Women Rangers and the Workout of the Day!!

Apparently two women (and possibly three if one woman passes after retaking the mountain portion of the training...) have just completed Army Ranger school. The selection process for men is simple: 1) Be crazy enough to attempt the 61-day combat leadership course. You have to be the best of the best that the Army has to offer. A small population to begin with for sure. 2) Of the men that attempt, roughly 60% of those elite warriors wash out because of the physical and mental demands of the course. If you are wondering about this course check out "Surviving the Cut". It is an amazing, historic accomplishment for these two women to have passed this course. Now there is a debate as to whether they can serve in combat?! Are they letting the 60% of the men that washed out of Ranger School serve in combat? 

Warm-Up:
10-20-30 interval row, 5 minutes
AbMat Sit-Ups, 50 repetitions
Strength:
Back Squat, 4 sets of 10 repetitions. One set every 3 minutes.
Metabolic Conditioning:
15 minutes AMRAP (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)
20 Hanging Knees to Elbows
30 Wall Ball Tosses
Cool-Down:
400m walk
Mobility:
Quadriceps Stretches

Have a Great Day!!

Quick Strength Training Saturday Post!

Just a quick post of the workout today!

Warm-up: AMRAP 3 minutes:

20 Jumping Jacks

10 Hand Release Push-Ups

10 Air Squats

Strength:

Bench w/ Heavy Chains, 5 sets of 5 repetitions

Back Squat w/ Heavy Chains,  5 sets of 5 repetitions

Deadlift, 5 sets of 1-2 repetitions

Strict Overhead Press, 5 sets of 5 repetitions

Super Set:

Skull Crushers, 3 sets of 10 repetitions

Biceps Barbell Curl, 3 sets of 10 repetitions
Captains of Crush Grip Trainers, 3 sets of 15 repetitions

45 seconds Handstand Hold

Cool-Down:

Hanging Knees to Elbows, 3 sets 15 repetitions

400m Walk

Mobility:

Hamstring Stretches

Chest Stretches

Have a Great Day!!

Late Post, A Desert Hurricane and the Workout of the Day

Last night the base got hit by an impressively violent storm. The wind was gusting like crazy, horizontal sheets of rain pounded the buildings and the wash that cuts through the property burst it's banks. My morning was spent doing clean-up of fallen tree parts and moving standing water so it won't make a comfy home to mosquitos.

Warm-Up:
Complete a 6 minute AMRAP of: 
15 Air Squats
5 Hand Release Push-Ups
10 Walking Lunges
20 PVC Passthroughs
Strength:
Bench Press 4 sets of 12 repetitions (one set every three minutes)
Metabolic Conditioning for time:
80-60-40-20
Wall Ball Toss
400m run after each set of Wall Balls
Cool-Down:
3 sets of 15 Elbows to Knees
400m Walk

Have a Great Day!

The Strength of the Families of the Charleston Victims. Stronger Than the Rest of Us.

Another mass shooting. Another example of someone who obviously should have never gotten their hands on a gun. Another example of a young white man who, admittedly not being raised in a racist home took it upon himself to strike out against people... total strangers... who were nothing more than different than him. Obviously insane, Dylan Roof was welcomed into their place of worship and he sat with them for an hour before murdering nine of them in cold blood. Columbine, Blacksburg, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Tucson and now Charleston. At what point do we say enough? Children and young adults murdered at school? No. People watching a movie? No. People meeting there elected official? No. People praying at their place of worship?! We will see.

There is a gap in our system that fails to alert us to insane people that are willing to kill a large group of people. There is a gap in our system that allows people that are insane to get a hold of high capacity weapons. There is a gap in our system that sells weapons to civilians that have no other purpose than to kill and awful lot of people. Yes, these are not easy things to do. Yes, they bring into question the constitutionality of the Second Amendment. Yes, it challenges incredibly wealthy lobbyists like the NRA. Yes, it does question the privacy between mental health professionals and their clients and when things need to be reported. These will all be hard things to address. But, one of the hardest things I read today is that the families of the victims in Charleston forgave Dylan Roof for his murderous rampage. If they can do that, the rest of us can try to keep this from happening again.

Workout: Cardiorespiratory Power Session
Heavy Rope Whips, 10 sets of 30 seconds of maximal effort, 1 minute rest
Hanging Knees to Elbows, 3 sets of 10 repetitions
AbMat Abdominal Crunches, 50 repetitions

Checking in After One Week and Lifting for the Back

I have gotten in a solid week of exercising after being gone for a month. Six consecutive days of weightlifting and tomorrow is an active rest day. The old body is expectedly sore and a little tired but overall everything is right on track. Today I was able to lift quite heavy and will enjoy my day off tomorrow.

The key to the success this week was proper pacing and adjusting exercises to avoid injury from jumping into things to quickly. An example: Today my hamstrings were still a bit tight and sore even after warming up. So, instead of doing heavy deadlifts I changed it up a bit and did heavy rack pulls.

Today's quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

Weight Training: Back
Warm-Up:
Slow and Deep ("Ass to the grass"...) Air Squats, 30 repetitions
Torso Twists with a Lightweight Bar, 50 repetitions
TRX Rows, 30 repetitions

Lifting Routine: Three sets of 6-8 repetitions unless otherwise stated.
Dumbbell Pullovers
One Armed Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows
Barbell Upright Rows
Weighted Sled Row (Think of this being a replacement for a seated cable row)
Heavy Rack Pulls, 3x5
Weighted Pull-Ups, 3x5
Hanging Knees to Elbows, 3x5

Have a Great Day!