December 2007 - January 2008

[John]

Sunday 16 December 2007

CrossFit WoD = Weighted Pull-ups

Been totally slack in not posting my workouts for a few weeks now. No excuses, but here goes again.

• Weighted pull-ups 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

• Belt weight: 15, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50(F), 50kg
• Body weight: 84kg

First time pulling more than 45kg, just managed to get chin over the bar with 50kg. Hot as in the gym. Finished off with a 500m row; haven't been near the erg for weeks :(

• Warmup row: 500m, 1:48.4, 22spm
• Row: 500m, 1:36.2, 34spm

[John]

Monday 17 December 2007

Legs

Feeling a bit drained and feverish lately, plus no training partner doesn't help the incentive much.

1. Back Squat: 8x100, 6x110, 3x120, 1x125kg
2. Romanian Deadlift: 9x120, 6x140, 2x160, 2x160kg
3. 45° Leg Press: 12x320, 8x360, 6x400kg
4. Leg Extension: 8x143kg
5. Overhead Lunge: 10x30, 8x40, 6x50kg

Didn't feel to confident in the little guy I got to spot the 125kg squat, so called it quits at just one rep.

[John]

Wednesday 19 December 2007

Shoulders & Traps

Really feverish, weak and aching yesterday. Thought I was in for the 'flu. Spent most of the day in bed dozing. Surprised to find I felt pretty good today and actually had a pretty good workout, with improvements to weights on several exercises.

1. Seated DB Press: 12x16, 8x24, 4x28, 2x30, 8x32, 8x32, 3x34kg
2. Smith Machine Seated BB Press: 6x50, 6x55kg
3. Lateral Raises: 7x20, 7x20kg each set finished with 7 reps to 45°
4. Seated Rear DB Raises: 12x9, 12x8kg
5. BB Shrugs: 12x140, 6x180, 8x180, 3x210kg
6. Handstand Push-up: 5 reps of limited ROM

34kg presses are a first for me. Couldn't quite make the fourth rep. Lowered the weight on the second set of rear DB raises to include a brief pause at the top of each rep. ROM on the 210kg shrugs was a bit short.

[John]

Sunday 23 December 2007

CrossFit WoD

Been feeling grotty for days now , so stayed clear of exercise. Thought I was on the mend today so tried the CrossFit workout of the day.

Three rounds for time:

• Row: 500m
• Bench Press: 30x82.5kg (=bodyweight)

Time: 33:18, Row times: 1:58.4, 1:58.8, 1:49.1


Pretty disgusting time spent on the bench presses. Did the first 15 unbroken but by the last round I had to break it into fives, triples and even some single reps to complete :(
I'll definitely try this one again when I'm feeling 100% to see what improvement in time that makes.

[John]

Friday 28 December 2007

Stuff

Christmas came and went and I now have a shiny new 1½-pood (24kg) kettleball, which my boys gave me :)
Still feeling off colour so haven't tried much with it yet. I'm still crook and stayed home all day today but did some not-too-stenuous stuff in the evening:

1. DB Turkish Get-up (L/R): 3/3x8, 3/3x12, 3/3x16, 3/3x18, 3/3x20kg
2. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 12x16, 11x24, 10x26, 10x28, 11x24kg
3. Triceps Rope Pressdown: to 41.25kg
4. Pull-ups: 15
5. Seated Rear Delt DB Raise: 12x7, 12x7, 12x7kg
6. Front DB Raises: 12x7, 12x7, 12x7kg (sets alternated with previous)
7. Standing BB Shoulder Press: 12x30, 10x40, 5x50kg

The TGUs are a new one for me. Will check out some vid clips to learn a bit more about technique. Hopefully I'll be able to progress to using the kettlebell for these after a while. Paused for a second at the top of all the raises, so had to keep the weight low.

[John]

Monday 31 December 2007

Another Light Workout Day

This fucking cold or whatever is still with me. Went to the gym to practise some more Turkish Get-ups, having looked at the Martone videos on CrossFit.

