Topic: PROBVictory's Training Log

[PROBVictory]

BLUF:  I am completely new to this Art/Sport/Way of Life, and will attempt to give as much of myself to it as my Wife, Child, Job, and God allows.  I am in the ARMY serving in Iraq, and want to make the best of my “free time.”  And hopefully start some lasting workout habits to maintain some form of physical prowess. As the Soldiers around me become increasingly infatuated with Cross-fit, I have a hard time doing, what appears to be randomized workout routines, with no end other than being able to do more sets the next time around.  I understand the benefits, but cannot bring myself to commit to something without tangible purpose.  Enter Parkour and Free-running.  A workout with achievable tangible goals; something to keep my mind occupied and my body fit.  Seeing as how it started as a military practice it seems only fitting that I should pursue it.  And with that my dear friends, I submit myself to PK.
I intend this Journal to be a record of my progress, and a way to hold myself accountable for when I try and sham out of working out.

I am 27 years old, 188lbs, 70inches tall
My last PT test was 1515min 2 mile, 76 pushups and 87 sit-ups

My Current goals are to:
 Increase my core strength
Decrease my runtime by a minute
Decrease my “tanker padding” around the midsection
Increase my push-ups by 4
Complete the PK Warm-up in less that 15mins, w/o stalling on the Quad movement.

“The Horse is Made Ready for the Day of Battle, But Victory Rests in the Lord”

[PROBVictory]

DAY 1:  Getting Familiar with PK
Intent:  Complete APK-Warmup in less than 20 MINs, Assess Physical Fitness
Workout Plan:
APK-Warmup <Henceforth referred to as APKWU> consisting of:
   3 Rounds
         15 Squats <used board to ensure knees did not pass toes>
         10 Pull-ups
         10 Pushups
         5 Samson Stretches
  3 Rounds LADDER DRILLS
        High Knees 1 step per rung
        High Knees 2 steps per rung
        Side Steps 2 steps per rung <must remember to switch orientation next time>
        High Knees Backwards 2 steps per rung
        Butt kickers 1 Step per rung
5 rounds
       3 Burpies
       30seconds Quadra pedal movement

Assessment:  Completed APKWU in 1545mins(room to improve; first 2 rounds of pull-ups w/o kiping last round had to Kip, the pushups and burpies were no problem <thank you Uncle Sam>  but the Quad Movement was difficult to sustain for 30seconds straight.
End State: Stick a fork in me…..  out of breath but still alive.

[Spencer B]

What's wrong with Crossfit? 

Seriously though, glad to have you here man! Log looks pretty good right now.

As for your goals...

My Current goals are to:
 Increase my core strength
Decrease my runtime by a minute
Decrease my “tanker padding” around the midsection
Increase my push-ups by 4
Complete the PK Warm-up in less that 15mins, w/o stalling on the Quad movement.

1. Can be done easily through gymnastic holds or proper regimen of weightlifting.

2. How far can you currently run. IMO you don't really need to be able to run further than 5k, and after that it's about actually shaving down how long you run.

3. I'm guessing you mean you want to lose some BF... What's is your current percentage?

4. Endurance goal I'm guessing. This one shouldn't be too hard, but for the sake of the goal, what is your current max?

5. Cool.

[PROBVictory]

1. Pretty Much figured the general exercises that PK requires will ensure that.

2.  Not an issue of how far I can run, I have never had to run further than 10miles, but on avg I do 2.5-4; the army requires a 2mile run as part of thier PT test which is what this goal was specifically aimed for.

3. Still need to check on the BF%, kinda hard out here to find calipers and the system the army uses is less than accurate

4.  Never really done all out max on push up normally just did 2mins timed,  I know with those perfect pushup things its about 50.

5. This goal is what I lIke to call a primary goal, once I complete it I will move on to the next step.

thanks for the advice

[PROBVictory]

DAY 2: Continue to build……..

Intent:   Complete APKWU in less than 20 MIN, Complete WOD

Workout Plan:
APKWU
WOD:  10x 100m w/45sec rest
   **unable to get a 100m area, had to do ~25m shuttle run <basketball court>

Assessment:  started out after a long day, not in the most motivated mental state.  I was tempted to call it a “rest day” not for reasons of muscle soreness, but of just being dog tired from work.  Needless to say, in my mind I called myself a “weak body” and shamed myself into working out.

