6 of us were there on Wednesday night for Kai’s strength session: Ant, Ken, Matt, Brett, Pottsy and myself. We warmed up with a medium pace jog along the bay, with a steep uphill in the middle. After the main lights on the oval went out just as we were about to start, we settled by a streetlight for the workout.
We got straight into pull ups on a metal bar, focusing on a wide grip and holding for longer than normal. Then into a T-Stance Fly, taking our rubber bands like a skipping rope, in each hand, treading on the middle, then raising our arms out and up from our sides. Throw in a few hamstring curls with rubber ankle bands, ab crunches with leg extends, wall sits with more rubber band work, and a few sets of star fish arm extensions with optional dumbbell, and you’ve got the first week of a world’s conquering strength and conditioning regime.
We’re going to go over the specifics of each exercise on the weekend, so come prepared with a towel, since a lot of them involve lying on the ground.
Highlights were Brett keeping us honest with his brutally slow push-up speed (slower than even Kai wanted to count), and ‘buns of steel’ Ken making the invisible chair look easy. Top work guys.
This session really made me realize the importance of full body conditioning. I didn’t have so much trouble with pull ups, but the invisible chair did me over in a big way.
Anyway, get into this strength work, so we’re all absolute units once we’re playing at the big show. Get strong so you can take hits, and not get hurt. Just like Malibu.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Some research for Gimps
Boys,
After timmy's session on imagery and visualization I remembered an article I had read about using visualization to increase the rate of recovery from injury. This isn't just meant for the gimps either, I'm sure there isn't a single dingo out there without a niggle of some kind that won't benefit from this kind of thing. Following are some excerpts from a couple articles and some points on the process I'm using to visualize my recovery.
First, this from the Journal of Sports Science, Driediger et al, 2006 Mar;24(3):261-71.
It was concluded that the implementation of imagery alongside physical rehabilitation should enhance the rehabilitation experience and, therefore, facilitate the recovery rates of injured athletes. Moreover, it was recommended that those responsible for the treatment of injured athletes (e.g. medical doctors, physiotherapists) should understand the benefits of imagery in athletic injury rehabilitation, since it is these practitioners who are in the best position to encourage injured athletes to use imagery
The key points to be taken from the articles were neatly summarized by Elizabeth Quinn, excercise physiologist:
Those who healed faster had the following characteristics:
Imagery for Healing
Just as people use imagery for reducing pain, individuals have reported that similar techniques work for promoting healing and recovery. Examples of healing imagery include imaging a broken bone being glued back together or torn muscles woven back together. Some people use warm, healing colors to promote a feeling of warmth over a body part. Even silly images of strength and power found in comic books have been used successfully to aid healing.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT
There's a lot of info on how to implement these self healing strategies, but I think the best is to adapt what we already have. Cuni talked us through a great visualization session, we each just need to tweak it to suit our individual injuries. In addition to visualizing our on-field exploits, we need to focus our attention on the injured areas. While visualizing the movements you're going to make on the field, focus on how the joint feels under the strain. Feel the pull of the joint against the your muscles, and how strong the joint/bone/muscle feels. For me, that's turning and cutting off my left leg, feeling my quads grip my knee as a i'm accelerating out of the turn. I continue all the way through the cut, sometimes i get the 'bee, sometimes I don't, but it's always a sharp, strong cut.
Flash in and out of a number of scenarios as we did with tim, each time zooming from the field and your actions on it to the part of your body that is causing the pain/injury.
After a few of those scenarios focus on your heart rate and the way that there is a flow of blood all around the injury, adding nutrients and healing it. Visualize the healing. Basically create an image of how your body is healing itself. Watch the blood flow around the joint/muscle, feel the thuymp of the pulse, smell the blood, watch the strain on the joint during movement and the healing process. as it takes place before your eyes.
It's important to create a scene in each flash, pay attention to all your senses to create a more realistic scene. When we were in Vancouver we smelled the maple, felt the grass and heard the crowd. The more thorough and realistic an image you create, the easier it will be to hold in your mind.
That's it, there's plenty of stuff online about self healing, and it is a little wishy washy, but there are a lot of positive aspects to this exercise even if you don't believe it's healing your injury. It doesn't take long, and like Timmy said on the weekend, the least you and your injury get out of it is some stress free down-time, which is helpful in itself.
