July 30, 2016 Sprinting, Broad Jumps

• 110m: 2
• 200m: 26.04, 1, 1 
• 110m: 2
• Total: 1040m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 6", 9' 9", 9' 11", 9' 11.5", 10' 1"!!!!, 10' 3" NEW PR!!, 9' 11", 9' 6", 9' 9"

Ok, so on the 200 I thought for sure I had 25.5. There wasn't even any wind for once hurting on the straightaway, ran hard all the way through...Somewhat annoyed. I felt really good though going into this, decided to put in a longer session.  The thing is as you get older, or even start hitting your mid-30s, even if you SEE that there are people running 100s in the high 10s in their 50s or whatever, you still start to wonder.  You think about how many more really great workouts you have; I've always treated every workout like it could be my last, but still.  

So I went over to broad jumps; I tried using the other sand pit, it's by the quieter end of the track, I liked it more.  I've been really close to a PR lately, but haven't been able to get over 10'...then my first 'exploratory' jump I had 9 and a half feet. That's always a good sign.  Next couple went well, and narrowly missed 10' on 2 straight.  I was exhausted from the sprinting, but part of me wonders if losing all the weight to sweat makes it easier to jump further.  

This just felt like one of those days that are rare, and when you get that feeling you have got to take advantage of it.  There's a million things that go into max athletic performance, and you can't always control right when you peak.   I kept pushing, narrowly missed my PR, and then uncorked a 10' 3" jump.  I'm going to try and remember everything about that jump to see if I can replicate it again.  I absolutely stuck it.  So happy. I love sprinting and I absolutely love jumping.  Very few things do I enjoy more.

I like being in shape.  It might sound conceited, but I really do.  I mean, the body's purpose is to keep your brain alive, protect family, etc.  I've built something that can do that pretty darn well.  

Anyway, I think I'm going to try adding in long jumping next session, and also I want to post some progress pics pretty soon.  


EDIT: I just realized that my previous record had stood for almost 3 years...holy moley. I thought I set it in 2015..

July 28, 2016 Full Body

• Deadlift (double overhand): 315*1 365*1 405*1
• Deadlift: 445*1 465*1 480*1
• DB Flat: 85*10 100*6 105*8
• Hanging Power Snatches: 100*3 125*3 140*2 150*1/1 (db flat stuff really exhausted me)
• BB Rows (Giant Set w/ standing press): 245*5 265*3 285*3
• Standing Press (continuation of giant set): 135*7 145*2 135*2 -completed gassed.
• Reverse Hypers: 90*6 90*7
• Hex Farmers: 405*100
• Narrow-Stance Free-Standing Paloffs: 25*10 25*10 25*10

65 minutes

I wanted to just switch some things up here for a session, I like doing that before I get in a rut.  405&365 deadlifts used hook grip.  The DB Flat 85&100 sets were done with minimal rest between sets, was completely locking up after 6 reps there.  My whole upper body was tired after all that, didn't have much pop for the snatches.  After that I did 6 straight sets only taking time between to change the weight and grab a quick drink from the fountain right there on the weight floor.  Was completely toasted after that.  Enjoyed the Hex Farmers too...always feel badass.  The problem with them is it takes so long to set up and then break them down...without them this would have been a 60 minute workout.  

Finished with standing paloffs; I say narrow stance, but it was really with my feet shoulder-width apart.  Usually people do them with their feet spread several inches past shoulder width: 

I liked doing them narrow-stance, it's much more difficult, I think I may start doing them more, I felt it in different parts of my core & hips. 

July 26, 2016 Sprints

• 110m: 2
• 200m: 1
• 110m: 1
• Total: 530m

sigh. Really windy again, killed my 200 time.  Otherwise fine session. 

July 24, 2016 Full Body

• Squats: 225*3 275*1 315*1 335*1 350*1 365*1 -knot in lower left back still, hurts to squat.
• Front Squats: 245*1 255*1 275*1 - same
• Incline Bench: 185*3 205*3 225*1 235*1
• Pullups Cluster: 85*1,1,1,1,1
• Pull-Throughs: 150*10 15*10
• Unilateral DB Press: 60*10
• LM Rows: 225*4 225*4
• DB Goblet Carries: 120*91 120*114
• Dead Bugs: 10, 10

63 minutes

Still have that knot in the back, hurts when pressure is put on my back from above, like with squats.  Rest of session went good, although I would have preferred more volume. 

