Off-season training

[eclarkhb]

Nice job, Alan! I agree with the old_dude, fix your setup a bit & you'll lift more. But great job getting 250!!

[Brett]

Quit moving your feet around!

You've got to get "set" to press. Heels down on the floor. Back of the neck flat on the bench. Tighten legs, hips, chest to provide a solid foundation. Nothing flapping in the breeze. Big/huge intake of air, PRESS!

Yes.....far too loose.

"set up" is everything for the bench press

Create the shortest distance between your butt and shoulder blades. Get up on your toes and scrunch your butt and shoulder blades together with an arch in your back, then get your feet flat and firmly set. Tuck your elbows in and you're set.

Contrary to common belief, arching your back keeps it strong while setting it flat on the bench compromises your back stability.

[o1d_dude]

1/8/2012

Bear:
1x8x65 (warmup)
17" Snatch Grip Dead & Shrug: (Height of bar is 17" from deck)
1x5x135
2x1x225-265
1x5x285
1x3x295
1x2x305
Incline Pin Press
1x10x45 (bottom position)
3x3x95-135-155 (bottom position)
6x1x225-230-235-240-245-250 (top position)
Core Blaster:
1x10x72.5
Hanging Knee Raise:
1x10
Short Range Chin Up:
1x10
Dan John Power Curl:
2x2-3-5-10x65 (40 reps total)
1x2-3x65 (5 reps total)
Good Morning:
1x10x65

1/10/2012

Hammer and stones at the park:

Broke my 10 lb hammer on the first throw as the grass hasn't been watered in months. I train with underweight implements exclusively to develop speed and balance. 10lb, 12lb, 14lb, 16lb and 22lb hammer are my staples. As I age, my hammer speed drops so I struggle to throw the light hammer proportionately further than the heavy. The wimpy 10-15' difference between the two is frustrating although a 63-68' heavy is okay for a geezer.

Worked with the 5K shot and 16lb shot doing technique drills. No marks taken.

[Alan H]

Faster and Heavier with the Sean Betz Self Improvement Program
Deadlift night

No stretch cage...this guy was hogging it. grrr
->so stationary bicycle easy knees and legs warmup ...4 min
light hang clean warmup .... 2 x 6 x 96 / 4 x 135

Deadlift ... 6 x 186 / 2 x 4 x 225 / 4 x 275 / 2 x 315 / 1 x 365 / 1 x 385 OH yeah, baby!....MAN, that was hard. I've never done a whole-body lift that fired off THAT many muscles THAT hard all at once. Felt good to get that sucker up, though, but it almost didn't go.

1-leg deadlifts ....there were a couple guys from the Stanford football team doing these, so I asked for some pointers. I"ve never done this before.... 8 x 40 each leg / 6 x 50 each leg / 4 x 60 each leg ... not that challenging, but they said to start light so I did. Hard to stay balanced, though.

core 1... landmines .... 10 x bar +55 / 10 x bar + 65 / 10 x bar + 75
and I threw in some situps, even though they're not on Seans program.... 17, incline board with 10 lb plate

Then 8 min on elliptical to wind it down.

[Alan H]

1/8/2012

Bear:
1x8x65 (warmup)
17" Snatch Grip Dead & Shrug: (Height of bar is 17" from deck)
1x5x135
2x1x225-265
1x5x285
1x3x295
1x2x305

Incline Pin Press


1x10x45 (bottom position)
3x3x95-135-155 (bottom position)
6x1x225-230-235-240-245-250 (top position)
Core Blaster:
1x10x72.5
Hanging Knee Raise:
1x10
Short Range Chin Up:
1x10
Dan John Power Curl:
2x2-3-5-10x65 (40 reps total)
1x2-3x65 (5 reps total)
Good Morning:
1x10x65

1/10/2012

Incline Pin Press.... I gotta look these up.

[Alan H]

I've been encouraged by a friend, that when the day comes that I go for the 405 deadlift pull, that I get video of doing it in a kilt.

Heh. I think I'll do it.

[Alan H]

Los Gatos All Comer Track meet on Saturday....good fun in the sun with the UCSC Slugs, esp. young friends Chelsea Hedenland and Andrew Legacy Hedenland. I continue my massive mediocrity in the shotput, despite really focusing on getting a more active left side as Mike Macellari has repeatedly told me to do. 32-33 feet.

Discus, the first three were all 105-something, then I hosed one, then I stuck a pretty good one at 108. I hollered at Chelsea to quit being so "pretty" when she throws....go FAST.. "bitch it UP, girl!" on her last throw so she did and had her best throw of the day. I figured I oughtta take my own advice, so I stayed low and slow in the back, did the patented Mindy Pockoski "pre-turn the foot" and then torqued the hell out of it when I got to the front of the ring. It was a bit out of the sector, but about 114. Not too bad, I'll take it.

