neglect your balance

Working with a younger baseball/ football athlete today got me thinking a little about an old topic that I've dealt with quite a bit and wanted to discuss some.

Balance. Stability. Control.

It you look at many workouts (mostly generic ones) you will see that these aspects are, for the most part, completely forgotten and avoided. Its a bit of a tragedy, really. Fixing some simple aspects that allow the body to become more efficient can lead to some great results. You're eliminating weaknesses AND building on strengths.

First, before I start, let me throw some counter arguments Ive heard in the past. That doing stability work is a waste of time. Performing standard exercises under heavy loads will still build stability and control. Also, it will not help develop strength and power.

Both arguments are partially true. Going back to what I mentioned earlier performing stability exercises can help to increase EFFICIENCY. Like putting a better transmission in a sports car. Sure you did nothing to increase horsepower but if more available horsepower gets to the tires isn't that, in a sense, the same thing? Sure I can just put a bigger engine in under the hood but typically it takes a lot longer to add pounds on the squat bar then to develop a bit of fine tuning to the suspension.

So first off let me go at the "Heavy loads argument". I've seen this argument a bit more and usually its accepted because, in all honesty, it makes the most sense. If you can squat 500lbs you likely have some strong stability and core strength to hold that sort of weight to begin with and the power and coordination to squat it. Same to assume that if someone benches 350 then they should have strong shoulder stability and upper body power. Once again, usually.

What's interesting is how many of these strong athletes can do a 1-legged squat? Speaking from experience only, however consult some of Mike Boyle's works and you will see the same, I have yet to see many of these heavyweights able to handle just their body weight on 1 leg. So this leads to a problem- How often are we playing a sport and are on 1-leg? Yes, we teach that we are stronger on 2 legs and thats where we should be in a perfect world but how often is that? Watch a football game, soccer, basketball, ANY game and you will see that time spent on 1 leg is quite often. Sprinting, lateral movement, lunging, jumping, etc. all are dominated by 1 leg at a time movements.

Now thats not to say the heavy back squat is useless- Im all for it. However, there needs to be at least a minute or two to evaluate single leg control and function. This is where the argument "Its a waste of time" can be valid or not. I see it a bit where workouts during season or at odd times have an entire team performing planks, single leg stands, bosu squats (which I think are dumb as hell), etc. when realistically only a few athletes actually need to work on those aspects of their physical game. If you have a 6' athlete that can stand on one foot and touch his nose chances are he doesn't need to spend much time balancing on one foot. Now that 6'10" lanky bastard that can't walk straight much less stand on one foot is a different story. There is progression you can throw in there. Instead of just standing on one foot have the more experienced athlete add some movement- cone touches, med ball squats or rdl's, or even multi-direction jumps (think start at 0-degress, jump to 90, back to 0, etc.)

Point with that last statement is if you're absolutely bent on putting stability work into a team workout make sure that adjustments can be made for more advanced or less advanced athletes. Otherwise the more developed individuals are wasting time while the underdeveloped are struggling to keep up. I've done this for upper work as well with my baseball athletes through pushup progressions and shoulder stability work. Looked something like this:
Group A (beginner)          Group B (intermediate)      Group C (adapted)       Group D (advanced)
Assisted bar pushup          Standard pushup                 Hand on ball pushup    Divebomber
Chest to ball pushup         Band resisted pushup         T-Position Pushup       3-position pushup or plyo

With those mentioned each athlete is given the option to challenge themselves. All athletes are getting similar work done but can progress at their own rate or, if I deem fit, at my rate. Sometimes they just need a boot in the hind quarters to give them that extra push.

So whats the take away here? Each athlete is different and workouts should be treated as such. That last example is my favorite way of still training similar muscle groups but at a steady rate of progression for the individual. That way you're not only working stability, function, and core strength but also developing strength and power through continued resistance. Also, note that this type of training is done on our hypertrophy or dynamic days. NOT on max effort workouts.

Quick, easy, but intense Kettlebell workout

I havn't put one of these up in awhile but this ones a doozy.

Setup:
-A few heavier kettlebells are needed. Or at least doubled up on the lighter weights.
-If you sweat a lot chalk may be a good idea

Exercises:
Swings (thats it)

Routine:
Perform 20 swings as fast and as hard as you can. Some know this as 'hardstyle'. I just refer to them as quick swings.
Rest for 1 minuter (60 seconds)
Repeat for 5 to 10 rounds.

