May - July 2008

[John]

Monday 19 May 2008

Chest

Rowing at home. Aim was to row a 500m under 1:40 then repeat each time adding 5sec to the limit time I reached 2:00.

• Row 500m: 1:39.5 31r, 1:43.5 30r, 1:46.7 28r, 1:51.6 25r, 1:57.8 21r

Chest workout at the gym in the evening

1. Flat BB Press: 6x90, 6x100, 3x112.5kg
2. Decline BB Press: 12x60, 12x80, 6x100, 6x100, 6x100kg
3. Incline DB Flys: 10x16, 10x18, 10x20kg
4. Supine Incline Cable Pull-downs: 12x34, 12x41, 11x49, 9x49kg+2w

My flat bench press is very bad form - tending to move my R elbow in towards my side. On advice I shifted to decline presses. I found this change in angle much easier on my R shoulder so will avoid flat presses and stick with decline ones for about a month. Last set of cable pull-downs I added two rubber weights to the 49.25kg stack.

[John]

Tuesday 20 May 2008

500m Row

Bit of a rest day really, just a couple of 500m sprints.

1. Warmup Row: 1000m 4:11.4 18spm
2. Row 500m: 1:32.7 36spm, 1:35.9 33spm

Pleased that I can get down into the low 1:30's again. I've avoided sprinting on the rower for months. Damper set to 9.

[John]

Wednesday 21 May 2008

"Fran"

Couple of easy 1000m rows to warmup then into the dreaded Fran to try and get under 8 minutes again.

• Warmup Row 1000m: 4:18.1 19spm, 3P58.2 20spm
  Fran:
• A1 = 42.5kg Thrusters: 21, 15, 9
• A2 = Pull-ups: 21, 15, 9
  Time 7:31

Always feel totally poked for a few minutes after Fran, but because it's so short I usually feel the urge to toss a few weights around to finish off the session.

1. One-arm Pull-ups: 4xRight, 3xLeft
2. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 20x16kg
3. Dips: 25x0, 15x20, 8x30, 8x30, 8x30kg

Yeah, well the "one-arm" pull-ups are really two arm, but holding just below the wrist with the non-working arm

[John]

Saturday 24 May 2008

Chest & Stuff

Some rowing at home in the middle of the day. Slow, hard pulls, damper = 6.

• Row 5:00: 1237m 19spm, 1292m 18spm

Gym in the evening:

1. Warmup Row: 1000m 3:46.8 20spm
2. Decline BB Press: 10x57.5, 10x77.5, 10x87.5, 8x100, 3x110, 6x100, 6x100kg
3. Flat BB Press: 6x80, 6x80kg
4. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 10x18, 10x24, 10x28, 6x28kg
5. Overhead Squat: 12x20, 12x30, 8x40, 3x42.5kg
6. Front Squat: 10x50, 8x60, 3x80kg
7. Pull-ups: 20
8. Front Squat: 1x90kg 0x100kg, 3x80kg
9. Cable Cross-overs: 12x7.5, 10x12.5, 10x15, 10x17.5, 6x21kg
10. Supine Incline Cable Pull-downs: 12x38.5, ..., 10x45.5, 10x45.5kg

[John]

Sunday 25 May 2008

Legs

1. Front Squat: 10x50, 6x70, 6x80, 3x90, 4x80kg
2. 45° Leg Press: 12x240, 6x320, 4x400, 10x280, 12x240kg
3. Deadlift: 10x120, 6x140, 2x160, 3x150kg
4. Lying Leg Curl: 12x53, 10x74, 6x95, 4x100kg
5. Overhead BB Lunges: 10x25kg

Did some Tabata rowing intervals in the evening:

• Row :20r:10x8: 92, 90, 93, 95, 94, 94, 96m
• Row :20r:10x8: 103, 102, 105, 103m, -, -, -, -

Yes the dashes mean that I died after the fourth interval of the second Tabata.

For 20-sec intervals:
93m = 7 Cal
99m = 8 Cal
104m = 9 Cal
108m = 10 Cal
112m = 11 Cal
I hope to be able to complete all eight intervals at 10 Cal each one day.

