Cheers for the links Franklin

Warm Up:

Mobility and corrective exercises

Weights (3 mins rest between sets)
F Squat: 24kgs x 6, 40kgs x 6, 56kgs x 6
Comment:A/W Pretty easy

P Press: 16kgs x 8, 24kgs x 8, 32kgs x 8 PR
Comment: A/W could have done 9 each side easy

Swings : 32kgs 15 x 7 in 8 mins
Comment: Pretty easy. Used HR monitor for rest. Went each time it dropped to 140 (75%)

Core: Plank / Side / Glute Bridge / Side 30 secs x 1

Stretches to finish.

General Comments: Felt really good during this - plenty energy. Held back a bit as I want to do a Vo2Max tomorrow and don't want to kill myself on friday before my 3hr drive to dublin. So I'm going to keep the same reps on friday and look to increase on Monday.

Tropical N Ireland

Warm Up:

Mobility and corrective exercises

Weights (3 mins rest between sets)
F Squat: 24kgs x 6, 40kgs x 6, 56kgs x 6

Comment:A/W Last 2 reps were touch and go but did them with good form in the end.

P Press: 16kgs x 8, 24kgs x 8, 32kgs x 8

Comment: Did 8 right and 7 left with 32 - had to set it down for a few seconds before I did the final rep. This was more down to being shattered than pressing strength.

Snatches : 24kgs 5L/R x 3

Core: Plank / Side / Glute Bridge / Side 30 secs x 1

Stretches to finish.

General Comment: Felt very drained. Is very humid here today and I've been sweating buckets playing football with my nephews and carrying bags of sand and stones for my Da. Need to keep the same level of focus on the mobility/re-hab stuff, it is very easy for me to start taking it for granted again. Good session though.

Vo2 Max PR

Warm Up:
Mobility along with toe touch progression and deep squat progression exercises.

Vo2 Max Snatches (16kgs @ 15:15)
70 rounds of 7 - Total of 490 in 35 mins *PR
Av 176 (95%) Max 190 (102%)

Stretches:
Decompression hang / Hamstring Stretch / Child Pose
To be honest I was so drained I just did some simple ones so I could just sit down and re-coup.

Comments: Yesterday was a disaster nutritionally speaking. Spent the day with my brother and his kids and ate whatever was at hand....none of it fitted in with PN I can tell you. So before I go have a big old sunday lunch I wanted to try to redeem myself for the eating and for the 36:36 effort on friday.

It has seriously drained me but I am very happy with the results. I have the 80 sets in me OK but I stopped primarily as my hands were beginning to tear up a bit...next time. Check out the HR by the way - hit a new max there too!! Haha. It has always been a little higher than the old (220 - age) general formula they use, so that doesn't mean anything. Where else could you go for 35 mins at 95% though - it's crazy!!!

New look

Had a little play around this weekend with photoshop and the above is the result. I made it with heavy influene from a photoshop tutorial. I have a degree in web design that I haven't put to use in over 4 years. I may get back into it - so the header is rife for more changes.

On a training note I've been doing a little reading around and have seen that the recommended progress for vo2 max sessions is to work towards 80 sets of 8 with 15:15, then 30 sets of 20 with 36:36, up to a bigger bell and then start over with 15:15. Will go back to 15:15 then until I can do that. 2 or 3 times a week along with the other stuff which really has changed from strength to strength endurance focus.

Time to get a grip again.

Foam Roll (2 mins)
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Mobility x 20

Neck – left/right

Wrist Rotations

Shoulder Circles

Ankle Mobility

Ankle Circles

DSP*

Hula Hoops

Thoracic Exercise 1

Toe Touches

Scapula Push Ups

*DSP - deep squat progression exercise. Put this in here as I've been skipping them lately and they do me more good than just bw squats. They actually made my F Squats tonight a bit stronger - was engaging the glutes more when driving up.

