Crossfit Norwest, Raw strength and conditioning and Barefoot Evolution Discussion Forum

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Wednesday 21st July 2010
Recovery Day. Really good stretch of Hamstrings, Glutes, Hip Flexors, quads as well as Rolling on med ball for upper spine, low back, hamstrings, quads, itb, and on rubber ball for calves and feet. Also gave quads and groin a bit of work with PVC. As well as this i did 3x 10 glute leg lifts each leg, 3x10 lateral glute leg lifts (fire hydrants) 2x10 single leg glute bridges. Overall session took at least an hour.

Thursday 22nd July 2010
Early Extras session. Agility work. Felt pretty good. Agility drill was a good one which rewarded fast feet and keeping low out of turns. Got the legs burning and even sapped a bit of juice as well. Did 3 sets in each direction for a total of 6 agility runs. As much rest as needed. Fastest efforts for each direction were 16.08 and 16.18. Avg was about 16.20-16.50.
Main Session
Speed Work
4x40m sprints 90% focus on technique
6x60m sprints jog back recoveries
5x80m sprints jog back recoveries

40's Felt good technique was great and very powerful out of the starts. 60's felt really strong for the first 3 efforts but then technique started to drop a bit as fatigue took over. I remained quick off the mark but my top speed felt a bit heavy as the efforts got longer. I found over the first 30-40m i was well in front but others went past me a bit the longer the runs got. I felt this a bit a a week or to ago where i performed much more strongly at the runs that were shorter or required turns than i did at the longer straighter stuff such as the 400m etc. i am also closer to the field though still at the pointy end with the flying start 30m efforst from fitness tests. This tells me that my top speed is perhaps not as fast as it could be and this is probably a maintenance of technique. Form drops away and feet get heavier, core becomes loose and stride rate slows right down. this can be something that i might address in the offseason with more 200m+ max efforts with big recoveries to begin with but working towards better technique under fatigue.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Friday 23rd July 2010
Toyota Cup Touchline @ ANZ Stadium. Parramatta vs Bulldogs. Game felt good though there were not a lot of decisions for me to make at all. 52 of the 58 points in the game were scored on the opposite side of the field.

Saturday 24th July 2010
Legs felt very heavy after last night. Did a 60min yoga session which really helped loosen up muscles and relax for the day.

Sunday 25th July 2010
NSW Cup Touchline @ Shellharbour. Dragons vs Newtown. Game was slowish in first half but lifted in second half. Very close and crucial call on corner post in the dying minutes which impacts the result. Very confident that it will come up good on the video.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Monday 26th July 2010
Weight Session. Decided to repeat session form last week as there was a bit fo soreness particularly in the chest.

Deadlift 5-5-6 @ 100-115-130kg (managed one extra rep this week in final set)
Bench 5-5-14@55-60-67.5
3x7 Strict pullups
3x15 back extensions
3x8 K2E (low numbers to build unbroken sets)

Not as muchs soreness after this session this week. It is really difficult to do second weights session when i am running two games each weekend as it messes with recovery a bit but am really going to try and chuck it in so i can move forward with my planned strength work.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Tuesday 27th July 2010
Referess session in gym at ANZ. 30mins of boxing which taxed shoulders and chest good and proper after yesterdays session. 30mins on the rower which was as follows:
6x1min efforts >308m
6x30sec efforts >160m
2min effort- 585m

All 1:1 recoveries which meant there was only 30sec recovery between last 30sec sprint and the 2min effort. Even so i think the combination of the dead lifts and pull ups from Monday combined with doing the 30mins of boxing first just meant i did it tough in the rower. I usually pull the first couple of efforts on the rower no sweat but i really had to work hard to make the targets in this session.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Wednesday 28th July 2010
Recovery Day. Yoga Session and roll on ball to loosen up. Bit of soreness in chest and shoulders from last two nights. Seem to have a bit of asymmetry in flexibility. My left side feels tighter from the shoulders right down to the calves and I can't tell where exactly the tightness is stemming from though i suspect it will be in the hip area. In any case i need to work on mobility for the left side.

Thursday 29th July 2010
Indoor refs session. Light night for me becuase i am running a touch line on Friday. Session included sprints, bodyweight circuit and some MAS grids. Sprint focus was on explosive starts. bodyweight circuit was a good opportunity to do some light resistance work.

Friday 30th July 2010
Toyota Cup Touchline. Penrith vs Nth Qld 2 CUA. Legs were actually pretty heavy but once again with a good rub and a warm up before the game i was good to go. Felt sharp throughout the game and despite rain really enjoyed the run.

[Tom]

Monday 26th July 2010
Weight Session. Decided to repeat session form last week as there was a bit fo soreness particularly in the chest.

Deadlift 5-5-6 @ 100-115-130kg (managed one extra rep this week in final set)
Bench 5-5-14@55-60-67.5
3x7 Strict pullups
3x15 back extensions
3x8 K2E (low numbers to build unbroken sets)

Not as muchs soreness after this session this week. It is really difficult to do second weights session when i am running two games each weekend as it messes with recovery a bit but am really going to try and chuck it in so i can move forward with my planned strength work.

I seem to have missed the program change, having a go at 5/3/1?

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Yeh i am a bit annoyed to change from one program to another. I am having a crack at 5/3/1. It being once a week progression for each lift and lower overall volume it is an easier fit with all my refs training. I got sick and a bit run down trying to do too much. Realistically i am not expecting to gain a whole lot of strength at the moment but i am hoping to remain strong until the running volume gets dialled back a bit and i can start lifting some serious weight. (serious for me anyway)

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Saturday July 31st 2010
Bundaberg Cup touchline @ Terry Lamb Reserve. 80mins. Legs very heavy from U 20's line on Friday night.

Sunday 1st August 2010
Total Rest Day. Felt flat as hell in the morning but better by evening.

Monday 2nd August 2010
Spent a massive day at the NSW All Schools Rugby League Championships today wearing my coaches hat and not refereeing. My schools U10's and U12's teams played against schools from all over the state and finished 4th and 6th respectively. Day started by arriveing at school at about 7:30 and finished dropping kids off at 4pm with games of footy spread in between. Left straight from school footy to go to video session at ANZ. I always hit gym beforehand but had almost talked myself out of it. Knuckled down got in there and actually had a really strong session. As follows
Weights Session
Deadlift 3-3-3 @ 107.5- 122.5-137.5 ( Couldn't squeeze any extras in final set. weight is possibly too high but really cautious about squeezing extra deads out under fatigue and so close to 1RM)
Bench 3-3-11@ 57.5-65-72.5
Pullups 3x8 Strict
Back Extension 3x20
K2E 3x10 ( Last set broken into 7/3)
Felt stronger all over. So glad i actually did this session as it was good quality work and a bit of a confidence booster as well.

[Tom]

You probably shouldn't be slowing up this quickly with the added reps Lawrence, so I'd concur that the weight is probably a bit too high at the moment.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

You probably shouldn't be slowing up this quickly with the added reps Lawrence, so I'd concur that the weight is probably a bit too high at the moment.

Yeh this is what i thought especially when comparing the Bench sets to the Dead sets. When i was working out the weights orignally i bumped them up a bit on the dead because i thought it was doable. Bit of over reaching on my part. In any case for this month these are the two lifts I'm focusing on. Next month i will do squat and press. This mean I basically won't be progressing much but i am hoping to maintain some strength so i have a platform to build on for the off season.