6/10/07
Finished the V Diet on 6/7/07, dropped from 215 to 195. The plan now is to work on rebuilding a base, as I lost some serious strength from the past rugby season and the V Diet.

Also intgrating Oly lifts back into my program for the first time in 2 years. Hoping that combining Oly's with conjugate training and some new ideas will yield results.

Currently sitting right at 200lbs and no plan to bulk; i'm assuming some weight will be added from the sheer volume of training i'm doing (planning on around 10-13 sessions per week) but not really focused on growth. Sticking to performance goals rather than outcomes and nothing to do currently but work and train.

AM-Dynamic Upper
Various Rotator Cuff warmups

Mini Band Bench 95x3 95x3 115x3 115x3 115x3 115x3
Iso Snatch 30x3 35x3 35x3 35x3
Dynamic Jerk 95x3 95x3 95x3 95x3 (2 sets split, 2 sets push)

Med Ball Throws
Chest Pass 2x6 8lbs
Side Throws 4x6 6lbs
Overhead Throw 3x6 6lbs

Monster Walk 3x6+6 45lbs

PM-RE Upper
Lat Pulldown 5x15x110 sprset w/
Mini Band Resisted Pushup 5x15
Bent Lateral Raise 4x15x5lbs
5 min bi and tri randoms
Pull Apart 2x20
Face Pull 2x20

Swiss Ball Crunch 3x10x25


Here is what the next month is looking like:

Sun: AM DE Upper, PM RE Upper
Mon: AM ME Lower, PM Supplemental Lower
Tue: GPP/SPP
Wed: AM ME Upper PM 7's
Thurs: AM Supplement Upper PM GPP/SPP
Fri: AM DE Lower PM RE Lower
Sat: GPP/SPP or OFF

GPP mainly is Cosgrove complexes, Tabata, cycling, 7's training, sled pulling, strongman and some sledgehammer work. SPP is rugby-specific such as line out throwing and passing drills. Not CNS intensive stuff, just doing some base building. Trying to use some of James Smith's ideas on High-Low training with relation to CNS stressors. Always a work in progress...

6/11 AM-ME Lower
Fire Hydrant Series
Various Parisi Warmups

Standing Box Jump 3x3
Deadlift 135x5 185x3 205x3 225x3 255x2 275x1 295x1 315x1 275x1 225x1
Roller and Stretch

Relatively pleased since I haven't DL'd since I blew two discs in my back in 2005. All the reps were quick and felt very strong.

6/11 PM RE Lower

Zercher Squat 135x8 165x8 185x8 185x8 185x8
Lunge 80x10+10 80x10+10 80x10+10
Pull Thru 140x10 140x10 140x10
Saxon Bend 85x10 85x10 85x10
Standing Cable Abs 140x10 140x10 140x10


Not really a PR there Phill, when I was about 21 and just training all the time I would do sets of 6 at 335. But its progress and thats what counts...

Fair enough brother, i'll take it as a PR then! I guess its a sign I didnt lose too much strength during my Velocity Diet as well. Although this month of accumulation might just kill me...funny that Poliquin published his Super-Accumulation article and I just started an accumulation block. Good timing...

My legs especially are going to need some serious ice baths or acupuncture or something at this rate...

6/12 GPP
Warm Up

Bunch of random footspeed ladder drills

Sled Dragging-all with 90lbs on sled
Between Legs-120yd
Backpedal-80yd
Row-80yd
Backwards Walk-80yd
Forward Walk-40yd
Bear Crawl-40yd
Lateral Lunge-80yd
Iso Hand Off-80yd
Hand Over Fist Drag-40yd

Foam Roller and Stretch

6/13 AM-ME Upper

Rotator Cuff Warmups
Random 4lb Med Ball throws

Floor Press 95x8 135x5 155x5 175x5 185x5 195x5 175x3 175x3

Standing Abs 60x10 70x10 80x10 80x10 90x10
Back Raise 10x10 10x10 10x10 10x10

Roller and Stretch

PM: RE Upper

Rotator Cuff Warmup

Rapid Fire Hang Clean 135x3 155x3 155x3 175x3
DB Row 70x8 75x8 80x8 85x8
Iso Shoulder Press 40x8 45x8 50x8 55x8
Iso Shrug 65x8 75x8 85x8

