Leg Workout

Did a leg workout today, just for fun.

Warm-up:

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
Back Squat w/ 30kg x 5
Back Squat w/ 50kg x 5

[A1. Back Squat w/ 76kg
1x15,1x12,1x8
A2. Romanian Deadlift w/ 86kg (and straps)
1x12,1x10,1x8
1 minute rest (to change the weight)]

2 minutes rest

32kg Swing x 15 (L&R)

3x
[5 wheel rollouts + 2 sec hold
1 minute rest]

NOTES:
-I always go into this workout with a sense that's it's going to be easy. But it never is ;-) I broke the back squats up in blocks of reps (e.g.: 15=3x5) while keeping the bar on my back the whole time.
By the end of the second set I was sweating bullets, I was supposed to add 1x20 (back squat) and 1x15 (RDL) as a finisher, but I couldn't really bring up the courage to do it. Will, however, up the weights next time. Back squat will be 80kg, romanian deadlift 100kg. After I get used to those weights I will attempt the finisher mentioned above.

Crossfit North's Standards

Crossfit North recently published a list of standards to determine your overall athletism. Here is the link to the PDF file with the standards and here you'll find the discussion on the crossfit forum.

First things first. I intend to accomplish all of these goals at some point in training, but I'll be focusing my attention to the goals that suit me best. Right now that means focusing on max strength. Why ? Well I know from expirience that if my max strength is up and I take about 4-6 weeks to focus on GPP, my max strength will increase accordingly. (See July 15, 2005 in my log for more info on this)

So what am I aiming for ?

Primary goals:
Back squat: double bwt
bench press: 1.5 bwt
ohs: 15 at bwt, (but first 1 x bwt)
deadlift: 2.5 bwt
military press: 1 X bwt
clean: 1.5 bwt
vertical jump: 30 inches
snatch: 1.25 X bwt (but first 1 x bwt)

Secondary goals:

pistols: 25 each leg
pushups: 60 on the rings
l-sit: 1:30
Mary: 15 rounds in 20 mins of 5 hspu, 10 one leg squats, 15 pullups
hspu: 10 full range
pullups: 40 dead hang

All others goals can be achieved - excluding rowing times (don't have a rower), dips (I have bad history with those) and running the 5 minute mile (take a lot of running) - with the equipment and time I have on my hands.

Next up, HOW DO WE GET THERE ?

Pretty straighforward, really:

TRAINING ECONOMY

"When I talk about the training economy, I'm referring to choosing the exercises and training methods that give you the quickest results in the shortest possible time. It's important to know that ALL EXERCISES WERE NOT CREATED EQUAL! For example, the deadlift is an "economical" exercise because it works a TON of muscle mass at once. Deadlifting works the low back, glutes, hamstrings, quads, forearms, upper back, and traps. This one exercise can literally take the place of a dozen less productive exercises.

Hopefully this example helps you to realize that making the proper exercise selections can drastically cut down on the time you spend in the gym. Yet, time and time again, I see people wasting valuable time by doing concentration curls, leg extensions, triceps kickbacks, and a bunch of other exercises that make me want to puke. These are the same people who look exactly the same year in and year out even though they "work out everyday for 2 hours." They're also on a first-name basis with every single member of the gym. These people go to the gym to make friends, not progress."-- Joe DeFranco in Training Economy: How to Maximize Efficiency in the Gym'

So what exercises will I be using ?

-High Pull (for more info check out this article)
-Snatch Grip Deadlifts
-Heavy Partial Deadlifts from Blocks
-Kettlebell Military Press
-Wheel Rollouts & Holds

+ Flexibility Work.

As you may also have noticed, the primary goals will lead to a certain degree of proficiency in the secondary goals, making it relatively easy to brigde the gap between primary and secondary goals.

So there you have it, my plan of attack to complete these goals.

