"Fast as the wind, quiet as the forest, aggressive as fire, and as immovable as a mountain" - Samurai battle banner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57pv_1j4dH0
I love Ross's back-to-basics training style with his emphasis on getting absolutely as much intensity and efficiency out of every single movement. Everything is as intense as possible, as explosive as possible, and with as much resistance (of all variety) as possible. I also dig how much he thinks outside the box and creates new movements and new tougher progressions. Because that's the true beauty of creating new movements and workouts, they don't negate the previous ideas and concepts, but instead builds upon them. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that something new has to replace something old and that the old no longer has any value, but that couldn't be more wrong. Like every other area of your life it's all just a series of progressions.
Like Vern Gambetta said, you have 3 constants to play with to affect your workouts: gravity, ground, & your body. Think outside the box for your workouts on how to affect those constants most effectively, the point is to THINK and focus on your body, not plug into a TV and mentally check out for your workout or zone out through the same boring stuff you've been doing since High School. Your training should be where you do the most thinking and analyzing, not the least. I have a teammate that hates standard workouts and prefers to get his training in by altering his ground environment. Running through dry creekbeds where he bound/runs from rock to rock, down steep hills, and the like are all part of his training routine. 2 different roads to reach the same fitness goals. Though I will say that I prefer combining different ground environments with the weightroom because while you can't make your steep hill any steeper, I can always add weight. And at the end of the day we still play on a flat grass surface so training on flat grass is still unquestionably a major part of your workout. But I love that he's thinking outside the box and figuring out new ways to push his body.
Todays workout session was inspired by a Crossfit workout with some adjustments. This thing is a killer.
Movement Prep: Same as usual.
Superset 1:
Squat-pulls
Jump punches (2x w/no rest)
Superset 2:
Step-ups w/weight
Box Jump March http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxJumpMarch.html
(2x w/no rest)
Hang Cleans- 4 sets of 6,6,4,4 increasing weight
Xfit section: Perform activities in any order, must completely finish each activity before moving to next one, and workout is timed. Obviously the focus here is working at maximum intensity and fighting fatigue.
50 Box Jumps (24 inch box minimum)
50 jumping pull-ups (jump up to pull-up bar, do full pull-up, land, repeat)
50 Kettlebell swings w/dumbbell (I use 45lb)
50 GHD's
50 Walking lunges
50 combo of handstand pushups/dips/plyo pushups
50 Double-jumps w/jump rope
50 Knee-to-elbows
50 burpees
50 push-press w/bar
Flat. Out. Exhaustion. If you're Tuff Enough to do this hit me up and let me know how it goes.
This weekend was absolutely amazing here. A bit o' rain on Friday left the fields in perfect playing conditions. It was even a bit chilly, making for perfect outdoor sports weather. Practiced with my football team on Saturday, we've got a slew of great receivers to catch the ball and a stacked defense to match. Our first tournament is this weekend, it'll be fun to see how we match up against the best LA has to offer. Supposedly there's something like 160+ teams and 12 divisions from all over SoCal going to be there. I dream of the day when local Ultimate tournaments have that kind of draw.
Sunday was the tournament for Beach League and brought the 3peat for our ridicuously fun team o' clowns. Kind of fun winning a league since it's been in existence, regardless of the league. It was 72 in Santa Monica and sunny enough for me to even get a lil' tanny-tan. Semi's and finals were both close in the beginning, but with our stacked defense and margaret jackin' it to timmy "2pointer" paymaster who grabbed everything under the sun it was Crushville, Population: us. (Cross-gender coast-to-coast goals worth 2 points is the dopest rule ever for beach). One thing I noticed specifically is that busting down on the pull is even more important on the sand than on grass as field position in the sand is really everything, and being on the mark when your guy picks up the pull for a stall-6 count is just dirty, easy defense.
Keep on truckin'
#40
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
What off-season?
No, seriously. What off-season?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtOPgv8ZxYg
With Nationals over most Ultimate players enter some sort of off-season. I refuse to call it that, as it suggest that you're taking this time off. (just like I hate it when people call split-squats/lunges, they're split-squats. There's no lunging involved.) There's NO off-season 'round here, just a time to get back to other sports and to make gains in the weightroom. Off-season is for chumps.
Now is the time to accomplish two goals:
1. Get healthy. Give yourself time to fix all those nagging injuries. Note: this isn't taking time off, this is recovery.
2. Further increase your strength base for next year.
The most effective way to accomplish Goal 2 is through functional full-body strength-training 3 times a week. As I've said before, if your body is a car, then sprint training gives you more miles to the gallon, while strength training gives you a bigger gas tank. Neither one is nearly as effective without the other.
