spemma's Training Log

[spemma]

Have you thought about losing a few lbs? I have no idea if it will help you, but I know it makes bodyweight work feel easier to me. Food for thought.

i have, and did, but any more aggressive weight cutting actions i believe will cut into recovery i'm afraid. after this upcoming PFT, i think i will dedicate a month to dropping a solid 7-10lbs and maintaining.

[spemma]

wednesday

• 55 minute LSS: 5.6 miles

thursday

• sit-ups: max reps in 30 seconds, 3 sets
• push-ups (bravo circuits): 3 x 30
• inverted rows: 3 x 20
• shanks: 2 x 1 minute each

friday

• Oxygen Debt x 3

saturday

• 5x20 push-ups, 5x25 sit-ups, reverse push-ups, swimmers
• 55 minute LSS, 5.5 miles

[spemma]

following Stew Smith's 15 days from PFT plan for my last 2 weeks.

http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/15dayPFT.htm

monday
Repeat 3 times

• Pushups max reps 1 min
• Situps - 15-20 reps in 30 seconds

• 1.5 mile run warmup

Repeat 3 times

• 300m run at goal pace
• squats – 20
• situps - 20 in 30 seconds

tuesday

• Run 400m – rest 5:00 / stretch
• Run 1.5 mile run timed
• 100 pushups and 100 situps total throughout the day

wednesday

• Repeat 3 times Max pushups, pace Situps 15-20 in 30 seconds
• Repeat 2 times 1.5 mile at close to goal pace – rest 10 minutes in between

thursday

• Warm-up jog 10:00

Repeat 5 times

• 400m run at goal pace

• 100 pushups and 100 situps total throughout the day

friday
Repeat 4 times

• Max Pushups
• Pace Situps 15-20 in 30 seconds

• Warmup Jog 5:00

• ¼ mile at goal pace
• ½ mile at goal pace
• ¾ mile at goal pace
• 1 mile at goal pace
• stretch / rest 2 min in between each set...

this was a bear to get through. this is somehow supposed to be 15 days straight. by friday i was pretty banged up, so i took saturday and sunday off to recover. next week (i.e. this week), i'm going to go m, t, w, rest on thursday, then f, s, s, and rest until the PFT on the 14th.

[spemma]

monday

• 1.5 mile run warmup

Repeat 4 times

• 300m run

• Do 100 pushups and 100 situps total throughout the day - 4 sets

tuesday

• 100-150 pushups and situps in as few sets as possible - no rest

Repeat 3 times

• Run 300m run @ full speed – rest 5 minutes

• 1.5 mile run timed - 12:24

wednesday

• 3 miles at close to goal pace as possible - 23:30
• 120 pushups, 140 situps broken into 4 sets throughout the day

thursday

• rest

friday
Repeat 3 times

• bike or run - 2 minutes fast
• pushups - max reps: 50, 38, 32
• situps - 40-50 in 1 minute: 47, 44, 40

• Elliptical pyramid:Manual mode level 2,4,6,…hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long

saturday

• 300m sprint: 0:47:6
• 1.5 mile run: 10:59
• 120 pushups, 140 situps broken into 4 sets throughout the day

sunday

• situps - 40-50 in 1 minute: 46
• Elliptical pyramid:Manual mode level 2,4,6,…hold each level for 1 minute until failure – repeat in reverse order – should be 15-20 minutes long
• 50m sprint starts x4

welp, the PFT is this week on Thursday and i managed to tweak both my pec and my groin yesterday. pretty minor tweaks, but it's very frustrating because i was peaking very well. sunday i tried to bang out one max set of push ups and in my warm up i felt a strain in my pec so i stopped immediately. i think that will recover.

then i just wanted to nail my sprint start so i did some 50m accelerations. literally my last rep i get a groin tweak. FML.

i'll be resting up through thursday, icing, compressing, not doing anything to it...so i hope it holds out...

[spemma]

September 2017
PFT: PASS

• sit-ups: 53
• 300m sprint: ~0:47
• push-ups: 44
• 1.5 mile run: 11:14

rested monday, tuesday, wednesday and groin was feeling good. starting warming up thursday AM for the PFT and it was hurting a bit. i wasn't sure if i was going to be able to do it, but the groin held out. still a little sore, but it feels like a minor injury.

i'm going to test my maxes this week and then get back into the mix next week.

