Topic: tacoman's training log

[Kevin Davies]

Didn't work out today because of too many things today, but I decided to make some fitness/parkour goals for 2008:

Fitness:
Standing long jump 9 ft 5 times in a row.
Bench Press 100% of body weight (~200 lbs)
1 handstand pushup without having feet on a wall
1 muscle up from a free hang
15 consecutive pullups
400 meters in under 1 minute

Parkour:
Monkey to precision flower box by work*
Kash vault flower box by work*
Monkey clear of flower box by work* putting hands on front of flower box
Kong flower box by work* putting hands on back of flower box
Do precision between flower boxes by work*
Do clean monkey onto chest high loading dock by work
Kong a picnic table the short way
Kong a picnic table the long way
Jump of my roof
Do a wall run + muscle up onto my roof (I can do the wall run and grab the roof, I just can't do the muscle up)
Jump onto stage at church from the red line (the stage is about 3.5 feet high and the red line is about 4 feet from the edge of the stage.  I almost did it once but landed on my ankles and it hurt)
Get so I am not afraid of rolls on cement

Other:
Hold a handstand for 20 seconds
Do a wall flip
Dunk a basketball

* there is a set of three flower boxes about 8 feet apart by my work where I wait for my carpool to pick me up.  They are belt level high on me and about 3 foot square on top.  I have been working on doing a monkey from one side and landing my feet on the top of the opposite side (monkey to precision).  Once I get that down, I want to go a little farther and do a kong/monkey to dash (kash) so I actually go over the whole thing.  Then I want to monkey clear over it without even touching the far side, and then finally I want to dive over the top and just put my hands on the far side.

[Kevin Davies]

Warm up: 3 Rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, and 5 pullups

Did W.O.D. http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1851/322/

L-Sit for a total of  2:00 (:30,:30,:30,:30)

Planche (with feet on couch, not strong enough to do real one yet) for a total of 2:00 (:30,:30,:30,:30)

Front Lever for a total of  2:00 (:30,:15,:15,:15,:15,:15)

Handstand with feet touching wall for a total of 2:00 (:30,:30,:30,:30)

Ouch my arms and shoulders are sore

[Kevin Davies]

Warmup: 3 rounds of 5 squats and 3 push ups

Did Friday's WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1857/322/.  Didn't have a jump rope, so I did toe jumps instead (virtual jump roping)

Workout: 10 rounds for time:

10 Push-Ups
20 Toe jumps
10 Sit-Ups
20 Lunge-With-Twist (I did these in place, so I did 10 for each side)
10 Back Extensions

My total time was exactly 29 minutes.  I like this workout as a benchmark time workout.  Kind of like a 10k time, but a 10 round time.  The lunges were definitely my weakest and slowest point.  Though my push-ups slowed down towards the end, I was happy that I could still do them without much struggle even when I was up to 100 total.

[Kevin Davies]

Warm up: 3 rounds of 5 pushups, 5 squats, 2 pullups.  butt kicks and high knees

Workout: Did mondays WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1866/322/

5 total sets for max-reps of the following with 2:00 rest between circuits

  Pushups with feet on 37 inch high cupboard: reps (10 10 10 10 10)

  Pistols reps (5/4 9/4 9/4 9/5 10/5)

  Pullups reps 8 6 5 5 6

I was a little disappointed I couldn't do 10 pullups in a row, but I got close, so maybe in a few weeks. I did a less pistols on my right leg because even though my knee is feeling much better, the tendons are still a little swollen and I don't want to push my luck.  My pistols weren't real pistols.  I put the leg that wasn't on the ground out to the side instead of in front for balance, but I didn't put my hands on anything so it was a pretty good workout. I need to find something higher to my feet on for the pushups, because doing 10 with my feet on my cupboard was difficult but I could of done more.  I tried putting my feet on the wall but my feet slipped too much coming down.

[Kevin Davies]

No formal workout today.  I did a lot push ups though.  I played dodge ball with the boy scout group I work with and if you got out you could get back in by doing pushups.  The first game you had to do 37 pushups to get back in, but in subsequent games you only had to do 10. My guess is I did around 80 pushups in all.

