Getting better at being better

New Rob and Old Rob met this morning at the bathroom mirror and the convo went something like this:

O.R.,"Man, what's your body fat %? Did you eat somebody?"
N.R.,"18%, but I have a plan to lower it and not take away from my 5 days of resistance training."
O.R., "What you got for me?"

I decided to quit my security job--- due to lack of sleep, killing or completely omitting my 5th workout a week, and wanting to focus more on training and family--- and get some specific strength gains this year. I also want to get back to 10-12% bodyfat, because after my weighted vest experiment i realized that it was creeping up and I don't want to look like a slob and 1/2.

My split now is:
Monday: Deadlift and back
Tuesday : early= sprints, plyos, olympic lifts like snatch, clean for speed
later= chest, triceps, and straight arm shoulders
Wednesday: legs
Thursday: early= olympic lifts like those above and sled push/pulls
Late= back and biceps
Friday: Shoulders, triceps, and a straight arm chest movement

Today was the first day of olympic lifts and explosive cardio:
5 minute jog to warm up on treadmill

snatch
2 warmups, 3 workings sets of three reps

clean from floor
pretty warm already--- 3x3, really trying to focus on the catch

sled push/pull- distance 20 yards each way
180lbs on sled- three trips back and forth, rest while training partners completes his trip (roughly 25 seconds)

legs were destroyed from my leg workout yesterday, I posted it at www.straighttothebar.com

I foam rolled afterwards and feel good to hit back and biceps in about an hour

LEG DAY, SHOOT'N FOR TREE TRUNKS

I did my legs yesterday.... and the 48 pain hasn't fully kicked in yet, but here is the work I put in:
back squat

265 1 x 10

275 3x8
285 1 x 6

Leg press 4x10
5 plates each side for two sets
6 and 7 plates each side for one set each

Leg extension 4x10
245 for two sets
240 and 235 for one set each

One-leg Hyperextensions 4x 10 each leg with a 30lb dumbbell

One-leg leg curl 4 x 10 each leg
I used 80 all four sets with my right leg and 60 for all four sets with my left leg... My knee has been bothering me. this is also very common in athletes... Having one limb stronger than the other is known as bilateral deficit. the official definition is the weight both limbs can effectively move through an entire range of motion is less than the weights each independent limb can move through the range of motion added together. This is more common in cyclists than rowers, for instance, because cyclists need to generate power one limb at a time.
It is benificial for all athletes to resistance train one limb at at time as well as both limbs together.

I then completed three sets of four point planks for thirty seconds each and three sets of 12 russian twists on each side with a twenty pound med ball.

I made sure to refuel my system after lifting and stretch out some to reduce the amount of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that effects me. My legs are thanking me today... but it is kind of like a thank you slap in the face

Use a Consistent Program that has some Variations

I am a strong believer in changing your work outs for your athletes to keep their muscles in a constant state of shock, which has been proven to spur more growth... BUT completing the same conditioning routine the week after a win during football season is more supersitious than a great technique.

Variation plays a role is keeping the athletes prepared for the unexpected as well as constantly working your athlete's muscles in different ways. Cross training is built on this very concept.

The football team I am working with completed triangles (athletes run the length of the field, around the goal posts and then sprint back), which I believe is too far to be runing to work on explosive quickness. But the head coach had the playes do this simply because they did the same thing last week and won. If this process is done weekly just because of a W, I forsee a big L to come soon.

He has experience being a head coach so we will see how his method works, whether superstitious or great technique.



BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER!!!

Decrease Muscular Soreness

In order to decrease muscular soreness that you feel 24-48 hours after working out (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS) you need to do a light bout of low intenstiy cardio after you lift. You can ingest your protein supplement while walking on a incline on the treadmill at a low speed or have a low stride rate on the elliptical with little resistance.
This helps the blood continue to circulate through your muscles that allows for the impurities (lactic acid and other metabolic byproducts) to be flushed out at a quicker rate.

After performing this short amount of cardio (10-20 minutes), stretching all major muscles groups is essential to limiting the amount of soreness you feel and increasing/maintaining your range of motion. I suggest stretching each muscle group 2-3 times for 30-60 seconds. You can also rehydrate yourself with water while stretching.

Up down sprints

I had the idea for this drill this past weekend...
Our team splits up into all defensive teams for part of a practice so you can split your team up by lineman, defensive backs, and linebackers. If you have enough players so that no one plays both ways put the receivers with d backs and running backs with linebackers.

The players run a ten yard sprint and chop their feet until the entire group gets to you standing at the ten yard line, blow your whistle five times for five up downs (player falls to the ground, hitting their chest and then has to pop back up). Midway through the five up downs, you need to backpeddle another ten yards and repeat. The total drill that I used was fifty yards with the players doing five sets of up downs and then sprinting the fifty yards back like a quarter gasser.

I had the team do this for conditioning Tuesday after running four gassers after practice. We scrimmage three teams Saturday so I likely will ease up on the running after today when scrimmages occur on the weekend and Wednesday when we start playing on Fridays to give their legs some time to recover so they are able to go full speed for their games.

Circuit Training and coaching update

I got back from three days in the sticks with Woodford county's football team... we went to Aldersgate camp, which is synonymous with the middle of nowhere. I was able to help condition the guys in the morning and then I ran the d-line through some individual drills.
I had the d-line guys do some ladder drills, bag drills, and a couple drills on the tackling sled.
I had them focus on ripping with one arm and taking a strong first step... they really need to focus on changing their stance from offensive to defensive, since most players play both ways.

the defensive back coach showed me the hill on friday that they were supposed to run this morning, a steep three mile hill.

I imagine that was a site seeing the whole team run that... all and all the trip was more about team building then showing them how to run hard.
A lot of the players give full effort and some others not even close to full effort. They have to realize that mediocre effort will result in a mediocre season.

TRAINING FOR SIZE

I am currently training for muscular size (hypertrophy) while splitting my workout routine into all push one day, and all pull the next day. Alternating the two four days a week, take Friday off or I will do light cardio and then hitting my weaker spots again on Saturday morning. I had a lot of help with this program from Chance Cianciola, CSCS, and the Power Training book by Coach Dos Remedios.
I also have added lifts that I prefer to my workout, while still incorporating exercises that fully challenege my muscular and central nervous systems.

I plan on starting a new 12-week hypertrophy/strength macrocycle at the end of this month. I will lift with my workout partner, Chance, and we will measure and record circumferences, body fat percentage, weight, and max lifts for at least bench and squat.