For Summer League
1. Rebecca Tucker (Deceptisomethings!) wins Coed MVP.
2. My team faces hers in the final.
3. Will "Trash" Reed wins Open MVP.
4. Who knows what happens in the open final.
It should be a fun time. I think the biggest lesson I learned about my summer league team is that we play better when we're having fun. It seems obvious, but it is vital to our success. It can be tough in this particular league full of people who are constantly on the verge of fighting over any perceived sleight.
I, personally, have no problem getting into it with people when they start the argument, as my play isn't really affected, but I've discovered that when I do that while I'm playing with this summer league team, I negatively impact my teammates. Which is never good.
Anyway, tomorrow should be fun!
--
Workout Total:
10 Min Balance Board
10 Min Core
Friday, August 17
Predictions
Thursday, August 16
Rest it up.
After the, uh, festivities after the final Regular Season Summer League Game, I decided to rest today.
My feet were also in big-pain territory as the whole "not wearing cleats for two weeks" thing caught up to me a bit. Doing workouts when your feet hurt are terrible. I did get a handful of core work in though, just to leave my total-rest day before a weekend of ultimate (Finals and Pike practice) until Friday.
Of other note, I've been reading Everything and More, by David Foster Wallace. It's about the history of how math deals with the notion of infinity. It gets into calculus and set theory and all of that, which I'm getting a kick out of. His writing style is still unique and somewhat abrasive. Sometimes he gets too much in his own way and obscures the matter at hand. I still enjoy it though. I think I'll be looking into more books that cover this sort of thing. Books that, while they don't shy away from technical explanations, also weave them into actual words and text that give context/history.
So, if anyone can recommend some good "History of Math" type books (specifically for a guy who got through Calc 2 and is willing to write out examples on scrap paper so that I understand what's going on), let me know!
--
Workout total:
12 minutes core/upper body work
Monday, June 18
Back up to .500
Tonight's game was pretty easy.
It seemed like the team we were playing against (Dark Green) was tired from the weekend (Sounds like a fair number of people went to the Ommegang Tourney) and never really got up to speed. It didn't help them that under league rules they had to play 4/2 to our 4/3 (M/W) for most of the first half. Just another night of focusing on some particular throws in flow and trying to see the whole field. Another small though vital thing to work on when you have the chance is to minimize the time it takes you to go from catching to throwing. The shorter this time is (and the more completely ready you can be in that time) the more dangerous you will be.
This is specifically applicable to endzone offense, but it is useful all over the field. In the endzone, the spatial windows for throws are tighter. As such, it would behoove a good offensive player to increase the temporal windows for his throws by being able to throw as early in the stall count as possible. That isn't to go so far as to say that you must throw it as quickly as possible, but decreasing the amount of time during the stall count during which you are unable to throw will increase the number of options you can consider as a thrower by increasing the amount of useful time you have during each possession.
SL: 2-2
--
90 min ultimate
10 min core
15 min stretching
Friday, June 15
Too Much Ohio
"He chose poorly."
I was presented with a choice. Either go to College Nationals as a spectator or return to Poultry Days as a player. Why a choice? Going to Ohio twice in one year is quite enough, thanks. I eventually decided that "roadtripping with my [three] favorite allies" to College Nationals to see the inaugural appearance of NYU at Nationals was the better choice for 07. This was flying directly against the strong reasons in favor of P-Days. Such the chance to beat Julie (who played with Chicken Pax) by accepting Bailey's lobbying to play with the Smerfs.
Now, as it turns out, the Smerfs broke with tradition and won this year. That would have been a fun team to play with. Why? Because I could have made a critical, yet fantastically risky throw to a marginally open cutter for increased crowd excitement, goal or not. That's what I like to bring to the table at these sorts of affairs. I'll put your playmakers in position to make plays.
While I don't regret the decision to have the epic road-trip, a chance to win a tournament like Poultry Days is rough to miss. Perhaps I should have sacrificed another weekend at practice with Pike? "Time alone, oh time will tell..." I'm guessing time will tell me at around the beginning of October if I made the right choice...
