The Bird Cage 2. Aviar Dreams

Training Training Logs
41

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Happy belated Birthday my friend. Wow, you are 30? I had no idea! I’ve never seen your face so I always assumed you were in your mid-30’s. lol Have a great Easter.[/quote]

Yer Im 30… and feeling it. Although most people say I look more like 25. I need to start up yoga again to maintain flexibility, and as much I hate to admit it, it wouldnt hurt if I lost 3-4kg in weight, just to be kinder to my joints. Given that my injuries dont take over Im hoping that I have a 3-4 years left. It can be done… Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs etc etc.

Stay tuned, the next update will involve a full report of todays game!

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42

Monday, 9th April 2012.

GAME DAY

Today was our 1st competitive game of the season played away. We were missing 4 first team starters, and had filled the team with a couple of “fill ins” just to make the numbers. We lost 7-4, with the opposition scoring 4 goals in the last half. I played centre back and played ok considering it was my first game of the year. Fitness and speed need to be worked on. Ankle is a bit sore, but it has pulled up ok. Its almost as more I play on it, the better it feels.

DIET

8:00am; oats and berries, 5 boiled eggs.
10:00am; handful of almonds
12:30pm; tuna, capsicum and 1 cup of white rice. Flat white coffee
6:30pm; chicken and chips
7:30pm; mixed nuts and a chicken nugget
10:00pm; tuna, cashews and chocolate milk

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43

Tuesday, 10th April 2012.

TRAINING

PM

Went to soccer training. As we had a game yesterday, tonights training was meant to be a gentle run in the park. We warmed up, did a little skill work, played a small side game. I would really like the team to do more work with the ball… If I want to run, I can chase the cat in my own time.

Because of this weeks game been on Monday, Im going to find it hard to get all of my training sessions in.

On a happier note, my ankle actually is feeling really good. I have been using the “strassburg” sock for the past 2 nights, and it has seemed to do wonders. Im still icing it after training and will keep a close eye on it.

DIET

7:00am; oats and berries, 5 boiled eggs
9:30am; small handful of mixed raw nuts, coffee
11:30am; prawn, green beans, spinach salad
2:30pm; small handful of mixed raw nuts, coffee
5:00pm; pretraining meal of 1 cup of rice, 8 green olives and 5 satay beef kebabs
8:00pm; t-bone steak, mushrooms, capsicum, pepsi max.
10:00pm; 1 glass of chocolate milk.

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44

Wednesday, 11th April 2012.

TRAINING

AM

Chest and back

Warmed up, including rotator cuffs and broomsticks…

Flat bench press
Ramped up to my working set
5 x 100kg
5 x 100kg
5 x 100kg
5 x 100kg
5 x 100kg (these felt pretty dam good! Lightweight!)

Supersetted pull-ups with chin-ups
5, 5.
5, 5.
5, 5. (these felt easier than normal)

Supersetted flat dB press with inline db press, using 22.5kg dBs.
12, 12.
12, 12.
12, 12. (last set was a struggle but I did it)

dB rows using 30kg dB
3 sets of 12 reps.

dB flyes using 15kg dBs
3 sets of 12

supersetted facepulls with push ups
12, 10.
12, 10.
12, 10

supersetted seated rows with straight leg raises
12, 12.
12, 12.
12, 10.

So this routine is feeling much easier, and I think its time to change things up. Might swap the flat bench for incline or maybe totally shake things up and do some german volume training. Anyone have any suggestions on a new chest/back routine. Remembering my goals are strength orientated and I dont want to be in the gym for more than an hour.

PM

Was going to go for a ride, but decided against it. Feeling a bit tired and have blister at the back of my right heel. Need to conserve myself a bit this week due to it been a short week with only 5 days between games.

DIET

6:00am; pretraining coffee and gatorade
8:30am; oats and berries, 5 boiled eggs, chocolate milk
10:00am; low carb protein bar, coconut water, coffee
12:30pm; handful of mixed raw nuts.
2:30pm; 2 chicken sushi roll and large chicken teriyaki meal, coffee
5:00pm; 2 bowls of ice cream
7:00pm; feeling lazy… I might go and get some takeaway indian or maybe grill some chicken breast…

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45

Hey Bird, happy belated birthday dude.