[Kevin Davies]

Parkour: Praticed pop vaults, climb ups, and monkey vaults on a break from work.  I am working on getting my feet over the wall quickly on the climb ups.  I can't seem to get high enough to get both feet on or over the wall at the same time.  I usually get my right foot on the wall and then my left.  I will have to keep working on that. I am getting very comfortable doing monkeys over the belt high cement walls in the parking garage.

Workout:

Warm up: 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, and 10 air pullups

Workout somewhat inspired by WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1879/322/

I did 10 circuits in of the following with a decreasing number of reps each time in a total time of 16:30.

   Monkey vaults over a 33 inch barrier reps=(10,10,8,8,6,6,4,4,2,2=60 total)

   Extended jump assisted pullups (going up until the bar is at chest level, my progression towards muscle ups) reps=(10,10,8,8,7,6,4,4,3,2 = 62 total)

When I was about half way through the workout, I started doing the pull ups with a false grip (wrist over bar) so I would get used to the grip for doing real muscle ups.

[Kevin Davies]

Today I did the WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1896/322/ with my wife.  She is working on trying to do her first pullup and so did assisted pullups and negatives.  She gets a sharp pain at the bottom of her sternum when she tries to negatives, I think it is because her stomach muscles need strengthening.  The pain is reduce if she actively thinks about contracting her stomach muscles while doing the negatives.

Before my main workout in the evening a did 4 dead hang pullups two seperate times, once at work and once right when I got home from work.  I am trying the "Greasing the Groove" method Steve Lowe mentioned in his "design your own workout" article to try to up the amount of pull ups I can do.

I also had to run about a mile from a bus stop to my work because my car was in the shop.  I ran on top of walls and jumped over a lot of stuff, it was fun.

Warm up: 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, and 10 air pullups.

Workout- 3 circuits of the following, 1:30 rest between circuits:

Pushups with feet on 37" high countertop x 5 immediately followed by Clap Push-Ups x 5

Pistol x 5 (each leg) immediately followed by Jump Squats x 10

Kipping Pull-Ups x 5

After finishing 3 total circuits, finished with Front Plank and Side Plank x 2:00 each.  I divided the 2:00 for each plank into 4 x :30 chunks.

[Kevin Davies]

I have been slacking for the last week.  Well, not really slacking just busy.  I have done little exercises here and there but not full workouts.  Today I did a total of 20 pullups over the course of the day in sets of 4.  I have been trying the "greasing the groove" method and it has been helping my pullups a lot.  This evening a did a variation of the WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1923/322/ .  It was late and cold outside so instead of doing real sprints for distance I did sprints in place for time.  I am kind of sore from it this morning.

Warmup: 15 sqats, butt kicks, high knees

Workout:
2 x 1 minute sprints with one minute rest after each one

5 x 30 seconds sprints with 30 seconds rest after each one

10 x 10 seconds sprints with 10 seconds rest after each one

Cool down: some light stretching

[Kevin Davies]

I did a total of 12 pullups in sets of 4 over the course of the day at work.  I am trying to do my pullups so that I go up until the bar is at the bottom of my neck.  I can't go any higher than that because I hit my head on the ceiling.  I am hoping that going a little higher than normal will help me progress to muscle ups.

In the evening a did a variation of the WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1931/249/

When I got home from work I did a warmup of 20 squats, butt kicks and high knees.  Then I did 5 x 200 meters on a stretch of road I measured by my house.  I walked back to my starting point for a rest between each sprint.

Times: 37 seconds, 36 seconds, 38 seconds, 36 seconds, 36 seconds

My times weren't as bad as I thought they might be, so I was please with them for now being that they are my first timed sprints in a long long time and I was still pretty sore from yesterdays workout.  I would like to get them at around 30 seconds.

Later I tried doing some Turkish get ups and One handed DB snatches with a bag with 20 lbs in it.

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 squats and 5 pushups

Workout: 2 rounds of
5 Turkish Gets ups with each hand
10 DB snatches with each hand

Cool down: Lots of streching.  Very sore from sprints today and yesterday.

[Matt Hudson]

Keep it up Tacoman, I've been looking over your post here,a nd I'm liking what I'm seeing, keep up the good work, and enjoy yourself along the way.!
+1 for being awesome

[Kevin Davies]

Hey thanks Paddy! I am definitely enjoying myself along the way.