As for me, I'm looking forward to changing my workouts up and focusing on moving up in weight on my functional lifts and spending this time playing Flag Football with my team (8 years running and still league champs every year...perks of having the best QB in the league. Ah football...so nice to only have to work 6 seconds and then get a 30 second break), spending more time on boxing workouts and in the pool with sprint-swim training, snowboarding, more advanced medicine ball work, and winning beach league again. Only in LA can I play beach ultimate and snowboard in the same month, even if they are lame Mtn's with sucky man-made snow. But like my dad says "a bad day skiing still beats any day at work."
Today's Boxing Workout:
1 round:
-2 minutes of heavy-bag work. I usually break up it up into 1 minute of cardio boxing (rhythm-based combos for speed n' agility) and 1 minute of power-punch combos. (as fast and as hard as possible). Mad cathartic.
-2 minutes of jump-rope. Different variations all the way through.
-1 minute rest
I usually do 10-12 rounds then run do hill sprints 10x10 seconds, no rest.
Hill Sprints: Find a hill and measure out a distance that'll take 10 seconds to run (over-estimate the first one). Focus on sprinting the hill at maximum intensity for 10 seconds anaerobically (no breathing), then walk directly back down the hill backwards taking large steps so that you're further putting extra stabilization efforts on your posterior chain, once you reach your starting point, repeat. No rest until you've done 10 in a row.
Yesterday's STS:
Movement Prep
Functional lifts:
-Hang Cleans 4 sets @ 6,6, 4,4 w/increasing weight
-Front-Squats Supersets:
4 sets @ 8 reps w/increasing weight
Pullups TF
Hand-stand pushups TF
1 set= Front-squat to pullup TF to handstand pushup TF, no rest between exercises
-Overhead backward split-squats w/bar & weight
3 sets @ 8 reps, then 2 more sets of split-squats with heavy weight on back instead of overhead.
-Deadlift Supersets:
3 sets of deadlifts @ 10 reps
Box-jumps
1 set= deadlift to 12 box jumps w/no rest inbetween. SO crushing.
-Push-Press Supersets:
3 sets of push-press @ 8 reps
Box-jumps
1 set= push-press to 12 box jumps w/no rest inbetween.
Finished with jump-punches (2 sets each arm) and 2 sets of 1-arm snatches.
Hope your non-competitive part of the season goes well. Hit. Those. Weights. If you do, and you hit it right, I won't have to tell what it'll do for your movement ability...you'll already know.
Train hard, train smart.
-Chris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtOPgv8ZxYg
With Nationals over most Ultimate players enter some sort of off-season. I refuse to call it that, as it suggest that you're taking this time off. (just like I hate it when people call split-squats/lunges, they're split-squats. There's no lunging involved.) There's NO off-season 'round here, just a time to get back to other sports and to make gains in the weightroom. Off-season is for chumps.
Now is the time to accomplish two goals:
1. Get healthy. Give yourself time to fix all those nagging injuries. Note: this isn't taking time off, this is recovery.
2. Further increase your strength base for next year.
The most effective way to accomplish Goal 2 is through functional full-body strength-training 3 times a week. As I've said before, if your body is a car, then sprint training gives you more miles to the gallon, while strength training gives you a bigger gas tank. Neither one is nearly as effective without the other.
As for me, I'm looking forward to changing my workouts up and focusing on moving up in weight on my functional lifts and spending this time playing Flag Football with my team (8 years running and still league champs every year...perks of having the best QB in the league. Ah football...so nice to only have to work 6 seconds and then get a 30 second break), spending more time on boxing workouts and in the pool with sprint-swim training, snowboarding, more advanced medicine ball work, and winning beach league again. Only in LA can I play beach ultimate and snowboard in the same month, even if they are lame Mtn's with sucky man-made snow. But like my dad says "a bad day skiing still beats any day at work."
Today's Boxing Workout:
1 round:
-2 minutes of heavy-bag work. I usually break up it up into 1 minute of cardio boxing (rhythm-based combos for speed n' agility) and 1 minute of power-punch combos. (as fast and as hard as possible). Mad cathartic.
-2 minutes of jump-rope. Different variations all the way through.
-1 minute rest
I usually do 10-12 rounds then run do hill sprints 10x10 seconds, no rest.
Hill Sprints: Find a hill and measure out a distance that'll take 10 seconds to run (over-estimate the first one). Focus on sprinting the hill at maximum intensity for 10 seconds anaerobically (no breathing), then walk directly back down the hill backwards taking large steps so that you're further putting extra stabilization efforts on your posterior chain, once you reach your starting point, repeat. No rest until you've done 10 in a row.
Yesterday's STS:
Movement Prep
Functional lifts:
-Hang Cleans 4 sets @ 6,6, 4,4 w/increasing weight
-Front-Squats Supersets:
4 sets @ 8 reps w/increasing weight
Pullups TF
Hand-stand pushups TF
1 set= Front-squat to pullup TF to handstand pushup TF, no rest between exercises
-Overhead backward split-squats w/bar & weight
3 sets @ 8 reps, then 2 more sets of split-squats with heavy weight on back instead of overhead.
