AMP90 Strongman Training

I recently got to add some new equipment to The LAB, so I designed a workout this morning to test out a few ideas. I’ve been interested in adding some “Strongman” training to my workouts, so I’ve included the Log Press, Farmers Walk and Tire Flips to today’s session. I was also going to add a heavy sled push / pull, but the recent rain has left the field muddy and I don’t want to tear up the ground and draw unwanted attention (not that a 200lb man flipping a tractor tire doesn’t draw some strange looks in the neighbourhood).

Here’s what my workout looked like today:

Strength Work: Bench Press 10 x 3 @ 225lbs (finished week 2 of Smolov Jr. progression)

Strongman:
3 Rounds (not timed)
– Farmers Walk with 2 75lb Barbells (approx. 25ft)
– 2 Log Press @ 170lbs
– 6 Tire Flips
– 5 Medicine Ball Slams @ 16lbs

Beautiful Day for a Workout:

Farmers Walk:

Log Press:

Tire Flip:

July 16, 2013 Off-road Triathlon…what’s next?

On July 7th, I competed in the Element “Mine Over Matter” off-road triathlon (lake swim / mountain bike ride / trail run). I was nervous, but felt that I would treat it as a “practice” race as I had only put in 5 weeks of training leading up to the race. The weather that morning was rainy which meant the trails were going to be muddy and slippery. The sun started peeking out of the clouds when we arrived at the quarry and it ended up being warm and sunny by the time the race started.

I had no strategy for the race. My sprinter instincts kicked in when the starting horn sounded and I went out way too fast in the swim. I was leading the field for the first half of the swim and realized I was not going to be able to keep that pace. By the final 200m of the swim, I was gasping for air and had been passed by two swimmers. I told myself “3rd out of the water isn’t bad…as long as I avoid injury in the bike and run, I’ll be happy just to complete the race.”

The bike started with an uphill climb and I was still not able to catch my breath or slow my heart rate. There was a point in the ride when I was slipping through the muddy trails that I questioned whether I would be able to finish, but I got through it. Finishing with a 5km run, I didn’t care about catching other runners, I just wanted to get to the finish line. I ended up 7th in my age group and was happy with my race, considering the shortened training cycle I had been through.

What’s next for me? I find I need to set goals in order to continue waking up early for training sessions, so I’m hoping to complete a 1km open water swim race in Orillia this August. Beyond that, I think I’ll start increasing the weight training / Crossfit sessions that will extend into the fall and winter months.

June 24, 2013 Another Solid Week of Training

I was able to put in another solid week of training now that I’m two weeks out from my first off-road triathlon of the season. Unfortunately, I ordered my wetsuit one size too big so I’ve had to send it back and wait for a replacement; hopefully it comes in time for my race. I’m wearing a scar on my neck from some serious rubbing during my lake swim on the weekend. The wetsuit started “bunching” at the neck about 500m into my swim and I was in the middle of the lake, so I continued swimming and had a sore neck after the 1.2km swim.

I’ve mixed in some strength training and running workouts, but the heat and humidity has limited my time on the mountain bike. The bike leg of my triathlon may end up being my weakness, so I’m hoping to get out on the trails at least a few times before race day.

Here’s what I managed to squeeze in the past week:

June 17 – 4km Run (21:16 / 5’19”) + 6-6-6-6-6-6 Squat @ 175
June 18 – Swim (600m wu / 200m FR 2:53 (50 easy) / 4 x 50 Pull @ :55 / 4 x 50 FR @ :55 (100 easy) 1350m Total
June 19 – 5km Treadmill Run
June 21 – 1.2km Lake Swim

June 17, 2013 Open Water Swim

This past weekend I was able to join a group of triathletes in an early morning, open water swim in Lake Wilcox. It was my first open water swim in years and my first time swimming with a full sleeve wetsuit. The set up at Lake Wilcox includes a buoy line running the length of the lake (1km) with buoys every 25 meters. I felt like I had found a secret triathlete playground as there were probably 50+ athletes swimming, biking and running in the area.