Notes:
Check your pulse as you do this workout. Its pretty amazing to watch it spike as high as it will. Especially if you hammer a good weight throughout. I had to get the total weight to around 120-140lbs using a mix of 60's, 70's and a single 125lb KB to get some good results. So don't shy away from the heavy stuff.

If you only have the option of lighter KBs then use only pairs and if that doesn't work go with high swings instead or even snatches.

I wrote a brief summary on my first experience with this workout here - http://thebodyforgeaf.com/effects-of-kb-and-interval.html

Enjoy!

Updates need updating

Just hit me I havn't touched my webpage in a long damn while. Well hopefully that'll get fixed soon enough. Just got a new cash register that I've been playing with the past hour. Go figure the genius sold me the wrong paper so Im already low. Either way this reminded of something I thought of earlier - "Things Id never thought Id buy in the history of ever: A friggin' cash register."

Anyways, I should have my webpage fixed up tonight later on. Time to go to work. I swear if this guy cancels again Im charging him for all his sessions. Fitness takes SOME sort of commitment. Not a magic pill that lets you lose possibly a couple pounds a year.

Didn't hear about that yet? FDA approved, too. Ill talk about it later. It's rather amusing.

WTF are we doing in the weight room?

Its amazing how three capital letters can summarize how I feel sometimes when I see these programs that are put together for athletes.

Well lets back track a little. Im getting a quick lift in today. Have a big 7's rugby tourny tomorrow and need to make sure I still have some energy left in the tank. I happen to see the board and this is what I come across:

Chest-
Bench 15,12,10,8,6,4,2
Incline (same)
Incline Flys 4x8
Pushups x100

Shoulders
Lat and front raise 3x15
...and some other nonsense.

I actually took a picture but don't feel like linking it.

Anyways, heres my gripe with seeing this shit.

What ATHLETE needs this sort of training? And before you answer think of where Im coming from. An athlete needs to develop the muscularity to to become better at their sport. Now, I know exactly which sport this 'workout' belongs to but thats neither here nor there. The point Im getting to is how would this workout benefit any athlete in the existence of sport?

Got an answer yet?

I sure as hell don't.

Training chest and only chest, as far as Im concerned, is good for 2 people; Bodybuilders and those who only care about looking good naked. Thats it. This sort of workout should never touch an athletes regimen much less a high schoolers or jr. high.

Especially considering the sport, or any sport for that matter, an overdeveloped chest is usually more a problem than a good way to train. Try having a kid do a pullup, or a simple row, or hell even just walk upright for more than a few steps. Its difficult to find this outside of a gymnast these days. Piss poor posterior strength and shitty workouts.

So whats the fix?

Well for one no workout should just focus on one muscle group in athletics. Time is valuable and that time needs to be spent honing their abilities. If we train 1 or 2 muscles groups a day we WILL need to train 6-8x's a week to hit everything. Thats a lot of hours spent just doing isolation work when combo lifts and functional movements can clear that all out in a hurry. Unfortunately I still see this quite a bit. Apparently a coach or athletes reads a cute little article about their favorite bodybuilder or fitness buff and wants to do that workout. I usually goes something like this day to day;

Chest/tris
Back/Bis
Abs/cardio
Legs
Shoulders/arms

Once again if you're only concern is looking good naked then knock yourself out. Hell in another decade that probably will be my workout. But I figure until they cart me off the field and out of the ring on a stretcher that day is still a long ways off. So anyways back to the topic...

Stick to the basics! Especially with younger underdeveloped athletes. My favorite splits are like this;

Upper/Lower   (Squat, single leg, glute ham / Bench, row, pushups, pullups)
or
Push/Pull  (Bench, squat, pushups / Floor pull, row, pullups)
or
Combo (upper/lower same day all inclusive)

All of those splits are typically 2-4 days a week. You can make the split days up to 6 days but combo are best limited to 3 maybe 4 a week to allow a recovery day. Once again the point is that strength in the weight room should transfer to the game. Not just lift for the sake of lifting.

A good S&C coach from a long time ago once told me "You need to train to be good at your sport, not train to be a good lifter." This message apparently does NOT get around much.  Especially considering the workout I just posted at the beginning here.