[John]

Monday 26 May 2008

Shoulders

1. Standing BB Press: 10x35, 8x45, 6x55, 4x60, 3x60, 1x65, 2x60, 5x55kg
2. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 9x28, 5x30, 7x30kg
3. A1=DB Front Raise: 12x8, 10x12, 10x14kg
4. A2=DB Lateral Raise: 12x8, 10x12, 10x14kg
5. A3=DB Bent-over Raise: 12x8, 10x12, 10x14kg
6. Dips: 20x0, 13x20, 9x30kg
7. BB Shrugs: 12x140, 10x170, 6x200, 8x190, 8x180, 12x160kg
8. Warm-down Row: 1000m 3:48.4 22spm, 500m 1:57.8 17spm

[John]

Wednesday 28 May 2008

"Fran"

• Warmup Row 1000m: 4:16
  Fran:
• A1=42.5kg Thrusters: 21, 15, 9
• A2=Pull-ups: 21, 15, 9
  Time 7:22
• Warm-down Row 5:00: 1179m 20spm

Nine-second improvement on my time last week. Just four seconds slower than my PR :)
Had to challenge myself to shorten the breaks between thrusters.
500m row before bed.

• Row 500m: 1:37.0 32spm

[John]

Friday 30 May 2008

Shoulders

You can tell that my training sessions have not been organized of late - I tend to just turn up at the gym and decide on the spot what I want to do. I should practice what I preach. Just did shoulders a few days ago

Pre -breakfast row:

• Row: 5:00 1224m 18spm
• Row: 500m 1:34.4 39spm
• Row: 500m 1:58.3 25spm

Evening gym session:

1. Standing Shoulder Press: 10x40, 8x50, 3x60kg
2. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 10x28, 8x30, 5x32kg
3. A1=Front DB Raise: 10x10, 10x12, 10x14kg
4. A2=Lateral DB Raise: 10x10, 10x12, 10x14kg
5. A3=Bent-over DB Raise: 10x10, 10x12, 10x14kg

Rowing before bed:

• Row: 500m 1:39.5 32spm
• Row: 150m 25.0 51spm
• Row: 100m 16.8 57spm

[John]

Saturday 31 May 2008

Pissing Around

Visited Les Mills Extreme in Wellington this afternoon.

1. Pull-ups: 20 (thin bar), 20 (fat bar)
2. Prone Incline DB Front Raise: 12x10, 10x12, 8x14, 6x14, 12x12kg
3. Pull-ups: Bodyweight sets on various bars
4. Overhead Squat: 12x20, 10x30, 8x40, 8x40kg
5. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 12x17.5, 10x25, 10x27.5kg

Les Mills Hutt City in the evening:

1. EZ-bar Preacher Curls: 10x27.5, 10x37.5, 8x42.5, 5x47.5, 9x42.5kg
2. Hammer Curls: 12x14kg superset
3. A1=Wide-grip Cable Curls: 10x11, 8x14kg
4. A2=Medium-grip Cable Curls: 10x11, 6x14kg
5. A3=Narrow-grip Cable Curls: 10x11, 2x14kg
6. Warm-down Row: 1000m 4:03.6 20spm

[John]

Sunday 1 June 2008

My New Workout Schedule :D

Enough of pissing around. I've designed a workout schedule for eight weeks covering the whole body in five splits over an 8-day cycle. Looks like this:

2. Rest day[color=#0066AAviolet]
3. Chest, Abs, Obliques
4. Quads, Hammies, Calves
5. Shoulders, Traps[/color]
   
6. Rest day[color=#0066AAviolet]
7. Back, Forearms
8. Biceps, Triceps, Wrist Grip[/color]
   
9. Metabolic Conditioning

The MetCon day will be for nice things like "Fran" or "Cindy". Aim to include one exercise for balance/core conditioning as often as I can (e.g. overhead squats, overhead lunges). It's bound to be a success, because it starts with a rest day

Start date: 31 May (yesterday) 8)

It was meant to be a rest day, but I'm sure I'll manage to fit in an extra rest day pretty early on in the piece. This link will list the current weeks routines:

http://johnrippon.com/cgi-bin/workout1.pl?31/5/2008

[John]

Sunday 1 June 2008

Chest, Abs, Obliques

Pre-breakfast row:

• Row: 5:00 1287m 22spm

First workout of my new schedule :)

1. Decline BB Press: 12x80, 8x100, 4x110, 3x110kg
2. Incline DB Fly: 15x16, 10x20, 10x20kg
3. Decline DB Press: 10x16, 10x16, 10x24, 8x24kg
4. Decline Cable Pullover: 12x31.5, 11x38.5, 6x42kg
5. Decline Cable Woodchops: 10Rx7.5, 5+5Lx7.5kg
6. Low-pulley Cable Crossovers: 12x10, 10x12.5, 9x15kg
7. Lying DB Pullovers: 10x20, 10x30, 10x34, 9x40kg
8. Warm-down Row: 5:02 1125m 18spm

Row before bed:

• Row: 5:00 1254m 19spm

Some new exercises here. Incline DB flys aggravated by tendonitis in L distal biceps tendon so kept the weight moderate. Decline DB presses were meant to include external rotation but I found I was too weak in the wrists for these, so rotation only on the first and last set. Woodchops are done in a decline half sit-up position. My abs gave out on the second set (R) so had to split it into two lots of 5 reps.

