Workout Saturday 8/9/12

Having missed out on the Killer Cardio (KC) session on Thursday, I decided to do a variation of this today.  Focusing a little more on fight conditioning, I incorporated bag punching and kicking into the KC routine.  The aim with this circuit is to keep the heart rate up, but to also work on power, to work the ATP-CP system.  Short bursts of power, that's what it's all about...

Warm-up

15 minute brisk walk to gym.

Fighting Circuit

5 sets.

30 second rest between each exercise, 2 minutes rest between sets.

1 minute skipping.
10 squats at 45 kg.
50 fast punches.
20 fast kicks.
2 x 20m sprint.
20 crunches.

Warm-down

5 minutes walking.
30 minutes proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) & static stretching, including makoho stretching.
15 minutes brisk walk home.

Workout Friday 7/9/12

A light cardio day today.  The thing that I love about the type of training I'm doing is mixing it up as much as possible.  I will almost never do the same workout twice - every session in the gym is a little challenge to do something different, to load and test my body in a way I've not yet tried.  There will always be the same types of foundation exercises, of course, but I believe that if you mix the movements around, incorporating different superset patterns, and work in a varied mix of smaller compound movements, it will be more difficult to adapt to the work.  This pretty much ensures progression in strength.

Cardio

15 minutes brisk walk to gym.
5 minutes rower.
25 minutes elliptic cycle.  High intensity interval training (HIIT).
10 minutes treadmill running.  2.5km.
20 minutes brisk walk home.

Foam roller 5 minutes.
Static stretching 10 minutes.

Workout Thursday 6/9/12

Simple strength day today.  My two other training partners for my killer cardio sessions had other appointments, and after the plyometrics I did at school last night I was more than content to simply hit the weights.  So, after a lovely lunch of authentic Japanese from Mizu, in South Yarra, off I went...


Warm-up

15 minutes brisk walk to the gym.
5 minutes skipping.
Resistance band stretches - thoracic/chest/shoulders.

 Deadlift & Bench Press Superset

4 sets of 6 reps for each exercise.

Deadlift - 1st set 95.5kg, sets 2,3 & 4 115.5kg.
Bench press - 70.5kg.

Front Squat & Row Superset

4 sets of 6 reps (front squat) and 8 reps (seated row).  Powerclean to start position for front squat.

Front squat - 55.5kg.
Seated row - 90kg.

Triceps Push-down, Crunches & Modified Cuban Press Superset

3 sets of 8 reps (triceps push-down), 20 reps (crunches) and 10 reps (mod. Cuban press).

Triceps push-down - 40kg.
Crunches - bodyweight.
Modified Cuban press - 5kg dumbells.

Pullof Press & Face Pulls

2 sets of 30 second hold, 10 punches, 10 presses (Pullof press), and 10 reps (face pulls).

Pullof press - 17.5kg.
Face pulls - resistance band.

Warm-down

Foam roller (at gym) - 5 minutes.
25 minutes brisk walk home.
Foam roller (at home) - 10 minutes.
Static stretching - 10 minutes.

Workout Wednesday 5/9/12

Today was the first time in a while that I really didn't feel like being in the gym.  I was tired from a restless night with my youngest child, and that lack of effective rest was having an impact on my psychological state.  However, I usually find that on those occasions where the will is weak, the reward at the end of the session is multiplied.  It wasn't to be today, I still felt pretty crap afterwards.  In this workout I compromised by keeping it short and focused on upper body and core.

Cranky session

Warm-up

15 minute brisk walk to gym.
5 minutes skipping.
Resistance band stretches - thoracic/chest/shoulder.

Chest

Superset 3 sets of 10 reps.
Dumbell bench press - 25kg dbs.
Dumbell bench flies - 5 kg dbs.

Shoulder/back

Superset 3 sets of 10 reps.
Barbell bent-over row (overhand/pronated grip) - 53kg.
Dumbell shoulder press - 15kg dbs.

Torsonator

2 sets of 10 reps each side.
15 kg plate.
Twists/squat&press/clean&press/squat&side to side press/knee kicks.

Warm-down

15 minutes brisk walk home.
Foam roller for 10 minutes.
Static stretches for 10 minutes.

