velocitysports

Run jump throw push

Blog Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 12:53 on 17 December 2007

Today's velocity workout started out looking painful, and finished feeling painful. We went to the later morning class so that we could stop by Starbucken for breakfast, Kris being out of the nectar fiber of the gods food: oatmeal.

The workout was five rounds of:

60 vertical jumps
30 ball tosses
30 pushups
6 runs

The vertical jumps started with a single jump to place a bit of tape on the wall. After that, they were stand facing the wall and jump to touch the tape. I didn't realize that we could do these plyometrically, springing up as soon as we landed, bounce bounce bounce, and ended up pausing between each jump.

60 vertical jumps using all muscle and no physics = much much harder.

The ball tosses were also done facing the wall. WIth a medicine ball held at the chest, squat, then stand quickly, throwing the ball up against the wall, then catching it when it comes back down and returning to a squat position.

Pushups were normal. The runs were down and back, each length of 50 yards.

Kris managed to finish the workout. I managed three rounds. Three rounds of side stitches and near puking.

I'm going have to try to finish the workout tonight at the local school. Tossing a ball onto our house walls doesn't seem too smart from a structural integrity point of view.

Finished!

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 15:09 on 12 December 2007

I managed to finish today's Velocity workout, even after Kris expressed hesitation and being able to complete the workout on time, before we started.

The workout was four sets of decreasing reps of:

Waiter walks 4 lengths
Ball slams
GHG situps
Ball up throws
Run 8 lengths

The middle three exercises had the decreasing reps, not the first or last. The reps were 21-18-15-12.

The waiter walks started with a weighted barbell push press to lift the bar overhead. With arms wide and elbows locked, we walked with the barbell overhead down the length of the turf and back twice, for four lengths. The walking length was 20 yards.

The only hard part of the waiter walks is the turning part. Well, no, not the turning part, per se, more like the stop turning part. Once the bar starts turning, the momentum carries it, making stopping the turn to start walking difficult.

Ball slams are done with a weighted, non-bouncing medicine ball. Breanne calls them D Balls, most likely from the D-Ball brand name. Start with the ball overhead and pull down on the ball as hard as possible. Continue the downward motion of the ball, while pulling then pushing down, into a squat. When the ball hits the ground, it'll bounce less than 6". When it does bounce, catch it (you'll be in a deep squat position, still), and stand up. Press the ball overhead and repeat.

GHG situps were done on a back extension machine. I have no idea what the second G stands for. The first one is Glutes. The H is hamstring. You anchor your feet pointing up, bar along the top of the feet, another (padded) bar under your butt. Lean back. Farther. Farther. Faaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrther. Great! Now sit up.

I did my first three sets on the machine to the right. Kris told me I should try the one on the left, it's harder. So, like a fool, I did so on the last set. The padded butt bar was about 2/3 of the way down my leg, on my hamstring, and, daaaaang, those situps were HARDER.

Ball up throws (or throw ups, as we called them) were done with a weighted ball, using only the arms. We stood straight up and threw them up into the air. The most simple of exercises.

Running 8 lengths was as normal. Not sprinting, thank goodness. I ran most of them with good form, but not all of them at top speed. I had a couple lengths that were just so hard.

Until I saw a classmate catching up. Then good form and quicker speed caught up and I ran more quickly.

I managed to complete the workout at 8:05, and make the 8:13 train to boot. Yay!

Mischief + VS

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 16:43 on 8 December 2007

Although we go to Velocity Sports on a regular basis, and have managed to directly or indirectly sign up another four people with the facility, the team hasn't actually partaken of the facilty. Wes arranged for a group training event today, so a group of us went.

That group consisted of Kris, Wes, Paul, Doyle, Shirley, Lori, Adam Brown and me.

We started out with the usual dynamic warmup of jumping jacks, split jumps, jogs, walking stretches, accelerations and the like. I was surprised to realize how much of the warmup process is learned by watching others and following the more experienced people. Kris and I were the only two people at the training day who had been at the facility and done the warmups before. We were both in the front line of two lines during the warmups, which was a little unfortunate.

Unfortunate in that, instead of waiting for the instructor to vocally start the second line, the second line started when the first line started. This meant Lori, who moves more quickly than I do, was running on my heels (quite literally), by the end of the turf, making up the five yard starting difference quickly.

