Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Lift

Did something a little different in the weight room today.

9 pull-ups
stiff-leg deadlifts: 6 at 95, 6 at 135lb
romanian deadlifts: 2x6 at 135lb
single-rep deadlifts: 185lb, 205lb
2x6 hang cleans, 95lb
abs (misc. crunches, bicycle kicks, incline medball situps, etc)
db curls: 8 at 20, 8 at 25lb
bb preacher curls: 8 at 45lb
single arm upright db rows: 8 at 25lb
farmer's walks: 1 circuit at 45, 1 at 40lb

I was worried about dropping the weights if I tried to deadlift more. I tried to hang-clean 105lb, and could only do it twice before giving up. Aside from my weak form, my grip strength is awful--which is why I did the farmer's walks at the end of my workout. I sacraficed depth in exercises (no chin-ups, fewer sets of curls, etc) to get a broader workout. The db rows hurt my shoulder a little. Ab exercises are unfamiliar, so I'm easing into them (read: being a pussy and not doing much). I'd like a lifting coach to help me in my deadlift and hang-clean form. But, overall, it was a good lift.

Ultimate Christmas

Winter is upon us, and it makes me think of a couple different things. The first is that Rutgers is applying to College TiV this year, and I would love to attend that tournament.

For several years, now, my Christmas wishlist has included mostly Ultimate-related items. First on the list has always been the DVDs from UltiVillage. They do an excellent job at covering the major tournaments (including TiV!). I've seen some of the footage, and it really is the best that's out there right now, in terms of actual game coverage. This year, I also have to add UnderArmour to the list, because mine was stolen at Delaware SHOWdown. Finally, I'm in need of a good stopwatch and interval timer, just to make life easier. The reason I tend to ask for Ultimate-related gifts is that, honestly, I don't usually like to collect stuff. As a kid, I loved to see all the presents under the tree, loved opening packages for hours into late morning and early afternoon. Now, though, I feel a little more grinchy, a little more like my stepdad, who always says "I don't want anything, don't get me anything." I do want things, but less of them I guess. Time with the family and a few nice, meaningful presents is enough.

But I would still take a new car, were anybody to get me one!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Assessment

If there were any uncertainty before about whether or not lifting has brought results, note that on December 8th, 2006 I listed these quantifiable goals:

2mi in 14:00
200m in 0:26
100m in 0:12
Bench-press 135lbs

On both July 7th and August 17th, 2007 I ran a sub-14:00 2mi. Yesterday, I ran a 0:11.45 100m and a 0:24.46 200m. Those times may be slightly off, because I was timing myself and using an iPod. However, I think they are pretty close. Today, I benched 140 (but 145 was too much). It feels good to achieve goals, and it will be exciting to set new ones.

Lifting, this Season

Somebody asked why I did so few reps in my workouts. This season, I've tried to work my way through (relatively) high rep, low weight workouts progressively to low rep, high weight. The general idea is that you build an endurance base, then try to put on more raw strength. Muscles can't sustain maximum output for long periods of time (think, the difference between a 5k, a 200m sprint, and a 40yd dash). By training maximal output, your body gets used to being explosive, or at least that's the hope. I'm no sports scientist, but I've had better results this season than I have before.

Senior year of high school, I trained 4 days a week doing mostly the same things, except I did no lower-body lifting other than occasional leg-presses and calf-presses. My leg work was purely derived from sprint and fencing workouts (lunges, wall sits, pistols squats, etc). Either I overtrained or underate or both, but I never got stronger. My max bench press was around 115lb (I hope to hit 130 in my next attempt). I always did at least 8 reps, usually no more than 16. I felt sort of weak, because even in my best workouts I never put up much weight--I just didn't know how. Now, I've mined the internet and found some very useful websites, the best being ExRx.