APKWU was completed in less than 20mins, I thought I started the stopwatch but turns out I forgot until after the first set.  So the time was off estimated complete time was around 16mins <I don’t remember if I included the burpies the last time I timed it> judging by the amount of time it took this time I don’t think I did.   Pull-ups required Kipping after the first set.  Pushups were diamond style and no problem.   Kept continuous quad movement until the last round <only 3 rounds today; forgot to do the last two because I only intended to do 3 yesterday but I never adjusted my sheet…. :- / > but still was an improvement over last time.  Tells me I really need to work on my legs.

WOD: Trying to do a 25m shuttle run <total 100m per time>  really screws up the time.  But then again it was 2230 at night and the only place to do was in the lit basketball court.  Completed the 10 sets w/45sec rest between in 11mins 6 sec.  I won’t lie I slipped a few times, but recovered before I hit my face to the ground. <freaking dusty court>

End State: Legs feel kinda sore and the ankles are a little tight, my face was beet red, but typing this 2 hours later I feel pretty good except for my lower back which still feels a little tight.


"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 3: Two Half Workouts?…….

Intent:  Complete APKWU in less than 20 MIN, Complete WOD

Workout Plan:

APKWU

WOD:  Max pull-ups 1min ladder

   **since I am in Iraq, and the WOD doesn’t come out until what is evening here, I will be doing the WOD for the previous day from now on.****

Assessment:  Totally motivated to work out today, unfortunately not a lot of time in my schedule.  Ended up having to split my workout into 2 parts, the APKWU before dinner, and the WOD at around 0130hrs after patrol.

APKWU was completed in 14:41mins, total.  Still stalling on the quad movement.  I dread tomorrow’s WOD  - 20mins Quad Movement 

WOD: So it is 0130 just finished traveling for about 45mins, down dark and stinky Iraqi Roads, drop my Body Armor, and debrief my guys, change and head for the pull-up bar.  After about 5min my left elbow started to hurt.  Oh well drive on, ended up with 9mins and 6 pull-ups at the 10min mark.  First 5-6mins were straight arm pull-ups, last ones were kipping.  Future goal:  Make it to ten.

End State: Ankles still feel tight after working out, not sure why… any suggestions to loosen them?

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 4: Concrete, Scorpions and Twisted Wood
Intent:   Complete APKWU in less than 15 MIN, Complete WOD
Workout Plan:
APKWU

WOD:  20mins Quad Movement

Assessment:  Looking forward to attempt makeshift catbalance, only to once again be smote by Fortune.

APKWU: was completed in 14:54mins, total.  Arms are still tired from yesterdays Pull-ups.  Still stalling on the quad movement. 
WOD: Broke the workout down to 5min and 30 sec intervals, where I tried to focus on certain types of quad movement the first being cat balance.  I used what I had available and at my Out Post I had some 4x4s, unfortunately they are Iraqi 4x4s which mean they were completely warped and twisted, about halfway down the 20ft board, the board turned, and I was flung off balance.  This happened quite a few times, until I decided to cut my losses and just use half the board, but by the time I got the hang of it I was off the board again.
The second set I worked on KONG movement, not fun on concrete, extremely difficult to do when you are afraid of busting your face open on the pavement. <it was either concrete or gravel>
Third set was the gallop, did this fairly well, even though my legs were pretty tired, the concrete also puts a lot of pressure on the wrists,  this was interrupted by a scorpion patrolling through my movement lane.  Paused, reflected on the direction my life is going and how we are connecting in this world, and promptly squished the poisonous beast.
The last set was standard movement.  Utilized the agility ladder I made to try and focus on keeping a tighter center of balance.

End State: God I wish there was some grass here.

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 5: Blessed Rest
Intent:  Give body chance to recover <mainly legs>
Workout Plan: n/a

Assessment: Spent the day doing meetings and paperwork, followed by a 5hour “Mandatory Fun time”  there are worse things to do, but standing for 5 hours trying to watch MMA fights among hundreds of other soldiers, can get kinda annoying especially since all you can normally see once they hit the ground is the feet of the people grappling. 

