Rope Squats Do Squat

Almost through the second cycle of "undulating periodisation," where workouts move from high-rep/low-weight to low-rep/high-weight through roughly two weeks.

I've been able to raise the stakes a bit with the recent addition of a 40-pound weight vest -- and BTW, I will never buy fitness equipment again without first searching craigslist thoroughly. Got that vest brand-new, out-of-the-box for $65. You'd pay twice that at Dick's. This has been an especial help in the lower-body exercises; it's very hard to build leg muscles with just bodyweight exercises, I find.

One thing I've learned is that one of my invented exercises, "rope squats," has got to go. I wanted to practice using my legs in rope climbs, since many contestants on Ninja Warrior seem to forget to use their legs on the final stage. And there's a reliable technique for locking the rope with your feet and then squatting up to advance yourself, so you don't have to rely exclusively on your already-tired arms. So how did it go?

Well, I've mastered the lock. I can jump onto a rope and whip that rope around my leg in a flash. And I can press up from that lock, then grab and hike my legs up to a higher position on the rope. But as for doing reps of squats from that position? A waste of time.

First off, when you do reps in that position you get serious rope burn on your leg with each rep. I work out in shorts, but I wouldn't want to see what this exercise would do to any pair of sweatpants.

Second, anytime I do exercises hanging from the rope I involuntarily rotate, something like Foucault's Pendulum, for those of you who read too much. But when that happens during these "rope squats," I spend so much time trying to steady myself that there's little time to focus on lifting with the legs. Basically, I'm using my arms more than I would be in an actual rope climb!

Third, there isn't much point to the exercise. Once you know how to lock the rope with your feet, there's not much more to practice in lower-body technique. I dont' even think that your legs could get tired in a 50-foot rope climb, at least no more than in climbing a 50-foot flight of stairs or a 50-foot ladder.

The challenge is that in this kind of workout, where you need four different exercises for upper-and lower-body, I'm now stuck for a lower-body exercise in the appropriate range. PArt of me thinks that it's time to man up and buy some decent plyo boxes. Jumping, vertically and horizontally, is the real valuable lower-body skill for Ninja Warrior, and there's no better way to improve jumping than with plyometrics. But decent plyo boxes can easily run you $100 each, even for lower heights. So I may first invest in that plyometrics book whose name and author I can't remember now (is it linked on the blog page? It will be) and see what he's got that doesn't involve plyo boxes. Then I'll ask Santa for a couple of additions to the home gym. But not before I check Craigslist.

Legless

Not like I don't have stuff I want to write after each workout -- and I have been working out every day, according to schedule. It's just that I'm too used to Twitter- and Facebook-length posts; the blog is too much effort!

Been a good week since my last post. Finished this two-week cycle of undulating periodisation with lower and upper-body workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Did six sets of three reps for two exercises each day, and was really feeling it. Tuesday I revisited pistol squats, my old nemesis. I know I've got the leg strength to do a one-legged squat, but for whatever reason I can't get low without falling back on my behind. I suspect that I'm just not flexible enough in the ankles to get my center of gravity forward enough. In the past, I've compensated by either doing rockup pistols, where you intentionally roll backward to your shoulders, then roll forward and swing up on the plant leg. But today I was happy to see that I could get through the sets by holding a 25-pound plate in front of me. It moves my center of gravity enough to save my balance, but also adds 25 pounds to the squat and looks tougher. God knows how that guy on beastskills.com does it with two kettlebells over his shoulders!

The other leg exercise Tuesday was King Deadlifts with the 20-pound vest and the 30-pound DBs. Meh. I do it to hit the other leg muscles, whether you call it Hamstrings or Knee-Dominant or Hip-Dominant I forget. I'm just not thrilled with most bodyweight exercises for legs. Not with only a 20-pound vest, anyway, but more about that below.

Wednesday I did legless climbs, followed by one-arm pushups. My arms are still sore from the climbs, but the soreness only confirms that they're a fantastic exercise, and that I really need to do more challenging rope exercises to prepare for ANW. The limit of my garage ceiling meant that for each rep I'd start sitting on the floor, then raise my feet and pull myself off the floor with just my hands. Then I'd get five hand-over-hand reaches before I reached the top of the rope, then I'd just drop down; doubt I had the strength to climb down as well. Blistered up my hands, even with the invaluable receiver gloves.

Felt great to get back into one-arm pushups, too. I'd laid off them for a long time after a nagging shoulder injury, but aside from some negligible tweaks I felt great afterwards. And sure, I did them with my legs spread wide apart, but for the first time through the workout I'll take that.

Speaking of which, where do I go from here? I liked the exercises I did in this cycle, and feel that another go-round could show some improvement. But I just purchased a 40-pound weight vest, so I could start a cycle of intensification, where you do the same sets and reps as last go-round but with increasing weight each set.

Or I could train for the FitBrawl Online competition. Basically, they post a bunch of challenges, like most pushups in two minutes or fastest time for 50 thrusters with 30-pound DBs, and you record yourself doing them and post them, thus virtually competing with other fitness freaks around the 'Net. I think that I might take the next two days off, then on Sunday spend a week doing the FitBrawl challenges, then return to the periodisation workouts.

Running's been going well, too. Did five miles on Monday and three miles today. Sunday I'll probably try to do six or seven. Would've done five today, but it's so tough getting up for the fourth day in the row to workout in the dark I compromised.

BTW, my new secret weapon for pre-dawn workouts is 16 ounces of iced coffee with two scoops of whey protein. Thirty minutes later I'm ready to wrestle an alligator.

On The Ropes

Three days in, and already I'm modifying the latest workout.

