Scrapper Athletic Club

April 16th!

2007-04-16T10:04:00.000-10:00

Been a while since we've posted. Going through some changes in the gym structure!

Here's today's workout:

Concept 2 x Tabata Intervals x 1 round (20 second sprint, 10 second active recovery, repeated 8 times).

KB Clean and Press x 10

Pull-ups x 10

Burpees x 10

Versaclimber x 45 seconds

Here's how it works:

After you complete the Tabata Intervals on the Concept 2, you're done with the Concept 2 for the rest of the workout. Make sure you log your distance.

Perform 10 reps each of C + P, pull-ups, burpees, and then knock out 45 seconds on the Versaclimber. Make sure you log your distance.

Go back to the C+P, Pull-up, Burpee triad, but do 15 reps, followed by the Versaclimber. Log your distance.

Go back and do 15 reps of the Evil Triad, Versaclimber, log your distance.

The reps climb to 20 on the next set, followed by ANOTHER set of 20 reps, 15 reps, and finally 10 reps one more time.

In case you didn't notice, you're following a simply pyramid routine. 10, 15, 20, 20, 15, 10.

Keep a log of your weights used, distances rowed/climbed, and how long it took to complete the workout. Come back next month and try it again!

Train hard,

SCRAPPER

Hamburger Hill II

2007-04-02T06:58:00.002-10:00

Last week one of the guys asked why we hadn't utilized the ramp next to the gym recently. Well, it's been pretty rainy here lately and I didn't want anyone to have to stop in the middle of the workout because they slipped on wet concrete and skinned a knee.

Who says I don't care?

So, today was nice and dry. Perfect for a modified version of the original Hamburger Hill...

Hamburger Hill II

10 KB Snatches

5 Burpees

Sprint to end of parking lot

5 Burpees

Sprint back

5 Pull-ups

Repeat for as many sets as possible in 20 minutes.

Congrats to Joe, Hoku, Rob, Pete, Sean, and Tommy for giving 100% this morning!

Wednesday, the gang gets introduced to Card PT!!!

Train hard,

SCRAPPER

Today's workout...

2007-03-14T10:28:00.000-10:00

Today's workout was deceptively brutal and involved lots of "indoor" work with some outdoor stuff thrown in for good measure:

The "F" Word

KB Thrusters

KB Cleans (or you could do the KB Complex from Monday's workout instead of thrusters and cleans)

Tire Jumps

Pull-ups

Burpees

Bootstrappers

Parking Lot Sprints

Reps: 21, 15, 9 (except for the sprints, which were "down and back is one rep" with 20 seconds recovery between the second sprint...two sprints each round)

The times for today's group:

Joe: 25:05

Hoku: 27:43

Sean: 32:02

Pete: 32:15

Tommy: 33:42

Kahea: 34:47

Margeret (how the hell do you spell that?): 39:08

Excellent job by everyone!

Train hard,

SCRAPPER

Dirty Sanchez

2007-03-12T12:29:00.000-10:00

After today's workout, the Gang curses my existence...

It was a good day at the gym today. The morning class (which is quickly becoming the flagship for the gym) is almost near full capacity and we had to break the class up into 2 groups for today's workout:

Dirty Sanchez

Parking Lot Sprints x 10

KB Thrusters x 50

Pull-ups x 30

Wall Ball x 30

Sprints: The sprints were done, obviously, out in the parking lot and each interval was started on the 30 second mark (group 1 started the clock, and group 2 ran 15 seconds after). As in most of the workouts, the faster you run/sprint, the more time you get to rest. Take your time on the runs, and you'll find that the next sprint is going to start right as you finish (the clock isn't your friend).

Thrusters: The class ability levels are pretty varied, so some people did a basic shoulder press, some folks did a full thruster, and the stronger guys did what we call the KB Complex. The Complex is a Swing, immediately into a full Snatch, right into a full Thruster. This is one of those things, like Bootstrappers, that encourages the most cursing of my existence.

Pull-ups: Pretty self-explanatory. Make sure you check past blogs for ways to increase your reps on this!

