Back in Black & Back to the Beach

"The harder I practice, the luckier I get." - Gary Player

Scary Fitzgerald. Dopest catch of the year?

Back at this thing after a lil' break. I definitely miss playing Ultimate but have been having a blast with football season. Last week our team entered a crazy but fun 4x4 flag football tourney. 40 yard field (split into two 20yard sections) with only 3 downs to get 20 yards. Legal handoffs, 7 seconds to throw, and 30 minute games or first to 28 points wins all added to the ridiculousness. I thought beach ultimate was the most offensively advantageous sport ever invented till I played this. Essentially, to win all you needed to do was win the coin toss and stay on serve, or hope for at least 1 stop. Only 3 downs meant that you couldn't make 1 mistake or you buried yourself into a tough deep look. Extra points (5 yards out for 1, 8 yards for 2) also were huge difference makers. Football is crazy like ultimate in that a good pass and a good route will beat a good defense every time. We played 6 games to get the Finals, but lost the game on a questionable OB call by the ref as we lost the race to 28. Still a bunch of fun though.

One of my focuses on the off-season has progressing on cable movements. Especially after reading from T.O.'s trainer how he does an hour-long cable workout every morning (before practice & weights), and it's been truly enlightening. Like the medicine ball, you can manipulate the cables to train the entire body as a single unit, with the core as the center of the action.

The most effective cable station at my gym is the FreeMotion, with adjustable arms sticking away from the machine. This is great because it allows for freedom of movement, exactly what we want. I put the arms down at the bottom, sticking out just a bit to the sides. I can do a 100+ different full-body exercises on this machine alone, all sport-specific and proprioceptively challenging. Walmart also sells a home/portable version for cheap for you non-gym people. (I loathe walmart but unfortunately nobody sells them cheaper. Believe me, I checked).

Basic Movement: Cable Squat Rows

Use this as a starting point. When your form is perfect you can progress to moving as fast as posssible with Flow opening up your elastic/reactive musculature. You can keep the weight light, or go heavy as well for different options.

2nd progression: from the squat explode the arms up like a jumping jack and pause at the top, standing up tall with true Pillar Strength. Oh look. Now you just hit every muscle in the body explosively in a different way than the row and re-created the exact movement path of jumping for a disc. Remember, it's all about Pillar Strength (hip, core, and shoulder stability). Train for that in every movement.

Cable Split-Squats- This is as close to them as I could find. But instead of keeping your feet in the same place think about starting with feet together (back to machine) stepping out into a deep lunge (or split squat, try 'em both) then back to feet together. Alternate legs. Now instead of just keeping your hands in the same place try extending them into a punch explosively as you land in your lunge with proper form. Now you've got an active, but stable, core and all 4 appendages moving explosively and independently.

2nd progression: Step out with your right leg into full deep lunge and explode with a punch with left arm. Step back to feet together and step left leg and punch right arm. Move with Flow. Bring martials movements into the weight room. It worked for Bruce, it might work for you.

Other types:

- Backward lunges w/cable row
- forward lunges with uppercut punch
- Forward lunge with butterfly punch. Just like the swim technique. Bring the pool into the weightroom.

You need to manipulate all planes of movement to become a true 360 degree athlete, capable of moving in any direction equally and explosively.

For other cable ideas I turned to The Man Himself: Mark Verstegen. (Know that name if you don't already). You can't do all these exercises on the same machine like he is doing, but you can sure get close. This is what it's like to train for power. And yes, this is also what a true 360 athlete looks like.

More Mark in action:

-X-Pulls- think about doing standing, add in a squat and make them explosive.

-Push-Pull

- Just to show you where you could progress given the right equipment.

Workout:

Lots of jump-roping to warm up mixed in with bodyweight squats, lunges, step-ups, handstand pushups, etc

1A: cable squat rows (12)
1B: Forward cable lunges w/punch (12)

No rest between, moving immediately from the squat movement to the lunge.

5 sets of that mixing in all the variations listed above. Also mixed in some footwork drills intermittently.

2A: RDL (12)
2B: Front Squat (10-12)

2 Sets

On your 12th RDL clean the bar straight up into the front squat position and move immediately into the front squats. SO dirty.

3A: Hang Snatches
3B: 1 leg squats

2 sets. Put a box behind you and do 1 leg box squats if you need to. Most people will, I still do some days. Add a weight overhead (bar or plate) for further core/upperbody focus.

Leiout is upon us again. My absolute all-time favorite tourney outside of the series. 70 degrees in perfect sunny Santa Monica, dead next to the world-famous pier, plus LA eye-candy up n' down the boardwalk. Suck it Wildwood, NO way Jersey compares to LA in anything. Except for maybe Soprano's backdrops. You win that one.

Carbomb! will once again be wrecking teams & livers in a flurry of delicious deliciousness from the 'bu to the beach and beyond. Stop on by if you get a chance, and if you say the right things you might just find yourself dropping drinks in drinks and drinking those drinks.

Stay Frosty,
#40