Firefighter CPAT Sim + Themed Training

Earlier in the day, Trey and I went out and did some simulated runs of the CPAT tests to become a firefighter. Here's what we did:

1) Stair-climb; six stories; 50lb vest+25lbs
2) Sled drag; 75lbs through 2xlength of parking lot (pretty far); 50lbs vest
3) Farmers walks; 2x25lbs either side, half of parking lot and back; 50lbs vest
4) QM; half of parking lot then gave up; 50lbs vest

Okay, so it doesn't sound like a whole lot, but when you're wearing 50lbs thorughout everything, you get wiped out pretty quickly. ANd this is only half of the test! Still, it felt very productive.

For the GMU session, I wore a 20lb vest and though I didn't have any specific theme, we did a lot of box jumping after the warm-up. I managed to get a pretty decent height (sternum-ish) with the vest on, but it was gradual. Eventually, I took the vest off and began to work on more technical stuff, but we can call it a Dynamic Effort day. ;) Over all, the night felt very productive. A nice way to end the GMU sessions, or at least my tenure of it.

ME Upper Body Fail

ME Bench Press w/ mini-bands
1x5 135lbs
1x5 155lbs
1x5 165lbs
1x3 185lbs*
3x4 175lbs**

Supplemental:
2x8 pull-ups
1x5 pull-ups

Superset:
3x10 2x45lbs bent-over DB rows
3x8 2x20lbs front raises

Traps:
3x12 2x50lbs DB shrugs
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* -- I added wrong when changing the plates around and thought I was doing 175. Mid-way through the set, I realised it was too heavy, so I did 3 reps and went back down.

** -- I should note that I completely failed the last set, so it's more like 2x4.. I'm going to partly blame the spicy food I had (which I shall be making a post about later), but I'm also super frustrated that I feel like i'm not progressing with my bench at all. Like... at all. If we think about it, I started with a 185lb 1RM, and the fact that I managed to do a 3RM with that weight is sure sign of progress.. Also, jumping up to that weight and doing a set of three probably accounted for my last set's failure, but all the same.. This is a plateau, and I dislike it, especially when my lower body lifts are all doing so well.

With all due luck, being in Canada will shake something up. At the very least, I'll have a spotter instead of waiting until someone notices I'm trapped under the bar. For the record, I look like I got punched in the mouth cause I was trying to get the bar back to the lower safety rack when it came down.

Playgrounds and Box Squats

On Saturday, Raquel, my sister and I went out to a playground in Fairfax that resembles the wooden castle playground in High Park, Toronto. Super fun and a good deal of upper body work. After a lunch break, we went to another playground and played around some more. Not much to say about it, but it was a rather active day.

Now, onto today:

ME Box Squats:
1x5 135lbs
1x5 185lbs
1x5 225lbs
1x5 245lbs
3x5 275lbs

Unilateral:
3x6 135lbs Reverse lunges, each leg

Posterior:
3x8 35lbs Hyperextensions

Ab circuit

ME Upper Body + Binh Dinh Kung Fu

Yeah, it might seem like overkill, but I forewent the cardio after the lifting and the BDKF was several hours later. I was, however, extremely dehydrated at the time of the lifting, so there was a small bit of puke when I got home.

ME Bench Press w/ bands:
1x5 135lbs
1x5 145lbs
1x5 155lbs
1x3 165lbs
3x3 175lbs

Supplemental:
1x10 BW pull-ups
1x9 BW pull-ups

Superset:
3x8 2x45lbs bent over DB rows
3x8 2x35lbs overhead DB press

Traps:
3x15 2x45lbs DB shrugs

Curls:
3x8 2x30lbs Zottman curls
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I added in the curls because I have a feeling that Zottman curls can strengthen the muscles around my elbow joint better than bench pressing alone would.

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1:00 BDKF
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After running through the first two forms several times, and the two fight drills from last week, I learned an additional two drills as well as the counter-attack portion to the initial drills. I'm also sad to see how easily my dad gets winded these days. This is a legacy I must carry on.. And it needs to be sooner than later.

The Past Few Days

I deliberately didn't update on the VTech Statewide this weekend because I probably don't have all that much to write about it. On Saturday, after we warmed up, there was really just a lot of play. It was hot as hell outside, shirts came off, and we did so much volume that everyone was beaten and dead by the end of the day. Things that looked too large months ago, though, looked tiny.. This means, to me, that the Westside program has been extremely effective. Many people also made comments about my physique which made me feel awkward. I certainly don't feel all that much bigger, but I guess I look it. Early on, Leon compared me to Jesse Woody back when he was predominantly strength training.

The second day of the statewide was grueling. Everyone was so tired that it was pitiful. Jumps that should've been easy were taken with the utmost discretion. Basically, it was like we were all beginners again and had forgotten how to jump. Our legs, arms, abs.. none of it worked properly. And for this reason, Monday was a full and complete rest day for me.

Onto tonight!

Max Effort Box Squats:
1x5 135lbs
1x5 185lbs
1x5 225lbs
1x5 245lbs
3x3 275lbs

Unilateral:
3x6 2x45lbs DB reverse lunges, each leg

Posterior:
3x12 BW ham-glute bridges

Ab circuit:
0:30 Med ball Mason twists (15lbs)
0:30 Jackknives
x2
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10:00 jog on treadmill; distance at end 1.4mi
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Still not completely fresh from this weekend. But I'll take whatever I can get.