After the third time of having to break form in order to keep ahead of Lori, when the instructor said, "Go!" I immediately yelled, "Stop!" to the second line, before going myself. They stopped, surprised, and waited for the instructor to start the second line. We all had a good chuckle, and the rest of the warmup went more smoothly.

We did a lot of form work in the training sessions. We practiced techniques for running backward (need to lift my toes more before picking up my foot to reach backward), changing direction, and running sideways. I can't say I agreed with all of the training techniques (some would lead to foot injuries if taken to an extreme), but the workout was hard and fun.

At one point, a couple of the group had to step away from the workout to catch their breath. It was kinda nice to know the regular workouts I've been doing have helped me in the off-season somewhat.

I doubt the team will continue with the training sessions. It would be nice if they did, but I won't hold my breath on that one.

Not so easy workout

Blog Posted by kitt at 12:14 on 21 November 2007

On paper, it sounds like a fairly easy workout. One round into the four round set, we realized it wasn't an easy workout. By the end, my legs were shot.

Each round was:

20 single armed overhead weighted squats
10 turkish sit ups
10 weighted V ups
10 burpees
20 box jumps

For the single armed, overhead weighted squats, we held a weight above our head and, keeping the arm straight and weight up as high as we could, did a squat. The squats were off-center, which made them more challenging. My shoulder has been bothering me since the layout, so I managed fairly little weight on this task.

The turkish sit ups continued the straight arm overhead weight, but for this we went from standing straight up to lying down, all with the weight as high as we could make it vertically (which put it perpendicular to our body once we were lying down). We could go from a standing position to a squat, roll backwards to sit, put our feet out straight, then lie down, or we could go from a standing position to a lunge, put our unused hand down, pull the back leg forward and lie down. After the first exercise of squats, the lunges were the easier way to go.

The weighter V ups were with the same weight, starting lying down with both hands on the weight, which was overhead on the ground. Lifting both legs and shoulders into a V was one situp.

Burpees were the same.

Box jumps were either landing two feet on the box (gently!) or step ups. I did twenty each leg of one legged jump-ups onto the box, mostly to work on my vertical jump form.

Not sure if I'll go Friday or not. Breanne won't be teaching those classes.

Easy workout

Blog kitt decided around 10:00 on 19 November 2007 to publish this:

This morning's workout, although really hard to get to because I really really really just wanted to sleep, was pretty easy. We did a lot of running for a warmup, which makes me miss the jumping jacks warmups even more, followed by the usual squats, leg swings, twists, thrusts, mountain climbers, sprints and skydivers. I took my time with the hamstring stretches, as both of my hamstrings are tight as of late.

Today's workout was 3 rounds of:

8 runs on the track (i.e. 8 x 40 yards, running, not sprinting)
12 weighted situp stands
21 kettleball swings
12 pull ups

The 8 runs on the track were thankfully not sprints. Except for one, I ran them all at a good clip, working on keeping my knees up and my form good. It's not much more effort to run with good strides than it is to jog, so might as well run.

The weighted situps started standing holding a weight plate out from the chest about 6". We then squated, sat, rolled backward, lifting the weight over our head, and pulling our legs up and our feet straight over our head. Then, using core muscles, pull the legs back down, pull the weight back down to chest level, sit up, tuck feet under us and stand up. Much easier to do than to describe. Kris went with the 25# plate. I used the 10# plate because the 25# plate was too much. I would have preferred an 18# plate, as 10 was too light.

The kettleball swings and pull ups were normal.

I managed to finish the workout, though part of that was because I wasn't showering before the train ride back home. First one I've finished in a while.

Quick quick!

Blog Instead of being asleep at 11:43 on 12 November 2007, kitt created this:

The warmup for today's workout wasn't particularly satisfying this morning. Instead of our jumping jacks, walking stretches and sprints, we did medicine ball tosses and walking stretches where we tossed the ball back and forth with a partner with varying tosses (overhead, chest passes, side passes, ball slams), while taking a step backward (or forward) down the length of the turf (maybe 25 yards). The warmup was fine for the workout, though.

