While I must admit that I have never seen the aforementioned movie, I'm sure it's quite good as I am a big Denzel fan "my man...", I found this to be an appropriate title for last night's workout and this entry.
After a day of napping and eating, tough life huh?, I went with Carl to Reggie Lewis for a low volume sprint session. My perceived readiness for this workout was much better than on Tuesday, probably about a 7.5 on a scale of 10. We started with an escalating warmup to get a nice lather before moving to the workout of 3x5's and 5x10's. While the volume was quite low, it also dictated that each rep's importance was very high.
At the outset I continued to make some errors, lifting more than pushing. Carl kept cuing me to "commit to the push!" Obviously a 38.5 inch vertical and a 150 kg clean is rather worthless coming out of the start if you don't fully utilize the push. I had mixed success throughout the runs but reps 1-4 of the 10's left much to be desired. In response, Carl turned up the heat and put a lot of pressure on the last rep........
Breakthrough!
Things finally came together as I was able to emphasize full, powerful strokes behind me, violent arm action, all while maintaining the anterior pelvic tilt which is very advantageous to fast acceleration. And you thought sprinting was just "run fast, turn left!" Carl was visibly excited about this last rep and numerous coaches and athletes confirmed this by coming to him and making positive remarks. If I can continue to replicate those start mechanics, we will see something special in about a month!
More importantly, I came through when it counted. Running a 4.2 or 4.3 is an impressive feat but it takes courage and composure to perform like that when it counts. I pride myself on being a guy that wants the ball in his hands when the game is on the line and performing under pressure on March 3rd is no different.
Following the sprint work we went to the gym and did a low volume leg workout to get the prime movers working in the right positions. The workout:
Thoracic spine stretch on physioball with medball
Band Lat Stretch
Snatch Med ball throws- Static x6, Dynamic x6, Dynamic w/ 1 hop x6
Snatch- 4x3 w/70 kgs (weight was booming up, emphasis on proper pelvic and spine alignment and explosive 2nd pull)
Reverse lunge- 1x6 w/60 lbs. dumbbells
Side lunge/squat- 1x6 w/ 25 lbs. dumbbells
Step up- 1x6 w/60 lbs. dumbbells
Weight: 212 in shoes before dinner
This workout felt good, my muscles were firing strong and in proper sequence. The big workout is Saturday with high volume/high intensity sprints and heavy cleans and squats. I'm looking to execute properly on that day and I know the numbers will follow. As maddening as it sounds, I find that to run fast you need to be patient and follow through with the race plan from the position you are in, rather than trying to rush to another phase. It kind of reminds me of the feeling I got during my 75 yard TD my junior year at Oklahoma, in the midst of all that chaos I felt that the endzone was closing in and coming to me rather than me chasing it. On March 3rd I won't chase the line, I'll execute and it will come to me........FAST!
As I've been writing this I've been listening to one of my all-time favorite groups, The Isley Brothers. Their work has really stood the test of time, I find myself forgetting that it is even on sometimes with their hypnotizing-like smoothness. "Make Me Say It Again", "Groove With You", "For the Love of You", "Who's That Lady?" etc., all classics. Throw in some choice cuts from the Gap Band, Al Green and Bill Withers and you have a "Quiet Storm" mix that is unmatched by the current trends in R&B and soul. Try it, the advice is on the house!
In a similar vein, let me share a favorite of Main Street in the BU locker room (a.k.a lockers 1-9). This clip from the movie "The Five Heartbeats" has rarely been performed better than by Jeremy "J-Will" Williams and Mikail Baker (performing his famous move from the JabbaWockeeZ Michael Jackson tribute) with assistance from Marlon Price. "It takes more than love.......to buiiiiiild it up!"
In a similar vein, let me share a favorite of Main Street in the BU locker room (a.k.a lockers 1-9). This clip from the movie "The Five Heartbeats" has rarely been performed better than by Jeremy "J-Will" Williams and Mikail Baker (performing his famous move from the JabbaWockeeZ Michael Jackson tribute) with assistance from Marlon Price. "It takes more than love.......to buiiiiiild it up!"
Also, I want you to notice the uncanny resemblance between David Gettis and Leon from this clip!
Until next time,
Thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment