Napalm's Outrigger Canoeing Journal

[Napalm]

I had another log on this site that I was suprised I was using. My workouts consisted of basically just willing myself to get up in the morning. I think I might have a case of clinical depression, because my motivation, energy, everything was just spent...that and being a 19 year old struggling college student may have contributed something. I was also very down because I wasn't practicing my all-time favorite sport anymore, wrestling, and I couldn't really find any real clubs or places to keep training at, so I was really just left with a lack of closure and that was really getting to me. Competing at my college was out of the question because one guy broke out with herpes there and there is no way I'm stepping on a mat that has been exposed to herpes with the same guy still on the team.

So I found a new sport. There is an Outrigger Canoe Club in Redondo Beach (CA) and so far they've been a pretty cool group of people. Also I've found that I'm actually pretty good at it and its a lot of fun and a killer workout. I came home from my first practice sore from head to toe and I just went straight to sleep. It was great.

So I think I'd like to take up this sport for the season, it's not through the school so there is no pressure to impress a coach or get good grades to stay on the team or beat out another guy for your spot. I'll start keeping a journal of the team workouts and workouts I do on my own here, and I'll continue the last journal here as well.

Practices are at 5:30pm and go to approx. 7:00pm

Today's Practice and Work Out for 3-15-07 (M):

2 10:00 minute peices
5 5:00 minute pieces

I sat in seat 2

I woke up around 2pm (yeah sleepy head) and had cereal, around 3pm I had what was left of my mom's steak and that made me feel sick because I just woke up.

I'd rate my performance today as average.

Marine life I saw today: 2 spotted dolphins (I swear I'm getting a waterproof camera to row with!!)


Calisthetics done post-workout:

1x10 pushups regular grip, irregular count
very slow pushups with unrivaled form, very impressed with myself
was thinking about wrestling.

[CF-OC_gal]

Sounds like a great idea to start a new journal with a new sport! I love canoeing, but haven't been able to go in years.

So are you racing or what?

[Napalm]

Yeah, the team races and has even had some guys go to the Olympics from what I hear. It's a pretty big club. Races don't start until early summer though, so right now we're just in spring training. I'm really starting to enjoy it.

One thing that kinda sucks though is that the first seat is really small, I could barely squeez my hips into that thing!

[Napalm]

No rowing today so I went to the gym. I have a personal trainer whom I've been working with for almost 6 years and he's been awesome at keeping my athletic endevors going, heck I need someone to call me and tell me to get my ass to the gym or else I probably wouldn't go.

Today I did a lot of upper body stuff.

3x10 reps of incline dumbells, and then 3x10 of incline dumbells one arm at a time (takes a lot more effort than it sounds like it does)

3x10 reps of pushups and 3x10 reps of crunches between sets of inclines.

The hardest thing we did today though was a reverse pushup exercise on the straight bar............first I'd take the 30lb straight bar and do curls with it, then I would leave my hands in the same position and put the bar on the ground and do pushups on that bar. Oh man those kill your chest and shoulders and your stabilaztion muscles work to their max because you have to keep the bar from rolling away. I was only able to get 5-6 reps on each set.

So officially:

3x10 reps incline dumbell both hands
3x10 reps incline dumbell alternating hands
4x10 reps of regular pushups
4x10 reps of curls at 30lbs
4x6 reps of reverse pushups on the straight bar I had just curled (in btwn sets of curls I'd do the pushups)
3x10 I don't know what you call that station for your lower back
3x10 at the peck deck
6x10 at the lat pulldown station at approx. 60lbs

I think our workout went for about 45-50 minutes, those pushups on the bar were really killer though, I'm going to be feeling them tommorrow.

[Napalm]

I swear I think I posted this in someone elses journal by accident because I could have sworn I posted this here yesterday. Oops, well I'm sure someone is probably scratching their head thinking I'm an idiot right now. I couldn't go to practice yesterday (20th) so here's what I did at home with my weights.

