Sam's Training Log

Back at full strength/fitness, and training going very well so wont be posting much on here now as this was mostly just a injury/return to training type thing.

I'm now training full on for the forces, so have dropped weight sessions almost entirely from my routine, and sticking with circuit training, pull/chin ups, press ups, sit ups and running etc and i'm confident i'll pass the selection process with flying colours.

Max reps in 1 min.
pull ups: 25
Chin ups 32
Press ups:85
Sit ups:73
Burpees: 46
Squats: (body-weight) 52

3 Mile run: 17mins

 

Training going very well. Just 1 rest day per week at the moment or when i feel i need it.

Doing a lot of circuit training (upper body circuits i'm averaging 100 pull/chin ups, 200 press ups and 300 sit ups in 30 min session, lower body circuits the same for burpees, squats etc) running (timed, sprints and distance. dropped step work as it was ****ing with my knee) swimming, cycling, light weights, and long walks, both with my dog and bergen/hill work.

Feeling very good. gonna smash the fitness side of RAF selection!

 

Have added Tabata protocol to my routines for the last 2 days and am very impressed with it so far. 20 secs best effort, 10 secs rest and repeat for 8 sets. it can be used for many different exercises, the best ones imo are burpees, squats (all types) DB squat/swings etc. and press ups and chin/pull ups are the hardest by far. pure torture, but excellent at the same time!

Today, wednesday 14th.

Morning:

5 mile run. finished with 100 burpee press up/pull ups. (killers)

Afternoon.

3 x 3s of skipping
Tabata training. Burpees, barbell curls, DB squat and press, and dips.
PT Pyramid:
Pull ups: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Press ups: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,20,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2
Abs: 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,30,25,20,15,10,5
Dips: 2,4,6,8,10,10,8,6,4,2
Tabata burpees
3 x 3s of skipping

 

Thursday 15th.

Morning:
5 mile spartan run. Ran 1 mile then did 100 press ups, 100 sit ups. ran 1 mile 75 press ups, 75 sit ups. ran 1 mile, 50 press ups, 50 sit ups. ran 2 miles and did 50 burpee pull ups on the football field goal posts.

Afternoon.
3 x 3s of skipping.
Tabata burpees, squats and press ups and DB squat/swings.
15 mins on rowing machine.
Pt pyramid. pull ups, dips, press ups, abs and chin ups.
Tabata burpees, squats, dips and DB squat/swings.
3 x 3 skipping.

 

Friday 16th

Morning.

3 mile run. mile and a half to where i do hill sprints, 15 sprints, then mile and a half run back. ****ed about on the ****** bars in the park, pull ups, chin ups, dips etc.

Afternoon.

Tabata weights workout: Bench press, DB squat/swings, DB curls, DB squat press, Skull crushers, Barbell curls, press ups, burpees.

PT Pyramid: chin ups, press ups, sit ups, dips.
3 x 3s skipping.

 

Cheers mate. and i would yeah. pull ups/chin ups (along with press ups and dips) form the core of my training/strength work. personally, for me they kick the **** out of weight training etc. but yeah, i'd definately make them a priority. i do 100 -150 per day and 300-400 press ups on top of whatever else i'm doing cos you just can't beat them. i've converted my younger brother to them too (he's 18) and he loves them now. his max is around 30 and he's up to 6-7 with 30kg on his back.

Dead hangs are good, but mostly for strengthening form and getting better at doing them as it takes a lot out of the arms just hanging. same with negative chins for building the biceps. my advice would be to just do them however you feel best doing them (dead hangs, pull ups/chins, with weight etc, or do them all like we do ) but do press ups and dips too. And yeah i tend to use strict form with pull ups (no swinging!) and close grip press ups, unless i'm specifically doing wide or tricep (diamond) press ups.

The pull up/push workout is a good one for adding reps to your max.
Pull ups: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
press ups: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,20,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2
Abs: (your choice of exercises) 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,35,30,25,20,15,10,5.
Dips: 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,20,18,16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2

This gives you 110 pull ups, 220 press ups and 280 sit ups. Aim to do it in a 20-30 min session

Do this for 10 days on top of your regular routine then don't do any upper body work for a couple days. on day 14 test your pull up/chin up max and i bet you've added at least 5-10 reps :good this routine took a mate of mine (who was recovering from injury) from 6 pull ups to 16.

Good luck mate, need any more advive just let me know :good

 

Rest day (saturday 17th)

Sunday 18th.
Morning.
3 Mile run.
Tabata. skipping (8 mins warm up) Squats, press ups, burpees, sit ups,
Pt pyramids. press ups, pull ups, sit ups, dips, burpees.
3 rounds heavy bag and 3 rounds pads
Weights. 55kg, 5 x 5 bench, push press, bent over rows and squats.
3x 3s skipping.
Tabata. Squats, press ups, burpees, sit ups.

Afternoon.
3 x 3s skipping
6 x 3s of sparring.
3 x 3s heavy bag and pads

1 mile swim.

Bergen training tomorrow. most probably a ten miler in boots with a 40lb bergen. looking at around 2 hours.

 

No probs mate.

That's just an example of one of the routine's i use and get good results from, do what you can mate, work to your own strengths. you'll know yourself where to stop so you can work back down through it, but as i say, you should get good results from it.

Let me know how you get on :good

 

Monday 19th

morning.

An hour of PT and circuit training.
10 Miler in boots and carrying 40lb bergen. 73 mins.

Afternoon.
Weights circuit. 10 sets of 10. Bench press, curls, skull-crushers, concentration curls, DB Rows, military press.
Tabata (doubles), squats, press ups, sit ups, chin ups, burpees.
Max reps in 1 min: press ups, sit ups, burpees and pull ups.
6 X 3s skipping
2 mile jog home.

 

Sorry mate, but i almost always run alone or just with my brother. i don't really do much racing etc, as i run purely for fitness and only time myself out of curiosity. plus i'm looking into re-enlisting in the forces and the recruiter told me i need to be running 3 miles in 22 mins so i took it as a bit of a challenge

No worries for over-training neither, i tend to have easy (ish) days and hard days and make sure i get 1 or 2 rest days per week too (although, i'll still do something, whether its just walking the dog or going out on the bike or for a swim, and i do press ups, pull ups etc everyday). i don't want to sound arrogant here but i know my body, and it is used to it yeah. ive pushed myself like this for years, and i tend to mix my training up a fair bit too, but i'm no superman, and like i say, i know when my body needs rest so take a day or 2 off now when needed. a few months ago i was injured and couldn't train for about 5 weeks, drove me crazy!

 

Cheers mate :good