Had been far too long since my last workout. Yesterday I did:
0.5 mile warmup jog + stretching
2 mile run
3 * 50 m hill sprints at 5' incline
0.5 mile warm down
Chest felt tight and legs felt tight. I will be doing plenty of fitness this week to get myself back into it before Open Winter League next weekend with Kapow!
Monday 31 December 2012
Wednesday 19 December 2012
Wednesday Gym
Upper body/core workout today. Again didn't have as long as I'd have liked in the gym and usually wouldn't do two days back to back, and usually would do track tonight, but since I had Monday off and have Thursday and Friday off as well this week I thought I'd use the gym when I could and move my track to another day.
Warm up:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main part:
3 * 10 pull ups
3 * 10 press ups (toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball)
3 * 10 sit ups with 12kg kettle bell on chest
3 * 10 bench press (60kg)
3 * 10 hanging leg raises (captains chair, piked legs)
Stretching and foam rolling to warm down
Have an interview tomorrow morning and then a phone interview tomorrow afternoon but since I should be done by about 3 and will be in Basingstoke, I'll hit the track tomorrow afternoon (in the sunlight for once!)
Warm up:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main part:
3 * 10 pull ups
3 * 10 press ups (toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball)
3 * 10 sit ups with 12kg kettle bell on chest
3 * 10 bench press (60kg)
3 * 10 hanging leg raises (captains chair, piked legs)
Stretching and foam rolling to warm down
Have an interview tomorrow morning and then a phone interview tomorrow afternoon but since I should be done by about 3 and will be in Basingstoke, I'll hit the track tomorrow afternoon (in the sunlight for once!)
Tuesday 18 December 2012
Tuesday Gym
Leg session today
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main part:
3 * 10 Full range of motion calf raises (6kg medicine ball *increase*)
3 * 10 1 legged squats (on each leg, 40kg)
3 * 10 split squats (on each leg, 50kg *increase*)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (30kg)
3 * 10 leg press (machine, 41kg)
3 * 10 leg curl (machine, 41kg)
Warmdown:
2 minutes rowing machine (resistance 10) + stretching + foam rolling
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main part:
3 * 10 Full range of motion calf raises (6kg medicine ball *increase*)
3 * 10 1 legged squats (on each leg, 40kg)
3 * 10 split squats (on each leg, 50kg *increase*)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (30kg)
3 * 10 leg press (machine, 41kg)
3 * 10 leg curl (machine, 41kg)
Warmdown:
2 minutes rowing machine (resistance 10) + stretching + foam rolling
Friday 14 December 2012
Friday Gym
Short session today unfortunately. Legs session today to combine with be my upper body/core session and Yoga this week.
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main:
3 * 5 squats (90kg)
3 * 10 split squats (40kg *increase in weight, less reps*)
3 * 10 lunges (30kg)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (30kg)
2 minutes rowing machine (resistance level 10)
Stretching and foam rolling to warm down
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main:
3 * 5 squats (90kg)
3 * 10 split squats (40kg *increase in weight, less reps*)
3 * 10 lunges (30kg)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (30kg)
2 minutes rowing machine (resistance level 10)
Stretching and foam rolling to warm down
Thursday Yoga
Went to Yoga again yesterday.
Did the same exercises with the martial arts belts working on hamstrings/calf and added a bit in that stretched hip flexors and another that worked on quads. We then used the belts in a different exercise to focussing on arm and chest muscles.
Good session again.
Gym today, then weekend off and wind down before Christmas break. I will go to the gym next week on Tuesday and Wednesday and will go to the track at some point next week as well, but after that I won't be going to the gym for a couple of weeks. I will keep active and blog what I'm doing, but it's going to be a bit of a break before the build up to the 2013 season.
Did the same exercises with the martial arts belts working on hamstrings/calf and added a bit in that stretched hip flexors and another that worked on quads. We then used the belts in a different exercise to focussing on arm and chest muscles.