After timmy's session on imagery and visualization I remembered an article I had read about using visualization to increase the rate of recovery from injury. This isn't just meant for the gimps either, I'm sure there isn't a single dingo out there without a niggle of some kind that won't benefit from this kind of thing. Following are some excerpts from a couple articles and some points on the process I'm using to visualize my recovery.
First, this from the Journal of Sports Science, Driediger et al, 2006 Mar;24(3):261-71.
It was concluded that the implementation of imagery alongside physical rehabilitation should enhance the rehabilitation experience and, therefore, facilitate the recovery rates of injured athletes. Moreover, it was recommended that those responsible for the treatment of injured athletes (e.g. medical doctors, physiotherapists) should understand the benefits of imagery in athletic injury rehabilitation, since it is these practitioners who are in the best position to encourage injured athletes to use imagery
The key points to be taken from the articles were neatly summarized by Elizabeth Quinn, excercise physiologist:
Those who healed faster had the following characteristics:
- Took personal responsibility for their recovery process
- Had high motivation, desire and determination
- Had more social support
- Maintained a positive attitude
- Frequently used imagery and other visualization techniques
- Expected a full and successful return to sports
Research on imagery use by injured athletes, cancer patients, and those undergoing physical rehabilitation has shown that using imagery has many positive outcomes including:
- Increased feelings of control
- Increased rate of healing
- Increased ability to cope with therapy
- Increased motivation to participate in self-care
- Improved mood
- Improved quality of life
- Decreased post-operative pain
- Decreased post-operative anxiety
- Reduced length of time in the hospital
- Decreased amount of pain medication taken
Imagery for Healing
Just as people use imagery for reducing pain, individuals have reported that similar techniques work for promoting healing and recovery. Examples of healing imagery include imaging a broken bone being glued back together or torn muscles woven back together. Some people use warm, healing colors to promote a feeling of warmth over a body part. Even silly images of strength and power found in comic books have been used successfully to aid healing.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT
There's a lot of info on how to implement these self healing strategies, but I think the best is to adapt what we already have. Cuni talked us through a great visualization session, we each just need to tweak it to suit our individual injuries. In addition to visualizing our on-field exploits, we need to focus our attention on the injured areas. While visualizing the movements you're going to make on the field, focus on how the joint feels under the strain. Feel the pull of the joint against the your muscles, and how strong the joint/bone/muscle feels. For me, that's turning and cutting off my left leg, feeling my quads grip my knee as a i'm accelerating out of the turn. I continue all the way through the cut, sometimes i get the 'bee, sometimes I don't, but it's always a sharp, strong cut.
Flash in and out of a number of scenarios as we did with tim, each time zooming from the field and your actions on it to the part of your body that is causing the pain/injury.
After a few of those scenarios focus on your heart rate and the way that there is a flow of blood all around the injury, adding nutrients and healing it. Visualize the healing. Basically create an image of how your body is healing itself. Watch the blood flow around the joint/muscle, feel the thuymp of the pulse, smell the blood, watch the strain on the joint during movement and the healing process. as it takes place before your eyes.
It's important to create a scene in each flash, pay attention to all your senses to create a more realistic scene. When we were in Vancouver we smelled the maple, felt the grass and heard the crowd. The more thorough and realistic an image you create, the easier it will be to hold in your mind.
That's it, there's plenty of stuff online about self healing, and it is a little wishy washy, but there are a lot of positive aspects to this exercise even if you don't believe it's healing your injury. It doesn't take long, and like Timmy said on the weekend, the least you and your injury get out of it is some stress free down-time, which is helpful in itself.
ES Marks track
Abra and I did a track session at ES Marks last week. He’s been doing it for a number of weeks now, so we did one of his sessions. After a warm up we set up shoes on the grass in the middle and did shuttle runs. This meant running 5m and back, 10m back, 15m back and 20m back. We walked to the last shoe and back for recovery. We did 6 shuttles.
Then we moved up to the stands and took on the stairs. They were pretty big, not vertically, but horizontally. We went up in a number of ways, each 3 times in a row. There were hops, jumps, and other combinations, but the last was a killer. Feet together, jumping up a step and back down 3 times before you could go up to the next one. Endurance and gross motor skills are seriously tested. I stumbled a few times near the top.
We then went down and did 6 more shuttles on the paddock.
Last of all were some sprints. We owned the straight, doing 10 x 50m sprints. I haven’t run on tartan for quite a while, but it felt good. During each 50 it was possible to focus on different parts of your running, as there is no unpredictability in the surface.
