Had a pretty good weight lifting session this morning. I worked on front squats, power cleans and presses. It's amazing how just these three exercises can really work you over.
This weekend, my airsoft team is hosting a fun event. Should be a good time.
Showing posts with label weight lifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight lifting. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Rest Day and Weight Lifting
Thursday was a good rest day. I did some stretching, but other than that I took it easy. It definitely gave me plenty of energy yesterday. I wasn't able to work out in the morning because of the rain. So, instead I had to wait for the evening.
It definitely had me bouncing around the office, not having worked out in the morning. It was kind of fun, really. I didn't feel sore or tired, even at the end of the day. Friday evening, I did my weight lifting workout, after a good warm up of course.
WOD:
Front Squat - 5x5
95, 115, 120, 120, 125
Clean and Press - 5x5
65, 75, 85, 95, 95
Dead Lift - 5x5
135, 155, 175, 195, 215
During the workout, I worked on my hook grip. It made the cleans and dead lifts easier to do, and even made my pull ups easier.
Today should be an interesting day. I'll try to work on more endurance stuff, probably an indoor bike ride. =D
Update:
Well, the only thing I really did today was an indoor bike ride. I set up the trainer and kept a pretty easy pace as I rode. I watched a TV show as I rode as well. I tried to change my pace a bit, but not too heavy. At the end of the "ride" I felt a little stiff, especially in the hips and knees. Should be interesting to see how this shakes down over the rest of the weekend.
It definitely had me bouncing around the office, not having worked out in the morning. It was kind of fun, really. I didn't feel sore or tired, even at the end of the day. Friday evening, I did my weight lifting workout, after a good warm up of course.
WOD:
Front Squat - 5x5
95, 115, 120, 120, 125
Clean and Press - 5x5
65, 75, 85, 95, 95
Dead Lift - 5x5
135, 155, 175, 195, 215
During the workout, I worked on my hook grip. It made the cleans and dead lifts easier to do, and even made my pull ups easier.
Today should be an interesting day. I'll try to work on more endurance stuff, probably an indoor bike ride. =D
Update:
Well, the only thing I really did today was an indoor bike ride. I set up the trainer and kept a pretty easy pace as I rode. I watched a TV show as I rode as well. I tried to change my pace a bit, but not too heavy. At the end of the "ride" I felt a little stiff, especially in the hips and knees. Should be interesting to see how this shakes down over the rest of the weekend.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Be Careful What You Wish For
You know the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it." Well, I should have remembered that. Yesterday, I was talked about doing more Met-Con and less weight lifting. I really felt that needed to change.
So today, I programmed more weight and fewer reps. Unfortunately, this didn't equate to a shorter workout. =D I included a modified version of a movement dubbed a "Man Maker" on some forums. The movement uses two dumbbells. For this workout, you start in a push up position with your hands on the dumbbells. You do a push up, then lift each dumbbell in succession. You then jump your legs forward, similar to the same movement from burpees. Once your legs are under you, you clean the dumbbells, stand and do a press. That's one rep. I used a little heavier weight than I would normally recommend, although it went pretty well.
The WOD was:
For time, 15-12-9 reps of
Man Makers (20# dumbbells)
Supported Sit-ups
I managed to finish everything in 12:40. Ouch! Towards the end of the WOD, I had to break the sit ups into sets of threes and struggled through sets of 1's and 2's for the Man Makers. Definitely a hard workout that I'll program again. I've even thought about programming the full 'double push up' version of the Man Maker, and simply have everyone do a certain number for time.
During the afternoon Cuong Nhu workout, we did katas with our eyes closed. This is an interesting experience, but I simply tried to maintain my balance and follow my body through the movements. Afterward, we worked on Pinan 3. This is a new kata for me, one that I've only worked on maybe twice before. It was pretty cool, trying out the new moves. At first, I didn't feel too comfortable with the moves. Towards the end of class, though, things started to come together. I always feel like I learn a lot of new stuff whenever I come to class.
Tonight is going to be mostly errands and housework. I plan to take it easy and try to relax with the family a bit.