Good session again.
Gym today, then weekend off and wind down before Christmas break. I will go to the gym next week on Tuesday and Wednesday and will go to the track at some point next week as well, but after that I won't be going to the gym for a couple of weeks. I will keep active and blog what I'm doing, but it's going to be a bit of a break before the build up to the 2013 season.
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Tuesday Gym
Skunks Xmas Indoor tournament last weekend, whilst fun, did leave me with a pretty nasty blister on my foot. It's one of the ones that means I walk funny and strain some muscles down the side of my leg from walking funny, so today's gym session was upper body/core focussed. Also, couldn't be too long as my work is being externally audited today...
Warm up:
1 * 15 internal shoulder rotations (9kg) on each arm
1 * 15 external shoulder rotations (9kg) on each arm
Foam rolling + stretching
Main part:
5 * (5 pull ups + 5 Hanging knee raises)
3 * 10 push ups with toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball
3 * 10 sit ups with 12kg kettle bell on chest
3 * 10 bench press (62.5 kg *increase*)
Warm down:
Foam rolling
Can't make track tomorrow as it's my company's xmas meal. The track isn't open to the public on Thursdays and I'm unsure if I can make it on Friday, so may not do any track this week.
Warm up:
1 * 15 internal shoulder rotations (9kg) on each arm
1 * 15 external shoulder rotations (9kg) on each arm
Foam rolling + stretching
Main part:
5 * (5 pull ups + 5 Hanging knee raises)
3 * 10 push ups with toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball
3 * 10 sit ups with 12kg kettle bell on chest
3 * 10 bench press (62.5 kg *increase*)
Warm down:
Foam rolling
Can't make track tomorrow as it's my company's xmas meal. The track isn't open to the public on Thursdays and I'm unsure if I can make it on Friday, so may not do any track this week.
Skunks Xmas tournament!
Great fun weekend just gone! I know it was indoors and I complain, but I can get into more than the partying at a tournament like Skunks Xmas when there's good competition there. I was playing for Team Champagne, made up of players from my University team, mostly established to have a laugh, but also play at a high quality. We usually only go to tournaments hosted in Southampton (for old times sake) to have a laugh and catch up!
Friday night was when it started, with a standard trip to the Hobbit and Jesters, staple drinking establishments from my time at Southampton University.
Saturday saw the group games, there were 20 teams which meant 4 pools of 5 teams. We knew if we topped our group we could leave early and finish no lower than top 8.
Our first game was against a team from Bournemouth, I think they were the Uni team, and as far as I could tell they weren't exclusively first team players. There was a pretty big mismatch in the skill levels between our two teams, slightly balanced out by Team Champagne's collective hangover, but we got the easy win to start the weekend.
Our second game was against "Southern Tekkers", a junior team made of college kids (16-17 years old). As they were pretty young and not hungover, we found it difficult keeping up with their youthful collective speed as a team. I don't know how long they have been playing, but it was obvious they had been taught well as they were good at decision making and had safe hands, but they couldn't keep up with our teams height or experience. We got our second win.
Our third game was against "Probably...", a Southampton based team with a huge wealth of ultimate experience. They came out strong and we came out flat and before we knew it we were down 5-1 with 10 minutes left. We knew we had to start getting blocks and stop giving away the disc cheaply and we did. Converting goal after goal we went ahead 6-5 with just over a minute left. Unfortunately we couldn't shut them down another time and they managed to draw level. 6-6 with under a minute left, and we couldn't get the buzzer beater to get the last second win. This meant that both Champagne and Probably were on 2 wins and a draw after 3 games. Fortunately, we were holding a 7 point better goal differential than them after the three games.
