Saturday, December 20, 2008

Saturday 081220: Rings Strength

Worked on some split jerks to warm up.

Bench press: 1-1-1-1-1
185-205-215-225-225*

Tuck planche: 3x10 sec.
L-sit: 3x10 sec.
Overhead squat (30lbs): 3x5

30 sec. handstand hold + 2 HSPU

Horizontal seated row (135lbs): 5x5

Friday 081219: MetCon

10 minutes for maximum burpees.
Made it to 100 burpees.

Thursday 081218: Rest Day

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Wednesday 081217: Rings Strength, Rings Technique

Kip 3x1
Muscle-up 3x1

5x1 of
Kip
L-sit
Tuck planche
Cross (half + pullout)
Fwd. roll to muscle up
Fwd. roll to tuck front lever
Pull to back lever

Deadlift: 1-1-1-1-1
Got up to 200kg (440lbs), bodyweight is 175-178.

Press handstand: 1-1-1

Jump to maltese: 5x3
Seated row (70lbs on cable machine): 5x5

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Wednesday 081217: Rings Strength

Weighted muscle-up: 1-1-1-1-1
20-27-34*-34*-27
Kip, L-sit: 15x1

Tuesday 081216: Rings Strength

Front squat (175lbs): 3x3
Front lever pull: 3x3
Ice-cream maker: 3x3
Tuck planche: 5x1

Monday 081215: Rest Day

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday 081214: Rings Strength

Warm up: Row 500 meters
Front squat: 3x3 @ 175lbs
Front lever pull: 3x3
Ice-cream maker: 3x3
Tuck planche work on dip bars

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Saturday 081213: MetCon, Lifting

The 12 Days of Christmas

Do the workout just like the song, do the first item on the list, then do the second and the first items on the list, then do the third, second, and first items on the list . . . for time:
1 2 sec. handstand hold
2 KB snatches (24kg/16kg)
3 shoulder presses (95lbs/65lbs)
4 burpees
5 box jumps (18")
6 squats
7 situps
8 KB swings (24kg/16kg)
9 dips
10 pullups
11 knees-to-elbows
12 hang power cleans (95lbs/65lbs)

Chadron 26:43
Laura: 30:47

Finished up with some jerks and a few cleans; put up a 90kg clean and jerk.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Update

Been bad about posting the past few days, but Tuesday, and Wednesday took trips to the gym, did work on basic ring training stuff, nothing really crazy. Got to a HS on rings, and also landed a flyaway 1/2 dismount on Wednesday. Took Thursday off. Will work out today (Friday) and both weekend days; should be everything back on schedule. Law school finals sometimes interfere with my workout planning.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Tuesday 081209: Rings Strength

Front lever: 1-1-1-1-1
Cross pullout: 1-1-1-1-1
Press: 1-1-1-1-1

Early December Update

Monday 081208
Kip to L-sit: 7x1
Pull-up to cross push-out: 6x3
Fwd. roll to muscle-up: 3x1
Tuck planche (4 sec. hold): 8x1
Jump to maltese: 3x3

Sunday 081207
Sick Day

Saturday 081206
Clean: 1-1-1-1-1-1
205-215-225-235*-235*-225-235
275lbs. deadlift: 3x3
25lbs. dumbbell maltese press: 3x3
80lbs. pushup position row: 6x4 (3 sets per arm)

Friday 081205
Rest Day

Thursday 081204
Various rings drills: 30 mins.
Tuck planche: 4x1
L-sit press handstand: 4x1
Jump maltese: 5x3

Wednesday 081203
Fran
21-15-9 rounds for time of
95lbs. thruster
Pullup
6:58
Various rings drills: 30 minutes

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Tuesday 081202: Rings Strength, Rings Technique

Warm Up
2x of:
Ice cream-maker x3
Muscle-up x3
Box jump x3

Rings Technique
4x of practice routine #6.2:
Hang
Straight body pull to inverted hang
Inverted pike
Felge
L-sit
Press handstand
Tuck planche
Support
Front roll to muscle-up
Front roll to front lever
Kip
Cross
Forward roll to swing
Flyaway

Rings Strength
Cross pullout: 1-1-1
Kip cross practice

Monday 081201: Rest Day

Sunday 081130: Rings Strength, MetCon

Push press: 1-1-1-1-1
Bodyweight squat: 3-3-3
Tuck planche: 7 x 4 sec.