Then I coached a couple of high school kids for a while... pay it forward.... and then worked on some Scottish throws. MAN that 28 felt heavy. Did 4-5 single spins, felt awkward, but I got good lift in front of the trig...43-35. Did some two-spins, again got good lift, but fouled them all over the board...about 48. Core and hips are VERY sore from the big deadlift on Thursday.

Did some hammer winds, then one wind->throw. These were awesome, my core was totally burned up but since I stayed relaxed, all these were 80+. Then did 4-5 full throws, and dropped one in at about 88+...it's hard to say exactly when I'm pacing them off. Accuracy drops bigtime after about 50 feet. All in all, a great throwing day.

[Alan H]

Back in the Gym with the Sean Betz Self-Improvement Program

It was mobbed. No, you don't understand. MOBBED. Long waits for every single piece of equipment. I've never seen it this bad, so I did what I could.

Stretch Cage
db flat bench press .... 2 x 8 x 65 / 2 x 6 / 75
bench db rows .... 3 x 8 x 95 each side, fast and ugly
pull-ups ... 4, 3, 3, 1.5 w/85 lb assist....that's eleven and a half pullups. Last time I did 10. I'm still pathetic but I'm getting better.

hammer wind ab crushers .... every other station in the entire gym was busy so I just got on the Roman Chair and did 'em... 2 x 8 x 10 lb ball. Besides, this affords a great view of the girls doing the spinning class.LOL

My hips desperately need some working out so...
Rowing Machine .... easy 8 min @ <2:25 / 500m

I couldn't get in a squat rack so I just took the 90 lb curl bar and did some really deep, slow squats... 3 x 8 x 90

[o1d_dude]

Alan, the incline pin presses are basically an incline bench press but instead of having someone hand the bar off to you, the bar is resting on the safety pins of the power rack an inch or two off your chest. You will have to crawl under the barbell to get on the bench. Starting from the bottom, you press up and lower back down to the pins for one complete rep. Relax your grip and rest for a second or so. Repeat. Sound a bit like putting the stone?

You can work different ranges by setting the pins to a low, middle, or top position. We have the least leverage at the bottom position and the most at the top. If we use a poundage that we can press off our chest, we're coasting at the top. Using chains or bands can help with this a bit. See the second workout.

1-12-2012

The Bear:
1x8x65 (warmup)
17" Snatch Grip Dead & Shrug: (Height of bar is 17" from deck, i.e. 3" below kneecap)
1x5x135
2x1x225-265
2x5x285-295
Incline Pin Press:
1x10x45 (bottom position)
3x3x95-135-155 (bottom position)
2x5x205-210 (middle position)
Core Blaster:
1x10x72.5
Hanging Knee Raise:
1x10
Short Range Chin Up:
1x10
Dan John Power Curl:
2x2-3-5-10x75 (40 reps total)
1x2-3x75 (5 reps total)
Good Morning:
1x10x65

1-16-2012

The Bear:
1x8x65 (warmup)
17" Snatch Grip Dead & Shrug: (Height of bar is 17" from deck, i.e. 3" below kneecap)
1x5x135
2x1x225-265
2x5x285-295
Incline Pin Press:
1x10x45 (bottom position)
3x3x95-135-155 (bottom position)
8x3x135+chains (bottom position)(1 minute rest between sets)
Core Blaster:
1x10x75
Hanging Knee Raise:
1x10
Short Range Chin Up:
1x10
Dan John Power Curl:
2x2-3-5-10x80 (40 reps total)
1x2-3x80 (5 reps total)
Good Morning:
1x10x65

In this workout, the chains are used to equalize the effort but these reps are done with an emphasis on bar speed, i.e. maximum bar speed from the bottom position. Again, a movement that is specific to the stone put. My personal preference is for chains as bands make my elbows hurt. YMMV.

BTW, throw more often than you lift. We want to be throwers who lift rather than lifters who throw.

[o1d_dude]

Los Gatos All Comer Track meet
Did some hammer winds, then one wind->throw. These were awesome, my core was totally burned up but since I stayed relaxed, all these were 80+. Then did 4-5 full throws, and dropped one in at about 88+...it's hard to say exactly when I'm pacing them off. Accuracy drops bigtime after about 50 feet. All in all, a great throwing day.

Alan, did you see Gary John (Dan's older brother) at the meet?

He said he was throwing again following hip replacement surgery and the LG All Comers is one of his favorites.