Sprints - inspired by Hannibal

(12) 50 yard sprints

(6) 100 yard sprints

(4) 200 yard sprints

(2) 400 yard sprints

Complete all as fast as possible, try to keep rest to a minimum.

33:45

Comments: Absolutely foul weather. Tipping down with very strong winds. Just before I went out though I was watching a documentry about Hannibal. I figured if Hannibal could take 26,000 troops and loads of fuckin' elephants across the Alps, then the least I could do was get off my arse and go and do a bit of running!

So powered by the bacon and egg soda I had eaten earlier, out I went.

I was a bit confused about how to approach it though. Sprints as fast as possible. The way to cover that distance as fast as possible is to set off at a pace I could keep up for about 20 minutes. If I set off sprinting with little rest I knew I'd soon be down to a crawl.

If the goal was to improve sprinting then I knew I wanted to follow a piece of advice from my running days. Make sure your last sprint is as strong as the first. Take the rest you need and bang them out at 100%.

I compromised a bit though by going again once my heart rate dropped back down to 150bpms. It's a lot of sprints, so while my breathing was back to a decent level I felt less and less power from my legs as the session went on. The ghost of Hannibal and his elephant on my back.

All in all though it was a good session and I finished it quite strong .

GTG

GTG

Assisted Pull Ups -10
Press Ups - 10
Powerwheel Rollouts - 5

Comment: Very busy today and about all I have time for really. But it all fits in as I'm sore from yesterday's effort and it is absolutely lashing down outside.

Rollouts done off my knees.

Pyramids

Pyramid from 1...10...1, alternating between:

1. 24kgs Snatches L/R
   
2. Burpees

Snatches - 200 total
Burpees - 100 total

30:13

Comment: Bit of a miscalculation tonight. When I started I thought it was 100 reps of each I was doing. Then it dawned on me I was doing 200 snatches. My mind started to panic and I was thinking of ways I could cut the reps.

"I'll finish up on the 10 reps" "Just go to 7 and back down"

By the time I got to 10 I told myself it was all downhill....and physically it was! I'm sure I coughed up several organs as I tore down my body. MBG looked easier than this on paper - it'd better do the job.

100 yards

100 yard workout: goal is to finish each 100 in as few sets as possible
100 yards crawling
100 yards traveling Burpees
100 yards walking Lunges
100 KB Snatches (50 sn / 50 sw 24kgs)

28:32

Comments:

Do your legs give you backchat?

Do you want to teach them a lesson?

Then the 100 yard workout is for you!!

Feel them tear on the forward/backwards crawls. Hear them scream as you spring forwards with the travelling burpees. And eat dirt as they helplessly give way on the lunges. Guaranteed to be out of action for up to two days!!

Did this at the local playing fields. A footy pitch is from 100-130m long - never been sure why they are not all standard. I suspect this one is closer to the 100m though. Tough workout for sure. I had planned to do 100 snatches instead of the cables cleans MBG suggests. It was lashing however and I feared for the skin on my hands so I switched to swings. Well, that and the fact I was f**ked. I guess I may have taken the easy way out.

GTG + Walking

GTG
Pull Ups - 10
Press Ups - 10
Power Wheel Roll outs - 5

3 mile walk

3xAMAP

Alternate between the following until you have completed 3 sets of as many reps as possible:

1. Lateral Handstand Walks - Stability-push up position (60 feet)
   
2. Chin ups - Strength-90 degree (18)
   

Rest as needed, then repeat same format with:

1. Lateral Jumps - Stability - over a sandbag (25)
   
2. 24Kgs Snatches (11 e/a)

Comments: I went for a certain amount of reps each time again instead. Performed better across the board and again chin ups was the only exercise I couldn't knock off in one go.

Getting quicker at crawling. Feel stronger in my core and shoulders, and I'm more confident with the movement. This exercise has exposed all my weak areas. Wrists, traps, neck and stomach have all been sore after doing crawls of some sort. Very good exercise I'd previously overlooked.