--
30 min lower-body plyo (same as earlier this week)
12 min core workout
20 min stretching
Friday, June 8
Logical, Empowered Skeptics
Not much in the way of ultimate today.
Of course, I've always got something to say. Therefore I'm gonna talk up a sweet podcast from The Princeton Review: LSAT Logic in Everyday Life (also available on iTunes). The topic, well... read the previous sentence. The guy (Andrew Brody) who records it stone cold knows his stuff. The aim is to apply logic, and logic only, to various current events.
You don't really need to be interested in the LSAT specifically to enjoy the podcast, but a basic familiarity with the test will help understand the point of view put forth. What you do need is a willingness to challenge yourself (or not depending on how often you put yourself in a purely logical frame of mind) and think through arguments instead of reacting to them.
In any case, give it a listen sometime and figure out for yourself if it is, indeed, interesting. If you're planning on taking the LSATs in the future, this could serve to get you in the right frame of mind. In the end, I figure that everyone's got 6-10 minutes per week to dedicate to logical thinking.
One final note: The podcast is much funnier if you imagine Andrew playing the piano and speaking the intro simultaneously.
--
Workout Total:
10 min core
30 min stretching
Tuesday, June 5
Just stretching again...
Because it felt like the right thing to do.
I considered starting my plyos today, but the threat (on which the weather did not follow through) of rain sent me home. I did a really quick core workout and a little of the more challenging wobble board stuff, but I could feel that my body was still tight from the damage caused by Livelogic. Just stretch it out.
Watched A History of Violence this evening. I was not impressed. You can do a lot worse, but you can do a lot better.
--
Workout Total:
10 min core
5 min wobble
35 min stretching
Thursday, May 31
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
The last basketball game of the regular season was canceled.
So Julie and I went to see the new Deppirate flick. Better than the second, worse than the first. Keith Richards shows up for a little screen time. Looked just like Keith Richards normally does. It was heroic and sad at times. Solid, overall, but nothing to write home about.GUILDENSTERN: And a syllogism: One, he has never known anything like it. Two, he has never known anything to write home about. Three, it is nothing to write home about... Home... What's the first thing you remember?
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is such a fantastic play by Tom Stoppard (who was the reason that Shakespeare in Love was actually pretty good and also was a writer for Brazil and Empire of the Sun, which are both good but very different. While Brazil is the superior film, the John Williams score for Empire of the Sun is excellent). The notion of taking two characters who have no depth and delving, in depth, into that exact lack of depth without providing any depth for the characters is very absurd and right up my alley. The beauty is that it is absurd within the context of something (Hamlet) to which we ascribe normalcy due its presence in our literary canon. It soon becomes clear that Hamlet is anything but normal. Oh, if you don't make the obvious connection, read/see Beckett's Waiting for Godot right after Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
ROSENCRANTZ: Oh, let's see... The first thing that comes into my head, you mean?
GUIL: No -- the first thing that you remember.
ROS: Ah. (Pause.) No, it's no good, it's gone. It was a long time ago.
GUIL (patient but edged): You don't get my meaning. What is my meaning.
What is the first thing after all the things you've forgotten?
ROS: Oh I see. (Pause.) I've forgotten the question.
That reminds me, one of the fantastic things about going to NYU was the proximity to all sorts of fantastic things that didn't exist elsewhere. A prime example of it was a completely unexpected production of Waiting for Godot put on at the Classic Stage Company featuring John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub and Doc, er, I mean Christopher Lloyd. You can check out the NY Times review if you're into that sort of thing, but the fascination that I've always had with that play combined with three actors who I actually recognized playing three of the four roles in the play was incredible. It was a great production by my admittedly limited standards (as I was a college freshman living 3 blocks from the theatre at the time), but more importantly, I was pulled into a different world that I didn't really know existed until that point. Ha! Reminds me of getting pulled into ultimate way back when...