Weights (3 mins rest between sets)
F Squat: 24kgs x 5, 40kgs x 5, 56kgs x 5

Comment:A/W I'm ready to go for 6 reps next week

P Press: 16kgs x 7, 24kgs x 7, 32kgs x 7

Comment: A/W not so bad up to 8 reps next week

Vo2 Max Snatches (16kgs @ 36:36)

10 rounds of 16 - Total of 160 in 12 mins

Av ?? (??%) Max ?? (??%)
Stupid HR monitor hasn't recorded the session info for some reason - I do know that it wasn't as high as when doing 15:15 though, it seemed to be at 177 for the set and fell to around 154 at start of next.

Not so pleased with this. My best is 20 sets of 16. It is hard to say whether it was grip, back or my will which gave up first - I'll be back with this. It gives me a much more torrid time than the 15:15 and I'm capable of so many more reps. I'm all about working weaknesses these days so it makes sense to crack 30 sets of this.

Core

Plank / Side Plank / Glute Bridge / Side Plank Schap Style - 30 secs hold in each (6 secs between each) x 1

Comment: Shakin' Stevens again, though I found the front one purdy easy. Thought it made more sense to do glute continuous as well.

Stretches
Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch .

Foam Roll + Tennis Ball (about 10 minutes)

General Comment: Feeling a bit tired and hungry last 2 days. I had one of my 3 cheats last night but it was all I could do to not binge on biscuits. I eat plenty big portions for brekkie, lunch and dinner - maybe sneak in some more calories in my snacks. Hoovering around 216lbs for last couple of days.

My mood is still up and I've got plenty to be happy about with the way training is progressing. Trip to dublin is set back to next week so I thought I might use my old web skills to update the blog....look out for a new, darker style :)

I hope I know when to hold'em and when to fold'em when I hit the casino in Dublin this weekend!! Because of this I threw in a bit of cardio conditioning this session.

Foam Roll (2 mins)
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Mobility x 20

Neck – left/right

Wrist Rotations

Shoulder Circles

Ankle Mobility

Ankle Circles

Squats

Hula Hoops

Thoracic Exercise 1

Toe Touches

Scapula Push Ups

Weights (3 mins rest between sets)
F Squat: 24kgs x 5, 40kgs x 5, 56kgs x 5

Comment:A/W very hard again but a little easier on the last set.

P Press: 16kgs x 6, 24kgs x 6, 32kgs x 6

Comment: did 7 reps in each set. Last session felt grand doing these so I upped it a little - stick with 7 for a couple of sessions though.

Deadlift is out until further notice - though I may fit in pull ups if I can workout a handy way to do an easy, medium and hard set.

Cardio (15 mins in 70-80% HR range)

Skipping 130-147 bpm (70-80%)

Av 140 (75%) Max 155 (83%)
12:12 in zone 214 kcals

Comment: Got bored so I stopped a little early. I'm not a bad skipper, quite efficient, but had to stop for about 10 secs every min or so. At the end I was whipping it round and doing sprints until I heard the beeper for the upper limit go. The max was hit just as I finished and my 1 min recovery was from 155 - 111, not bad.

Core

Plank x 1 min 10 sec

Side Plank x 45 sec

Comment: No side plank. Shook like a leaf tonight doing the plank

Stretches
Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch .

Foam Roll + Tennis Ball (about 10 minutes)

General Comment: Good spirits despite not being able to DL - back was sore all day yesterday. Felt a little tired to begin with and again when I was doing the F Squats. Skipping seemed to shake off any sluggishness though it did grate on my left knee a bit.

Couldn't help myself!

Monday 21^st July – W/L Day

After reading Martin's and Franklin's blog and seeing how well they are coming on I just had to get back to it.

Foam Roll (2 mins)
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Mobility x 20

Neck – left/right

Wrist Rotations

Shoulder Circles

Ankle Mobility

Ankle Circles

Squats

Hula Hoops

Thoracic Exercise 1

Toe Touches

Scapula Push Ups

Weights (3 mins rest between sets)
F Squat: 24kgs x 5, 40kgs x 5, 56kgs x 5
Comment:Very hard last rep, not sure I’d make it.

