Martin roy training log

[Martin Roy]

Alan, I didn't see the kids tossing cabers. I'm certain it didn't happen on the main field but perhaps there was another place for the kids. However, usually there is some sort of announcement...

[Alan H]

Hmmm... after all that panic'ing on my part. sheesh. Ah, well.

congratulations on some big throws, but particularly on taking the two-spin live and public.

[Martin Roy]

(I wrote a good entry a couple of days ago, hit the wrong button and lost it, too tired to re-write it)

Short version since Bakersfield: Easy lifting and recovery stuff on Sunday and Monday, threw on Tuesday, rested on Wednesday, squats yesterday with relatively light weight.

On Tuesday, I worked with the lwfd on generating more speed in the move to the trig. After Bakersfield it was apparent that the double spin is here to stay, but to benefit from it, I need to generate more weight speed. Thus, I drilled initiating a hard pull as soon as my feet hit the ground after the first turn, moving into the second turn. I was very happy with the result because the additional force and speed was significant. And, as I gain control of it over the next few weeks, I should see longer distances at Woodland. I also did some work with the heavy hammer but broke the handle on the first toss after about a half dozen sets of winds.

[Martin Roy]

Happy Easter to all. We've got a low key day planned.

Yesterday Garrett and I went out to throw at Shaffer Park with Garry and his daughter's fiance, Ryan. He's expressed an interest in throwing and it seems to be a genuine interest as opposed to just an attempt to score points with his future f-i-l. The Gmen and I put him through paces on hammer, wfd, and caber. After our coaching he threw well enough to not embarass himself in the C class and had several clean picks of the Little Iron with a couple neat turns. In fact, Garrett had him doing a double spin with the hwfd that looked exceptionally good for a first time.

I threw some but didn't feel a groove at all. This entire past week I've felt unusually tight and fatigued; I'm not sure of the reason. However, my theory is that in the aftermath of a very disciplined, intense off season, targeting Bakersfield as the first game, once I got through that point my body has decided it's time to rest a bit, whether my brain wants to or not. I've chosen to acknowledge the message by taking it very easy all week. But after today, down time is over. Drill Sarge takes over once again.

[Martin Roy]

I felt like I needed one more rest day yesterday and it helped because today I was good to go.
Out to Shaffer Park to throw by myself for a solid hour working wfd and wob.

My main goal was to start developing a double spin with the hwfd. After a few rough tosses it started to come together. With a few weeks to work on it before Woodland, I expect to have it pretty well in hand.

Continued with lwfd doing about ten reps, aiming at greater speed and staying low until the delivery point. Not too bad; the more I do it the more natural it becomes.

Finished up with wob. Used a 26 and 35 kb for a dozen or so reps. I worked on getting my butt down and driving up, reaching for the bar. I guarantee that I will have many, many reps of wob between now and Woodland.

[Martin Roy]

I took several days off, mainly due to real life intruding on training, but I was feeling dragged out and generally fatigued also. I think I may have simply needed a break. In any case, headed back to Shaffer Park last night to get back on track. I worked hwfd, a lot of first turn drills and second turn footwork stuff; unfortunately I seemed to have three left feet so instead of ingraining bad habits, I moved to lwfd. This went much better and I got some decent tosses in with good form. Finished up with some winds with the light hammer and some wob work.

Looking for a better session on Thursday.

[Martin Roy]

I decided to hit the gym this evening in lieu of throwing; I think that all the work I've done lately with hwfd has been taking a toll physically. The weight room called, telling me that I needed to do some pulling. It was the right call. After warm ups I did about 8 sets of fast pulls starting with 135 and increasing intervals up to 265. Finished with some very light bench work to get a kink out of my right front delt. Just what the doctor ordered.

[Alan H]

I've been missing gym time, recently...should probably mix it up a bit and get in there a bit more often.

[Martin Roy]

Saturday was spent visiting Sonoma State University with my wife and daughter. It's decision time and it was down to UofCO at Boulder or Sonoma. They visited Boulder last weekend and came away quite less than impressed; my wife hated the place for a whole lot of reasons and it was nothing like Riley expected. Sonoma, on the other hand, was better than we expected - beautiful campus, great facilities and housing, along with a lot of enthusiastic students encouraging the visiting families to come to SSU next year. At the end of the day my daughter said we needed to stop at the bookstore to get sweatshirts because she'd decided that this was her choice. So, a new adventure on the horizon.

Sunday Garrett and I went out to throw at Shaffer Park - it was hot and we were both off our game. I did a lot of light form and speed work with the 14wfd and a 10lb shot, some wob reps with a 27lbKB, and 8-10 light hammer tosses. We knew it wasn't our day when Garrett was hitting under 60 with the light hammer; he was seriously chagrined. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day at the park and we got our work in to boot. Next time will be better distances.

[Martin Roy]

Serious focus on wob yesterday evening with Garrett telling me everything I was doing wrong. Thanks, it's exactly what I need...

We rigged a 28wfd with a handle and no chain to get a weight with the right feel for wob and it worked well. Then we did a lot, a LOT, of reps. My main problem with wob is getting my legs into upward lift. For some reason, despite "knowing" exactly what I need to do, it hasn't happened. So we devised some drills to get me to drop my butt and move into the push of the weight using hips and legs, instead of using my back. I had some instant feedback with Garrett's Iphone and I was able to see the problem. I like to think that progress was made; Garrett said I was doing it better. After about 30+ reps I would certainly hope to see some improvement. Work will continue on this.

Then we played with the caber for awhile which is always a good time.

Later on I was feeling the aftermath in my butt and legs, without undue soreness in my lower back; this tells me that I was engaging the correct muscle groups in the reps. Now more practice is the key.
Garrett kept telling me that because he can go 11' and I'm significantly stronger than he is, I should be hitting 12'. It's not a strength issue; it's the form, ya lump...