Rest and Recovery Day!

Stretch and foam roll! Maybe try a contrast shower today.

Today's Workout

Moderate intensity cardio x 3 x 20 minutes

(60 minute total duration)

Today's Workout

Wk #2 ME BP

Abmat x 100

A1. Chest supported DB rows x 11,9,7
A2. DB floor press x 11,9,7

B1. Supine Chins x 3 max sets
B2. Blaster strap pushups with 1,2,3 chains x 3 max sets

C2. Barbell curls x 2 x 10-15
C3. Blaster strap tricep ext. x 2 x max reps

Today's Workout

Hanging Leg Raise or KTE's x 100

A1. DB single leg RDL x 10 + 10
A2. DB crossover step up x 10 + 10
A3. BB Power shrug x 10
X 3 rounds

Belt Squats x 3 x 8 with one descending set of 12

KB Double SLD, Clean, and Front Squat x 5 x 3

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving for you and your family. Take the time today to look back over the last year and find the gold within the coal and celebrate that.

Garage Gyms are Great!

Garage is home to hardcore gymnasium
by Monica Orosz
Daily Mail staff
Gallery [+] Enlarge

1 of 4 Photos Tom Hindman
Dr. Dan Stickler, 42, lifts bar weights, the only lifting equipment at CrossFit. Stickler, a surgeon who runs the wellness center Medabolix, said he was skeptical about the CrossFit program until he tried it. He and his colleagues opened a gym in Kanawha City to accommodate the program.
Buy This Photo More Photos »
CHARLESTON, W.Va.--In a big garage tucked away on Kanawha City's 50th Street is Charleston's newest fitness facility, affectionately known as "the box" by its clients.
The space, home to the new CrossFit, is utilitarian, to say the least. There's an actual garage door on the front end and concrete floors inside. Lighting is dim and the facility just recently got decent heat.

Construction-grade metal pipes serve as pull-up bars. PVC pipe is formed into contraptions that sit on the floor to be used for handstands or tricep dips.

A group of weighted medicine balls, as they're called, are lined up in front of a wall that has plastic "men" and "women" signs used in public restrooms mounted on it at varying heights. The signs mark the spots where clients have to toss the weighted balls in a series that has them squat and toss, squat and toss.

The only traditional weights are some barbells. The only traditional cardio equipment is a couple of rowing machines. There are no mirrors.

A huge dry-erase board that lines one wall lists workouts of the day (WOD), and stats from various clients, including one guy who got an honorary award for "puking."

"This is hardcore gym," said Dr. Daniel Stickler, who with his partners opened CrossFit this past summer.

Stickler also is head of Medabolix, the Northgate Business Park facility that uses a scientific approach to health and fitness, counseling its clients on everything from nutrition and diet to exercise. The affiliation with CrossFit, a nationwide trademarked program, is another piece of their wellness philosophy.

In just a few months of operation, CrossFit has changed bodies, with statistics such as weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat ratios backing that up.

Stickler said he's proof. Clad in sweatpants, a tank top and a warm cap during his Thursday morning workout with a handful of other clients, Stickler said he was certainly fit, with just 11 percent body fat, when he started CrossFit classes.

"I'm down to 8.7 percent in three months," said Stickler, 42, also a surgeon who performs weight-loss surgery for morbidly obese patients. Trainer Micka King, a longtime fitness advocate and runner, had 21 percent body fat when she began the program, quite respectable for a woman of 41. She's down to 13 percent.

Today's Workout

Floor wipers x 95 x 100 (break this down if you have to)

60 minutes low intensity cardio

Today's Workout

RE BP Week #2

2 Board BP with mini-bands (subtract 20lbs from wk 1 bar weight) x 4 x 12

Incline DB rear delt/row combo x 4 x 6+6

A1. Dips (use resistance) x 5
A2. Chins (") x 5
x 4 rounds

Today's Workout

WK #2 ME LB Sumo DL emphasis

Pin# 1 Sumo rack pulls x max set of 3 reps

45 degree hyper with MB x 50 reps for time

Back squat x 3 x 8 with 60% of 1RM

R hyper x 2 x 25

Brock is a Beast

This is an old vid when Brock was with the WWE but even minus the hype this guy is a specimen with an outstanding work ethic. I hated to see Randy Couture go down but Brock is a beast and will probably reign for as long as he wants....as long as he avoids the ankle locks!

