New Template and some videos

I've shifted my template to a more kettlebell focus in the assistance lifts. I want to continue with the 531 program because I love the hormone response from lifting heavy weight. I think having a good base of strength will help with almost any physical task. However I have included more kettle lifts to work on technique and perhaps drop some of the barbell lifts to help solidify preparation for RKC on February 18th next year.

I've had good success last cycle with strength and getting back into a solid routine. I don't want to make drastic changes to the program because it has worked. Ill be posting up different conditioning circuits every week that will have a different emphasis.  A lot of it will be work capacity to prep for the weekend. Some of the exercises such as renegade rows and bottoms up press are to emphasis total body tension. Skill is a strength and being able to master different gears of tension is important to all athletes. I've also incorporated more KB Rack holds because that will be very prevalent at RKC and the time under tension for upper body and overall core control is amazing.

I have Joel Jamisons HRV app on the way s oI can get a better picture of how my body is recovering from the volume and load. It will be nice to have objective data rather than trying to "feel" it out. Don't get me wrong I think we should be as in tune with our bodies as we can, however this isn't always accurate.

New Template

Here are two videos I took last week that have been uploaded. One is my final set on the last hard week of 531 on deadlifts.  The second is a kb circuit, my first time really learning renegade rows from my friend Aaron Klestinec was teaching me. The third is off Aarons youtube page, I demoed a holiday lower body circuit for him. 

Current training Satus

I've been doing a couple new things with my diet and training.

Diet: Current doing the lean gains approach for intermittent fasting, I played around with this in the summer for 5 weeks and like the results i"m getting. The difference now is I have started to train fasted on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. This is in part due to my work schedule but also to do an experiment on myself. I drink about 10 grams of leucine during the training and will have 1 scoop of EAS Muscle armor prior to training. I like the results so far. When I started the leans gain approach I was 199, four weeks ago. Now i'm sitting at an easy 190. Currently doing a slow weight cut to preserve muscle probably will drop to and maintain 185. I have also been strict with my calories and carb cycling. 2500 calories on training days with 100-150 grams of carbs. Off days will be around 2200 with under 100 grams of carbs. Keep in mind I don't count the trace carbs from most veggies, only sugars and starches. Once or twice a week Ill have a refill day where Ill go a little higher n calories and carbs. This is for both physical and psychological purposes.


Training: Now my individual training sessions don't last to long. 15-30 minutes for foam roll,correctives and movement prep than about 70 minutes from the power session to the end of the ESD session. I'm still doing heavy strength training, with the 5/3/1 approach. I think this is important for preserving muscle in a body re composition project. You need to create a demand for the body to hold on to muscle during times of limited resources (calorie deficit).

I'm getting stronger in my lifts and tomorrow will be my last day in week 3. Than next week will be a deload week which works perfect because Ill be traveling home for the holidays.

I have had a lot of message of people asking me for a copy of my template or training program. So it took some googling but I found out how to attach it to this blog in the link below. It is pretty straight forward. Power block in the beginning followed by the primary strength movement which is in the 5/3/1 format. Than the secondary and auxiliary movements afterwards. Followed by an conditioning circuit.

My Template

New videos

Ill be posting my modified 531 template tomorrow. Training is going well and I just threw some new videos up. Also my buddy Aaron Klestinec from www.kettlebuild.com joined me for a workout yesterday.






Video of me in my second week for 531 on hte last set of dead lifts for max reps. Stopped a rep or two shy of technical failure.

Random updates

Its been to long since I have put anything new up. My internship has been really demanding and I have very little time to write as much. Its a good learning experience Ill be writing a write up on it after its over in three weeks.

Weight Gain/Lean out phase:

This semester I wanted to try something and put on some good lean mass rather than trying to stay lean all the time. I went from weighing in at 178 at august 28th to weighing in at 198 November 1st. My Average body fat was around 9% which I'm happy with. Now I'm cutting back trying to lean out. I started intermittent fasting again on a 16 hour fast and 8 hour feeding window. 2 weeks in and its a little challenging with work, but so far so good.