Tabata Mashup
8 rounds of:
~20 seconds man-makers @ 30lbs db/hand
~10 seconds rest
~20 seconds handstand
~10 seconds rest

Ex post comments: Got the push presses up to 135, a little sore from the deadlifts and dips from the day before. Tabata mashup of man-makers and handstands was crazy. Did the handstands spotted, was able to hold all but the seventh for the full 20 seconds.

Programming

The current goal is to put together a competition-ready rings routine for club-level competition. There are a number of meets in the first few months of 2009 where this will be possible.

I am developing my own programming, but am actively seeking out assistance with this. I have drawn guidance from Crossfit, Performance Menu, Gym Jones, postings on various message boards, and numerous other fitness blogs. My thanks for making their information public, I hope to continue in this same spirit with my own experiment.

Note that I will be changing this plan as time goes by and I get advice from the many people who have offered their help with this process. I will be making notes for changes in italic font; anyone using this blog in the future will be able to gather more information by looking at the process of what I've learned and changed than by just observing the finished product.

The plan is for a 2/1/3/1 schedule. The reason for this is that the gymnastics gym is going to only be available Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The equipment available there is far superior to that available elsewhere, both for skills and strength work.

Here’s the main idea of the programming:

Saturday: Ring Strength, MetCon
Sunday: Lifting
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Ring Technique, Ring Strength, MetCon
Wednesday: Ring Technique, Ring Strength
Thursday: Ring Technique, Ring Strength, MetCon
Friday: Rest

Lifting

Once a week perform Olympic lifts and their component parts, as well as other activities using the big muscle groups. Go heavy on these days, but also use the time to make sure that technical proficiency on these lifts does not backslide during this period of stepping out of normal programming.

MetCon

Two or three times per week, perform a short, intense workout, generally a combination of multiple exercises. The workout should last between three and ten minutes, and should be done at a very high level of intensity. Combinations of different movements, not necessarily all ring-focused are favored.

Ring Strength

This is the main portion of the programming geared exclusively to reach the goal of building and perfecting a routine. Inspired by Catalyst Athletics / The Performance Menu, the idea here is going to be to program in 4-week intervals.

Strength elements will generally be trained at relatively low volume and near-maximum capacity.

The odd-numbered four week cycles focus on building strength for the individual components of the routine while improving technical proficiency throughout. For elements already learned, this means repeating them, sometimes with weight added, with an emphasis on holding correct form. For elements which have yet to be learned, this cycle will focus on developing the correct form and technique, which means more assistance and repetition, and repeating the same exercises more often through the week. Expect a great deal of work with elastic bands and harnesses as well as work with weights and other exercises off the rings.

The even-numbered four week cycles focus on developing the entire routine, connecting elements together, and increasing the ability to train elements at or near maximum exertion on a frequent basis. For elements already learned, this will mean connecting all of them together in a single effort to practice execution of a competition-length routine. For elements which have yet to be learned, training will be low in quantity but performed at a maximum level of execution, preferably with a spotter rather than bands or a harness.

Ring Technique

Practice the more technical elements of the rings routine in large quantity. Focus on swinging, balance, and dismount elements, repeating them at great quantity, limited generally by fatigue preventing proper execution technique.

These will require strength but also focus on form and will generally be done when fresh.

Other Elements of Programming

In addition to this schedule, at least twice a week, do other activities such as swimming, running, or playing any sort of other sport. Keep lose and keep sane. Make sure that at least one of these activities is some sort of outlet in which performance is not tightly tracked and measured and is instead done just for the fun of it. For me, that’s playing volleyball or going hiking. The concept is to retain sanity and prevent burnout; although that does not mean that this part is less important than any other component of the programming.

Additionally, and somewhat conversely, do a mental workout once every few weeks. These are workouts that, while not necessarily physically draining, they are mentally demanding. Examples serve more for definition than anything else: 10x25 meter underwater swim on 1:00 intervals; muddy trail run during a rain storm with belly-crawl component; or a mile sand bag carry.

The idea is to push yourself toward a goal that you know you can physically do, but may or may not be able to push through mentally. You have to keep your mind sharp and will yourself to finish the workout. Once you’ve gone through this type of thing to reach your goal, you will be less likely to drop out of the program. You’re quite literally hazing yourself.

***

That is the programming schedule in a nutshell. I am very much open to feedback on this: it’s the primary reason I started this blog in the first place.