Rest and Recovery Day!

Go for a walk, stretch, foam roll and recover.

Today's Workout

25 abmat situp
25 abmat reverse crunch
x 4 rounds


60 minutes Moderate intensity Cardio. Break it up if you have to but get it done.

Former NFL head coach helps guide Adrenaline
Stew Schrauger, AZ Adrenaline/Courtesy

PRESCOTT - He's coached under and against Vince Lombardi. Coached alongside Tom Landry. Drafted Dan Fouts. And formed the famed Fearsome Foursome for the Los Angeles Rams.

Toss in eight years as a player for the Rams and New York Giants and Harland Svare has a pretty impressive resume.

But talking football with the 77-year-old nowadays is more like pouring over x's and o's with a registered kinesiologist.

That's just what Svare was doing Sunday at Heritage Park, where Adrenaline head coach and longtime friend Andrew Moore brought him in to impart years of wisdom to young football players trying to make their mark on the sport. It's a wisdom that Moore plans on using as much as possible during the 2009 season.

For nearly 20 years Svare headed up the "Harland Svare Sports Training Method" in San Diego, which seconded as an NFL strength and conditioning camp that put less emphasis on raw weight training and more on what he calls "anatomical alignment and its direct relationship to athleticism."

"Because of the culture of television, computers, video games and all, the modern-day kid doesn't develop his structural muscles correctly," said Svare, who employed Moore at his beach-front facility shortly after Moore was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1997.

"You can tell by the poor posture that so many kids have today. The muscle chain in your body runs from the back of your neck down to your heels, but it gets the least amount of action and needs to be developed properly."

To do that, Svare developed a course that he called "The max course" while training a group of Torrey Pines High School players at the Del Mar Race Track's equestrian center in San Diego.

"Just for fun I told them to 'jump over that stump,' Svare remembers. A training method was born and one of those reaping the benefits was John Lynch, a nine-time Pro-Bowl defensive back who played at Torrey Pines at the time.

"Lynch told me, 'I don't know what it is about this workout, but I feel so much straighter and quicker," said Svare who, in 1962 became the youngest head coach in NFL history (31) with the Rams before Lane Kiffin broke the age barrier with Oakland in 2007. "I feel that it's because those muscles have to be developed in a natural way. Weight room work isolates too much and doesn't address quickness and lateral movement like you need for this sport. Weightlifting has made today's players a lot bigger, but it can have a negative effect if not done properly."

Svare admits that he's never seen an indoor football game in his life, but is ready to observe the nuances, stress the fundamentals that he learned from his Lombardi days and pass the knowledge to Moore as much as possible in 2009.

"He's my mentor," Moore said of Svare. "I have tremendous respect for him. He's coached under Vince Lombardi and others and is a genius when it comes to training athletes. We're just blessed to have him helping us out."

Today's Workout

Week 1 ME BP

A1. DB Floor Press with Parallel Grips x 3 x 20
A2. DB Chest support row x 3 x 10

B1. Slide board push ups x 3 x 12
B2. Supine grip chin ups x 3 x 12

Standing alternating DB press x 2 x 8

Seated alternating DB hammer curls x 2 x 8

Today's Workout

RE LB Week #1

*Perform in a circuit, no rest between exercise, 2 minutes rest between rounds.

A1. Band hip abduction x 3 x 15
A2. Band hip adduction x 3 x 15
A3. 18-24" box jump x 3 x 15 (add a vest or hold dumbells if needing more resistance)
A4. Bodyweight squat to a dynamax ball for 30 seconds- AMRAP, think speed!

