It may seem strange to begin on the last day of the cycle, but I was a bit too sore in the lower body (from horsing around last week) to hit the legs hard. So, here we go. Feeling fresh, strong and powerful in the gym right now!
Day 4 - Upper Body (Sunday, May 11)
Foam rolling, mobility work.
1) Heavy lat pulldowns - 4x6 @ 105lbs (last set at 95lbs)
2) DB military press - 3x8-10 @ 20lbs
3) Face pulls - 3x6 @ 60lbs
4) Overhead shrugs - 3x8 @ 45lbs
5) Scaptions w/shrugs - 2x12 @ 8lbs
6) Decline reverse crunch - 3x8
+20 minutes of eliptical
Serious stretching afterwards! I find that I still have some knots in my right lat, but getting in there with a tennis ball on off-days is really helping.
AWEsome workout!
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2 comments:
10/Ten:
Hope all's well. I'm looking for some guidance for a friend. She's a female rugby player and recently showed up to work with a cool looking black eye. This led to explain how she dives during practice (and I suspect while playing) and two thoughts immediately came into my head: (1) db deadlifts for overall strengthening of the P-Chain and the need for specific work to protect the cervical spine as diving, to my mind, whether head down or with a neutral spine, places the cervical vertebrae at considerable risk. My thought was to suggest specific neck training (you know the kind football players do while wearing the head brace and chains) to provide support to the cervical vertebrae by strengthening the surrounding muscles. It, of course, goes without saying that the superior, medial and inferior aspects of the traps need to be strengthen to assist in this support function.
While I've got some general ideas that I think are correct, I'm out of my elements with respect to conditioning that is specific to her sport. You're closer to it than I am so, if you've got any specific advice or know someone that you could grab something off of, I'd be grateful.
It is true to say that, strictly speaking, this is not my business. I'm making it mine. She is strong and a dedicated athlete and I hate to see talent wasted.
peace.
Hmm, well I think she is probably best served by learning to dive in a safe way! I can definitely see the logic in training to protect the spine, but I think that in the end, training for the purpose of performance should build up spinal strength/resilience anyways!
Sports, in and of themselves are occupational hazards. Lifting serves a specific and useful off-season purpose, but I think that building a performance-ready body and being skilled in your specific sport is what lends most to injury avoidance. She could definitely add some lifting (if she isn't already), but I don't necessarily know that I would recommend it for the sole purpose of protecting the spine against hard dives. She is probably best served by learning to move about safely on the field..to the extent that its possible in rugby!
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