Ouch, I just recognized that horrible pun. My apologies.
--
Workout Total:
10 min core workout
20 min stretching
Tuesday, May 29
High Intensity Endurance
This was a previously used workout that is just a killer.
-2 minutes of burpees
-2 minutes of rest
-Pushups (8 sets of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)
-Bodyweight Squats (8 sets of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)
It isn't anything particularly complex, but it is utterly intense for the duration (12 minutes). It isn't particularly draining for your legs or your arms, but rather for your body as a whole. You start with explosive movements (burpees) and move to non-explosive, though related, movements (pushups/squats). It is a full-body workout that can be done quickly anywhere. You're not really in danger of hurting yourself unless you have terrible form. If you're sufficiently strong, it doesn't inspire the same lasting fatigue/soreness as a strength workout. Instead, it inspires a passing exhaustion.
Also, it hits upon a key feature of my preferred method of training. Short bursts of high-intensity work replace any/all endurance training. This increases cardiovascular strength and endurance without sacrificing explosiveness or speed. Training your body to produce maximal force (explosive or non-explosive) when fatigued is better than training your body to produce sub-maximal force when fatigued. If you train your body to produce maximal force while fatigued, it should be pretty easy to produce sub-maximal force when fatigued. Short rests and high intensity training are the way to go for me.
--
Workout Total
12 Min Interval
10 Min Core
10 Min Wobble
30 Min Stretching
Monday, May 28
Final Leg Circuit Week
The final week of the 6-week progression is pretty brutal.
It looks like this
5 times through, no rest.
20 squats
20 lunges (10 each leg)
20 step-ups (10 each leg)
10 squat jumps
I did it this morning. It took me 7:42 to complete. I think I can do waaaay better than that. My goal for the next time (Wednesday) is sub-7:20. A couple of teammates pulled in at an identical 7:42 and Tim Johnson beat me by a second. Let me tell you, this workout is almost criminally intense. Followed it up with a quick upper body strength workout and a core workout. It was definitely difficult to push through those with the level of leg exhaustion I was feeling.
Gotta push through. Gotta do better. Every workout is a chance to be stronger, faster, quicker, more explosive, more skilled, more experienced. A chance to be better the next time I step on the field. I love being able to improve.
--
Workout total:
7:42 Leg Circuit
15 Minutes Upper Body Strength
15 Minutes Core
Monday, May 21
I just noticed
That I haven't been including "Throwing" in any of my workout totals.
Interesting. I suppose throwing is just something I assume everyone does. I'll admit that right now, I'm not getting enough touches on the disc per week. Once Summer League starts in June and I (pretty much simultaneously) start training with other people, that'll change. Right now, I'm more concerned with establishing a strong overall fitness level.
My throwing skills are on the verge of a breakthrough. I can feel it. Usually, as the season approaches I'm working on the addition of a few new throws and/or release points to the arsenal (I am this year as well) and that sort of consumes your throwing preparation. This year just feels different. It's as though I already know how to throw the new additions, I just need to relearn them. Not sure that is easy to follow, but the difference is a little striking. I feel that instead of forcing my body to do something new and completely different, I'm just opening my mind to include throws that I've always had in my game.
Again, I'm not sure that this is entirely clear, but the end result is that my throws, despite not putting dedicated time in thus far, feel really good. With more practice and touches over the summer and through the fall, my throws will only improve. Pulls included.
--
Workout Total:
20 Min Leg Cricuit, w5
10 Min Upper Body Max Strength
15 Min Core Workout
10 Min Stretching
Wednesday, May 16
This is not 'Nam, there are Rules
The Spurs-Suns game was fantastic.
The Suns came out with a ton of energy and pushed their crowd as far as they could. Stave Nash is a true baller and leader. No doubt about it. Dagger threes, perfect dishes, even strong defensive plays.
