In the back of my mind is the goal of the one-armed chin(pull) up, in the front is pulling for Judo, Sambo, rowing, you name it. On Friday I did six singles of weighted pull-ups (90 lbs.) and two additional weighted negatives.
7-30-11
-100 kb swings
-2x10 db c&p (2x50 lbs)
-10 kneeling to standing rollouts
7-31-11
-wrist levers with shinai and iato
8-1-11
-100 kb swings
-3x3 1.5 weighted pull-ups, 24kgs, (click on the title for the link)
-Tabata row
The wrist is getting ever so broken down. The db C&P's hurt like hell. KB swings and pulling, hardly any pain at all. The T-Nation article referenced above is very interesting. I tried the 1.5 pull-ups, and liked them. The 1.5 consists of a pull-up, descend half-way, pull-up again and descend fully for one rep.
Showing posts with label rowing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rowing. Show all posts
Monday, August 1, 2011
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Vintage SNL
This is going to date me, but while working out today I remembered a skit from the original Saturday Night Live cast with John Belushi and Dan Akroyd. It took place on the deck of a ship from the days of sail. Belushi was Captain Ned, Akroyd was the first mate, every hand was a masochist, and the ship was called the Raging Queen. Struggling to finish 10 minutes of power hang-clean, push-presses, my mind flashed back to another vessel.
While in college I rowed on the freshman crew. I sometimes took the bow seat on the first boat, but mostly stroked the second boat. As a freshman, a lightweight and an oarsman on the second boat, I was the lowest of the low, a poor relation of the untouchables. My boat, an 8 man coxed sweep, a battered thing of marine plywood that nobody wanted, was also named the Raging Queen.
How this name passed muster with the university's athletic department, we never knew. Either the powers that be didn't stay up past prime time and so couldn't possibly know about SNL, or they did. Whatever the reason, we were party to the joke and butt of it at the same time. Oh the shame, rowing up to the start line to the jeers of the other boats. It would be ironic and sweet revenge if we won some races. But no. Bastards.
Despite the crew's dismal performance, we were in the best shapes of our lives (OK, we were also in our late teens). The training was grueling and always at an intensity that got the inner voices chatty. 'round about the 18th or 19th rep of PHCPP's I remembered Akroyd' s (or was it Belushi's, I forget who played first mate) line, "Discipline me, Captain Ned." Someone in my boat threw it out there one miserable practice session. Gallows humor. It got chuckles from the crew and saved the day.
9/30/10:
-50 burpees (3'50)
-10 minutes of power hang-clean push press (40)
-pull-ups w/Fe (2x6)
-dips w/Fe (11,12)
The no-mas-ometer reads 3.9.
3,862
98/64/74-This is a weird reading from my blood-pressure monitor. I don't know if this is an instrument error, a result of training, biofeedback practice, or because I just finished an Asahi Dry.
Friday, May 21, 2010
summer of love
It's Friday and I'm rockin' my Capezios. Not really, but I love the remix of this Donna Summer classic.
Today's workout:
-VB51
-squat cleans on the minute (7x3)
-push press on the minute (5x5)
-Tabata row!
I started out with a leisurely 51 burpees-no timer and lots of rest. I then added a set to the squat cleans and push-presses and finished with a Tabata row. As with all of the exercises, I used nasal breathing to recover and get the heart rate down quickly. Following the row, which again sent up a small cloud of dust, I got a little congested, which made nasal breathing very difficult; almost sent me into a panic attack (danger, danger, no oxygen).
2,460/11,xxx
Monday, March 8, 2010
A journey of 10,000 burpees
A journey of 10,000 burpees starts with one jump. A challenge was issued by my friend Chris,10,000 push-ups was his goal. Sounds good, I thought. Might as well join in and go for the trifecta, tendonitis in the knees, elbows and shoulders, by adding a squat thrust and jump (burpee=squat thrust, push-up, jump). Sounds crazy, no?
Actually,the burpee is a super-efficient conditioning exercise. Four summers ago, I was on a diet of 50 burpees a day (VB50). In one month I whittled my 100 burpee time, around the 8 minute mark, down to 6 and a half minutes. It works out to about 3 minutes of conditioning per day. Even if you have a busy schedule, it's not hard to find a slot for three minutes.
These days, I'm a little older and a little thicker in the middle, and my VB50 time is around 3 and a half minutes. I've taken up the challenge, but dang, looking forward to 50 burpees a day makes you want to stay in bed. One week into the challenge and I've only done 320. Time to get grinding.
While I'm on the subject of training challenges, I'm working on several others concurrently:
-One Armed chin-up (OACU), This one was inspired by my daughter, who asked me innocently last night,"You can do one of those, right daddy?" Curse you, YouTube! "Not yet," I responded. I can do regular sets of 5 with a 24 kg KB. A bit of a way to go and I'm stuck at 5 reps with 24 kg on the belt. Argh!