GTG + Skipping

GTG
10 Press ups
10 Chins

Jump Rope Revolutions
10 sets of 75 f/b

Comment: Didn't time skipping with a stop watch, but I did it in under 15 mins. My backwards skipping is coming on leaps and bounds. Need to flick my wrists better when the rope is coming through my feet - I understand that even if no one else does.

Card Deck

Each exercise is a suit in a deck of cards. Ace is high and equals 14 reps, down to the 2 card. Go through entire deck AFAP:

1. Hearts- Stepping Lunges (reps are for both sides)
2. Diamonds-Sit Outs (reps are for both sides)
3. Spades-Jump Rope (multiply reps by 10)
4. Clubs-Burpees

35:30

Comment: Worst game of cards I ever had!!! Reps should have been each side so I was cheating there - but this was a killer at the reps I did do. There is nothing quite like getting the 9, Jack and King of clubs after each other.

It was very leg dominant and at times your heart just sinks when you turn over an Ace - worst than a bad beat at hold-em!!!

60/60

Warm Up:
Mobility, Pumps

60 seconds for each exercise, pick your level and perform as many reps as possible. Rest 60 seconds, then move on to next exercise:

Push Ups - Strength-regular
35 - I'm a man again doing full press ups

Body Rows - Stability-60 degree
19

Cable Military Press – 2 cables
16 - not sure of the cable ratings, but 2 of them was plenty hard for this.

Cable Cleans – 1 cable
26

Chin Ups – assisted
17

Lunges
29 - alternating legs (I did do the 30th for symmetry)

Jungle Gym Leg Curls
30

Cable Front Squat – 2 cables
15 - the cables keep coming from under my feet and flying up at me. Can't keep my feet flat on the ground so I shall have to think about this one for the future. Switched to deep BW Squats after a few attempts.

Cable Deadlifts – 3 cables
24 - cables are too long so I had to stop and wrap them around my feet a few times. Wasn't ideal set-up but it was doing a number on me none-the-less.

Comments: Quite a tough little circuit. Like most of these things it looks quite easy on paper but kicks your ass. Probably should have prepared myself a bit better for the exercises - at least tried them out before going at it proper.

I liked the way I was able to do all of this in my tiny bedroom using the cables, jungle gym and BW. There really is no excuse for me if it is lashing down outside now - which it will be for the next 6 months.

Edit: Place the cables under the block of wood I use for raising my heels. It may result in a block of wood flying up and hitting me in the ass but what the hell.

3 x AMAP

Warm Up:
Mobility, Pumps and skipping (f/b)

Circuit
Alternate between the following for 3 sets of as many reps as possible:

Lateral Walks - push up position (approx 50 feet)
Assisted Chins (15)

Rest as needed, then repeat same format with:

Lateral Jumps (20)
24kg Snatches (10)

X 3

Comments: Subbed the snatches for cable extensions, wanted to see what my snatching was like.

Originally I had intended to stop when I could do AMAP in each set as it says. It became apparent though that I was feeling lazy and that I needed to set numbers for myself. In all fairness once I did this I was able to knock off that many for each set, with exception of the chins.

I think there is a couple of reasons for this - GTG for the past days on that exercise, and also I think I'm a little bit over trained. Didn't get a good nights sleep last night, woke up very early and I'm feeling a little ratty, early warning signs for me.

Off out on the town tonight - best hope that I lose the rattiness before I've got a skinful of alcohol in me!!

GTG + Circuits

GTG 9 Assisted Chins & 2 Assisted Pistols

Warm Up:
Line drills - like running backwards, high knees etc

Circuit
12 Burpees
24 Push Ups (knees)
36 BW Squats
400m Run
4 Rounds

17:02

Comments: Like using the jungle gym from MBG, I have it hanging off my bedroom door and have been GTG pull ups on it for the past 2 days. I discovered a great place to hang it off my wooden staircase for pistols today.

It was raining out of the heavens when I left to go do the circuit. Fine rain that had me soaked through within 5 mins. Luckily there wasn't a breath of wind. I love it when it's like this. It feels really still and calm. This was shattered of course once I started the circuit. I was covered in muck within minutes, snot in the middle and wheezing like a dying man towards the finish. Still I was happy with my effort and feel grrrrrreeeeeeaaaat!