So today, I programmed more weight and fewer reps. Unfortunately, this didn't equate to a shorter workout. =D I included a modified version of a movement dubbed a "Man Maker" on some forums. The movement uses two dumbbells. For this workout, you start in a push up position with your hands on the dumbbells. You do a push up, then lift each dumbbell in succession. You then jump your legs forward, similar to the same movement from burpees. Once your legs are under you, you clean the dumbbells, stand and do a press. That's one rep. I used a little heavier weight than I would normally recommend, although it went pretty well.
The WOD was:
For time, 15-12-9 reps of
Man Makers (20# dumbbells)
Supported Sit-ups
I managed to finish everything in 12:40. Ouch! Towards the end of the WOD, I had to break the sit ups into sets of threes and struggled through sets of 1's and 2's for the Man Makers. Definitely a hard workout that I'll program again. I've even thought about programming the full 'double push up' version of the Man Maker, and simply have everyone do a certain number for time.
During the afternoon Cuong Nhu workout, we did katas with our eyes closed. This is an interesting experience, but I simply tried to maintain my balance and follow my body through the movements. Afterward, we worked on Pinan 3. This is a new kata for me, one that I've only worked on maybe twice before. It was pretty cool, trying out the new moves. At first, I didn't feel too comfortable with the moves. Towards the end of class, though, things started to come together. I always feel like I learn a lot of new stuff whenever I come to class.
Tonight is going to be mostly errands and housework. I plan to take it easy and try to relax with the family a bit.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
And the Beat Goes On
I did more Met-Con this evening. It's pretty tough to come up with something else when we really don't have much equipment. I worked in some strength work, though, with kettle-bell swings.
The workout was:
AMRAP in 10 Minutes
12 Kettle-bell Swings (25#)
Shuttle Runs
10 Sit-Ups
I managed to get almost 9 rounds completed. I only needed 8 more sit-ups and a short trot back to the start line.
I scaled the workout for others, though. They used less weight and fewer reps for the kettle-bell swings. Of course, everyone still seemed to get a good workout. It's all about high "relative" intensity.
The workout was:
AMRAP in 10 Minutes
12 Kettle-bell Swings (25#)
Shuttle Runs
10 Sit-Ups
I managed to get almost 9 rounds completed. I only needed 8 more sit-ups and a short trot back to the start line.
I scaled the workout for others, though. They used less weight and fewer reps for the kettle-bell swings. Of course, everyone still seemed to get a good workout. It's all about high "relative" intensity.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Realizations on Rest Days
For some reason, I felt tight, tired and sluggish most of the day yesterday. I was even a little sore from Wednesday's morning workout. This might be because I didn't do ANYTHING yesterday. No stretching, no morning warm up, no Cuong Nhu stances or katas; nothing. I think I need to change that for my next rest day. I probably need to at least do my normal warm up.
This morning, I rolled out of bed and did a weight workout. Funny thing, I'm used to working out in the the pitch black of early morning. Well today, the sun actually started to peek over the horizon and light the area. This meant I could actually see while lifting. A nice bonus.
After a good warm up and the Burgener Warm Up (which is getting easier with the full olympic bar, by the way), I did 3x5 of Front Squat, Press and Power Cleans. Because I still do not have a rack, I have to clean everything from the ground to start. Of course, it helps develop my clean, but I feel it cheats something from the front squats and keeps me from doing heavy back squats.
I felt pretty strong in my exercises. I made sure to work on active shoulders during the press and keeping my elbows high during the front squat. On the power cleans, I kept thinking about getting lower, getting under the weight. Although I didn't go into a full squat clean, I did want to focus on good technique.
My weights for the exercise sets are below:
Front Squat 95, 115, 125
Press 75, 85, 90
Power Cleans 75, 85, 105
Now, next time I do the exercises, I need to increase my weights.
On a totally unrelated subject, I think I've come up with a solution for the chin up bar at the dojo. Right now, we don't have any permanent bar. I've brought my rings in a couple of times, but I want some way to do real pull ups.
Jon from AgainFaster.com offers a cool pull up bar that can hang from the middle support beam in the dojo. The cool thing about the bar is we can take it down when the fitness classes are not in session. I can see getting 3-4 bars and placing them along the beam as needed. The challenge is, they are $100 each. I better start saving.
This morning, I rolled out of bed and did a weight workout. Funny thing, I'm used to working out in the the pitch black of early morning. Well today, the sun actually started to peek over the horizon and light the area. This meant I could actually see while lifting. A nice bonus.