*perform as a superset
B1. Leg extension x 3 x 15
B2. Trap bar deadlift x 3 x 10

*perform as a superset
C1. Single leg Stability ball leg curl x 3 x 10 per leg
C2. RDL x 3 x 15

Russian Kettlebell Workout

Russian Kettlebell Workout
By David SnapeOct 26, 2008

Russian kettlebell workouts may be the answer to maintaining a home gym or having an expensive club membership. With Russian kettlebells, you may be able to experience strength and performance gains greater than using traditional free weights.

Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Spetznaz trainer, introduced Russian kettlebell training to the United States. Spetznaz is the Russian special forces. Applying some of Pavel’s techniques may help one develop instant explosive power.

Kettlebell training can be a great way to lose weight, tone up the body, and stay in shape, while helping one develop power, agility, and coordination.

Much has been written about the Russian kettlebells on the Dragondoor.com website. You will find claims that the kettlebell will improve the performance of football players by causing them to become more resilient to the shocks that their bodies endure. You’ll find colorful descriptions of other benefits as well. For example, “hacks your fat off without the dishonor of dieting and aerobics.” [dragondoor.com]

They state that the Russian military does not know what rotator cuff injuries are because, instead of doing pushups, they use kettlebells. The site attributes Pavel with training not only Russian special forces but also elite American military groups.
Kettlebell workouts may be better for you than traditional weights. In one of his books, “Power to the People,” Pavel mentions some of the fitness tests that were used to compare kettlebell training to traditional workouts. He explains that the kettlebell trainers seemed to be in much better shape and performed better on an obstacle course compared with those who trained exclusively on the course without kettlebell training.

For someone who avoids traditional weight training like the plague, Pavel is well-muscled and toned. Could he be onto something?

Pavel’s sense of humor is amazing in light of his Soviet background. ”Power to the People” suggests that liberation is in order. Perhaps that is exactly what Pavel brings, liberation to those locked in the mindset of traditional weight training. Pavel wants to show us a better way to fitness and free us from our need to spend an inordinate amount of time in the gym and spend it more wisely and effectively, so that we can have great physical fitness and time to enjoy it.

Many will undoubtedly prefer the convenience to working out at home without the need to go to the gym. Although Russian kettlebells and the training on how to use them can be quite costly, when weighed against the costs of a lifetime of gym memberships, the kettlebells might just come out on top.

As always, consult a primary care physician before embarking on any fitness regimen or changing your level of exercise or before changing your normal diet.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Russian-Kettlebell-Workout&id=980

2000 hits and an AB idea!

Thanks for taking the time to look over this blog. Hopefully you found something informative or motivating. Here's a tip you can try to implement in your training starting today. Most individuals would like to devote more time for "core" training (for these purposes, core will be defined as erectors, obliques, rectus abdominals, transverse, etc...) but for most trainees at the end of their main workout they are either to fried or they just plain run out of time. I would suggest hitting a specific movement at the start of each workout. Example, 100 abmat crunches, 100 KB swings, 50+50 cable woodchops,etc.. do just one of these before each daily workout. Pick a number of reps and complete them in as few sets as possible or break them up into sets of 10-20-25, or whatever number you would like to hit. Put a clock on your effort and try to decrease the time it takes to perform the same amount of "work" with each specific movement. This is a fairly basic and painless way to add some additional work to you exercise regime.

Powerlifting event in York

Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 11/19/2008 07:13:45 AM EST
The International Powerlifting Association's
National Powerlifting and Bench Press
Championships will be held Saturday and Sunday
at York Barbell Co.

The event will start at 9 a.m. each day.

According to organizers, the championships will
"showcase the best strength athletes from the
powerlifting world and educate the surrounding
communities about exercise and the importance
of good health and fitness."

