noticed that you seem to stick to max. strength sets of 1-5 reps during the winter and then switch and lose weight during the summer, because the track coaches were/are reccommending that you do this? In the winter you were hitting 7.4 FAT which equates to an 11.4ish 100m outdoors, wouldn’t this suggest that it’d be better to continue the max. strength work through the summer season to but to allow time for rest so you taper in competition? From past experience in myself and others that I have trained with, with 60/100m sprinters I think a bit of muscle mass along with strength does no harm and generally the heavier I am, the stronger I am, the more powerful I am, the faster I am over shorter distances. I could appreciate losing a bit of weight in the summer if you were a 400m/800m runner but I don’t see the point for 100?
Feb 1
Tricep Kickbacks
4 x 8 x 11kg
Pullups
17, 18, 12
BB Upright Rows
3 x 8 x 46kg
Inverted Rows
3 x 8
BB Shrugs
3 x 8 x 78.5kg
Side Bridge 2 x 75 secs
Front Bridge 2 x 90 secs
Really positive workout, shrugs felt excellent as normally I worry that my shoulders are forward and it’s not good for me.
[quote]masterhaichanchu wrote:
noticed that you seem to stick to max. strength sets of 1-5 reps during the winter and then switch and lose weight during the summer, because the track coaches were/are reccommending that you do this? In the winter you were hitting 7.4 FAT which equates to an 11.4ish 100m outdoors, wouldn’t this suggest that it’d be better to continue the max. strength work through the summer season to but to allow time for rest so you taper in competition? From past experience in myself and others that I have trained with, with 60/100m sprinters I think a bit of muscle mass along with strength does no harm and generally the heavier I am, the stronger I am, the more powerful I am, the faster I am over shorter distances. I could appreciate losing a bit of weight in the summer if you were a 400m/800m runner but I don’t see the point for 100?[/quote]
Sorry mate, didn’t see this!
It’s 100 and 200m so the raw power needed for acceleration isn’t as important as hitting a nice top speed and maintaining it. The additional exercises we do in the gym are slowly phased out and strength levels are maintained over summer with something like 3x3 rather than continuing to get stronger.
My coaches reasons are that weights are purely supplementary to sprinting and by reducing the volume in the gym we can increase what we do in a speed session. The weight loss is partly because for a 60m race a lot of us feel more powerful a few kgs heavier than we would otherwise be and once the need to maintain top speed comes into it we lose a little extra fat and some muscle mass that we’d gained from general conditioning work in the winter that isn’t actually making us run any faster. He is very conservative with what we do and I have done extra work in the gym over summer in previous seasons but the best season i’ve had with him was my first one where he got me down from 12.64 to 11.70 and I did EXACTLY what he told me and nothing more - and I could barely squat 60kg for 8.
It’s hard to trust that leaving the weights alone is a viable option especially when all the top sprinters are squatting 2.5x BW, but I think it’s key to remember that they got really fast and as a consequence can squat heavy - not the other way round.
Apologies if any of that doesn’t make sense, i’m very hungover right now.
Feb 2
Donkey Kicks (5 sec ISO)
2 x 10
SL Glute Bridge (5 sec ISO)
2 x 10
Back Squats
9 x 118.5kg
8 x 118.5kg
7 x 118.5kg
Seated Band Abduction
20, 15
Ab Wheel Rollout
4 x 15
Upped the resistance band as I had people training with me who wanted a stronger band so I used that too. Legs probably haven’t recovered from the speed session as I was expecting to hit 10 reps today in squats. Everything else was good and my glutes are killing me now.
Feb 5
Donkey Kicks
2 x 20 x 2.5kg
SL Glute Bridge
2 x 20
Back Squats
10 x 118.5kg
2 x 8 x 123.5kg
Seated Band Abduction
2 x 20
Ab Wheel Rollout
4 x 18
Could’ve done around 12 reps on the first set of squats, really controlled reps. Changed the glute work yet again, no ISO holds but still felt it all.
Feb 6
One Arm Pressup (Dresser)
5 x 5
Inverted Rows
3 x 8
Wide Arm Pushups
17, 18, 19
Bicep Curls
3 x 8 x 45kg
Decline Pushups
27, 24, 20
Renegade Rows
3 x 12 x 5kg
No bench today, tried single arm pushups and struggled with my right arm even though it was only onto a chest-high cabinet. Pleased with everything else.