Then we moved up to the stands and took on the stairs. They were pretty big, not vertically, but horizontally. We went up in a number of ways, each 3 times in a row. There were hops, jumps, and other combinations, but the last was a killer. Feet together, jumping up a step and back down 3 times before you could go up to the next one. Endurance and gross motor skills are seriously tested. I stumbled a few times near the top.
We then went down and did 6 more shuttles on the paddock.
Last of all were some sprints. We owned the straight, doing 10 x 50m sprints. I haven’t run on tartan for quite a while, but it felt good. During each 50 it was possible to focus on different parts of your running, as there is no unpredictability in the surface.
Runing and eating
G'day boys.
Things are going pretty well up here in Brisbane, my shoulder is feeling pretty good and I have range of motion back now.
I've been for a couple of runs this week so far. Both have been about 3km and i've been running them 'fartlek' style. Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning speed play, so if you are in the speedster playing group then i've got you started with some good post goal conversation when we play those blue and yellow vikings up in Vancouver.
Anyway I was pushing hard up hills and slowing down for other stretches in order to recover and go again. The sessions felt pretty good and i'm also implementing a new dietary tactic that i picked up on the weekend. I'll let you know how i pull up.
Cheers yellow dogs
Mike
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Brisbane Interval report
So Al and I are back to the start of our repeating 4 week cycle of track sessions. This afternoon we completed session 1, week 5 - 10 x 200m sprints with 200m jog recovery. 4km, 22 mins or so.
Here is what happened a month ago:
Alistair and I completed session 1 on Wednesday. It was a good session. The first 200m run was completed in 37sec, sprints 2 through 10 were completed in 39, 40 or 41 seconds. The first 5 full laps (sprint and recovery) were completed in about 1 min 50sec, the last 5 were completed on 2 mins.
Today we upped the intensity of the 'on' 200m sets. The first 200 was run in 30 seconds, the other 9 ranged from 31 to 34 seconds. Most were low 33 or high 32s. The recovery was a little longer than last time in that we started the next sprint 1min 40 after we finished the previous one. This session felt very hard, however we were really happy to be consistent with the times of both the 'on' 200s and the recovery 200s over the duration of the 10 laps. A good session to have under the belt.
Al and I actually faced each other in a BPL final tonight as well. The semi started about 12 hours after the end of the track session - it was a good bit of worlds type training.
It is great to be able to easily compare times and efforts from last month. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this months sessions stack up, and how much stronger i'll be by the time we complete round 4 of this in July. I fully encourage everyone to get some details posted up on the Blog so you can compare your progress.
Train on boys, train on.
Mike
Here is what happened a month ago:
Alistair and I completed session 1 on Wednesday. It was a good session. The first 200m run was completed in 37sec, sprints 2 through 10 were completed in 39, 40 or 41 seconds. The first 5 full laps (sprint and recovery) were completed in about 1 min 50sec, the last 5 were completed on 2 mins.
Today we upped the intensity of the 'on' 200m sets. The first 200 was run in 30 seconds, the other 9 ranged from 31 to 34 seconds. Most were low 33 or high 32s. The recovery was a little longer than last time in that we started the next sprint 1min 40 after we finished the previous one. This session felt very hard, however we were really happy to be consistent with the times of both the 'on' 200s and the recovery 200s over the duration of the 10 laps. A good session to have under the belt.
Al and I actually faced each other in a BPL final tonight as well. The semi started about 12 hours after the end of the track session - it was a good bit of worlds type training.
It is great to be able to easily compare times and efforts from last month. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this months sessions stack up, and how much stronger i'll be by the time we complete round 4 of this in July. I fully encourage everyone to get some details posted up on the Blog so you can compare your progress.
Train on boys, train on.
Mike
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Dry May / August harvest?
It was 5 a.m. on the first of May. It is unusual for me to stir before my 7:15 alarm, but perhaps it was because I knew that my beloved Chelsea were doing battle against Liverpool in the Champions’ League semi final 2nd leg that suddenly I was wide awake. It still took a bit of effort to drag myself out of bed, but I was treated to thrilling win over the scouser scum. Chelsea had got past the semi final stage for the first time at the fourth time of asking in the last 5 years. I knew that May was going to be a good month, but also a chance for a fresh start.
