4_15 lunch and PM session_Squat/DL ME night

Lunch session
35 min of Z Health.
Felt great this AM and alignment was really good.
Skipped the bike this AM
Woke up 6 minutes before alarm--weird dreams; slept 8.5 hours
Z--lunge work, lots of visual tracking in different head/foot positions
Z rehab drills 3-5 times a day

20 minutes training--low RPE, low threat, short rest
DB Neutral Bench
45 X 15, 50 X 14, 50 X 12

DB Rows (FAST concentric)
50 X 15, 50 X 12

DB standing hammer curls
35 X 10/10, 35 X 8/8

BW Squats
BX X 20, X 18, X 16

Overhead tri ext
8? X 10/10

PM Session later

4_14 KB Snatch work

New program
Took some time off and did lots of Z--feel good now and excited to train again!

May have to adjust volume depending on how I feel, but wanted some work with the heavier KBs again. It will be great to take Sparky (88 lb KB) outside soon!
KB Snatches

All about 1 min rest between sets (not exactly).

4EEs followed
Some reps were held at lock out to work on relaxation at the top and leveraging my bone structure (alignment).

All done from an athletic ready stance (thanks Frankie for the tip) so a slightly wider than shoulder width stance, feet straight ahead. Left foot had a tendency to creep out at time. Socks only as always

Overall felt good and 32 kg felt like I had good hip snap, wrist felt stable at lock out

PM session
Music: Testament--Souls of Black
Temp 43 F

Round 1
24 kg X 7/7
28 X 8/8
32 X 5/5

Round 2
24 X 9/9
28 X 5/5
32 X 5/5

Round 3
24 X 9/9
28 X 5/5
32 X 4/4

Total time 23:13 but includes some warm up time (will be more accuate on time next)

New Program Template for April-early May

New program
Template for about 4 weeks
Week 1 volume--high
Week 2 volune--medium
Week 3 volume--very high
Week 4 volume--low

Template only!!
Assumes all exercise test well, if not they are not performed
PERFECT form
Z NWU type done before every session.
Where Z is mentioned--more intensive Z
Z Rehab work done 3Xs per day every day

Loose WSB method (conjugated method)

Overall goals
increase bench with full pause to 220 lbs within 8 weeks
Increase squat from current pathetic numbers
Maintain current CRF conditioning
Get BF% below 15% (currently at 15.5% via 7 site skin cal by primarily decreasing abdominal and suprailliac numbers)
Increase movement quality
More SAID work in kiteboarding position, work athletic ready stance on KB work (very similar to kiteboard stance also)

Sun--OFF, Z work only

Mon--CRF day
KB Snatches 28 Kg
Set of 5-10 reps and rest enough to "catch breath" and repeat
Low is about 2-4 sets
Very high is 10 sets

Optional swings if feeling good

Tues--- Squat/DL ME day PM and lunch sess--hypertrophy/Z.myofascial
Lunch sessions are all very short, low RPE and low threat, faster paced, higher rep work
20-40 min Z
Pick from a few exercises like
DB bench
DB rows
BW squats
DB bicep curls (myof positions)
Overhead tri ext
DB neutral floor or bench presses
Chest supported row

PM sess in garage Squat/DL ME
Alternate Squat and DL done first each week
Squat (first phase to a high bench)
Work up to a few triples
Linear progression, add volume each week

DL
Standard set up
Alt hand up grip
Work up to clusters of 1-3 reps
Low volume=2-4 sets
Very high volume=10+ sets at working weight
Try to hit 1-5 singles at 90%+ each week if feeling good

Acc work
Support pistols
Work on weaker L leg

Wed--CRF/Sprint work
Sprint work at the track
Lots of Z inbetween
Start with only a few and note adductor soreness

Thurs--lunch and PM session
Lunch--Z/Myofascial/Hypertrophy
PM---Bench-ME and acc

Lunch
Same as Tues, but work on lower body
BW squats
Lunges
Supported pistols
Bicep work

PM session--ME bench work and acc
Flat bench
Work up to heavy double, triples
2 board press with pause, pinky at line grip for 2-5 reps
Floor presses
KB TGUs or KB presses
Low volume--1-3 sets
Very high volume--8+ sets at working weight

Friday--PM session, very short duration
EDT trap bar DLs and bicep curls
15 min timed
Try to increase reps each time, then add weight once up to 45 reps each in 15 min

Sat--squat (optional) and bench DE
Add bands to both, lighter bar weight
"strong man" drills for acc
Car pushes, sandbag, sledge on tire, tire flips, etc
(depends on weather)
Ring BW rows, pull ups (once I get a pull up bar)
Z later in the day

Repeat
All can be adjusted depending on performance

Bike riding in the AM first thing for 10-15 min for 5 days out of the week while reading (indoor trainer)

4_9 EDT Trap bar DL and bicep curls

Was surprise that I had no soreness, no movement issues at all from bench.