[John]

Monday 2 June 2008

Legs

Pre-breakfast row:

• Row: 5:00 1281m 20spm

Didn't get to the gym until about 40 min before closing time, so workout was cut short:

1. Back Squat: 12x80, 10x100, 6x110, 2x120, 8x100kg
2. Leg Extension Drop Set: 10x117, 10x96, 10x75, 10x54, 20x33kg
3. Lying Leg Curl: 12x60, 10x74, 7x88, 5x100kg

Row before bed:

• Row: 5:00 1262m 19spm

[John]

Tuesday 3 June 2008

Shoulders & Traps

Pre-breakfast row. Trying to get to 1300m in five minutes. It's a bit tough on someone who doesn't do mornings!

• Row: 5:00 1282m 23spm

Gym

1. Standing BB Press: 12x40, 8x50, 2x60, 3x57kg
2. Seated DB Shoulder Press: 12x20, 12x26, 6x30, 7x30, 4+x32, 6x30, 8x30kg
3. Pullups: 30x0kg
4. BB Shrugs: 12x140, 12x180, 8x220, 8x220, 9x200, 12x180kg
5. A1=Front DB Raise: 10x12, 10x14, 10x14kg
6. A2=Lateral DB Raise: 10x12, 10x14, 10x14kg
7. A3=Bent-over DB Raise: 10x12, 10x14, 10x14kg

The military presses sucked - couldn't manage more than two reps at 60kg and the second one was very, very slow to lock-out. Hopefully this is only because I've done too many shoulder sessions in the last few days.

The pullups were unscheduled but I was inspired by a guy who weights about 100kg who just did a set of 38. So 30 is now a PR for me on body-weight pullups :)

[John]

Wednesday 4 June 2008

"Rest" Day

The notion of a day away from the gym every fourth day is gonna take some getting used to. Haven't managed to fit in the promised balance/core exercise since I started my new routine, so that's my excuse for today's visit:

1. Overhead Squat: 12x20, 12x30, 12x35, 10x40,5x45, 10x40kg
2. Kettlebell Swing: 20x24kg
3. Turkish Get-up: 1R,1Lx24kg
4. Kettlebell Swing: 20x24kg
5. Turkish Get-up: 1R,1L,1R,1Lx24kg
6. Kettlebell Swing: 20x24kg

Before bed:

• Kettlebell Snatch: 10R,10Lx16, 10R,10Lx16, 10R,10Lx16, 15R,15Lx16kg

[John]

Thursday 5 June 2008

Back & Forearms

Finally broke 1300m for the pre-breakfast row:

• Row: 5:00 1304m 22spm

Gym

1. Pull-ups: 30x0, 12x15, 11x20, 8x30, 5x40kg
2. Bent-over BB Row (Under-hand grip): 12x80, 12x100, 10x120kg
3. Incline Bench DB Row: 12x38, 8x42, 10x44kg
4. "Hammer Strength" Seated Row Machine: 12x60, 10x80, 12x100kg/side
5. Ring Push-up: 15
6. Ring Extensions: 8xfront, 10xlateral, 10xfront
7. BB Wrist Curls: 12x35, 9x45, 10x45, 10x45kg
8. DB Wrist Extensions: 12x6, 10x8, 8x10, 4x12, 12x10
9. DB Wrist Rotations: 12x14 front, 12x14kg rear
10. Kettlebell Snatch: 20R-20Lx16kg
11. Warm-down Row: 1000m 3:50.1 20spm

Ring extensions: Start holding rings as if to lower into a push-up. Extend arms forward or to the side until they are as close to parallel with the floor as possible. Having a long mid-section these, especially the front ones, really hit me in the lower back.

Wrist rotations are done standing with arms at sides, holding a dumbbell by the end and rotating the other end in a vertical arc. I'll probably keep this exercise for wrist/grip day rather than forearms.

Making good progress with the KB snatch technique - although the weight is pretty miserly.

Equalled my PR for a single pullup set again. Roll on 40-rep sets!