Wall Ball: Right now, we're limited on the number of medicine balls we have in the gym, but we're working on it. I'm sure the people in class aren't in any big hurry for everyone to have their own medicine ball to work with!

Thanks to everyone who keeps coming out and putting everything they have into it!

Train hard,

SCRAPPER

300

2007-03-09T13:50:00.000-10:00

Unless you've been living in a cave, or have your head buried in the sand, you know that the movie "300" is opening this weekend. The movie is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel (don't say comic book) adaptation of Steven Pressfield's book "Gates of Fire". Frank Miller also wrote the graphic novels which inspired Sin City, in case you're wondering. You can check out one of the funniest reviews I've ever read for a movie here (warning, this review contains "adult language"): http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31520

Anyway, the actors were training with Gym Jones for this movie and a recent article shared one of their workouts. Here's the article if you're interested: http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35

So, we grabbed the workout from the article, adapted it to what we have in the gym and went at it today:

300

Pull-ups x 25

1 Leg Deads x 50 (25 each leg)

Burpees x 50

Tire Jumps x 50

KB Atomic Sit-ups x 50

KB Clean and Press x 50

Pull-ups x 50

It was a pretty motivating workout and I hope that when we go see 300 tomorrow, the guys don't have some sort of assassination plot ready for me!

Keep training hard,

SCRAPPER

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness...

2007-03-05T06:46:00.000-10:00

Or D.O.M.S as it's known in the training world and how it's written up our wall of suffering. Today's workout went as follows:

D.O.M.S

KB Complex

Hanging Knee Raises

Ring Dips

Pull-Ups

Versaclimber :30

Reps: 20, 15, 10, 5 (Perform 20 reps of each exercise, 30 seconds on the Versaclimber, then start again with 15 reps, etc)

The Kettlebell Complex is what I get the most questions about but it's not really all that complicated. Essentially, it's 3 movements in one repetition: a Swing, immediately into a Snatch, drop the KB's down to your shoulders and perform a Thruster (or Push Press).

If you don't have access to Rings (www.ringtraining.com), you can do push-ups instead. Today, we substituted Dive Bombers for the guys that couldn't do Ring Dips.

All in all it was a pretty solid workout. One of the coaches from www.mmadevelopment.com came by to try things out and I think we're going to have a cadre of fighters come down to prepare for future events!

Read some of the recent blogs for substitutions on some of the exercises, give it a shot, and let me know how you do!

Train hard,

SCRAP

Gotta Love the Versaclimber!

2007-03-02T06:28:00.000-10:00

Ahh, we love to hate the Versaclimber!

Sorry for being MIA this week...there is some kind of nasty flu bug going and it kicked my butt pretty hard for the last 6 days. Blah!

Today's workout was a "fun" one and another great way to finish off the week. Here we go:

Versaclimber Death March

Versaclimber :30 Seconds

KB Thrusters :30 Seconds

Burpees :30 Seconds

The workout is set up in the following manner: First, pick a destination (in feet) to climb on the Versaclimber. That distance is what the group is collectively trying to accomplish. That means the first person gets on the Versaclimber and goes as hard as possible for 30 seconds, while the second person is doing KB Thrusters and the third person is doing Burpees.

At the end of 30 seconds, everyone rotates to the next station and the Burpee guy/girl gets on the Versaclimber and cranks out another 30 seconds. This continues until the total distance is reached!

This is great because if one person dogs it on the Versaclimber, that just means one more set of everything for the whole group. The goal, obviously, is to crank out as much distance as you can for each set on the Versaclimber.

Today's distance was the Moscow Tower (or 1761 feet). It took the gang about 25 minutes to complete. You can obviously select whatever distance you want, but don't go with something TOO high or you'll be there all freakin' day.

"But Fish, I don't have a Versaclimber!"

Easy enough. If you're in the gym, take over one of the treadmills and run a set distance. Switch with your partners until you run the entire course you've laid out. Believe me, running a 5K in 30 second sprint intervals is a lot harder than it sounds.

Good luck and if you have any questions: scrapper@hawaii.rr.com

Train hard,

SCRAP

We want ze money....

2007-02-23T07:30:00.000-10:00

"Nobody calls me Lebowski...I'm the Dude, man."

