Monday, April 14, 2008

Jump Training Blog

Here's a link to another cool blog dedicated to jump training and improving overall athleticism. This guy is more of a track person, but he still knows his stuff.


Enjoy.





- Max

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Switching to a Full Body Training Split

For some time now (at least a year) I've been usually following a 4 x week training template with an upper/lower blody split. For most of that time I was using Joe DeFranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards program (or least something pretty similar) and it definitely has worked. Lately, I've been a little frustrated with my lack of improvement (especially with gaining size) and I've just been a little bored in general with my training. The more I read about ectomorphs (those with thin bone structure and long limbs), which I am, the more I'm starting to think I might do better with a 3x a week full body split. I've noticed that I tend to gain more mass with more frequent training, as opposed to going 3-4 days before I work the same muscles again. I 'm still going to have a specific emphasis on each day (max effort, dynamic effort, repitition effort) like WSFSB did. Here's what the basic layout for each day would look like:

1. Explosive Movement
2. Squating Movement (inculdes single leg variations like step-ups, lunges, etc.)
3. Horizontal Press/Pull or Vertical Press/Pull superset
4. Posterior Chain/Hamstring Movement
5. Abs/Grip Circuit

And here's what a typical week of training might look like:

Day 1 - Max Effort:
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. 1 arm DB Snatch 8 x 2
2. Box Squat (heavy) 6 x 3-5
3A. DB Bench Press (heavy) 5 x 5
3B. 1 arm DB Row (heavy) 5 x 5
4. Barbell Goodmorning 3 x 10
5A. DB Farmer's Walk 3 x distance
5B. Back XT 3 x 10-12
5C. Ground Ab Circuit 3 rounds

Day 2 - Repetition Effort/Accesory
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. Barbell Hang Clean 5 x 2
2. DB Bulgarian Split Squat 2 x 10
3A. Chin-up (medium) 4 x 8
3B. 1 arm DB Military Press (medium) 4 x 8
4. 1 leg DB RDL's 2 x 10
5A. DB Hex Holds 3 x 10 sec.
5B. Woodchoppers 3 x 10

Day 3 - Dynamic Effort and Rep. Effort
Dynamic warm-up/Joint Mobility drills
1. Box Squats w/ Bands (speed squats w/ heavy band tension, light weight) 10 x 2
2A. Push-up Variation (light) 3 x 10
2B. Inverted Row (light) 3 x 10
3A. Rack Pulls 6 x 2, 1 x 15
3B. Deadlifts w/ added ROM 2 x 3
4A. Farmer's Walk 2 x distance
4B. Back XT 2 x 8
4C. Ab Plank Variations 1 x each variation as long as possible

I'll try this for 3-4 weeks and let you know how it goes. My diet will stay the same so I know how well I respond to this type of training. Everyone needs to switch it up every so often... Remember that your body adapts to anything in a few or even a couple of weeks. With WSFSB, I was switching up the volume every week and changing exercises every 2-3 weeks depending on how I was feeling. I never though of changing the number of days I lift a week.

Always try to improve. Never become satisfied.



- Max

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Playgrounds, Kettlebells, and Stones...Oh My!

Since the weather was nice today, I hit up the local playground to get some work done. Here's what my training looked like:

Upper Body Rep. Effort - I hit all these in circuit style fashion, resting about a min. between rounds

1A. Pull-up variations x 6, 5, 4
1B. Push-up w/ feet elevated x 18, 15, 12
1C. Kettlebell Snatch x 6 l/r, 7 l/r, 8 l/r
1D. Stone Military Press x 10, 10, 10 (I found a nice heavy one @ my house and brought it with)
1E. 1 arm Recline Body Rows x 8, 6, 6

Conditioning - 3 rounds

2A. Bear Crawl x 100 ft.
2B. Jump Rope x 100
2C. KB Swing x 25

And for good measure:


3. KB Swings x 100







Train outside when you can. Just be resourceful and use your imagination. Bodyweight training can be brutal and there are thousands of variations of basics...










Train hard. Be creative.

- Max

Friday, April 4, 2008

Contrast Showers

If you've read my past posts, you know that I'm a big fan of Contrast Showers (Hot/Cold Showers) or baths. As far as I know, scientific research isn't conclusive on these as far as how much they help with recovery. All I know is that when I utilize them, I feel great.

This guy is also a fan.










Train Hard. Recover Hard.


- Max

Today's Training

I was feeling a little under the weather for a couple days this week, so I decided to make up for it with a little higher volume than usual today...


Dynamic Warm-up and Mobility drills

1A. 1 arm DB Snatch 70lbs x 2, 75lbs x 2, 80lbs x 2, 85lbs x 1 (all reps with each arm)
1B. Broad Jump/Vert. Jump 4 x 2/2
Rest: 60 sec.
2A. Box Squat Pistols (with DB's) 40lbs x 8, 70lbs x 8, 80lbs x 6
2B. Back XT 45lbs x 8, 50lbs x 8
Rest: 60 sec.
3A. Barbell RDL 135 x 10, 135 x 10
3B. 1 leg Back XT BW x 5, BW x 6 (with each leg)
Rest: 60 sec.
4. Ab Circuit - Sprinter Sit-ups, Toe Touches, Hip Thrusts, V-ups all x 10 for 2 rounds
Rest: 30 sec.


Later:

KB Swings x 200 no rest