Feb 7
Box Jumps
1 x 105cm
5 x 110cm
Track Work
7 x 15m (2 mins)
7 x 25m (3 mins)
Box Jumps
1 x 110cm
5 x 115cm
I could’ve done more but I seem to remember being told never to exceed 300m of acceleration in one session. To be fair next week i’ll have more intensity and could do the same workout and it’ll be more taxing. I had knee trouble last week but that’s all but gone and I had no issues in that session.
Feb 9
Donkey Kicks
2 x 20 x 2.5kg
SL Glute Bridge
2 x 20
Back Squats
10 x 123.5kg
7 x 128.5kg
6 x 128.5kg
Seated Band Abduction
2 x 20
Side Bridge, 2 x 75 secs
Front Bridge, 2 x 90 secs
Surprised to hit 10 reps straight away and i’m pretty much the strongest i’ve ever been in this rep range, with my pb being 8 @ 131kg. Body fat is also nice and low, I don’t have batteries to my scales but I think i’ve maintained LBM and just lost fat. I’m going on holiday early April and would like to be the strongest and leanest i’ve ever been before then.
Feb 12
Donkey Kicks
2 x 20 x 2.5kg
SL Glute Bridge
2 x 20
Back Squats
2 x 8 x 128.5kg
6 x 128.5kg
Seated Band Abduction
2 x 20
Side Bridge, 2 x 80 secs
Front Bridge, 2 x 100 secs
Had a tight sensation the length of my right leg which was a little disconcerting on the second set of squats, and consequently I eased up on the final set. I’m pleased with the progress in the last two weeks and need to learn to not rush the next jump in weight and just to master 128.5kg and get good deep reps out. Everything else is consistent week to week and I might look at introducing a different glute exercise soon.
My friend was asking about my upper body split and I said it was chest/arms and shoulders/back. That is nonsense since curls and kickbacks are on different days and inverted rows are both days. I’ve restored order and will also be throwing in a 3rd upper body day on Fridays when there’s no rugby on Saturday.
Feb 13
Tricep Kickbacks
4 x 8 x 12kg
Bicep Curls
3 x 6 x 50kg
Explosive Pushups
3 x 10
Chin Ups
14, 14, 12
Wide Arm Pushups
20, 20, 20
Diamond Pushups
15, 14, 12
Weighted V-Situps
12 x 5kg hand, 5kg feet
2 x 12 x 7.5kg hand, 5kg feet
Right, that’s better. I have a ‘work’ set (kickbacks, curls) then a ‘to failure’ set (chin ups, diamond pushups) and that seemed to work well. I will hate myself for including weighted v-situps as last time I overdid it and took over two weeks to get rid of the doms. Much happier with which body parts are being targetted.
Feb 14
Box Jumps
2 x 105cm
3 x 110cm
3 x 115cm
Track Work
6 x 20m (2.5 mins)
4 x 30m (3.5 mins)
2 x 30m (4.5 mins)
The 30m runs took a lot out of me and I had to adjust my rest periods. To be fair they weren’t well thought out and 4-5 minutes or more was needed to recover from high intensity efforts. I’m still accelerating at 30m so I might experiment with a slightly longer run or alternatively do a few flying 20s to improve my top speed for the rugby field.
There is no way in hell I would manage so much sprinting in maximum intensity without a significant drop in perfomance, not to mention the cardiac arrest I would have LOL
Yeh my thigh muscles are burning by the end!
Feb 15
Pullups
14, 15, 12
Inverted Rows
3 x 9
Upright Rows
3 x 8 x 46kg
Hyperextensions
3 x 10
BB Shrugs
3 x 8 x 78.5kg
Renegade Rows
4 x 10 x 5kg
Yep. That was my back alright. Can feel the doms now and was happy with my intensity in all the exercises. Squats Thursday then a rugby match on Saturday, i’m expecting improved acceleration compared to the game I played last month and the other team are bottom of the league so we better bloody win.