July 22, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 3
• 220m: 1
• 200m: 1
• 110m: 1
• Total: 860m

Did a Friday session since I've got some stuff going on tomorrow and don't want to try and squeeze a half-assed session in then. 

July 21, 2016 Full Body

• Bench Press: 225*5 245*3 265*1 280*1 -lower left back is too tight, can't arch.
• Sumo DL: 315*1 365*1 405*1 445*1 475*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 95*3 120*2 140*1 150*1
• BB Rows: 240*3 260*3 280*3
• Dips: 60*5 60*4
• Reverse Hypers: 85*6 85*6
• Overhead Carries: 65*65
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

63 minutes

Not a bad session, lower left back is really tight though, made things difficult. 

July 18, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 1
• 200m: 1 20mph headwind. Seriously.
• 100m: 1
• Broad Jump: 9' 8", 9' 9", 9' 8", 9' 7"

Remember when my attempts to run the 200 weren't marred by a hideous headwind?  Pepperidge farm remembers. On the plus side I can run full throttle through about 180m now, without wind maybe that would be the full 200.  Still feeling a bit run down, even after the 2 days off; I actually feel carb-starved even after fat-kid Saturday.

July 15, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 1
• 100m: 11.94, 11.78!! NEW PR!!
• 200m: 26.22 fucking wind
• 100m: 1
• Total: 610m

continuing progress!  Didn't feel fabulous, but the wind died down enough for me to hit a great time on the 100 there, both of them actually went really well.  I don't know what it is, but the past few weeks the wind on the track has been just awful. I'm not sure if it's because of the new buildings nearby altering wind patterns for this time of year, or what. But it's usually just dead-heat on the track this time of year, which I love.  

July 14, 2016 Full Body

• Bench Press: 225*5 250*3 250*2,2
• Sumo Deadlift (double overhand): 315*1 365*1
• Sumo Deadlift: 405*1 455*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 95*3 115*3 135*3
• Hanging Power Snatch Overhead Hold: 135*20 seconds
• BB Rows: 230*3 250*3 270*3
• Unilateral Hip Thrusts: 70*6 70*6
• Revers Hypers: 80*6 80*6
• DB Farmers: 120*78 120*60
• Paloffs: 45*10

63 minutes

Felt really flat here, think I may take the weekend off; going to go sprinting tomorrow though.  

July 12, 2016 Sprinting

• 60m: 2
• 100m: 12.04, 12.16
• 200m: 1
• Total: 520m

Crappy wind conditions again.  Also felt a bit flat.  

July 10, 2016 Full Body

• Front Squats: 225*1 255*1 280*1 300*1
• Squats: 315*1 340*1 365*1-dizzy
• Standing Press: 155*4 170*1 155*3 155*2
• Pull-Ups (cluster): 85*2,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Pull-Throughs: 150*10 150*10
• BB Incline: 185*3 205*2 225*2
• Landmine Rows: 225*3 270*2
• Standing Press Walks: 65*63 65*41
• WSARC: 40*10

63 minutes

Felt a bit fatigued, didn't sleep great last night I don't think. Still bagged 300 on front squats, and had a nice cluster set on pullups. 

July 9, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 3
• 40y:2
• 110m:3
• 400m: 1 (jog)
• ~720/~1120 (if counting 400)

Went with a friend, damp/drizzly out.

July 7, 2016 Full Body

• Bench Press: 225*3 250*3 270*1 285*1
• Sumo Deadlift (double overhand): 315*1
• Sumo Deadlift: 405*1 445*1 475*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 95*3 115*3 135*1 145*1 150*1
• BB Rows: 225*3 245*3 265*3
• Standing Press: 145*3 165*2 175*halfway
• Unilateral Hip Thrusts: 65*5 65*5
• Heavy Bag Pedestal Carries: 2, 2
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

65 minutes

Bit slower pace here, everything went well though, deadlift numbers went up a bit which was nice.  

July 6, 2016 Dodgeball

• Dodgeball: 75 minutes

Left a few minutes early, was exhausted

July 6, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 1
• 200m: 25.75!! NEW PR!!, 1

whoooo!  Continuing to chip away here...I'm making it further and further at full-speed before I hit that drop at the end.  Hoping for sub 24 once I can go all-out for the full 200.  No wind here, beautiful day.  Took yesterday off to rest up for this and it paid off.  Will do dodgeball tonight as well. 