Kung Fu and Parkour

Yesterday, there was a Binh Dinh session as per usual. I ran through the two forms a few times, and then we actually got into practical fighting stuff, which is pretty interesting. I think my dad's getting a little old for it, though, because he needed to stop pretty early on. Shame. All the more reason to be doing this now rather than later.

As far as Parkour goes, we did some timed runs as the theme. I think the times are very telling, actually. The first time I got was slower than everyone else's.. Aside form slipping up three times and two people doing less on the last leg of the run, I chalk it up to being clumsy with my ground-based movement.. However, on the last run, which involved a lot of climbing, I basically crushed everyone else's time (not to be arrogant OR competitive, just stating).. This tells me that my strength training has paid off.. But I'm not actually faster than they are, I'm just better at climbing. Overall, this tells me that I need to be training more dynamic movements and training more technique.. or at least getting more out of my technical training than I currently am. Maybe it's because I don't have anyone here who's going to be really pushing me (whereas when Knox, Nick, or Leon are around, I always get noticeably better).. But yes, more dynamic training. I need to set Friday up to be a full-on DE day regularly.. Soon, just not this week because of Blacksburg.

2 mile run

ME Lower Body

Lower Body warm-up

ME Box Squats:
1x8 BW (for form)
1x5 135lbs
1x5 185lbs
1x5 225lbs
1x5 245lbs
3x5 265lbs

Unilateral:
3x6 2x35lb bulgarian split squats

Posterior:
3x8 105lb pull-throughs

Ground-based ab circuit
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I know I'm going lower on the weights for the unilaterals.. but I HAAAATE them!! Okay, that's no excuse.. But I'm legitimately struggling every time with them.. I just can't wait until I can drag my sled around all day instead. :(

As far as the box squat goes... The 5 reps at 265lbs went off very easily. Did the break make me stronger? No clue, but I'm going to try a 3RM at 285 or 295 next week, then go up in reps. I can probably break 300 by the time I get into Canada, but.. no rush, no rush.

ME Upper Body

Upper body warm-up

ME Bench Press w/bands:
1x5 115lbs
1x5 135lbs
1x5 145lbs
4x3 155lbs

Supplemental pull-ups w/bands (pulling down):
1x8
1x7

Superset1:
3x12 2x45lbs bent over DB row
3x8 2x30lbs lateral raises

Superset2:
3x12 2x45lbs shrugs
3x8 2x35lbs overhead press
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8:00 HIIT stationary bike
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I did two supersets today because after the first one, I noticed a bloke with absolutely terrible bench form (J-arc, elbows flared), so I told him to press in a straight line or else missing the lift would cause the bar to land on his face.. He appreciated the tip, had me watch him for awhile while we corrected things.. and then proceeded to show me EVERYTHING he does n the gym.. I felt bad fo rhim, so I stuck around and followed him.. Turns out he was in a severe car accident and just got out of rehab.. There's staples and plates all over him and he's really depressed about not being able to move properly anymore. :(

Old Town Jam

In the rain, we held a jam in Old Town Alexandria today. It was nice. We did some brief conditioning beforehand, played around, and did some more conditioning afterward. Nothing all too intensive, but I do plan on getting at the foam roller tonight in preparation for tomorrow's ME upper body since there were a lot of pull-ups/dips that might cause me to be a bit stiff. My right shin is really bugging me from Thursday (left foot slipped on a landing, which meant I landed on just the right), so I want to avoid running for awhile. I think most of my cardio will end up being stationary bike.

Themed Training - Conditioning Circuit

Okay, first of all.. I did an hour of BDKF last night that I didn't write about. Didn't get to jog snce I fell asleep early.

Second of all, I went to the gym at around 5 to train my cousin, but this led to me dicking around with weights and doing a few heavy single power cleans and whatnot. Several pull-ups, band-resisted push-ups and the like. And then I did some HIIT with her at the end, which pretty much killed us both.. At this point is when I left for the GMU session.

Today's session was very good. I found this new area that I quickly devised a conditioning circuit for. Reverse QM up several flights of stairs, decline push-ups into frog stands, then an overhead swing down a bar (hand over hand) for a few yards.. QM to a new area, duck-walk, jump up stairs, QM, hop up stairs one leg, up stairs other leg, run down stairs, duck-walk, then ending with a few knees-to-elbows. I'm a bit surprised at how easy it all was, but I think some people were struggling, so that's good. The rest of the time was technical stuff, nothing to really write about. But Katie showed up randomly, not dressed at all for training.. but she chatted some. Was pleasant. I believe we can convince at least Nick to show up next week, if not Katie as well.

Back from Montreal

Five days in Montreal, and it was the best weekend of my life, if the unhealthiest in a long time. No exercise, tons of fast food (no time for anything else), but an absolutely spiritual musical experience, among other things.. >_>... In any case, first thing I did when I got back was jog a mile. I know I've gotten weaker and fatter and tons of other bad things, so I'm going to ease back into things slowly, especially since I don't want to mess too much with the schedule I have had set up already. But I do plan on doing at least two HIIT sessions a week and some steady-state cardio every non-HIIT day unless I'm really feeling the need for rest.

One hour of Binh Dinh today. It was pretty nice. We started a review form from last year that I don't really remember too well, but it's amazing how much the body remembers when you get back to it. So this shouldn't be too difficult at all. My endurance is a lot better than it was when I started this, which is great news to me. I'll go for a jog later tonight since I had a nap. So put me down for a mile or two, as well.