Highlights of the weekend event are scheduled
to be:
--- Super heavyweight Donnie Thompson will
attempt to break the all-time record with 3,000
pounds of total weight lifted.
--- Spectators will get to see a 1,200-pound
squat and a 900-pound bench press attempt
from at least two competitors.
--- Local athletes will include York's Jan
Swarthout, who will attempt to break her
existing records in the Master 45-49 age group,
and Vincent Cooke of Dover, one of IPA's premier
lifters, who will compete in the 275-pound
weight class and challenge his own 875-pound
squat.
--- Teenage competitors Anthony McCloskey
(17) and Anna McCloskey (15) of Glen Mills will
try to break their current squat records.

Today's Workout

5 minutes foam roller

20 minutes moderate intensity cardio

5 mins static stretch

20 minutes moderate intensity cardio

5 minutes active stretch

20 minutes moderate intensity cardio

Today's Workout

Week 1 RE BP

2 Board BP 4 x 6-8 with 70% of 1RM

Incline DB rows 4 x 6-8

A1. Kipping pullups as many as possible in 1 min x 3
A2. Ring or elevated Pushups as many as possible in 1 min x 3

B1. Barbell OHP x 2 x 8
B2. DB alt curl x 2 x 8

100 abmat situps for time

Strength coach Mickey Marotti one of most valuable Florida Gators

By BEN VOLIN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

GAINESVILLE — Mickey Marotti is not listed as a coach on the University of Florida's roster on its Web site.

He doesn't call a play on offense or defense, doesn't teach technique and doesn't break down video.

Yet for the 8-1 Gators, few have meant more to the team's success this year than Marotti, the Gators' director of strength and conditioning.

"The strength coach is, if not the most valuable, one of the two most valuable members of our staff," Florida head coach Urban Meyer said this week. And "he is the best in college football."

Marotti, 43, does so much more than teach proper weight-lifting technique.

He is one of Meyer's top motivators, giving fiery speeches after practices and before games.

He'll ask his players to haul rocks, flip tires, move cars, play tug of war - anything to challenge their bodies and their minds.

Marotti chest bumps players on game days, and introduces things like midnight workouts and "The Valentine's Day Massacre," a grueling February session, to the Gators' training regimen.

He sets weight goals for players in the off-season, and helps them achieve the goals through tough love and positive reinforcement. Meyer calls him a "master" of motivation and mental preparation.

"It's amazing that he can, in the off-season, bring that much intensity to an hour-and-a-half workout, non-stop," offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said. "He really gets them going year-round."

Marotti definitely has the tough-guy act down pat.

"At times he'll be mad or whatever, but you know he's doing the best thing for you," said linebacker A.J. Jones, who has put on 50 pounds of muscle under Marotti's supervision. "He's just being real with you."

The NCAA limits the interaction between Meyer and his players to four months in the fall and 15 days in the spring, so they count on Marotti as the year-round coach.

Meyer refers to him as "the head coach of the first floor," where the Gators' weight room is located at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

"Coach Meyer turns to coach Marotti for everything - how players are doing, what they're feeling, what they're thinking," fifth-year senior Butch Rowley said. "Without question, his right-hand man."

Meyer credits Marotti with toughening up the Gators' "soft" defense, which lost four games last year and allowed 42 points to Georgia and 188 yards to Knowshon Moreno. This year, the Gators are No. 1 in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 11.9 points per game.

Marotti made sure the players would remember those numbers, making them do weight-lifting repetitions of 42 and 188 in summer workouts.

"The biggest thing we do is hold the players accountable," Marotti said. "We basically try to suffocate them as much as we can, and stay on them 24-7."

Meyer met Marotti in the early 1990s, when Marotti was the strength coach for the basketball team at the University of Cincinnati. Meyer, then a receivers coach at Notre Dame, returned to South Bend, Indiana that week and said, "This is a man we need to hire." The Fighting Irish did hire Marotti, and he worked for them from 1998 until Meyer hired him to work at Florida in 2005.

To a man, the players credit Marotti for much of the team's turnaround this season.