Shall have to get off my knees and do full press ups from now on....I think I said that last time too.

Franklin

Wow - you really did take the time to go through the blog!!

That's for all the comments you left. Feedback and encouragement is always welcome and what has kept me on track with the consistancy of workouts over the past year. I owe you and Martin a lot for that.

I hear you loud and clear about the food stuff. I live with my folks at the minute and they and practically everyone else around me are not into this stuff and eat all the crap of the day. There are all sort of temptations around this house - and I am encouraged to eat it. It seems like they are constantly clawing at me to stop training and start eating.

In a way though it is their ill health and dependancy on medication that drives me on. I think the best thing I can do for myself is to move back out soon.

I thought that you'd have something to say about the KB heresy I wrote about. You have made it work well for you and fallen in love with it. I think they are a great tool too - but not the one stop shop I so wanted them to be. I have gotten a lot from using them exclusively at times, just not the things I was really after. I feel the stuff I am am doing now has gotten harder rather than easier. I can lift more weight than ever but struggling using my own weight - I just don't feel thats right.

6th Test

Warm Up:
Mobiltiy, pumps and skipping (F/B)

Long conditioning test
100 yards Bear Crawl + 1000 revolutions skipping (F)

18:47

Circuit - 30/30

30 seconds of exercise 1, 30 seconds rest, 30 seconds exercise 2, 30 seconds rest, repeat for a total of 8 minutes, alternating between:

Kettlebell Swings - 24 kgs
BW Squats
18-20 reps for each

Rest as needed, then repeat same format as above with:

Assisted Pull Ups
Burpees
8-11 reps for each

Comments:Killer. I am sitting here sweating buckets as I write this. As I did the long conditioning test today I missed out the middle couple of exercises from the WOD. Sprinting on the spot and Step Ups. I did this as the test was harder than I thought it'd be. Go figure!!

I made it a little harder than the lowest level of stairway crawls to bear crawls on the flat. I did them forwards and backwards across my yard. They were tough, but nowhere near as bad as those pesky power wheel crawls - my stomach is so sore today from yesterdays try out.

After this the 30/30 circuits were brutal. It's going to be a long 60 days!!!

Testing, testing, 123

Warm Up:
Mobility, pumps and 5 mins skipping (back and forwards)

MBG Tests
Chin ups: Stability: 90 degree assisted chin ups (over 20 reps)
17 reps - really started to burn my biceps. Stopped just shy of failure. Tried to do full chin up before I started...I tried, but I failed :(

Pushups: Strength: regular pushups (over 20 reps)
21 regular push-ups

Squats: Power: front squat (over 5 reps)
50kgs sandbag x 6 reps. approx 60% of bw . Bit disappointed in this, got way more than that in me...somewhere.

Jumping rope: Strength: Jump rope 150 forward / 150 backward (in under 2:30)
3mins 17 secs . My backwards skipping is starting to rock, still not great but immeasurably better. I hold the handles in front of me a bit when skipping forwards so I needed to lengthen the swing for backwards by holding the handles right at the ends. Not ideal, but it'll do until I start to dail in the correct form.

Alignment: Strength: Power wheel crawls (100 yards in under 5 mins)
60 feet or 20 yards in 5 minutes. Would have taken me all day to 100 yards. Felt weak in my wrists, and core both front and back.

Long Distance: Stabilty: 100 yard stair crawl + 1000 revolutions of skipping rope.(under 30 mins)
Do this one tomorrow along with a few other bits and peices.

1 min rest between each test.

Comment: The Stability, strength and power noted in the exercise description just shows the level of difficulty. Obviously stability being the easiest and power the harder ones. The brackets after then denote the reps or time you need to be able to do for that level before you can progress.

When the daily workout is posted it gives you a choice of stability, strength and power under each exercise. It just gives you an idea of which you should be doing for the effect goal of the workout.

