Training Recap

As I mentioned in my blog post today, things are going really well. My body comp is improving, my strength is getting better, and orthopedically I feel really good (knocks on wood). Here's a brief rundown of the past four sessions:

Today - 9/30

Inside-Out warm-up

Reverse Band Bench (green band), 5x275, 285, 295

While I have no intentions of doing a meet soon, I figure it's a good idea to get some heavy weights in my hands. My warm-ups and first set felt terrible, though. The reason? Shitty plates. Some of the 45's that we have in the gym must be 5 pounds off - seriously. Once I switched out the offending 45, the second two sets felt much better.

DB Rows, 3x5 w/90#

Face Pulls, 3x8 w/70#

Bi's, Tri's and Dead Bugs, 3x8

Good workout overall. I was late getting to the gym so no energy system work.


Saturday 9/27

This wasn't a bad workout, but it wasn't a great one either. I was resting (aka coaching) too much, so I didn't get as much volume in as I would've liked.

Speed Pulls, 3x1 w/365

Felt like a ton of bricks - I was hoping to go heavier but bagged it for another day.

Trap Bar Deads, 5x245, 295, 335

This was only the second time I've done these, but they felt much better than before. Now that I have a point of reference I'm going to push them for the next 3-4 weeks.

Glute-Hams (#3), 3x6


Thursday 9/25

Mini-band assisted chins, 8, 7, 5

It's amazing how much better chins feel when you're not a total fatty. Interesting.

Blast Strap Push-ups, 3x10

Face Pulls, 3x8 w/70

Skullcrushers, BB Curls, and Ab Wheel ISO Rollouts, 3x8 and 3x15 s. holds

Airdyne Sprints + MB Slams

Good workout; had the same plate issue when doing skullcrushers, though, which was disappointing. You know the weights are skewed when the bar is perfectly centered on the bench and one side is at least 2" lower than the other!


Tuesday 9/23

This was the post-Vegas workout, so I was feeling stiff from all the travel and a long day on Monday. My primary goal was to get some good mobility in and loosen things up going forward.

Plate Front Squats w/mini-band, 3x10 w/25

RDL's, 3x6 (225 then 245)

Glute-Hams, 3x6

Prowler Pushes, 4x50 yards

Tall Kneeling Pallof Press ISO, 2x30 s. w/30#

Recent training

As always, behind is my middle name - here are some updates from last week and this week.

Tuesday 9/16

Energy was low today and I had a bunch of other stuff to get done, so I geared things back considerably. More than anything my goal was to get a light sweat, get the heart rate up a bit, and get done quickly.

Inside-Out warm-up

DB Incline, 2x6 w/60#

Fat Bar Chin-ups/Pull-ups, 8, 6

Face Pulls, 2x8 w/60#'s

DB Curls, 3x6 w/35#'s

Ab Wheel Rollouts, 3x10


Friday 9/12

Had two I-FAST trainees in there at this time, so it was nice to have some other people around. Pretty good session all around.

Magnificent Mobility warm-up

Speed Pulls, 5x1 w/365#

Concentric Only SSB Good Morning, 5x185, 195, 205

These are hard - that is all.

Glute-Hams, 3x6 (Hole #3)

Isometric Pallof Press, 2x30 s. with 50#'s

These were harder too - increasing the weight will do that.


Thursday

My goal was to get 225 in my hands today since I hadn't done that for a while - then I realized Eric Cressey just benched 315 for 3. I suck at life :(

Inside-Out warm-up

Bench Press, 5x205, 5x215, 4x225

I probably could've gotten a fifth but I:

A) Didn't have a hand-off
B) Didn't have a spotter
C) Didn't feel like paying me dentist for crown veneers if I missed the rep

I mean if Tony Gentilcore can bench 300 raw, I should be able to. I'm focused now - here I come Tony!!!

DB Rows, 8x70, 2x6x80

Face Pulls

Tricep Extensions

BB Curls

Split-Stance Cable Push


In other breaking news, I started back squatting again last week too. Needless to say, the DOMS in my quads from Tue-Fri was just flat out wrong. Overall, things felt pretty good - I squatted to a 15" box and while I'm weak as a kitten, the finer technical aspects seem all right. I'll continue to push things and see how they feel. I don't really have any pre-conceived notions of what my squat/bench should be at this point in time, I just know they suck and I'm going to work to get them back up to speed.

Time will tell....

MR

Training updates

I'm not even sure when the last time I posted was, so here goes...