"He is the most instrumental dude," Rowley said. "I've never met someone who knows so much about life, about how to become a real man, about how to take care of your body the right way.

"Sometimes it's hard to get motivated for a workout, but with a guy like him breathing down your neck, you know you've got to go hard."

Strongest Man

Today's Workout

Wk #1 ME LB (sumo dl emphasis)

KTE's x 3 x 20

Sumo DL rack pulls Pin #1 x max set of 5

45 degree hyper with heavy MB x 50 reps (rest pause style or one straight set) record your time

Barbell Back Squat x 3 x 5 with 70% or 1RM

Reverse hyper 2 x 25

20 minutes t-mill @ 10 degree grade

Rest and Recovery Day

Gladiator Sculler

Meet Robin Coleman, AKA Hellga from NBC's American Gladiators. Robin has a highly diverse athletic background consisting of professional strongwoman, body building, boxing, and mixed martial arts. She is also an avid rower. In between destroying contenders in the Gauntlet, she takes strokes with the LMU Masters Lions club in Los Angeles, CA. row2k sat down with Robin for a very powerful 10 questions.

row2k: You were an accomplished athlete prior to getting in to rowing. How did you get from throwing trucks around to pulling on an oar?
Robin Coleman: That's funny! My first interaction with the rowing world was while I was training for the World's Strongest Woman, actually! I was in front of Gold's Venice rowing a Ford F-350 to me on a rope tied to it's axle when some rowing coaches from UCLA saw me and asked if I were interested - at the time I thought rowing was kayaking! My focus in the gym didn't allow me to explore any other sports.

Fast forward to 2004 - I was a bit burned out on the fluctuation between strength events and dieting for bodybuilding / figure shows, and a friend I had lunch with put rowing into my head. He was someone I'd actually taught in terms of fitness and nutrition, and he had discovered rowing on the east coast as a follow up to his newfound fitness and knew that a tall strong girl was perfect for the sport. I immediately searched online and found the LMU Masters Lions program and squeaked into a learn to row class. My first day in an eight I was hooked!

row2k: What interested you in the sport initially?
Robin Coleman: Except for playing basketball badly at the University of Houston, I've been in solo sports for 12 years, primarily body building and strong woman competitions. When I was beginning to row, the teamwork and camaraderie of the sport got my attention. The precision and focus of each rower is astonishing! I don't think any other sport can possibly compare. Being in nature was also truly great after years of being locked up in a gym. Then there was the difficulty factor! To the naked eye it can be hard to see just how much technique and training it requires to be able to function in the boat! Rowing became my biggest challenge - I loved it.

Today's Workout

For Time:

25 box jumps (12-18")

25 KB swings (25-50)

25 Double unders

25 kipping pullups

Repeat for 4 rounds and record time

Today's Workout

Week 1 of a Volume Block

CG 3 Board BP x 4 x 6

A1. Low incline BP x 4 x 8
A2. Alt Unilateral pulldown x 4 x 8

B1. Slideboard PU's x 2 x 10
B2. Seated Row with TB handle x 2 x 8

C1. Standing DB arnold press x 2 x 8
C2. BBarbell curls x 2 x 10

Today's Workout

Screwed up and posted Thursday's workout as Wednesday's workout. Switch up today and do your cardiac work.

20 minutes thrz 65-75

Stretch 5 minutes

20 minutes thrz 65-75

Stretch 5 minutes

20 minutes thrz 65-75

Today's Workout

Week 1# Volume Block

65% of 1RM BP x 4 x 6

Close grip BP with single chain each side x 4 x 8

150 push ups in as few sets as possible

Pullups x 4 x 10-15

Incline DB rows x 4 x 5

BB curl x 2 x 10-12

Today's Workout

Starting week #1 of a Volume Block

Back Squat 4 x 6 with 65-70% of 1RM

Conventional DL and shrug 1 pull x 5 shrugs x 4 rounds x 4 sets

DB step ups (min. 12") x 4 x 8 reps each leg

Standing Ab pulldowns x 3 x 12-15

Top Trends for 2009

And the 2009 Health and Fitness Trends Are . . .