The reffing was still questionable for a game in Phoenix with a couple of odd calls going the way of the Spurs (like that unconscionable foul on the Barbosa handoff-- just play on and stop rewarding the flopper). It isn't necessarily that the refs are intentionally doing this sort of thing, but the tendency to reward the flopping player is killing me and the game. I hated it when I played soccer, and I still can't stand it now. Players should be encouraged to play through contact, not to drop like Glass Joe in Mike Tyson's Punchout. Yeah, refs get fooled, but they're professionals.
Why take the toughness out of the game? Similarly, this "suspend someone for one game for crossing the line" smacks of a certain Sobchakian logic: "You're over the line!" What sort of example does this sort of precedent set? There are no gray areas in life? You should not ever take a step toward someone you know to help/defend them if they are attacked?
Charles Barkley said it best (close parahprase): "I had a rule when I was playing too. If I got knocked on my ass and you didn't come out on the court, I was gonna kick your ass later." You're goddamned right, Chuck. Your teammates are your family. You're supposed to jump to their defense. I'm way more concerned if you're not stepping up to my defense than if you are.
In this situation, the players involved (Diaw and Stoudemire) didn't even get to the fracas. They thought better of it/were restrained. They had no effect on what was going on. None. And now they're out? One of them is a "cheese-eatin' surrender-monkey" for crissakes!
Anyway, I'm excited for Game 6 on Friday to see if Amare can bring the one-handed thunder. The Bulls will get demolished on Thursday, btw. Someone made the mistake of waking the Pistons. Also, could someone please send the memo to LeBron that if he goes to the rim that he can foul out the entire Nets team? He'll get every single call so long as the throws himself at the basket. He's got to work on his alpha-dog status.
--
Workout Total:
Leg Circuit (18 min)
15 minute grip workout
15 min core
10 minute wobble board
Monday, May 14
Whatever (I Had a Dream)
"I had a dream last night..."
Upon waking I wasn't sure if it had happened during the Pike Invite or not.
I was marking someone very well. Bouncing lightly on my toes, reading his weight-shifts and eyes. He faked a flick and tried to break me with a high release backhand. Not so fast. I knew it was coming. As he released the disc next to my ear, I shot my hand toward my shoulder (picture flexing your bicep) and clapped the disc between my hand and my shoulder. I stone cold caught it. I was holding the disc onto my shoulder with my hand. Fuck Yes!
Him: "Foul."
Me: "You are a fucking cheater!"
From that point, I went on a rage-fueled rant of Drunken Darling proportions. The things that I said were the worst that you could say to a person. He kept standing there quietly repeating the word 'foul' as I berated him, his ancestry, his girlfriends and anything else about him that came to mind. The word "CHEATER" was not only a centerpiece in my thought process, but it was literally on fire. I could see it in my mind. The word kept growing bigger and burning brighter. Hotter. The Pressure increases. My Volume increases. I keep yelling and the other player keeps repeating 'foul' only softer now.
It is almost as though he's about to cave and let me win. But he doesn't. He starts crying instead. Now he's repeating the word softly and sobbing. My Rage only grows. At long last someone tells me to stop. More like I finally heard the one voice emerge out of the huge crowd of people watching this game who were all telling me to stop. I look around, Righteous Rage fully intact, and realize that the person telling me to stop is none other than evelKeven.
Shocked, I stop. I'm still chock-full-o-rage and want nothing more than to rain fire and brimstone down onto this sinner until he repents, but something clicks. Fer fucksake, if evelKeven is telling me I've gone to far, perhaps I have.
I stop and stare at the player I was marking. I recognize him. I wake up. I have the previously referenced Butthole Surfers song in my head (From Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet, of course). I can still remember his face even now as I type this. I've played against him before and I'll probably play against him again.
When next I see him, I'll not be afraid. I'll know that he'll make a horrible call, but I won't blow my gasket because I've learned that lesson. He won't back down no matter how much hot air I spew. Instead, I will walk a different path. I'll look him dead in the eyes and calmly say "contest," confident that I have already conquered my demon.
One day he too will be challenged, but I will not fill the role of demon in his morality play.