Warm up: did 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, and 10 air pullups, then some butt kicks and high knees.

Workout: Did the http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1936/322/

In 15:49 did 5 rounds of:
  Burpee x 5
  7' Precision Jump x 5
  Underbar x 1 and Monkey Vault x 1
  Pull-Up x 5

This was the first time I have really practice precisions.  I marked two spots on the sidewalk 7 feet apart and tried to hit the spots precisely.   7 feet turned out to be a good distance because I had to put effort into it but not too much effort so I could concentrate on controlling my landing. I usually bounce out of landings to release the stress on my legs, but when I was trying to stick the precision landing I hand to control that bouncing so that I stayed on the same spot.

[Kevin Davies]

Warm up: 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, and 10 air pullups

Workout: Variation of WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1940/322/ . My legs were sore from the last few days
so I modified the workout

6 rounds of the following in 15 minutes:
 
  up and down the stairs x 2

  assisted muscle ups (feet half way up the barrier I was pulling up on) x 5

  Squats x 10

[Kevin Davies]

I went Cross Country skiing for an hour or so.  Part of the time I was pulling my kids uphill in a sled.  It was a good time, and an awesome full body workout.

[Kevin Davies]

I had to go to the dentist today and I hate the dentist.  It is like being tortured.  I stayed up late sunday night and was really tired when I got home from work so I didn't do much today.  I practiced a few vaults in my backyard while playing with my kids.  It was so nice to be able to go outside.

[Kevin Davies]

In the morning I did the WOD from monday http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1955/322/

Warmup: 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 pushups, 10 air pullups

Workout:
4 rounds for time:
QM 10m up and back
5 Knees to Elbows
QM 10m up and back
10 Tuck Jumps

I did each round in about 3:30.  The QM movement was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  It got easier though the more rounds I did.

[Kevin Davies]

Sort of did WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1964/322/ . 
I worked on being able to hand stands for quite a while, while playing Wii with my little boy.  I think I have built up enough strength that I can actually do one, now I am just working on the balance.  I can hold it for a about 2 seconds, I just haven't figured out how to correct myself if I get a little off balance.  I found one thing that helps me a lot is to not look down but to look forward.

I also started to build a mechanism to practice backflips in my backyard.  Right now it is just two ropes tied to my 70 foot maple tree and I hold on to the ropes and do backflips, but I planning on making it into a full gymnastics type harness so I can practice all types of tricks.

I also did a total of 16 pullups in sets of 4 through out the day.  One set I did with a ~10 lbs backpack on.  I also did 5 pushups with my 40 lbs little boy on my back.

[Gregg]

It's good that you're doing the WODs. Enjoy the process, and have fun with your son!

[Kevin Davies]

I did 41 pullups over the course of the day.  Usually 4 in each set

[Kevin Davies]

Went to a climbing gym with the wife and kids.  Had a good time.  There was a bouldering structure about 10-11 feet high that you could climb up on top off.  After climbing it a bunch of times, I thought I would try doing a wall run up it.  The top edge was rounded so it was it was too hard for me grab the edge.  There was a nice hold right at the top, so I tried grabbing that.  I tried several times and I could get enough height but I kept missing the hold.  I think I could have got it, but then one of the gym employees asked me to stop because "kids might try to do it".  I didn't really understand that reasonings as they let little kids (including my 4 year old) climb to the top of the bouldering structure all the time, but I was polite and didn't try it anymore.

[Kevin Davies]

I practiced handstands a little bit in my backyard.  The longest I did was about three seconds
In the evening I did the WOD http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/1983/322/

Warm up : 3 rounds of 5 squats, 5 push ups, 10 air pullups
Workout:

L-Sit - total of 2:00 (:30,:30,:30,:30)

Pushup position with feet at shoulder level and hands at stomach level - total of 2:00  (:30,:30,:30,:30)

Front Tuck - total of 2:00 (:30,:30,:15,:15,:15,:15)

Handstand with feet on the wall - total of 2:00 (:30,:30,:20,:20,:20)

My L-Sit is really more of an h sit because my hamstrings are so tight I have a really hard time hold my legs out straight even with my body at a 90 degree angle to my thighs.  I really need to work on that.