VelocipedeSalon WOD: Workout of the day

[Burnette]

*Supersets can be done several ways. In this program, I did supersets within the same muscle group, which mean you do two exercises for say, shoulder (deltoids), and alternating one after the other with no rest.

Ex. I did one set standing barbell overhead press with 50lbs for 8 reps.
As soon as I finish those eight reps, I immediately pick up two 15lbs dumb bells and do side lateral raises with those to failure. That is one set
Then you go and pick up a 40lb barbell and do overhead presses, trying for ten reps (you may not make it, that’s OK). When you finish those, you immediately pick up the dumb bells again and go to failure.
That’s two sets. You have one more to go now, dropping the overhead press by ten pounds and the lateral raise by five if you didn’t get enough reps.

You want to keep the starting weight for the first exercise (overhead raise in this case) about the same as you normally use and go down in weight each set. And remember the second exercise (lateral raise in this case) is the burn phase, you want light weight and many reps here.
You can also do supersets with opposing muscles (which for strength, is better, the former approach above is better for “cut” or getting lean), such as doing the back (latissimus dorsi) with the chest.

For opposing supersets, you go for 3 to 4 sets, starting with around 6 to 8 reps and ending with 12 to 16 reps.
Ex. Chest Straight Bar Flat Bench Press (chest muscles) and Bent Over Rows Curl Bar (lat muscles)
Bench press with straight bar with weight heavy enough that 8 reps is a challenge and do that. Immediately get up and do upright rows with a curl bar with weight that keeps you in the 8 rep range.
That is one set. You immediately go back to the flat bench with 10lbs less weight and try for ten reps. Immediately go to curl bar rows, 5lbs less and try for 10 reps. That’s two sets, go for one or two more, adjusting weight as you go.

There are giant sets too. We can talk about those at another time.
As far as food goes, with the help if Matthew Strongin and Too Tall, I’ve been thinking about reviving a nutrition thread to talk about just that. It will keep this thread just about workouts we’ve done for the day.

*I want to warn you that supersets are an advanced method that shouldn’t be done if you haven’t weight trained for at least four months consistently with gains in size and strength. You lungs, heart and tendons have to be ready for it to ward against injury and to get the most benefit from them.
And always, consult a doctor before starting and/or trying any physical activity to be sure that you have no issues.
We all say it because it's true and we all believe it. Take ownership, be safe and make sure you're OK before you push yourself hard.

[MarkC]

I'm in on the nutrition thread but my wife will ghost write the food posts. She's nuts about that stuff.

[defspace]

Monday: went to the gym to check in on my shoulder (don't worry, Burnette, no supersets yet!) I'm close to where I was before I hurt my shoulder. It feels good to be sore.

Tuesday: 2x20s turned into an FTP test. Yeah, yeah, I know - stick to your program. FTP is up 7% in two weeks. I see no reason why this trend shouldn't continue. I don't think I'll be able to help Froome in the mountains in July, but the Vuelta is all mine. I'm sure I had a bad number to begin with but it's nice to see progress.

[MarkC]

but the Vuelta is all mine

venga venga venga venga venga venga

[Burnette]

Today was suppose to be a long ride on the rollers, base pace for about an hour and a half to two hours. A late start got me behind and left me with only about an hour of bike time. So, I decided to do the 2X2 intervals and try and finish four sets. I tried to follow MarkC’s instructions and structured it this way.
2 minutes 85% pace, 2 minutes 100 % LT, keep alternating the two for a total of 12 minutes.
6 minutes recovery pace That’s one set. Do 4 sets.

It was around lunch time earlier today. Started at 12:30
12:30 to 12:42, first set of 12 minutes went pretty good
6 minutes recovery, 12:48
12:48 to 1:00, second set was tougher, I felt really strong at the 36 minute mark
6 minutes recovery, 1:06
1:06 to 1:18, third set and I was hurting! I kept real good form, but on the 2 minute 85% section, it took me about 30 to 40 seconds to recover from the harder section. I concentrated on form and ramped up the cadence as quickly as I could.
6 minutes recovery, 1:24
1:24 to 1:36, fourth set and I wanted to get the most out of it, I adjusted the gearing to maintain tension but also allow myself to continue in good form. It was a mental thing at this point, I really wanted to finish this out right.

I hammered and stared at that Garmin awful hard for that last minute until it ticked over.
Done, with 48 minutes total in the workout phase, 66 minutes in all with the recovery time added.
I didn’t have time to do a cool down or write this out, just cleaned up and started back to work. So I'm adding it tonight.
I felt strong in the first two sets, died in the third set but found my footing in the fourth. I’ll try this again with the hope that in time I’ll get better.
Numbers won’t mean for much, but here they are:
a tough interval 1.jpga tough interval 2.jpg

[rec head]

Today was the heavy day and the warm up didn't feel great. The rest of the workout however was good. I think I need to hit CL for some heavier dumbbells.

[Burnette]

I did about an hour, twenty minutes on the bike. Windy and rain early today, did 43 minutes were on the rollers, the rest was on damp roads
in the neighborhood. The rain didn't wash the pollen away, tires were neon green and my eyes were burining good. I have a long 8% grade
and a short 10% in a short loop that I used to work on form and put the hurt on the leg muscles. Went slow and powered up several times.