--
Workout Total:
15 Min Max Strength
10 Min Wobble Board
10 Min Core
5 Min Shoulder Rehab
Thursday, May 10
Another Game, Another Win
We took on a group of guys in their late 30s (and up) last night...
With two notable exceptions. One guy was about 6'4" 250 and the other was about 5'11" and very clearly someone who had spent years playing ball. They scored the first couple of baskets and then we were engaged and pulled away as the game progressed.
I had my share of steals and a couple of layups. I also had my shot completely swatted by their big guy on a breakaway. He did a good job of staying far away enough that I couldn't create body contact while remaining close enough to close on me as I went up. We won by ~20 and got called "a bunch of bitches." I'm not at all sure why.
The refs were absolutely favoring the other team in their calls, and admitted as much after the game. "You were KILLING them, we had to try to keep them in it. You kept pressing throughout the game, what did you want us to do?" Well, we kept pressing because it is more fun than letting the game slow down and packing the lane while they clang jumpers.
After I got home, I did the second part of the leg circuit (same as the first) and a quick core workout. Had a salmon fillet for a nice late dinner while watching the Pistons come back and demoralize the Bulls. I hate and love the Pistons all at once. I love Billups, Rip, Prince and Sheed (Maybe Sheed most of all) but CANNOT STAND C-Webb. Such a conflict of interests watching them play.
--
Workout total:
44 min of basketball
20 min leg circuit
15 min core
15 min stretching
10 min shoulder rehab
Tuesday, May 8
Goddamned formats
After reading all of the talk on rsd (again), tarrblog, and more...
The rematches still don't bother me.
What does bother me (as I briefly posted a while back) is the sheer number of games played in a given day. Toss aside the "two games and go home" argument. As Colin writes, you can always schedule more consolation games. The larger issue, exacerbated in a 14 team format, is playing more than 3 games per day.
By making Regionals an endurance test, are we actually selecting the best teams to compete at Nationals? (Necessary disclaimer: The Formats Committee put in tons of hard work and I love y'all for it)
I've looked through the format manual (which is surprisingly interesting, I might add... wait... I mean... I'm not an ultimate nerd, I swear!) and even just looking at the 16 team 1-4 advance formats, some ugly situations can occur. 8 games in 2 days (Most Pool play formats, and on occasion in brackets)? That's so much ultimate! In the 16.2 Pool format, one team in the game-to-go can be on their 2nd game of the day and 6th game of the weekend, while their opponent can be on their 4th game of the day and 8th of the weekend? Just because the original seeding was messed up? Note that this would also be that team's fifth consecutive elimination game as opposed to the other team's first.
Similarly, other formats can be similarly back-breaking in terms of endurance, but are often more considerate in terms of the number of games played (specifically on the same day) by two teams in the game to go.
After looking through the formats and comparing them with the Nationals format (for Club) I feel that there are a couple things that come to mind:
Complicating thoughts:
Anyway, I think that's it for now.
--
Workout Total:
10 min core
15 mintues wobble board
10 minutes shoulder rehab
15 minutes stretching
Monday, May 7
Sundays are the Hardest Days
Well, at least when I'm not at tournament.
I wake up sore, likely planning to do a quick workout in the morning. I don't really want to do anything active past a quick workout because I'm usually exhausted. And that's good, but the desire to cram junk food into my face increases by the hour. I usually manage to eat a solid breakfast and a reasonable lunch, but by about 3pm or so, I have a hard time staying away from making impulse purchases from the uber-convenient, though generally shady, delis of Jersey City.
Ben and Jerry' s taunts me from behind the frost-covered glass. Fuck you, you damn dirty sugar-pedaling hippies!
Pizza, Indian, Thai and Chinese food all beckon me from their easy-to-dial phone numbers. Hell, I can even order that shit online! Meanwhile, Dunkin Donuts (Johnny L's Bagels is closed on Sundays) tries to grab my attention with mass-produced doughy badness and sorry (but still respectable and caffeinated!) coffee.