-Deadlift Supersets:
3 sets of deadlifts @ 10 reps
Box-jumps
1 set= deadlift to 12 box jumps w/no rest inbetween. SO crushing.
-Push-Press Supersets:
3 sets of push-press @ 8 reps
Box-jumps
1 set= push-press to 12 box jumps w/no rest inbetween.
Finished with jump-punches (2 sets each arm) and 2 sets of 1-arm snatches.
Hope your non-competitive part of the season goes well. Hit. Those. Weights. If you do, and you hit it right, I won't have to tell what it'll do for your movement ability...you'll already know.
Train hard, train smart.
-Chris
Thursday, October 11, 2007
STS Oct. 11th
"Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks." -Joe Paterno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2J9uuU1BCY
This guy makes two great points with this video: 1. Don't wear spandex in the park by yourself. (WTF!?) and 2. There are easily 30+ variations of pushups you can do with different levels of progression/regression. Plyometric pushups with arms close to the body should be an absolute staple for any Ultimate player as you're training the exact movement you'd make if you'd layed out on a D and missed the disc and now have to get back on your feet and throw a mark on or play recovery D. The faster you get back on your feet could be the difference between stopping their offensive flow and getting scored on.
Today's focus is on moving explosively while at a high rate of fatigue. To do this I combined functional lifts with jump movement supersets with no rest in between.
Movement Prep: Same as before.
Functional Lift:
Hang Cleans- 3 sets
Superset 1 (2x):
1A: Squat Lat pulls- on the cable machine with handles in each arm and the cables at the top perform lat pulls while in 3/4 squat position. 10 reps.
1B: plyometric pushups TF
Superset 2 (2x):
2A: 1 leg'd step ups w/weight
2B: pullups TF
Super-duper Superset 3 (each specific superset 2x's through with no rest)
3A: Overhead squat w/weight
3B: Lateral Jumps http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxLateralJump.html
x2
3C: Quick drops http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/QuickDrop.html
3D: Lateral Jumps
x2
3E: Front Squat
3F: Lateral Jumps
x2
Superset 4 (2x):
4A: Push press
4B: Box jumps
Next did 2 sets of Hang Jump-shrugs http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangJumpShrug.html
Finished with 2 sets of 1-arm snatches and row machine intervals.
18+ different sport-specific explosive movements all in under an hour. That, my friends, is what we call nationals-ready training.
#40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2J9uuU1BCY
This guy makes two great points with this video: 1. Don't wear spandex in the park by yourself. (WTF!?) and 2. There are easily 30+ variations of pushups you can do with different levels of progression/regression. Plyometric pushups with arms close to the body should be an absolute staple for any Ultimate player as you're training the exact movement you'd make if you'd layed out on a D and missed the disc and now have to get back on your feet and throw a mark on or play recovery D. The faster you get back on your feet could be the difference between stopping their offensive flow and getting scored on.
Today's focus is on moving explosively while at a high rate of fatigue. To do this I combined functional lifts with jump movement supersets with no rest in between.
Movement Prep: Same as before.
Functional Lift:
Hang Cleans- 3 sets
Superset 1 (2x):
1A: Squat Lat pulls- on the cable machine with handles in each arm and the cables at the top perform lat pulls while in 3/4 squat position. 10 reps.
1B: plyometric pushups TF
Superset 2 (2x):
2A: 1 leg'd step ups w/weight
2B: pullups TF
Super-duper Superset 3 (each specific superset 2x's through with no rest)
3A: Overhead squat w/weight
3B: Lateral Jumps http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxLateralJump.html
x2
3C: Quick drops http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/QuickDrop.html
3D: Lateral Jumps
x2
3E: Front Squat
3F: Lateral Jumps
x2
Superset 4 (2x):
4A: Push press
4B: Box jumps
Next did 2 sets of Hang Jump-shrugs http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangJumpShrug.html
Finished with 2 sets of 1-arm snatches and row machine intervals.
18+ different sport-specific explosive movements all in under an hour. That, my friends, is what we call nationals-ready training.
#40
Monday, October 8, 2007
STS Oct. 8th
"Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything"- Vince Lombardi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdgXgjCaus4
Floyd's rope is moving so damn fast it's hard to tell if it's even there. Awesome. So that's one of the reasons he can bounce on his toes and throw lightning-fast punches for 15 rounds straight. Huh.