End State: Kinda feel like a sh*tbag for not working out today, but I am sure I will make it up tommorrow

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 6: Finally a gym with padding!
Intent:  Complete APKWU in less than 15 MIN, Complete WOD
Workout Plan:
APKWU

WOD:  Margaret <Cindy’s Ugly Cousin>
20mins
5x L-Pull-ups
10x Dive-Bomber Push-ups
15x  Jump Squats

Assessment:  Doesn’t seem like much, but rest assured I was smoked

APKWU was completed in 13:49, total.  Elbow hurts, If this continues I will go see the medic. I used a 45lb bar with my squats, will probably continue this for forms sake <and I get less stares at the gym <I get enough with the Samson stretches and quad movement. The Quad movement kicks my butt every time.  But at least this time I was able to do some Kong movement without fear of busting open my face and skull.   The makeshift agility ladder I made of 550 card and duct tape worth every minute of time it took me to make it.  It also helps focus my quad movement.

WOD: 20mins never seems to end.  Only was able to do 6 sets and an extra set of L-Pull-ups
The form of my L pull-ups could use some work, half the time they ended up looking like I was sitting on a flying carpet with my legs crossed.  Every time I got to the top I seemed to swing awkwardly.  But overall not too bad for my first attempt <or at least I think so>
Dive Bombers, seemed to hurt the most. I think it was because all the blood rushed to my head.  God save me when I start handstand pushups.
Jump squats. Difficult to keep knees from going past the ankles,  and keeping the back straight, I guess that is part of practice though.

End State: I really didn’t think the Dive bombers would be the thing that hurt the most………..

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 7: WET FLOORS!!!
Intent:  Rest day according to the schedule
Workout Plan:
APKWU
2mins Situps unsupported
Alleyman Special
   30-4count byciles
   30- crunches
   30-Washing Machines
   30-Vcrunches

Assessment: today was a basic rest day, did the warm-up for posterities’ sake followed by some abdomen exercises, to ensure my sit-up score stays good. 
APKWU-The floors at the gym were soaking, was planning on running 2 miles, but when your socks are soaked through and it is a rest day you tend to lose the motivation….

End State: wonder what’s on the plate for tomorrow……. Am brining a friend to do the workout…. I hope it’s hard.

PS…..for all you voyeurs, you can comment on my postings……..I don’t mind the criticism or comments
"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 8: Beginning of week 2…Where the hell is the WOD?
Intent:  Bring a friend to smoke day.
Workout Plan:
APKWU
WOD from a while ago:
100pushups with 100m sprints each time you stop pushing for more than 10sec, for time

Assessment: Young Blake <my work-out buddy de-jour> was surprised that after the warm-up there was still more.  But to his credit he completed all task
APKWU: a little slow because I had another person working in with me, but it got the heart going.  On the plus side I didn’t stall until the end of the 3rd set of quad movement
WOD:  total time 4:53, w/ 4 sprints <50, 20,10,10,10>  eh I was hoping for better, To Blake’s credit he actually beat me on the WOD by a minute.

End State: hope by tomorrow they will have workout of the day,

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 9: A Humbling Experience
Intent:  Practice some core skills
Workout Plan:
APKWU
WOD: Strength skills work: Handstand/Planche
20mins of combined psudo-pushups, handstands, frog planche pre-cursor
Assessment: wow, I have a ton of work to do.  But what should I expect it is only the second week
APKWU: no longer timed, focus on quad movement skills
WOD: spent 10 mins on psudo-push-ups and frog planche <never lasted more than 10 seconds balanced.  But at least I know where to start from.
Last 10 mins were attempted head stands <to later lead to hand stands>  15 seconds was max which I find is extremely difficult when practicing in a 20ft by 8ft Container Housing Unit <CHU>

End State: This just shows me how much I have to work on my balance and upper body strength.  Can’t wait to get home and get the ability practice these things more often.