The swim itself was great. I was able to maintain my stroke and felt very buoyant with the full sleeve suit. I only swam 800m but will definitely attempt the full lake crossing next outing. The group is made up of athletes of all skills and fitness levels, and they were very supportive so it’s motivating to continue to train with the team. I’m looking forward to next weekend’s swim.

After the 800m swim, I came home and got ready for a long(ish) run. I decided to challenge myself by running “the loop” which includes a long incline of at least 1.5 km that always makes my want to quit. I made it though the run with an average pace of 5’34”. I’m feeling more confident that I’ll be able to get in shape for my races this summer.

June 14, 2013 Summer Motivation

Since deciding at the beginning of June to make my fitness a priority again, I’ve logged some good kilometers and found ways to be consistent. One of the ways I’ve been able to get back into the pool has been to stop into Bradford on my way to the GO train for an early swim at 6am. I’ve also been able to motivate myself by setting a couple of goal races as challenges this summer. Element Racing offers two “Cross Triathlons” in Milton and Muskoka that include a swim, mountain bike ride and trail run. I’m aiming to compete in both events this summer; that should keep me motivated for the “early hour” training that I’ll have to fit in with work, family and other commitments.

I’ve also connected with a triathlon training group and will be joining them this weekend for an open water swim. I’ll post an update of how that turns out.

Here is a summary of my workouts this week:

June 10 – 5km Run (27:46 / 5’33” pace) + 5-5-5 Bench Press @ 205
June 11 – Swim (600m warmup / 4 x 50m FR @ 1:00 / 50m easy / 4 x 50m Pull @ 1:00 / 50m easy / 2 x 100m FR @ 2:00 / 100m easy) 1400m Total
June 12 – 3km Fun Run (with the wife) + 5-5-3-3-3 Overhead Press @ 150 + 3-3-3-3-3 Power Clean @ 150
June 13 – Swim (600m wu / 4 x 50m FR @ 1:00 /50m easy / 4 x 50m Pull @ 1:00 / 50m easy / 4 x 100m FR @ 1:50 / 100 easy) 1600m Total
June 14 – 4km Fun Run (with the wife) + 5-5-3-3-3 Deadlifts @ 250 – 305 / Bike 1 hour (mountain bike trails)

June 10, 2013 Back in The LAB

Since making a career change 3 months ago, my workout regimen and competition schedule were completely disrupted. Although I was able to continue some indoor treadmill run workouts, I had to miss both the Provincical and National Masters Swimming Championships. The adjustment to a new job, new working relationships and a 1.5 hour commute to downtown Toronto meant my noon swim workouts had to be sacrificed. Now that I have the first three months under my belt and the warm weather is beckoning, I’ve returned to the LAB to improve my fitness level and set some new goals for the summer / fall season.

I’m thinking an open water swim race would be a good goal since I still don’t think I can fully commit to train and compete in a triathlon this season. The challenge for me this summer will be to find a pool and some open water swim sessions. The pool at Base Borden has limited the amount of lane swim time available to civilians so open water swims on the weekends may be my best option. I know of 2-3 groups that train in the areas of Caledon, Aurora and Milton, while the race I’m targeting is in August in Orillia.

To get ready for that race (and any others that look interesting along the way), I’ve gotten back into training with the following June workouts:

June 1 – 5km treadmill run (28:08 / 5’37” pace)
June 2 – 3km run (15:53 / 5’18” pace)
June 6 – 3km run warmup (17:35 / 5’43” pace) + 4 Rounds of (5 Hang Cleans @ 100 / 5 Chinups / 5 KB Swings)
June 8 – 4km run warmup (21:38 / 5’24” pace) + 3 Rounds of (4 Box Jump Burpees / 5 Jerks / 6 Toes to Bar)

February 27, 2013 Complex Workouts in a Time Crunch

In workout terms, a Complex is a series of movements performed without rest and without re-setting the bar. Lately, when I’ve been short for time I’ve made the most of a workout with multiple movements and just one barbell. Today’s complex was a progression of clean / front squat movements separated by 500m runs on the treadmill.