Feb 16
Donkey Kicks
2 x 20 x 2.5kg
SL Glute Bridge
2 x 20
Back Squats
2 x 8 x 128.5kg
1 x 7 x 128.5kg
Side Bridge, 60 secs
Front Bridge, 60 secs
Tuesday was a big track session but I felt controlled and could’ve done 9 reps in the 2nd set but wanted to shoot for 3 sets of 8. Took out resistance band work and would like to introduce a new exercise in its place that will help me with my lateral movement in rugby, i’m thinking speed skaters. Started doing ab bridges and knew instantly that I wasn’t recovered from the last few days so I cut it short.
Feb 18
Rugby Match
Shepshed vs Loughborough 4th XV (Won 46-12)
Played outside centre as a few of the backs were away this week. Scored the first try from inside our own half, saw a gap and burst through it and then fended off the full back to touch down. I felt quicker and stronger than i’ve ever been on the pitch and wouldn’t mind testing my skills for the 3rds next time i’m free. Got taken off early in the 2nd half which was a bit annoying because i’d played a whole half uphill and wanted to show my pace on a decline.
Injury free so I think i’ll do hang cleans on Tuesday and rugby training on thursday with upper body wed & fri but we’ll see how I feel in the morning.
Feb 22
Hang Power Cleans
2 x 88.5kg
3 x 93.5kg
4 x 88.5kg
Back Squats
20 x 88.5kg PB
Speed Skaters
3 x 20
Weighted V-situps
5 x 12 x 7.5kg Hand, 5kg Feet
Wasn’t too happy with my form in hang cleans, wriggled the weight up onto my shoulders rather than having a nice catch. Chose 20 rep squats and had little trouble in getting those out. Had 90 secs rest in abs and got 5 sets out before curling into a ball.
Hi buddy,
Long time, no speak. Good to see your rugby is doing well.
I see you do your plank holds after most sessions. Have you ever considered doing your planks with a TRX for some extra burn? How about some hanging leg raises or some cable woodchoppers? Try some “gladiator rows”.
Anyway, nice speaking to you again. My new log will be starting up soon. Look out for; “The Bird Cage 2; Aviar Dreams”.
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Feb 24
Alternate Shoulder Press
4 x 8 x 24kg
Underhand Inverted Rows
3 x 8
Bicep Curls
3 x 6 x 50kg
Decline Pushups
21, 22, 19
Pullups
12, 12, 12
Tricep Kickbacks
3 x 8 x 13.5kg
Side Bridge, 70 secs
Front Bridge, 100 secs
Probably too heavy on the kickbacks but i’ll keep it at that weight for a while now. My tricep felt like it was going to burst at full extension, such tension in it. Either i’m stronger or alternate shoulder press is easier than both arms at once, I guess the latter as you can lean into each rep. Everything else was good, though there is a lot of swaying in my body when I do bicep curls. I don’t know if that’s something I should try and eliminate or if it’s purely because i’m curling ~70% of my bodyweight and it naturally needs to balance. Sh*t abs again, combination of weak shoulders and tired core.
Feb 27
Tricep Kickbacks
4 x 8 x 13.5kg
Bicep Curls
3 x 6 x 50kg
Explosive Pushups
3 x 8
Chin Ups
15, 17, 14
Wide Arm Pushups
19, 19, 17
Diamond Pushups
14, 14, 11
Weighted V-Situps
4 x 15 x 7.5kg hand, 5kg feet
Tried a really slow set of curls and I swear I pulled something but my arm was fine for the rest of the session. Can probably increase the weight for v-sits and maybe tone down the reps so that i’m not struggling to do abs later in the week. Track session tomorrow, will include some flying runs and maybe a flat out 60m to see what kind of time I run.
Feb 28
Rugby Training
Lots of rucking and contact, got knocked about a bit as they are all a few stone heavier. Finished early so I did 3 x 50m sprints to finish. Will go again Thursday and if I don’t have any knocks i’ll do squats.
Feb 29
Pullups
16, 15, 13
Inverted Rows
3 x 9
Upright Rows
3 x 8 x 46kg
Hyperextensions
3 x 12
BB Shrugs
3 x 8 x 78.5kg
Renegade Rows
4 x 10 x 5kg
Shorter session than Monday, this is probably the easiest of the three upper body workouts and i’m happy keeping the weights the same rather than trying to increase every single exercise in the week at once.