Pierini's February 2006 Workouts

Friday, February 10, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 6:20 a.m.

1) Superset #1 - odd numbered sets were 5 standard grip pullups followed by 10 dips, and even numbered sets were 5 standard grip chinups followed by 10 Atlas II pushups. Completed 10 supersets in 19 minutes. Total of 50 pullups/chinups, 50 dips, and 50 Atlas II pushups.

2) Superset #2 - a 6 exercise medley superset of DVRs all done right after the other without rest. Performed 5 maximum tension reps for each DVR, only for the positive movement. Rested 3 minutes between supersets (I need every second of this 3 minute rest). Completed 3 supersets in 22 minutes.

The 6 DVRs that made up this medley were as follows: #1 = full-range pectoral contraction DVR - #2 = military press DVR - #3 = standard pullup DVR - #4 = double punch press DVR - #5 = Atlas bicep flex DVR - #6 = McSweeney wrist twist DVR.

3) Elliptical trainer - set the resistance at level 10 and the incline at level 10 for 30 minutes, all hands free which slows down my stride speed a little but is a good workout for balance training. Average HR was 125 bpm (68% of max) and highest HR was 136 bpm (74% of max).

I was a little tired this morning having gone to bed late last night and the cumulative result of working longer days at work. My plans were a little more ambitious than what I actually did but that's the way it is sometimes as I decided to listen to my body. Enjoy your weekend and get in a little intensity in your workouts to make up for what I left on the table.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

8:45 a.m. - Saturday morning dojo workout.

I'm at work until 6:00 p.m. today. The weather is nice as I look out my office window. Hope it's nice where you are at and that you are able to enjoy it.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[tim_mcf]

Thanks for drawing my attention to Crossfit. I tried one of their workouts today, and, well, wow.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

100% rest. Took an early afternoon power nap. when I came out of my coma (err, woke up), I started watching the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics, early morning training, and long work days are going to make for some sleep deficits in the next couple of weeks. Got to watch those Winter Olympics!

Monday, February 13, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 6:25 a.m.

1) Superset of: Standard grip pullups x 15 (had grip problems), then DVR standard pullup x 10 at maximum tension, then standard grip pullup x 1 with a slow 45 second negative (20 seconds hold at top, 15 seconds, slow descend and 10 seconds hang hold at the bottom). Rest 5 minutes.

2) DVR standard pullup with a Tabata protocol. 5 maximum tension reps during the 20 second part of the Tabata. Completed 40 maximum tension reps in 4 minutes. Rest 5 minutes. First time I incorporated a maximum tension DVR with a Tabata protocol. Very tough and I like it and will do more this way.

3) Superset of: Atlas bicep flex & press DVR x 3 reps at maximum tension, then concentration cur x 3 reps at maximum tension with each arm. Rest 1 minute. Completed 3 supersets.

4) Marine abdominal crunches (used to be called Marine military situps): rest cadence was 2 seconds multiplied by the number of reps completed, did the following: 2 x 50 reps, 4 x 25 reps, 5 x 20 reps, 10 x 10 reps, and 20 x 5 reps = 500 reps.

5) Elliptical trainer: resistance at level 10 and incline at level 10 for 5 minutes to elevate the heart rate and "oil my knee".

6) Treadmill run at 1% incline: 3 mile timed run. Completed 3 miles in 20:49 - mile #1 in 7:25 (7:25 cumulative) , mile #2 in 6:50 (14:15 cumulative), and mile #3 in 6:34 (20:39 cumulative). Average HR of 155 bpm (84% of max) and highest HR of 170 bpm (92% of max). Then I walked at 4.0 mph for a cool-down for a total of 3.62 miles in exactly 30 minutes. My left knee started "talking to me" and I slightly injured my left ankle at the dojo on Saturday so I really had to concentrate on my form to work around my ouchies.

7) Stretching: on the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/calves/etc.

A good training day but a little too long. I'm self-administering the Marine PT test to myself next Monday so I need to start tapering my workouts. After the test, I'll be ready for a change of training. Have a good day. Hope you get some time to flop on the couch and watch the Winter Olympics on TV as I hope to do late tonight.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[.V.]

Originally Posted by pierini

Got to watch those Winter Olympics!

Ummmm why?

Looking forward to see how you do on your self inflicted PT test. I meant to say administered instead of inflicted.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

100% complete rest. Long day at work, then flopped on the couch in the evening and watched more of the Winter Olympics, admiring the athleticism of the competitors.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 6:40 a.m.

1) DVR military press x 10 at moderate tension.

2) Handstand pushups: 5-5-5-5-5 with 2 second rest between sets. Total of 25 reps.

3) Superset: DVR military press x 10 at maximum tension, then the negative part of a handstand pushup for 30 seconds (15 second hold at the top, 5 second descend to bottom, best I could do, and 10 second iso-press at the bottom).

4) Superset: Atlas II pushups x 40, then DVR double punch press x 10 at maximum tension.

5) Superset: DVR full-range pectoral contraction x 5 at maximum tension, then DVR McSweeney wrist twist x 5 at maximum tension. Rest 2 minutes. Completed 3 supersets.

6) Situps on a slant situp unit, hands across chest. 10 x 10 fast with 10 seconds recovery between sets. Total of 100 reps.

7) Elliptical trainer at resistance at level 10 and incline at level 10 for 5 minutes to elevate my heart rate and "oil my knee".

8) Treadmill at 1% incline: 800 meters warmup. 400 meters at 10.0 mph (6:00/mile pace) with 200 meters recovery (100 meters walk at 4.0 mph and 200 meters run at 8.0 mph). Completed 8 repeats which was great! Total of 3.5 miles in 26:50. Average HR was 153 bpm (83% of max) and highest HR was 180 bpm (97% of max). Then walk cool-down at 4.0 mph for a total of 3.71 miles in exactly 30 minutes.

9) Stretching: on the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/calves/etc.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

100% complete rest. Long work day and a flop on the couch in the late p.m. to catch a little of the Winter Olympics.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 7:30 a.m.

1) Elliptical trainer: resistance at level 10 and incline at level 10 for 5 minutes to wake-up and elevate the heart rate.

2) 30-minute, 6 DVR medley with a Tabata cadence - this was an experiment to measure my HR effort for this workout. I performed each DVR with a Tabata cadence - 20 seconds of maximum tension with a 10 second recovery for 8 sets, then a 1 minute rest before proceeding to the next DVR. So the entire 6 DVR medley took me 30 minutes to complete.

These are the DVRs I did: #1 = full-range pectoral contraction DVR - #2 = standard pullup DVR - #3 = military press DVR - #4 = Atlas bicep flex & press DVR - #5 = double punch press DVR - #6 = McSweeney wrist twist DVR. I paced my maximum tension reps to complete 5 reps in the 20 second set period, so the pace was a little faster than I would normally do maximum tension DVRs. My average HR of 113 bpm (61% of max) and highest HR of 129 bpm (70% of max).

3) Marine abdominal crunches - 10 x 10 reps fast with 10 seconds recovery between sets.

4) Elliptical trainer: resistance at level 10 and incline at level 10 for 30 minutes, averaging 201 strides per minutes. Forget to start my HR monitor so no stats today. I know that my HR got as high as 155 bpm from the monitor on the elliptical trainer.

5) Stretching: a quick standing stretch of my hamstrings.

Monday is T-day, the day that I will self-administer the Marine PT test to myself. I'll give it my best shot and report my results on Monday.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Saturday morning dojo workout.

Now I am at work until 6:00 p.m. Tonight will be more Winter Olympics. Can't get enough! Sunday is a day of rest and more Winter Olympics.

Monday between 6:30-7:30 a.m. PST is my self-inflicted Marine PT test. Wherever you are, jump in and join me by taking your own visualized test. I will start off with the pullups, then I'll do the Marine abdominal crunches, spend 5 minutes on the elliptical trainer to elevate my HR, then on to the 3-mile run on the treadmill. I'll post my results when I get to work on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[tim_mcf]

I have really been enjoying snowboard cross. I haven't seen any ski jumping, which is disappointing because I usually like to watch it. I suppose I'm just not watching enough TV (which is probably a good thing).

[tim_mcf]

Holy cow, I need some help here...I have a WOD coming up on Tuesday where I'm supposed to do 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 handstand pushups...and I really like my c-spine where it is, I don't want it in my thoracic cavity! Can you give me some pointers?

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Active rest. A moderate-paced walk to church in the late afternoon, then back. Total of 2 relaxing miles breaking in a new pair of running shoes I purchased on Saturday. Then, more evening Winter Olympics.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 6:45 a.m. but after a good round of front desk BS, I didn't get going with my workout until 7:05 a.m. I think I was procrastinating because today was my annual self-inflicted Marine PT test.

1) Warmup for 5 minutes on the recumbant bicycle at level 5 to wake up.

2) Test #1 = standard grip pullups - today I completed 16 reps. Points earned = 80 (20 reps needed to earn the maximum 100 points).

3) Test #2 = Marine abdominal crunches in 2 minutes - today I completed 73 reps. Points earned = 73 (100 reps needed to earn the maximum 100 points).

4) Elliptical trainer: resistance at level 10 and incline at level 10 for 5 minutes to elevate my HR and oil my knee. Then 10 BW squats to elevate my HR a little more.

5) Test #3 = 3-mile timed run at 1% incline on the treadmill. The actual Marine PT test does not permit this to be done on the treadmill. So I guess my score needs to have a little asterisk next to it. Anywho, I ran 3 miles in 20:16 for a new treamdill PR. Mile #1 = 7:15 (7:15 cumulative), mile #2 = 6:35 (13:50 cumulative) and mile #3 = 6:26 (20:16 cumulative). Points earned = 86 (18:00 needed to earn the maximum 100 points. Average HR of 154 bpm (83% of max) and highest HR of 185 bpm (100% of max).

6) On the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/calves/etc.

So today I scored 239* points. Morning BW was 177.5 lbs. Last year I took the test on 2/18/2005 at a BW of 176.0 lbs. I scored 237* points consisting of 17 pullups, 73 abdominal crunches and a 3-mile run time of 21:30. I had previously scored this test at 250* points, but I recently discovered that I had used an outdated scoring grid so when I used the new scoring grid it came out to 237* points.

The old grid was based on doing Marine military situps (feet supported, knees bent, and hands crossed and touching chest, bringing the crossed arms to touch the bent knees). The new grid uses the term abdominal crunches. I read the explanation of abdominal crunches and even looked at photos and for the life of me I can't tell the difference between them and the old Marine military situp. So basically I am performing the Marine abdominal crunch the same way that I performed the Marine military situp.

This ranks me as elite for 17-26 year old Marine PT test takers. Not bad for a 51 year old fart.

So basically, a 2 point improvement. Pullups were off today and that's the way it goes. But I ran great. Remember when you were a kid and you thought if you got a new pair of running shoes that you would run faster?

Guess what? It's true! I wore my new running shoes today and they felt great.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[.V.]

Originally Posted by pierini

Guess what? It's true! I wore my new running shoes today and they felt great.

It is true. I leaned that a few days ago. I don't know about much faster, but definitely better, stronger, and with much less pain.:

Congrats on your improved performance on your test practice.

[Klinger]

Fantastic job on the test. Very impressive showing regardless of age.

Even if I took my best scores from different workouts I don't think they'd add up to better than your score.

[CF-OC_gal]

Nice score! Your test is encouraging!

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

100% rest. Long day at work. Flopped on the couch and watched more Winter Olympics. I find it very relaxing.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Arrived at the gym at 6:30 a.m.

1) Recumbant bicycle at level 5 for 5 minutes to wake up.

2) Handstand pushups: 3-3-3-3-3-2 = 17 reps. 2 minutes or less rest between sets. I just didn't have my heart into these this morning.

3) Wide grip pullups: 10-10-8-7-6-6 = 47 reps. 2 minutes or less rest between sets.

4) Atlas II pushups: 1 x 40 reps.

5) DVR workout: #1 = full-range pectoral contraction DVR - #2 = Atlas bicep flex & press DVR - #3 = double punch press DVR - #4 = Deltoid side raise DVR - #5 = McSweeney wrist twist DVR. 2 sets of 5 reps at maximum tension for each DVR. Plenty of rest between DVRs to minimize any decreasing maximum tension on the 2nd set.

6) Burpees: 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 = 210 reps in 29:31. Average HR of 143 bpm (77% of max) and highest HR of 160 bpm (86% of max).

I have been wanting to do this workout for a long time but because I am a "chicken" and I didn't want to aggravate my left knee, I talked myself out of it for the last couple of months. Now that the Marine PT test is behind me, there's no excuse. I was sort of lazy and tired this morning and I had talked myself out of any cardio but then I rememberd that if I don't want to do it, it must be good for me, so I did it. One word to describe this workout: HARD!

No stretching this morning. Too tired and hungry. It's a another long day at work and more Winter Olympics tonight. Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.