July 3, 2016 Full Body

• Olympic Squats: 225*3 275*1 305*1 325*1
• Front Squats: 275*1 290*1 300*1
• Pullups: 80*2 80*2 80*1,1,1
• BB Incline: 185*3 205*3 225*1 245*1
• Pull-Throughs: 150*10 150*10
• Dips: 90*3 90*2
• Reverse Hypers: 55*8 55*6
• DB Standing Press Walk: 60*85 60*60
• Dead Bugs: 10
• Ab-Wheel: 10

63 minutes

Switched it up with some olympic squats here.  Surprisingly got more than I expected out of front squats afterward. 

July 2, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 1
• 100m: 1
• 200m: 2
• 110m: 1
• Total: 720m

Not great running conditions weather-wise, that sheering wind was all over the track today, took a stab at the 100 record, didn't come even close.  Did some 200s, figure when the wind dies down it'll feel super easy since the two here were like running through stew with the wind blowing right in my face on the straight-away. 

June 30, 2016 Full Body

• Bench Press: 225*3 245*2 255*1,1,1
• Sumo Deadlift (double overhand): 315*1
• Sumo Deadlift: 365*1 405*1 445*1 465*1-cramping 405*3
• Standing Press: 135*3 155*3 165*1 135*6
• BB Rows: 225*3 250*3 270*3
• Unilateral Hip Thrusts: 65*5 65*4
• DB Goblet Carries: 120*112(!!)
• Free-Standing Paloffs: 45*10 45*10

58 minutes

Was feeling a bit flat, didn't push things on benching.  Figured I'd try sumo deadlifting for a switch. I always forget that you don't just automatically add 20 lbs. on to your previous conventional deadlift session, sumo emphasizes different parts.  I actually almost had my legs cramp on the 465 pull.  Figured no way was I doing any snatches after that.  Also added in unilateral hip thrusts; wanted to work those in for a while now. 

June 28, 2016 Sprinting

• 110m: 5

Wasn't going to be breaking any records here, just a nice supplemental session

I've now been working out over half my life

I started when I was several weeks shy of 17 and a half, I’ll be 35 in September; I calculated it, and at some point in the past couple I crossed the point where I had been working out for half my life. Looking back to when I started, it seemed like your early or mid 30s was pretty much when you started to decline, and I wondered what would happen when I got here. Turns out nothing has really changed at all. I figured I’d share some of the hyuuuge points that got me here; none of this is groundbreaking, but really I’ve tried so many different things over the years, I can tell you this advice works.

1. Compound movements. Pick a routine, it doesn’t matter which, someday once you know enough about your body you can even make your own, like I do. Whatever routine you do, have it based around the compound movements. My first couple years I tried every machine in the world, and after my noob gains were finished I made 0 progress.
2. Diet. When you start out, track every single molecule that goes into your body (and yes, alcohol counts. Every drop of it). Pay attention to the nutrition advice on the gainit/loseit forums. Yes it seems boring at first, just have some discipline and follow some sort of nutritional regime for a couple months; the progress you’ll see eventually reinforces continued healthy eating. Eventually you can branch out into more exciting foods, but you kind of have to ‘reset’ eating habits. This was the biggest one for me. I started out 5′ 10″ 130 lbs. I started eating a bit more, hit 160…and then never gained another pound or ounce of strength. I wasted my first 5 years on this. It wasn’t until my early-mid twenties that I started tracking how I ate, and found that I was only getting about 1900 calories per day, and barely hitting 90g of protein. Once I fixed that and did some bulking cycles, I hit 190+ lbs at around 10% bf within 3 years. I’m still above 190 now, and below 10% last I checked, and it is ALL because of getting my diet together.
3. Rest. Sleep. Holy crap does this matter, ESPECIALLY as you begin throwing around bigger weights, and again once you start approaching your natural potential. I know, binge-watching CSI:Tulsa or whatever horse-shit is on TV now is good fun, but seriously, there is so much research on sleep-debt now and the life-shortening effect of it. Just get 8 hours of sleep (or more if you need it), and be done with it. An extra hour of sleep and hitting the gym well-rested usually results in 30-35 lbs. extra on a deadlift max for me, I’m not exaggerating. A lot of movements depend heavily on your CNS not being shot, and sleep is really the only way to restore it.
4. Mobility/Stretching. Do it. I know it’s boring, but even 10 minutes per day can make a huge difference. I started in my late 20s doing a lot more, especially stuff for hips/quads/hams because so many movements are lower-body intensive. Stretching can also help people that sit at chairs all day get rid of the forward-shoulder slouch that most people have. Regardless, it helps stave off injuries and can help you recover better. Those of you that are younger and reading this and brushing it off, I was in your shoes once too, believe me, when you get past your mid 20s you start to stiffen up if you don’t take care of things.
5. Set a Goal: If you are training like a 100m sprinter, when your goal is to be a defensive lineman…well you’re not going to get where you want. Make sure your routine, diet, everything, matches it up with what that end goal is. Seems straightforward, but I feel like 80% of people screw this part up.
6. Attitude/Consistency: This is probably the biggest point, and it covers everything else I’ve written here. With all of this, you have to be consistent. A month on, a month off, a month on a month off etc. isn’t going to get you anywhere. Neither is pushing it at the gym one day and then slacking off for 6. Or staying on a nutritional plan, and then falling off of it for 10 days, and then going back on for a month, and then off for 2 weeks, etc. I owe almost all of my success to my consistency. Attitude is the other part of that; if you treat this like something you HAVE to do, then it’s a chore, if you treat it like something you GET to do, then it’s an opportunity. Make it work; I have so many more family obligations, work obligations, etc. than I did half a lifetime ago (man did the last 10 years especially fly by fast). I switched back to full-body workouts to cut down my sessions in the gym from 4 to 2 per week (I also sprint twice per week), so that I can spend more time with family, and get extra days of recovery in. It’s worked great. My point is, find a way to fit fitness AROUND your life, not your life AROUND fitness, and then stick to it.

