Doing better… August 13, 2008
Posted by hardly Bar, Medicine Ball, Other, 6 Minutes of..., Dips
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Functional Fitness, what is it all about?
One thing is being able to do most anything at the drop of a hat. Another thing is continual improvement in one’s capabilities.
Today, we did something we hadn’t done in a while, 6 minutes of Push-presses. And, our trainer, being the kind of guy he is, upped my load to 95 lbs. “Oh, joy”, I thought to myself.
Warmup:
- 3x of
- 20 Wallballs @ 20 lbs
- 20 Medicine Ball Squats @ 20 lbs
- 30 ball slams @ 20 lbs
Workout:
- 6 minutes of Push-Presses @ 95 lbs: 69 PB! PB! PB!
- Tabata Squats, holding the squat during the ‘rest’: 13
- 20 Bodyweight Squats for form
- 3x: Shallow V-holds for time: 1:00, :28, :28
- 21 Ring Dips
- 21 GDH Back Extensions
- 20 Overhead Drops @ 25 lbs
- 10 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
Have to say that I was surprised by my push-press results. It has been a good 8 months since I last did that exercise, and I had an add’l 20 lbs this time. So, wasn’t expecting to get above 60 reps, but there you have it. I think that all the bar work we’ve been doing over the last several weeks has had an impact, plus I’ve been concentrating a lot on my form wrt all the standing bar movements, e.g. cleans, presses, thrusters, front squats, overhead squats, etc.
I wonder when I’ll break 100…
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 08/13/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 1:00:00.00
What did all those dudes do on those 1000 ships? August 11, 2008
Posted by hardly Run, Kettlebell, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row, Other, Pullups
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The did ‘Helen’!
Warmup:
- 10 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
- 1K Row
- 50 Medicine Ball Cleans @ 20 lbs
- 50 Dumbbell knee-ups @ 25 lbs
Workout:
- 20 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
- Max Load Overhead Squats:
- 3 @ 95 lbs
- 3 @ 115 lbs
- 1? (almost) @ 115 lbs
- 4x of Slow-Motion Pull-ups (going down very, very slowly)
- 1 minute on , 1 minute off: Best set: 4 (trying to get the lowest number)
- ‘Helen’, 3x of the following:
- 400 M run
- 21 kettlebell swings @ 24 kg
- 12 pull-ups
- For time: 11:19
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 08/11/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 1:00:00.00
What do you do to keep learning? August 7, 2008
Posted by hardly Run, Sit-ups, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row, Other
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I love learning new things. This can take the form of figuring out new technical things, or a new business idea, or how to physically do something different.
It’s one of the things I love about functional fitness. Every workout, do something new, try a different way, challenge yourself. Maybe that means adding more reps, or maybe it means more weight, or maybe it means changing the way you do something. Decline push-ups anyone?
Today, we worked a bunch on the part of my form that’s used in the bar clean and bar snatch movements. I’m not making the last but of the full extension, or ‘pop’ as we call it, happen, so I’m not nearly efficient as I could be. Also, it’s important to establish good form with lighter weights so you reduce the risk of injury later.
Warmup:
- 10 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
- 400 M run
- 40 Wallballs @ 20 lbs
- 40 Abmat Situps
- 10 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
Workout:
- 36 Reps of improving my bar snatch
- 2K Row: 7:18 (PB)
- Deadlift to get to max weight:
- 6 reps @ 185 lbs
- 6 reps @ 185 lbs
- 6 reps @ 235 lbs
- 6 reps @ 235 lbs
Very pleased with the rowing PB. Looking forward to continued improvements in that area, though I think they are going to be smaller and smaller steps. The deadlifts were hard, especially because I continue to struggle w/my form on that one, too. Ah, more learning in my future!
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 08/07/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 1:00:00.00
Sneaking Up on Improvment July 25, 2008
Posted by hardly Run, Sit-ups, Kettlebell, Bar, Medicine Ball, Other, 6 Minutes of..., Max reps, Pushups, Dips
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One of the nice things about the functional workouts we do is that sometimes you’ll become re-acquainted w/a given activity and discover that you’ve improved. It’s a really great thing!
Warmup:
- 50 Wallballs @ 14 lbs
- 50 Push-ups
- 50 KB Swings @ 20kg
Workout:
- 60 Barbell sit-ups @ 35 lbs: 2:10 (pretty certain that’s a pb)
- 6:00 of Bar Dips: 61 (never done this before, so that’s a pb)
- 1 mile run: 6:22 (DEFINITELY a pb)
- 21 reps, or max-out on Thrusters: Do as many reps as possible or 21, whichever comes first, and w/o stopping w/a reasonably heavy load (95 lbs): 16
- 3 sets of 10 Power Cleans @ 75 lbs: Form Practice
All in all, I’m happy w/this workout. Nice to see my mile run time come down, and fun to do a few new things. I was sorta hoping that I’d get to 21 on the Thrusters, and I really tried, but it was not to be today. But tomorrow, who knows?
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 07/25/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
I hate coming back to working out! July 21, 2008
Posted by hardly Run, Sit-ups, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row, Other, Max reps, Pullups, Pushups, Jump Rope
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I was not in the gym last week, more on that later, and both fell off my diet, and didn’t participate in any “high-intensity” workouts. To my detriment, I might add!
Today’s torture session…
Warm-up
- 30 each:
- Double-under jump ropes
- push-ups
- knee-ups
- overhead squats
Workout:
- 30 Clean & Press @ 75 lbs
- 6x:
- 300 M Row
- 200 M run
- time: 17:40
- 3 min each for total max count:
- Pull-ups
- GHP Sit-ups
- Wallball @ 20 lbs
- Row (for calories)
- Ball Slams @ 20 lbs
- Reps: 220
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 07/21/2008
- Time: 07:00:00
- Total Time: 1:00:00.00
Working on weightlifting movements July 2, 2008
Posted by hardly Sit-ups, Kettlebell, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row, Pullups, Dips, Lunges, Jump Rope
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Today was a fun workout. Aside from the usual stuff, we did some ‘learning’ - working on some of the classic weightlifting movements.