Our fourth game was against "Huck my life" another team made of ex/current Southampton Uni Skunks, like many of the teams at the tournament. We again started slow, but managed to create a lead at 4-3. After then we switched it on to take the game by a comfortable margin and take the goal differential for our team up to +26 after 4 games. Probably were on +13 after 3 games which meant that if they wanted to win the group, they would need to win their final game against "Southern Tekkers" by a score of 14-0 or 15-1 as there was a 15 point score cap. Southern Tekkers played a good game, and kept it close, only losing by a couple of points in the end which meant that Champagne avoided an end of the day crossover and got to leave early.
Being the rockstars we all are, we used this time to have a 2 hour nap to recharge our batteries for the Saturday night party. What was even better, was that before we left, we also learnt that the Tournament Directors had put back the morning games so that everyone could have a lie-in! Bonus!
Saturday night: Jesters again... Standard!
Sunday started with a quarter final for Champagne against "Dixie Wrecked", a Portsmouth/Southampton based team. We knew it would be tough, but somehow our team wasn't too hungover after two nights out in a row and started the day by playing our best game all weekend (up to that point) and taking the game.
Our Semi final was against "JizzMonkeys", who again are partly Southampton based but also mixed with players from Bristol. Again, a talented team fell to a Champagne team refusing to let their hedonistic ways catch up with them. The monkeys were unfortunately short on subs which meant that when we started pulling away they couldn't draw it back. We made some big plays in the air to maintain our lead and booked our place in the final over the monkeys who were runners up in last years Skunks Xmas tournament.
We then lounged around watching Manchester United v Manchester City for a couple of hours before meeting "Dyn-O-Mite" in the final. Dyn-O-Mite are based around the Southampton Uni Skunks first team from the last few years, in what has been the most successful run of results for the Skunks in a long time, with constant Division 1 National qualifications and top 4 finishes. They are well drilled and athletic and their average height is probably about 6 foot 3. We had some tall players on our team, but they definitely had the advantage.
We started playing strong but not too smart and went down a couple of points. We were giving them the disc and not getting it back, and they were too talented to give it up themselves. We got our heads in after a block and put in our first score. The thirty minute game (pretty long for indoors) meant that we could keep enough pressure on them and a 3 point lead wasn't as tough to overcome as it would usually be indoors. They tried to slow us down by playing a bit of zone, but we found the holes fairly easily enough and I don't think they got any blocks on us playing zone. Everyone on Champagne stepped up and when it came down to the last minute, Dyn-O-Mite were only up by a point. They threw away with 30 seconds left and put all but 1 of their players on the endzone line. We put our three tallest players in the end zone, which allowed our two handlers to work around the one chase. And with the clock down to 3 seconds another buzzer beater was put into the corner of the endzone to our tallest player. Unfortunately the combination of a small space to put the disc and strong pressure from the defender stopped our attempt to send it to Overtime and Sudden Death, but we all knew that we had played a good game against tough opposition.
In the end, we played some high quality ultimate in a tournament we enter each year for a laugh with mates before Xmas, and everyone left on a high, wishing only that the weekend had lasted a bit longer.
Friday night was when it started, with a standard trip to the Hobbit and Jesters, staple drinking establishments from my time at Southampton University.
Saturday saw the group games, there were 20 teams which meant 4 pools of 5 teams. We knew if we topped our group we could leave early and finish no lower than top 8.
Our first game was against a team from Bournemouth, I think they were the Uni team, and as far as I could tell they weren't exclusively first team players. There was a pretty big mismatch in the skill levels between our two teams, slightly balanced out by Team Champagne's collective hangover, but we got the easy win to start the weekend.
Our second game was against "Southern Tekkers", a junior team made of college kids (16-17 years old). As they were pretty young and not hungover, we found it difficult keeping up with their youthful collective speed as a team. I don't know how long they have been playing, but it was obvious they had been taught well as they were good at decision making and had safe hands, but they couldn't keep up with our teams height or experience. We got our second win.