During the game I got to thinking about my own goals. In all honesty, April hadn’t been a great month for me. After making a good push on the training front in March, my effort levels had dropped a little. I was still happy with by fitness levels and how I played at Nats, but I had failed to reach my goals of regular Pilates sessions and increased running sessions. I started to think: if I could make the effort to get out of bed to watch the football, surely I should be making a bigger effort for Worlds? So for starters I decided to give up alcohol for May (giving up crap late night television would have been too hard!). Not that I have been drinking much these past few months, but it more about the change of mindset that this commitment might help support. The first test came when I rocked up to the Fakulti/Wildcard ball, not realising that my ticket price had covered all alcohol for the evening. You Fakulti boys owe me some beers come June – or whenever else this madness ends!
The more thought I gave to my effort levels, the more I started thinking about why am I even here. Why did Di and I quit our jobs in London and, after years of flat-sharing, move out of the flat we had bought only 5 months earlier, to go back to flat-sharing here in Sydney? OK – so the snorkelling is a bit better here, but the real reason is that 2004 was the most fulfilling experience of my life. The effort and sacrifice of all those involved was immense. The results were a nice reward, but it was the journey that was the most satisfying. I wanted one more chance at that journey – even though I knew it would require a massive effort. So this is my last chance. My last chance to be the best Frisbee player I can be. My last chance to be the fittest I have ever been, when I step on that plane in less than 3 months. Last chance to put in the effort required to contribute to this team being the best Australian ultimate team ever.
I’ve been to 7 Worlds & Clubs. Each time I have probably been fitter than the previous one, but still, I’ve never stepped onto the plane thinking ‘I’ve done all I could’. In reality of course, we are an amateur / part-time sport, so I am never going to be as fit as is humanly possible, BUT there is a big difference between being inhibited by circumstance (such as having to work full-time) and being held back by a lack of effort.
So that is my goal: Maximise my effort over these final 3 months, so that when I get on that plane I will know that I will never look back on the 08 campaign and think, ‘I could have done more’.
One good week down… less than 11 more to go!
During the game I got to thinking about my own goals. In all honesty, April hadn’t been a great month for me. After making a good push on the training front in March, my effort levels had dropped a little. I was still happy with by fitness levels and how I played at Nats, but I had failed to reach my goals of regular Pilates sessions and increased running sessions. I started to think: if I could make the effort to get out of bed to watch the football, surely I should be making a bigger effort for Worlds? So for starters I decided to give up alcohol for May (giving up crap late night television would have been too hard!). Not that I have been drinking much these past few months, but it more about the change of mindset that this commitment might help support. The first test came when I rocked up to the Fakulti/Wildcard ball, not realising that my ticket price had covered all alcohol for the evening. You Fakulti boys owe me some beers come June – or whenever else this madness ends!
The more thought I gave to my effort levels, the more I started thinking about why am I even here. Why did Di and I quit our jobs in London and, after years of flat-sharing, move out of the flat we had bought only 5 months earlier, to go back to flat-sharing here in Sydney? OK – so the snorkelling is a bit better here, but the real reason is that 2004 was the most fulfilling experience of my life. The effort and sacrifice of all those involved was immense. The results were a nice reward, but it was the journey that was the most satisfying. I wanted one more chance at that journey – even though I knew it would require a massive effort. So this is my last chance. My last chance to be the best Frisbee player I can be. My last chance to be the fittest I have ever been, when I step on that plane in less than 3 months. Last chance to put in the effort required to contribute to this team being the best Australian ultimate team ever.
I’ve been to 7 Worlds & Clubs. Each time I have probably been fitter than the previous one, but still, I’ve never stepped onto the plane thinking ‘I’ve done all I could’. In reality of course, we are an amateur / part-time sport, so I am never going to be as fit as is humanly possible, BUT there is a big difference between being inhibited by circumstance (such as having to work full-time) and being held back by a lack of effort.
So that is my goal: Maximise my effort over these final 3 months, so that when I get on that plane I will know that I will never look back on the 08 campaign and think, ‘I could have done more’.
One good week down… less than 11 more to go!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Hey Boys
Just thought a few of you might like to hear an update from myself especially those of you who saw me hit the ground like a sack of potatoes in the nationals final. Bascially I felt something in my quad and lost control of that leg so went straight down in a bit of pain - very disappointed because all I could think of was my fellow dingo mates so it may have looked worse.
Physio (thanks Lisi) says its not as bad as last time, but still need 6 weeks to recover fully, or if I'm lucky 4 weeks. I managed to ride to training in Sydney last night (35mins with some hills) and all that went fine, so Lisi says that's great. Still can't get past a fast walk / jog but its still early days. It will be tough on the sideline this weekend but I know it will be good in the long run.