Music: Strapping Young Lad

Z Health NWU 2, rehab work, eye tracking and Brock string (brock string was in the AM)

EDT set--alt back and forth, set timer for strict 15 minutes for all work (excludes warm ups)
Trap Bar DLs
warm up 135 X 5, 225 X 5

275 X 5,5,5,5,5,5,3,2, = 40 reps (last time was 30 reps on 3/21)
alt with

Standing bicep curls (just outside shoulder width grip)
warm up 45 X 7, 65 X 5
85 X 5,5,5,4,4,3,2,1 = 36 (last time was 26 reps on 3/21)

Felt pretty good. Weights felt "heavier" at start, but went well.

Glutes and hams were still sore 3 days later--ugh. Mid back and upper traps a bit sore next 1-2 days.

Left knee later that night felt not so good--slight pain on the lower left side of the patellar tendon. Low back (esp left QL) was tighter then too--Hmmm. Did some Z work and then heard a loud crack/pop in my low back and the pain went away almost completely. Would flair up at times over the next 1-2 days and did some Z work to open up my low back and each time the knee pain would go away.


Also got my trainer for my bike and running this past weekend (finally). I realized that since most of my day is spent seated or not moving around much (heck even walking long distances) I need more just general exercise. So I can ride my bike inside in the AM. I literally have it set up so that I fall out of bed, crawl over to the extra bedroom with the bike, hop on and do 10 minutes and read some articles and be done. Yeah, 10 minutes isn't much but it is WAY more than what I have been doing (uh, that was nothing). 5 times a week comes out to 50 min of exercise and 50 minutes of reading too!

4_08 Bench test night

I am working on some baseline number and since I have DL, Snatch and Pullups from the TSC, time to test bench too

Garage temp 50 F
Music: Pantera--live

Flat bench
45/95/135 lb warm up
155 X2
175 X 1
those were all touch and go
190 X 1 (1/2 sec pause, audible commands)
205 X 1 with pause, audible commands on all now, partner can NOT touch the bar
215 X 1 MADE IT--very SLOOOOOW near the top--last 1/3

185 X 3 from a 2 board, pinkys at ring

Ring rows BW X 3 sets--about 10-14 reps each time

Overall I was pretty happy with my bench since I had not benched in almost 2 weeks. I was up 5 lbs from the last test about 2 months ago and my sticking point was on my chest at about 2 boards up and now it is up near lock out---so pauses at comp. grip from a 2 board must have helped (so the theory goes). Time for more narrow board work, floor presses and some band work.

4_6_7 OFF

Did not feel like training. Do not want to look at a 24kg KB for awhile. Low back tight and glutes/hams a little sore. Hands are perfect though, so that is good. Movement is pretty good but low back is much stiffer than normal. Random Z Health work, tons of proteolytic enzymes, Z rehab drills.

4_5 TSC!!

See my Mike T Nelson Ramblings blog for the TSC report
http://miketnelson.blogspot.com/2008/04/model-integrity-and-tactical-strength.html

4_4 OFF--Z Health

Completely off, out to dinner with family and girlfriend. Tasty, but fried food did not agree with my stomach much at all. Took a hot epsom salt bath and went to bed early, slept 10 hours. TSC tomorrow.

4_3_lunch Z work and DL

Did not feel like lifting at lunch at work. Did only some random BW drills and lots of Z. Overall I felt AWESOME. Had not felt that good in a long time. I did not want to lift and risk "messing it up" and was doing DLs at night

PM session
Garage Temp 55 F
Music--Earth Crisis "Breed the Killers"

DL
all with left hand up, pauses and reset form each time
135 X 1,1,1 (2,1)
185 X 1,1,1 (3,1)
225 X 1 (3,1)
275 X 1 (3,1 ) EASY! felt faster and easier than even a few days ago. If I did not have the TSC coming up I would have probably done a max test on this day

Push ups
BW X 11, X 12, X 13 (3/2, 0)--felt super easy and stayed light

Was feeling good and decided to do some KB Snatch work
3 minutes did 68 reps HR max =169
1.5 min rest
13 more snatches and HR max = 159
CRF (cardio resp fitness) felt like it was sucking.
It seems that CRF is highly linked to the amount of sleep the night before??? Anyone else noticed this? This does not seem to the case with strength
Called it a night so I did not do many snatch reps in bad form. Time to rest up now before the TSC, the work is done.