After a good warm up and the Burgener Warm Up (which is getting easier with the full olympic bar, by the way), I did 3x5 of Front Squat, Press and Power Cleans. Because I still do not have a rack, I have to clean everything from the ground to start. Of course, it helps develop my clean, but I feel it cheats something from the front squats and keeps me from doing heavy back squats.
I felt pretty strong in my exercises. I made sure to work on active shoulders during the press and keeping my elbows high during the front squat. On the power cleans, I kept thinking about getting lower, getting under the weight. Although I didn't go into a full squat clean, I did want to focus on good technique.
My weights for the exercise sets are below:
Front Squat 95, 115, 125
Press 75, 85, 90
Power Cleans 75, 85, 105
Now, next time I do the exercises, I need to increase my weights.
On a totally unrelated subject, I think I've come up with a solution for the chin up bar at the dojo. Right now, we don't have any permanent bar. I've brought my rings in a couple of times, but I want some way to do real pull ups.
Jon from AgainFaster.com offers a cool pull up bar that can hang from the middle support beam in the dojo. The cool thing about the bar is we can take it down when the fitness classes are not in session. I can see getting 3-4 bars and placing them along the beam as needed. The challenge is, they are $100 each. I better start saving.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Morning Weight Workout
Today, I tried something a little different for the workout. We have dumbbells at the Dojo, so it's a pretty easy matter now to work in lighter weight workouts. So, this morning's WOD was a weighted workout. Between my medicine ball and the dumbbells, I think I came up with something interesting.
Today's WOD is:
21-15-9 of
'Kettlebell' Swings (#25)
Ball Slams
The workout was a good one, short but sweet. I finished up in 6:24. I wanted something short so I could focus on double unders for the movement part of the class.
Take a look at this demonstration of Double Unders and jump rope technique.
Jumping rope takes quite a bit of coordination, agility and aerobic conditioning. Today during class, I managed to get 11 alternating double unders with single unders. The goal is to string together as many double unders as I can in 2 minutes. We'll see how well I can do by the end of the month.
Today's WOD is:
21-15-9 of
'Kettlebell' Swings (#25)
Ball Slams
The workout was a good one, short but sweet. I finished up in 6:24. I wanted something short so I could focus on double unders for the movement part of the class.
Take a look at this demonstration of Double Unders and jump rope technique.
Jumping rope takes quite a bit of coordination, agility and aerobic conditioning. Today during class, I managed to get 11 alternating double unders with single unders. The goal is to string together as many double unders as I can in 2 minutes. We'll see how well I can do by the end of the month.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Ready to Go Again
After yesterday's rest day, I think I'm ready to get back at it. Tonight's workout will focus on weight lifting, after a good warm up.
For my workout, I plan to do the following:
Press, Push Press, Push Jerk Workout
----------------------------------------
Press 1,1,1,1,1
Push Press 3,3,3,3,3
Push Jerk 5,5,5,5,5
I finished up the workout around 8:30 pm my time. Not too shabby, really. I felt pretty strong during the workout, which is great. I think the rest day yesterday really helped a lot.
Here are the weights I used for the different exercises.
Press 75, 95, 105, 110, 115 - (I hit a PR on the last rep.)
Push Press 95, 105, 110, 115, 120
Push Jerk 95, 100, 105, 110, 115
The work out really went well. The last few sets for the push jerk were pretty tough. However, I kept concentrating on doing the movement correctly and it really helped me get the weight overhead. I love this workout!
For my workout, I plan to do the following:
Press, Push Press, Push Jerk Workout
----------------------------------------
Press 1,1,1,1,1
Push Press 3,3,3,3,3
Push Jerk 5,5,5,5,5
I finished up the workout around 8:30 pm my time. Not too shabby, really. I felt pretty strong during the workout, which is great. I think the rest day yesterday really helped a lot.
Here are the weights I used for the different exercises.
Press 75, 95, 105, 110, 115 - (I hit a PR on the last rep.)
Push Press 95, 105, 110, 115, 120
Push Jerk 95, 100, 105, 110, 115
The work out really went well. The last few sets for the push jerk were pretty tough. However, I kept concentrating on doing the movement correctly and it really helped me get the weight overhead. I love this workout!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Work Hard, Rinse and Repeat
Last night's workout for the class was a repeat of what I did Monday morning. Most everyone had a good workout doing it, although I'm sure they'll be a little sore today. Also, I did have to take some time to demonstrate to everyone how to do the snatches correctly. I expected this to take some time, so it wasn't a surprise. One key component that I kept going back to was "pulling yourself under the weight" instead of simply lifting with the arms. Focusing on that cue helped everyone do more of a snatch instead of a muscle snatch.