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 10: One Hard CORE workout
Intent:  CORE strengthening
Workout Plan:
APKWU
WOD:
10 x :20 L-sit at the top of the minute (:20 L-sit, :40 rest)
3 x max rep Kipping Pull-Ups . Rest 3:00 between max attempts
Assessment: Pull-ups ended up with disappointing results…. Guess the 30 at the beginning didn’t help.
APKWU: traded standard 10 pushups for pseudo-Pushups
WOD: did modified L Sit, <bent the knees so it looked like I was sitting in a chair, the equipment I had precluded my attempts at a full L sit. Still this was extremely difficult and after 4 sets my arms were shaking.
Pull-ups yielded 13-10-11 <I stopped once I lost momentum.  Had difficulty stopping the swinging motion between pull-ups.  Elbow started hurting again….. wonder if my technique is questionable..

End State: I am defiantly what one would call a “work in progress”

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 11: No place to run………Intent:  Set Baseline for Tabata Squats
Workout Plan: had to substitute the standard WOD <4x400m for time>  for a older WOD, since I am in Sector and have no place to run.
APKWU
WOD: Tabata Squats: For each of 8 rounds, perform squats at max-effort for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest, for a total of 4 minutes. Your score will be the lowest total squats of any one round.
Assessment: I really didn’t think I would feel the burn in 4 mins…but yeah, I definitely feel the burning.
APKWU: Keeping pseudo-Pushups, added butt kicker to standard Burpie.
WOD: took a second to get my groove but I averaged about 17 across the boards but my score was 15
<17-20-18-17-17-17-15-18> kept my focus on pushing up from the heel, and not letting my knees pass my toes.
End State: defiantly harder than it looks. 

"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." – Thucydides

[PROBVictory]

DAY 12: Blessed Rest
Intent:  Give body chance to recover
Workout Plan: APKWU

Assessment: SUCCESS!!!! Finally managed to do the 5 sets of burpies and quad movement without stalling <barely>  we shall see if it was a fluke…… not a bad rest day if I do say so myself…… 

End State: Considering working on minor PK skills…..but then again it is 2200hrs

[PROBVictory]

DAY 13: Fortune favors those who seize opportunity…
Intent:  make-up missed work out day due to lack of facilities
Workout Plan:
 APKWU
WOD: 4 x 400m run, each for time. Rest as needed between efforts in order to be fully recovered for the next run

Assessment:
APKWU:  tried to focus on QUAD KONG Movement since I had the gym area to myself, still trying to get the hang of it, I think I am bringing my knees up to far, although one time I missed the plant with my hand and ended up doing a pretty nice roll.
WOD: Still have no measured track to speak of an the ambient temp was only 110degrees……. So I used the treadmill inside limited by the speed of the treadmill and the 15 seconds it takes to get up to full speed  ended up with the following results for the 4 times:  1:27, 1:26, 1:25, 1:23
End State: decided to get frisky and try my luck at a headstand, yeah progressed a little too fast and tweaked my neck…. Lesson learned… small steps…small steps… <either that or I am just getting old>

[Spencer B]

End State: decided to get frisky and try my luck at a headstand, yeah progressed a little too fast and tweaked my neck…. Lesson learned… small steps…small steps… <either that or I am just getting old>

Better off doing skill work like handstands or headstands before your workout. I would bet that's what it did it.

[PROBVictory]

DAY 14: Those who do not rest….well they get really tired
Intent:  BUSY WORK DAY NO TIME FOR PT
Workout Plan:
“Feel like a dirtbag all day”

Assessment:
Was hoping to have time for at least the APKWU  no such luck…….  Something about being deployed and Being a soldier 24/7 kinda takes up a lot of your time….  But at least mission and meetings went well always a plus when you are productive.
End State: two weeks down still in the intial conditioning phase, 2 more to go before I start focusing more on PK moves/techniques <beyond the basic>

 
DAY 15: 2/3 workout
Intent:  Complete fast 5.5
Workout Plan:
 APKWU
"Fast-55 v. 1.1" 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 rep rounds of the following for time:
Pull-Ups
Burpies
Handstand Push-Ups <unable to do a handstand alone, and have no solid wall or partner to do it with, will for-go this for now and research alternative methods later>