Our third game was against "Probably...", a Southampton based team with a huge wealth of ultimate experience. They came out strong and we came out flat and before we knew it we were down 5-1 with 10 minutes left. We knew we had to start getting blocks and stop giving away the disc cheaply and we did. Converting goal after goal we went ahead 6-5 with just over a minute left. Unfortunately we couldn't shut them down another time and they managed to draw level. 6-6 with under a minute left, and we couldn't get the buzzer beater to get the last second win. This meant that both Champagne and Probably were on 2 wins and a draw after 3 games. Fortunately, we were holding a 7 point better goal differential than them after the three games.
Our fourth game was against "Huck my life" another team made of ex/current Southampton Uni Skunks, like many of the teams at the tournament. We again started slow, but managed to create a lead at 4-3. After then we switched it on to take the game by a comfortable margin and take the goal differential for our team up to +26 after 4 games. Probably were on +13 after 3 games which meant that if they wanted to win the group, they would need to win their final game against "Southern Tekkers" by a score of 14-0 or 15-1 as there was a 15 point score cap. Southern Tekkers played a good game, and kept it close, only losing by a couple of points in the end which meant that Champagne avoided an end of the day crossover and got to leave early.
Being the rockstars we all are, we used this time to have a 2 hour nap to recharge our batteries for the Saturday night party. What was even better, was that before we left, we also learnt that the Tournament Directors had put back the morning games so that everyone could have a lie-in! Bonus!
Saturday night: Jesters again... Standard!
Sunday started with a quarter final for Champagne against "Dixie Wrecked", a Portsmouth/Southampton based team. We knew it would be tough, but somehow our team wasn't too hungover after two nights out in a row and started the day by playing our best game all weekend (up to that point) and taking the game.
Our Semi final was against "JizzMonkeys", who again are partly Southampton based but also mixed with players from Bristol. Again, a talented team fell to a Champagne team refusing to let their hedonistic ways catch up with them. The monkeys were unfortunately short on subs which meant that when we started pulling away they couldn't draw it back. We made some big plays in the air to maintain our lead and booked our place in the final over the monkeys who were runners up in last years Skunks Xmas tournament.
We then lounged around watching Manchester United v Manchester City for a couple of hours before meeting "Dyn-O-Mite" in the final. Dyn-O-Mite are based around the Southampton Uni Skunks first team from the last few years, in what has been the most successful run of results for the Skunks in a long time, with constant Division 1 National qualifications and top 4 finishes. They are well drilled and athletic and their average height is probably about 6 foot 3. We had some tall players on our team, but they definitely had the advantage.
We started playing strong but not too smart and went down a couple of points. We were giving them the disc and not getting it back, and they were too talented to give it up themselves. We got our heads in after a block and put in our first score. The thirty minute game (pretty long for indoors) meant that we could keep enough pressure on them and a 3 point lead wasn't as tough to overcome as it would usually be indoors. They tried to slow us down by playing a bit of zone, but we found the holes fairly easily enough and I don't think they got any blocks on us playing zone. Everyone on Champagne stepped up and when it came down to the last minute, Dyn-O-Mite were only up by a point. They threw away with 30 seconds left and put all but 1 of their players on the endzone line. We put our three tallest players in the end zone, which allowed our two handlers to work around the one chase. And with the clock down to 3 seconds another buzzer beater was put into the corner of the endzone to our tallest player. Unfortunately the combination of a small space to put the disc and strong pressure from the defender stopped our attempt to send it to Overtime and Sudden Death, but we all knew that we had played a good game against tough opposition.
In the end, we played some high quality ultimate in a tournament we enter each year for a laugh with mates before Xmas, and everyone left on a high, wishing only that the weekend had lasted a bit longer.
Friday 7 December 2012
Friday Gym
Good session today! Felt good coming out the basement, got back to my desk and the sun is shining over London Town! Only 4 hours left of work and tonight is gonna be a fun start to a great weekend! All is good!