From fitsugar.com
Every year the American College of Sports Medicine [1] surveys over a thousand sports medicine professionals about the fitness trends for the upcoming year. It seems that the predicted trends for 2009 are pretty similar to those we saw for 2008 [2] — a mixture of generalized trends and exercise specifics.

Does not look like anything new on this list. Children and obesity should be numero uno.

Here are the top 10 health and fitness trends for 2009 [3]:

Educated and experienced fitness professionals. Certification and accreditation for health and fitness programs and professionals are becoming more common.
Children and obesity. Fitness programs to address childhood obesity are a top trend for the third year in a row in the ACSM survey.
Personal training. Personal trainers are becoming more accessible to more people, according to the survey.
Strength training. Men and women are lifting weights; staying strong while aging is increasingly part of their motivation.
Core training. This trend is about strengthening muscles in the abdomen and back to stabilize the spine.
To see the other hot trends .

Special fitness programs for older adults. This trend includes aging baby boomers, frail elders who want to get stronger for daily tasks, active older adults, and master athletes.
Pilates. Done on a mat or special equipment, Pilates trains the core muscles and improves flexibility and posture.
Stability ball. These big, inflatable balls (also called Swiss balls or exercise balls) are used for crunches, push-ups, and other exercises. Staying stable on the ball is part of the challenge.
Sport-specific training. This trend is about athletes training in the off-season to build their strength and endurance.
Balance training. In balance training, you might stand on a wobble board or use a stability ball to hone your balance. It's a trend for all ages.

Injury rates at the Olympics

Study says 1,055 athletes were injured at Olympics

The Associated Press
Thursday, October 16, 2008
LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Nearly one in 10 Olympians were treated for injuries at the Beijing Games, the IOC said Thursday.

More than half of the 1,055 athletes hurt had leg and foot problems and at least 100 suffered head injuries, according to figures based on medical reports from 92 of the national teams competing.

Almost three-quarters of all injuries were sustained in competition, and the most common were thigh strains and ankle sprains.

The sports most dangerous to Olympians' health were boxing, soccer, handball, field hockey, taekwondo and weightlifting. Each reported injuries to around one in seven athletes.

Four sports reported that none of its athletes lost training or competition time: flatwater canoeing, diving, sailing and synchronized swimming.

An International Olympic Committee team of medical experts recorded and analyzed injuries in detail at Beijing for the first time at an Olympics.

A detailed report will be published in a sports medical journal and distributed to all national teams.

Rest and Recovery Day!

Light cardio, stretch, foam roller, rest.

Today's Workout

TABATA BABY!

20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest for 32 rounds.

You pick the modality...examples, bike, t-mill run, jumprope, low box jump, KB/DB swing.

Stability ball pikes for 25 x 4 with 60 seconds rest inbetween

Today's Workout

Final Workout of Deloading Week

ME 2 board bp with 2 chains on each end of bar
Working off of last weeks Max
60% x 7
70% x 5
80% x 3

A1. DB floor press 3 x 12
A2. Thick bar lat pulldowns 3 x 8

B1. Dips 2 x max reps
B2. Alt DB hammer curls 2 x 10

C1. Cable scarecrows 2 x 15
C2. Shoulder horn 2 x 15
C3. DB lateral raise 2 x 15

Today's Workout

Deloading Week

12 minutes stepper high intensity

Box jumps 12"/10 18"/8 24"/6 26"/6 28"/6 30"/6

Alternating plyo jumps to a 12" box with a weight vest x 8+8 x 3

BB DL plus Shrug combo, 1 DL to 10 Shrugs- use 50% of last weeks load and add 1 chain to each end of bar if you can

45 degree hyper x 1 set to 100 reps using a rest/pause system

12 minutes stepper high intensity

Which one are you?

