Great day for running

Today my workout simply said "Hill intervals."  Since this could mean a bunch of different things, some that I might not like, I didn't get Chris to elaborate.  It was a beautiful day outside, cold and sunny.  I left my house and ran in the Fort Creek trails for about 35 minutes on some of the hillier sections that I knew.  If a hill was especially tough I'd turn around and run it again.  I have a young Golden retriever/lab mix who came along with me.  He absolutely loved it, and I loved the fact that he slept the rest of the day and didn't chew up anything else around the house.  Getting out and running felt good and I'm looking forward to adding a bit more to my program in the coming weeks!

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500

A lot of the time when I write in this blog, I have a hard time talking about myself.  I never want to come off arrogant.  I hate when people in my profession do that because a lot of times it comes off sounding fake, as if the person doing the talking is trying to make up for short comings in other areas (you know what I mean).

I feel pretty confident in myself after yesterday though, so bear with me.  Yesterday I managed to rip 500 lbs off the floor in a hex bar dead lift! 

The hex bar is a bit different than lifting with a regular Olympic bar, in that it's shaped like a hexagon that you stand inside, and has two handles running north/south.  It's kind of like picking up two suitcases.  Did I mention that it's like picking up 500 lbs worth of suitcases?  I did?  Good.

The best part about yesterday was that I was totally self motivated, I just closed the door and went to work.  I didn't even really add up the weight until I got close to 500, I just lifted and everything felt great...almost easy! 

I had a good bench workout today, lots of board pressing and rep work.  2 hours after finishing and my triceps feel like they're back to normal size again! 

Tomorrow I'm putting on the headphones and heading outdoors for some running and hill work.  Hopefully the weather stays as nice as it's been!

One last thing:  I lifted 500 lbs.

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

One week plus a day to go!

I met briefly this morning with our nutritionist Kelly Burton to map out my next week of good eatin'.  Kelly is great at suggesting foods based on how I'm feeling.  I've seen the benefits over the last 7 weeks and trust her advice completely!

I have a lower body speed work day to do tomorrow that looks like a fun challenge.  Last night I was in a gymnasium so I tried dunking a tennis ball.  I definitely have more pop from a standing start.  Not sure that I'd put down a full sized basketball just yet.....but we'll try next week!

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

465 lb lap dance

I hope that title puts a mental image in your head that lasts all day....not pretty. 

I joined the powerlifting group last night again for some max effort deadlift.  Last week I nailed 450lbs, this week we aimed high and I went for 465lbs.  I got the bar off the floor fairly quick and got stuck midway up.  For what seemed like forever I had the bar just sitting in my lap scraping my quads....but no amount of grunting and swearing could get it the rest of the way.  This happened a few times, after which I took a swing at 360, but my nervous system and back weren't having it. 

I'm a bit sore today, but getting some stuff done in the office so I can concentrate on my bench session in half an hour!

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

Row and Run

Yesterday I had to do some anaerobic work. It was on my sheet so it had to be done, but it was a nice change for me since I haven't done much of it since we started the project.  My sheet said "Row or run: 30 seconds on, 1 minute off."  When asked how many repeats, Chris said "oh, about half an hour's worth", like he does it all the time.  I decided to row, run and then row again, like a running sandwich. mmmmm......sandwich.

Here's how I did it.
5 minute rowing warmup
10 minutes rowing: 30 seconds at 1:42 pace, 1:00 at 2:30 pace

quick drink and grabbed a towel on the way to Catalyst's state of the art staircase

10 minutes on the stairs: 30 seconds running stairs, 1:00 walking stairs

then back to the rower for 10 more minutes of 30 on, 1 off.  (On this set I was trying to row so hard, I fell right off the seat of the rower!  Next time, I'll have to duct tape myself in. Or wear a helmet.  Or both)

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Tearing the Place Apart for PRs