4_1 and 4_2 --Z Health and rest

Was feeling completely spent--see weirdo soft tissue work post on why
Did not feel like training at all, even though I had the TSC coming up. Decided to deload and rest; so this is typical at this point. I normally would never do any soft tissue/visual work this close to an event but since Dr. Cobb was in town and I prioritized movement quality over shear numbers, it is all good.

Slept 10 hours one night and 9.5 hours the next night

Random Z work 20 min and 30 min

3_31 KB Snatch and light DL

Z Rehab work, Brock String, Eye tracking
Z DL specific warm up

decided to play around with my HR monitor for a bit

KB Snatch
warm up 16 X 10/10, 24 X 10/10 max HR 134
24 X 10/10 HRmax 143 (3,1) (RPE, threat)
24 X 10/10 HRm 149 (4,1)
24 X 10/10 HR 147 (4,1)
24 X 6/6 Hrm ? (5,2)

DL
135 X 1,1,1,1 (cluster/pause for 10-15 sec and reset between each rep)
all done in competition grip with Left hand up
185 X 1,1,1 (2,0)
225 X 1,1,1 (3,1) HR 106
275 X 1,1 (4,2) HR 106

DL Supported holds at lock out at the top
315X 4 sec
365 X 4 sec
405 X 4 sec
425 X 4 sec

DL work was alternated with KB work at top

KB snatch timed
24 kg X 15/15 in 1:32 and stopped
form was crap and I all of sudden felt like complete dog poo. Was good up until then. Called it a night

3-28-30 Weirdo Soft Tissue Work with Dr. Cobb

Weirdo Soft Tissue Work with Dr. Cobb
Dr Cobb was here in town for the R Phase training, so I was able to get in for a private session. My last session this past Fall I left with lots of visual work to get my right eye back online. It helps a bit, but my eye would still not stay on. I played around with some self scar release work (Z level 4--T Phase) and it seemed to help.

I had Courtney Neupert do some soft tissue work on me at S Phase and that helped me get some new rotation in my head--awesome!! Note--I had a surgical repair of an ASD (atrial septal defect) when I was 4.5 years old (1978). The procedure involves taking a bone saw to my sternum, a cut into the right atrium and sewing up of the hole in my heart. I still have the "twist ties" in my chest from where they wired my strernum back together. I also had 2 chest tubes at the bottom of the incision also (incision is about 12 inches long). The great part is that the procedure was a success (or else I would not be here today) and I have not had any restrictions after it was all healed up.

So, I have a long time restriction (scar) right on the midlline of my chest and two scar "holes" at the top of my abdomen. Hmmm, this is probably an issue!

So, back to the private session, I had Dr. Cobb check my vision and do some scar work. The funny part is that I used to just show up at a private and explain my "issues" and he would work on them and come up with some highly effective drills. Now I show up and explain what I think is the issue/restriction and recomend what work he should do. This is not an insult to his skills at all, but after doing as much Z Health as I've done and living in my own body for 33 odd years, I SHOULD know what needs to be fixed since I am an expert wtih my own body!! I've found that the more feedback I can get from athletes that I work on, the faster I can get at a solution for their body at that time.

So after some cranial testing, a nerve test, he did some scar work. Note, the scar work is all very mild pressure and is NOT painful at all. We worked on some Brock string work too to get my right eye back online. So I left with one drill where it looks insane as I am doing a modified back arm circle, with my eyes up and to the right while holding a fold of tissue under my right pec and applying specific pressure--all done at the same time for about 10-20 seconds. Instantly when I walked I could feel my right heal strike much better and tension release in my right leg. After that I have never had that much internal rotation in my right hip EVER I believe.

Goes to show that EVERYTHING is CONNECTED in the body! I've done some soft tissue work on others too with similar results and I've felt knots/restrictions virtually melt beneath my hands. This is not to say how cool I am, but to show you that with the right stimulus, the body can do amazing things VERY fast.