Training:

My training has gone well, I was doing lots of strength and plyos. I cut back on the plyos because my feet were taking a beating with doing that and working on my feet all day. I put a pedometer to see how far I would walk in an average day at work and average 8-11 miles of walking around a day. This did not include walking around during my own personal workouts. Last several weeks, I've been doing mainly double kettle bell work and sprints. Its been more of a Deload for me.

PLP:

Yesterday was the conclusion of my 60 day PLP program. The program can be found here:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/plp_the_60day_challenge

I did this program in addition to my own training. Overall I like the program , it was more of an exercise to commitment. I think high frequency training programs like this have their place. There were times where I forgot and it was late at night and I had 50 pull ups, push ups and 100 lunges to do, wasn't the happiest camper. However I had several other people around me on the program and that was great for keeping me accountable. I did develop some tendinitis around the forearm just under the elbow. Very mild and I would work around it with my normal training to keep up with PLP. I think its just the nature of having very heavy grip training naturally ; (dead lifts , kettle bells, farmer walks, weighted pull ups). I stopped doing weighted pull ups about 3 weeks ago to help wit the tendinitis. Since I started this program and putting on weight, I've gotten countless remarks on how much bigger my upper body has gotten, particularly my back. My shirts are fitting tighter around the lats, arms and chest. I think PLP can ge a good program for putting on slow steady mass, if accompanied with the right diet. Unfortunately I didn't think to take measurements before I started.

I'm currently developing a new program using 5/3/1 for my 4 main lifts, front squat, pull up, over head press, deadlift than having assistance work in the form of circuits followed by conditioning. Still going to have a fat loss emphasis towards the end of the workout. Ill put up the template in a couple days, its meant to be a 4 week phase. After which Ill reevaluate and shift my focus to primarily kettle bells because Ill be doing RKC in San Jose of Feb. of next year!


Goals:

This year I wanted to get a 1 arm chin up and Trap Bar DL 3x my body weight. However I have to confess I have not been putting my effort into either of those pursuits. My focus would shift and It would always be an after thought. I am going to focus more on obtaining the 1 arm chin up in the next couple of months. I have started straight bar dead lifting again for a change of pace. We'll see where I end up.

My goals for next year are to get back into Mixed Martial Arts again. Use my strength and conditioning to supplement my MMA game. I'm thinking a 3 day program to allow for proper recovery. Now I want a quantitative goal for my MMA so I want to attend 100 classes for next year. I did this in 2008 and 2009 and it worked well. Having a number like that can give you something to shoot for rather than " I just want to go a lot".

Friends:

My long time friend Aaron Klestinec has started his own website

wwww.kettlebuild.com

He is an up an coming trainer with desire to learn and has a passion to coach. Him and I will be doing a lot of projects in the future. Bringing new content with exercise demos, work out plans , philosophies and we want to put strategies out there that give people a frame work for comping up with their own answers to health related questions.

Thanks for reading and keeping the traffic up despite the long lay off. More stuff to come!

Keep training

4 new videos and training update

I put up four videos today. The first two are from over the summer, in late July. I was at 178lb body weight. The second two I took on Friday where I currently am 192-95.









Training has been going well last couple of week.s Pretty much the same template I have been using for a while. However the last week and for the next two weeks I am only doing 2 strength sessions a week, just a couple sets ot maintain strength in 4 lifts; front squat, pull ups, conventional dead lifts and over head press. Meanwhile I will be doing 30 minute cardio sessions 4 times a week. During these cardio sessions I am keeping HR around 140-150. This is an effort to boost my cardiac output and improve my aerobic base. I notice that I have a pretty high resting heart rate in the morning around 68. I think I am over sympathetic dominant from hard training all the time. I am doing a three week trial to see if the resting heart rate can go down. If this works i am hoping ot recover from workouts better, and have better overall tissue quality.