Plate Pinches w/ 2 dimes (all 3 sets to fail)
L 75s 60s 60s
R 100s 45s 60s

6/14 AM GPP/Conditioning
Circuit
Front Pillar 75s 75s 75s
Saxon Bend 80x10 85x10 90x10
Pendulum 10+10 10+10 10+10
Hanging Leg Raise x10 x10 x10

Cosgrove Complex; 5 complexes@95lbs, 90s rest between complexes

RDLx6
Pullx6
Bent Rowx6
Cleanx6
F Squatx6
Pressx6
B Squatx6
GMx6

Really missed the HOT-ROX on this one. Legs still pretty cocked from Monday ME DLs so I might skip an evening GPP session. Hitting a nice long cold shower to knock some soreness out and hopefully my legs will be good enough to get out on my road bike this afternoon for a light spin. Want to get this work in but not at the expense of my DE work tomorrow.

6/15 DE Lower
Just one session today as I have a wedding to go to in a couple hours (not mine).

Roller and Stretch
Partial Parisi Warm Up

Seated Box Jumps 5x3 (easy, need taller boxes)
Jump Squats 135x3 155x3 155x3 155x3 155x2 155x2 155x2 155x2
Clean Pull 135x3 185x2 225x1x8 (8 FAST singles, very light weight)
Step Up 135x10 145x10 155x10
Dimel DL 135x20 135x20

Roller and Stretch

6/16 GPP

Cosgrove Complex; 5 complexes at 85lbs, 90s rest between complexes

Snatch DLx6
Snatch Pullx6
Upright Rowx6
Hang Snatchx6
Step Upx6+6
Push Pressx6
Jump Squatx6

Step Ups for a change of pace, think I might start using them instead of lunges all the time. My suspected sports hernia isn't healing and the only two things that really bother it are hanging leg raises and lunges; so those two are getting be cut out of my program.

6/17 DE Upper
Rotator Cuff Strengthening Work
Tons of 4lb Med Ball throws; around 50-60 throws

Speed Bench 5x3x135
Hang Snatch 8x2x95
Speed Jerk 8x2x95 (4x2 behind neck snatch grip, 4x2 front clean grip)

I screwed up my band setup for bench so I cut it off early. Think i'll add in some mini band speed bench in my evening session just to get the actual work in. Shoulders are getting stiff and sore, as I thought they would with all this volume...too bad I can't afford an order right now, because I sure could use some Flameout and some BCAA's (plus Surge, Metabolic Drive and some other good stuff).

PM: DE/RE Upper

Mini Band Bench: 2x3@95 2x3@115 2x3@135
Standing Low Row: 5x12@80 spst w/
Light Band Push Up: 5x12
Barbell Shrug w/2 count pause: 4x12@175
Light Band Face Pull: 2x20
Mini Band Pull Apart: 2x20

Foam Roller

Some IT band tightness in my left leg causing some pain in my left lower leg, really hitting it hard with stretching and the roller tonight in advance of ME Lower tomorrow: 3RM Front Squat. Thinking about front squatting in socks; these Nike Shox are causing some funkiness with all my lower body work. Already pulling barefooted and until I can afford to get some more Oly shoes or Chucks, i'm stuck with these.

Mondaay 6/18 AM: ME Lower
Weight: 204.6

Fire Hydrant Series
Core Performance movements

Seated Box Jump 5x3 (still pretty easy, no idea on height, taller than ii've been using)

Front Squat barx8 95x5 135x5 185x3 225x3 245x3 265x3 275x3

Zercher Squat 135x6 175x6 195x6 205x6 205x4

Note to self: NO heavy zerchers and front squats in the same workout. Got a wicked muscle cramp in my upper/mid back that i've been on the roller working out for 20 minutes. Probably my own fault for all the upper back stuff last night too.

Re Front Squats: I knew it was a good workout because 275 came up faster than 245 and 265 did. Still frustrating when you get that perfect set at your heaviest. But in my experience, when i've hit that perfect set i've always tried to push a little more and gotten into trouble.