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main session:
3 * 10 pull ups (left them until the end this week, made them harder!)
3 * 10 push ups w/ toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball
3 * 10 sit ups (15kg kettle bell on chest *increase*)
3 * 10 bench press (55kg *increase from last week*)
3 * 5 squats (90kg *increase back to max*)
3 * 10 lunges (40kg *increase*)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (40kg *increase*)
Warm down:
2 minutes on the cross trainer + stretching + foam rolling
Warmup:
5 minute run + stretching + foam rolling
Main session:
3 * 10 pull ups (left them until the end this week, made them harder!)
3 * 10 push ups w/ toes balanced on 55cm swiss ball
3 * 10 sit ups (15kg kettle bell on chest *increase*)
3 * 10 bench press (55kg *increase from last week*)
3 * 5 squats (90kg *increase back to max*)
3 * 10 lunges (40kg *increase*)
3 * 10 lateral lunges (40kg *increase*)
Warm down:
2 minutes on the cross trainer + stretching + foam rolling
Thursday 6 December 2012
Thursday Yoga
Second week in a row that the session started with a good hamstring/calf stretch. Again it was tough and I could really feel it working in an area where I really need to improve my flexibility and suppleness.
Also included in today's session was the "Half Moon" pose (info here) which was also pretty tough but felt good.
I think the Yoga instructor is starting to push the group now that newer people aren't showing up (there was a recent intake of new graduates and there were a couple of weeks where some new people showed up), which I'm all for!
Friday means Gym day (will have to work hard to make up for missing the Gym on Tuesday when I had to work through lunch), and then this weekend I'll be having a little fun at the Southampton University Ultimate Club annual December tournament: Skunks Xmas! It's more for the party's than the ultimate, and it is Indoors, but should be a laugh!
Also included in today's session was the "Half Moon" pose (info here) which was also pretty tough but felt good.
I think the Yoga instructor is starting to push the group now that newer people aren't showing up (there was a recent intake of new graduates and there were a couple of weeks where some new people showed up), which I'm all for!
Friday means Gym day (will have to work hard to make up for missing the Gym on Tuesday when I had to work through lunch), and then this weekend I'll be having a little fun at the Southampton University Ultimate Club annual December tournament: Skunks Xmas! It's more for the party's than the ultimate, and it is Indoors, but should be a laugh!
Wednesday 5 December 2012
Wednesday night track
(All running done with my 1lb wrist weights)
Warmup:
800m and stretching
Main routine:
2 * 25m sprint -> walk back -> 50m sprint -> walk back -> 75m sprint -> jog back -> 100m sprint
5 minutes rest
I did this 3 times
Warm down:
400m and stretching
Been working on that thing I teased earlier in the week! Excited!
Warmup:
800m and stretching
Main routine:
2 * 25m sprint -> walk back -> 50m sprint -> walk back -> 75m sprint -> jog back -> 100m sprint
5 minutes rest
I did this 3 times
Warm down:
400m and stretching
Been working on that thing I teased earlier in the week! Excited!
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Recent developments
The last few days have been pretty intense for me. I found out on Friday morning that Pichler wanted me to be a talent evaluator at the Ka-Pow! Combine (officially named the trials weekend) because I was guaranteed a roster spot for next season. I'd been psyching myself up all week and whilst I was looking forward more to running around, rather than standing around, there is no confidence boost quite like that of knowing someone with that much experience and talent has confidence in you.
Saturday was a day of skills tests. There were four people evaluating the participants.
Pichler was looking at offensive receiving/upfield play which included huck receiving in the first major drill and cutting/throwing a continuation break in the second major drill.
I was looking at defense which included defending hucks, and then a combination of forcing and man marking/attempting to stop the continuation break in the second drill.
Pringle was looking at throwing, which included throwing hucks and then breaking a mark on the second major drill.