5 Rounds:

• 500m Run (treadmill)
• 3 times through the following complex
• Clean Pull
• Hang Clean
• Squat Clean
• Front Squat

I’ve also been able to be fairly consistent with treadmill runs of 4-6kms and average pacing of 5:05 – 5:18 per km. Motivation ebbs and flows and I’m looking forward to the end of snow so that I can re-open The LAB in the garage. I miss my box jumps, pullup bar and the space to actually lift something heavy overhead.

 

February 3, 2013 Training Update

Over the past two weeks, my training has been taking place in the basement with my kettlebells, weights, sandbags, bike trainer and treadmill. There are some personal lifestyle changes that are imminent (due to a career change) and it will have a major impact on my ability to schedule training sessions, so having the equipment at home gives me the freedom to workout whenever I can find the time. The stress of interviews and negotiations have even sapped my motivation to get into the pool. Lately my training plan has felt like a “house of cards” that has started to fall apart. However, if I can find a balance between work, family and training, I should still be able to compete and achieve my goals this season.

Because many of my workouts lately have been rather boring (5km run on the treadmill), I haven’t felt the need to complete daily updates of the blog. Today however, I made my treadmill workout more interesting with intervals.

RUN:

4 Rounds…

• Run 1 km
• 20 Squats
• 15 Situps
• 10 Pushups
• 5 Burpees
• time = 28:38

On a positive note, in the past when my training plans would take a detour, my weight would usually rebound to the 208 – 212 mark, effectively erasing all the hard work I had done. But during the past two weeks, even though I haven’t been training as consistently or as intensely, my weight has remained at the 192 – 193 level. This has to be due to the gluten-free changes I’ve tried to stick with over the past 6 months.

 

January 21, 2013 Two Tough Workouts

Not much commentary this time…I’m tired…here are my workouts for the day:

SWIM:

Warm Up:  500m

EN-1/2:  800m

• 6 x 50 FS on 1:00, 3-Pull, 3-Swim 42sec+
• 3 x 50 FS on 55, swim <40
• 50 Easy
• 6 x 50 BK on 1:05, 3 Pull, 3-Swim 52sec+
• 3 x 50 BK on 1:00, swim <47

Kick: 200m

• 8 x 25 Kick IM seq on 10 sec
• 50 Easy

LAP:  200

• 4 x 25 FL Sprint with turn, 50 Easy on 2:00
• 4 x 25 FL Kick Sprint, 50 Easy on 2:00

Power:  50

• 4 x FL Start with 12.5m Dolphin, Easy rest of 50

LA Tol:  150 (450 Recov)

• 2 x [ 3 x 25 Sprint FL on 10-15 sec – go on 30 sec –  150 Easy ]

Total = 3050m

 

RUN:

• 5kms
• 27:14 total time / 5’27” pace / 458 cals
• splits: 5’40” / 5’29” / 5’24” / 5’20” / 5’20”

STRENGTH:

• Every 90 seconds for 9 Minutes
• 3 reps High Hang Clean Pull / Hang Clean

 

January 20, 2013 Brick Workout

I picked up a new treadmill yesterday from Costco. Now there’s really no excuse to get a workout in (no time / gym is too far / etc.) I set it up in the basement beside my bike trainer so I thought I might as well test it out with a Brick workout. Bricks are an important part of triathlon training and are sometimes overlooked. This type of workout refers to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption between, just like you would do in a race.

Here’s what I did:

BIKE:

• 30 minutes on the trainer
• 5 minute warm-up
• 8 x 2 minutes hard (in aero) / 1 minute easy spin
• 1 minute cool down

RUN:

• 1 mile run on the treadmill
• 9:00 total time