SNGRDL, Pull-up & Press III

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
Partial OHS w/ Medicine Ball x 5
High Pull w/ 50kg x 5

SNGRDL (going for A PR):

70kg x 3
2 minutes rest
80kg x 3
3 minutes rest
90kg x 3 (Fail: muscled the weight up with bad form)
3 minutes rest
86kg x 3 (PR)
1 minute rest

[80kg x 2 x 5
1 minute rest]

Press w/24kg (going for max reps):

2x24kg (L&R)
2 Pull-ups vs Red IW Band
2 minutes rest
5L+5R (same as previous PR, shoulders were tired due to previous workout)

[Press x 3 x 5
Pull-up vs Red IW Band x 3 x 5
1 minute rest]

[Pull-up vs Red IW Band x 3 x 3
Cuban Press w/ 5kg x 4 x 3
1 minute rest]

3x
[Full Wheel Rollout x 5
1 minute rest ]

SNGRDL, Pull-up & Press II

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
Partial OHS w/ Medicine Ball x 10
High Pull w/ 50kg x 5

SNGRDL:

70kg x 2

[80kg x 2 x 6
2 minutes rest]

[Press x 3 x 6
Pull-up vs Red IW Band x 3 x 5
1 minute rest]

3x
[Full Wheel Rollout x 5
1 minute rest ]

SNGRDL, Pull-up and Press

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
High Pull w/ 50kg x 5

SNGRDL:

70kg x 1
[80kg x 3x 4
3 minutes rest]

[Press x 4 x 4 w/ 24kg
Pull-ups vs Red Iron Woody Band (looped around 32KB and front of the neck x 4 x 3
2 minutes rest]

Floor Press:

No Sandbag : 50kg x 3
Sandbag:
50kg x 3
60kg x 1
No Sandbag:
60kg x 1
70kg x 1 Fail

3x
[Full Wheel Rollout x 3
1 minute rest]

NOTES:
-Snatch Grip Deadlift progress is going good. I'm looking forward to using 100kg on this exercise and am curious to know what it's going to do for my snatch and power clean numbers.
-Why did I suddenly cut the curls ? Well, mainly because I felt a sticking point coming up on the military press. It was getting harder and harder to get the bell of
my chest when I got tired. So I did some googling and evidently found the answer to the problem HERE. To summarise: wide lats=weight clears chest easily.
-I always add in some overhead squat work in my warm-ups as well as some bungee cord shoulder 'dislocated'. I got another idea from the Gym Jones website: Close grip/ Wide stance OHS:
A training tool. The point isn't to Squat but to increase shoulder strength and flexibility and to find (by feel) the proper position and weighting. Sometimes a set of these is one rep. Muscles that are rarely used tire easily and the neurological net that controls them fries fast when it isn't often used. The form is the point so close observation is essential when including this movement in a circuit to prevent form from degrading as the athlete tires.
-Since I am not doing any real grip work with straps-assisted SNGRDL's, I am currently looking into some workouts to tax my grip. This seems like a nice one.
-

SNGRDL, Curl & Press IX

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
SN GR High Pull 50kg x 5

SNGRDL:

70kg x 2
[80kg x 2 x 8
1 minute rest]

[Press x 3 x 10 w/24kg
Curl x 2 x 10 w/ 30kg
30 seconds rest]

[Band Dislocates x 12 x 3
Wheel Rollout Hold x 10 sec x 3]

SNGRDL, Curl & Press VIII

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10
Clean & Jerk 50kg + 5 Partial Power Jerks
SNGRDL:

70kg x 1
[80kg x 2 x 6
2 minutes rest]

[Press x 3 x 5
Curl x 3 x 5
1 minute rest]

Light Band Pull Apart:
8,10,5,5,5,5,5,5,

SNGRDL, Curl & Press VII

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 5
OHS w/ 50kg x 3

Power Clean 70kg x 1
(not a PR, but faily good execution with this
kind of weight)

SNGRDL:

70kg x 1
[80kg x 2 x 3
3 minutes rest]


[Press w/ 24kg x 4 x 3
Curl w/ 30kg + LB x 4 x 4
2 minutes rest
]