-Sub 7 minute 2K on the Concept II. About the same time I was on the daily VB50 plan, I rowed 2k in about 6 and a half minutes. These days, it's a wheezy 7'45." I'd like to get that time down.
-Secret service snatch test (200 KB snatches in 10 minutes). This one is really daunting. Single arm swings and high-pulls are no problem with 24 kgs, but snatches?! We don't need no steenkin' snatches!
Stay tuned or train along with me. Today's workout will be VB50, a KB breathing pyramid, and assisted OACU negatives.
Actually,the burpee is a super-efficient conditioning exercise. Four summers ago, I was on a diet of 50 burpees a day (VB50). In one month I whittled my 100 burpee time, around the 8 minute mark, down to 6 and a half minutes. It works out to about 3 minutes of conditioning per day. Even if you have a busy schedule, it's not hard to find a slot for three minutes.
These days, I'm a little older and a little thicker in the middle, and my VB50 time is around 3 and a half minutes. I've taken up the challenge, but dang, looking forward to 50 burpees a day makes you want to stay in bed. One week into the challenge and I've only done 320. Time to get grinding.
While I'm on the subject of training challenges, I'm working on several others concurrently:
-One Armed chin-up (OACU), This one was inspired by my daughter, who asked me innocently last night,"You can do one of those, right daddy?" Curse you, YouTube! "Not yet," I responded. I can do regular sets of 5 with a 24 kg KB. A bit of a way to go and I'm stuck at 5 reps with 24 kg on the belt. Argh!
-Sub 7 minute 2K on the Concept II. About the same time I was on the daily VB50 plan, I rowed 2k in about 6 and a half minutes. These days, it's a wheezy 7'45." I'd like to get that time down.
-Secret service snatch test (200 KB snatches in 10 minutes). This one is really daunting. Single arm swings and high-pulls are no problem with 24 kgs, but snatches?! We don't need no steenkin' snatches!
Stay tuned or train along with me. Today's workout will be VB50, a KB breathing pyramid, and assisted OACU negatives.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Healthy as a horse, he says.
I recently had my annual check-up and my doctor concludes that I am healthy as a horse. The good doctor specializes in cardiology and internal medicine, and not veterinary medicine by the way, so I wonder how accurate the equine simile is. He didn't even ask for a urine sample. Actually, the examination comprised history, blood-work, EKG, a listen to my breath sounds and a minute or two with the blood-pressure cuff.
My blood pressure was measured as I sat on the examination table: 114/68. My heart rate, 53 beats per minute. These numbers mean something to me, especially the resting heart rate. In my 20's my resting heart rate was once tested at 38 beats per minute. At the time, I was running 5k's on a treadmill at a pace just a tad slower than what would cause me to fall and get launched off the belt. The doctor who tested me was impressed by my resting heart rate. Olympic caliber, I was lead to believe. Since then, I've been interested in maintaining a low resting heart rate. Now in my 40's, however, I have no interest in running like George Jetson, "Help, Jane, stop this crazy thing!"
For the past five years, my fitness regimen has consisted of high-intensity interval training with an emphasis on short training periods (20 minutes or less) and minimal equipment (my wife would argue this last point). The Tabata protocol figures heavily in my training, but other interval schemes are also observed. My favorite tools include a Concept II rowing ergometer, adjustable dumbbells, kettlebell, pull-up bar, Akro wheels, dip stand and a kitchen timer. Tools are not necessary. The burpee, for example, is a simple bodyweight exercise as challenging as you will find. I call it vitamin B (VB), an essential part of my daily regimen.
So I asked my doc during this most recent exam, "What should I be doing if I want to live longer?" He chuckled and said, "keep doing what you're doing."
My blood pressure was measured as I sat on the examination table: 114/68. My heart rate, 53 beats per minute. These numbers mean something to me, especially the resting heart rate. In my 20's my resting heart rate was once tested at 38 beats per minute. At the time, I was running 5k's on a treadmill at a pace just a tad slower than what would cause me to fall and get launched off the belt. The doctor who tested me was impressed by my resting heart rate. Olympic caliber, I was lead to believe. Since then, I've been interested in maintaining a low resting heart rate. Now in my 40's, however, I have no interest in running like George Jetson, "Help, Jane, stop this crazy thing!"
For the past five years, my fitness regimen has consisted of high-intensity interval training with an emphasis on short training periods (20 minutes or less) and minimal equipment (my wife would argue this last point). The Tabata protocol figures heavily in my training, but other interval schemes are also observed. My favorite tools include a Concept II rowing ergometer, adjustable dumbbells, kettlebell, pull-up bar, Akro wheels, dip stand and a kitchen timer. Tools are not necessary. The burpee, for example, is a simple bodyweight exercise as challenging as you will find. I call it vitamin B (VB), an essential part of my daily regimen.
So I asked my doc during this most recent exam, "What should I be doing if I want to live longer?" He chuckled and said, "keep doing what you're doing."
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