Pierini's November 2006 Workouts

[minime]

thanks for the warmup pierini!

i am find i am a bit confused - when u say your arms are out by your side and u extend them as far as u can, do u mean, u just keep them to your sides and reach out? or your lift them overhead? I apologise if it sounds like a silly question!

i too am going to print this out and use it.

Hi minime,

Keep them out to the side and extend outward horizontally. It's like they are already fully extended horizontally, then you reach outward trying to get another inch or so before relaxing to the normally fully-extended horizontal position.

Hope this helps.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Took the day off from work.

Moved 3 tons of wood pellets which were delivered today for our wood pellet stove from the alley to the basement for storage. 150 bags each weighing 40 lbs. each with a helper. Took about 48 minutes. Sounds tougher than it really was.

Then to the gym around 11:30 a.m for a superset of standard grip pullups followed by bar dips. Did a different cadence today as follows:

10 sets of 5 pullups and 5 dips, then
10 sets of 4 pullups and 4 dips, then
10 sets of 3 pullups and 3 dips, then
10 sets of 2 pullups and 2 dips, then
10 sets of 1 pullup and 1 dip.

Total of 150 pullups and 150 dips in 61:02. I had a partner for the first 20 sets then he quit so I did the 3s, 2s, and 1s by myself. With my partner, I would do a set and then he would do a set. He took a little more rest than I would have so this slowed me down somewhat. Not a blistering pace by any stretch of the imagination. I was a little surprised it took this long.

Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Saturday morning dojo workout.

Then afterwards at the high school track, by myself today. Warm-up of 1,600 meters. Then 200 meter sprints with 200 meters walk recovery x 8 rounds. All times in seconds:

#1 = 35.00 feeling pretty good

#2 = 35.47 believing that I can maintain this speed for all rounds

#3 = 35.44 further evidence that I can

#4 = 36.03 still hopeful

#5 = 38.30 getting tired

#6 = 37.08 trying to make a comeback

#7 = 37.41 starting to fade

#8 = 38.44 finished!

So what's a middle-age man doing at a high school track on a rainy day, by himself running 200 meter sprints? Living my mantra that I'm only as good as my last workout, and feeling like an old man during the later rounds. Can't believe I clocked a 30.50 for the 200 meters during the summer.

Enjoy your weekend!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[JDR3]

Nice job - I guess Tom and I are just fair weather runners!

[gymgirl]

pierini, i really enjoyed your commentary on the last post!

kudos to you for still hitting up the track in the rain! :

[laura817]

Good job on the 200m sprints, Pierini!

P.S. You are making us young 'ums look bad running in the rain and all.

Sunday, November 12, 2006
Complete rest.

Monday, November 13, 2006
Arrived at the gym at 3:25 p.m.

Weighted standard-grip pullups
#1 = BW x 5 to warm-up

#2 = BW+70 lb. x 1

#3 = BW+80 lb. x 1

#4 = BW+82.5 lb. x 1

#5 = BW+82.5 lb. x fail at 95%

#6 = BW+82.5 lb. x fail at 60%

#7 = BW x 16

Running
Treadmill at 1% incline - 3 miles in 22:14 (7:25/mile pace). My average HR was 156 bpm (84% of max) and my highest HR was 190 bpm (103% of max).

Stretching
On the floor to stretch my hams & calves.

I wasn't focused for this workout, trying to force the pullups and that doesn't work, but the BW+82.5 lbs. is a PR, although I'd like to make it a bit cleaner and for at least 3 sets before attempting a heavier weight.

The running was hard today. I think I needed another day of rest from Saturday's 200 meter interval workout. I've decided that my hard running training is done based on something my son reminded me of last night. I'm as trained as I'm going to be so at this point my running should only be to keep what I already have. So no more hard runs between now and fun-run day, but I will be running some just to keep the muscle and cardio memory where it is.

Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Arrived at the gym at 3:15 p.m.

Ab/core workout - made improvements compared to the prior week as noted. Finally got my 4 minute ab plank hold. #1 = v-ups x 30 (+1) - #2 = GHD back hyperextensions x 30 (+1) - #3 = prone ab plank hold x 4:00 (+0:09) - #5 = right side plank hold x 1:30 (+0:09) - #5 = left side plank hold x 1:30 (+0:09) - #6 = chinnies (ab bicycle cross crunches) x 150 (+10).

Power clean and push press - 120 lbs. - 8-6-4-4-4 = 26 reps (+1 over the prior week - same weight). Goal was 4 sets of 6-7 reps. I'm sticking with the same weight until I get 3 sets of 8 reps. I really like this exercise - it is very anaerobic.

Running - on the treadmill at 1% incline - starting to taper. 1,600 meters at 7.5 mph, then 200 meters at 8.8 mph with 100 meter recovery at 6.0 mph x 10 rounds, and finally 200 meters at 10.0 mph for a total of 3 miles in 23:06 (7:42/mile pace). My average HR was 147 bpm (79% of max) and my highest HR was 175 bpm (95% of max).

Skipped stretching.

Have a great day!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

[minime]

great times on the 200s pierini!

oh, and BW +82.5 for the weighted pullup : next time u will get all three to 100%

Have u ever tried a one arm pullup?

Hi minime and thanks for stopping by.

Your 200 workout inspired me to give it a shot since it was me who suggested you do it. That seems to be a tendency of mine: suggest a workout to someone because it's good even though I haven't done it in a while, and soon thereafter I'm doing it myself. I should give more suggestions to others as it will motivate me to do them myself.

I've never done a pure one-arm pullup. That's a recipe for elbow tendonitis if done incorrectly. I have, however, done a pullup with one arm with the other arm grabbing the arm that I am using to pull (sort of an assisted one arm pullup). I can do a rep with my right arm but not my left arm.

Looking forward to reading about your next sprint workout.

[laura817]

Nice job on the weighted 82.5-lbs weighted pull-up, power clean and push press, pierini! I need to try these combo exercises, they look fun (of course not that much weight).

[JDR3]

Nice 4 min. plank!

[minime]

4min plank seems like so long! the last time I was trying those I was doing them for 30seconds and THAT seemed long! Must try them again soon.

thats pretty good that you can do the 'assisted' one arm pullup. I mean, its not really giving u any assistance is it? Just helping with balance.

Hi Laura, thanks for the comments. Power clean and push press is a nice compound exercise that would seem to fit right in on your heavy training day.

Hi JDR3 - yea a 4 minute plank sure is a long time. That was my goal. I'm not going to go any longer at this time, just try to maintain it. The side plank is much tougher and 1:30 seemed like eternity. I'm also proud of my effort with doing 30 consecutive v-ups and 150 chinnies. I like this little 6 exercise ab/core workout I've come up with.

Hi minime - there is some assistance with that one-arm assisted pullup I described, plus the balance factor. To appreciate how important balance is, try a one-arm hang from the pullup bar. Very, very tough and a recipe for elbow tendonitis.