Wednesday, 9/3

Foam rolling

M2 Drills

Glute activation work

Deadlifts, 3x1 w/405#, Single at 455#

405 felt pretty good, but 455 was slower and less technically efficient than I would've liked.

Concentric Only SSB Good Mornings, 5x165, 185, 195

This bar owns me - I really have to focus on keeping my weight shifted back on my heels and not letting my chest cave.

Tall Kneeling Cable Chop, 3x8 w/50#

Saturday, 8/30

Foam Rolling

I/O Warm-up

Bench, 5x195, 205, 215

Pec felt good and strength is coming back - still weak though :(

Blast Strap Rows, 3x10

Face Pulls, 3x10 w/60 or 70 (can't remember!)

Skullcrushers, 3x8 w/80#

Rope Cable Curls, 3x8 w/70

Ab Wheel, 3x10

That's all my puny brain can remember for now - my other low body workout last week consisted of low box plate squats, RDL's, glute-hams, etc.

I hope everyone's training is going well - good luck!

Stay strong
MR

Training blog back in action...

So the training blog is back in action - because, well, I'm actually training again. Which helps ;)

Over the course of my vacation I got 2 lifts in, but was definitely quite "active" overall. Tons of walking, hiking, etc. Last week was somewhat sporadic with the move and the gym opening, but this week I've gotten back in the swing of things. Here are the workouts thus far:

Tuesday - Lower body

Deadlifts, 3x3 w/315#

Grooving some technique this week and I'll jump up next week.

Safety Bar Good Mornings, 2x5 w/90 (plus whatever that bar weighs)

I didn't like the eccentric on these, so I may do them off pins next week. It was weird, but something just felt "off."

I then played around with some single-leg stuff.

Ab Whell Rollouts, 3x8

Quick and dirty workout; felt good to move around and get back in the swing of things.

Thursday - Upper body

Mini-band assisted chin-ups, 4x5

Working on getting those low traps strong - felt pretty good.

Mini-band resisted push-ups, 3x8

Good stuff here - felt good.

Face Pulls, 8x70, 2x8 w/80

BB Curls, 3x8 w/65#

(I was told that since I'm a gym owner know I need to have some big gunz - whatever).

KB Swings, 3x10

I was going to do more here, but got caught up in watching my guy push the Prowler. It's always easier to watch someone workout than do it yourself!

Split Stance Cable Push, 2x8 w/50, 8x60

Stay strong
MR

Recent training

Saturday - Lower body pull emphasis

Deadlifts, 3x315, 1x405, 1x425, 1x455

Felt pretty good overall. I lost my lordosis a little on the 455, so I stopped for the day. Strength was better than expected, though.

Trap Bar Deadlifts, 5x225, 3x315, 5x315, 3x365, 2x405

I hadn't ever done these before, so I played around with them a bit. More than anything, I found my grip to be a limiting factor here as I wasn't sure where to grip it at. Felt pretty good though.

Glute Ham Raises, 3x8 (Hole #4)

Ab Wheel Rollouts, 3x8

I hit a ton of golf balls this night, as my wife bought me a pair of clubs for my upcoming birthday. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day ;)



Tuesday - Lower body squat day

I didn't do a whole lot today -motivation was a little low and I had a ton of other things going on. What I did do was productive though.

Front Squats, 3x135, 3x185 (to 12" box)

Good clean reps. Hip mobility and lumbar stability are looking and feeling good.

Back Squats, 5x225, 5x275 (to 14" box)

Went an inch deeper this week and it appeared as though my back position was staying neutral. I think another inch or so and I'll be below parallel, so things are coming around here. It's taken a little while, but I think the reward will be worth it (i.e. better hip mobility and a healthy low back over the long haul!)

Step-ups, 2x8 with 50's

Tall Kneeling Cable Chop, 2x8 with 50#

It was short and sweet, but I'm really encouraged by my squat patterns overall. If I can clean up a little lagging L-R asymmetry, I should be doing really well.

Stay strong
MR

This week's workouts

Tuesday

Lower body squat session

Foam rolling

Magnificent Mobility Drills

Hip pre-hab/activation circuit

Back Squats to 15" box, 5x225, 5x275

Working on getting things symmetrical and smooth here. Since I'm typing this two days later, I can tell I'm getting better quad activation on the left side, which is definitely a good thing.

