sigh ..every morning it just gets a little later

arrival: 6:56am

bm bar x5

thrusters: 65 x5 75x5 85x5x3x2

scrum positioning x5

fat man chinups x20

chest flys 90x8x8x8

departure: 7:25am

humbug

i did a drill that we used to do at umass. setting up cones in a 40 x 22m rectangle, with cones marking each 10m on the long sides, you sprint the length and jog the width, doing each length twice.

jog 22m sprint 40m jog 22m sprint 40m x2
jog 22m sprint 30m jog 22m sprint 30m x2
jog 22m sprint 20m jog 22m sprint 20m x2
jog 22m sprint 10m jog 22m sprint 10m x2

I did this 3 times. Each time took me between 3 and 4 minutes, the cold air really was screwing with my lungs and i felt really slow

i did a plank in between the 3 reps the first one lasting 1:55min, the second one lasting 2:03 min. It's unfortunate that my shoulders and not my abs give out in a plank.


BLAH

5 more days

gym arrival: 6:50am

sprints: started off doing up downs on my back at the turning points but my knees were being so tweaky that i had to switch to shuttle runs instead. fuck gym floors

60m x6
rest
60m x5
rest
60m x4
rest
60m x3
rest
60m x2
rest
60m x1

mister fancy bball dude was back :) too bad i'm even more awkward than usual at 7am

gym departure: 7:12am

speed bags are the most irritating thing to listen to ever

gym arrival: 8:36pm

didn't really warm up, just jumped right into it because i was short on time.
I did each exercise x30 x25 x20 x15 x10 x5 and in between each exercise i jogged a recovery lap around the track, though I sprinted some just to get them over with faster and switched directions a few times to give my knees a break on the tiny track. my right knee in particular is tweaking, most likely from the stress that's put on it while playing hooker. i'll keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get exacerbated.

knees to chest x30
lap
burpies x30
lap
body weight squats x30
lap
crunches x30
lap
push ups x30
lap
knees to chest x25
lap
burpies x25
lap

ect... all the way down to 5 a piece

gym departure: 9:20 pm

6 days left

gym arrival: 6:39am

warm up: bm bar x5

bench press: 45 x5, 65x5, 95 x5x5, 105 x5, 115 x5

jerk: 75 x5, 95 x5

clean and jerk: 95 x3 x3 x3 x3 x3

chest fly: 70 x8, 90 x6, 110 x4

lat pull down: 70 x8, 85 x6, 100 x4

raises: 12.5 x6 front, diagonal, side, ES

tunes: when the levee breaks-led zeppelin, junkyard waltz-freakbass, across the universe-thebeatles, let me get down-busta rhymes, one chance-modest mouse, paralyzed-rock kills kid, polaroid-shwayze

gym departure: 7:28


also did stadiums after practice on saturday (14) small steps

a quick blurb about yesterday

before practice i decided i need to workout more inspite of the fact i was half unconscious. so i hopped on my bike and rode down to the track (approx 4 or 5 miles each way), sprinted 100m x4 and biked home.

MY LEGS AND BACK HATED ME AT PRACTICE WHERE WE DID A CIRCUIT!

OH. MY. QUAD!!

still, worth it!

10 days left til U23's

NMPB.... do you know how hard it is to get out of bed at 6 after listening to your sister cry all night, not getting home til 12:30 and then the same sister busting into your room at 2 am to drunkenly slur at you? it's a lot.... but surprisingly once i was up and started running, it actually felt really good.

gym arrival: 6:48am

Tredmill

easy speed: 5.0 (towards the end when it got a bit hard on my knees I'd bump down to 2.9 for 30 secs and then back up to 5.0)
hard speed: 7.4

Easy 3 min, Hard 3 min x2
Easy 2 min, Hard 2 min x3
Easy 1 min, Hard 1 min x4
cool down 2 min on 2.7

total time: 36 minutes
total distance: 3.25 mi

tunes: It's impossible to write down songs when you're running like that but the first and last songs were exactly what I need to hear- Time to get away-LCD soundsystem, Love Freak-Trey Songz, and the really nice lady who complimented my rugby tee put sports center on the tv in front of me, so that was awesome too!

gym departure: 7:29pm

CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP

11 days left

sigh.. once again lost my sheet but i remember what i did

gym arrival:8:01 pm

warm up: BM bar x5

circuit: deadlifts x 5 (i did the first 4 sets at 135lbs and the last 2 sets at 185lbs)
40 barbells hops
1 min plank
rest 1 min