This is what I found:
Periodization
Foundational Split
Muscle recruitment

Also, here's some more info on periodization. They explain how it isn't beneficial for people who don't have competition dates and a specific timeline for their goals (i.e. non-athletes). The nice thing is, I am an athlete. I intend to peak at Sectionals. So I sort of figure that periodization could work for me. This is what I came up with:

Transition: 1 week, 1-2 sets of 10-12 reps
Endurance: 3 weeks, 1-3 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy: 4 weeks, 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps
Strength: 3 weeks, 5-8 sets of 3-5 reps
Power: 2 weeks, 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps

I'm taking a break in between strength and power, and I upped the number of reps for some of my strength workouts. I'll probably ease into power, then try some interval work. I've taken it fairly easy this fall, in terms of volume--I'll need to do more back and shoulder work, plus abs. But that was the plan for this season, and you can tell based on my posts what I've actually done. Realize, also, that I've had practices and tournaments, and I really didn't want to overtrain. I'm still learning how to put it all together. Hopefully, though, that answers your question, Mr. Anonymous.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Scrimmage vs CHS

Alright, so I've taken a hiatus from training for the sake of Thanksgiving. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner myself, including turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole. Delicious, if I do say so myself--I'm chowing down on leftovers as I type. Given the lack of updates, it's probably due time that I wrote about the scrimmage against Columbia HS.

First of all, playing one of the best high school programs in the country is a unique opportunity for a rising college team, and I think this connection will prove extremely valuable for both teams. Especially so because of Columbia's consistency: they have a strong talent pool, a dedicated coach, a great support structure, and blah blah blah. They're good, we're getting better. The one thing I think is weird as hell is the extreme variance of my teammates' reactions. Some of them lost to CHS playing in the NJHSU, so about half of us realize how legit this juniors team is. The rest of the team is new or nearly new to the sport, and thinks they're probably going to be chumps--after all, aren't we in high school? Perhaps I'm imagining that second reaction, but the sidelines buzz with that sort of sentiment--we're older, we should be winning.

But we don't. Our matchup at Club Sectionals was intense and competitive, everything a good game should be (except we lost..haha). Our most recent scrimmage was not terribly different, but for a few things. I hesitate to mention them--it wouldn't do to make excuses--but the truth is, I was disappointed in my team's performance. Our focus was to be zone, something both teams need work on. Therefore, we determined the test would be two games to 11. In the first, both teams were required to come down zone on the pull. The second game was to be a real game, albeit shortened.

Neither game went well. I saw a lot of mental mistakes from my teammates, and I know I forced too many throws. The throws I know I have, but could not complete due to the weather--my hands were cold, and I didn't adjust, so I suppose that's one big mental mistake as well. I think I played well overall, however, and I am fairly confident that my defense was strong. I did get handblocked by Zander, though...that never feels good. I got skied twice in the same point by taller opponents, the first a hammer that sailed past my head and the second on a high pop to somebody that should have been covered and wasn't my responsibility, but more and more I realize my deep defense needs some serious work. I did sky somebody on D at another point, though...he was taller than I, too.

We lost both games 6-11. It did not leave a bad taste in my mouth, though, which is only surprising because of how I try to nurture a competitive nature. I was far from content, however, and will take these memories with me to the weights and the track this winter. I believe I have mentioned already, though, how much respect I have for those guys. I agree with Ariel's assessment of our team: a lot of potential, a lot of work to be done. I am confident that we can succeed, and I am happy with what I've seen already this season. Nunez told us that we are the strongest he has seen Rutgers to ever be in the fall, and I know we are further ahead from where we were last year, but I am hungry. I feel like a lot has been left up in the air and we need to nail it down, get everybody to put in a lot more work--in the gym, on the field, and in their mental game especially--before we can even approach the kind of success I see us capable of. That's really what impresses me about CHS: they're doing it. I can see them peaking this spring.

It makes me want to hit them weights. I just wish I had the support of my teammates doing it with me.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Lift

9 pull-ups
bench press: 8 at 50, 2x12 at 85lb
3x8 clap pushups
8 chin-ups
2x8 curls 20lb
8 hammer curls 20lb
6 curls 25lb, 4 bb curls 60lb
db press: 8 at 20, 3x8 at 25lb
8 concentration curls 25lb

I got to 9 pull-ups! I wanted to go with bigger weight with the bench, but unfortunately we don't have any more plates than that. Biceps felt good. Feels good to get stronger.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Practice Cancelled

So I ran 1.5mi in 10:53 instead. It's been a while since I took a run, so the time is not all that disappointing. I was gonna try to make it to 3mi, but my shins hurt and I didn't want to get splints the night before our scrimmage against CHS, especially with so many people already out with injuries. But 7:15 mile pace isn't that bad. I need to work in some longer runs, now that we are in off-season and the Big Chill 5k race is coming up.