P Press: 16kgs x 6, 24kgs x 6, 32kgs x 6
Comment: Heart thumping but had it in my arms OK. Very pleased I don't seem to have lost any overhead pressing.

DeadLift: 65kgs x 8, 100kgs x 8, 127.5kgs x 8
Comment: 60 x 8, 95 x 8 – DNF Painful for back so stopped

Core
Plank x 1 min

Side Plank x 45 sec

Comment: No side plank. Quite easy

Stretches
Decompression Hangs, Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch .

Foam Roll + Tennis Ball (about 10 minutes)

General Comment: Mood was good. Energy levels were high – that’s why I went and did it even though I knew my back wasn’t right. Hopefully no damage done though. Feel really good after, though it was hard work. Deadlift will just have to come along a lot more slowly than other two.

Foam Roll (2 mins)
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Mobility x 20

Neck – forward/back

Wrist Rotations

Arm Circles

Ankle Mobility

Ankle Circles

Squats

Cossacks

Thoracic Exercise 1

Toe Touches

Scapula Push Ups

Corrective Exercises

Trunk Rotation – hips and knees bent at 90 degrees 10 x 2

Double Leg Glute Bridges – 20 x 1

Deep Squat Progression – 10 x 2

Swapped out the SLGB for doubles. It is too hard and I need to find an intermediary exercise. Others are coming on OK. Using less height for bracing with during the DSP

Cardio (Vo2 Max)

Snatches 16 kgs 7 reps for 32 rounds - total reps 234

Av 170 (91%) Max 182 (98%)
292 kcals

Comment: As I write this I am recovering my HUGE sunday lunch (one of my 3 cheats for the week). I figured earlier though that I needed to do some work to deserve it. Also given the pitiful amount of snatches I have been doing to get my HR in the 70-80% range I wanted to see what was happening when doing a Vo2Max session. I think you'll agree those HRs are quite high haha. I'm mythed as to how I can reach those levels and still felt not especially winded or get the shakes. Although not listed my recovery was pretty darn fast too. Back to 113 within 90 secs of stopping, I seem to recall getting around the 120 mark in 2 minutes from my running days.

Also earlier I wrote out in full my first week of the strength/conditioning plan I'm longing to implement, with a view to starting tomorrow. At the end of this Vo2Max session though I felt a strange sensation in my lower back that kind of waved from right to left. It wasn't painful but it wasn't good either - it made me think of a structual fault line....I know that makes no sense. Regardless as much as I want to start that program I have to wait a while longer til I'm ready.

Core

Plank x 1 min

Side Plank x 45 sec

Comment: Skipped these due to back.

Stretches

Decompression Hangs, Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch .

Foam Roll + Tennis Ball (about 10 minutes)

General Comment: Was/am in pretty good form today. Exercises went well with obvious exception. I had pretty good energy and have lost 3 pounds after this my 5th day of PN. Happy with my committment and my progress, just need to be a little more patient before I throw some "fun" stuff back in the mix.

**Note - found a bank payment from the Knobbily S people in account the other day. Looks like they can't let me loose with one. Not worried as I'm getting plenty of pain using just a tennis ball.

Foam Roller

Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

3rd column

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Toe Touches	Toe Touches	Toe Touches
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Thoracic exercise is starting to get a little easier, I've actually got a range of motion.

Trigger point therapy – missed

FMS

Trunk Rotation – hips and knees bent at 90 degrees 10 x 2

Single Leg Glute Bridges – 10 x 2 e/l

F Squat test (heels raised) - 56Kgs x 5 could have squeezed a few more out but was playing it safe in the space around me. Full ROM though. Don't like the idea of using all 3 KBs as a progression. Not sure I could clean the 16+24 taped together and the 32 on the other side. May have to use a sandbag instead.

Deep Squat Progression – 10 x 2

All these exercises felt easier today - DSP especially, must have been from using the weight beforehand. I am still using 2" block below heels and blocks to 9" to press into on descent (down from 12").