I did the whole circuit x6


chest flys: 50 x8, 60 x7, 70x6, 80 x5, 90 x4, 100 x3, 110 x2

lat pull downs: 70 x8, 85 x6, 100 x4, 115 x2

gym departure: 9:57

12 days left til U23's

Who needs sleep anyway? This morning I was once again a bit late in the waking and shaking but it I made it out there in any case.

gym arrival: 6:54am

warm up: easy jogs back and forth on the bball court

sprintysprints: I modified my original workout plan to compensate for the time I had lost in being late but i think it ended up being a better work out anyway. I counted from one end of the court, down to the opposite foul line and back as 1 rep of 60m. At each turning point I went down on my back and got back up as fast as possible. One of the biggest things I noticed in this past weekend's game was that I'm way too slow getting off my back.

60m x6
rest 1 min
60m x5
rest 1 min
60m x4
rest 1 min
60m x3
rest 1 min
60m x2
rest 1 min
60m x1

then I shot hoops for 5 minutes with a stud who thought he was fancy...and i mean he kinda was :P

tunes: faberg falls for shugie-of montreal, movies-alien ant farm, rollin(urban asault vehicle)-limp bizkit, calgone-incubus

gym departure: 7:22 am

13 days left part deux

I so wasn't lying earlier when I said this evening's cardio would make up for this morning's lack luster lift. I was going to do the cooper test but it started snowing and I said fuuuuck that, I know where to find a perfectly good tredmill.

So this workout was based off of some circuits that I've heard my teammates talking about. Dowty did this one this weekend except she did it twice as many times as I did with jump roping and clap push ups in between run reps (daaaaamn!) but you gotta start somewhere, right? this 4 miles I can actually put down as a personal best. I certainly haven't run like this on a tredmill or a track in a long time. Definitely put this workout in the to repeat and improve upon column.

gym arrival: 7:49pm

round 1 - start time 7:51pm
easy: 4.8 mph hard: 7.2mph
3 min easy, 3 min hard x1
2 min easy, 2 min hard x2
1 min easy, 1 min hard x4
end time - 8:11pm
total distance - 1.98 mi

in between
crunches on ball x 25
push ups on ball x 25
crunches on ball x 25
push ups on ball x 25

round 2 - start time 8:25pm
easy: 5.0 mph, hard: 7.3mph (I tried to go at 7.5 but the intense stabbing pain of my chest muscles told me that wasn't going to happen)
3 min easy, 3 min hard x1
2 min easy, 2 min hard x2
1 min easy, 1 min hard x4
end time - 8:45pm
total distance - 2.05 mi

I spent a good chunk of time really stretching my whole body. I'll be able to push my workouts better if my muscles aren't always in agony. But next time I'm going to try to do it the run circuit 3 times.

No tunes, watched the celtics game instead

gym departure: 9:05 pm

BE YOUR BEST

13 days left til U23's

god bless the snooze button. started off a little later than i meant to this morning but it worked out just fine. it wasn't a very intense workout but i expect this evenings run to give me more than enough intensity for the day. the game was fun, even though it was a little disappointing. however i was please with my own performance in the front row and i'm feeling a lot more confident now about making the switch.

gym arrival: 6:40am

warm up: bm bar x5 (always tough on a monday morning)

liftylift: I tried to focus on being as explosive as possible with these two moves, once again not so easy on a monday morning. I chose jerks and back squats to use the muscles and forms that you use for lineout lifts and scrumming. i might not be the biggest front row but i'll sure try to become the strongest. I by no means maxed out on either of these this morning but like i said, i tried to explode into position as best as i could.

back squats: 95lbs x5, 115lbs x5, 135lbs x5, 145lbs x8 x5, 165lbs x5, 175lbs x5 x5 x5

jerks: 95lbs x5x5x5x5x5

dumbbell raises for mah shouldahs: 12.5lbs x8ES side, diagonal, front

tunes: the wizard turns on-the flaming lips, ellen and ben-dismemberment plan, autumn almanac-the kinks, right kind of wrong-leanne rhymes, all my friends-lcd soundsystem

gym departure: 7:25am

EXPLOSIVE!