I think it is important sometimes to step back and go about training from a different route. Patrick Ward of Optimum Sport Performance helped me realize this when I met him at HKC last weekend. This may be just what I need to progress my strength and training further. Plus I think it will overall help me become a healthier human being. I am writing down my resting heart rates in the morning. when this experiment is done I will have a great write up for you guys. It may not work at all, but definitely worth a try.

Until than keep training.

New t spine mobility drill

I've been really busy and behind lat on updates. Ill have a training up date later this week. The good news is I have a new phone with better video quality. As such Ill be making more how to videos and uploading a lot more content. I have a new one for you today

Below is a simple t spine mobility drill. It is like a standard t spine extension with the foam roller. Howeve now you're reaching over head and grabbing a kettle bell. This is a greaqt primer for over head pressing. The key point of this drill is to make sure the rip cage stays down and the bottom ribs do not flare out. If that happens we are getting more lumbar extension than thoracic extension. You will see in the video I check my rips to make sure of this.

Another key point is to make sure that our pillar is intact. Meaning there is a straight line from the hiips to the top of your head. The neck should be in alingment with the rest of the spine. Breath into the stretch and try to shoot for 2 minutes. Moving up and down mid to uppper back, looking for releases.Push into the foam roller and try to bend through the part of the pine that is on top of it.

To add a little more juice try and pick up the kettlebell. Don't actually lift it, but firing the lats and than releasing will give you a PnF type of stretch, making it more effective. I suggest using a heavy kettlebell , one that you know you won't be able to lift.



Test your t spine extension before then rest after doing this to see if it makes a change As always feed back is appreciated.

Humbled

So I am about 2.5 weeks into my Internship at Athletes' Performance. I lean something every couple of minutes. The caliber of people that work here are amazing. Seriously the coaches are some of the best in the world. I'm really honored and fortunate enough to have this 4 month opportunity to work along side the industry leading team in sports performance.

It has definitely been an adjustment moving working here. I'm in a house with 7 other people and this is my first time having roommates. It definitely presents some challenges but also gives me a chance to learn and become friends with some cool people from across the world. I like the opportunity it gives me to exercise patience and practice being considerate of others .We all get along pretty well and stay out of each others way. If this were the "real world" tv show, it would be pretty fucking boring.

I've gained 10-12 pounds since I have been here. Week one I weighted in at 178 about a week later I tipped the scales at 188 and now i'm around 189-190. I've been eating a little more now, over the summer I was at around a 10-15% calorie deficit . One of my goals is to try and put on 10 pounds of muscle in 4 months. They have an in house nutrition team that I am looking to get some guidance from to help reach that goal. I also started taking some creatine pre workout to see how it would effect me and If i would gain much from it. Still to early to tell. All I can say are pull ups feel harder, but I feel stronger and faster with all the movement training I started incorporating.

So far this situation has definitely solidified something I've thought about for a long time. That is you mimic the people you surround yourself with. I feel like working at such a premier place has made me up my own game in coaching, seeking knowledge and my own training.

I want to keep the updates coming, new phone should be happening in the next couple weeks. This means more videos with much higher quality.

Training today, after work;

Foam
Stretch
Prep mini band work

A1. Keiser power squats 190Air drop squats 5 reps 180 jump squats 6 reps 1800 watts 230A 6 repos 2000 watts 250Air 6 reps 2500 watts

A2. Hip flxr stretch

B1. FMS hamstring Leg Lower

B2. SL RDL 135M 5/5 95M/40Air 5/5 95M/80Air 5/5

B3. Anti Rotational Press 25A 1/2 Kneeling 8/8 30Air 8/8 Split stance 25Air 5/58

B4. Overhead Press Double 32kg 4 , 4 Single Arm 28kg 8/8

C1. Single Leg Contra Lateral Row 50lb 6/6 6/6

C2. SL RDL power row on keiser 25Air 6/6 6/6

ESD just working on snatching

Was doing snatch test but hands started to rip. The coating on the kettle bells here are different but I got over 80

Feeling good.