Today i had to drive my mum to work at 7am. I train at the school where she works so i figured if i was getting up anyway i might aswell have a session and get it out of the way. When i got up i smashed back a shake with protein, chocolate powder, milled flaxseed, porridge oats, milk and a tspoon of peanut butter. Liquid breakfast with loads of quality calories, protein and fats! It filled me up nicely but i should've thrown in some sort of stimulant, either a seperate cup of coffee or mix in some cold coffee to the drink. I've done this before and it works awesome if you get the mix right. Its like an iced mocha and gives you a good kick, which is what i needed for this workout, i felt very low on energy, partly because of the time but also because i was still feeling a little beaten and bruised from the rugby match!This is what the session looked like;-
Box Squats - 5 x 5 (120kg)
Chin ups - 5 x 5 (BW)
ss with Floor Press - 5 x 5 (up to 100kg, this is a best effort for 5reps, only achieved 3 reps with this weight in the past)
Cable Crossover Pulldowns - 3 x 12 (up to 45kg each hand) I throw these in occaisionally to support shoulder health, they have done great things for me, especially when i used to bench alot more than i do today.
I would have done more today but as i said i was feeling shattered, came home after this and slept for a few more hours which felt awesome, will get back after it tomorrow!
Monday, 14 December 2009
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Old Boys Rugby
On saturday i played rugby for the first time in 18months at my old school for an old boys game. I stopped playing rugby towards the end of my undergrad degree as it was taking too much of my time. playing twice a week and training 5 times a week was meaning my studying was taking a back seat and i had to focus a bit more! Plus i realised i wasn't enjoying playing anymore, i played 2 games a week from the age of 8 to 22 and thought about very little else, but i realised playing wasn't going to earn me any money and despite me caring about rugby alot it was time to do some other things that i had wanted to do for a long time but never had the time to be involved in.
This included training in boxing for a little while. Become more involved in coaching and refereeing of rugby and more recently compete in Olympic Weightlifting. I'm sure one day i will go back to playing more frequently but that'll only be on the day that i wake up and am really desperate to play again. When i really miss it, which isn't right now. The old boys game was a one off though. I got to play with alot of old faces from school as well as some boys i new from other age groups and we won so it worked out well. The final score was 54-5 and i managed to get myself a try so i was pretty happy with that. The strength i've developed from lifting really helped me when making tackles and runs, although my conditioning was poor! I was very tired by the end of the game! lol.
It was fun to relive some old memories, even if i am pretty soar from it today!!!!
This included training in boxing for a little while. Become more involved in coaching and refereeing of rugby and more recently compete in Olympic Weightlifting. I'm sure one day i will go back to playing more frequently but that'll only be on the day that i wake up and am really desperate to play again. When i really miss it, which isn't right now. The old boys game was a one off though. I got to play with alot of old faces from school as well as some boys i new from other age groups and we won so it worked out well. The final score was 54-5 and i managed to get myself a try so i was pretty happy with that. The strength i've developed from lifting really helped me when making tackles and runs, although my conditioning was poor! I was very tired by the end of the game! lol.
It was fun to relive some old memories, even if i am pretty soar from it today!!!!
Friday, 11 December 2009
Last few Days
On Tuesday i went to Oly-Lifting training, involved some Snatch (to 70kg), Overhead Squats (to60kg) and Back squats (to 140kg). i did attempt to do some C&J but my wrist was killing me and i didn't want to aggravate it too much!
Wednesday i was at uni all day which was awesome. Spent the day working on biomechanical assesments, so EMG testing, Strength testing with Isokinetic machines and Ultrasound testing. The Ultrasounds were especially good as we compared muscle views during contractions as well as looking at a heart as it beated, really fascinating.
Thursday i hit some deadlifts (to 160kg), push ups, Pistol Squats, Bent Over Rows (to60kg) and some light core work. This session wasn't as focused as it should be but was just a case of getting a session in, doing some heavy pulls, some foam rolling and sweating a little. Sometimes its got to be done!