This weekend was a local workout with the LAdors. Took advantage of another 75 and sunny Santa Monica Saturday and did a beach workout. (suck it rest of the country) There were six of us so we threw first to warm up and did some standard plyos on the sand, shortening the distance to 10 or 20 yards (depending on the specific plyo) and focused on just moving explosively and anerobically for the entire shortened distance. Great thing about sand is that it warms you up REAL quick. From there we moved into Lateral Movement and went through marches, highknees, explosive karaoke, shuffles, lateral bounds, and tons of shuffles-to-sprint. Threw again, then moved onto Forward Movement: marches, high knees, skips, 2 inch skips, bounds, a grip of backpedal-to-sprints and did some backpedal 10 yards to sprint forward 10 yards. Backpedaling in the sand is f'ing comedy, especially when you specifically tell the group to make sure they stay low and keep the feet moving or else they'll bail and then 5 seconds later 2 of the 6 are face-down in the sand. Threw again then broke into 2 groups for some agility work. One group did quick change-of-direction drills while the other group did sprint-progression work: One guy would start holding a 6lb medicine ball over his head, he'd sprint with the ball for 10 yards, then throw it to the side as he accelerated through to top speed for 15 more yards, then immediately had to jog and retrieve the ball for the next guy waiting. Mad fatigue and an awesome drill for disassociation and core work. Finished with 3-man mark for a long time and did some medicine ball throws for pillar and core strength. I showed up early for a mini-hat tourney fundraiser to support the US womens beach team in Brazil, so I got two easy games of beach in, plus the 1 1/2+ hour workout, then strolled back over to my team that was now playing in the finals and were down 9-6. I came back in, decided to run my already-fatigued self silly and played the rest of the game as we cleaned house 15-10. It was great to get back to fun no-stress ultimate for a day, and I forgot how much I love beach ultimate. A ridiculously fun sport in the best environment (could it be the most offensive sport ever??) . Throw in beer, good peeps, and bodysurfing (things that were all in high supply) and you've got a recipe for awesomeness. Needless to say that after 5 hours of running on the beach I was a tad bit tuckered out, but nothing that a meatball sandwich the size of my head and some college football couldn't fix.
Today Workout:
Movement Prep:
Jump-rope TF
Handstand pushups TF
Walking lunges w/weight overhead forwards n' backwards
Overhead squats w/weight
Jump-rope TF
Did 2 sets w/no rest then switched lunges for side-lunges and squats for quick-drops. Also added 25 burpees and 2-inch runs.
Functional Lift:
The Bear. Ugh. I keep waiting for it to be easier, but no luck yet. Hang clean to front-squat to push-press immediately back down into another front-squat to push-press. That's 1 rep. 6 sets of 6 reps. Here's it broken down:
Hang Clean:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangClean.html
Front-Squat:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/FrontSquat.html
Push-Press:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/PushPress.html
36 hang cleans and 72 front-squats to push-press. Just typing it makes my core want to start crying like a little girl.
Finished with jump-punches w/a squat (check previous post for description) and overhead jump punches.
Overhead jump-punches: Starting with the cable up top and my arm in an 90 degree L (like I was doing a shoulder press) I squat then explode up switching my feet in the air so that I'm landing with both feet pointed to the left but still underneath me at the same time punching explosively straight down to the ground on my left side. So my legs are moving up while my upper-body is moving down, which obviously means that my core must stay locked n' active to keep me balanced and stable. Note: when I explode up it isn't necessarily about how far up in the air I can jump, but about how explosively I can leave the ground, change direction in air, and land with my feet underneath me ready for the next explosive movement. Make sense?
Did 12 box-jumps in between each set of jump-punches. 3 sets of 8 reps both regular punches and overhead punches.
Two weeks before The Show so this is really the last week to make any significant improvements. This weeks workout schedule:
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: Core & Explosive work in the morning, throwing and agility work in the evening
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: Speed training, medicine ball work, and throwing.
Friday: light weight, core work, and light explosive work.
Saturday & Sunday: Practice
Side note: went to The Shins concert last night at the Greek with Paymaster, Corey, and some other great friends. If you're a fan do yourself a favor and see them in concert. One of the best shows I've ever been to, they legitimately sound better live than on CD and their musicmanship was solid. They just looked like they were having so much fun and their vocals were even more phenomenal live. We officially decided that they are our generation's Beach Boys.
I wish they all could be California girls...
#40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdgXgjCaus4
Floyd's rope is moving so damn fast it's hard to tell if it's even there. Awesome. So that's one of the reasons he can bounce on his toes and throw lightning-fast punches for 15 rounds straight. Huh.
