Alright, moving on. Despite the addition of some garbage food and getting less sleep than usual on Sunday night, I felt pretty good for most of the day Monday. I recruited two of my buddies to join me for this leg-crusher. Special thanks to Chad and Ninja for helping me get through it.
- Concentric only back squat with bands (lifted off rack from bottom position @ max speed for power development)
- 135 x 3
- 185 x 3
- 225 x 3
- 245 x 1
- 265 x 1
- 275 x 1
- Deep front squat with "front rack" position
- 135 x 8
- 186 x 6
- 225 x 4
- 245 x 3
- 265 x 2
- Failed at 275 - arms dropped forward
- Metcon - 6 rounds, began every 100 seconds (0:00, 1:40, 3:20,...)
- 10 GHD back extensions
- 10 deep squats - 135#
- 15 med ball cherry pickers (each side) - 12# ball
Today's focus was geared toward developing power out of the bottom position of the squat. This was not a max effort, per se; I could have pushed more weight, but the speed really slowed down around 275, indicating I had reached peak power (Power = work performed / change in time). I had never actually performed front squats with any load greater than 255, so given that I had begun to fatigue the larger motor units with the power squats, I was pretty happy to have completed 2 reps at 265 yesterday. Failure at 275 resulted from lack of "front rack" flexibility, which I have already indicated that I need to improve. The metcon was fairly tough; leg and lower back really fatigue set in around the 3rd round but I plugged away and finished the 6th round just as quickly as the first - don't know if this would have been possible without the cherry pickers, as they helped decompress the spine. Each round took me about 72-73 seconds to complete so I had just enough time to catch by breath between sets.
It seems I've grown accustomed to having a banana and a quarter pound of turkey breast as my post-workout fast-breaker. It's a quick and tasty shot of carbs and protein, and yesterday it held me over enough to get home and make my new favorite egg-white pancake.
7:30PM - For this one I beat 2 cups of liquid egg whites into a meringue with a pinch of cream or tartar. I then it into a lightly coconut-oiled frying pan and baked at 350* for 15 minutes or so. Once the "pancake" deflated, I flipped it onto a plate and topped it with fresh blueberries and 2 steamed sweet potatoes mashed with cocoa powder and cinnamon. Delicious.
9:00PM - 6 oz. tuna steak seasoned and sauteed in coconut oil to medium-rare; a "few" steamed veggies with salt-free mustard and balsamic vinegar. Took daily vitamins.
I have to admit that I had a little trouble finishing both of these meals. Granted they weighed as much as the average newborn (combined) and contained a fair amount of fiber, but I estimate the calorie level as too low for my training needs. I definitely exceeded maintenance on Sunday, so I'll be ok there as long as I feed the machine properly the rest of the week.
I slept fairly well, and felt really strong during 400m Woodway sprints during my morning session. I started each of 6 sets every 4 minutes and 30 seconds, which was about a 2:1 rest:work interval as the sets took me just over 1:30 on average. That amount of rest provided better recovery than expected and I was able to increase my speed as the workout progressed. Next time I'll start at a faster pace. Here are my paces:
- 2 x 10.2mph
- 1 x 10.4
- 1 x 10.6
- 1 x 10.8
- 1 x 11.0
I can already tell I'm going to be wicked sore tomorrow and I'm looking forward to another recovery day. But first I've got to train dirty, eat clean, and sleep like a baby. I'm dedicating this one to world peace - because when you say it (or write it with flashlights), people totally stop killing each other.
*On a side note: I thought the halftime show was pretty solid overall, but that Madonna's lip syncing and erratic "dancing" were downright embarrassing. Am I alone on this?
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