In-Season Training

[o1d_dude]

Sept 24, 2012

Warm up
1x5x16K Goblet Squats
3x15x16K KB Swings (that's 45 KB swings to really grease the groove)
1x5 Half Turkish Get Ups
Bench Press
1x10x45
1x3x95
2x5x135
Snatch Grip Rack Pulls (Mid Knee Cap)
1x1x205
2x5x255
Front Squat
1x5x45
2x5x95
Waiter Walk
1x22.5 right hand up and down the driveway
1x22.5 left hand up and down the driveway
Ab Wheelies
1x5

Day 6 of the Even Easier Strength template and I'm finally getting this dialed in. You have to choose the weights carefully so that they feel "easy". Slow descent and fast on the up. If you go too heavy, you will not properly recover by the next workout and lose ground. It's nice to complete the workout and feel a boost. My knees at long last are feeling better...turns out I just needed to squat. Who knew?

Day 7 (tomorrow-Tuesday) will be 6 singles day and Day 8 (Wednesday) will be a tonic 1x10 reps day for active recovery. Day 9 (Friday) will be a 2x5 rep day and Day 10 (Sunday) will be the 3-5-2 reps "test your strength" day.

Somewhere in the mix (Saturday) , the Dixon Games will happen.

BTW, I think the hidden key to the Even Easier Strength template is loaded carries (waiter walks).

[o1d_dude]

Sept 25, 2012

Six Singles Day

Warm up
1x5x16K Goblet Squats
3x15x16K KB Swings
1x5 Half Turkish Get Ups
Bench Press
1x10x45
3x3-3-1x95-135-155
6x1x175-185-190-195-200-205
Snatch Grip Rack Pulls (Mid Knee Cap)
1x1x205
6x1x305-320-325-330-335-340
Front Squat
1x5x45
6x1x95-115-135-145-150-155
Waiter Walk
1x22.5 right hand up and down the driveway twice
1x22.5 left hand up and down the driveway twice
Ab Wheelies
1x5

BF: 21.5%, BW: 231lbs

Even though I cut my rest periods down from 3 to 2 minutes between sets or singles, this took a long time to complete! Didn't set a clock so I don't know exactly how long but it felt like all evening.

The final single of 205 in the bench was about right and was the only rep I had to grind a bit on. All the previous reps jumped up off my chest. Benching is not my strong point.

Hopefully I can find time tomorrow to squeeze in the tonic 10 rep workout in tomorrow before leaving here at 3pm to throw with the Rattlesnakes.

[Alan H]

Are you actually swinging kettlebells, or using your improvised core-blaster thingy?

[o1d_dude]

I have a pair of 16k kettlebells that I bought about five years ago and always add them into the mix.

[o1d_dude]

The Rattlesnake Highlanders met last night and what a gathering it was.

The Nevada City/Grass Valley crew showed up and there were 9-10 of us on the very compact throwing area of the Rattlesnake Glen.

Highlight of the day was when someone managed to hang my gurley mon 24lb LWFD in the olive tree that shades the glen. The D-handle was wedged in a small forked branch. Who would have thought that possible? With a nudge from the PVC practice caber we managed to dislodge it.

Due to the large number of throwers and the need to coach, I managed only a few WOB tosses.

Roger had video taped us tossing WOB a few weeks ago and did a frame by frame comparison of each us to Daniel McKim. It was very interesting a pointed out a number of technique deficiencies. I for one am not arching my back enough until the very last part of the throw. More stuff to work on.

In spite of having done so little throwing last night, I woke up this morning with what we used to call a "stiff knee". Have no idea what caused it but hope it clears up before Saturday's fun and games at Dixon.

The temps predicted for Saturday in Dixon are around 95 so bring your liquids, umbrellas, hats, and pop-up tents.

[Alan H]

Your WOB is very effortless-looking, like Marty noted. I've noticed this, before. It's the same thing with Steve Elliott, it just doesn't look like he's working that hard, either. ME? I probably look like I'm having a conniption fit.

Dave Memmler had THE DAY, eh? Five PR's. Nice.

[o1d_dude]

Dave is easy to coach because he will do the throws over and over like the Energizer Bunny.

Steve Elliot's WOB is explosive at the very end when the weight is almost directly over head. He flicks the handle and jumps off the ground. He would get even better results if he maximized his triple extension and "flowed" the weight up over the bar.

The secret to WOB is that you have to believe you can do it. If you "try with all your might" inevitably something goes wrong. Technique is much more important than maximum strength. Some folks don't trust the technique and compensate by adding strength. Wrong answer. Nail the technique down and *then* add strength.