That's my old 3RM PR (and much easier this time) so i'm optimistic for a good 1RM performance next week. Something around 335 is where i'm aiming...and will be a good sign to deload as well.
Body still is adjusting to all this volume and it'd be good to let it correct and catch up.

Experimenting with changing the structure of my deloads; before I had dropped volume and intensity. This time I want to keep the intensity up and cut a ton of volume. My only issue is that I had been using deloads to introduce the next cycle of exercises and now that obviously isn't logical. But i'm gonna give it a go and see what happens.

6/18 PM: Heavy RE Lower

Parisi Warm Ups
Side Pillar 75s 75s
Swiss Ball Crunch 25x8+16 25+5+10

Single Leg Squat 45x8+8 45x8+8 45x8+8
GM 95x10 135x8 135x8 135x8
Pull Thru 140x15 140x15 140x15 w/
Pitcher Squat 4x10+10

My legs are F-U-C-K-E-D...still have a sweet cramp in my back. Lots of roller work and stretching this evening, maybe hot tub...

6/19 GPP

Foam Roller
Parisi Warm Up
Various skips and bounds.

flying 10yd sprint x4 flying 20yd x3

a TON of footspeed ladder drills, using combinations of sprints, shuffles, cuts and backpedals after the ladder. ex: Hopscotch through the ladder + 10m sprint + cut and 10m sprint.

Sled Pull Bear Crawl w/ 45lb plate 25 yd x5 (killer way to finish)

Roller and Stretch

Won't post again today but I have an hr long road bike ride this evening. That's why I didnt do any real conditioning in this GPP session. Thankfully my legs get a day off tomorrow and Thursday i'm going to try and do mostly upper body sled work and maybe complexes to let them recover for friday's DE work.

6/20 AM: ME Upper

W,Y,L,T, Pushup Plus
Shortened Parisi warmup for my beat up legs

Floor Press w/pause
95x5 135x5 165x5 185x5 205x5 215x2 225x1

Back Raise 3x10@10lbs

I'm dogsitting for friends for a week and walked the dogs for two hours before hitting the gym. Poor planning on my part, as I got dehydrated and was really sweaty and tired when I got to the gym. I went to the double and single at the end just to get some work in. The weights felt light and moved pretty fast off the floor, but I just felt lethargic and faded as I got to the 2nd and 3rd reps.

Next week; lift first, then dogs!

6/20 PM
Heavy RE Upper

DB Clean Complex 40x3 50x3 60x3
DB Row 75x6 80x6 80x6 95x6 95x6
Iso Press 45x6 50x6 55x6 60x6 65x6
Iso Shrug 75x6 80x6 85x6

Plate Pinches
L 75s 60s 75s
R 65s 50s 70s

GPP
Hip Crossover (Swiss Ball between feet)
3x10+10
45 degree raises 4x10@25lbs

Cosgrove Complex 95,115,115,105
RDL
Cln Pull
Row
Clean
F Sqt
Press
B Sqt
GM
all x6

6/22
DE Lower

Seated Box Jumps 2x3@42" 2x3@48"
Power Clean 135x3 155x3 185x3 205x2 225x2 245x2
Backwards Overhead Med Ball Toss x15
Assorted Footspeed Ladders

Went a little off the reservation today. After I hit those two sets of 48" box jumps, I got fired up and hit the platform for the cleans. I am blown out now. Feel like I blew out my CNS. we will see if I get to the gym for my RE workout, feeling a little drained. Need some food, finish my project for work and a nap!

6/24
DE/RE Upper

Different med ball tosses-75 total

Mini Band Speed Bench 2x3@95 2x3@115 3x3@135 2x3@115

Lat Pulldown 130x10 140x10 150x10 150x10 150x10 superset with
Green Band Pushups 5x10
Pull Apart 3x20
Behind Neck Pull Apart 3x20

Some core shit

From 6/19-6/27 has consisted of 2-3 hrs of jogging/walking these two dogs i'm sitting for...i guess that sorta counts as GPP...

Big front squats tomorrow...current PR is 325...