This weekend was a local workout with the LAdors. Took advantage of another 75 and sunny Santa Monica Saturday and did a beach workout. (suck it rest of the country) There were six of us so we threw first to warm up and did some standard plyos on the sand, shortening the distance to 10 or 20 yards (depending on the specific plyo) and focused on just moving explosively and anerobically for the entire shortened distance. Great thing about sand is that it warms you up REAL quick. From there we moved into Lateral Movement and went through marches, highknees, explosive karaoke, shuffles, lateral bounds, and tons of shuffles-to-sprint. Threw again, then moved onto Forward Movement: marches, high knees, skips, 2 inch skips, bounds, a grip of backpedal-to-sprints and did some backpedal 10 yards to sprint forward 10 yards. Backpedaling in the sand is f'ing comedy, especially when you specifically tell the group to make sure they stay low and keep the feet moving or else they'll bail and then 5 seconds later 2 of the 6 are face-down in the sand. Threw again then broke into 2 groups for some agility work. One group did quick change-of-direction drills while the other group did sprint-progression work: One guy would start holding a 6lb medicine ball over his head, he'd sprint with the ball for 10 yards, then throw it to the side as he accelerated through to top speed for 15 more yards, then immediately had to jog and retrieve the ball for the next guy waiting. Mad fatigue and an awesome drill for disassociation and core work. Finished with 3-man mark for a long time and did some medicine ball throws for pillar and core strength. I showed up early for a mini-hat tourney fundraiser to support the US womens beach team in Brazil, so I got two easy games of beach in, plus the 1 1/2+ hour workout, then strolled back over to my team that was now playing in the finals and were down 9-6. I came back in, decided to run my already-fatigued self silly and played the rest of the game as we cleaned house 15-10. It was great to get back to fun no-stress ultimate for a day, and I forgot how much I love beach ultimate. A ridiculously fun sport in the best environment (could it be the most offensive sport ever??) . Throw in beer, good peeps, and bodysurfing (things that were all in high supply) and you've got a recipe for awesomeness. Needless to say that after 5 hours of running on the beach I was a tad bit tuckered out, but nothing that a meatball sandwich the size of my head and some college football couldn't fix.
Today Workout:
Movement Prep:
Jump-rope TF
Handstand pushups TF
Walking lunges w/weight overhead forwards n' backwards
Overhead squats w/weight
Jump-rope TF
Did 2 sets w/no rest then switched lunges for side-lunges and squats for quick-drops. Also added 25 burpees and 2-inch runs.
Functional Lift:
The Bear. Ugh. I keep waiting for it to be easier, but no luck yet. Hang clean to front-squat to push-press immediately back down into another front-squat to push-press. That's 1 rep. 6 sets of 6 reps. Here's it broken down:
Hang Clean:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/HangClean.html
Front-Squat:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/FrontSquat.html
Push-Press:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/PushPress.html
36 hang cleans and 72 front-squats to push-press. Just typing it makes my core want to start crying like a little girl.
Finished with jump-punches w/a squat (check previous post for description) and overhead jump punches.
Overhead jump-punches: Starting with the cable up top and my arm in an 90 degree L (like I was doing a shoulder press) I squat then explode up switching my feet in the air so that I'm landing with both feet pointed to the left but still underneath me at the same time punching explosively straight down to the ground on my left side. So my legs are moving up while my upper-body is moving down, which obviously means that my core must stay locked n' active to keep me balanced and stable. Note: when I explode up it isn't necessarily about how far up in the air I can jump, but about how explosively I can leave the ground, change direction in air, and land with my feet underneath me ready for the next explosive movement. Make sense?
Did 12 box-jumps in between each set of jump-punches. 3 sets of 8 reps both regular punches and overhead punches.
Two weeks before The Show so this is really the last week to make any significant improvements. This weeks workout schedule:
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: Core & Explosive work in the morning, throwing and agility work in the evening
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: Speed training, medicine ball work, and throwing.
Friday: light weight, core work, and light explosive work.
Saturday & Sunday: Practice
Side note: went to The Shins concert last night at the Greek with Paymaster, Corey, and some other great friends. If you're a fan do yourself a favor and see them in concert. One of the best shows I've ever been to, they legitimately sound better live than on CD and their musicmanship was solid. They just looked like they were having so much fun and their vocals were even more phenomenal live. We officially decided that they are our generation's Beach Boys.
I wish they all could be California girls...
#40
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
STS Oct. 3rd & The Show.
Well, SW regionals is over and the dust has settled. Condors have once again secured a spot to The Show and took Bravo down to the wire for the #1 seed.
Recap:
Saturday- Things in the Inland Empire started out screwy, as they normally do in the IE, or as I like to call it, SoCal's armpit. I've been in LA for most of my life and have only been to the IE maybe 4 times. It's everything you don't like about LA (unbearable traffic, smog, intense desert heat, plus the always comical white trash population) without any of the good stuff. I made sure to remind Calle the RC of my disdain for his field choices throughout the entire weekend. The morning started off with a helpful phone call from a friend that the main freeway to the armpit was completely closed at one section...sweeet. Luckily us roadwarrior badasses knew an alternate route and jumped the 10 and made it out there lickety-split. Thank god, because the only thing worse than going to the IE is sitting in traffic going to the IE.
