Friday, July 24, 2009

RTK Training Log - 07/24/09 - "Heavy" Day


After re-reading the RTK program design, I realized I botched the progression. So I dropped a rung and kept the ladders at four. Not that I couldn't do 4 rungs, but I want to follow the program as written.

I began with jumping rope:

Heavy rope (blue) - 100 reps
Heavy rope (green) - 50 reps
Plastic "link" rope - 50 reps
Speed rope - 50 reps

I went to the Orthopedist today. He told me that squats are the worst thing I could do for my knees (where have I heard this before?) and said I should be riding a bike for quad strengthening. While I agree that cycling is great for my knees, I think there have been more than one or two studies that prove that squats (done properly) are actually healthy for your knees.

He said I have chondromalacia in my right knee. He gave me the treatment options which start with exercise and end with arthroscopic surgery. To his credit, he recommended exercise (cycling). So I'll have to get the bike out and start riding again. But I believe the squatting I've been doing has been causing my knee pain to lessen. I've been going as deep as I can and keeping my back straight, and I don't have as much knee pain on long drives as I previously had.

Anyway, after rope work, I did 10 minutes of my warm-up circuit (4 rounds) before setting up my 2 - 20 kg bells for:

Press and Squat

4 ladders of 3 rungs with 5 squats at the end of each of the 3rd rungs. These felt really solid, and again, I felt like I could have done 4 rungs and probably 5 without killing myself.

After the 4th ladder, I took a minute break and went to the:

Sumo Deadlift

2 sets of 20 reps. Smooth and strong.

Finish with joint mobility and light stretching.

That's it for the first "Grind" block. Monday I'll start my first ballistic or "Explosive" block.

Here I'll be doing the Viking Push Press and front or side raise snatch on Monday, with clean & jerks on Wednesday (medium) and Friday (heavy).

For Monday, I'll be starting with 3 x (2,4,6) ladders.
The front and side raise snatches are to be done for 2-3 sets of 10-20 per arm.

I'll have more on Monday.

http://www.ironbellathletics.com

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