Now if you go back to those splits I mentioned things can get a bit more complicated. Did you know that you can get stronger without just using conventional lifts? Oh yes, its true. It happens quite a bit actually.

An example to increase leg strength and power just simply do full intensity sprints uphill or bleachers. As long as theres sufficient rest and intensity is near max the body will adapt and grow stronger. Similar to doing things such as playing the game more or doing similar tasks that emulate the game situation. As long as these tasks are performed to full intensity with some rest the body will adapt and grow AND continue to develop USEABLE skills.Then theres the topic of plyos, jump training (yes they are two different things), throwing, playing, etc.etc. but thats for a later date.

So just think of this next time you're cranking out that 8th set of 45lb barbell curls with your 140lb buddy ask yourself "Is this shit really going to make me a better athlete?" If you even have to stop and think, without any doubt, hell, if you need to even ask that question, then the answer is more than likely NO. Everyday you put something together always check it with the question "will this make me better?". And at the end of the day if you dont feel like you have gotten something accomplished then you really need to get back on that drawing board.

Rogue Globes

Damn I love getting new toys.




Last night this big ball of fun came in the mail along with my new Onyx Bands from EFS and between that and the truck being delivered with my racks and other items I'm like a fat kid at a buffet...or just me at a buffet. I get pretty happy about buffets.

So anyways I couldn't wait to get this thing hooked up and rock some pullups. Or at least a few. Its tough! As in theres nothing to grab onto so hold on for life sort of tough. Not having any sort of grip really puts the stress on the arms and chest since you have to squeeze the living hell out of the ball in order to stay on. Otherwise you will just slip right off.

This thing will definitely be a good time and Im glad I got one while they are in stock. I've been pining for one since the Arnold so many months ago and Rogue has been out of stock since. I have some ideas for this that Im sure will add some fun twists to workouts later on.

Battling Ropes - Arms and Shoulders Conditioning

...because using 'normal' equipment is too maintstream.

Nah, but in all seriousness who like using dumbbells anymore when you can just swing around a 30lb rope? In this case its more a 25ish pounds of 1.5"x50' polyurethane punishment.

Which reminds me, quick shout out to http://www.contractorsrope.com/ for the awesome deals on ropes. If I had any place to recommend anyone to buy their new ropes I would definitely order from these guys. Not only are their prices cheaper but can't beat free shipping on orders of $300 or more. Saved about $60 bones just on that fact alone.

So, anyways, onto the workout-

This vid is me going through a quick circuit using the "Tabata Method" style of interval training.

Heres the skinny;
Each round is 20s of high intensity work with a very short 10s of rest in between.
The workout lasts a total of 8 rounds or 4 minutes in length.
You can do practically ANYTHING for the exercises but be warned there are some pretty exhausting ideas and workouts out there. Try squatting for example....bleack!

With this particular workout I just picked a bunch of random shoulder and arm movements with the rope that is looped around a weighted down box.

Back to picking up rocks

Its been awhile but my wrist is starting to cooperate again enough that I can get under some Atlas Stones and start training again. Ive learned a few things a long the way and definitly was more prepared for todays training session than in the past.

For starts I brought along some Slaters Brand tacky. Enough tape to roll my wrists. And a canister of WD-40 for remove the tack afterwards.

The tape is just protection for my forearms from getting torn apart. Everytime Ive left a few pieces of my arms behind on those rocks so this was a nice bonus. Unfortunately I need a better way to tape my left wrist. I still aint sure what I did to it but after the fact its still bothering me. Definitly more than before training.Although it didnt hurt at all during lifting but fast forward almost 5 hours and Im in some pain. Oh, hey, Icy Hot, whats going on?

Aight, I gotta say the tacky helps a HUGE amount. Had no idea it had that sort of impact on the initial lift. Then again if your hands/arms are half glued to the object then it all makes sense. In turn this helped my tech out quite a bit. Instead of being slow off the ground I was much faster and lapped easier. I got my arms over the stone and resulted in a higher elevation- before it was around 45" but today got all my lifts over 54". Plus was able to get more reps during conditioning work.

12 reps @ 240lb
circuit - 2 reps 240, 5 reps @ 165, 10 shoulders @110

conditioning;
165 for a minute on, minute off repeat 4 rounds.
110 for sets of 10 shouldering. alternating shoulders and bouncing off ground.

Finished the day with some speed bench and called it. Its game time.

