Pogo's Training

Wow!! I made it to the weekend!! A whole week devoid of training! My wife has commented positively before on my level of discipline with respect to my training (not at all noteworthy around here); but it took a whole lot more discipline to stop myself from performing any true strength training this week.

I've done nothing but a daily morning mobility/active stretching routine (which I plan to continue and perhaps expand upon). Some occasional light static stretching in the evening, which I also need to continue and expand upon.

Very much looking forward to the week ahead!

Monday, 6th December 2010

morning:

ido's scapular stabilisation and mobilisation

wrist conditioning

hip extensions

2 x 30s each weighted pike and straddle stretch

evening:

skipping to warmup

back squats

5 x 40kg

3 x 50kg

5 x 65kg

5 x 75kg

9 x 85kg

3 giant sets:

10 x 50kg front squats

5 x very assisted GHR

5 x HLL

I've taken my squat sets back down after my most recent efforts' disappointing results. I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing with the weights. I want to start integrating more of coach's dynamic leg work, so I think I might continue with the somewhat hybrid idea as above; front squats this time were just because it's pouring down rain and the place I would have tried killers is wet and didn't wanna risk killering myself.

anyway... squats felt ok... GHR... ouch!! damn, even heavily assisted (push up into the pull, lower into a drop) they hurt!! not too bad given that I'm back after a week off for joint rehab and have been brewing some kind of cold/flu.

Tuesday, 7th December 2010

Just my luck; took a week off last week to help my joints regenerate and I've now been brewing some kind of cold/flu for the last few days. I really felt run down last night, so I skipped training and rested.

Still felt pretty crap this morning, but after some coffee I decided to go through my morning mobility/active stretching. Felt some better afterwards, so I went at last night's WOD as well.

warmup:

ido's shoulder mobility/stabilisation

hip extensions

weighted pike/straddle stretch

WOD:

7/3 x cast wall walks

5 x box pike press HeS

10 x box straddle press HeS

XR strap HS 30/30/30/30/30/30 (6 sets only)

2 x 10 wrist pushups from knees.

overally, felt pretty good. the cast wall walks were much easier than last time 6/4 -> 7/3 and felt like I could have done more in the first set.

press HeS felt harder this morning.

XR strap HS started well and degraded after about half way through. the last set was pretty shaky. only did 6 sets; feeling the way I have been I think that was pushing it quite hard enough.

the really good news!! the wrist pushups this morning felt MUCH easier. no pain and far more comfortable; taking a week off for joint health has proven to be a very good idea (my wrists were one of the potential casualties).

I realised on the drive home from work yesterday, that I'd forgotten to do my FSPs as part of my warmup that morning! :roll: Anyway, I let it be; yesterday was a rest day and I'm taking my rest very seriously, particularly with my crappy sleep schedule.

Thursday, 9th December 2010

morning:

ido's shoulder mobilisation and stabilisation

wrist prehab

hip extensions

weighted pike and straddle stretch

neck rotations/mobilisation

2 x 10 wall extensions

evening:

warmup:

fsps

WOD:

4 rounds

5 x tuck 1/2 FL pulls

10 x TOPs pulls

5 x towel pullups

I didn't do the sprint element of this WOD; I've been struggling the last few days with some kinda virus and subsequently aggravated asthma, so I didn't want to end up collapsed in the backyard somewhere.

this WOD *really* sucked; I am severely deficient in pulling strength and endurance.

note to self: leave the towel where it is and actually honour my previous commitment to rip out a couple towel pullups every time I walk under it!

