Alan H's training log

[nh_maclean]

Have you heard of Stronglifts? You doing Deads made me think of it...

It's a great site if you want to do a 5x5 but it's even better for 'showing' and 'telling' how to do certain lifts (not that you're saying you don't know how to do them... but thought I'd throw this out there to you or to anyone else following your workout journal since it's got good technique.)

A buddy of mine pointed me in this direction when I kept screwing my lowerback in Deads - and now I'm hitting numbers I never thought I could hit before without hurting myself (miracle upon miracle!) http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadli...per-technique/

I've also found Rack Pulls http://stronglifts.com/how-to-perfor...lls-technique/ really helped me with strengthening my lower back and prepping me for going heavy on Deads...

(Also has stuff on squats, front squats, box squats, etc.)

Anyway - keep at it - looking good!

[Alan H]

Have you heard of Stronglifts? You doing Deads made me think of it...

It's a great site if you want to do a 5x5 but it's even better for 'showing' and 'telling' how to do certain lifts (not that you're saying you don't know how to do them... but thought I'd throw this out there to you or to anyone else following your workout journal since it's got good technique.)

A buddy of mine pointed me in this direction when I kept screwing my lowerback in Deads - and now I'm hitting numbers I never thought I could hit before without hurting myself (miracle upon miracle!) http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadli...per-technique/

I've also found Rack Pulls http://stronglifts.com/how-to-perfor...lls-technique/ really helped me with strengthening my lower back and prepping me for going heavy on Deads...

(Also has stuff on squats, front squats, box squats, etc.)

Anyway - keep at it - looking good!

Thanks!! I just bookmarked that dead lift how-to page. At this point, I won't be going for big weight numbers. That will wait until next winter. for now, if I can deadlift, say 200 pounds fast, and squat 200 pounds fast, I'm happy. It's more speed I'm going for from now on, than big numbers.

However, I still gotta do it RIGHT.

[Alan H]

DAY TWO of the three-week program to make me almost as fast, though not as strong and not nearly as good-looking as Detroitpete.

lateral bosu squat jumps ...3 x 20

lateral/forward bosu lunges ...... 6 each side w/ 70 pounds

triceps cable pull downs...2 x 10 x 65

windmills ... 2 x 10 x 25

db overhead press ... 2 x 8 x 50 each arm

seated flys .... 8 x 205 "on the stack", 6 x 190 "on the stack"

cable chops, hi-lo, lo-hi .... 2 x 8 x 42 lbs "on the stack", each side..total 32 chops

Elliptical stairstepper; steepest and hardest settings.... 10 minutes

[Alan H]

I have to say, this winter has been the hardest work...I mean extended physical activity work... I have done in my adult life. I have never been so disciplined in the gym as I have been in Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb.

This had *better* pay off, come the Woodland Games at the end of April.

I continue the speed and agility work through Friday March 12th. Then I have one week of throw and lift March 15 -19. I'm going to squat/row...dead/row... fast sumo deads/snatch/row MWF and throw T-TH. I should be totally crushed by the weekend.

We're gone on vacation from the 20th to the 24th. I'm going to hike, eat, sleep ten hours a night and sit in the hot tub for four days and recover. When we get back I start the general In-Season routine, which will be throw T-Th and lift on Friday, probably alternating fast squats and deads with their accompanying rowing/elliptical work and a general, light core series.

We shall see.

[Alan H]

Friday 2/26/2010

End of Week 1/3 of speed/strength building cycle

big quad stretch.....

Russian Squats/core crushers .. 8 x 95, 8 x 105 ...wow, lower back tired but 105 went fine.

incline bench sit ups... 10 lb plate on chest, 18 absolutely as fast as I can, annoyed I didn't do 20.

Russian Twists on incline board with 12 lb ball... 2 x 10

Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls .... 2 x 8 x 95 pounds...last time I did these I did 85 pounds and thought I was gonna die. This is a serious heart rate pumper. I must be getting stronger.

push ups...feet on 20 inch box, hands on wobble board, 20 as fast as I can

db snatch ... left wrist hurts, probably strained something and I'm resting it so just RH.... 2 x 6 x 85 pounds

Elliptical .... 17 incline/17 resistance, 8 minutes...quads *burn*, hip rotators feel it

[Alan H]

3/1/2010

stretch...quads, hamstrings, gracilis

back squats.... 2 x 6 x 200 lbs...WOOHOO. That's big stuff for me!

situps, incline board, 10 lbs plate 19 as fast as I can

incline db press, go for speed...2 x 8 x 65, and then four more to build character, though they weren't exactly "fast".

front/side/transverse jumps..single leg .... 5 cycles each side

hammer wind core crushers on roman chair ...10 each way, 12 lb medicine ball. Pretty funny, I was going for as much extension as I could and I slid completely off the chair on #7, going clockwise.

cable chops lo/hi and hi/lo really go for speed ...43 lbs "on the stack", 2 x 8 each side, total 32 chops

hip adduct/abduct .... 8 x 150 pounds "on the stack" left and right both ways

row machine ... 8 minutes 2:20/km, 1 min < 2:00/ km ...total 9 min.