The workout was four rounds of:

8 track runs (each run is 40 yards)
10 push ups
10 pull ups
10 sit ups
10 dips
10 back extensions
10 overhead squats

The key to the workout was to do each exercise as quickly as possible. We could rest as long as we wanted between exercises or between sets, but had to complete each exercise as quickly as we could. The runs weren't sprints, as in, I wasn't on my toes, but they were fast. I went as fast I could go without sprinting. Kris commented he was worried I was going to lap him, when all I was trying to do was catch up to him. Ah, goals.

I managed to finish only three rounds before dashing off the to shower to make the train. Or rather, to make the time the train should have been there. A truck in San Mateo caused the trains to stop running (hit the struts of an overpass? something like that), so my train was 45 minutes late. Had I known it was going to be so late, I would have finished the workout. I was running fairly strong (strongly?), and was actually enjoying the workout.

Strange.

Come on!

Blog Posted by kitt at 13:05 on 31 October 2007

I drove up to Velocity Sports this morning. I'm still on East Coast time, which is fantastic for my morning schedule, not so hot for my evening schedule (thinking mostly of my 9PM - 11PM women's practice, actually).

When I arrived, I was the first person for my class, which surprised me, as the classes had been becoming full, eight - ten people in the class. Today, without Kris, Heather or Brynne, there were only four people in the class, including me, two I recognized and one I didn't.

The warmup was different than our usual warmup, a different order, but not so different in the exercises. I lined up in the first group for the 40 yard 50% jogs, one guy I recognized, the other I didn't. From previous runs, I knew I was as fast as the guy I recognized. I had no idea about the second guy.

During the 50% jogs, the guy I didn't recognized, ooo, look, he won! During the 75% jogs, hey, what do you know, the other guy won some, too. I was worried about my quad and hamstring, so was using both the 50% jogs and the 75% jogs for what they were: warmups, taking lots of steps, moving my legs in varying stride lengths.

When the 100% sprints came, however, I ran them full out as I was warm. The first run I mis-stepped my first two steps, and finished a half step behind the guy I recognized. The second sprint I finished dead even with him. The third sprint he didn't even try. I had a quick start and lost him around 10 yards.

"AW, COME ON!"

It escaped, I admit. I yelled it as I crossed the 40 yard mark, annoyed that he stopped trying. Sure, I assumed it was because he was about to be beaten by a girl. It wasn't necessarily a correct assumption, but I made it at that moment because I was annoyed.

The guy I recognized approached, and I blurted out, "You can't stop early! Come on! All the way!" Must have worked, as he sprinted the next run. The guy I didn't recognize finally woke up, too, apparently, as on the last sprint he was keeping up with us.

Sprinting all out is a heck of a lot easier when you have someone who runs yours speed when he's going all out, too.

Today's workout was named "Kettle Hell," but was mostly sled work.

With a partner, each pair of exercises were done 4 minutes each, alternating between the two exercises:

Sled Push
Kettleball swings

Sled Push
Kettleball squat to press

Sled Pull
Kettleball figure 8s

Sled Pull
Hand walk out and back

The sled pushes were with 35# plates on the sleds, after the first push with 45# nearly did my hamstrings in. The pulls were similar, but pulling the sled instead of pushing on the sled.

Kettleball swings were squat with the ball between the legs, swinging straight arm up above the head.

Presses started the same in a squat position with the kettleball on the ground between the legs, but ended with a stand up to overhead press with the kettle ball.

Kettle ball 8s where done standing with legs far apart, and weaving the kettleball from the front of one leg, through the legs, to the back of the other leg, around the outside of that leg, and back through the legs from the front, making a big figure 8.

Hand walks were the same as the normal stretching hand walks: starting from a straight leg, almost downward dog pose, walk the hands out to a plant/pushup position, then walk the hands back to the feet, keeping the legs straight, and stand up. This one was done as quickly as possible, in contrast to the warmups slower movement.

What I didn't do after this was more hamstring stretching that the handwalks started. My legs were sore the rest of today.

Jump!

Blog Posted by kitt at 12:30 on 10 October 2007

Today's Velocity Sports workout was all about jumping. Brynne and Heather were both already in class when Kris and I arrived, the whole group getting ready to go go go when we showed up late. The morning's workout was all about jumping, in decreasing sets. I was planning on taking a later train down south so that Kris and I could throw after the workout, to practice throwing when tired, concentrating on good form to establish good habits.