1x5 reverse pushups on the curling bar
(40 seconds rest)
1x15 bicept curls at 30lbs
(40 seconds rest)
1x6 reverse pushups on the curling bar
(30 seconds rest)
1x15 bicept curls at 30lbs
(30 seconds rest)
1x7 reverse pushups on the curling bar
(30 seconds rest)
1x15 bicept curls at 30lbs
(30 seconds rest)
1x8 reverse pushups on the curling bar
(30 seconds rest)
1x10 bicept curls at 30lbs


A "reverse pushup" is where your your hands are facing out and away from you and your palms are facing forward, kind like having your hands backwards when doing a pushup. I did them on the curling bar because its hard keeping it from moving around especially when you're tired and they're a lot harder than they seem.

I wasn't really sore today, so I think I probably need a better warm up.

[Napalm]

Wednesday, Best seat: 5

workout: 8 sets of 4 minutes with 1 minute rest in btwn

rate todays workout: average

Paddle size used: 51, too small, I need to use a 52 from now on

Marine life seen: Seagulls and Sealions

[Napalm]

Thrusday: seat 5

10 sets of 5.5 minutes in the harbor

rate today's workout: hard

Paddle: 52 much better

Marine life: sealions and those diving birds

[Napalm]

1 pullup
2 minutes jumprope
no rest
repeat 7 times

[Napalm]

1x10 pushups with my feet on an office chair with wheels on it (hard to keep it from rolling off, stabilization muscles)

later

jumprope about 5 minutes
50 crunches
jumprope about 5 minutes
52 pushups
jumprope about 5 minutes
50 crunches
jumprope about 5 minutes
20 pushups (poor)
jumprope about 1.5 minutes
30 crunches
1 minute rest
20 full pushups awesome


When I did my first set of 50 pushups, I went to about 25 before I fatigued and went to my knees to continue the pushups, but I didn't count the pushups I did on my knees, I kept with the movement for about 5 modified pushups and then got back on my toes and did 15 more regular pushups before going to my knees again. the last 10 pushups were really hard, but I got all 50 in.

[Napalm]

I'm kinda stiff today, but I'm not sore in a good way, I'm sore in a bad way. I'm sore enough to hurt, but sore enough to cramp up. My feet have been cramping up all day and I can barely walk. Last night as I was working out, I wasn't sweating all that much, which is bad. I didn't have that much water in my system. I'll take a rest day today.

[WESTY]

yeah good idea, better of playing it safe then having to take a heap of days out of excersizing.

[Napalm]

Tues

Sat seats 1 and 2, used a 52 paddle, also took a turn in the two man canoe.

3x10 minute pieces
5x5 minute pieces

(hardly any swells)

I sat seat 1 today for the first two pieces and I don't think I did that well. I think my pace was really slow.

The third piece I sat seat 2, which I felt like I did much better because the seat 1 was good at setting a pace.

The rest of the sets I was in the two man canoe. That thing is hard because it's really sensitive and you can flip very easily. I sat in front and I think I was too tall for the canoe, or I just don't know how to sit in one. All of the sets were very hard but we kept up pretty good, regardless of trailing a little behind. Cramping up during workout, need to drink more water.

Today was average performance, but my back and legs are killing me in a good way!

P.S. I'm an idiot for doing my mar 24 and 25 workouts without a rest day in between, my mar 24 workout was an awesome workout and then I went the very next day and did an even harder workout, I couldn't walk for a week. I need to space out my harder workouts.

[Napalm]

Thurs.

9 sets downward pyramid

10-8-6-4-2-1

I'm effective from at the back of the boat. I sat up front a lot and I don't like it. It's hard. I especially hate seat 1 because you're responsible for the rest of the boat and setting the pace. If they're not paddling good, it's your fault. Well I sat seat one and we weren't catching a lot of good waves or anything, guys were getting frustrated. Afraid they were frustrated at me. Bad performance day.