I am also doing some visual work with the Brock String and tongue positions. It seems that if I place my tongue either the upper or lower right molar (1-2 from the back) helps my right eye comes online better. It is still not staying on as much as I would like, but it is slowly getting better (most days). My right hip is much better though!

Note--since I posted this I was pretty much knocked out for the next few days and super tired. My nutrition up to this past weekend was not the best, so nutrition for this week was good and back up to 90% and above on the Precision Nutrition plan. Added more proteolytic enzymes to help with tissue remodeling too.

I will also be keeping notes on sleep coming up too.

3_27 Visual Appnt, Z and bench night

Visual appointment today
I had PRK (lasik) procedure 2 years ago and I love it.
Visual acuity was 20/25 and the best ever when I had contacts was 20/40
However, after Z Health S Phase I learned I have some interesting eye issues!
In short, I am suppressing images from my right eye big time
Using both eyes allows you depth perception, so having mono vision is not ideal.
It works and I don't have any restrictions, but I am working to get my right eye back "online"

My eyes tend to move more up and down instead of in and out (in and out is a type of "phoria"--esophoria and exophoria which is much more common).

It turns out the doc I see (pun intended) does Visual Therapy! Score!

The bad part was that even with a prism with a correction of 10, my eyes were still off up and down.

The 3D maps and images---could not see them to save my life

So I have an appointment to come back for some Visual Therapy

Training at Lunch
Lots of Z and eye movements
DB curl (rt foot in front internally rotated)
30 X 8/8
30 X 10/10

BW squats
BW X 12
BW X 10

PM session--Bench
45 X 10/ 95 X 10/ 135 X5
155 X5
175 X 3
185 x 3
195 X 3
195 X 2 with 1 sec pause off 2 boards
205 X 2 with 1 sec pause off 2 boards
all others touch and go
grip at competition width

3_25 Light bench, myofascial and Z

Lunch session at work
Z NWU 1/2
Lots of eye tracking and near/far in seated and standing position
15 minutes standing Z--lunge positions, DL start position

10 min seated Z
lots of head tilted and rotated with eye tracking
lots of wrist and shoulder work

Lifting--low threat, low RPE work

DB flat bench
35 X20
45 X 17
60 X 13
65 X 7 left neck started to tense up, terminated the set (still felt good though)

triceps need more work??--feel it more there and pecs

DB rows
50 X 15/15
55 X 15/14

BW squat
X 15 shoes all way down
X 15 arms out in front

Rt lung, int rotation, DB curl
35 X 9/9
40 X 5/5
30 X 7/7

3/25 PM session
DL and KB Press

DL
135 X5
185 X 5
225 X 4
275 X 4
315 X 1,1 (5,4)
365 X 1 (6, 5) good speed
295 X 1 (4, 3)
295 x 1 (4,3) last two felt great, easy

KB Press (from a clean, strict with no lower body)
32 kg X 0 (KB got out away in front of me
32 kg X 0 (KB was not stable before I started the press)
was thinking about not trying again, but lifting partner encouraged me to try one more time with a slight pause after the celan
32 X 1--whooo ha. PR
slow about at the mid point, but kept my arm right under it and drove through
minimal facial tension and movement was still good aftwards.

L only KB Press
28 X 2
28 X 2
note need to use RIGHT glute more and not shift weight to left side

KB snatches
24 kg X 69 in 3 minutes

3_23_24_ OFF Z Health work only

Felt pretty tired so only did Z Health work, no lifting
Schedule got crazy too with stuff due

3_23 Survival Z only
3_24 Survival Z only

3_22 Deadlifts and eye work

Z Health---various positions
lots of eye tracking
brock string
saccade charts

Deadlift
135 X 5
225 X 5
275 X 5
315 X 1 (5,3)
365 X 1
saccades in DL position
365 X 0--missed, felt dizzy
walked around more
365 X 1 ---sloooooow (8, 5)

Alt-ed with KB press
16 kg X 13/13
16 kg X 11/11 (in rt lunge position)

KB Snatch
25 Kg X 25/25 time 2:12 (self time) felt like crap
hams and glutes--youch.

Overall did not feel very good. Movement stayed ok, but work capacity was horrible.

Note--saccades don't seem to be helping at all