Wednesday i was at uni all day which was awesome. Spent the day working on biomechanical assesments, so EMG testing, Strength testing with Isokinetic machines and Ultrasound testing. The Ultrasounds were especially good as we compared muscle views during contractions as well as looking at a heart as it beated, really fascinating.
Thursday i hit some deadlifts (to 160kg), push ups, Pistol Squats, Bent Over Rows (to60kg) and some light core work. This session wasn't as focused as it should be but was just a case of getting a session in, doing some heavy pulls, some foam rolling and sweating a little. Sometimes its got to be done!
Monday, 7 December 2009
Training update!
Just a quick one today as i have a lot of work to do to prepare for my masters thesis research! This has to be finished by next week so once thats dealt with i'll probably talk about that a little afterwards.
Todays training was:-
Warm ups
Military press - 5sets of 5 reps with 55kg strict (Finished on a drop 10kg at a time, set down to just the bar for 12 reps)
ss with Fat grip Chin Ups - 5 sets of 3 reps
Sumo deadlifts - 3 sets of 8 reps at 80kgs
Face Pulls - 3 sets of 12 reps with 40kgs
ss with some shoulder stabilization on a med-ball
Today was mainly about the presses and chin ups. I stayed strict on the presses to build shoulder strength to improve my jerk! The chins were low volume today but the fat grips worked my grip strength hard!!!
The sumo deads were thrown in as i've not pulled sumo for a long time so wanted to just re-address my pulls from this position, stayed light to work the groove out a bit and squeezed hard at the tops for glute activation.
I love doing face pulls, squeezing my shoulder blades hard at the back to improve my shoulder health, which i have had issues with in the past! The med ball work was very basic and not worth going into at this point!
Todays training was:-
Warm ups
Military press - 5sets of 5 reps with 55kg strict (Finished on a drop 10kg at a time, set down to just the bar for 12 reps)
ss with Fat grip Chin Ups - 5 sets of 3 reps
Sumo deadlifts - 3 sets of 8 reps at 80kgs
Face Pulls - 3 sets of 12 reps with 40kgs
ss with some shoulder stabilization on a med-ball
Today was mainly about the presses and chin ups. I stayed strict on the presses to build shoulder strength to improve my jerk! The chins were low volume today but the fat grips worked my grip strength hard!!!
The sumo deads were thrown in as i've not pulled sumo for a long time so wanted to just re-address my pulls from this position, stayed light to work the groove out a bit and squeezed hard at the tops for glute activation.
I love doing face pulls, squeezing my shoulder blades hard at the back to improve my shoulder health, which i have had issues with in the past! The med ball work was very basic and not worth going into at this point!
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Todays Training
After watching my first Oly-lifting competition yesterday i was fired up to get back in the gym and train hard, i'm hoping to compete in my first competition in late January or mid February and need to do alot of work before i get to it.
Todays training was about dealing with some weakness' i have (posterior chain strength, soft tissue quality and pull ups). I train my oly-lifts on tuesdays and thursdays if i can at a club in town as not many places allow you to do the full lifts in their gyms so i try to focus on similar exercises when i train elsewhere that will support my lifting.
Warm up with some rowing, some light some mobility work etc.
Box Squat - 6 sets of 3-5 reps working up to a single at 16okg
Power Shrugs - 6 sets of 3 reps working up to 150kg
ss with Widegrip Pull Ups - 6 sets of 3-4 reps
Eccentric Unilateral Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 5 reps (12plates on machine)
Swiss Ball Rollouts - 25 reps
In between each set of box squats and leg extensions i did some foam rolling on thoracic spine and calf muscles
I do my pull ups in sets of as many as i can do at good quality. When i started this a couple of weeks ago i was lucky to do sets of more than 1 rep at a time so being able to so 4 reps in one go now is a massive improvement!