The workout circuit was:

Box jumps
Barbell twists
Ball slams
Burpees

The repetitions in the sets reduces by 3 from 21: 21 18 15 12 9 6 3

I'm not sure how we were supposed to do the box jumps other than land softly on the boxes. I jumped onto the middle height box, which is higher than I normally would jump, but I'm ready to start pushing myself. The season is almost over, I've played at Regionals without injury, which was my season goal, actually. So, why not push myself? An injury now wouldn't upset me as much as the one last January, so why not?

So, box jumps, landing lightly, middle height box.

Barbell twists were done holding one end of a barbell, with the other nominally anchored (really, just resting in the hole of a 45 pound weight plate). Starting straight armed with the barbell held in both hands to the right side, lift the barbell up to the side with both arms straight, over the head, and back down on the left side. That's one.

Ball slams were the same as normal: lift a weighted, non-bouncy ball over head (we used the D-balls), and, in one motion, push the ball down to the ground while squatting. The ball will bounce maybe a foot. Catch the ball in the squat position, and stand up, pushing the ball back up overhead. That's one.

Burpees are still the same: stand, squat, put hands on the floor in front of you, thrust legs out behind you into a plank position, do a pushup, thrust legs back up into a squat with hands on floor position, lift hands, do a jump squat with hands high in the air, land, that's one. However, I concentrated on looking up when I jumped up. I have a tendency to look down when I jump up. I don't know why I do that: the ground is going to be there when I land.

So, my squat jumps were higher than normal, but that's a good thing.

Kris and I threw afterward, but he wanted to sit, so not as much as I expected to do. I was tired, however, so fine with it.

Today's Velocity

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 20:42 on 12 September 2007

After almost sleeping through today's Velocity (Paul really needs to start coming to these things - he'd get a real kick out of having his butt kicked by Bryanne), I hurriedly dressed, ate and dashed out the door with Kris to arrive at class late, but still during the warmup. We had one new new guy today, and two I didn't recognize. New new guy isn't a fast runner, so he's lucky he wasn't in Brynne and Heather's warmup group. Bad enough to have you ass handed to you by the old one, but by two girl's, too?

Maybe the old one (me) was bad enough, but I beat him by only a couple yards. Brynne would have beaten him by 10. Heh.

Today's workout was:

4 minutes of alternating with a partner:
Sled push down 20 yards and back
Step ups.

4 minutes of alternating with a partner:
Sled push down 20 yards and back
Bulgarian split squats (one leg backward, elevated on a block, squat one
leg)

2 minutes of alternating with a partner:
Sled pull down 20 yards and back
Squat jumps.

2 minutes of alternating with a partner:
Sled pull down 20 yards and back
Lunge jumps

We weren't told originally the time for each set, so we figured we went until someone puked. The workout was hard enough that some people almost did.

Ar the end of class, I wrote "go until someone pukes" at the bottom of the workout whiteboard. I wrote it in Bryanne's handwriting, and did a completely passable job. When Kris commented it was pretty good, I explained I use to practice other people's handwriting styles in college. Heather turned to me and smiled. "Of course, you did."

Indeed.

Last

Blog Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 20:58 on 5 September 2007

This morning's VS workout was designed to "make up for no workout on Monday" by combining most of Monday's workout with part of today's normal workout, which means half upper body and half lower body.

8 Runs
4 Runs with medicine ball
8 Runs
4 Runs with medicine ball

1 set of 21 reps, followed by 1 set of 15 reps, followed by 1 set of 9 reps of:

Ball slams
Pull ups 
Push ups

4 Runs
2 Runs with medicine ball
2 Runs
2 Runs with medicine ball

I was okay on the first runs. Not fantastic, but okay. I tried an all out sprint today on the quad. It was okay, but still off, so I didn't try more than two. Entertainingly enough, even without trying I managed to "win" the race. Clearly I picked the right group to boost my ego.

The downside of the workout was that we all started at the same time. With eight of us trying to use the limited supply of weighted non-bouncy medicine balls, as well as the three pull up bars, I ended up having to wait for the equipment. I finished the workout last, which was actually okay, as Kris was able to run next to me on the last runs. I really like when he runs next to me: he's quite inspirational.

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