6/25 ME Lower
Dynamic Warmup
Standing Box Jump 1x3@36" 1x2@42" 1x1@48" (1 miss @ 48", banged the crap out of my shin)

Front Squat 135x5 185x3 225x3 245x2 265x1 285x1 305x1 325x1 (matched PR) 335 miss
Clean Pull 135x3 185x3 225x3 245x2 275x1x4 (4 singles)
Med Box Step Up 135x6 155x6 155x6
X Band Walks and TKE's
Roller & Stretch

Reasonably happy, should've dropped down to 295ish to get 1-2 more lifts per Prilepin...back to my old PR and 25 lbs lighter than when I did it then (was around 238-230 then; weighed 203 this morning). I think I could pull another 20 lbs off of my body if I did get back to serious competing, maybe down around 181. Maybe this Oly comeback has some legs after all.

Also have been thinking about some sports that really just take that speed and power component, like bobsledding or something like that. I'm just a little fired up about my 48" seated jump and now my standing one at 48" but something like that would be ridiculously sweet.

Too bad I didn't do this when I was 21 instead of 26. No evening workout today, going to go pull some sled and do some more speed work tomorrow. Maybe time some 10s, 20s or 40s just for shits and giggles. Who knows, i've never timed a 40 with me weighing less than 220lbs, not sure what I could run.

6/26 GPP

Complex 4 sets @ 95lbs
Hang Snatch x5
OH Squat x5
Back Squat x5
GM x5
Jerk x5
Bent Row x5

Dynamic Warm Up
Falling start 10m sprints x6
15yd standing start x4
20yd flying x4
40yd standing x2

Sled Dragging tons of different variations:

20 yd forward sprint, 20 yd backwards
20 yd backwards, 20 yd sled push
20 yd bearcrawl, 20 yd backwards drag
40 yd backwards drag
20 yd backwards drag, 20 yd sled push
20 yd backwards drag, 20 yd bearcrawl
40 yd bearcrawl

I think I did some others too, those are just the ones I can remember...all I know is I did about 15 40 yd trips and was making up stuff on the fly, all of it sprinted, no slow dragging...half of the sets were with 90lbs on the sled, other half with 115lbs on the sled

Farmers Walk
45lb plate in each hand 100 yds
2 10lb plates pinched 100 yds
45lb plate in each hand 100 yds

Really good GPP day, first good one i've had in a long time. I went just wanting to kick my own ass and I did a fair job. Especially since tomorrow will be my last lift for the week. I'll be in Arizona Thursday and then in Salt Lake City Friday til Sunday. My plan is to do some nasty stuff at my old high school in SLC. Good stuff there like stadium steps, hills and a track for some 400s. I don't know the coaches there now so i'm pretty sure the weight room would be off limits.

You know, the more and more I think about it, the more i'm liking this bobsledding idea. There's tryout camps in March and September and i'm thinking about hitting the March'08 one to givre it a shot. Only issue is that it would come in the middle of Super League season. I'm not nearly strong or fast enough for the camp in September.

6/27 ME Upper
W,L,T,Y, Swiss Ball Pushups
Various 4lb Med Ball Throws (60 total)

Floor Press barx10 95x5 135x5 175x2 195x2 215x1 235x1 245x1 (5lb PR) 225x1 225x1 225x1 (5 singles above 90%)
Iso Row 80x5 90x5 95x5 95x5
Iso Press 50x5 55x5 65x5 70x5

It really is satisfying to be hitting higher PR's at a much lighter bodyweight. I'm still hoping to stay around 200lbs as everything (lifting, running, jumping, etc)feels smoother and better at this lighter weight. BUT if i'm getting stronger and bodyfat is steady/dropping, I can't complain about gainging muscle!

One thing: My back feels like death today. I got to learn to NOT DO CLEAN PULLS! After the heavy deadlifts, my back felt fine but after the clean pulls monday it has been dodgy and my leg has been tingly again (I had microdiscectomy L4-L5/L5-S1 the day before Thanksgiving 2005; my leg used to hurt so bad I would chew the inside of my mouth and grind my teeth, didn't even realize I was doing it).

It's not bad, but its definitely letting me know i'm going too far. Just have to cut the clean pulls out and use DLs and full cleans to work that off the floor strength. Ideally i'd be able to use clean pulls around 100-120% of my clean max; DL's work just as well I HOPE.