Lebowski!

Ahh, The Big Lebowski. A classic movie filled with nihilists, adult film producers, and a great story about friends that can unknowingly make your life a living hell. Hmmm, kinda like today's workout!

It looks like this:

Lebowski

5 Pull-ups

10 Wall Ball

15 KB Snatches

Sandbag Walk to end of parking lot and back

Repeat for 5 Rounds

Today I broke the class up into teams of two. The first person (A) would start the pull-ups, wall ball, and snatches, while his partner (B) carried the sandbag to the end of the parking lot. If "A" finished his set before "B" returned with the bag, he starts again with another set of pull-ups and continues through the snatches. If "B" returns in the middle of the set, he begins HIS OWN set of pull-ups and has to continue until "A" finishes his set AND carries the sandbag.

Not only is this workout a great PHYSICAL workout, but it's also a MENTAL challenge as well. When you're inside, wondering where your partner is with the bag, you have no idea if he's dropped the bag and trying to pick it back up, taking a breather (while you're cranking out reps of snatches and wall ball!). On the flip side, the guy lugging the sandbag doesn't want his partner to do more than he has to...so the pressure is on to hurry up!

Enjoy and keep me posted if you try this workout!

Fish

Help with Pullups...

2007-02-22T07:55:00.000-10:00

A full selection of Woody Bands help everyone knock out Pull-ups!

We get a lot of clients in the gym and even more that email me asking about getting their pull-up numbers up. Contrary to some gym myths, doing pull-up sets to muscular failure is NOT the best way to increase your reps.

If you can already knock out 5 or more pull-ups in one set, here are a few ways to increase your numbers in a relatively short period of time. A quick note: I say "relatively short period of time" because these techniques allow you to train more than once a day, and sometimes every day without burning out which is something that training to muscular failure on any given day will not allow. The biggest key to keep in mind is that none of these sets are performed to failure! If you feel that your form is deteriorating to the point that you don't think you can complete the next rep...STOP! Don't be so eager to push the envelope because you'll find yourself too sore, hurt, etc, to workout the next day or even later that day.

So, put the Ego down and take your time with these routines!

Routine 1: Synaptic Facilitation

I posted a link to this article on my Lots O Pullups page and it basically deals with doing many sub-maximal sets of pull-ups throughout the day. In a nutshell, instead of trying to do 1-2 big sets of 30 pull-ups, you do a set of 5-6 pull-ups every few hours. Being fresh at each set will ensure that you become more efficient at the exercise without compromising form due to fatigue. At the end of the day, you could have done anywhere from 30-100 pull-ups (depending on your current level of ability) but you won't be fried from doing too much volume in one sitting. With this routine, we're still going for a lot of volume but it's spread out over a long period of time!

After one week, add 1-2 reps to each set. At the end of the month, retest yourself and see what the progress report tells you!

Routine 2: Ladders

Another great way to get a lot of volume in without burning out. It's perfect for those that don't have access to a pull-up bar whenever they want and/or are pressed for time in the gym. It's also posted on my Lots O Pull-ups page (which has quite a few variations to keep you from getting bored).

If you have a training partner, you simply trade off for each set. You do one rep, he/she does one. You do two, he/she does two, etc, until one of you can't keep up or your form goes to crap. The rest time is the time it takes your partner to complete his/her set.

If you have time, you start the ladder over at the bottom and work your way up again.

If you don't have a partner, simply estimate how long it took you to knock out your set and that's your rest period before you get back on the bar.

Make sure that you stop each ladder short of your limit. For example, if you think you can work your way up to 10, stop at 7 or 8. Remember to keep yourself fresh during these sets!

As with Synaptic Facilitation, maintain a certain number of reps for a week and then add 1-2 each week. Retest at the end of the month!

If you guys want to read the original articcomles I cited on my site, you can find them at www.cbass.com.

"But Fish, I can't even do a single pull-up or chin-up!"

Man, do I get that email all the time!

Here are a couple of ways you can get your chin (or chins) over the bar.