[Alan H]

3/1/2010

Had second appointment with Demigoddess Cori. She is the schiznit. Now, all you great big Manly Men may point and laugh at the vision of dudes rolling around on a mat, perched on a hard foam roller, but I have to say that I walked into that appointment with a sore, unstable knee from yesterdays squatting, and I walked out with a knee that felt about 95% capacity.

I look at photos of Larry Brock and Mike Pockoski and Bruce Aitkin laid out in extended hammer position and I can't conceive of how I'll ever get there. Well, now I have a nifty stretch to ease up those lats and delts and increase flexibility in my shoulders. Not only that, but it uses one of those trendy latex balls, to annoy the Alpha Males . We talked over doing suitcase dead lifts instead of "regular" dead lifts and I did them for her and got the nod. I like 'em, she likes 'em so Suitcase Deads it is. I put the dumbells on the lowest plyo boxes (about 8 inches) and pull from there.

So I now have a T-Th routine through the end of March... AND...demigoddess Cori might come out on Sunday to our throws group and meet the guys and see what it's all about .

T-Th routine...light

exercise ball single/double delt/lat stretch

suitcase deads

bosu balance squats... I think I'm going to basically do light overhead squats on the bosu and go really slow to work calves

single-leg crossbody cable chops

spend a good 15 minutes with a foam roller on my inner leg adductors, glutes and pirriformis and quads. The 15-20 minutes we spent today worked flipping miracles on my right knee. I can commit to this!

[Alan H]

I think I'm going to add hamstring curls...light, lots of reps to the T-Th workout.

Anyway, here's today.

bosu side-to-side squat jumps ....3 x 20

front-side bosu lunges.... 6 each side x 70 lbs

dumbell curls...hate 'em but sore left wrist seriously does not like the bent curl bar...8 x 45, 6 x 40

bench dips with 45 lb plate in my lap.... 2 x 15 dips

lat pulls on roman chair....15 each side, 55 pounds, go FAST

triceps cable pulldowns ... 12 x 65 "on the stack", 10 x 65 "on the stack"


windmills ....2 x 10 x 25..yeah!!

seated flys on machine ...8 x 205 on the stack, 6 x 205 on the stack

light hamstring curls.....2 x 12 x 65 pounds, no biggie.

[Alan H]

Got no sleep on* Wed or Thursday and felt like total c*&^% on Friday so I skipped a gym day on 3/5.

Throws day on Sunday went well. I got a couple of guys in the Guild started out throwing, John did well on his first time with caber and Roberto looks pretty good with the light weight. Bert from Stanford came out, he's coming along.* He's still throwing 50 LWFD with no form!* He had a hell of time with the caber today, though.


Me, I'm happy...cleared 13 feet in WOB twice after everybody went home, and that's with my Masters weight for distance so it drags on the ground.* All up , had about 8-9 WOB tosses.

*LWFD 42-44 feet, which is acceptable.* We did a lot of single spin drills today. * I owned my 100 lb 13 foot caber today, turned it four times in a row, all 12:00 - 12:30's. Open Stone standing throws at 29 feet* after my usual toeboard drills...skipped the drop-and-pops and A-line drills today, 'cause I had the Guild guys to get started. 29 is just fine for me.

*I'm happy with where I am right now in the season. All these weights this past winter have paid off.

3/8/2010

Back Squat ...3 x 5 x 200 felt good! time to move up to 220!

incline db press... 2 x 6 x 70

hanging leg lifts... 2 x 12

hammer wind core crushers on roman chair... 8 each direction x 12 lb ball

front-side-lateral jumps ...5 each side

hamstring curls .... 2 x 8 x 110 easy, do 'em to maintain muscle balance in upper leg

rowing machine...9 min.. 8 min + 1 minute sprint ,

[Alan H]

Todays experimental day

bigtime ham/quad stretch

suitcase dead lifts, with variations. OK, so here's how I did this. I set up the two lowest pylo boxes on the floor about 2 feet from each other. On each pylo box goes a 60 pound dumbell. I stand in between the boxes.

1.) hunker down, pick up right dumbell...stand up fast
2.) hunker down, put down right dumbell, grab left dumbell .... stand up fast
3.) hunker down, pick up right dumbell (now holding both dumbells/120 pounds) ....stand up so fast my feet clear the floor.
4.) hunker down, leave dumbells on boxes...stand up empty handed

Repeat..........repeat for two set of five of the above routine. Oh yeah, quads feel it and heart rate goes way up!

Hamstring curls .....2 x 10 x 115 pounds, easy, just to maintain balance

hip adductor/abductors ... 2 x 10 x 165, yeah, up 15 lbs

stairmaster, old fashioned...8 minutes then my quads couldn't take it any more

I'm going to figure out how to mix up lifting routines once I start throwing and the suitcase lifts will be a part of it.