[spemma]

in light of a recent post by K.B. on the Fighter SE thread, my continuation cluster will be very minimal with only BP and SQ, with sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups layered in.

tested my training maxes and got the following:

• BP - 215 x 5; 1RM = 242
• SQ - 275 x 3; 1RM = 291

been awhile since i've squatted, so i felt a little uncomfortable under the bar. i expect that one to shoot up more quickly. i couldn't believe how much i benched. i thought it would've gone down since i focused so much on push-ups the past several months, but that's a pretty good number for me.

loosely, i think my schedule will be as follows:

• monday: BJJ
• tuesday: MS - BP, SQ > 3 sets; SE - plank, push-ups, pull-ups > 1 set; HIC - Fast 5
• wednesday: BJJ
• thursday: E (jog) x 60 mins
• friday: MS - BP, SQ > 3 sets; SE - sit-up, push-ups, pull-ups > 3 sets
• saturday: SE - sit-up, push-ups, pull-ups > 3 sets; HIC - track-based sprint
• sunday: rest

i cut the SE sets down on tuesday to fit in the HIC. i may cut the SE completely that day, considering i'm getting 3 days of coverage on exercises that will improve my PFT scores, which is my primary goal. i need to get in 3 days of conditioning as well, so this seems like the only way i can make it work.

[grouchyjarhead]

Smith has some good programs but they are intense. If you're not already vigorously training 5-6 days a week they can be a hard adjustment.

I'm glad to hear all things considered you still passed. What worked well for you this time and didn't during your prep?

[spemma]

thanks for coming in and commenting!

i was familiar with Smith before as i used his program previously for prep. i had to scale that program down a fair amount just to get through it. smith's 15-day prep program did give me confidence though because i was practicing the specific events everyday. with that said, i blame both my pec and groin strain on the overworking in the program. i should've been smarter about it and scaled it down more than i already did.

as for what worked well and didn't:
worked well

• basebuilding and continuing E runs: i'm not a runner but these turned me into a semi-decent runner. aside from the physiological benefits, it brought me a lot of confidence.
• timed sit-ups: a must do for prepping for this type of test. since it is maximum sit-ups in 1-minute, and basically every 2 reps is +1 point, you have to learn how to go fast.
• mock PFTs: got me more confident with taking the test, so it was very familiar come game day.
• "grease the groove": the daily submaximal "grease the groove" style push-ups and sit-ups that i did under the Smith program seemed to help my numbers, i just have to be more intelligent about them next go round. i could probably cease all push-ups up until 2 weeks from the PFT and just do the grease the groove and be solid.

didn't work well

• tempo runs (Fast 5): i don't know why i kept doing these. they weren't at a pace that was fast enough to help learn pacing for the test and the distance didn't build confidence for the 1.5 mile. i would've been better off just running the 1.5 harder on the track to learn my pacing.
• push-up progression: i blame this on not doing any MS during the period and just endless push-ups. i just feel like i should be a regular 50+ push-up scorer.

[spemma]

monday:

• BJJ - nice being back, my cardio felt good, which made up for my skills setback

tuesday:

• Fighter (Bangkok): BP and SQ x 3 sets each. 1.5 mile run (12 minutes).

wednesday:

• BJJ

thursday

• 60-minute LISS run, on treadmill. had to do it on the treadmill...got home late from work and it was 830pm.

friday

• Rest

saturday

• Fighter (Bangkok): BP and SQ x 3 sets each. SE (2 sets) of sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups -> alpha circuits. sit-ups are technically 0:30 sets, not alpha circuits. for the pull-ups, i supplement with inverse rows for any remaining reps.
• Hill Sprints: 5 reps, first 2 at 0:45, last 3 at 0:30

sunday

• SE of sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups as specified above (but 3 sets)
• Fartlek: 10 min. warm-up; {1, 2, 3, 2, 1} > 1 minute run, 1 minute jog, 2 minute run, 2 minute jog, etc.; 10 min. cool-down

couple lessons learned.

• thought i'd be able to do 3 sets of SE after after each MS session, but it's just too much. 2 sets will have to do. planning on doing SE 3x/week, though i didn't do so this week as i still hammer out the specifics of my continuation schedule.
• planned on sunday being a rest day, but it works out better to leverage my weekend days to hit longer sessions and rest on friday. i hate working out on fridays anyway.
• BJJ is hit or miss in terms of being a good conditioning workout. as a result, i have to continue to get 3 running sessions in each week to keep my fitness up for the PFT.

[spemma]

monday:

• BJJ

tuesday:

• Friend asked me to do a crossfit-esque class with him, so i did.

wednesday:

• BJJ

thursday

• 60-minute LISS run - 6 miles.

friday

• Rest

saturday

• Fighter (Bangkok): BP and SQ x 3 sets each. SE (2 sets) of sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups -> alpha circuits. sit-ups are technically 0:30 sets, not alpha circuits. for the pull-ups, i supplement with inverse rows for any remaining reps.
• Hill Sprints: 5 reps, first 3 at 0:45, last 2 at 0:30

sunday

• SE of sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups as specified above (but 3 sets)
• Fartlek: 10 min. warm-up; {1, 2, 3, 2, 1} > 1 minute run, 1 minute jog, 2 minute run, 2 minute jog, etc.; 10 min. cool-down