From time to time allow me to rant on a few random subjects other than strength and conditioning. With the recent election of our new president, the radio and tv "sound bytes from the crowd" found me wondering what kind of a "new world" are we heading to. Most of the clips were concerned about what the president was going to do for this person or that. Huh? What about doing for your country? This morning while training a group of ladies the subject of the presidency came up and many were worried about their taxes going up when one woman shouted that "we need this man so badly to fix our country.....we just need him!" Not much logic behind this statement but a lot of emotion. Do we need someone to mother us/father us besides our own deity? This got me to thinking about what sort of person am I? Do I need someone to look up to, to make feel secure and safe? I know that this is a stretch and if you are a democrat you are happy today and if you are a republican you are not, but as a country it seems like we are losing our pioneering spirit. Are you a joiner or a leader? A sheep or a ram? Quit whinning about what you do can't do, and concentrate on what you can do. No matter what your political affiliation- we need to look to ourselves to make this country strong, safe, and productive into the future. Be a John McClane type, not a lemming.

Today's Workout

Right Side Bridge x 30 seconds
Left Side Bridge x 30 seconds
Front Bridge x 60 seconds

20 minutes moderate cardio

* repeat bridge sequence

20 minutes moderate cardio

* repeat bridge sequence

Today's Workout

Deloading week

A1. Log bar or DB's with parallel grip 70% of max x 3 x 8
A2. Pendlely BB rows x 3 x 8

B1. Kipping Pullups x 2 x max
B2. MB slams with 20lb MB x same number of max kips

C1. Barbell curls x 2 x 10-15 reps
C2. Tricep ext/press x 2 x do one extension and 5 presses x 5 rounds

D1. Woodchop x 2 x 10
D2. Max number of abmat situps in 60 seconds

Today's Workout

Deloading Week

Sumo DL
60% of 1RM x 9 reps
70% of 1RM x 7 reps
80% of 1RM x 5 reps

Front Squat (40-50% of 1RM) x 40 seconds x 1 minute rest inbetween
total up your reps and record

Use 50% of your load from last week
45 degree hypers x 15
Cable pullthroughs x 15
Reverse Hyper x 15

Standing cable torso flexion x 3 x 10-20 reps

30 minutes moderate intensity cardio

Natural Bodybuilder

Ruiz moves up among bodybuilders

Posted by jwaggone November 03, 2008 22:28PM

Staten Island Advance file photoStaten Island bodybuilder Carol Ruiz has joined the sports top ranks after winning an International compeition.
We've talked about Carol Ruiz in this space before and her meteoric rise in bodybuilding's amateur ranks.
Now the 37-year-old is joining the sport's top ranks after earning her pro-card by winning the International Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation's BOSS Sports Science Naturalmania Nationals in Manhattan in mid-September and placing first in Class A figure competition.

INBF is an amateur affiliate of the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation), the world leader in drug-tested bodybuilding and figure competition.

"That was the goal before, to become pro," said Ruiz, who lives in Grasmere with husband Luis and kids Amanda and Kenneth. "I'm hoping more doors will open, like endorsements and sponsorships."

Doors have already opened for Ruiz, since she will be featured in the Oxygen fitness magazine in January.

"I hope to inspire someone," said Ruiz, whose other goals include becoming a WNBF judge, opening her own health club and working with the elderly.

For now, it's training for Ruiz, who has a competition coming up in two weeks. A toned look is what the judges will look for, where Ruiz and her counterparts will have two minutes to walk solo on stage to get points on their aesthetic appearance. While wearing a one- and two-piece sparkly swimsuit and stiletto heels, each contestant displays their chiseled and tanned physique in quarter turns.

"Being on stage," she said, "it shows the hard work you put in.

Turning pro, apparently does, too.

Rest and Recovery Day!

Stretch and foam roll, but not necessarily in that order!

Today's Workout

For Time-

200m run

50 abmat situps

50 box jumps 12" box

50 KTE's

50 KB swings (35/20)

200m run