• Turkish Get-up (DB): 16 to 24kg
• Standing BB Shoulder Press: 2x60, 2x60, 2x60, 7x50, 6x50kg
• Pull-ups: 18
• Pistols with DBs (L/R): 8/8x4, 8/8x6kg

I found the R shoulder was weak when I did the heavier left-arm get-ups. Not sure how much I can expect it to improve now as it's 10 months since the surgery. Disappointed not to make any progress on reps at 60kg of shoulder press. Will persist though. Pistols are a challenge to the balance for an old guy like me. I do them on a bench because it means the inactive leg doesn't have to be held so high to keep it off the ground .

[John]

Tuesday 1 January 2008

Kettlebell Here We Come

Lovely sunny weather over the past few days and I felt good enough to start playing with my new '24kg' kettlebell (which actually weights 25.1kg).



Morning: Kettlebell exercises

1. Two-handed KB Swing: 20x24, 20x24, 20x24kg (90sec rests between sets)
2. One-armed KB Clean & Press (L/R): 5/5x24, 5/5x24, 5/5x24kg (90sec)

Not game to swing higher than head height yet. There's a big difference in the L- and R-armed presses. L-armed ones are a breeze but most of my R-armed ones are very slow.

Afternoon: Legs workout (long overdue)

1. Back Squat: 10x100, 6x110, 4x120, 3x130, 1x135 :) , 1x140kg :D
2. 45° Leg Press: 10x300, 6x360, 4x400kg
3. Leg Extension: 8x143kg
4. BB Overhead Lunge: 10x30, 8x40, 5x50kg
5. Smith Machine Calf Raise: 12x160, 10x180, 8x200kg
6. Seated Calf Raise: 12x70kg

Haven't felt fit to tackle any cardio or legs workouts of late until now and had to go during the heat of the afternoon because of early gym closing. The 130kg squats felt great so had a crack at 135 for a PR. Go it and still felt good for more weight so was rapt when I go a 140kg.
Yay, three big wheels aside squatted right to the ankles. Not a big deal for some but it was for me. A good start to the new year's workouts.
The lunges are a challenge at 50kg and started to lose arms lockout after the fifth rep so stopped at one fewer than last time I did these.

[John]

Wednesday 2 January 2008

KB Swings & Presses

1. Two-handed KB Swing: 20x24, 20x24, 20x24kg (90sec rests between sets)
2. One-armed KB Clean & Press (L/R): 5/5x24, 5/5x24, 5/5x24kg (90sec)

Did these outside with my shirt off in the warm morning sun. I hope to incorporate this simple routine a regular thing every morning. Apart from that, pretty much a rest day.

[John]

Thursday 3 January 2008

KB Swings & Presses

Before breakfast

1. Two-handed KB Swing: 20x24, 20x24, 20x24kg (90sec rests between sets)
2. One-armed KB Clean & Press (L/R): 5/5x24, 5/5x24, 5/5x24kg (90sec)

[John]

Friday 4 January 2008

Chest & Shoulders

1. Flat BB Press: 6x90, 4x95, 5x95, 1x105kg
2. Incline BB Press: 6x70, 5x70kg
3. Standing Cable Flys: 6x 21.25, 6x21.25kg
4. Incline DB Flys: 6x16kg
5. Rear Delt Machine: 8x68kg
6. Turkish Get-up (DB): 2L/2Rx18, 2L/2Rx22, 1L/1Rx24, 1L/1Rx26kg

I'm still not feeling 100% and this quickly showed when I tried to do a decent bench press. Didn't feel up to a set for reps of 100kg. Did a single at 105kg just to keep the ego from complete deflation Kept the weights low for the rest of the workout - I probably should have gone home instead.

The TGUs are not quite so ugly as they were. Figure I'll be able to manage 30kg DB next time. The KB feels quite different so need to start using it for TGUs.