16 days left til U23's

what up NMPB, I did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. But I did and I'm glad. Got a good workout in and hopefully it won't leave me too sore for tomorrow.

gym arrival: 6:38am

dumbbell snatches: 10lbs x5ES, 15lbs x 5ES, 20lbs x5 x5 x5ES

chest flys: 70lbs x8, 80lbs x8 x8


Cards of Death: 95 of each exercise, 380 total

diamonds-knees to chest
hearts-burpies
spades- body weight squats
clubs- crunches

gym departure 7:24am

tunes: attitude-alien ant farm, wait for wintertime-yeasayer, senza te-the new deal, technologic-daft punk, sympathy for the devil- rolling stones

17 days til U23's

goooood moooorning NMPB! I seemed to have forgotten my little note pad so I don't have the specific times I wrote down this morning but I think I remember them fairly accurately.

A little news update: Firstly, I got a really nice heating pad so I can do the heat and ice routine on my shoulder, which is important because secondly, I'm playing front row this weekend! Dowty shot me an email last night mentioning my options. In the long run my best chances at the time big time are in the front row, most likely at hooker. This means it's even more important for me to keep my shoulders healthy since they'll be in even more intense contact.

gym arrival: 6:35 am

warm up: 3 or 4 easy laps around the track

run for your life: Ideally I would have done this whole sequence twice and I probably could have at least eeked out another half of one, but in the little time I had left I wanted to continue to do some shoulder work so I opted to go do some band exercises instead. Each lap around the track is a actually a little less than 100m but to make it easy I just go ahead and consider 1 lap=100m and give it a few extra steps at the end.

sprint 400m
rest 1 min
sprint 300m
rest 1 min
sprint 200m
rest 1 min
sprint 1oom
rest 3 min 6:48am
sprint 100m
rest 1 min
sprint 200m
rest 1 min
sprint 300m
rest 1 min
sprint 400m 6:57am

band exercises: over head x8, put it in your pocket x8, straight back x8, over head x8, put it in your pocket x8, straight back x8

gym departure: 7:17am

Then I walked back in and talked to the girl at the desk because I noticed the ball field had lights. How sweet would it be for me to have practice there? Pretty freakin' sweet!


GET SOME

18 days til U23's

Gooooood mooooorrrniiinnngggg NMPB! This morning I almost over slept, promptly falling back asleep after silencing my alarms but I managed to rouse myself to get to the gym.

gym arrival: 6:40am

Today's lift was focused around keeping my shoulders healthy and I have to say they feel much more limber and comfortable now than they have the past couple of days so I will definitely repeat this workout often. I plan on hitting cvs in a bit to get a heating pad so I can start of regime of heat and ice: 20 minutes ice, 20 minutes off, 20 minutes heat, repeat

Dumbbell Snatches: great way to start off and get your whole body woken up.
10lbs x5 each side, 15lbs x5ES, 20lbs x5x5x5ES

Lat pulldowns: 35lbs on each stack/70lbs total x8x8x8

Weighted Rows with independent grips: 35lbs on each stack/70lbs total x8x8x8

Chest Flys: 70lbs x8x8x8 (OMFG! Owwww! But definitely the most effective!)

Dumbbell raises: 7lbs x10ES, 1 set out to the side, 1 set diagonally, 1 set out in front

tunes: santeria-sublime, starman-david bowie, sgt. pepper-the beatles, little while longer-the new deal

gym departure: 7:20am

No pm workout scheduled for the day but maybe if the hospital is dead tonight I'll throw down some planks in a corner :P

19 days left, duece duece

The original plan for this evening was to run suicides in the gym before practice, however the gym was being used by some students of that school whom obviously had priority.

Dowty said I could run with the backs during their practice though which honestly probably ended up being way more beneficial than sprinting on already tired legs. I'm going to ask her if she wouldn't mind me continuing to practice with the backs as well as the forwards. The drills they do allow me to hone skills that often get neglected in the pack but are vital at higher levels.

Before really starting practice, I worked on passing technique with Sachs and tips from Seary.

First with the backs we did a blind catching drill where a partner would drop a ball from over our heads. The idea was to react quick enough to snag the ball even though we couldn't see where it was coming from. We followed this up with a four person drill with one person in the center receiving balls from different directions and passing them back appropriately. As you got the rhythm, you sped up to make it more challenging. The key to that drill is completing your movements and focusing one thing at a time.

Then we worked on communicating and creating space with defenders in a few different drills. Thing's I need to improve upon on offense are communication, drawing the defender, creating space, and making good passes.