Friday, 10th December 2010

morning:

shoulder mobilisation/stabilisation

neck mobilisation

wrist prehab

hip extensions

weighted pike and straddle stretch

4 x 15s RTO XR strap HS

afternoon:

skipping

SSCs

WOD:

4 rounds:

MU -> 2 x almost bulgarianish dip -> graceless fall -> back roll to tuck BL -> pullout to tuck FL -> jumping MU etc

5 x giant set:

15s XR L-sit

15s PL lean

15s german hang

eek; once again the WOD kicks my arse! I found the strength series *really* hard. I really need to work on my MU form/strength, so I'm making a note to commit to following in the footsteps of Frits' recent triumphs and working towards a slow, controlled MU. so many areas that I feel I need remedial help with, so I really should formalise them, I think.

thus far:

MU - transition work supported on medicine ball

towel pullups - GTG every time I pass under the towel

XR strap HS - currently built into my morning mobility - 4 x 15s

shoulder flexibility - currently built into morning mobility - mobilisation/stabilisation, hanging undergrip stretch, bridge wall walks when I CBF

side note: my lats and the back of my shoulders (rear deltoids?) are on fire this morning from the last couple days.

Monday, 13th December 2010

morning:

shoulder mobilisation/stabilisation

neck mobilisation

wrist prehab

hip extensions

weighted pike and straddle stretch

afternoon:

nothing

A combination of forces led me to giving yesterday's FSP/WOD a miss. I've been feeling a bit off (persistent cough and resultant flare up of asthma), my step-daughter turned 16, and I had to cook sushi for dinner and finish constructing the birthday cake (I'm the family chef).

Oh (almost forgot), and coach's WOD post didn't show up until about 11:40pm or so, local time, by which time I was long gone asleep!!

Back to it Tuesday, hopefully.

Tuesday, 14th December 2010

morning:

shoulder mobilisation/stabilisation

neck mobilisation

wrist prehab

hip extensions

weighted pike and straddle stretch

afternoon:

warmup:

skipping

FSPs

WOD:

3 rounds:

1 x embedded BL + 5 tempo FL pulls

1 x embedded PL + 5 tempo PPP+

1 x embedded FL + 5 tempo L-sit lifts

5 x bridge wall walks

I did Monday's WOD yesterday afternoon; partly to catch up and partly because my cough and asthma are still bothering me and I figured sled pulls/ jump squats would have had me gasping for my last breath.

This was another *tough* WOD!! It didn't look like much on paper, but it had me sucking air and had the heart beating hard.

Embedded BL and FL both from inverted hang; embedded PL from L-sit. All advanced tuck.

FL pulls were tuck; PPP with feet supported and elevated on chair; L-sit lifts were one round of L -> V on parallettes and two rounds of L -> knees to chest.

Thursday, 16th December 2010

morning:

the usual mobility stuff

evening:

warmup:

skipping

SSCs

WOD:

back squats:

5 x 60kg

3 x 60kg

3 x 70kg

3 x 80kg

6 x 90kg

3 rounds:

10 x 52.5kg front squat

5 x very assisted GHR

5 x HLL

back squats felt ok, but the heavier weights are still feeling really heavy. lost barbell strength continues.

front squats poor form, but I tried to remain upright.

GHR as above; very assisted. lowered as slow as possible and caught at the bottom. pushed back up till my legs could take over.

HLL to about 60deg above horizontal with good form.

Friday, 17th December 2010

morning:

mobility.

afternoon:

warmup:

skipping

FSPs

WOD:

7/3 cast wall walks

5 x pike box press HeS

10 x straddle box press HeS

10mins elapsed wall walks

cast wall walks the same as last time; felt like I could have done more, but my asthma was really playing up last night. being upside down seemed to increase the heaviness in my chest. happy with 7/3 for now.

press HeS felt a bit better than last time.

wall walks was (as per last time) 10mins elapsed time, not 10mins total wall walk time. easier for me to time and I'm scaling down a few of the WODs in volume. felt stronger than last time.

Monday, 20th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled MU transition on med ball

evening:

NIL

my asthma is still playing up, a little bit worse actually; and I tweaked my back on the weekend :oops: so I gave training a miss last night. had a long, hot mineral salts bath and relaxed. will see how I go Tuesday evening, but I won't rush it. my back has had problems for a long time and experience has shown me that I'm better to be cautious.