KB Snatches

16 kgs for 30 mins. 130-147 bpm(70-80%) Av 140 (75%) Max 156 (84%)
27:04 in zone 379 kcals

Didn't set the KB down for the 1st 10 mins and kept it in range more or less full 10 mins....mind you I didn't do many snatches either. It was mostly spent in lock out position. After that I couldn't be bothered with that game and just topped up the HR with singles and doubles.

Core Activation
Plank 75 secs

Side plank - skipped

Active or static stretches

Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch

Foam roller + Tennis Ball, longer session (about 10 minutes)

No knee or shoulder complaints for a while now. Plenty of crunching, clunking and clicking but no pain. Back still feels a bit tight on the side I injured it, not sure how it is going to react to the plan below. It might be a little ambitious with DL. Sure I won't know til I try.

Next ambitious plan

Done a few bits and peices of my current plan today and been for a walk. I'm sure I don't need to post it in full again. While a number of them are going to be continual works in progress I intend to wrap it up after another week and start a phase of brutal strength work.

The following is Purposeful Primative inspired - I think it will be seriously tough but doable, let me know what ya all think.

Goals - Deadlift from 162.5 - 180Kgs / P Press from 32 x 6 - 32Kgs x 12 / F Squat from ?? - 72Kgs x 10 / Weight from 220 - 198.5lbs. 180kgs at 198.5 is double BW DL. 32 x 12 should be roughly 48kgs x 1 which is over half BW P Press. 72kgs x 12 should be roughly 100Kgs F Squat - which is nice round figure. ;) I don't know where I stand with F Squat as yet so I need to test that and adjust my goal as necessary. Oh and I've been doing Dr JB P Nutrition for last 2 days, I'm down to 218 but I'm taking that head start in case it slows down.

Week	F Squat	P Press	DL
1	????	32 x 5	127.5 x 8
2		32 x 6	130
3		32 x 7	132.5
4		32 x 8	135
5		32 x 9	150 x 5
6		32 x 10	152.5
7		32 x 11	155
8	72 x 10	32 x 12	157.5

3 exercises, 3 times a week, 3 sets - 50%, 75% and 100% will be the weight as detailed above. Ideally I'd be using a similar progression as the DL with all 3 (i.e. increasing the weight and dropping the reps after week 4). However, it is much more practical and indeed safer for me to use the Kbs on the other 2 exercises. Being limited then to the 16, 24 and 32kgs I need to progress with higher reps.

Still have to bash out some cardio around this but I envisage that it won't a lot and won't be hardcore sessions either.

Foam Roller

Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

2nd column

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Toe Touches	Toe Touches	Toe Touches
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Trigger point therapy – work on points relating to the shoulder.

FMS

Trunk Rotation – hips and knees bent at 90 degrees 10 x 2

Single Leg Glute Bridges – 10 x 2 e/l

Deep Squat Progression – 10 x 2

Wadda ya know? Felt a bit easier across the board. Still grimacing, but I did that laugh we do when it hurts sooo good.

KB Snatches

16 kgs for 30 mins. 130-147 bpm(70-80%) Av 138 (74%) Max 155 (83%)
26:16 in zone 380 kcals

I write all this down but all I'm interested in is that I spend the vast majority of the time in the target range. I guess you could say that I was using a GS approach to this tonight. I was resting overhead a lot of the time and doing single snatches to top it up. Strangely sometimes overhead resting brought my HR down and others it didn't - despite my best efforts to relax and bring it down. Then I just set it down and waited for it to drop a little.

I must say that the time flew by as I had plenty to keep my mind occupied. Not only that but I was sweating profusely and getting what I used to call runners high!!

Core Activation
Plank 60 secs

Side plank - skipped to leave back alone for a few days, though it does feel better.