All of these callings are enhanced by the feeling that I accomplished something at practice the day before. That I can afford to have some bad-for-me food because I worked hard as hell yesterday anddamnitI'mreallyhungry. Of course, I eat well most of the time so why not indulge?
On some Sundays I win, some Sundays I lose. I'm more likely to win if there is football to distract me all day. I'm less likely to win if there is sub-par basketball to distract me. Oddly, if it is a "Lazy Sunday" in true SNL fake-song style, it is easier to resist temptation.
This past Sunday, I lost. That fucking Ben (or was it Jerry?) roped me in with a pint of ice-cream on a sunny day. And then the Thai food came calling. I talked myself down to a seared pepper-tuna salad and an order of fried dumplings, but sticking to the original plan of having my leftover chicken w/ steamed broccoli from the previous night's dinner would have been much better.
I'll teach you yet, Sunday. Maybe not this Sunday, maybe not the next, but soon and for the rest of my life.
--
Workout Total:
20 min Leg Circuit (5 circuits, 30 sec between exercises, 90 seconds between circuits)
10 min core workout
shoulder work
20 min stretching
Friday, May 4
Warriors Move On!
Take that, you giganti-german!
Last night, the Warriors pushed through the Jelly Donut Mavs (that is, sugary-sweet on the outside and soft in the middle) with a classic gut-it-out performance from Baron and a "Nut up, it's the playoffs!" performance by the completely and utterly insane Stephen Jackson. The Mavs wilted under a constant barrage of momentum-changing threes highlighted by cutters slicing through the lane for quick strikes. All of this was amplified by the crushing weight of expectations and the unrelenting energy supplied by the Oakland crowd.
Honestly, the game was over once the Warriors jumped out to the early lead. There's no way that crowd was going to let them lose after that. Let me amend that-- given that Baron Davis came back into the game (no matter how solid Monta Ellis looked, he's no Baron) and was working at 70%, the game was over very early on. The combative crowd combined with the aforementioned Jelly Donut mental makeup of the Cuban constructed Mavericks sealed the deal.
It is interesting to watch Mavs games because their coach, Avery Johnson, was one of the most intense players in the league during his run. He never backed down, always pushed his teammates and willed himself to make the right plays on O and D. Perhaps the reason the Mavs are so weak between the ears is because they're relying on their coach to provide that same tenacity and toughness. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't work that way. That needs to come from a player on the floor. That player's got to push the team to new heights and never accept defeat. He's got to cajole them when the coach can't reach them. He's got to set the example to follow.
Anyway, the Mavs kept looking for someone to lead them, and no one stepped up. Stackhouse made a valiant effort (if you haven't figure it out, I'm a big Stack fan) but he's a bit long in the tooth to a put a team on his back for a full game.
Did the leg circuit tonight in anticipation of practice tomorrow. Gotta work on your day-to-day recovery time from training just like you work on everything else.
--
Workout Total:
Leg Circuit (20 minutes)
Core Workout (20 minutes)
Wednesday, May 2
Philly Invite
At some point today, I was reminded of the Philly Invite which is being held as a part of Lehigh Valley's Sportsfest.
Interestingly, it is not in Philly, nor is it actually an invite, as teams can submit bids.
More to the point, there are a bunch of high-level mixed teams playing, which is exciting, but no Open or Women's which is unfortunate on a number of levels, but most importantly for yours truly, these fields (which are pretty sweet) are walking distance from my brother's apartment and about a 20 minute drive from my parent's place. My original remedy was to attempt to get/find a team of Wicked/Pike et al and go have a good weekend of competition. Won't happen.
Apparently, they don't want to face teams like the Deceptesomethings or whatever other combo teams might form. Why? I don't know. Skurred, most likely. It is too bad-- I would have jumped at the opportunity to play there. Instead, y'all better be prepared for some rude, crude, offensive and very likely unfunny heckling. Or, on the other hand, nothing at all. I might just take a nap instead.