The pattern was Upper Body-Lower Body-Rest/Run. But Tuesday's four-miler and the subsequent up-and-down-stairs-related pain told me that I couldn't continue following up a lower body day with a run. So Wednesday I switched things, and did the next lower body workout. 

Today I'll do upper body; I was going to sneak in an easy couple of miles in the pre-dawn hours, but the rain and some last-minute work persuaded me otherwise. Tomorrow, Friday, I'll do my "long run," which might be no more than six miles. I'm ready mentally to start running longer again, and my Achilles tendons feel fine; at least they didn't hurt going up and down staris. But overdoing it is how I got here, so I'll probably force myself to be content with six miles.

Yesterday's "lower body" workout seemed as much for my grip as my legs. First was 5x8 of depth jumps to a rope with a 20 lb. vest on. Well, the first set I did without the vest, partly because I forgot to put on the vest and partly because I wasn't sure about this new exercise. Worked up a sweat plenty, and I was surprised how high up on the rope I was reaching. But I'm not sore after the workout, so I'm not sure if I'm pushing hard enough. Perhaps I'll chalk this four-week period up to adaptation to the rope, and next month I'll switch to some more intense muscle-building stuff.

Next I did Swiss Ball leg curls, which were a joke. Not sure how to exercise my hammies with limited bodyweight resources.

Finished off with 50 situps -- with nothing holding my feet. Only this summer did I realize that people actually do situps without hooking their feet under anything. I still can't do them well -- there'd be lots of doovers if I were doing them in the Army -- but I do believe in them as an intense ab exercise, so I'll stick with them for now.

I Got Blisters On My Fingers

Back from vacation, and ready to resume training.

Of course, since my last post the current season of American Ninja Warrior has ended. Now that it's all over, I feel more like I could start up a podcast about my training. Might be a good time to capitalize on the interest in ANW. We'll see if I can overcome my technical obstacles -- which really aren't that significant, since I've already run one podcast for a few years.

But today's about training. I suspect that I might continue my training in 4- to 6-week increments, changing my training entirely each period. For one, I keep changing my mind on how best to train for the obstacles without actual replicas of the course in my backyard. Not that such an approach has helped anyone else win, but that's another matter.

I also think that I need to change things up every so often to keep my body from adapting and plateauing. For example, I doubt that I can make any more gains by just cranking out pullups until my arms fall out of their sockets. I've been doing pullups for years without much variation, and I've topped out at about 18 reps. So a little change-up might spur me on to the next level.

Also, I know have a brand-new training implement, my 10-foot climbing rope, and I'm eager to build a workout around this new toy. It's the closest thing I have to a course-specific training device, so it's time to get acquainted.

I've been reading about periodization, the method for promoting strength gains by varying the sets, reps, and weights over individual workouts, weeks, and months. I've found a great article at ampedtraining.com about "undulating periodization," where you vary sets and reps from workout to workout. I'll link the article on the sidebar, but basically the approach I'll be trying will run for four weeks.

I'll also update the calendar, but the workout will involve two days of working out, first upper- then lower-body, followed by one day of running/rest, for four weeks. The first pair of workouts will be highest reps and lowest intensity, typically 4 sets of 12 for a couple of critical exercises. The next three pairs of workouts -- that takes me through twelve days -- increases the intensity and number of sets while reducing the reps per set.

I started this workout yesterday, Sunday 9/4/11, with the first upper-body workout. Today I did the first lower-body workout. How's it going?

Sunday's workout was all about the rope. Well, it was only one rope exercise, based on a video I found on YouTube. I'll see if I can link it, but you can just search for "rope climbing exercises" and look for the clip with the bald German. The exercise I did was what I call "Prone Climb to Standing." Like the name says, you start flat on your back and pull yourself up the rope to standing, then lower yourself back to the floor.

I planned 4 sets of 12 up-and-down. Midway through the second set I'd ripped a nice chunk of skin off of one finger, and had blisters on most of the others. I applied medical tape and threw on some weight gloves, but they didn't do much. Think next time I'll dig up my old football receiver gloves. Anyway, for the third set I just climbed up and sat myself back down, and by the fourth set I quit after just four reps. I wasn't sore the next day, but forty reps of picking myself up exhausted me plenty.

The other exercise was Spiderman pushups, where you bring alternating knees to elbows with each lowering. Four sets of twelve was challenging, but really too easy with just bodyweight. Think next time I'll put my feet up the wall, like I used to do pushups, but keep doing the Spiderman move. Anything I can do to add unilateral, asymmetrical moves seems better prep for ANW. That another reason to get into rope work rather than plain ol' pullups.

I just did three exercises, the last being 60 seconds of plank with my feet up the wall. I'm hoping that the other exercises are doing enough core work that I need only do one more exercise.

Today was lower body. Not sure how that'll affect running tomorrow, but I learn best by making mistakes. I started with 4x12 of box jumps, onto my 18" bench, with a 20 lb. vest on. They were pretty easy, which has me thinking again about splurging for a nice, proper 30" plyometric box. Followed that up with lunges, again with the vest on. The first two sets -- 12 lunges per leg -- went fine, but soon as I started the third set my leg twinged from soreness. Had to move a little slower, but I was surprised that something as innocuous as lunges could be so tough. Might add some dumbbells next time.

Finished up with 50 bicycle crunches. That's 50 per side alternating, if there's any ambiguity about this exercise. Read someplace on line that it's one of the best ab exercises out there.

So at the very least, I'll get stronger on the rope and enjoy a break from conventional bodyweight exercises. And after laying off running for a couple of weeks my achilles tendons are feeling much better all the time, so I'm resuming running. Might even do the Cow Harbor 10K, just for fun.