This morning's workout included more weight lifting type exercises. I wanted to focus on the complete body during lifting, so I had us do the following WOD.
As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 10 Minutes of:
7 Thrusters
10 Ab Mat Situps
Using 50#'s, I managed to get 9 rounds + 5 thrusters. I really wanted 10 rounds, but I guess I'll have to dial up the pace next time to get it.
This morning's workout included more weight lifting type exercises. I wanted to focus on the complete body during lifting, so I had us do the following WOD.
As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 10 Minutes of:
7 Thrusters
10 Ab Mat Situps
Using 50#'s, I managed to get 9 rounds + 5 thrusters. I really wanted 10 rounds, but I guess I'll have to dial up the pace next time to get it.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Friday Night Weights
Tonight is all about weight lifting. My goal for this month is to get stronger. I mean, I weigh 195 and have a dead lift of only 300 or so. I definitely need to bump that up.
Warm Up:
About 3-5 min Jump Rope (including cross overs and double-unders)
3 Rounds of
3x5 Pull ups
3x10 push ups
3x5 Stripper Stretches
Samson Stretches (10 seconds each leg)
Burgener Warm Up
WOD:
3x5 Front Squats (95, 115, 125)
3x5 Press (75, 95, 105(f), 95)
3x3 Power Cleans (95, 105, 115)
Seems a little light, but I just need to be consistent. Coming from an endurance background, strength has always been one of my weak points. Of course, Coach always says to attack your weak points to get better all around, so that's what I'm doing.
During the warm up, I kind of surprised myself with how easy it was to do cross overs and double-unders.Of course, I've been including the jump rope as part of my warm up for a little while now. The key to good double-unders is being consistent with your single-unders first.
Warm Up:
About 3-5 min Jump Rope (including cross overs and double-unders)
3 Rounds of
3x5 Pull ups
3x10 push ups
3x5 Stripper Stretches
Samson Stretches (10 seconds each leg)
Burgener Warm Up
WOD:
3x5 Front Squats (95, 115, 125)
3x5 Press (75, 95, 105(f), 95)
3x3 Power Cleans (95, 105, 115)
Seems a little light, but I just need to be consistent. Coming from an endurance background, strength has always been one of my weak points. Of course, Coach always says to attack your weak points to get better all around, so that's what I'm doing.
During the warm up, I kind of surprised myself with how easy it was to do cross overs and double-unders.Of course, I've been including the jump rope as part of my warm up for a little while now. The key to good double-unders is being consistent with your single-unders first.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Oly Lifting... I've Got a Long Ways to Go!
Did some oly lifting this morning after a decent warm up. I didn't have a lot of weight on the bar. Instead, I tried to concentrate on decent form and explosiveness. I worked on 3x5 Power Snatches. The first couple of sets went pretty well, since I used lighter weights. As soon as I started the third set, though, I could tell my form was off.
For the first couple of reps, I wasn't finishing the pull and ended up receiving the weight slightly in front of me. I reset myself and thought about 'throwing' the weight up. Suddenly, I was able to get under the weight better and catch it in the right place. NICE!
I didn't do much else, since I was a little pressed for time. Mostly just did some work to activate the most muscles.
Full Workout below:
Warm Up -
Three rounds 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 10 squats
Burgener Warm Up
Workout -
3x5 Power Snatch (65, 75, 85)
1x5 Back Squat (85)
1x5 Push Jerk (85)
For the first couple of reps, I wasn't finishing the pull and ended up receiving the weight slightly in front of me. I reset myself and thought about 'throwing' the weight up. Suddenly, I was able to get under the weight better and catch it in the right place. NICE!
I didn't do much else, since I was a little pressed for time. Mostly just did some work to activate the most muscles.
Full Workout below:
Warm Up -
Three rounds 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 10 squats
Burgener Warm Up
Workout -
3x5 Power Snatch (65, 75, 85)
1x5 Back Squat (85)
1x5 Push Jerk (85)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)