September 18th

Did Monday's workout from start to finish. Wasn't that hard in the end, though I was taking it a bit slower than I probably could (and should) have. I pulled 1:32.4 on the ergo again, although this time it seemed to be a lazier effort. My stroke rate hovered about 32 for the first 400m (I was taking it pretty lazily to be honest) and then I realised in the last 100 that I could actually push for a PB, and ended up with a stroke rate of about 38. Yesterdays workout was rather lackluster, but the squatting was good, and I held the first stage of the planche progression for about 63 seconds, which means I move up to the next one.

September 15th

Muscle ups x 5
Lunge walk ~ 80 m (3 second hold/lunge)
Sprint back
Muscle ups x 4
Man-makers @ 24kgs x 7
Row sprint 500m
Muscle ups x 3
Back quad up stairs
Quad down ramp
Muscle ups x 2
Floor wipers x 50
Headstand (30 secs)
Muscle up x 1

Time: N/A, but DNF

I'd taken last week off as a bit of R&R, so it was good to be back. The workout is a bit of a carbon copy of the last one, with a 5-to-1 muscle ups thrown in. Pity I didn't finish, I piked after the Muscle ups x 3. Probably a combination of bad food over the weekend, and too much food today had me feeling very ill. Good news was I pulled 1:32.4 on the 500m sprint! Very fucking stoked, considering I was hardly fresh (those man-makers were a bitch).

I'm going to have another go at the full one on Thursday. I'm quite a fan of this style of workout, though I think the timed ones force myself to go harder, so I think I might revert to those. (I don't time ones where going slower MAY be beneficial, such as in the lunge walking. I suppose you could do something like for every second extra you hold a lunge, you lose a second on the total time... but if I can concentrate that much during one of these workouts then there is probably something wrong.)

September 4th

Man-makers @ 20kgs x 6*
Row 500m (Sprint)
Lunge walk ~100 paces
Sprint ~100 paces
Backwards quadrupedal up 2 flights stairs
Forwards quadrupedal down the disabled ramps
Backwards quadrupedal up 2 flights stairs
Forwards quadrupedal down the disabled ramps

Repeat for 2 rounds.

This one I mucked around with a little at the time. Final version is posted here - as I did for the second round. First round I did 50x DB Squat thrusts @ 35lbs each hand instead of the man-makers, but felt this was too shoulder-intensive and not so leg intensive to pair with the ergo. I switched this for man-makers in the second round, and experimented with varying weights. I settled on strength-heavy sets of 6 reps @ 20kgs each hand, which is kinda the opposite of the lunge and quad groups - and *in retrospect I feel that sets of 20 (no break), with a light weight with the man-makers would have been the best option.

The entire workout was an experiment with pairing long endurance/strength sets with sprints (as in the traditional lunge-walk/sprint group I used), and it fucked me right up. Whether this was because I was bugged from yesterdays gym & swim, or because it was hard for me I'm not too sure, but I broke a few times.

I think I'm getting stronger.

I don't go as long as I feel I could, and ofttimes I find energy reserves that by all rights should have been used long before, but I'm also finding that I am getting a little further each time before this happens. And it feels good.

September 1st

Today was Gym Jones style, but with a Rest Position (tm). What this means is that whenever youI would normally rest, instead you go into a position where you balance on your arse, legs semi-tucked out in front and arms anywhere except wrapped around your legs. Keeps some light tension in your abs and makes it hard to breathe. Lovely. The workout itself was quite quick (finished in 12:58), but quite short compared to some of the others. I was chasing the ab-burn I had yesterday, and made it briefly. Didn't exactly feel like my abs were separating from my peritoneum, but thats probably also a good thing. Might be something for you to try if you have a spare 15 minutes at the bus-stop... and happen to be carrying an olympic bar and plates.

50 x Pushups. The rest position here is a plank.
50 x V-sits. Rest position is Rest Position (tm).
50 x Ankle touches. Rest position is Rest Position (tm).
50 x Deadlifts @ BW. Rest position is Rest Position (tm).

NB:
- V-sits extend all the way down into a backwards superman.
- Ankle touches: Sit up slightly, legs @ 90 degrees and laterally deviate to touch each ankle.
- I couldn't think of a better rest position for deadlifts which wouldn't put much strain on the ligaments of the elbow (esp.) and the rotator cuff, which is why its a little odd.
- It was pretty hard to even hold a rest position in the middle two sets. I broke a few times and grabbed my legs.