Anyway, this is getting long, so I’ll wrap it up, and just say it’s amazing how much the world has changed the past 17 years. The internet wasn’t the source of fitness knowledge like it is now, and what little there was basically ended up being broscience. There are so many resources available now, that someone 17 reading this can right from the beginning start training the right way, and I think that’s awesome. I didn’t know how long I could keep going when I first started, but now my goal is to be as healthy/strong/fast as humanly possible for as long as I live, and that’s my overarching goal with all my training/diet/rest/etc.

June 26, 2016 Full Body

• Front Squats: 225*1 265*1 285*1
• Squats: 315*1 335*1 350*1 -tired hamstrings
• Pullups: 80*3 80*2 80*2
• Sternum Pullups: 9
• Pull-Throughs: 130*10 140*10 150*10
• BB Incline: 185*3 205*3 225*1 235*1
• LM Rows: 180*5 225*3 270*2
• Standing Press: 135*5 - toast
• Waiter Walks: 75895
• Dead Bugs: 10, 10
• Dragon Flags: 1

61 minutes

Good session, ice-bath after, as always.  Hamstrings were a bit tired after sprinting yesterday. 

June 25, 2016 Sprinting

• 200m: 1, 26.00, 26.41
• 100m: 2
• Broad Jump: 9' 0", 9' 3", 9' 5" wet sand

So my thinking was that since Danehy Park's track feels slow I should be able to get another PR here. Didn't happen even though I felt fast.   Did some other stuff....sand was wet on the jumping pit so I couldn't really let it fly, or it would hurt when I landed.

June 23, 2016 Full-Body

• Bench Press: 225*3 245*3 260*1 275*1 290*1
• Deadlift (double overhand); 315*1
• Deadlift: 405*1 445*1 475*1 490*1 (!!, PR for sprint season)
• HPS: 95*3 120*3 140*1 150*1-starfish
• BB Rows: 250*3 270*2 280*1
• Standing Press: 135*1 155*2 165*1
• DB Farmers: 120*81 120*45 120*56
• Sternum Pullups: 6 - shot
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

62 minutes

Holy crap did I fit a lot in here in just 62 minutes.   Hit my sprint-season PR for deadlifting, never gotten close to that in sprint season.  Did some extra db farmers...whole thing went well today.  Ice-baths work so well in helping me recover, and the extra off days are great for recovery. Love this.

June 22, 2016 Dodgeball

• Dodgeball: 80 minutes

June 21, 2016 Sprinting

• 200m: 1, 25.94!! NEW PR!!, 26.04!!
• Total: 600m
• Ice-Bath: 15 minutes. 

Whoah...had to go to Danehy park in Cambridge since Harvard's was occupied.  I feel like this track is usually slower, even when I was doing that 2nd 200 after the warmup I thought that it felt slow as heck....and then record...wow.  It felt like 27 seconds or something.  The 26.04 after...man I thought I was going to die after that one.  Feels good man 

Now that I pretty much do the ice-baths after every session not sure I really need to record it every time now....maybe if it's just a long one or short one?