Many years ago, this blog started as a place for me to post my workouts.  I came up with a silly little name and put some stuff out there for folks to enjoy.  Since I didn’t like my job that much, I spent lots of time researching and experimenting to provide material for the blog.  Anyway, a few years later, it’s predominately for business and gets way more hits when my lovely lady provides the content.

Here’s an old-school style post to recap what I’ve been working on, based on my goal of getting stronger and more skilled.  Before getting into this, it’s important to note that my goal for this block was to improve my strength while keeping my skills sharp.  Whenever programming my workouts, or whenever I’m programming my clients’ workouts, goals are set to train with purpose.

I chose back squats and weighted pullups because I’m trying to catch up to my deadlift (410×3 last month) and chinups (been a while but always way stronger than pullups).  All workotus were done barefoot.  My feet were surprisingly sore after the squat sessions.

Week #1:

A). Strength

Skill/CNS Primer – broad jumps at varying distances/intensities.  Built up to 8.5′ but my sweet spot for practicing this skill is about 7′.

Back squat sets of 3 @ 135, 185, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, 275, 285, 295.  All reps full range of motion so femur breaks parallel to floor (that kinda sounds bad but you know what I mean).  I set the catches on my cage to the appropriate level and tap both sides of the bar ala World’s Strongest Men Competitors.

Weighted pullups sets of 3 @ bw, 8kg, 10kg, 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg x 4.  All reps chest to bar except 4th rep of last set went Adam’s apple to bar.

Fallouts: 3 sets of 10.

B + C). Skill

MovNat Advanced MODs dated 1/1/14 and 12/11/13.  Note: I substituted jump rope with my 2″ rope for sprinting since at the time I was still avoiding running.

D). KB/Sprint

New KB complex @ 32kg x 5 reps/side.  Video below shows the F.L. doing 3 reps/side at  8kg:

Recap – 4 workouts @ 2 hours total.  I also did the Salmon Ladder once on Saturday (this time with much longer hair on scalp + face).

Week #2:

A). Strength

Skill/CNS – vertical jump tests.  Most were around 23″ but hit 24″ in between squat sets.

Back squat – 295×5, 275×7.

Weighted pullups – 28kgx3, 24kg x 5.

Long cycle at 24kg x 27.

B). LbF Mod

Skill – DL @255 x 20 reps (sets of 7,7,6 with form emphasis)

Main – 3 continuous rounds of:

broad-hurdle jumps (for distance over a 24″ hurdle) x 16

Inv crawl to foot-hand crawl x 100′

Lat swing throw/catch with 30# med ball x 8 each side

Balance x 48′

C). Similar Mod

3 continuous rounds of:

Sloth-shoulder x 4 (sloth is our 155# Atlas Stone)

Inv crawl to fh crawl x 100′

Box/depth jumps @ 30″ x 6

Balance x 48′

Lat swing throw/catch @30# x 8 ea.

D). Kettlebell

Wednesday’s Kettlebell class with Kettlebella was a ball-buster with lots of pressing/shoulder activity.

Recap – 4 workouts @ 2.5 hours total.

Week #3

A). Strength

Skill/CNS – vertical tests.  Most were around 22.5″ but hit 23″ in between sets.  I wasn’t feeling quite as springy on this day.

Back squat – 135×5, 275×5, 5, 5, 5, 5.

Wt pullups – bwx5, 12kgx5, 5, 5, 5, 6.

B). Skill

Advanced MOD dated 1/15/14.  Used sloth for the deadlits.  Only did 3 rounds.

C). Hill/sprint

Winter Tough Mudder Training Session #1!

Recap – 3 workouts @ 2 hours total.  I also did the Salmon Ladder and Peg Traverse on Saturday.

Week #4 – Rest week!

My favorite!  This week I’ll still lead the team at Neuty on Thursday and Sunday but won’t be doing anything strenuous at the studio.  My plan is to do 1-2 MovNat beginner Mods at an easy pace to keep the skills going.  I’ll likely hold back on Thursday to get a full 7 days of recovery.

Recap – 2-ish workouts @ 2 easy hours total.

That’s an honest look at a month’s worth of training.  I got stronger but have work to do.  If you notice, I played around with my workout programming.  Using the Anaconda Protocol in week #1 gave me a reference for a reverse pyramid in week #2, which helped me choose the weights for the 5×5 in week #3.  Some hardcore strength guys may poo-poo this strategy but I found it to be fresh and effective!  Plus, I’m a MovNatter first.  Strength is a secondary goal.