we arrived home from our camping trip to upstate new york on friday evening. the weekend was spent eating a lot of junk food, drinking a lot of adult beverages, and relaxing. HD and i were eager to hit the gym this morning and gauge how much of our gains we've lost being in the middle of nowhere for the last two weeks... i definitely left the gym in pain... of course a "good pain."
this morning's training session was split into three parts: (1) basketball drills- pump fakes, (2) a 12min AMRAP, and (3) abs.
warmup
we took 5 shots at each spot, pump faking from side to side. we put up 60 shots in under 5 minutes. as i've stated before, this is a good way to get the blood flowing.
then we rolled into the 12min AMRAP:
8 thrusters (75lbs)
5 multi-level jumps
10 bicycles
10 kettlebell swings (25lbs)
5 plyo-diamond into regular pushups
8 pullups (odd rounds)/chinups (even rounds)
just a reminder, this will (well should) be the last post until july 23... we'll start posting again on the 24th or 25th due to most members of 4TWC's commitments. anyway, this morning HD and i split our session up into 3 parts: (1) timed swim, (2) timed workout (a scaled down & modified version of a crossfit wod named, "D.T."), and (3) moderate treadmill run. we wanted to squeeze in some shooting drills, but there were people playing on the court by 5:45am... so i guess friday's for individual basketball drills is a no go. in general, this morning's session was awesome and both of us left the gym feeling really good:
for time
swim 300 meters
every 50m perform 10 pushups and 15 bicycles
here is my first 150m:
results
HD: 12min 47sec DV: 10min 50sec
i think i swam better than i usually do, especially during my first 50 meters... haha, i did resort to keeping my ahead above water a little after the 100 meter mark. will be sure to keep working on that. my pushups did get a sloppy and i have to ensure i go lower. it seems at the time i'm performing a good pushup, but after watching the film, i have to make a conscious effort to go lower or allow HD to haze me haha.
next, for time
3 rounds @ 85lbs
12 romanian deadlifts, 9 hang power cleans, 6 push jerks
here are HD's entire rounds:
results
HD: 5min 17sec DV: 2min 38sec
lastly, we ended off with treadmill work
21mins @ 7.5mph, .5% incline
total: 2.62 miles and approx. 296 calories burned
afterward, HD and i agreed that we felt great after that run. 7.5mph, after all that work in the morning, still felt like a brisk jog. hopefully we can get 9mph to feel like a brisk jog eventually.
that's all i got for now. i am pretty concerned about losing the gains we've made in a couple of months, but the time off should help with recovery. i plan on sneaking in short workouts here and there, and if i manage to document it or write about it, i'll be sure to share when i get back. keep training hard out there and stay tuned in two weeks.
TS just finished creating our team training session 2 video. with the help of NS, they both did a great job in documenting the event:
there were about 10 participants during that day and the average time to complete this tough course was about 16 minutes. i would have to say it was the best mini-prep training simulation of tough mudder that i have partook in. TS did a great job with the programming:
for time
as you run a loop which is probably just short of a mile to a mile and a quarter, you encounter the following stations: (1) 20 burpees into thrusters, (2) barrel crawls, (3) large hill run, (4) 50 jumping jacks, (5) 135lbs/95lbs hang cleans, (6) 40 bicep curls-4 sprints-40 box jumps w/40lbs/20lbs vest, (7) 20 kettlebell swings (50lbs), and (8) 20 split jumps with 20lbs dumbbells.
to finish off the workout, we did a team run while each of us, individually, carried some form of weight.
if you check out the We Are Fit facebook page, you will also find content posted by DK as he conducts station #1. moreover, TS is also hosting an event- the Are You Fit Challenge, on july 31 that challenges your fitness for approximately 4.5 miles of obstacles/exercises, while, most importantly, raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. if this interests you, hit up the facebook page or event page and message TS. i already know it's going to be great, yet a tough preparatory training session for all three events i'm participating in this fall: (1) The Race for Tomorrow (w/AM), (2) Men's Health Urbanathlon: NYC (w/DK), and (3) Tough Mudder: Tri-State 2011 (which is 89% sold out for saturday as of now... just an fyi-heads up).
lastly, my company won our opening day basketball game this evening, so the shooting drills this morning definitely helped haha... winning feels good, not gonna lie. definitely going to get some rest for tomorrow's training day- trying to go out with a bang before we have a 2 week layoff. hope you all are enjoying the blog.