As mentioned, I hung around to do my workout with the group last night.  It turned out to be a great call.  Five of us showed up and cranked up the intensity.  4 out of 5 of us put up new Personal records in the Deadlift.  Even Tyler put in a great effort a day after his lonely Crossfit workout on Sunday.  The music was loud, the shouts of encouragement were louder and we have a new place on the wall to hang a poster. (Ask Chris why, it was great)
Chris lead the group with an amazing 515 lb lift.  KK got his name up on the client record board with a 435, beating the old mark of 430....it's been up there for a while and needed to be beat!  Josh flirted with 350 for about 87 attempts before finally ripping it off the ground....he seriously made it look so hard, and then all of a sudden so easy.  And finally, this Watson Project must be doing something because I added 20 pounds to my deadlift and pulled 450!  I took a swing at 460 and had it sitting on my lap for a while but didn't have the strength to bring it all the way up.....I'll get it next time, just a bit more postural work and that number will climb!

Thanks to the guys in the group.  I had a great time, and it was sweet to see everyone dig deep and do well, I'll definitely be joining you again!

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Max Effort Pull

Last week I learned a couple of things.  First, planning things out works a lot better when you actually do it.  And second, I have a love/hate relationship with rubber bands. 
Week five was probably my least consistent week as far as nutrition goes.  The first four weeks were great because I got things done at the beginning of the week and made things ahead of time, so that I had things ready when they were needed.  I procrastinated a lot this past week, so I often found myself improvising or picking things up here and there. 

The rubber bands?  On Thursday we did max effort press work with our medium resistance bands.  The bands make things super hard in about the last six to eight inches of the press (the lockout).  I always feel weak with pressing movements to begin with, so the addition of the bands makes me feel flat out useless....and weak....etc.  As much as I hate them, you've got to love the challenge and the pay off!  (Chris thinks I might actually take the bands out for Valentine's Day...but I think we'll just stay "friends")

I'm excited about tonight.  Instead of one on one training, I'll be joining Chris and his Monday night Strongman group at Catalyst and going for a max effort deadlift.  Expect big numbers!

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5lbs on your bench without doing anything?

I've had a couple of requests from readers of the blog this week.  Readers who are good at math.  Readers who notice things, like that Mike's bench went up 5lbs between the testing period and the first workout - without him doing anything!
There are things you can do to bring your bench up 10lbs TODAY.  Check our site (www.catalystfitness.ca) for an article this weekend!
Chris

This week, Mike shifts from a power-dominant plan to a force-dominated one.  In the next 4 weeks, you'll see his lifts change from nonspecific to specific, and he'll get shorter workouts that will primarily exhaust his nervous system.
Two exceptions: the bench press and deadlift, because he'll be tested on them.
Mike's preliminary testing (done last Friday) indicated that his bodyfat had dropped 4%, which is a big deal.  He also hit a PR on the chinup and both jumps, and we haven't really done work to address either yet, just built the base.  We're excited to see what he can do after the next 4 weeks.  Stay tuned!

Chris

Day 1 - M/E Lower
Chinup to bar				4	10
Hex Bar DL			MAX
Snatch-grip DL from plate			heavier	3	10
GHR	elevated			3	12
Rock-bottom Squats			105	3	10
Planks				3	as long
Day 2 - speed upper
Plyo Pushups (disinhibitor)				5	5
Speed Bench -			50%	9	3
no bands, 3 grips
Decline Bench				5	5
Face Pulls				3	10
Shrugs				3	12
Row/Scap Row				3	15/15
Day 3 - rest
Day 4 - M/E Upper
Seated Row				4	8
1-arm pulldown				2	12/side
Dynamic shoulder movement
M/E - medium band				5,5,5,5,3,3,1,1
50%x2, 65%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 92%
1.5 rep press				3	0:00
2-board press				5	3
Lockouts				1:00	2
Day 5 - rest
Day 6 - speed lower
Dynamic Warmups - critical
Jumping Squats			55	9	1
Jumping Kneeling Squats			0-55	9	1
Plyo - onto and off of box				5	5
Box drops - 30"				3	5
1-leg hops				2	8/leg
Drop and Horizontal Jump				3	3

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca