Pierini's January 2005 Training Log

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

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

Due to toe injury, running is on hold, it appears, for all of this week. So my challenge is to make sure my workouts get my heart rate up so I don't lose much. The February 19th self-administered Marine PT test is not far away and I need to run a sub 21 minute 3 mile to achieve my goal of 250 points. Having said that, this is what I did today:

Superset of 5 dips, 5 standard grip pull-ups, 10 standard push-ups on knuckles, 15 military sit-ups and 15 flat-foot full-range bodyweight squats. I completed 10 supersets in 31:20. This felt like the equivalent of a 4 mile run at a 7:30 mile pace or better. Completed total of 50 dips, 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 sit-ups and 150 squats.

Then I did isometric contractions. 2 for the chest, 2 for the shoulders and 2 for the biceps. 3 sets of 10 second isometric contraction for each exercise.

Then I sat on the floor and dip my usual stretching of hams/quads/glutes/etc.

The good of a new injury is that you forget about old injuries. My right hand injury of last week is a thing of the past as I focus on my left toe injury. Also, excellent time to devote extra time to stretching so I'll spend some time tonight stretching both upper and lower body.

I will not go to my usual 6:00 p.m. dojo workout tonight so I don't aggravate the injury and/or increase the swelling. I also have fear of someone accidentally stepping on my toe.

Train hard, train smart, have fun and manage your injuries if you have them.

Have a great day!

P.S. Called my Dad and told him that I dropped a 25 lb. plate on my toe. He said that he dropped a 45 lb. plate on his toe once. So it's probably genetic. I'll have to let my son know this.

P.S. #2 - Rufiedog - thanks for the info - maybe I'll check this out. I'll let you know if I can and maybe we can connect. Have a great day!

_________________

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

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

Warm-up
Back hyperextensions - 1 x 50

Military sit-ups - timed trial for 2 minutes - 70 reps. Previous best was 66 so 70 is a 2 minute PR. Hope to do 75 for the Marine PT test I'll self-administer on February 19th so I still have some work to do.

Pull-up Workout
Today's cadence was as follows: 3 sets of various types of pull-ups with 1 minute rest between sets with a 2 minute rest between changing to the next type of pull-up. Reps for each set were 1-2 less than perceived maximum with the goal in mind to complete all of the 6 different types of pull-ups. Total pull-up workout took around 34 minutes. Here is what I did:

Standard-grip pull-ups: 12-8-6 = 26 reps
Standard-grip chin-ups: 8-7-6 = 21 reps
Close-grip pull-ups: 5-5-5 = 15 reps
Close-grip chin-ups: 7-6-6 = 19 reps
Wide-grip pull-ups: 4-5-5 = 14 reps
Wide-grip chin-ups: 6-6-6 = 18 reps

Completed a total of 113 reps

Superset Workout
Performed 25 standard push-ups on knuckles followed by 25 full-range bodyweight squats. On the squats I alternated types. The first type was heels flat on the floor. The second type was a wider stance, toes pointing outward at a 45 degree angle, balancing on balls of feet going down and raising heels, then driving the heels downward coming back up. This is like a ballet plie'.

I completed 8 supersets for 200 push-ups and 200 squats. This took around 28 minutes to complete.

Cool-down
Quick on the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/etc.

Other Notes
Big toe is still on the mend so no treadmill running today. Prognosis is no running until next Monday.

Left my keys locked in my car so had to call my wife at home to bail me out. Home is 25 miles from the gym. Guess I'll have to be on good behavior for at least a couple of days.

Have a great day, train hard, train smart, put the pedal to the metal in your training, and don't leave your keys in your locked car.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

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

Warm-up
I call it a 4-count bend, touch hands on floor in front of you, reach between your legs and touch floor behind your legs, return to upright position with hands and hips, then lean back with hands on hips. What are these called? Remember doing them in high school and the Army. Well, I did 1 set of 50 reps. Then I did military sit-ups, 1 set of 50 reps.

Pull-ups
Did 6 sets of standard-grip pull-ups with added weights. 3 minute rest between the 6 sets. Then did 4 sets of standard-grip bodyweight pull-ups with 1 minute rest between sets. Here is what I did:

25 lbs. x 5 - 35 lbs. x 5 - 45 lbs. x 4 - 45 lbs. x 4 - 35 lbs. x 6 - 25 lbs. x 6 for a total of 6 sets = 30 reps.

Bodyweight pull-ups: 10-7-6-5 = 28 reps.

Total reps today = 58

Bar dips
Today's cadence was to start a set every minute on the minute with a 30 minute time limit. Thus, 30 sets in 30 minutes. Here is what I did:

10 sets of 7 reps = 70 reps for the first 10 minutes, then
10 sets of 8 reps = 80 reps for the next 10 minutes, then
10 sets: 9-9-9-9-8-7-7-8-8-7 = 81 reps for the last 10 minutes.

Total reps today in 29:16 = 231 reps - a new total PR

Stretching
Quick on the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/etc.

Toe Report
Still on the mend so no treadmill running and no Thursday evening dojo workout. Planning on my standard Saturday morning dojo workout and resuming running on Monday.

Stared at the 25 lb. plate (that did the damage) this morning during my pull-up workout, noticing that it was smiling at me. I said: "don't you get any ideas, or I'll kick your @$$". It backed off.

Almost dropped a bar of soap on my injured toe this morning in the gym shower. That would have been ugly.

Other
Didn't lock my car keys in the car this morning. Hey, I'm off to a great day.

Have a great day! Train hard, train smart, push yourself during your workouts and enjoy the benefits that spill over into personal/work situations. Bye.

[Erwabo]

What exactly are military sit-ups? And you mentioned a Dojo workout, what style of martial are you currently taking?

Military sit-ups are the way sit-ups are done for the Marine PT test and also for the Army (I believe). Feet are supported, knees are bent, hands are crossed on chest. From lying on your back, you come up until hands touch knees and return. That it one rep.

I train in karate, in the gosoku-ryu system developed by Takayuki Kubota. I also include shotokan katas in my training.

[Buffdaddy]

Army does sit-ups with fingers inter-laced behind the head.

Buffdaddy,

Thanks for setting me straight.

January 14, 2005

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

Warm-up
Tiger Moves - light tension - 10 reps of each movement with a 5 second isometric contraction on the last rep.

Pull-ups
3 sets of 10 reps with 2 minutes recovery between sets = 30 reps. This was a light day. I've done alot of pull-ups this week so today was just to keep the muscle memory sharp.

Push-up/Sit-up/Squat Superset Medly
Training cadence was to perform supersets with each superset consisting of a different type of the 3 exercises. Goal was to complete 10 supersets but I only completed 8 supersets in 53:10. I've trained hard for 5 days in a row so I didn't have the energy needed to work faster. This medly was as much training my mind to endure and complete the task rather than quit, rather than the physical part althought that too was demanding. I completed 25 reps of each exercise in the superset. Here is a description of the exercise variations for my benefit and anyone else interested:

1) Great Gama push-ups - standard military sit-ups - full-range bodyweight squats with flat heels normal width apart.

2) Standard push-ups on knuckles - Atlas full-range sit-ups - full-range, wide stance, toes at 45 degree angle plie' squats.

3) Standard Atlas push-ups - military sit-ups modified with a cross punch and elbow touching the opposite side knee - bodyweight, toes forward, heels flat, knees together, full-range squats (to the extent possible without raising the heels).

4) Atlas II push-ups - small incline sit-up board with hands crossed sit-ups - full-range uneven squats (one foot 2 steps higher than the other for 13 reps then switch legs).

5) Wide position push-ups - military sit-ups except heels as close to butt as possible - bodyweight, toes at 45 degree angle and heels touching plie' squats.

6) Repeat #1

7) Repeat #2

8) Repeat #3

Completed a total of 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 200 squats.

Stretching
Quckie on the floor to stretch my hams/quads/glutes/etc.

Other
No treadmill running all this week. Big toe is still on the mend. Guess what I'm doing this weekend? Staying away as far as possible from a pull-up bar.

January 2005 Volume Stats
Pull-ups: 301 this week - 576 month to date - goal = 1,000
Push-ups: 600 this week - 1,020 month to date - goal = 2,000
Bar dips: 371 this week - 545 month to date - goal = 1,000
Bodyweight squats: 620 this week - 1,100 month to date - goal = 2,000
Sit-ups: 620 this week - 1,120 month to date - goal = 2,000

I've trained hard this week. I feel good about that. Have a great day and thanks for bearing with me on my long-winded posts.

[CF-OC_gal]

January 2005 Volume Stats

Pull-ups: 275 this week - 576 month to date - goal = 1,000
Push-ups: 600 this week - 1,020 month to date - goal = 2,000
Bar dips: 371 this week - 545 month to date - goal = 1,000
Bodyweight squats: 620 this week - 1,100 month to date - goal = 2,000
Sit-ups: 620 this week - 1,120 month to date - goal = 2,000

Good Stats! Way to go. :

Thanks.

Discovered and edited a typo with respect to my weekly pull-up volume. Should be 301 not 275. All other amounts are correct.

[gcs118]

I've noticed you have good advice for others in other threads, so I wanna watch your progress. Looks like you're doing pretty darn good so far.

Thank you. I try to do the best I can. That's one of the virtues of being a middle-age man.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Returned to the dojo for my normal Saturday morning dojo workout. Toe is not 100% and this affected my ability to pivot and move during workouts. And it sure hurt if I stomped my foot.

I'm reading to lace up the running shoes on Monday and see what happens.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Took the day off because we are having carpet installed and I was needed to move furniture around the house, from one room to the next as the carpet installers were installing the carpet. So I had to be creative to get a workout in and this is what I did.

I performed 500 standard push-ups on my knuckles. Not all at once, of course, but with the following cadence:

I started at 8:20 a.m. and completed 25 push-ups. Every 15 minutes I performed another 25 push-ups. I completed 400 push-ups at 12:10 p.m. then took a 1 hour lunch break so I could enjoy eating. I resumed at 1:00 p.m. and completed my 500th push-up at 1:40 p.m.

I'm bored doing push-ups. Can't wait to get back to the pull-up bar tomorrow.

P.S. Sunday, January 16, 2005 was a day of rest.

[abarlament]

Why don't you look into the Pavel routine for pushups. Basically cycling %s of your repetition maximum, like 50% of your max reps one day, 75% the other, 40% another, etc. Supposedly gives good results.