With the forwards we worked a lot on defense. We did drills involving how to approach the break downs, foot position, communicating post-x-y, launching, and recognizing who to bump and where to join the defensive wall. Always a work in progress.

Honestly not too much else to say about forwards practice other than that we did a lot of conditioning during our offsets of the drills and sprints and burpies for the last 5 minutes.

I'm glad I really got to work on some skills tonight. I think I really need to explore them further and keep improving on them.

See ya in the morning NMPB.


GO FURTHER

19 days til U23 tryouts

gym arrival: 6:30 am

warm up: easy jogs back and forth on the basket ball court

speed demon: i did these on the basket ball court. the 60m sprint was from one end of the court to about the opposite foul line and back.

60m x 6
50m x5
40m x4
30m x3
20m x2
10m x1

I felt sloow. Still feeling stiff, sore, and clumsy, hoping that my body will adjust back to smashing into people again soon. I need to maybe go see Michelle again for a little shoulder PT. I really need to maintain and hopefully improve it's mobility.

tunes: ellen and ben-dismemberment plan, smash the mirror-the who, ruby tuesday-rolling stones, pay the man-the offspring.

gym departure: 7:10 am

EYES ON THE PRIZE

20 days left round 2

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a speed or endurance workout, but I'm leaning towards endurance. Either way it's a killer.

gym arrival: 8:04pm

warm up: 4 easy laps and a lot of arm swinging to loosen up my poor shoulders

tworkin: Sprint a lap, jog a lap, sprint half a lap, jog half a lap, rest 1 min. x 12

It took me about 3 minutes to complete each rep. I started at about 8:12 and finished my 12 reps at around 8:46

the track is 17 laps to the mile, making each lap a little less than 100m. So total I ran 40 laps, about 2 1/2 miles.

cool down: involved lying motionless on my back for about 5 minutes and a lot of back and leg stretching. the tight circle on the track really kills my hips and back

there was plenty of good tunes but i didn't have a note pad to write them down.

gym departure: 9:04

DUECES

20 days til U23's

I'm never satisfied with my on field performance. It's partly mental and partly physical, but I always feel like I come up short in both areas and it really bothers me. The more I think about it, the more determined I am to become better. It starts here with having woken up at 6am the day after a game for my first of what is going to be many 2-a-days.

gym arrival: 6:27 am

warm up: bm bar x5

lifty lift: My primary focus in my lifting today was technique not weight. Especially now that the season's started, I don't need to pack on muscle nor do I need to hurt myself heavy lifting. It's all going to be about form, trimming down, endurance and speed from now on.

over head squats: 45lbs x5 x5 x8 x8 65lbs x8

dead lifts: i decide to use the down motion because I think it'll benefit me more in the long run to get good form like that. As I ascended number of reps I feel like my form improved. My last set of 8 was definitely my best.
135lbs x3 x4 x5 x6 x7 x8

hang cleans & jerks: wasn't the cleanest sets I could have managed but happy I could do them all the same with sore-after-game-shoulders. 65lbs x8 x8 x8

tunes: dlz-tv on the radio, make your move-john brown's body, mandy goes to medschool-dresden dolls, under my thumb- rolling stones, stare at the sun-mute math

gym departure 7:15am

respite

Hello NMPB, just a quick post because i didn't want you to think i abandoned you. Life's just been crazy per usual. Practice has started and there has been a couple of workouts since my last post but nothing really worth mentioning I guess.

What is worth mentioning is the start of a new beginning. After speaking to Rich Ashfield, starting a food diary, and plucking the brain of Kitt Wagner, I'm ready to get back down to business. I'm giving myself to the end of this week to prepare. I had strained my back muscles again so I needed to give them time to recover, I'm still fighting off the rest of a cold and I have a game vs army coming up sunday. I already have way too much on my plate as it is, but my life isn't complete if my schedule isn't overlapping.

I'm aimming for 7/8 workouts a week plus practice and games. Sounds like a lot but I think it's do able, however if it proves to be too much I don't think it would be terrible to cut the number 6/7. Fitness is the goal, but death via exhaustion isn't going to benefit me either.

I already have my tentative workouts planned for the week but the over all schedule looks like this:

Monday AM: Lift PM: Endurance
Tuesday AM: Speed PM: Lift
Wednesday: Endurance
Thursday AM:Lift PM: Speed
Friday: Yoga/Stretch


UGHHH!

wish me luck NMPB, I'm gonna need it

tunes: wonder woman-trey songz