Dave Tyler was the last talent scout, and was running the athletic ability tests which included a straight line speed test, a short distance cutting/turning speed test, a middle distance cutting/turning speed test and some tests for plyometric ability.
After the drills, only 20 ish minutes remained of our day and so we set up some pitches and just played games. The scouts were just keeping an eye on people without taking notes.
After the day, we had about 3/4 sheets each filled with numbers which Pichler gathered into a spreadsheet.
The Sunday was games based after the drills based Saturday and Pichler, DT and I were the captains of the triallists, who were split into three teams. Each of us had one of the zones we had used last season and, after a brief recap of them, the three teams separated to be taught them, run through them to get the idea of positioning and then play games to three points where the defense always set up their zone to run down with. The idea behind this was to attempt to gain an insight into how quickly players would grasp some zones which are beyond the conventional set played by most teams, both playing in them and against them. Each team had to adapt their play to the zones being played by the other teams, which they may have never seen before and the results were very positive.
After that, two pitches were set up and players were encouraged to switch pitches and shirts in order for them to get experience playing with lots of different people and to give the three captains a chance to get to see everyone.
After that, the scouts headed to get a coffee, and thus begun a very long discussion on the past two days.
There were very interesting points raised by the different captains and I was surprised at how many differing opinions there were of some players. After a couple of hours, a couple of hot drinks and plenty of tough evaluation we had trimmed down the triallists to definite selections, players we wanted to invite to re-trial and definite cuts.
There were some very tough calls due to the high standard. During this week the conversations have continued off the back of the spreadsheet filled with stats and some people have moved between the three distinctions. Emails will be sent soon and then the hard work continues.
Another exciting development for my ultimate career, which I will only tease here, there may be multiple ways in the future to read my ramblings on the internet regarding Ultimate.
Saturday was a day of skills tests. There were four people evaluating the participants.
Pichler was looking at offensive receiving/upfield play which included huck receiving in the first major drill and cutting/throwing a continuation break in the second major drill.
I was looking at defense which included defending hucks, and then a combination of forcing and man marking/attempting to stop the continuation break in the second drill.
Pringle was looking at throwing, which included throwing hucks and then breaking a mark on the second major drill.
Dave Tyler was the last talent scout, and was running the athletic ability tests which included a straight line speed test, a short distance cutting/turning speed test, a middle distance cutting/turning speed test and some tests for plyometric ability.
After the drills, only 20 ish minutes remained of our day and so we set up some pitches and just played games. The scouts were just keeping an eye on people without taking notes.
After the day, we had about 3/4 sheets each filled with numbers which Pichler gathered into a spreadsheet.
The Sunday was games based after the drills based Saturday and Pichler, DT and I were the captains of the triallists, who were split into three teams. Each of us had one of the zones we had used last season and, after a brief recap of them, the three teams separated to be taught them, run through them to get the idea of positioning and then play games to three points where the defense always set up their zone to run down with. The idea behind this was to attempt to gain an insight into how quickly players would grasp some zones which are beyond the conventional set played by most teams, both playing in them and against them. Each team had to adapt their play to the zones being played by the other teams, which they may have never seen before and the results were very positive.
After that, two pitches were set up and players were encouraged to switch pitches and shirts in order for them to get experience playing with lots of different people and to give the three captains a chance to get to see everyone.
After that, the scouts headed to get a coffee, and thus begun a very long discussion on the past two days.
There were very interesting points raised by the different captains and I was surprised at how many differing opinions there were of some players. After a couple of hours, a couple of hot drinks and plenty of tough evaluation we had trimmed down the triallists to definite selections, players we wanted to invite to re-trial and definite cuts.
There were some very tough calls due to the high standard. During this week the conversations have continued off the back of the spreadsheet filled with stats and some people have moved between the three distinctions. Emails will be sent soon and then the hard work continues.
Another exciting development for my ultimate career, which I will only tease here, there may be multiple ways in the future to read my ramblings on the internet regarding Ultimate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)