You asked about strength training - definitely wouldn’t recommend GVT for that! Something like CT’s HPMass might suit you (perhaps scaled down a bit while you’re in season)? It’s strength/power oriented.

46

[quote]Jab1 wrote:
Hey Bird, happy belated birthday dude.

You asked about strength training - definitely wouldn’t recommend GVT for that! Something like CT’s HPMass might suit you (perhaps scaled down a bit while you’re in season)? It’s strength/power oriented. [/quote]

Thanks buddy.

I will have a look into CT’s HPMass… or maybe I should just continue with my current routine?

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47

Thursday, 12th April 2012.

TRAINING

AM

Agile 8 and glute activation exercises.

Elevated back leg split squat with barbell.
10 x bar
10 x 40kg
10 x 40kg
7 x 50kg
7 x 50kg
7 x 50kg (getting better with these, although balancing on my left leg is still an issue)

Single leg deadlift with barbell
10 x bar
10 x 30kg
10 x 30kg (form got a bit dodgy on the last set, could really feel my hamstrings, which are probably a bit tight)

Walking dumbell lunges
3 sets of 20 steps using 20kg dBs.

notes; Was a good session although I have to be more aware of my rest in between sets. My mind oftern wonders and my rest time can sometimes creep up to over 2-3 minutes. Did the whole session in about an hour, but really should be doing this all in 45 minutes.

PM

Went to team soccer training. Had an hour nap before training which I think helped. Initially my legs were feeling a bit heavy, although after a decent warm-up my legs got into action and it was a good session. We warmed up, did some ball skill work, some passing drills, a short small sided game and then finished off with some shooting. The team is starting to gel… if 4-5 key players consistantly turn up for training and stay injury free, I think we may have a strong competitive side.

DIET

8:00am; pre-gym breakfast; oats and berries, 5 boiled eggs, 2 coffees.
10:00am; post-gym; chocolate milk, cheese and chicken pie, fetta cheese salad, beetroot and apple juice.
11:00pm; protein bar and coconut water.
12:30pm; chickem curry and rice.
3:00pm; 3 plums
5:00pm; pre-training meal of icecream and coffee.
8:00pm; satay chicken with capsicum, mushrooms, beans and tomatoes. 1 cup of rice. 1 mid-strength beer.
10:00pm; 2 slices of cheese, and chcolate milk.

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48

Friday, 13th April 2012.

Hey Bird watchers! Welcome back to the cage for your daily dose of your favourite Bird.

Been happy with this weeks training, and everything is on track so far. A girl at work called me the “Hulk” the other day, due to my beastly and vascularised appearance. Nothing like a few compliments to keep the motivation going.

This weeks game is an away game on Sunday. I will be making the 4 hour trek down tomorrow and spend the night in the city. Hopefully I can recover from the journey, have a good sleep and be ready for sundays game.

TRAINING

PM

Went for a 25km bike ride. Legs were still a bit sore from yesterdays leg work, so it was moderate intensity. Last half of the ride was against a 30+km/h wind and up some hills. Made the quads burn. Iced the ankle afterwards.

DIET

7:30am; oat and berries, 5 boiled eggs.
10:00am; protein bar, coconut water, handful of raw nuts, coffee.
12:30pm; chicken teriyaki meal including 2 cups of rice, coffee.
4:00pm; chicken pie and spinach and ricotta pie from jesters.
5:00pm; pre ride gatorade and coffee.
7:00pm; small t-bone steak, a bowl of last nights chicken stir fry, 1 cup of rice, 10 green olives.
9:00pm; will probably have a couple slices of cheese and a glass of chocolate milk.

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49

Saturday, 14th April 2012.

Today I drove back to the city. Was a 4 hour drive, which has made me tired. Have to remember to take food with me, as the roadhouses along the way dont seem to offer much except fried food and chocolate.