So the plan is now lifts focused on power, lower weight and higher intensity. More ab exercises. Some Tabata work, probably, and a 3mi run here and there. After I run my race, it'll be swimming and yoga for two weeks so my body can rest and recover. With practices ending this week, I'm going to be able to put in more time at the gym.

Lift

squats: 5 at 0, 8 at 45, 6 at 135, 4 at 155, 2x6 at 135
8 pistols (single leg squats, full ROM) each leg
15 external shoulder rotations 7.5lb
15 internal shoulder rotations 7.5lb
15 shoulder abduction 5lb
15 shoulder adduction 5lb
3x8 single-leg calf raises each leg

I got scared doing the squats. I tried to do 155lb, and my form started to suffer. I couldn't go as deep as I wanted to, and I leaned forward on my third rep and my abs told me that I was an idiot--I started to lose intra-abdominal pressure and it scared me. I leaned back (probably not a good idea) and recovered, carefully did one more rep and dropped the weight back down. I either need stronger abs or I need to add weight more slowly. Or both. Either way, for my last set with the bar I made sure I was going deep enough by adjusting the bars on the rack so the bar on my shoulders could touch them when my butt was below my knee. I would tap the rack bars lightly at the bottom of each squat. It was harder this way, which tells me, again, that I should take things slowly and focus on good form, not adding weight.

The Vertical Jump Bible recommends being able to squat 1.5 x body weight before moving into serious plyometric exercise...that's roughly 210lb, so it'll take some time for me to get there. This week or next, I'd like to determine my 1rm for various lifts...mostly flat bench, squat, deadlift, and pull-ups. Maybe hang-clean if I'm feeling frisky. I'll move into more explosive movements with lighter weight within a week or so, then start wondering what to do in the off season. During the winter, I probably won't have access to a gym, so in addition to more yoga I'm interested in doing more body-weight exercises, especially gymnastics movements. I've browsed some videos recently, and those guys are wickedly strong, and functionally so--without excessive body mass that could kill a player on the field. I want to hit that balance, where I'm gaining mass and less liable to be pushed around on the field but not stuck with a body ill-suited for agility or endurance. My sport is weird that way.

Lift

squats: 5 at 0, 8 at 45, 6 at 135, 4 at 155, 2x6 at 135

8 pistols (single-leg squats, full ROM) each leg

external rotations, internal rotations: 15 at 7.5lb

abduction

Monday, November 12, 2007

Lift

7 pull-ups, 7 chin-ups
bench press: 8 at 45, 6 at 95, 2x6 at 115, 2.5 at 125, 3.5 at 120
7 pull-ups at 78%, 4 chin-ups at 78%
6 db curl 20lb
5 db curl 25lb
4 db curl 30lb
4 bb curl 55lb

Felt good to bench. I almost went for 135, because I really want to put a plate on each side, but I feel like it would be basically my max right now and I didn't want to go for it while I was tired. I do believe I will try to max out in a few days. The curls were not as fun, and pull-ups really sucked. Before long, I'll drop back down in weight for some of these exercises and go for explosiveness.

I don't feel too sore from the tournament, but my left knee feels a little funky. I know my back might bother me tomorrow at practice, especially if I don't warm up enough--it was feeling tweaked even on Saturday. I don't go for pain meds much, though, and it wasn't even bad enough to even put on icy-hot, so I'm thinking it isn't as big a deal as it was last year. I think that means I'm stronger, or at least better at warming up. Or maybe I'm not working as hard, but I don't think that is the case.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

SHOWdown Recap

After some high-jinks getting to the fields, we warmed up for our first game of the day against rival Princeton. Oh, baby what a game. We jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, traded, let up some breaks to let them take half 6-7, then raised the intensity to win the game on univsere point 11-10. The Upset!

Second game, UPenn. Okay, we again went up 2-0, then slipped. Fell on our faces, in fact, and let them close out the half. We never got our breaks back, and ended up trading to lose 7-12.