RDL's, 5x245, 5x265

DB Reverse Lunges, 2x8 w/50's

Glute-Ham Raises, 2x8

Tall Kneeling Lift, 3x8

KB Swings, 2x15 w/24 kg. KB

Pretty good workout overall. I'm trying to develop a base and get my lifts smoothed out before I leave on vacation. I'm also finding I have a ton of soft-tissue stuff going on in my left plantar fascia/lower leg; some extra work on these areas has started to relieve that nerve injury I was dealing with. Perhaps it was a mild nerve entrapment? Who knows...

Wednesday

1 hour Krav maga class

Thursday

Upper body day

I/O Warm-up

Barbell Bench, 5x185, 195, and 205

Wow, I'm still really weak on this. I think getting a hand-off in a few weeks when the gym opens will make a big difference though. Pecs feel great, though, so it's time to start pushing a bit.

Inverted Rows w/feet on physioball, 3x10

Face Pulls, 8x80. 2x8 w/90

Skullcrushers, 2x10 w/70

DB Curls, 6x40, 8x35

Split Stance Cable Push, 3x10 w/50

Prone Low Trap Y, 2x12

Overall things are going well. Other than being weak and having poor work capacity, I'm in a good position to start moving forward. Like I said - develop a training base and some connective tissue strength now, and hopefully when I get back I can start to crank things up.

Stay tuned...

MR

Training 6/25

Upper Body

Inside-Out Warm-up

Fat Boy Pull-ups, 3x10

Mini-band resisted push-ups, 3x10

Face Pulls, 3x10 (60, 70, 80?)

Rope Pressdowns, 15x70, 12x80, 12x90

Prone Low Trap Y's, 3x10

Split Stance Push, 3x10 w/40#

Good workout overall. Body is feeling reasonably good, and I like having the cable crossover in the gym. If nothing else, it gives me another option for weighted core work.

Stay strong
MR

Training 6/23

A little behind with all these, but last week was crazy. Here's today's workout:

Foam Rolling, Stick and tennis ball work - Entire lower body

M2 Warm-up

Hip Circuit

Front Squats, 3x135, 3x185

Back Squats, 5x225, 5x275

RDL's, 2x5 w/245

DB Reverse Lunges, 2x8 w/50's

Tall Kneeling Cable Chop, 3x8 w/ 40

KB Swings, 2x15

Today was a really good workout overall. Movement quality was where I wanted it to be.

Stay strong
MR

I've been slacking...

On my training blog lately - sorry!

Last week wasn't too exciting, and I can't remember all my weights off the top of my head. The general structure looked like this:

Tuesday - Lower body
Wednesday - Upper body
Thursday - Krav Maga bag class
Saturday - Speed pulls, good mornings etc.

This week has been a little scattered, too, especially with my buddy coming in to town from LA on Friday.

Here's yesterday's workout:

Magnificent Mobility warm-up

Intrinsic hip circuit

Front Squat warm-up to 12" box, 135x5, 185x3

Back Squats to 16" box, 2x5 w/225, 315x1

I'm going to start incorporating front squats in as a warm-up to help maintain good hip mobility and trunk stiffness.

The back squats didn't feel bad, just heavy. I need to get used to having some heavy iron on my back.

RDL's, 2x5 w/225

Low back was a little stiff so I didn't push this too much.

Bulgarian Split Squat EQI, 30 seconds each side

Here's my tenative game plan for the rest of the week:

Thursday - Upper body workout (AM) and Krav bag class (PM)
Friday - 18 holes of golfing fun
Saturday - Mixed upper/lower workout

Stay strong
MR

Training 6/6

Lower body workout

Magnificent Mobility warm-up

Speed Pulls, 3x1 w/365

Commerical gym workout with a nasty bar and no chalk. Technique was good but had to really focus on the grip.

Good Mornings, 5x225, 5x245

Felt really good - will go up again this week.

Bulgarian Split Squats, 2x6 w/40's

Needed to get in and out fast, so this did the trick.

Worked on the gym all day Saturday, so no 2nd upper body session this week. I'll hit a Krav Maga class tonight, then squat day tomorrow. This best day for me this week will be when I cancel my membership to the commerical gym - woo hoo!

Stay strong
MR

Training 6/4

Upper body workout

Inside-Out Warm-up

DB Incline, 6x75's, 80's, and 85's

Getting stronger here, but I think I'm done w/the incline bench for a while.

Supine Rows, 2x6, 5x190

Ditto here - I'm done with this exercise for a bit.

Close Grip Bench, 2x5@185

Getting back in the groove here and want to start getting some lockout strength back.

Cable Curls, 2x8@50

After this week no more cables for a while - figured I would enjoy it while I could!