Usually the day before games I like to have a very light skill session and maybe hit the beach for some extra recovery. I did none of those today. I also like my diet to be as normal as possible, but have a quick carb-load at night… usually waffles. Today my diet was atrocious.

Tomorrows game is against a team I used to play for when they were playing in a higher division. Im not sure if any of the old players are still there. I used to play for them 5 years ago. Team-mates tell me that they are usually a physical opponent… which suits me fine. Clobbering time!

Just a quick note; I know I promised more pics and videos in my new log. They are coming… I have just been busy with settling into my new town etc.

TRAINING

AM

Agile 8 and shoulder warm-up

Military Press
Ramped up to my working set
5 x 60kg (these felt heavy… maybe cause I was using a fat bar at the gym instead of the usual skinnier one I have at home)
5 x 57.5kg
5 x 57.5kg
5 x 57.5kg
5 x 57.5kg

dB overhead press
3 sets of 10 using 17.5kg dBs

lateral raises
3 sets of 10 using 8kg dBs

weighted pull ups using perpendicular bar
5 x 10kg
5 x 10kg
5 x 10kg

face pulls
2 sets of 15

DIET

Im really dissapointed with my diet today. I think it may have a determential effect on my game tomorrow. I suppose the 4 hour drive into the city did not help with my diet choices.

6:00am; coffee
8:00am: oats and berries, 5 boiled eggs, coffee.
10:30am; chicken and cheese pie, handful of raw nuts.
11:30am; half a spinach and ricotta roll, coffee.
3:00pm; about 4 handfuls of raw cashews, chocolate bar, pepsi max.
7:00pm; 2 large servings of mums lasagna with salad (feel totally bloated)

So much for going wheat free. :frowning:

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50

Sunday, 15th April 2012.

GAME DAY

We won 2-1.

The first half was played at full pace, and the boys played well. Lots of passing to feet and some nice build up play. Our first goal was an own goal, thanks to an opposition player heading the ball over his own keeper. In the second half our lack of match fitness was evident as we regressed to clearing the ball out of our half, and our passing was sloppy. We managed to score a 2nd goal, which was a result of more of a cross than a shot, but we will take it. They pulled one goal back with a header from a cross with 10 minutes left on the clock. We managed to hold on until the end of time for a win. With a few more weeks, the extra match fitness will serve us well.

Personally Im happy with my own performance. I played in the back 3, although I did get a few opportunites to make a few runs foward, especially in the first half. Im lacking match fitness… but that will come. Patience grasshopper.

DIET

9:00am; oats and berries, 4 boiled eggs.
10:30am; beetroot and apple juice, flat white coffee
12:30pm; prematch meal of a tin of tuna, 1 small yellow capsicum and 1 cup of white rice
4:30pm; postmatch meal of cookies and cream ice cream, almonds, and a beer
7:00pm; t bone steak, some sausages, potato salad, another beer.
9:00pm; might catch up with the girly a bit later and maybe go to the movies or something, so I might have some popcorn etc.

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51

Congrats on the win Birdbrah!

52

Tuesday, 17th April 2012.

Hey bird-lovers! How are u all doin?!

This week I have my gf staying over at my place, so training and diet may be a little bit all over the place. It is also the reason why I am doing this journal entry in the morning, rather than tonight.

TRAINING

Went to the gym. The gf came with me… so I couldnt train with the same intensity as I usually would. But Im happy that I got the work done.

Shoulder and rotator cuff warm up(my gf taught me how to do the rotator cuff warm up properly… I wasnt activationg the right muscles)

Flat barbell bench
Ramped up to my working set…
3 x 105kg
3 x 105kg
3 x 105kg
3 x 105kg
3 x 105kg

Supersetted pull-ups with chin-ups
5, 5.
5, 5.
5, 5. (next week I think I will increase the rep range for chin-ups to 6)

Supersetted flat dB bench press with incline dB press
3 sets of 12 using 20kg dBs (next week I should increase this to 22.5kg. Dam, Im getting strong!)

dB rows
3 sets of 12 using 30kg dBs. (might increase the weight with these next week and go for sets of 10)

seated rows
3 sets of 12

supersetted facepulls with push-up.
12, 12.
12, 12.
12, 12.