Games 1-3 were against Anomaly, Sunburn, and some other team I can't remember. We were firing on all cylinders and rolled through the games 13-4 or 5ish. Nothing especially spectacular to report.
Game 4 was against Monster, and we finally got the SoCal Showdown I had been looking forward to all year. Playing against a former team is always emotionally intense, especially when you're still good friends with the majority of the team. They came out fired up and ready to play, and we did too. A decent crowd had gathered and created an exciting atmosphere. Unfortunately for Monster it was business as usual for the Condors as our Zone D was looking SICK and played some of the best team defense I'd seen all year. They jammed up the Monster O, forced quick turns with great field position and scored even quicker. We took half at 8-5 and rolled from there. I somehow managed to match up on Ben Spears the majority of the game on both sides of the ball, and we ran each other silly. He was unquestionably the best player on their roster this year and it was so much fun battling with him. We each got each other good a couple of times, I caught a nice score on a great huck from Geoff Buhl, and he got a good D on me on a huck that fell short. I thought it was mine all the way till his hand knocked it out of the way...so it goes. We rolled through the second half with fierce efficiency all the way until the final point, which also happened to be the longest point of the game. 4 turns on each side (one of them mine) till I caught a caught a filthy IO forehand break from Rory and hit Robbie G in stride with the only IO huck I've thrown this season for the score and the win. 13-4, no 2nd half points for Monster. Mission: accomplished. Message: delivered.
Sunday:
Semi's: Yet another game against SDU. This one was much more clean and much more fun. We jumped out to a 4-0 lead with more aggressive Zone D and transition work, kept our marks sharp and capitalized on turns. Ran away with it 15-6.
Finals: 'Dors vs. Bravo. The excitement in the air was palpable. So thick you could cut it with a knife. We played at 11am and it was mothaf'ing HOT. The crowd had grown and everybody came to see some entertainment. I can't even describe how exciting it was to be a part of that game, it was one of the most intense and emotional games I've ever been in. It was exactly as I thought it would be: a battle of athleticism. We threw a grip of zone transition at them and tried to slow their offense down as best as possible. They went mostly man on us. The 1st half was pretty standard, we each got a couple breaks, and mostly traded to half, which Bravo took 8-6. Don't remember much specifics, but we did open our deep game up and had some nice huck scores on them. Lorenz the Swiss Air Force was droppin' bombs! Bravo did their usual bravoness and made some athletic plays. Second half was equally as tight and we took it down to the wire, getting to Universe Point, but unable to get the score and the win. Beau was unfortunately the hero of the day with the most athletic rundown of a huck I've ever seen on a full-field backhand from Dugan, and also scored the game-winner with yet-another iso play to him to take it 17-16. I don't remember much else of the specifics, but there's a video that should be floating around soon enough. One thing I did notice was the concept of "Big Game" players though. Some players have the ability to raise their level of play according to the impact of the game and we sure had some guys that proved their Big Game ability this weekend. Seeing guys play their absolute best when it matters most was truly inspiring. That's really what this is all about, competition and athleticisim at it's highest, and players rising up to meet that level and exceed it. You can't write drama like how sports have the ability to play themselves out (just ask Box & Rare). We had some guys step up huge, but these 3 come to mind first: Alex "A-bomb" Roedel played the best game I've ever seen him play. Dude had 5 D blocks on Bravo, including the filthiest game-saving layout D on Universe Point on an up-the-line throw to rabbit for the score. He was everywhere on the field and played a truly complete game. Jimmy Chu was another Big Gamer with super solid D on some of Bravo's best, and had the sickest layout score when we really needed it. He loves those trailing-edge grabs. Always a crowd pleaser. Tim Paymaster showed his old team how much they miss him with some of the best D on Beau I've ever seen and had some great grabs and hucks.
After the finals we saw ourselves emotionally and physically spent. But we also saw what kind of team we are, and what we are capable of. I'd say we learned a LOT about ourselves from that game and from this weekend. I think we also really became a team for the first time this weekend, and that's a great thing. We played the best team defense we've played all season and the emotional and mental connections with the guys have never been better.
Backdoor Finals saw us with SDU again. 4 times in 7 days. We made a decision to not let our finals heartbreaker affect our backdoor game, as John Wooden says "the best athletes have no short-term memory" and we had to learn to move on to the next game real quick. Same story as the morning, we jumped out to a lead and kept it to grab the #2 seed. I will say that that wormser guy on SD is a hell of a runner and never quit the entire game. Real respects real.
So we accomplished 1 of 2 goals for the weekend. We made it back to The Show, but didn't beat Bravo. But what I didn't expect was what we learned from it and how close it brought us together as a team. And it reminded me (again) how much I love team sports.
Now, there's still tons of work to be done. Florida is going to be a dogfight...and the Condors are comin' to rumble.
My focus for today's session was on explosiveness.