1. Get a workout partner that can spot you.

Here's a couple of safety tips:

-Don't let your partner grab both feet to get you over the bar! If, for some reason, your grip gives out while your partner has both feet in his/her hands, be ready to introduce your face to the ground.

Instead, have your partner stand behind you and you place your foot on his/her thigh while he grabs just above your ankle. This leaves on leg free in case you need to bail out and allows you to push off his leg and adjust the amount of "help" you're getting during each rep (the worst thing your spotter can do is do ALL of the work or not help you at all).

-If you don't like your feet being held, your partner can place his hands on your lower back just above your waist or just below your shoulder blades. Make sure he/she doesn't push your mouth INTO the pull-up bar.

2. Find a bar that's low enough for you to jump up and get your chin over the bar. Once your chin is over the bar, take 2-3 seconds to lower yourself down, repeat. If you don't have a low bar, use a plyo-box or, if you're in a GloboGym, grab the bench from the clown doing dumbbell flies (you know, to sculpt his inner chest) and use that.

3. One other option (last one in this article, but certainly not the last thing you can try), is the use of resistance bands. One of the best suppliers of bands is Iron Woody and we have a full supply here in our gym and they work great check out the picture at the top of the page! If you hit the Iron Woody page and look at the bands, you'll see just how much each one assists you (or adds resistance if you use them for other things...).

Well, that's all for now. I hope this little tidbit shed some light on pull-ups and maybe cleared away some of the misconceptions about how to train for higher reps.

Keep training hard and keep us posted on your progress!

SCRAP

Loco Moco!

2007-02-21T10:15:00.000-10:00

Today's workout is called "Loco Moco" (another local dish...) and it was modeled after the infamous Fight Gone Bad of Crossfit fame. If you're familiar with the original Fight Gone Bad workout, don't worry; as we get more equipment in we'll be following the original a lot more closely. For now, we make do with what we've got!

Loco Moco

Wall Ball (reps)

Sledgehammer (reps)

KB Snatch (reps)

Divebombers (reps)

Versaclimber (distance)

Each station is done for one non-stop minute. Normally, there is no rest between stations (the clock keeps running), but there is only one coach and since I wanted to keep track of everyone's reps and distance, we took a 15-second "break" to record everyone's scores per station.

Everyone did great!

I'll be posting pictures of the new plyo boxes we're making soon.

Fish

Today's workout and then some....

2007-02-16T06:41:00.000-10:00

My oldest son, Kahea, cranks out some distance on the Versaclimber!

Today's workout is called "Poi" (it's a local dish) and it really worked everyone for a great way to finish off a week of solid training!

Poi

Versaclimber 100 feet
KB Thrusters x 20
Tire Jumps x 20
Pullups x 20
Double Unders x 20

Repeat 3-5 times depending on your ability.

Some of the modifications were: Less distance on the Versaclimber, drop some weight on the thrusters, step ups instead of jumps on the tire, using one of our Woody Bands to help with the pullups, and single skips with the rope instead of double unders.

We kept time and Joe finished first with 23 minutes.

Keep training hard!

SCRAP

The final stages of today's PT!

Another day of fun!

2007-02-15T12:47:00.000-10:00

We're still learning the ins and outs of Blogging, but I figured it would be fun to post yesterdays workout for everyone:

MONIQUE

Double Unders x30

KB Lunges x30

Burpees x30

KB Snatch x 30

Repeat 3x for time. The best times were around 22-23 minutes.

Here are some suggestions and explanations:

Double Unders using the jump rope means you jump high enough to get the rope to pass under your feet twice before you land. If you can't do double unders, you simply jump 60 time instead of the listed 30 times.

KB Lunges are done with the Kettlebells either held in the Rack position or hanging straight down at your sides. If you're too whooped, just perform bodyweight lunges.

We all know and hate Burpees! If you can't do them, take the pushup portion out of the exercise and do Squat Thrusts instead.

KB Snatches are done last, so be careful about your form. The more advanced folks can do a double KB snatch, but feel free to do your reps with one hand and then switch to the other. If you're not familiar with the snatch, or your technique isn't up to par, switch to KB Swings.

Make sure you record your times!

Train hard,

SCRAPPER