Active or static stretches

Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch

Foam roller + Tennis Ball, longer session (about 10 minutes)

I looked down through the list of exercises tonight with dread. Once I got into it though I was loving it. Sitting here now I am buzzing, feel full of energy and very free and loose in my joints. Definitely a good decision to undertake all these "horrible" exercises. I'm under no illusions though. It will take a continued, concerted effort to improve to where I want/need to be with them.

Out with the old....

...in with the new exercises I suck at.

Foam Roller

Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

1 st column. Stuck in some unassisted toe touches in the mobility, want to keep that going.

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Toe Touches	Toe Touches	Toe Touches
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Trigger point therapy – work on points relating to the shoulder.

FMS

Trunk Rotation – hips and knees bent at 90 degrees 5 x 2

Single Leg Glute Bridges – 10 x 2 e/l

Deep Squat Progression – 10 x 2

How much do I hate thee? Shall I count the ways....Man I suck at these so much. Was looking for 10 reps of trunk rotation but could feel it in my back a bit as it's acting up today. Also last time I heard as much clicking and crunching was when I went to the Chiropractor. Not much ROM but at least it surpassed the all but motionless SLGBs. Tennis ball hard to keep wedged in even with help holding the knee, lucky if I moved an inch off the ground. Lot of work going to be put into these.

DSPs - nearly stopped these early. I was getting such a stretching, hips, knees, ankles, back, lats, shoulders being pulled fore and aft and the pain of deep stretching. I tell you this though my lower body especially felt very free afterwards.

Body Weight

One Arm Push Ups 5 x 2 e/a - inclined at the height of my window sill.

Bulgarian Split Squats 10 x 2 e/l - little bit of balance issue, weight no problem (so I should easily have strength for pistol) and I was getting a pretty good stretch at the hip off them.

Core Activation
Plank 60 secs

Side plank - didn't do these today due to back problem

Active or static stretches

Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Lat/Shoulder Stretch - so tight in shoulders and lats, as also highlighted when doing the squat progression stuff.

Foam roller + Tennis Ball, longer session (about 10 minutes)

Hard session but feeling pretty good now. Lot of work to do to nail those overhead squats.

FMS Re-test

Already knew a few days ago that I had passed the screen that I was specifically trying to correct - I was a pleased to learn I passed a few more though.

Deep Squat: Pass is heels stay down; hips below knees; knees over feet and the dowel does not go forward to touch the inside of the door frame.

Result - Failed without heel elevation and passed with it.

Hurdle Step: Pass is Hips, knees and ankles remain aligned forward; dowel and hurdle remain parallel; dowel does not touch the wall; balance maintained

Result: Pass. Balance was a bit better than last time and it felt smoother and easier to do.

In-line Lunge: Pass is minimal to no upper body movement, feet remain inline on tape, back knee touches tape behind heel of front foot, dowel does not touch the wall and balance is maintained.

Result: Pass able to touch knee to ground on each side and felt and looked straight. I felt that there was still a little bit of forward lean from upper body but less than max allowed.

Active straight Leg Raise: Pass is ankle bone passes the mid thigh; floor bound leg does not move; toes always pointing upwards and knee straight.

Result: Pass - barely though, ankle made it to mid thigh but I'd say there were little compensations beginning to creep in.

Seated Rotation: Pass is dowel touches the wall; dowel remains level and in contact with the chest and the spine remains straight and upright.

Result: Fail. As I expected still a long way away from this one.

Contrary to last time I would have needed a camcorder to tell if I was failing these by way of things impossible to pick up on your own. I felt more balanced and indeed stronger on the movements I passed. Thinking about it, it doesn't really come as a surprise that I passed the hurdle step and inline lunge without "directly" fixing them. I was doing lunges, activating and strengthening my core, stretching out hips, ankles and hamstrings - there really is a lot of overlap.

Start again tomorrow and concentrate on Deep Squat and Seated Rotation. I'd also like to keep what I've worked for so expect to see some toe touches and plenty of stretching.