At the moment I'm working on maintaining my cardio fitness via swimming, riding and cross-trainer in the gym (low impact). Also I can still work on upper body and core strength which I'm working on getting a program together now which avoids pressure on the quads.
So that is all good news boys!!! Also, I have booked myself in to the Spine and Pelvic Centre on the 20th May (that was the earlist a new patient could get in - so they must be good), to work on any long time problems.
In the meantime dingos - bring it on - get strong and fire up!!!! Yeah baby
Matt
Just thought a few of you might like to hear an update from myself especially those of you who saw me hit the ground like a sack of potatoes in the nationals final. Bascially I felt something in my quad and lost control of that leg so went straight down in a bit of pain - very disappointed because all I could think of was my fellow dingo mates so it may have looked worse.
Physio (thanks Lisi) says its not as bad as last time, but still need 6 weeks to recover fully, or if I'm lucky 4 weeks. I managed to ride to training in Sydney last night (35mins with some hills) and all that went fine, so Lisi says that's great. Still can't get past a fast walk / jog but its still early days. It will be tough on the sideline this weekend but I know it will be good in the long run.
At the moment I'm working on maintaining my cardio fitness via swimming, riding and cross-trainer in the gym (low impact). Also I can still work on upper body and core strength which I'm working on getting a program together now which avoids pressure on the quads.
So that is all good news boys!!! Also, I have booked myself in to the Spine and Pelvic Centre on the 20th May (that was the earlist a new patient could get in - so they must be good), to work on any long time problems.
In the meantime dingos - bring it on - get strong and fire up!!!! Yeah baby
Matt
Thursday, May 1, 2008
ADELAIDE Antics
Hey guys,
Just a quick update on what's happening down here.
I've got a bit of a running group going with the other Worlds players. In particular, Brett Middleton (from mixed) and I are planning to attempt 4-5 sessions a week together, 2-3x running and 2x gym sessions. The others (Huy and junior boys) are going to join in where they can.
We did our first session together last night, stealing Mikeys session plan, and running 10x 200m. Brett ran them all in around 40s, but said he probably should have pushed harder. I ran them in the low 40s, but was having a bit of pain in both knees, so wasn't pushing hard. It was my first running sessions in a long time so I was puffing a little. Was feeling good this morning though, so super keen to run again.
I also talked to the Flinders Athletic Coach while I was out there and I reckon I might start running with their Sprinters 2 or 3 times a week. This is a high quality club which produces Australian Champions regularly, so their coaching on my running style and how to reach peak fitness / speed will be invaluable.
Apart from that, Brett and I both won scholarships (basically gym memberships + extras) from the uni so we're going to be hitting the gym with a fair bit of regularity from now on.
I'm pretty disappointed about Nationals results, I really thought the team would push up into the top 8 and it sucked not being able to do something about it. I handled a little but couldn't really cut successfully and I reckon I could have helped the team make top 8 if I was at full strength. There's a lot of depth in SA these days, which you'll all find out before too long.
Anywho, hope you're all well and training hard.
Joel
Just a quick update on what's happening down here.
I've got a bit of a running group going with the other Worlds players. In particular, Brett Middleton (from mixed) and I are planning to attempt 4-5 sessions a week together, 2-3x running and 2x gym sessions. The others (Huy and junior boys) are going to join in where they can.
We did our first session together last night, stealing Mikeys session plan, and running 10x 200m. Brett ran them all in around 40s, but said he probably should have pushed harder. I ran them in the low 40s, but was having a bit of pain in both knees, so wasn't pushing hard. It was my first running sessions in a long time so I was puffing a little. Was feeling good this morning though, so super keen to run again.
I also talked to the Flinders Athletic Coach while I was out there and I reckon I might start running with their Sprinters 2 or 3 times a week. This is a high quality club which produces Australian Champions regularly, so their coaching on my running style and how to reach peak fitness / speed will be invaluable.
Apart from that, Brett and I both won scholarships (basically gym memberships + extras) from the uni so we're going to be hitting the gym with a fair bit of regularity from now on.
I'm pretty disappointed about Nationals results, I really thought the team would push up into the top 8 and it sucked not being able to do something about it. I handled a little but couldn't really cut successfully and I reckon I could have helped the team make top 8 if I was at full strength. There's a lot of depth in SA these days, which you'll all find out before too long.
Anywho, hope you're all well and training hard.
Joel
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)