Todays training was about dealing with some weakness' i have (posterior chain strength, soft tissue quality and pull ups). I train my oly-lifts on tuesdays and thursdays if i can at a club in town as not many places allow you to do the full lifts in their gyms so i try to focus on similar exercises when i train elsewhere that will support my lifting.
Warm up with some rowing, some light some mobility work etc.
Box Squat - 6 sets of 3-5 reps working up to a single at 16okg
Power Shrugs - 6 sets of 3 reps working up to 150kg
ss with Widegrip Pull Ups - 6 sets of 3-4 reps
Eccentric Unilateral Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 5 reps (12plates on machine)
Swiss Ball Rollouts - 25 reps
In between each set of box squats and leg extensions i did some foam rolling on thoracic spine and calf muscles
I do my pull ups in sets of as many as i can do at good quality. When i started this a couple of weeks ago i was lucky to do sets of more than 1 rep at a time so being able to so 4 reps in one go now is a massive improvement!
My Background
First off let me introduce myself!
My names Rhys and i'm a 23yr old student. I'm studying for a MSc in Strength and Conditioning and aspire to being a professional strength coach in the near future! I finished my BSc in Sport and Exercise Science in July 2008 and spent the subsequent year as a sports masseur for a top flight professional rugby team and caoching sports at a near-by public school.
Previous to this i have worked in many sporting settings as activity coordinators, fitness instructor and a sports masseur.
For privacy reasons i do not wish to go into too much detail about who i have worked with in the past, this is for my privacy as much as theirs! But i'm sure as the blog develops i shall talk about my background more and how it relates to my thoughts on training and my personal life!
The aim of this blog is for me to have a place to keep track of my training, my thoughts and my day to day goings on. This is for several reasons; i have recently recently taken up Olympic Weightling as a sport after spending most of my life playing rugby, i fancied a change, again i'll go into more detail about this in the future. Also since leaving university into one of the biggest recessions in history i have really struggle to find work. The work i did at the rugby club and school was brilliant but ultimately not enough for me to afford to live away from home. I have since moved back home and spent the last 5 and a half months unemployed, applying for every job i felt i was qualified for, recieving many rejections and trying to do as many odd jobs about the place just to afford petrol for my car and some basics for living. This has been hard for me deal with at times (i definately prefer to keep busy) and hopefully this blog can help me express that a little better and maybe even find other people that are experiencing similar issues for us to discuss.
Anyway thats my intro, hopefully i'm not talking to myself on here and some of you enjoy what i write, feel free to drop me a PM at any time.
My names Rhys and i'm a 23yr old student. I'm studying for a MSc in Strength and Conditioning and aspire to being a professional strength coach in the near future! I finished my BSc in Sport and Exercise Science in July 2008 and spent the subsequent year as a sports masseur for a top flight professional rugby team and caoching sports at a near-by public school.
Previous to this i have worked in many sporting settings as activity coordinators, fitness instructor and a sports masseur.
For privacy reasons i do not wish to go into too much detail about who i have worked with in the past, this is for my privacy as much as theirs! But i'm sure as the blog develops i shall talk about my background more and how it relates to my thoughts on training and my personal life!
The aim of this blog is for me to have a place to keep track of my training, my thoughts and my day to day goings on. This is for several reasons; i have recently recently taken up Olympic Weightling as a sport after spending most of my life playing rugby, i fancied a change, again i'll go into more detail about this in the future. Also since leaving university into one of the biggest recessions in history i have really struggle to find work. The work i did at the rugby club and school was brilliant but ultimately not enough for me to afford to live away from home. I have since moved back home and spent the last 5 and a half months unemployed, applying for every job i felt i was qualified for, recieving many rejections and trying to do as many odd jobs about the place just to afford petrol for my car and some basics for living. This has been hard for me deal with at times (i definately prefer to keep busy) and hopefully this blog can help me express that a little better and maybe even find other people that are experiencing similar issues for us to discuss.
Anyway thats my intro, hopefully i'm not talking to myself on here and some of you enjoy what i write, feel free to drop me a PM at any time.
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