Walking

60 mins - 60-70% HR (111 - 129 bpm)

489 KCal (60% Fat) Max HR 140 (75%) Average HR 111 (60%) In Zone for 29:36

Stretches
Hamstrings, Hips, Lats and Shoulders

Had trouble getting the HR up high enough. It's pretty much on the flat except for the massive hill at the very end which accounts for the 140. Couldn't go any faster without looking like a power walker. Wonder what my HR would be on my usual ambling pace? Need to see if I can find a backpack and stick a bit of weight in it.

Back to the Dark Side with LSD

Foam Roller

Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

3rd Column - replaced Mike Boyles 2nd thoracic exercise for Wall Walks. I'd been doing them on the roller which is too deep, got some shooting pains up my back the other day. Figured they were to blame and changed them out.

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Wall Walks	Wall Walks	Wall Walks
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Trigger point therapy – work on points relating to the shoulder.

FMS

Toe Touch – toes up, heels down 10 x 1

Active Leg Raise – supported leg raises, curl-ups 10 x 2

There went pretty well - re-test the FMS from the book tomorrow, so there should be a new batch of corrective exercises to work on.

Body Weight

Decline Push Ups 10 x 3 - work now begins on the mighty One Arm Push Up

Assisted One Legged Squat - 0 x 0 e/l Placed a chair under my chin up bar which already has a band hanging from it. Plan was to assist my balance, surprise, surprise it didn't. I was all over the place - will try again with a towel or bit of rope if I can find any and see if that's any better.

Over Head Deep Squats (Heels raised) - 5 x 2 Just a bit of practice really. In truth they weren't as good as the other day, felt pretty tight in upper body and I kind of flop into the lowest position after pausing at about parallel. Its all cool though, I'm still happy to know that there is no physical reason why I can't do the work and get them.

Pistols though are WAY off in the future.

KB Snatches

16Kgs @ 30 mins - 70-80% HR (130 - 147 bpm)

373 KCal (45% Fat) Max HR 155 (83%) Average HR 139 (75%) In Zone for 25:03

It's all Purposeful Primatives fault. There's a section in there about using a Heart Rate Monitor and I jumped at the excuse to use it. I've had one for years - training with it took me from unable to run a mile to a sub 2 hr Half Marathon in 3 months training. Later I dropped the distance and upped the intensity to run a sub 19 min 3 miles....ah, the glory days.

My battery went on it a few years back (not that I used it much then anyway) and they are a bugger to change...so it lay in the drawer. Today though I got a new one. I'm going to experiment with the zones and KBs and a lot of walking most likely in the beginning. Yes, I'm going back to Long Slow Duration, the Fat Burning Zone and periodization spreadsheets. This is where the hardcore leave and never come back ;)

You'll notice there are no total reps mentioned. I didn't count them but I tell you there weren't many. I was doing singles or doubles and then walking around a little to keep the HR from going over 147, hard to judge but 25 mins IN THE ZONE isn't bad haha.

Core Activation
Plank 45 secs

Side plank 30 secs e/s

glute bridges double leg 20 x1

Active or static stretches

Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Shoulder Dislocates.

Foam roller + Tennis Ball, longer session (about 10 minutes)

Deep Squat Sensation.....

....well almost.

Woke up this morning feeling very, very stiff and sore from yesterdays fun with snatches. I've been going well for the last 6 days or so and thought I deserved an easy day. I decided to do most of the stuff in the plan like mobility, correctional exercises, stretching and a bit of rolling; only not in any formal way, just here and there throughout the day.

Anyway, I began to run through my mobility and got to the squats. I do these using the handles either side of my door for support, and I do take a lot of support. Today as I was doing them I noticed that I was using less and purposely tried to use less and less support thereafter. It felt strangely easy, my body finally slung betwen my legs as opposed to way behind me or parallel to ground - this is something I just thought I'd never be able to do!!

I stopped and grabbed my snooker cue and tried to do an overhead squat. It wasn't quite there, and probably didn't look a lot different than normal - but I knew something was different here. I stood on my 2" block and tried again. Bingo!!! Feet pointing straight in front of me, hammies on calves and my overhead lockout - while still not perfect - wasn't close to being past my knees.