this morning's session was split up into four parts: (1) warmup - basketball shooting drills, (2) bench press, (3) timed workout, and (4) moderate run on the treadmill. parts 2-4 are scaled down and modified from july 6's SOFWOD.
warmup
we took 5 shots at each spot- continuously moving from the inner cordon, then sprinting to the outer cordon as seen below:
at the end of this part, that's about 50 total shots up in less than 5 minutes. we didn't take down the number of makes haha... we shot pitiful anyway, but it was a good warmup to get the blood flowing and good for me to get some mechanics down before my game tonight.
then we did an AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) for 10 minutes:
100m farmer's walk w/45lbs plates in each hand
20 kettlebell swings (25lbs)
15 elevated pushups
8 side-to-side pullups
here is HD going through his first couple of rounds:
this AMRAP sneaks up on you and doesn't appear to be a forearm workout, which it really turned out to be... if you try this, definitely do not sleep on the farmer's walk...
HD and i missed a morning workout, however, we did make it up in the evening. although it took us approximately ten minutes to complete, the session kicked our butts. we split it up into two timed workouts:
for time
3 rounds
12 overhead squats (65lbs), 12 burpee pullup/knee raise
here is HD's first round:
results
HD: 7min 36sec DV: 6min 42sec
next, for time
rounds of 15-10-5 reps
20lbs wall ball shots, box jumps, kettlebell swings (25lbs)
here are my entire rounds:
results
HD: 3min 47sec DV: 3min 3sec
nice short workout, yet still painful. we plan on getting after it in a few hours tomorrow morning. going to incorporate basketball... haha, because i have my first corporate league game tomorrow evening and need to get some reps in beforehand. also, want you to all know that 4TWC will be offline from July 9 to 23 because most of the team will be on a camping trip with rarely any access to any sort of communication vehicle. should we manage training days during these two weeks, i will be sure to document and fill you all in... time to get to bed.
i was fortunate enough to spend the holiday weekend in our nation's capital and celebrate our 235th independence day. it was an excellent experience being around all types of Americans from various parts of the country. below are some videos and pictures i took of the weekend:
donovan house sunday pool party
The White House amidst protests
National Gallery of Art - Mass. 54th Regiment Memorial
hanging with the bartender during the fireworks
watching the fireworks form the key bridge marriott
on thursday morning, HD and i were back at the gym after taking two much needed days off. we split up our session into 4 parts: (1) a quad set for strength, (2) a timed workout, (3) a timed swim, and (4) light work on the treadmill. definitely felt really good and energized after this training day:
here i am on my 1st/warm-up set:
then, for time
3 rounds
10 alternating incline dumbbell bench presses (25lbs)
10 pushup rows (25lbs - 5 rows each arm)
25 kettlebell swings (25lbs)
here are HD's rounds in their entirety:
results
HD: 8min 40sec DV: 6min 46sec
then, swim for time
200m total
every 50m perform 10 dive bombers
here is my swim:
after reviewing this footage, i have to change my form to a regular freestyle. i'd conserve way more energy. i like keeping my head above water most of the time so i can see what's going on and i hate wearing goggles. i have to stop being stubborn and swim the right way. also, my dive bombers were bad. have to work on that.
results
HD: 10min 50sec DV: 7min 38sec
lastly, treadmill run
18 min @ 7mph, .5% incline
total: 2.1 miles, approx. 238 calories burned
great variety, great training session, & definitely gave me a lift for the rest of the day!
team training session 2
this evening, we conducted TTS 2 (really 3, but i was unable to attend the GTS a few weeks ago and briefly blogged about it), hosted by TS. he found a great training area that will be a valuable resource in future team training sessions. this evening was probably the best tough mudder simulated workout i've participated in ever, no lie, despite its short duration. i will post results and blog about it at a later date. you can also find updates at the We Are Fit facebook page, hosted by TS. i had a great time this evening, met some great people, and look forward to training with them some more. here is some media from this evening:
get fit or die trying
heading down to DC to celebrate our independence, so won't have any training days with HD until wednesday. will be sure to post some pics/vids of our nation's capital. until then, i want to express my gratitude and pride in our country's military, government workers, fire fighters, and police officers. these men & women put everything on the line everyday, have been seriously injured, or have given up their lives so that the 99% of us can go about our daily lives freely and pursue our dreams. God bless all of them.