MP: same story, but I included 2-inch runs and added more jump-roping in between the quick drops.
Functional Lifts Supersets:
Overhead squats w/weight 3 sets @ 1o reps immediately followed by plyo-pushups TF
Overhead backwards lunges w/weight 3 sets @ 10 reps immediately followed by pullups TF
Deadlifts 3 sets @ 8 reps immediately followed by box jumps 12 reps
Cable explosions: starting with the cable down low at my right side I face outward holding the handle in my arm in a karate punch-ready position. I perform a squat and explode up switching my feet in the air so that I land facing my left with my feet still underneath me now pointed to the left while throwing a punch across my body. Resume regular athletic stance facing forward and repeat. 3 sets @ 10 reps each arm.
1 arm-snatches 3 sets @ 10 reps
Lateral box-jumps 3 sets TF http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxLateralJump.html
Finished with some abs and a bit more jump-roping.
#40
Thursday, September 27, 2007
STS 10-26-07 & Sectionals/Regionals
-Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.
-Winning is a by-product. Focus on the product: EFFORT.
-The teams that compete at the highest level love the thrill of the contest, They may have winning in their heads, but they have a love for the struggle in their hearts.
-Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker." -John Wooden
Some great quotes from one of the greatest coaches ever. I had the chance to meet John Wooden and hear him speak at a charity event when I was in High School, and I even got to shake his hand and tell him how great it was to meet him. It wasn't I got a little older that I realized how lucky I was to be able to meet and listen to such an impactful coach. Easily one of the top 5 most influental coaches ever.
Put Rocky in there because pump-up montages are meant for the days before tourneys. Man Law. Special note: The original script was written by Stallone in 3 days and had Rocky throwing the fight at the end. Kinda adds a whole new perspective on the movie had they kept that in.
Sectionals was last weekend and unfortunately didn't bring the matchup I was so fired up for, as Monster forgot to close out their semi's game and lost to SD United. I was curious to see how the PBR split would work out for San Diego, but they surpised Monster by showing up strong and putting it to them 15-11. My initial thoughts were that SD would be weaker than last year as I depth would be an issue, but SD United is most definitely better than last year's PBR squad. They still play the split offense with two downfield receivers on each sideline and the middle of the field open, and depend on big breaks from their handlers to their always-active cutters. Finals was an ugly, scrappy game with the old condor/pbr/tide/squid bad blood spilling over onto the field. The first half was simply terrible, too many stupid turns to write about, but we managed to cleaned it up a bit in the second half. Our offense was clicking and moving the ball fast, and our D had some great marks, held up their offensive flow and kept their main guys in check. Bad calls and bad vibes were unfortunately the order of the day, and it left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but so it goes. SD does play hard the entire game and have some athletic dudes who made some athletic plays, so I respect them for that, even if neither side showed each other much respect during the game. I guess I just much rather like playing tough, physical, athletic ultimate with my opponent and then be able to look each other in the eye and acknowledge our mutual heart & hustle vs. having them talk shit after we shake hands. Luckily my football background is one of nothing but shit-talk and showboating, so it's an environment I'm used to and quite comfortable in. There's more shit-talking and mental games in one of my flag-football league games than in an entire Ultimate tournament. For a game that requires so much communication between opponents (contested calls...etc) it's a cakewalk in the shit-talk department. Thank god. But I will give SD mad props for beating Monster early and supplying me with an endless amount of jokes for all my LA buddies. :)
Workout:
Movement Prep: Same bat time, same bat channel. Added the usual quick-drops also.
Functional Lifts:
I sprained my right pinky this weekend, nothing serious, but it's swelled up something fierce which means I can't hold a bar in my hand so it meant I had to alter things up a bit. No hang cleans makes me a sad panda.
Front squats 4 sets @ 8 reps
1 leg step-ups 3 sets @ 8 reps each leg
Backwards lunges with bar overhead 3 sets @ 8 reps. Gnarly mofos.
Cable twists while in squat position 3 sets @ 8 reps each side
Box Jumps 3 sets @ 12 reps
Core Circuit:
Couldn't hold anything so that meant no pullups, dips, or medicine ball work
GHD's
Sit-ups
Side twists
Plyo push-ups
Windshield wipers while holding 135lbs with locked arms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcNGCG2L0OA Those KILLED me. Did mine on a bench instead of on the floor.
Repeated circuit 3x's with no rest.
Regionals this weekend in San Bernadino. Time to do what I've been in the weight room and on the grass 10 months for...get back to Nationals. Playing Monster last game of pool play on Saturday, and if things go as planned, Bravo on Sunday. Time to go to WORK.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
STS 9-19-07 & The Sectionals Beatdown
Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." -Mike Singletary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2ElkOuNF0
Posted that again because it's just so awesome to watch. Imagine training so that each time is different than the last time and each session pushes a new threshold of fatigue. Now stop imagining it and make it a reality. Seriously.