Well, the Dreaded Dixon Thermal Fail struck again. As some of you may know or not know, I'm working on a streak of three Dixon Games where I took heat damage. In one case, I took a ride to the hospital via ambulance. On two occasions I kicked butt without incident so my ration is 60 percent fail and 40 percent success. I can throw in the heat as long as I can get out of the sun to cool down in between throws.

It all began with the hammers after lunch. For some reason, the hammer field was dead calm and there was no shade. I struggled with trying to drive my hammer spikes into the plowpan to no avail. Consequently the three throws were my all time lowest I have ever recorded in a games.

Next event was teh WOB where we sat out in the expansive shade of a small electrical box perhaps five tall, two feet wide by one foot deep. My cellphone was telling it was 99 degrees and there was no breeze...in Dixon, the wind capital of the world. I had plenty of height but kept NOT pulling the weight back over the bar which resulted in having to make three extra throws. By the time I made 13' it was stick a fork in me, I'm done. Didn't wait around for 13'6" which meant I lost on misses. Being heat-dinged I didn't think to ask if I'd won with the 13' toss. D'oh!

Next event was the caber toss and the only semi-suitable caber available was the same green and white beast we'd tossed at Pleasanton (maybe 16'6" and 85-90 pounds with an ugly bend). At that point, I made a common sense decision to avoid a second ambulance ride to the hospital and sat out the event. Alan had a good turn on it while two others had turns that just barely missed being called fifers. In other words, a good caber for the 280+ lb throwers and not so much for the 225 lb throwers.

Note to self: Unless something drastically changes with the SHA caber situation, next year I will bring Rojo (16'7" and 78 lbs, Murphy rating: 581) so that the 60+ class has a better shot at turning the stick. Not that it will be easy. It's made from a small old growth doug fir that grew between taller trees so it's extremely dense and therefore heavy for it's size. Did I mention it doesn't have much taper, either?

I should probably bring my real 22 lb stone, too. The SHA 23 lb'er we've been using in the Braemar event is screwing with our NASGA ratings.

[o1d_dude]

Oct 1, 2012

Tonic Day (1x10 reps)

Warm up
1x5x15 Goblet Squats
3x15x15 DB Swings
1x5 Half Turkish Get Ups
Bench Press
1x10x45
1x10x95
Snatch Grip Rack Pulls (Mid Knee Cap)
1x10x205
Front Squat
1x10x45
Waiter Walk
1x15 right hand up and down the driveway
1x15 left hand up and down the driveway
Ab Wheelies
1x5

The squatting seems to be getting better now that I'm finding my foot placement.

It's probably too soon to say that this new routine has helped my throwing but my results in the Weights and Stones at Saturday's Dixon Games were yearly PR's. On the other hand, it could just be the training effect and throwing in only my fourth game of the year.

I might have to keep throwing practices going over the winter to be in top shape for the Worlds next May.

[Alan H]

That caber was too big for the class, that day. Between the entire 50's...both halves and the 60's, that's almost 15 people, Steve got one 9:30 and I got two turns and that's it. If Kel had been throwing instead of judging, he probably would have turned it, but I saw him try it and he slipped out from under it and was lucky to not sprain something. OK, that was probably his shoes slipping, but That ain't right. I mean, I get the idea of not having a shoot-out, but that was too much. This one is fine for Pleasanton, the Big Championships, but not for something like Dixon.

Did you see that they had the womens class...the whole class throwing the same stick that they give the Big Girls at Pleasanton? Beth was the only one that got a turn, even Kristina didn't get it. Hey, I'm impressed as all get out that MacFearchair picked and controlled that caber, but that's just ridiculous, to hand her that monster....especially when there were perfectly useable cabers on the grass, that had been used by the kids demonstration.

We need a new "Grandpa's" caber, 16 feet and 75 pounds. We also need a womens C class stick, about 13' 6" or at most, 14" and 40 pounds. 15 feet and 56 pounds is too much.

I'm going to go "caber hunting" in a few weeks and if I can get an extra 16-footer and 13' 6" footer that look about right, I'll grab 'em and give 'em to the SHA.

Glad you didn't go to the Hospital. Truth was, after every hammer throw I was winded and just a touch dizzy. After winding a few for warmups, I was seriously out of breath. That's never happened before. The tiny amount of shade out there, provided by the aluminum stands, wasn't enough.

[o1d_dude]

I'm going to go "caber hunting" in a few weeks and if I can get an extra 16-footer and 13' 6" footer that look about right, I'll grab 'em and sell 'em to the SHA for about $100 a piece.

Fixed it for you. Don't undermine the business model of the other caber suppliers.

Let me know when the caber hunting expedition is soon to occur.