Next up, Catholic. They were sort of scrubby, and we rolled during the first half. We were up by a lot, then somehow let them back in near the end of the game and they brought us to universe point. We won 11-10.

Last game on Saturday was against Delaware. I feel like we fought and stayed with them for most of the game, but the points do not reflect that. They were hungrier, and they scored on numerous bullshit hucks (huge blades to covered receivers, etc). We basically let them score, and didn't work hard enough. Lost 7-13. During this game, Thorpe ran into Ariel and Ariel sprained his ankle, out for the rest of the season.

Machine Sunday! First game against a hungover Bucks County, with illustrious ex-Pennsbury players. They started the game shorthanded, and most seemed less than ready to play. I remember one dude cutting deep on me, not getting thrown to, and then standing around for literally three full minutes watching his teammates move the disc. Eventually, he cut back in. Basically, though, we were running much harder than they were willing to, and won 13-3. I remember getting several D's in this game, including at least two on first/second-throws and a couple deep D's. The offense ran well, because the defense against us was lacking. I threw hucks and goals, sometimes both at the same time. This game was a lot of fun, but I guess there isn't much else to say about it.

Second game was much rougher, quarterfinals vs Penn State. They went up three breaks playing zone, and I called a timeout. They scored again, I think, before we were able to, and basically we dug ourselves into a huge hole in the first half with pure errors--drops, bad choices, slipped throws, you name it. I think I played solid zone O during this time, and didn't really have any turnovers on my shoulders, but the team was struggling. It mostly continued during the second half, though we were able to score a few more times. I think it was this game in which I was able to get off a pretty huck from goal-line to goal-line to Riz for a score, but it might have been in the BCCC game. Pretty sure it was this one, though, because I tried throwing another big backhand to him and this time he was covered by some dude with fuckin' horses--Riz never had a chance. PSU played mostly zone, some man, and in general just well enough to force us to choke ourselves with bad offense. We gave them the disc too often, and they were very welling to put up blades and floaters to their tall guy for a 4-13 win.

So now we're in the 5th place bracket, playing Salisbury to advance to the 5th place game. We brought up the intensity and played well here. I thought it was our last game of the day, as did most of the team, and we really took it to them. Strong man offense, moving the disc pretty well, and solid D that got us the disc. The energy was high, so I don't remember much--but I know it was a good game. We won by a score I do not remember. I threw a hammer goal in this game (unless it was the Penn State game?)

That brings us to the 5th place game vs Carelton University. We agreed to a shortened game, to 9, and we lost both flips. White for the first time all tournament, pulling, and the field is much smaller than it should be. We line up, straight across, I pull shorter than I intended to, and they set up ho-stack. My guy curls around and takes me deep, somebody lets them get off the huck, and I get screwed, 0-1. They pull OB, I put up a backhand to iso'ed Jay for the one-throw score, 1-1. I sit next point and watch Carelton answer back with a quick huck, 1-2. I'm in, they pull OB again, I call Jay in the lane again and within three passes we score, 2-2. I think we traded again without any turnovers, 3-3. I pull, we cover well, and force the turn, and go up a break! 4-3, and this is huge. Intensity is high. Mio tells us, throw zone. We do, their third pass is a dead bird to nobody, I throw a break forehand to Jared for the goal, 5-3.

Now, we're receiving and the pull is finally in-bounds. Thorpe swings to me, they're poaching the lane in an attempt to stop Jay's in-cut, but the poacher looks away and I hit Jay for a nice gain. He sees nothing upfield, I get the upline dump cut. I see nothing upfield, there's a stoppage of play, disc comes in at 4 and I look right away to Jay upline. Again, nothing happening upfield, but they do a better job of stopping my cut and I have to throw an extra juke in, Jay gives me a wobbly upline throw and we're near the endzone. We score, 6-3. I'm out, we score again, 7-3. They score, 7-4, after calling a foul on Joe K's clean layout D. I'm a little hazy about the end of the game--I remember sitting on game point, I remember Dan Johnson getting a huge layout D (or two?), and one way or another we win 9-4 and I am very excited. We played a great game and brought the intensity for each point, raising the energy throughout the game and closing it out for the 5th place victory. I was proud.