[John]

Saturday 5 January 2008

Rings and Stuff

1. Ring Dips: 10x0, 10x0, 10x0, 6x15, 6x15kg
2. Turkish Get-up (DB): 2R/2Lx20, 1R/1Lx26kg
3. Ring Push-ups:: Standard sets
4. Ring Push-ups:: sets of 8 with both arms forward
5. Ring Push-ups:: sets of 10 with both arms out to sides
6. Seated Rear DB Raises: 10x8, 10x8kg
7. Front DB Raises: 10x8, 10x8kg

The aim of the ring push-up variations is to have the arms as straight as possible so that the whole body is in one horizontal plan at the strong point of the repetition. I'm getting pretty close to it, but the lower back is where I feel it most. Rear DB raises are done seated on the front edge of the bench with torso bent forward onto the thighs. Elbows kept straight. With these and the front raises I pause for one second at full extension on each rep and don't use momentum to raise the DBs. This means you can only lift about half of the weight that you could otherwise do. I alternated the sets of rear and front raises.

[John]

Monday 7 January 2008

Just Deadlifts!

1. Deadlift: 10x100, 6x130, 3x150, 4x160, 3x160, 3x160, 3x160, 1x170kg

[John]

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Kettlebell Swings & Turksih Get-ups

Before breakfast

• Two-handed KB Swing: 20x24, 20x24, 20x24kg (90sec rests between sets)

Evening

• Turkish Get-up (DB): 2L/2Rx24, 1L/1Rx28, 1L/1Rx24kg

The evening session was meant to a legs workout but I'm still feeling too crap to work with useful weights. Couldn't even complete my 10x100 squat warmup set. This continued "off-colour" feeling is getting me down big time May be time to visit the doctor for a course of anti-biotic.

[John]

Wednesday 9 January 2008

Kettlebells & Legs

Before Breakfast

• Kettlebell Swing: 20x24, 20x24, 20x24kg with 2:00 rests

Afternoon

• Kettlebell Swing: sets with 24kg, 10:00 total time

Evening

1. Turkish Get-ups (DB): 3R/3Lx20, 1R/1Lx24, 3 x 1R/1Lx28, 1R/1Lx30, 3R/3Lx20kg
2. Back Squat: 8x100, 1x120kg
3. 45° Leg Press: 10x280, 8x320, 6x400, 5x450, 12x280kg
4. DB Lunges: 10x18kg
5. Overhead BB Lunges: 10x30, 8x40, 5x50kg
6. DB Pistols (one-legged squats) on Bench: 8L/8Rx7, 7L/7Rx8kg
7. Smith Machine Calf Raise: 12x120, 10x160, 8x200kg
8. Seated Calf Machine: Sets of 10x70kg alternated with Smith raises
9. Pull-ups: 20x0kg

The single 30kg TGUs were a first for me. Another crack at legs but I still couldn't manage the usual squat sets so abandoned after the single 120kg rep. The rest of the session was good.

[John]

Friday 11 Juanuary 2008

Various Stuff

This was an afternoon session at Les Mills on The Terrace.

1. Turkish Get-up (DB): 3R/Lx20, 3R/Lx25, 2R/Lx30kg
2. Pull-ups: 12x0, 10x0, 12x0kg
3. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 12x20, 12x27.5kg

The pull-up bars at this gym are too low, so I grip the edge of an I-section RSJ running across the ceiling to do my pull-ups. It's a bit harder than using a bar because you can't wrap your hand around it, so it doubles as a finger exercise. It's all cool but you just have to ignore the strange looks you get.

Rowing Cardio Workout - Evening

Assuming maximum HR to be 176, the idea was to row steadily until I reached 80% of HRmax then row for 10 minutes while maintaining that heart rate for all but the final minute, then 'sprint' the final minute.

• Warmup: 4:22 to reach HR 150 (80% of max)
• Rowing: 9:00 at HR 152
• Sprint: 1:00 Final HR 165 (93% of max)
  Total distance: 3503m