Discus Throwing - 6/27/2012 Practice

A lil bit of a hiatus but Im back again.

Anyways kicking off the new blog posts with some more discus throwing.



My hammer throws are still shaky at best. Im overstepping like a poor pickup line. And my speed sucks. Hence the 4-turn. I tried a 2 turn and it failed horribly. In fact I toed the first turn then went 1. Ooops. So thats still a work in progress.

Why 4-turn?

Why not?

So moving onto discus. Now this Saturday Im looking forward to after the last set. I ALMOST got my right foot to cooperate and turn in the middle. It still gets 'stuck' pointing back around 5 o'clock but I may have figured out a personal cue to get it moving better. Now if I can get a better push AND turn then I might have something.

Ohio High School Hammer Champs 2012 - 'Long journey starts with a step'

I'll keep this one short and sweet. It's been a long weekend.

First off today couldn't have been worse for BHS. It was supposed to be Senior Commencement when news broke that 3 teenagers died in a crash and 2 more hospitalized and as of now still hanging in there. Unfortunately I really only knew a few of them by name but can only imagine the struggle their close friends and family are going through.I can say the thoughts of all of us were with them throughout the day despite being at a meet 2 hours away.

Ok lets bring it back up. 

As for the meet itself things were looking up despite the later start time. About 27 athletes showed up to compete some of which being amongst the best in the country. The weather was excellent as well. Which was good and bad depending since I thought jeans and boots were a good option leaving the house at 6:30 this morning.

The guys handled the pressure of a super-fast ring pretty well or at least did not show any sign of tech change or anything of that nature. Throwing wise Dan had some struggles connecting with the ball. Looking the video can definitely get more angle, push the ball MUCH more ahead, and get TALL.

Nate had some good height on his throws but lacked a sense of urgency in the later rounds. Sometimes its best to just tear into it and let it fly.

Sydney and Kacy...well lets get some more experience under our belts. I could tell the cage was unsettling at the least and the thought of a first hammer meet was troubling. I even mentioned just slam one into the cage just to get the edge off. Never happened. All throws were nice lobs down the middle.





Now onto Summer training. Mostly this will just be myself getting ready for Rugby and whoever tags along to get ready for whatever. PLUS in ONE MONTH EXACTLY I am set to open the THE FORGE...oh man.

Pine Tar - 'eff this...'

So did you know theres a difference in Pine Tars?

Yea, me neither.

Apparently when shopping for tacky to stick on your atlas stones/ hands its best to make sure you get heavy or thick pine tar. NOT Light Pine Tar. That stuff is like oil

Better yet don't bother with pine tar at all. It's sloppy and stinks to all holy hell. EVERYTHING smells like tar right now. Whether it actually has tar on it or not.

So now Im hoping a scalding hot shower and some bleach will do the trick since everything else hasn't .

***EDIT***
Apparently some Isopropyl Alchohol works alright. Still have a hint of pine but its more of a faint scent now not the overwhelming disgusting that it once was.

Atlas Stone Conditioning - "Pick things up and put them down"

A little while ago Im strolling up to the track shed with a box in hand and a truck full of cement when a few inquiring minds simply asked -
"wtf?"
 "Relax everyone..."

I just recently acquired my Slaters Stone Molds to create some awesome pieces of equipment. Although my first time through making them wasn't the best, bunch of air bubbles and rough spots, they still are doing the trick very well. You can check out my experience here -First Time Stone Making.

I wrote up a small workout a few weeks ago as well. I got to admit I felt much stronger than compared to now- I blame Memorial Day weekend on that one. BBQ bloat is a rough recovery amongst other things....anyways on to the workout which I now have video this time.

Just a warning my tech is crap so dont look for helpful hints on stone lifting. You won't find it here.




The workout broke down like this-
3 rounds 1 minute stone loading over a bar.
10 sets of single load @240lbs
4 sets of 8 shouldering and lifting 115lb then moved to the 170lb stone second set.

Im definitly investing in some tack next week if I am going to continue doing this to myself. Grip is becoming an issue and dust is screwing that up more. Plus if you notice a few minutes in I suddenly have a wrist wrap on my left hand. I dont know what the hell I did but the damn thing is hurting good right now. Even a day later as Im writing this is hurts to open my fingers and spread them apart. Probably not a good sign.

But hey at least my finger is feeling better. Nail is drained out and its still attached...for now.