At school last night I also had a session of plyometrics and a study of core lifts.  The lifts were all about technique, and barely rate a mention as 'work', but the plyometrics session was a real sweat-maker.

Plyometrics

5 minutes warm-up jog/sprints.
Illinois test x 3.
V test x 3.
Ladder runs + variations x 15.
Bean bag catches.

Once I got home from class I was feeling much better.  The plyometrics was something I really enjoyed, and I have noticed a very big improvement in my cardiovascular fitness over the last couple of months.  I'm starting to feel pretty good for a 40-year-old!

Workout Tuesday 4/9/12

The author demonstrating the ONLY appropriate use of  a Smith machine.

I have an ongoing issue with rotator cuff tendinopathy, specifically supraspinatus and biceps tendinopathy, and this has seriously affected my training regime.  I have had to cut out all isolation exercises for the arms, notably curls and dips, and have had to cut down on the weights for the other big exercises like bench press, rows and shoulder press.  I am taking anti-inflammatories, and am performing minor rotator cuff movements like horizontal external shoulder rotation with a resistance band (elbow at hip).

Today's focus was on mid-level volume.  Three exercises, 6 sets, 6 reps of each.  Again, the weight was only at about 65-70% max due to concerns and limitations regarding the injury.  We have to be careful...

Volume superset

6 sets, 6 reps.

Bench press - 65.5kg.
T-bar row - 65kg.
1 powerclean to 6 front squats - 63kg.

Workout Sunday 2/9/12

Conditioning day today.  It's about sweat, coupling strength and power in movement, and neural training - pretty much everything that gets done in the dojo, but without the pair-work.  The emphasis is on technique (as it always is, really).

Warm-up

15 minutes brisk walk to the gym.
5 minutes skipping.

Conditioning

9 minutes 16kg kettle bell complex - two-handed swings, ATBP, single-hand swings, one-leg deadlifts, swing&pull back.

Torsonator complex - twists, one-arm squat&press, clean&press, hand-to-hand squat&press, knee kicks.  2 sets.
Judo push-ups.  4 sets of 9 reps (standard, then left and right).
Face pulls - 2 sets of 10 reps.

Bag work.  500 punches, 200 kicks.  (Started breaking in my lovely new Everlast grappling gloves.  Mmmmm.  Punching...)

Warm-down

15 minutes brisk walk home.
10 minutes foam roller.
10 minutes static stretching.

Workout Saturday 1/9/12

Sometimes the only thing to do when you're feeling hungover and a little bit slow is to hit the gym and work through all of the neural dysfunction (and stagnation) and detox like a mofo.  And what's the best way of doing this?  Well, it's really just a matter of turning up and seeing what happens.  Once you're at the gym, what is the only option left to you but to workout?  Granted, you could be one of those types that just hangs around chatting about all of the great workouts you've done, about all of the martial arts you used to do, about how strong/fast/flexible/fit you used to be, or you could just shut your mouth and get on with it.  Today, this is how I got on with it.

Warm-up

17 minute shaky walk to the gym.
Drink water.
Neural stretching - resistance band stretch for chest, thoracic spine & shoulders.
Drink water.

Legs/back/etc

Superset

Deadlift - 2 sets of 8 x 95.5kg, 1 set of 105.5kg.
Pushups - 3 sets of 10 reps.
Drink water.

Chest/legs/core

Superset

Barbell benchpress - 3 sets of 8 reps at 65.5kg.
Barbell (overhead) lunge - 3 sets of 20 reps at 33kg.
Drink water, keep stomach acids down.  Breathe.

Back/shoulders/core

Superset

Drink water.
Seated row - 3 sets of 10 reps at 85kg.
Dumbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 10 reps at 12.5kg.
Drink water.

Core/rotator cuff

Cable hold & punch (modified Pullof press) - 30 second hold, 10 mid-level punches, 10 upper-level punches - 2 sets at 17.5kg.
Resistance band face-pulls - 2 sets of 10 reps.
Water.  Lots more water.

Warm-down

15 minutes brisk walk home (feeling almost great now).
10 minutes foam roller.
10 minutes static stretching.