This would get me a pass in the new FMS test. A score of 2 with 3 being the best. I believe that in order to be able for a pistol I'd need to be a 3. The best thing is though that I haven't been doing correctional exercises specifically for the deep squat. There's definitely a bit of overlap, but encouragingly still more to come. I'm delighted with this progress.

Foam Roller

Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

2nd Column

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Trigger point therapy – grabbed a tennis ball and did my lats and general areas around my left shoulder. Still no sign of the knobbily S (I've also seen it called the Back Nobber!!!) but I found the tennis ball better than the foam roller.

My knee pain came back for the first since I started doing this - may have been some dodgey Cossacks. Shoulder and back fairing pretty well though...so far.

FMS

Toe Touch – toes up, heels down 10 x 1 - easier than yesterday, getting a little too easy now maybe.

Active Leg Raise – supported leg raises, curl-ups 10 x 2 Band to activate abs makes this exercise more effective for me I think, I've come very close to the wall on the supporting leg.

Plan to test them all again on Monday.

Body Weight

Push Ups 10 x 3 - decline push ups next time.

Horizontal Pull Hold 15 secs x 3 - used a single blue band for assistance. My biceps were really sore before starting and these were agony. Visualizing pulling your elbows into your sides helps though.

Lunges 10 x 2 e/l Pretty easy though I do feel the slight imbalance between left and right I witnessed when testing.

KB Vo2Max Snatches

16kgs x 7 reps for 60 rounds – 420 total reps in 29 mins 45

No problems with the right wrist today, concentrated on keeping it straight at top of each rep. Could have gone on really. Stopped mainly because I was being a bit rough on my hands and was getting bored. Plenty of wind and energy left in the tank.

Core Activation
Plank 45 secs

Side plank 30 secs e/s

glute bridges double leg 20 x1

Active or static stretches

Decompression Hangs, Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Shoulder Dislocates.

Foam roller + Tennis Ball, longer session (about 10 minutes)

Psst - don't tell anyone, but I quite enjoyed this today!!! Must be getting close to the time to sub in some double hard movements.

I want a Patch!!!

Overview of what the patch is a selection of links of kids playing on a Patch. Like the old obstacles we used to have in a park near our house:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CYW3xjaWDiY&feature=related
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/speedRun.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/storkWalk.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/stepUpAndLand.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/sideShuffle.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/overVaultDeclinePushup.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/overStump.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/lungeUnder.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/lateralUnders.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/lateralBearCrawl.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/hipUps.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/forwardBearCrawl.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/donkeyKick.mov
http://www.performancemenu.com/issues/issue31/crabCrawl.mov

Now all I need is about 100 Grand to buy a plot and get one built!!

Foam Roller
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

1 st Column

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

Trigger point therapy – still not arrived.

FMS

Active Leg Raise – supported leg raises, curl-ups 10 x 2

Rigged up a band to pull on and activate the abs while doing this today. It makes it harder overall as an exercise but I definitiely had greater range of motion either side on these. In fact I tested after I finished and passed. Still going to stick at it for a while longer though make sure the pattern sticks.

I did the toe touches this morning and was just able to touch my toes, same thing with the curl-ups. Feeling a lot tighter today after all the snatches yesterday.

Did a couple of rotation stretches here and felt some serious cramping in my right lat.

Core Activation
Plank 45 secs

Side plank 30 secs e/s - again cramped lat on right side. Rolled the heck out of it on the roller after.

glute bridges double leg 20 x1 - put towel between legs and squeezed the heck out of it. Def more activation in the glutes. I'm saving the single leg one from dvd to do as a main exercise later. I've tried it before and my thigh just peeled away from my body when I bridge.

Active or static stretches

Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Shoulder Dislocates.

Foam roller, longer session (about 10 minutes)

Woke up feeling some DOMS and pretty tired. I did some toe touches in the morning and felt a little bit tighter. When it came time to train I decided to take it a little easier and dropped the bodyweight stuff for today - a lot of it overlaps with correctional exercises I do or will be doing later anyway. Coming along OK.