With Sectionals under way it's crunch time for everyone. While this is the point to fine tune the high-level concepts of your game, don't fool yourself into thinking that where you're at physically now can't be improved in time for The Show. We are a month & change away from Nationals and if you've been working hard consistently then there is still time to make significant strength, speed, and recovery gains. Time for another check-in to make sure you're doing what it takes to get you where you want.
Yesterday's workout:
Movement Prep: same ol' story. Added 2 sets of overhead squats with the bar and 3 sets of quick-drops. Btw...if you're still not jump-roping as either part of your MP or workout then you should feel real guilty right now. Have I taught you nothing!?!? You're killing me smalls.
Functional Lifts:
5 sets of Hang-cleans. Last two sets were hang-clean to push press. Just cuz.
3 sets of Jump-shrugs- did 6 jump-shrugs then finished with 4 regular deadlifts. Coretastic!
3 sets of Front-squats @ 8 reps
2 sets of 1 leg step-ups @ 8 reps...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXngKlZhqiQ
Interval Training:
For this I did a set of 10 push-presses at 135lbs then immediately did 12 box jumps, rest 30 seconds and repeat for 3 sets.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/PushPress.html
This superset was awesome because of the progression/regression involved. The push press is hip-initiated and requires the body to enter a 1/4 squat to begin movement and generate power. And the box jump obviously uses the entire legs & core to generate the vertical leap. So you'd go from small (but equally powerful) squat to 3/4 squat for box jump back to 1/4 squat movement. Filthy. And really, really effective.
Finished with core & upper-body circuit that consisted of:
Pull-ups TF to hanging leg-raises TF
GHD's sets of 20
Plyometric push-ups- both feet & hands off the ground TF, then hands-only TF
Medicine ball twists
Sit-ups w/weight
Went through circuit 3 times w/no rest. Finished in 1 hour and 5 minutes and did more work in 1 hour than all the meatheads at my gym could do in 3 hours. Suckers. But their curls and bench press did look sick. Seriously. Sick.
SW Sectionals this weekend. That means a beatdowns a' coming. Condors are Back in Black and will be putting some people on notice that they might have made the wrong decision a couple months ago. Frosty-frost has been waiting for a specific game against a specific team and is so fired up for it that he's now speaking in the third person.
Showtime.
#40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2ElkOuNF0
Posted that again because it's just so awesome to watch. Imagine training so that each time is different than the last time and each session pushes a new threshold of fatigue. Now stop imagining it and make it a reality. Seriously.
With Sectionals under way it's crunch time for everyone. While this is the point to fine tune the high-level concepts of your game, don't fool yourself into thinking that where you're at physically now can't be improved in time for The Show. We are a month & change away from Nationals and if you've been working hard consistently then there is still time to make significant strength, speed, and recovery gains. Time for another check-in to make sure you're doing what it takes to get you where you want.
Yesterday's workout:
Movement Prep: same ol' story. Added 2 sets of overhead squats with the bar and 3 sets of quick-drops. Btw...if you're still not jump-roping as either part of your MP or workout then you should feel real guilty right now. Have I taught you nothing!?!? You're killing me smalls.
Functional Lifts:
5 sets of Hang-cleans. Last two sets were hang-clean to push press. Just cuz.
3 sets of Jump-shrugs- did 6 jump-shrugs then finished with 4 regular deadlifts. Coretastic!
3 sets of Front-squats @ 8 reps
2 sets of 1 leg step-ups @ 8 reps...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXngKlZhqiQ
Interval Training:
For this I did a set of 10 push-presses at 135lbs then immediately did 12 box jumps, rest 30 seconds and repeat for 3 sets.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/PushPress.html
This superset was awesome because of the progression/regression involved. The push press is hip-initiated and requires the body to enter a 1/4 squat to begin movement and generate power. And the box jump obviously uses the entire legs & core to generate the vertical leap. So you'd go from small (but equally powerful) squat to 3/4 squat for box jump back to 1/4 squat movement. Filthy. And really, really effective.
Finished with core & upper-body circuit that consisted of:
Pull-ups TF to hanging leg-raises TF
GHD's sets of 20
Plyometric push-ups- both feet & hands off the ground TF, then hands-only TF
Medicine ball twists
Sit-ups w/weight
Went through circuit 3 times w/no rest. Finished in 1 hour and 5 minutes and did more work in 1 hour than all the meatheads at my gym could do in 3 hours. Suckers. But their curls and bench press did look sick. Seriously. Sick.
SW Sectionals this weekend. That means a beatdowns a' coming. Condors are Back in Black and will be putting some people on notice that they might have made the wrong decision a couple months ago. Frosty-frost has been waiting for a specific game against a specific team and is so fired up for it that he's now speaking in the third person.
Showtime.
#40
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