Overall a good workout. Bodyweight is staying steady around 205/206 even with the re-introduction of more carbs back into the diet. Feeling good.

Stay strong
MR

Training from 5-30 to 6-3

Training has been sporadic with the new gym coming together and trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends. Here's what I've done this past couple of days:

Friday 5/30 - Lower body workout

Magnificent Mobility warm-up

Speed Pulls, 3x2@315

Good Mornings, 2x5@225

Bulgarian Split Squats, 3x6@30's or 35's (can't remember!)

Dead Bugs, 3x8


Monday 6/2 - Krav Maga class

Beat the sh*t out of my forearms blocking strikes - my left arm is still swollen!


Tuesday 6/3 - Lower body workout

Magnificent Mobility warm-up

Box Squats to 16 or 17" box, 2x5@225

These felt pretty good - I'm working on sitting back more, forcing my chest out, and not allowing any movement at the lumbar spine/sacrum. I'll slowly work my way down like I did with the front squats.

RDL's, 6@225, 6@245

DB Lunges, 2x8@40

I hate the commercial gym - we take possession of our gym this Friday, so I'm ready to get going!!!

Stay strong
MR

Training 5/28

Wednesday 5/28
Upper body session and Krav Maga class

Due to my crazy schedule, I had to place these back to back yesterday. I was fine until we had to do a bunch of single-arm stance stuff :(

Inside-Out warm-up

DB Incline, 3x8@70

Supine Row, 8, 7, 6 @185

Face Pulls, 3x8@60

Ab Rollouts, 3x8

No push-ups today as I knew that would be taken care of as part of the class "warm-up" ;)

Stay strong
MR

Training 5/21

Upper body workout

Inside-Out warm-up

Barbell Incline, 8x135, 145, 155

I was supposed to hit DB work instead, but every clown in the gym was using an incline bench. Not surprisingly, everyone was using it for something OTHER than incline or military pressing.

These didn't feel great at the start as that pec isn't 110% yet, but it got stronger as I went. I'm ok with this for now.

Supine Rows, 1x8, 2x7 @180

It helps when you start at the right weight. Last week the first two sets were easy, today was much more difficult.

Face Pulls, 2x10@60?

Feet Elevated Push-ups, 2x10

Ab Wheel, 3x8

DB Fly EQI, 10# for 60 seconds

Good workout overall. Bodyweight was around 205ish today, so only a few pounds to go.

Stay strong
MR

EDIT: The new automatic save here is pretty sweet. Blogger crashed and I thought I was going to have to re-type it all again. Woo-hoo!

Past couple sessions

It's been a crazy couple of weeks with the seminar last weekend and signing the lease for our new gym! Anyway, here's the training updates:

Thursday 5/15

Krav Maga bag class - 1 hour

Not too bad, and I feel like I'm getting in better shape overall.

Friday 5/16

M2 Warm-up

Intrinsic hip circuit

KB Swings, 10x10 on the minute

I need something quick and dirty today. I was in and out in approximately 20 minutes, so this was perfect. I was swamped.

Tuesday 5/20

M2 Warm-up

Intrinsic hip circuit and TKE's

Box Squats, 5x135, 5x225 (to either a 16 or 17" box, not sure)

Felt good - I wanted to switch back to my Chucks and see how they felt. Overall this felt really good.

Speed Pulls, 2x3@315

Again, in Chucks. First couple sets felt REALLY good.

Glute-Ham Raise, 2x5 at hole #3

Light band tibialis work, 2x10

This was more of a confidence workout than anything else. With the nerve injury from a few weeks ago, I didn't want to push things too much, too soon. We'll see how things progress in the next couple of weeks.

Stay strong
MR

Wednesday 5/14

Upper body session

Inside-Out Warm-up

DB Incline, 8x65, 2x8@70

First time I've done any sort of incline in at least two years. Felt good to do something different, though. I'll probably run this for 3-4 weeks.

Supine Pulldowns, 10x140, 8x160, 8x180

Need to start heavier on these next week. Essentially it's a lat pulldown where you're laying all the way back, so it's technically more of a row.

Face Pulls, 10x42.5, 10x50

Feet Elevated Push-ups, 2x8

Ab Wheel, 2x8
Pallof Presses, 30 sec. with 20#'s

Pretty good workout overall. I needed to get in and out quickly as yesterday was packed! Big updates coming soon...