3x5 Wheel Rollouts (striving for full ROM)

Light Band Pull-Apart: 7,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,8

NOTES:

-Snatch Grip Deadlifts are done with wrist straps and shin guards. This way I ensure proper execution and get all the benefits of this excellent exercise. My plan is to work up to over 120kg on these. This will make bring my goal of a 100kg Clean and Press within reach, as the SNGRDL does a great job strengthening the posterior chain.
-I decided to stop using the bands for the presses to let my shoulder recover a bit and am going to keep working at it by adding reps to my current 24kg RM.
-I really like the full wheel rollout as opposed to the 'isometric (sticking point) hold'. It increases the ROM, thus abdominal activation.
-Shoulder stability is also crucial if you want to put big weights overhead, so soon I will be working on my jerks and doing both kettlebell OHS and overhead walks with submaximal weights.

SNGRDL, Curl & Press VI

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 10

Squat Snatch w/ 50kg x 1, Fail.

SNGRDL:

70kg x 3
3 minutes rest
80kg x 3 (PR)

[70kg x 2 x 5
1 minute rest]

Military Press:

16kgx3
16kg+RB x 1 (L&R)
2 minutes rest
24kg x 6L + 5R

Curl w/ 30kg x 5 (PR)


[Press w/ 16kg + RB x 1 x 5
Curl w/ 30kg + LB x 2 x 5
]

Light Band Pull-Apart: 10,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

SNGRDL, Curl & Press V

OHS w/ Bar x 10
Squat Snatch:
30kg x 1 + 5 OHS
40kg x 1
50kg x 1 (PR !!!) + 3 OHS (shaky)

SNGRDL:
[70kg x 2 x 6
2 minutes rest]

[Press w/ 16kg + RB x 1 x 5
Curl w/ 30kg + LB x 3 x 5
1 minute rest]

[Light Band Pull Apart:
10,7,5,5,6,5,4,4,2]

+ Fat Bar Hang: 23 seconds

SNGRDL, Curl & Press IV

OHS w/ Bar x 10
OHS w/ 30kg x 5
Clean w/ 50kg x 1

SNGRDL:

50kg x 1
[70kg x 3 x 4
3 minutes rest]

[Press w/ 16kg + RB x 2 x 4
Curl w/ 30kg + LB x 3 x 4
2 minutes rest]

[20 sec fat pull-up bar hold +
10 partial sternum pull-ups]

SNGRDL, Curl, Press III

Warm-up:

Overhead Squats w/ 30kg x 10
+
Full Snatch w/ 30kg x 5
+
Full Clean w/ 30kg x 5

Snatch Grip Deadlift:

50kg x 1
70kg x 1

8x
[70kg x 2
1 min RI]
8x
[Press w/ 16kg + Red Band x 1
Curl w/ 30kg + Light Band x 3]

2x
[6 Towel Pull-ups
1 minute rest]

SNGRDL, Curl, Press II

Warm-up:

Overhead Squats w/ 30kg x 10
+
Full Snatch w/ 30kg x 5
+
Full Clean w/ 30kg x 5

Snatch Grip Deadlift:

50kg x 1
70kg x 1

5x
[70kg x 2
2 mins RI]
5x
[Press w/ 16kg + Red Band x 1
Curl w/ 30kg + Light Band x 3
1 minute rest]

3x
[6 Towel Pull-ups
1 minute rest]

SNGRDL, Curl, Press

Warm-up:

Overhead Squats w/ 30kg x 10
+
Full Snatch w/ 30kg x 5
+
Full Clean w/ 30kg x 5

Snatch Grip Deadlift:

50kg x 1
70kg x 1

3x
[70kg x 2
2.5 mins RI]
3x
[Press w/ 16kg + Red Band x 2
Curl w/ 30kg + Light Band x 3
2 minutes rest]

2x
[30 second Isometric wheel hold
30 seconds rest]

3x
[6 Towel Pull-ups
1 minute rest]