And now, for some inspiration for us all, a video of a 78 year old grandma deadlifting 225lbs.
Let's get busy, people!

[MarkC]

I can roll two and a quarter around the basement.

If my wife helps...

[MarkC]

Q2 has started well and the legs are coming around.

Thursday: 60 min riding time. Warm up ten minutes then six minutes at LT, recover for 4 minutes and repeat for duration (so ends up being 5 x 6 min at LT with 4 min recovery)


Friday: 75 min riding time. Pyramid: 2 miles @ 155w, 2 miles @ 175w, 2 @ 195, 2 @ 215, 2 @ 235, 2 @ 215, 2 @ 195 then finish the ride at 175-190 depending on how you feel. The steps are mostly to keep it interesting on the rollers. Feel free to do the whole ride at sweet spot to sweet spot-plus.


Saturday: 90 min riding time. Warm up. 3 x 5 min maximum efforts. Hammer time!!! Complete recovery between efforts. Puking is allowed if necessary. Recover from those efforts then 2 x 12-15 minutes at 85% of FTP. (Small brag. I don't usually do 1, 5 or 20 min "max" efforts just for the numbers, but those are flagged in WKO. My first 5 min today was best 5 minutes in about 4-5 seasons. As a TT guy don't focus on sprint, 1 min or 5 min. But anytime you see good numbers gotta be happy.)


Sunday: Dunno yet. Predicting winds in the 25-30 MPH range and colder so probably more rollers. Walking could be hard anyway. Maybe 15 minutes on the C2 then some napping and coffee drinking.

[dogrange]

About 2 hours Zone 2-3 (couldn't restrain myself)

5X10 pullups
3X5 pistol squats
A couple sets of partial handstand puchups
Some thigh and hamstring torture on a roller and a lacrosse ball

[rec head]

Yesterday was supposed to be my heavy weight workout but it was the best weather for riding in a while so I went out and rode hard doing 10 hill repeats at Tower Road. I did the weights today and it felt good. I finally looked up one of the exercises I didn't know the name of - renegade row. I really like those.

[defspace]

3 days of lower body in the weight room this week. Squats and deadlifts. 3x5s for both. Getting back up there.

2 days of upper body work. The shoulder is coming along nicely...

The only cycling has been commuting to work/around town.

[Burnette]

I’ve been doing my gym workouts and hoping for warm days for outside rides. No such luck, early cold temps keep me inside. Today was interval day, on the bike again, but in the garage.

I did the MarkC inspired 2X2X12X4. Two minutes at 85%, two minutes at 100%, do that for twelve minutes. Recover for six minutes. That’s one set. Do four sets. You end with one hour, six minutes.

I struggled with my core in the beginning. I’m a stickler for form, no slouching and no mashing. After the first set, it got better. I exercised on the lower back machine and did leg raises and *planks yesterday and I could really feel it today. I think I’m making a bit of a gain here because I could pull strong when I needed too and I recovered faster. I finished the hour, six minutes.
a saturday interval.jpg

I need to keep at this routine a bit more. The 100% sections I do are strong, the 85% sections during the last set are a struggle. Getting there, just need to stay at it.

[defspace]

Rode the track with my neighbor yesterday after work. We'd ride a two man break for 10 minutes at a time, trading off one-lap pulls. It ends up being a 30/30 workout, pulling well above threshold, recovering right under.

I'm tired today.

[dogrange]

30ish miles zone 2ish.

Rolling of tight hamstrings.

Pullups, 2 sets - 16 then 12

That's all I got.

[rec head]

I changed things up from doing basically a push day and a pull day to combining the hardest from both into one workout. I want to use one of the days to get out side and start using the ropes, pullup bar and sandbag. My first combined workout was tough and I was feeling it yesterday.

The new schedule:
Hard day, easy day, off day,
ropes day, easy day, off day
repeat

The easy day workouts are done at work and change based on where I am working. Those are the days I try and do squats and deadlifts. I think I'm starting to get decent form on those and get comfortable and I am still using very low weights.

At some point this spring/summer I'll probably get rid of the hard day and just do the outside workouts.

[Chad]

30 min elliptical warm up. 3 sets of 10 - OH med ball slam, squat to OH throw, twist throw at wall (right and left), sit ups with chest pass to wall. Bench, 135 x 3 sets to almost exhaustion, 3 x 10 lat pulls and 3 x 10 shrugs.

Man do I need to get on a bicycle.

[Burnette]

Busy day yesterday, I had to fit in an interval routine in a small span of time.
I did the 5x5 routine, five minutes in a hard enough gear to get cadence in the sixties for five minutes, followed by five minutes at 85%.
I got in forty five minutes, cleaned up and hit the door. Didn't get back in until late last night.

Today I'll try and get an hour of high cadence riding on the rollers with some high stress muscle concentration spins added throughout.

[rec head]

I did some roller work and abs (plank with feet on exercise ball and then roll feet inwards - anyone know the name of this?) Then I headed outside to do the ropes, sandbag and sledge. It was hard because I haven't done these movements in months. 3 of my favorite things about the workout: shorts, t-shirt and the SUN.

Now to go get the bike ready for Saturday and take it for a quick spin.

[dogrange]

1.25 hours on bike, pretty easy
4X4 (L&R) archer pullups
3X3 pistol squats
2X8dips