Everyday I hate you less and less...

Response from Brett Jones on my re-hab plan:

Colin,
You have the body of adonis and the grace and speed of a gazelle....

Just kidding here's the real one ;)

Colin,

Go after the ASLR (static leg raise) and Truck Stability Push-up and Thoracic mobility work first - after seeing those improve then re-test and see where you are.

Trigger point - work a few spots before going into the corrective drills and stretches - and the plan to hit the hamstrings and hip flexors with the stretches is a good one.

One or two corrective sessions (don't feel the need to hit everything every time - pick an area to emphasize during a session and then another area in the next one.) will be fine and only work the mobilty drills that make the goal movements better.

Keep me posted

Brett

Many thanks to Brett for his suggestions and time.

Here's how I interpretted/implemented his advice - let me know what you think guys.

Foam Roller
Hams / Calves / Quads / IT Bands / Back

Joint Mobility 20 x 1

Neck – left/right	Neck – forward/back	Neck – side/side
Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations	Wrist Rotations
Shoulder Circles	Arm Circles	Egyptians
Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility	Ankle Mobility
Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles	Ankle Circles
Squats	Squats	Squats
Hula Hoops	Cossacks	Split Switches
Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1	Thoracic Exercise 1
Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2	Thoracic Exercise 2
Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups	Scapula Push Ups

I thought "Truck Stabilty Push-Up" meant the scapula ones - but now I'm sure he meant Trunk as in the planks. This makes sense as in most of the exercises you want ensure to activate the core before execution. Will change this around tomorrow.

Trigger point therapy – work on points relating to the knee. Still haven't got the Knobbily S, but I think it is with a neighbour. This is where he suggests doing TPT.

FMS
Toe Touch – toes up, heels down 10 x 1 Too easy now on the first one, progress to do palms!!
Active Leg Raise – supported leg raises, curl-ups 10 x 2 I've definitely come in a bit closer to the wall on supported leg raises, though I still have a ways to go. Also I can touch my toes on the curl-ups with straight legs!!

Body Weight

Push Ups 7 x3 - bit rubbish but really good form and slow and controlled. Work up to 10 x 3 then elevate my feet 10 x 3, then start work on the one arm push-ups.
Horizontal Pull Hang 30 secs x 3 - was outside so just did these out there. Up to the Pull Hold with band next time
Lunges 10 x 2 e/l - pretty easy, pretty stable too.

KB Vo2Max Snatches

16kgs x 7 reps for 43 rounds – 301 total reps in 21 mins 15.

Felt good, back was grand. Stopped as right wrist was starting to give me a little trouble - going to ice it tonight. Actually started to walk away at 42 rounds and then went back after I counted it at 294.

Core Activation
Plank 45 secs
Side plank 30 secs e/s Hard, hard, hard!!!
glute bridges double leg 20 x1 - too easy, need to just do the single leg ones from now on.

Active or static stretches
Hamstring Stretch, Hip Stretch, Shoulder Dislocates.

Foam roller, longer session (about 10 minutes)

Dare I say it I actually quite enjoyed this tonight, in places - I know, I'm very fickle. The thoracic mobility drills I added were hateful though, so I obviously need them.

If I'm reading Brett's reply right if doing ASLR exercises I should do only mobilty relating to this - so maybe leg swings, high knees, ankle mobilty etc. Work on a few trigger points and then do the corrective exercises and some stretches. Next session I could focus on squat, mobility relating to squat, corrective exercises and stretches. There is a lot of overlap in those two with mobility and stretches and I don't see why I couldn't do a quick blast of mobilty, exercises and stretches later on in the evening. I do like focusing on one movement for a week or so til it's "fixed" though. I'd appreciate some thoughts.

All in all, even though it has only been 3 days, I am very happy with the progress and quite excited about being able to overhead squat ass to the ground in the future. Even if it is hard work.