Easter Morning; Quick Training Session 4/5/2015

This morning is Easter Morning, The kids got up early for their baskets, we had an egg hunt around the house, breakfast was cooked and then there was a lull in the morning where we cleaned up and everyone started getting ready to go visit relatives. 

I took this time to squeeze in this quick workout since the rest of the day will probably be slow going.

50 Jumping Jacks

20 Kettle bell dead lifts (54lbs) 

20 Push ups

20 Single leg dead lifts (10 each side) 

20 Heisman's (a knees to elbow movement) 

20 Kettle bell Swings

20 Body weight Squats

20 Kettle bell Snatches (10 each side) 

20 Burpees

20 Single Arm Kettle bell swings (10 each side) 

20 Push up Jacks (a push up with the legs jumping in and out like a jumping jack) 

Doing a quick little something now will pay off later!

Obstacle Course Training Workout 4/4/2015

Warm-up

3 minutes Jumping Jacks

50' Butt Kick

50' Power Skip

50' Lateral Skip (each direction) 

Set A: 1 Minute Each

Push ups

Tuck Jump 

Plank

Walking Lunge

Burpees

Body weight Squats

Set B:

10 Kettlebell Swings

50 yard run

10 Push ups

50 yard run

10 Kettle bell Snatches (5 ea. side)

50 yard run

10 Burpees

50 yard run 

10 Kettle Bell Swings

50 yard run 

10 Push ups 

50 yard run 

10 Kettle bell Snatches (5 ea. side)

50 yard run

10 Burpees

50 yard run

Cool Down:

Shoveled and filled up 5 gallon buckets with gravel and sand off road from winter plowing. Used to buckets to fill in potholes along the road,

Obstacle Course Training WOD 3/31/15

No Gym, No Equipment, No Problem

Warm-up

3 minutes Jumping Jacks
50' Butt Kick
50' Power Skip

Main Set

30 Burpees
30 Box Jumps (aka picnic table)
100 Reverse Crunches
30 Squats
30 Lateral Squats (each side)
100 High Knees (50 each side)
30 Jump Squats
30 Jump Lunges

Strength 

3 sets pull ups to failure

Obstacle Course Training WOD 3/23/15

Obstacle Course Training WOD  3/22/15

Thank You Metro North Railroad for the use of the parking facilities and the awkward glares from you riders

3 minutes Jumping Jacks
15 double heels to butt kick
15 Star Jumps
3 minutes foward, reverse and lateral skipping
2 sets max incline pushup +10 rear foot elevated squat each side+10 renegade rows
300' bear crawl
300' Walking Lunge

Obstacle Course Training Workout 3/24/15

Obstacle Course Training WOD:

50' Walking Leg Hug
50' Lunge with floor tap
100' Power Skip
100' Lateral Skip

3 Minutes Jumping Jack
15 Kettle bell Swings
15 Incline Close Grip Push Ups
3 Minutes Walking Lunge
15 Kettle bell Swings
15 Incline Close Grip Push Ups
3 Minutes Bear Crawl
15 Kettle bell Swings
15 Incline Close Grip Push Ups

5 - 40 yard sprints (trot back)

Obstacle Course Training: Unilateral Workout

It's March and I am starting to prepare for the upcoming Obstacle Course Racing season. What I have done the last few years is over the colder winter months stick to a mostly pure strength training approach to my workouts, mixing in a little bit of high intensity conditioning work.

As I get closer to the events I plan to participate in I try to start mix in work that will enable me to transition from running to doing intense work to simulate moving from obstacle to obstacle. I wanted to perform unilateral work with this workout in regard to power, strength, single leg work, pulls and presses.

Set One: 4 Rounds

Single Leg Hop to Pull Up (5 each side)

From an 18” plyo box. set box under a pull up bar and sit on the box. Use one leg to perform a single leg jump up to the bar and do one pull up, sit back down and repeat.

Pull Up - Knee Raise - Pull Up

Did 5 strict pull ups then 10 controlled knee raises then as many strict pulls as i could manage after that.

Single Arm Rope Pull (cable machine) from High Plank Position (5 each side)

Used the rope attachment for the cable machine and set myself up in a high plank (top of push up) position. Fully extended one arm out to reach the rope and pulled into the body.

Rear Foot Suspended Single Leg Lunge (10 each side)

Using a TRX, I put 1 foot in the strap and performed a body weight lunge.

Set Two: 3 Rounds

Dumbbell Alternating Bench Press (10 Each Side)

Tried this two ways. First set was done with the weights done close to my chest and pressed out individually from there then I tried it holding the weight in the up position and lowering one at a time then back up . For me it was more difficult when I held the weights down rather than up while the other arm was working.

Dumbbell Alternating Overhead Press (10 each side)

Again I tried this holding the dumbbells in a different resting position while the other side was working. Unlike the bench press this felt more difficult while I held the weight overhead while the opposite arm was working.

I finished both sets of the presses with 10 reps with both sides working together. At this point the overhead press turned into a push press.

On the course you will find yourself in positions where you will have to rely on just one side of your body to perform work. Pulling up over a wall, hoisting objects, dragging objects (or yourself) and of course humping up hills on step at a time. Doing some unilateral work will help ensure the body can optimally handle these activities.

Goals and Expectations

Goal setting seems to be one of the very best things we can do in order to accomplish the things we are working towards. For example many people have the goal to lose weight or to improve their appearance and overall well being. Those are great goals and for the most part they are goals that all of us should keep working towards in one form or another.

The problem with these types of goals is that they can be very vague and unspecific. Usually the individual sets the goal but has no real plan on how to achieve it .

Don’t be alarmed you have not set yourself up for failure just yet, in fact you have done the most important thing we can do in goal setting which is to identify the main objective. Now all we have to do is set a course on how to get there!

This is where expectations come into play. This is important because so often many people set unrealistic expectations for themselves and it causes them to come up short when it comes to reaching their goals.

If your goal was to lose weight, be realistic on how much you are going to set out to lose and on how committed you are to reaching that goal. Here are a few suggestions you can take to identify you expectations.

1. Talk to others that have done or are doing the same thing you would like to work towards. Learning from their experience may be very helpful to what we can expect to accomplish.
2. Look at your current schedule. If you don’t have one, make one. How much time is there available to work towards you goal? Is there anything that can be eliminated or adjusted to help you make time?
3. Set a priority list. What are you going to do first? If your goal is to lose 20lbs the first thing you do is not going to be make those 20lbs magically disappear, smaller things will have to be done first.
4. Set “mini” goals, such as taking these suggestions and applying them. Then once the ball is rolling keep setting benchmarks along the way.
5. Reevaluate! This can be done on a weekly basis. Look at what you have done well and what you have done poorly. The little failures are just learning experiences as to not what to do. The biggest mistake we can make is not believing that we are capable of making a mistake! Better yet reevaluating gives us the opportunity to let you see what you have accomplished and will keep us motivated.
6. Hold yourself accountable. The best way I can think of doing this is to write it done but there are so many other ways we have available to us today another form may be more convenient. Choose something that will work for you.