One of the guys on the Carleton team looked away and put his hand down while passing me in the hand-shaking line. I think it was the same guy who had to be restrained by his teammates when we were all on the sideline, watching the following unfold: Greg has the disc, calls fast count on his mark, who repeats the last number he said and continues stalling (...6, 7, "fast count", 7, 8...). Greg calls fast-count again, but the guy doesn't respond. As Greg stares at him, holding the disc with both hands and trying to get him to listen, the guy keeps stalling with exaggerated slowness, "8....9....10. Stall-out!" Greg is dumbfounded. For the rule, please refer to XIV.B.7 and notice that you have to drop one before continuing the count. Knowing the rule, I'm watching this other guy blatantly cheat and refuse to back down, so after he calls "Stall-out!" I heckle from the sideline, "Oh, so you're not just an idiot, but an asshole as well!" The entire Carleton sideline sounds like a wounded bear, and this one dude starts cursing and trying to run at me. His teammates hold him back, I smile and watch Greg handle the situation. He tries reasoning with the dude, who maintains that the disc has to come back in as if it were a contested stall-out (coming in on 8, rather than 6 as it should), and Greg finally agrees after Mio yells "break-side deep!" Greg taps it in and puts up a big blade to Joe K for the goal, and I rush the field yelling my head off in excitement. Another Carleton player thought that I couldn't call fast-count, then call violation after he fast-counted again (see XIV.B.8), and that was silly too.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Lift, Practice

I tried something a little new today.

6 hang cleans
1 clean (to get the bar onto the rack)
8 squats, full range of motion

I did the whole thing 4 times with 85lb, then once through with 95lb. I try to do the pull correctly, and I'm jumping with my whole leg to get the bar up, but I don't really squat down to catch the bar, so I should start trying to focus on that. I'm also trying to stay on my heels to catch the bar and when I do my squats, but I sometimes give in to the urge to shift forward onto my toes. The olympic lift is fun, but not easy. Had to man up for that last hang clean rep.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Lift

8 pull-ups
bench press: 8 at 45, 6 at 95, 3x6 at 105, 3.5 115, 1.5 at 115
7 chin-ups
6 curl 20lb, 6 palm-away curl 15lb, 6 hammer curl 20lb
6 curl 20lb, 6 curl 25lb, 8 curl 20lb
8 db fly 12lb, 8 db fly 15lb
db press: 8 at 20, 2x8 at 25
6 pushups, 2x4 pushups with hands on small medicine balls
lat pulldowns: 8 at 70, 8 at 85, 2x8 at 100, 6 at 100

I think I should eat more slowly--I just gobbled down dinner in ten minutes. The workout felt pretty good, although the bench was tough and I would like to get better results. I also feel like my arms are getting larger, which is not bad really, but I don't want to lose muscle definition. Yeah, I know it's sort of silly to fret about physical appearance. But hell, this is my blog and these are my thoughts, so whatever. Perhaps they'll cut down and keep gaining strength as I move out of the "hypertrophy" phase. I do hope that all the quasi-research I've done (on the net) pays dividends in the long run.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Lift, Practice

These exercises are not really in order. I tried to do each set with minimal rest, but I interspersed the curls, RDL, and lunges so it was more like a circuit workout. But here's what I did, overall:

8 pull-ups
6 pull-ups at 72% body weight
8 chin-ups
4x6 DB curl 20lb, 6 DB curl 25lb, 6 DB curl 20lb
8 SL RDL
4x8 SL DB RDL 35lb
backwards box lunge: 8, 2x8 w/ 25lb
forward box lunge: 8, 8 w/ 25lb
8 forward lunge w/ 25lb


Warmup, go-to drill with mark. Next we split into two teams and did scrimmage, stop when the receiving team turns it over. We tried to work on the pull play and then flow into regular offense. We rarely ran the pull play successfully, and scored less than 50% of our possessions. My team's defense was good, though...I felt strong, especially after intercepting the first pass when I was the puller. Then we did a somewhat complex cut/dump/flow drill, which I thought was very useful. I wish we could have added defense, though, after we learned the concept and the rotation. I asked a few people to play defense on me while I made the dump cut, and it made the continuation throw significantly harder (obviously), and I think that is something worth working on against defense. Hopefully we can start incorporating more difficult things into practice soon.