Tuesday, 21st December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled MU transition on med ball

hoping I can get back to it this evening. back feels a lot better, albeit not 100%.

evening:

pogo69 said:

hoping I can get back to it this evening. back feels a lot better, albeit not 100%.

well... it didn't happen. nowhere near enough sleep (kept doing that "nearly falling asleep at my desk" thing at work all day), asthma that is still getting worse (persistent tight cough all day, but I've now upped my meds) and my back still not quite being 100% (but much better each day), all combined to tell me to give it another day's rest. leads into wednesday which is a day off, so I should be all good to go again thursday!!

Wednesday, 22nd December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled MU transition on med ball

Thursday, 23rd December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled supported MU transitions

afternoon:

3 rounds:

MU -> 2 dips RTO -> L-sit -> press shoulder stand -> forward roll -> MU -> press shoulder stand -> neg. rev. MU -> inverted hang

2 slow neg front pulls

2 slow neg back pulls

5 x 15s tuck FL

5 x 15s XR strap HS, RTO as much as possible

5 x 15s german hang

got my first forward roll to MU!! wooohoooooo!! frits inspired me to start working on developing a slow, controlled MU; so I've been throwing 3 med ball assisted MU transitions into my morning mobility routine. I think it's already paying off!! I was able to exert more downward pressure throughout the forward roll and hold the false grip enough to get the 2nd MU!! also got it in the 2nd round, but couldn't hold it in the 3rd... progress!!

wow... the 5 x 15s statics absolutely fried my elbows!! very stiff and sore afterwards. but all good now (the next morning).

Friday, 24th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled, med ball assisted MU transitions

afternoon:

Monday, 27th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

a couple assisted negative one arm chins

afternoon:

NADA

wasn't in the mood to workout yesterday; still in holiday mode, I reckon. it being leg day and having to squat and my power rack being under 2 inches of water solidified my resolve to give it all a miss.

I'll see if I can summon the motivation to double up and catch up on tuesday.

Tuesday, 28th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

2 x each assisted negative one arm chin

afternoon:

FSP SSCs

back squats:

5 x 50kg

3 x 55kg

5 x 75kg

3 x 85kg

3 x 95kg

3 rounds:

10 x 55kg front squat

5 x assisted natural GHR

5 x HLL

played catch up with yesterday's leg day. back squats still feel weak, but as I've ditched 5/3/1 and haven't been consistently lifting every week I guess that's to be expected. still want to try to work at least regular weekly squats into my routine, but haven't figured out where/when yet; monday morning makes the most sense but I haven't yet been able to summon the motivation to add it to my morning mobility.

Wednesday, 29th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

2 each hand assisted neg. one arm chin

FSP SSCs

afternoon:

TBA - ended up merely doing 4 sets of XR HeSPU + 15 sec static hold with RTO as much as possible.

decided to add my FSPs to the mobility this morning to catch up a little more with the missed monday arvo session. caught up with monday, yesterday afternoon with a leg day. will see how I feel later today, to determine if I'll complete the catch up by getting in the handstand WOD.

Thursday, 30th December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

2 each assisted neg. one arm chin

FSP SSCs

afternoon:

10 cast wall walks

5 x pike box press HeS

10 x straddle box press HeS

4 rounds:

2 x box HeSPU

6 wall walk steps

2 x neg. HeSPU

6 wall walk

2 x HeSPU

6 wall walk

2 x 10 wrist pushups from knees

got all 10 cast wall walks in one set for the 1st time!! press HeS felt pretty good; better than last time, but still a long way to go. HSPU ladders felt pretty good; a little more volume than previously.

Friday, 31st December 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

FSP SSCs

afternoon:

3 rounds:

MU -> L-sit -> shoulder stand -> 2 x bulgarian dips -> rev. neg. MU -> inverted hang -> 2 x slow neg. front pulls -> 2 x slow neg. back pulls

5 x 15s FL

5 x 15s XR strap HS

5 x 15s german hang

damn, this WOD (or variations thereof) hammer my elbows!! my long term IC prep will be very thankful, I'm sure.

can't do full ROM HSPU in the rings, so I tried bulgarian dips instead; felt good. MU felt strong, the daily morning practise is slowly paying off.