--
Workout total:
15 min Wobble Board
15 min Core Workout
30 min Stretching
Monday, April 30
Release Points
When I was taught to throw anything other than a backhand, I was taught a bunch of bad things:
If I could go back, I might slap the guys who taught me this crap. Admittedly, I wouldn't call myself the best thrower I know, but I am an effective thrower. My lack of experience as a thrower in high-level games hurts me. That is improving with time, and I will get better.
Back to the point, all of these things are crap. I can think of ~ 2 good throwers who use the split finger (definitely the exception). There are occasions to throw your flick low, but for every throw? That's dumb. Pointless pivoting should be a violation. Throwing in the wind is way more complex than the above.
For each of these topics, you'll do much better if you ask questions of better players, and honestly spend some time adjusting the grips and release points to suit your own body mechanics and strengths. It took me until I made Pike to have the time to correct my grip and take the time to think through release points and the implications of having a static release point. Then I just went out with 20 discs (with or without a partner) and threw a minimum of 200 flicks every day for a couple of months. I would usually follow that up with a couple rounds of disc golf using ultimate discs. This did more for my throwing than anything else possibly could have.
They key to it wasn't the time I put in (there are a ton of mediocre throwers who put in the time), it was that I was constantly dissecting everything about what I was doing until I found a "stroke" so to speak that was not only comfortable for me, but from which I could quickly generate power. Each time I neared that, I would stop and reassess to determine if I would be able to vary my release point without drastically changing the arm/wrist motion. This is where something that Idris wrote about years ago (and I heard through Geoff Buhl) of throwing while standing on just your pivot leg. This was a revelation to my throwing motion. I discovered that with a good snap and a quick change of balance, I could throw nearly as far as I could with that ridiculous windup I used previously.
Now, I'm working to perfect that big step-out low release flick. When you combine it with a variable release point, the mark can do just about nothing save for "get lucky" from time to time.
Anyway, I'm definitely rambling, but in the words of Space Ghost on the first Danger doom album: "It's my show."
--
Workout Total:
2 Core Workouts
Upper body Strength
Stretching
Thursday, April 26
Hot Fuzz
Regarding a couple of things...
--
Workout Total:
Limited upper body circuit (to cut down on shoulder stress)
Core workout
Stretching
Wednesday, April 25
Leg Circuit
Did part one of a Leg Circuit ripped straight from Vern Gambetta.
I used this progression last year later in the season (July) before I got into a plyo progression. I found that it really worked well in terms of preparing me for what I was trying to accomplish next. I found that my legs were tired instead of sore during the plyo routines, which is what you're after. You don't want to be dealing with searing pain due to your muscles not being in shape, you want to be dealing with "dead legs" due to working hard.
As planned, the gains from the combination were measurable and effective.
At the same time, I felt that my timing could have been better so that I could include track workouts in the same progression. This year, I'll be doing just that.
In any case, the leg circuit for this week (done twice) is below, and I followed it with one of my favorite diabolical core workouts (also shown)
20 Squats
45 sec rest
20 lunges (10 each leg)
45 sec rest
20 step-ups (10 each leg)
45 sec rest
10 Jump Squats
3 minutes rest
Repeat Thrice Through.
Core Workout:
10 Crunches with 5 sec pause at top
5 Pushups
20 Lying Hip Swings (10 Each Side)
6 Pushups
20 Toe touches (10 Each Side)
7 Pushups
50 Bicycles
8 Pushups
10 Crunches with 5 sec pause at top
9 Pushups
20 Opposite Extend Planks with 2 sec pause (10 Each Side)
10 Pushups
I feel the only exercise that might need explanation is the penultimate core exercise: Start in a pushup position. Simultaneously lift your right arm so that it points straight to 2 o'clock and your left leg so that it points to 8 o'clock. Hold for 2 seconds. Repeat with left arm (10 o'clock) and right leg (4 o'clock).
Very good, if you ask me.
--
Workout Total:
Leg Circuit
Core