It’s funny - two years ago, if you had told me I’d be doing Clean & Presses, I’d tell you that you were out of your mind. I had too much fear built up around possibly injuring my back if I did free-weight exercises where the bar went above my head. And, like most things in life, successfully negotiating this point is all about starting small and building up slowly.
Thing is, I would not go back to my previous workouts having gotten into the swing of things with free weights. The added benefits are simply too good to ignore. For example, in doing a Clean & Press, it’s amazing how much your core muscles get activated!
Warmup:
- 40 Wallballs @ 14 lbs
- 40 Kettlebell swings @ 24 kg
- 40 Jumprope double-unders
- 40 sit-ups
Workout:
- 21 Non-stop Deadlifts @ 95 lbs
- 30 weighted pull-ups @ 15#
- 30 Clean & Presses @ 95 lbs: 7:15
- 2 laps of walking lunges
- 4x: 100 M row (sprint): 17.2 best time
- 30 dips
How to sweat like a pig in 6 easy steps! June 30, 2008
Posted by hardly Run, Bar, Medicine Ball, Dumbbell, 6 Minutes of..., Pullups, Pushups
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Warmup:
- 800 M run
- 2 sets of the following:
- 30 Medicine Ball Squats @ 20 lbs
- 30 Ball slams @ 20 lbs
- 30 Dumbbell Chest presses @ 35 lbs
- 4 x of 10 weighted pull-ups @ 20 lbs (if you can’t complete the 10 reps, finish the count off w/knee-ups)
- 800 M run, timed: 2:20
- 6 minutes of Thrusters @65 lbs: 62
- 3X:
- 10 Power Cleans @ 45 lbs
- 10 Decline Push-ups
Logbook Activity
- Type: Other
- Date: 06/30/2008
- Time: 08:47:22
- Total Time: 1:00:00.00
New forms of torture June 12, 2008
Posted by hardly Bar, Medicine Ball, Tabata
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Wednesday was a GREAT workout. GREAT = I’m still feeling it today, aka I can’t take stairs two steps at a time!
What was the cause? Two things:
- Tabata Wall Ball.
- Lots and lots of front squats.
Tabata Wall Ball is 6 sets of 30 seconds of work, followed by 15 seconds of rest. Your score is the lowest count from any given set. And, if you’re reasonably good at estimating your possible work load, it’s usually the last or 2nd to last set where you see a decline.
Focus your attention on the slide show - towards the end are shots of the gang working out on opening day!
End of the week workout for 5/30/08 May 29, 2008
Posted by hardly Bar, Medicine Ball, Dumbbell, Row, 100 of... for time, Pullups, Box Jumps, Jump Rope
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Warmup:
- Jump rope -or- 300 M run
- 30 dumbbell swings
- 20 pull-ups
- 30 wall-balls @ 18 kg
Workout:
- 100 Loaded Sit Ups for time - 45 lbs
- 60 Push Presses @ 95 lbs
- 5 Minute Row for max distance, but keeping the Strokes/Minute at 18 or under: 1280 or better
- 21-15-9:
- Dumbbell Chest Press 60 - 65 - 70
- Alternating 1-arm Dumbbell Deadlifts @ 75 - 85 - 95
- Box Jumps
- 40 Overhead Squats @ 45 lbs
Let’s say you had to make up your workout… Part II May 9, 2008
Posted by hardly Kettlebell, Bar, Medicine Ball, Row, Pushups, Box Jumps, Turkish Get-ups
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Today was an interesting day in that our trainer talked about the primary elements that make up our workouts, with the intent of giving us the necessary tools to workout on our own (more on working out alone in future posts).
The elements are:
- Warmup: Movements that are similar to those you will use later in the workout, and which you do continuously for 5 - 8 minutes.
- Training/Learning: Working on something new, or improving something you have been introduced to already.
- Strength: Lifting Heavy things
- Metabolic Focus: One or several movements where you raise your metabolic rate significantly, and where you are doing this for a longer period of time. Also, you are running against the clock (100… for time), or trying to make a maximum count in a given period of time. Anything where you’re measuring output over time.
- The workout must not be the same as your previous workouts. In fact, the more ‘random’ it is, the better it is in helping you achieve high fitness levels.
See if you can spot these items in today’s workout:
Warmup:
- 30 Kettlebell Swings @ 20 kg
- 30 Push-ups
- 2x:
- 30 1-arm Kettlebell Swings @ 20 kg (low)
- 30 Push-ups
Workout:
- Turkish Get-ups:
- 4 @ 45 lbs
- 1.5 @ 50 lbs (ever dropped a dumbbell from 3 feet?)
- 2 Minutes Each of:
- Row (for calories)
- Wall Ball @ 18 kg
- Box Jumps
- Push Press @ 65 lbs
- Total: 149 (and me rolling around on the floor)
- KB Snatches - as many as possible w/o stopping @ 20 kg: 65
One other bit that we learned today was that things that you don’t think about end up getting in the way when you go after these records. For example, on the last thing we did, KB Snatches, what do you think caused us all problems? Running out of breath? Sore muscles? Falling down? Nope, none of the above. The big issue was sweaty palms. We couldn’t control the Kettlebell at the end (I know I almost lost complete grip on mine on the 2nd to last rep). One thing you DO NOT want is a kettlebell whizzing through the air at you!