Monday, 3rd January 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow controlled, assisted MU transitions

MU felt *really* weak this morning.

back squats:

20 x 72.5kg

afternoon:

FSP SSCs

elbows are still a little sore and shoulders are still quite tired; will see how I feel this evening before making a decision about if/how I tackle the WOD.

and tackle it, I did...

3 rounds:

1 x emb BL (inverted hang to adv tuck BL)

5 x tempo TOPs pulls

1 x emb PL (L-sit to adv tuck PL)

5 x tuck PPP

1 x emb FL (inverted hang to adv tuck FL)

5 x V lifts on parallettes

my dynamic core strength is woefully inadequate. the V - lifts degraded to the point that I made my last set 5 x HLL instead. I really need to work in some remedial core work, but... there're *SO* many things that need remedial help!! ahh well, slow progress is still progress.

Tuesday, 4th January 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled MU transitions

MU transitions felt really weak again.

afternoon:

NIL.

I've got a few mild joint aches; elbows, shoulders and wrists. I'm taking the hint that my body isn't quite recovering as fast as it should (most likely due to continuing crappy sleep and less than perfect adherence to diet).

Wednesday, 5th January 2010

morning:

NIL

day off; ordinarily I'd still do my mobility/skill work in the morning, but I'm giving myself some continued rest, due to mild joint aches and what felt like the start of some kind cold/virus yesterday.

Thursday, 6th January 2010

morning:

mobility

back squats:

20 x 72.5kg

I'm committing to throwing in some twice weekly (mon/thurs) morning heavy leg training. for now, it's a quick set of 20 rep squats.

I ditched the MU transitions this morning. joints are feeling a LOT better after a few days of achiness. I felt like crap yesterday afternoon and was sure I was brewing a cold or something. so far so good today.

afternoon:

3 rounds:

front squats - 10 x 55kg

5 x NLC, assisted

5 x HLL

I strayed from the WOD as written. was going to follow it, but with all the rain lately and resultant long grass, I didn't like my chances of pulling the tire sled anywhere, let alone 30m!!

Friday, 7th January 2010

morning:

mobility

3 x slow, controlled assisted MU transitions

afternoon:

10 x cast wall walks

5 x pike box press HeS

10 x straddle box press HeS

6 cycles XR strap HS

got all 10 cast wall walks in one set again!! bit sketchy in the last one, but still felt pretty good.

press HeS are feeling better; definitely keeping my core tighter and controlling the descent/ascent better. think I may be ready to start altering the progression soon.

only 6 cycles of the XR strap HS; was more than enough. considered adding a few rounds of wall HS or maybe wall walks, but I called it a day, instead.

yea pat, shouldn't I take it personally when you say that piked box press are getting easier?? I can't even do a decent one, my attempts seems more like an inclined pushup than an headstand... even if I enjoy the ride very much I'd like keeping up with ya mate!!

I was thinking of making an everyday routine of pilates-stretching and gymnastic pre-hab, kinda of what you do in the morning, does it work well? advices from your experience so far?

ahh, about your sleeping issues, I can definitely share this topic with you, that's why I have so much time to work out... I just didn't want to metion as I'm not a total wreck even if on an 4-5 hrs sleep average.

I 'd suggest you to dig on sleep restriction, I was on CBT theraphy for more than a year without any improvement, as I didn't find an experienced doc on the subject. Still, I knew that CBT was what I needed and sleep hygiene/restriction is actually the only thing that is making me able to cope with insomnia, Sometimes DIY is better, this book is the best I've found so far:

Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques

Colin A. Espie (Author)

this isn't bad either:

The Insomnia Answer: A Personalized Program for Identifying and Overcoming the Three Types of Insomnia

Paul Glovinsky (Author)

hope it helps.