Overall - no real surprises, about what I expected for each. It just confirmed to me that I need to lose a fair few pounds to get better at the old bw based routines.

The power wheel is going to sicken me before I'm finished. It is unbelievably hard!! I was inching forward and flying backwards (not good, was out of control). This was because I wasn't able to stay tight enough in the mid section. My lower back got sore on a few ocassions due to complete fatigue of the core too. And my wrists didn't hold up too well. As an added kick in the balls I fully expect my shoulders to be seriously stiff in the morning. I've even placed it outside my bedroom in the hall now - can't stand the sight of it already!!

It is going to make me very strong though........

MBG stuff has arrived!!!

Today I was quite surprised to find my MGB stuff was waiting for me when I got home. I had intended to do an evil session involving 4 body weight exercises and a deck of cards, but as you can imagine I got kinda side tracked.

In the pack amongst other stuff I got a very sturdy power wheel and a jungle gym - webbing with handles basically. I've mainly been playing around with these. They are realitively simple tools but I can already see the potential for their use.

The power wheel is killing me on the simple exercises they recommend to start with. My shoulders and mid section are going to get hammered!! The webbing is going to help me develop my ability to perform some very essential body weight exercises like chins, dips and pistols. I'm actually quite excited by the prospects.

MBG has some tests they recommend you complete prior to starting the 60 day challenge. Partly to gauge your progress but more for determining the level of exercise progressions to start at. I shall do those tomorrow night and post the results. Some of them I already where I'll be, but some others shall be interesting.

Edit: For got to add that my calves are killing me today from skipping. With the KB stuff and low rep DLs I was always fine the next day. This approach has me sore all over though.

Skipping Pyramid

50-100-150-200-250-200-150-100-50 revolutions forwards and backwards

43:37

Comment: Forwards this was a piece of cake, sprinted through it. This was my first time ever skipping backwards though. It was so frustrating. I started in one's and the ocassional two's, and was forever whipping myself in the face with the leather rope. I'm not into that sort of thing, it was just accidental ya know!!

At the end, even though I was tired, I was stringing together bursts of 5. It'll come with a bit more practice and I reckon I'll bust this time wide open when I try it again. There's a good scene on the Enamait dvd I got recently about practicing skipping, including double unders, cross overs etc. I might start practicing these briefly as a warm up.

Prison Workout

10 reps of each, then 9 of, then 8...down to 1 of each AFAP:

24kg KB Cleans e/s
Lunges e/s

8:38

3 mins rest

24kg KB Jerks
Burpees

16:22

Comment: Hardest workout I've done in a long time. Did well with the first one and I thought I posted a respectable time. The next one was a stone cold killer. Maybe that's why it's called the Prison workout. I just felt more and more light headed and drained with each rep - thought about calling it quits early on but I'm pleased that I was able to talk myself around and keep going - even if it had taken me 25 mins.

To add to the coincidences I had just finished watching a pretty brutal program about Surviving Maximum Secruity. I'd still take this workout over having to go in there!!

Edit: should mention that this was taken from MBG WOD. I subbed Kbs for bands and the burpees for power wheel crawls 100 yards to 10 yards. Now that will be a killer when I get that contraption.

BW circuit

Warm up:
Mobility, Pumps

Complete the following AMAP in 25 minutes:

20 BW Squats
20 Pushups - Stability-knee
Jump Rope 150 forwards and backwards - Stability-invisibe jump rope

7 rounds - just finished 8th set of push ups on 25:00

Comment: Absolutely teaming down outside today. Really wasn't in the mood for a soaking so I did this inside meaning that I had to pretend skip. I'm not a bad skipper anyway so I was going through the motions just as if I had a rope in my hand.

My knees were getting killed on the BW Squats. I was going to rock bottom with my heels raised a little - just glad I didn't pull/twist/strain something.

Went for the push ups off my knees as I knew I wouldn't be able to go straight through with full ones. In the end though they were maybe a little too easy so next time I'll start with full ones and then drop to my knees when they get too tough.

Good session - enjoyed it once I got going. Feeling full of energy now.