PM

Tonight I will be going to team soccer training. Our game this week is home game Saturday night under lights. Our coach at the moment does not travel away to the away games… so it should be interesting to see what changes are made, as this is our first home game. I dont like the idea of having a coach that only goes to half of our games… more on that another time.

DIET

6:00am; coffee(finally got my espresso machine working… so no more instant coffee!!)
8:00am; gf cooked up some scrambled eggs. Delicious. Also had some oats and berries as she was cooking.

it is now 10:30am and Im about to get a protein bar and cocount water. Probably will have some rice and chicken for lunch, and for dinner Ill have whatever the gf cooks.

Until next time bird watchers…

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53

Your coach doesn’t go to away games? WTF???

54

Jab1- Thanks Jab1brah. Even though we were the better footballing team, it was a very lucky win. We really need to get a decent striker into the squad.

Hastalles- Yer. I cant beleive it myself. Its a joke. It can only lead to problems. For example we have a home game this week… what if the coach decids to make some changes to the starting line-up? What right does he have to do so when he wasnt at the previous game?? Im only new to the team… so I really cant say too much, but this is a recipe for disaster!

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55

Wednesday, 18th April 2012.

Sorry about the delayed update. As you know, I have the girly staying over at the moment, so I dont get much me-time to update.

TRAINING

PM

Agile 8 and some extra mobility drills

15 minute jog
3 sets of 10 single leg bounding
8 x 60m sprints (walking back for recovery)
5 minutes of having fun with the ball

DIET

8:00am: oats and berries, 4 boiled eggs.
10:00am: coffee and protein bar, and raw nuts.
12:30pm: lasagne and greek salad, beetroot and apple juice
3:00pm: 2 slices of cheese, 2 cookies.
6:30pm: roast lamb and veges(man this girl can cook!!), 2 glasses of red.
8:00pm: ice cream with another chocolate cookie

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56

buzz

57

[quote]spar4tee wrote:
buzz[/quote]

BOOM! spar4tee is in da cage!

Welcome to the cage bro. We go hard.

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58

Dude you started a log and you didn’t tell me anything. I am dissapoint. Good job so far, keep it up. Are you getting tested for AAS in your league? If not, I would suggest to run a couple of 2-4 week cycles, just to help yourself heal and get some more strength while losing the weight you want.

59

[quote]theBird wrote:
Saturday, 24th March 2012.

Friday night was spent at my bosses house where I drank 6 beers, a bottle of red and 2 scotch and cokes. So I took Friday off training, but in true NickSamaras style I pushed through and did some training today. Ankle is feeling better, although I think Im going to look into strapping it and Im going to have to come up with a stretching and icing schedule to keep it all under control…

TRAINING

PM
Went for a steady 25km bike ride. Found myself a new route that should be fun and safe, although Im going to try and slowly ramp up to about 40km. Found an awesome app called “cardio trainer” for my android that measure my speed, distance and provides a map of my speed over time. Will try and transfer the graphs onto my future log entries.

DIET

7:30am; oats and berries, 4 boiled eggs, 2 slices of smoked salmon, about 10 brazil nuts
11:00am; 200 grams of tuna, and a flat white coffee
12:30pm; curry chicken and 1.5 cups of rice
3:00pm; pre-ride meal of coffee and some brazil nuts, and some natty pb
4:30pm; post ride meal of “endura” electrolyte drink and some more natty pb
7:00pm; t-bone steak, 6 cevapi sausages, 1.5 cups of rice, some spinach and 1 red capsicum
9:00pm; will probably have a whey shake and some natty pb before bed.

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Nicksamaras style, I like it.

60

NikSamaras is in da cage! BAM!
Welcome back bro! The cage needs you.

Tell me more about AAS. I know nothing about it. Side effects etc etc?

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