Assessment:
APKWU:  My Quad movement is much better as I see my endurance for it going up daily.  Pull-ups are about avg, but much easier than when I began.
WOD: took me a total of 13:33 to complete the Burpies and pull-ups, pull-ups stayed pretty stong throughout, burpies wore me down quite a bit, I didn’t realize how much of a cardio vascular exercise this is.  I was primarily focusing on completion of this work out, not overly concerned with time,  took breaks after every 2 sets, in order to catch my breath.  Eh you have to start somewhere….
End State: Researched a few alternatives to handstand pushups: raised pushups, triangle pushups <butt way up in the air> seemed to be the most recommended, obviously somewhere with enough room to do it against a wall or with a friend would be best, but I work with what I got.  Any other suggestions?

 
DAY 16: I hate Treadmills
Intent:  Run 5k..
Workout Plan:
Run 5k for time
APKWU

Assessment: Did the run first, to ensure I stayed motivated enough to do it.
WOD: ran 3.1 miles <5k> according to the treadmill.  The first half of it was at a #3 incline and the last 10th of a mile was at a #9 incline…I think it means for every foot it is 9inches high…. All I do know is that going at a high rate of speed at a # 9 incline after 3 miles…..not fun and extremely hard to stay balanced.  Completed the run in 25:10, which personally I am a little disappointed in myself,  at VMI 3 miles never seemed like that much.  Of course then I could run outside, in the nice Virginia air…… not in a stifled gym.  I really don’t like treadmills.
APKWU:  Ground Kongs are getting better and easier to do. I would get my video camera and tape myself to see if I am doing them correctly…but they are not allowed inside the gym…….son-of-a--------

End State: did I mention I really hate treadmills?….we’ll as a tanker I hate running long distances in general, but treadmills make it so much worse, you run but you get nowhere and the scenery never changes.

[PROBVictory]

DAY 17: Slightly Parkour
Intent:  practice basic balance skills
APKWU
Workout Plan:
20:00 of concentrated rail-balance training. Work precisions, regular rail balance, cat balance , and rail squats . Rest enough between balancing efforts to keep the movement clean and precise

Assessment:
APKWU:  not feeling as totally wiped after warm up which is a definite plus.
WOD: started off trying to balance on a couple of makeshift sawhorses,  relized that all I had to land on was large jagged gravel so though better <and glad I did> and picked the rim of a horse shoe pit, with 2x4s <seemed smaller> turned on their side.  I had limited success on cat balancing on the 2 inches. Got frustrated and saw a part of scaffolding that supported the mortar protection and climbed it <it was about 6 inches across 45 degrees up> to about 10 feet off the ground, and repeated.  Did that for about 10 mins,  it helped my balance a little and gave me a minor sense of “hey that was cool”  finished off the workout with 10 mins of warped wood 4x4 squats.  Kind like a rail only wider and wobblier…..wonder if that helps or hinders……..

End State: CSM saw me during the warm up Ground Kongs, commented that it looked like a tough workout.  Soaked in sweat I responded something to the effect of “Roger that SGM”  <our CSM is a pretty big dude, and I mean like gorilla big not President Taft big, so coming from him it was a compliment. >

[PROBVictory]

DAY 18: Mary is a Vindictive……….um yeah

Intent:  Do Mary

Workout Plan:

 APKWU

"Mary"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand Push-ups <modified raised a-frame>
10 One legged squats, alternating
15 Pull-ups

Assessment:

APKWU:  I tweaked my neck after the 2nd round of pull-ups, Kinda screwed over the rest of my work out.

WOD: only managed 5 full rounds and all but 10 pullups on the 6th set.  Who came up with this bench mark?  It is pretty sadistic.  All in all including the warm-up it totals out to be 110 pull ups, which I think is not so bad, if you told me to do that many a few weeks ago I would say you were off your rocker.  The Raised A-frame pushups were good, I think I will start adding them to my routine somehow, maybe like 25 before the agility ladder and 25 after.

End State: hopefully my neck will recover by tomorrow, think I saw it was planche progressions…I know I will probably fall forward on that one.