Tonight I'll hit my Krav Maga bag class, then hit a lower body session tomorrow. I think Bill found the issue in my lower leg; both my lateral gastroc and biceps femoris where they overlap where adhered and probably impinging on my peroneal nerve. A few passes cleaned it right up, and definitely helped improve my knee extension mobility.

I weighed in this morning at 205, so the Warp Speed diet is definitely doing it's job. The goal is to get into the low 200's or hit 200 itself. I don't really have any need or desire to get lower than that.

Stay strong
MR

Training 5/12

I've continued to give the knee a few days off, and it's feeling close to 100% again. However, over the weekend I was starting to wonder if it was really a knee issue, or if I'd somehow compressed/irritated my politeal nerve. While I was getting some weird sensations in the lateral knee, I was also getting some coldness/tingling in the little toe on that leg. Anyway, I've done my best to stay out of deep knee flexion for a few days and it appears to be healing right up.

I hit the Krav Maga class last night, but this week is going to be somewhat sporadic. I have a massage with a new masseur today, so that's pretty much wiped today's training. The goal for the rest of the week looks like this:

Wed: Upper body
Thu: Lower body/Krav Maga
Fri: Anything I can find time for!

I forgot how crazy things get the week before a seminar. It's probably worse this time, too, because I'm not only presenting but hosting the thing! Regardless, I'm really looking forward to it. After I finish this one up, I hope it won't feel like I'm reinventing the wheel in the future.

Stay strong
MR

EDIT: Almost forgot to add this...I went on the Warp Speed diet a few weeks ago and dropped from 220 to 210 in two weeks. I'm going to run it again this week and next to see if I can get down to the low 200's. The only day I plan to stray up until then is Saturday night; after the seminar, I'm eating a damn steak! I'll keep you posted on the diet progress as well. - MR

Wednesday 5/7

Wednesday 5/7

Upper body horizontal push/pull

Inside-Out Warm-up

Bench Press, 3x5@205

Still weak, but getting stronger. I also have to remember that I'm using a much narrower grip than before. I used to use a pointer finger on the power ring grip, now I'm using a pinky on the power ring grip. Much different than before.

DB Rows, 3x5@100

I think I've just about peaked out on these for now. New exercise next week.

Feet Elevated Push-ups, 2x10

I've been getting a lot of push-ups in at Krav Maga, so I'm gearing back a bit here.

Face Pulls, 3x8@50

Ab Wheel Rollouts, 3x8

Anterior core is getting much stronger. Lose a little bit more body fat = more abs.

If I could get a tan, that would help, too ;)

Stay strong
MR

Saturday 5/3 and Monday 5/5

Saturday 5/3

Vertical push/pull workout

Inside-Out Warm-up

Band assisted chins, 3x6

Didn't really feel like pushing these today. Plus, I get better depression when using the bands versus bodyweight. I can't wait until these get easier!!!

BB Military, 8x110, 2x8@120

Getting stronger. Slowly.

Skullcrushers, 2x6@95

Bent Over Face Pulls, 2x10@25

In and out in about 30 minutes. This is quickly becoming my favorite workout for that reason alone ;)


Monday 5/5

I was supposed to do a low body workout this morning, but I've had some slight irritation in the knee so I canned it. However, this had led me to remember that almost nothing irritates my knee except for deep front squats, probably d/t the increased knee flexion and dorsiflexion at the ankle. If I would just be smart and remember this, life would be easier.

I did hit a Krav Maga class last night. Other than getting beat to hell by my partner (who obviously didn't understand the concept of "control") it was fine. My respect continues to grow for the MMA guys, as I caught a knee in the eye socket yesterday. Ouch.

Upper body session tomorrow AM.

Stay strong
MR

Training 4/30 and 5/1

Wednesday 4/30

Upper body session

Inside-Out Warm-up

Bench Press, 3x6@195

Still very weak - less weak than last week, though ;) Pec feels good.

DB Rows, 3x6@95

Feet Elevated Push-ups, 2x10

Face Pulls, 3x10

Ab Wheel Rollouts, 3x8

Good workout overall, and I'm really liking the new anterior core work. I've got some good ideas on the topic that I'll be discussing in May, too.

Thursday 5/1

Krav Maga bag class - 1 hour

Another killer. I feel like my round kicks are getting better now, though, so that's always a good thing.

I was supposed to train today but I'm feeling a little under the weather. Several early mornings in a row, not enough sleep, and a lot of things going on will do that to you. I'm going to try and get in a quick vertical push/pull workout tomorrow morning.

Stay strong
MR