McQue's Training

Yesterday i got in the gym and did pure conditioning. I wasnt feeling the energy after being off due to a cold last week. But i went through the motions and feel better for it today! 

Warm Ups

• Skipping 10 -15 mins

Circuits

Work Capacity 

• 5 push ups (50)
• 10 medball slams (100)
• 10 burpees (100)
• 20 star jumps (200)

Every second minute for 20 minutes (10 rounds) no break between exercises start the routine every 2 minutes 

Kettle Bell 12.5 kg

one minute on each

• Two handed swings
• Half snatch
• Clean and press
• Figure of 8 through legs
• rest

Just repeated 3 times today 

Finishers 

• x 2 20kg vipr’s attached straps pull running backwards x 1 length , drag sprinting forwards 1 length

3 x 3 minute rounds (KILLER) 

Core

• V-ups 10kg 8x4
• Twists 10 kg 10 x 4
• Chinnies 20 x 4
• Side Bends 25kg each side 20 x 3

And that was it i did some more skipping . last couple days iv taken it easy but i must remember good quality core work and flexibility at the end of sessions and not neglect it! 

Good session today! Was going to go to a spin class this am and then do circuits! However i couldnt get my arse out of bed! But my training wasnt bad!

Warm Up

• Skipping

Circuit 

1 minute on each repeated 5 times

• Box jump
• Squat walk to high box jump 10kg weight
• Rotational Med ball slams 8kg
• Push Ups holding dumbbells to dumbbell row
• Vipr lateral Shuttle run using 20kg vipr
• Rest

I understand some of these will mean nothing to people but needless to say it was a challenging workout

Finisher 

• Shadow Box 3x 3min rounds

Ab work 

• Sit ups 50
• Leg Raises 50 
• Trunk Curls on bosun Ball 50
• Twists 8kg on fitball 
• Scissor Kicks 50 

I also had a very good stretch out and foam roller and hit the steam and sauna!

Life aint to bad! :-)

Well iv ended up having a couple days off this weekend. I went to the Cleverly Bellew fight last night so i didnt want to be rushing and doing a crap workout! Quality in sessions is always the aim!! However it makes pretty much zero difference. Day 4 i did most of day 5’s planned workout and day 6 (today) would have been sprints. So all it means is ill do the remainder of the 2 days combined tomorrow on what would normally have been the rest day, then go straight into the second cycle. Very boring but just so you all know im not cheating!! 

On a side note the boxing last night was awesome and i really enjoyed a night out and about. It makes a nice change to routine and everyone needs that break from training every so often! But i kept it clean and boring no alcohol and didnt pig out too much! 

Back on it tomorrow and i cant wait! 

Quick write up so i can get some kip soon! Today was intervals and happened like this!

• Skipping 10mins (last 5 intense 30 sec on/off)
• Row 1000m x 3 (times 1st 3mins 59.8 2nd 3mins 58 3rd 4.20) 
• Versa Climber 3 x 3min rounds 1 min rest between
• Treadmill Speed intervals (6 x 1 minute sprint , 1 min rest in between)
• Push Ups decline (feet raised) 20 x 4
• Chin ups 10 x 4

It was a good session felt very intense really went for it on the versa climber! Rowing times dont seem to be as good as when  used to row a fair bit but something to work on!! 4.20 was because my foot decided to bleed on me and was a tad painful! Harden the f*ck up came to mind! haha!

Core Work (repeat circuit 4 times)

• Ab wheel from standing 5 reps x 2 kneeling 10 x 2 
• Side Bends 20kg x 10
• Back Extensions 10kg x 10 

Finished with plank for 1 min 40 sec

Having just looked at my plan Im a bit annoyed at myself that i completely forgot to do leg raises in my circuit!

Owel good work all in all! Tomorrow im thinking of doing 2 days worth of training in one afternoon! Im not sure yet its only because i want to have saturday afternoon free to get ready to go see a boxing match in liverpool! CANT WAIT!!!!

Iv labelled this as day one. Slightly misleading but in my head its day one of a new regime and really getting on top of training. Nothings changed majorly except Iv planned and written everything down and got 2 strength training sessions in per week instead of one. Its not my main focus but  i want to see improvements in my max strength. Im thinking of a 4 week cycle , a back off week and then going back to the drawing board and doing the next 4 weeks! Well thats the plan anyway! 

Im now doing warm up sets and then onto my “work sets” which  am completing for 5x5 with that main weight, rather than starting low and working up eg my squats were like set 1 30kg, set 2 and 3 35kg set 4 40kg and set 5 45kg. Now it would be some warm ups sets and just 5x5 40kg! Going to slowly add the weight. This way im doing full “work” sets of 5x5 rather than fluctuating weight up and down.

Rather boring but this is the way apparently to get a good strength foundation. Im not worrying weather my weight is lower than before as long as i am completing that full 5x5 (although my dead lift was 80kg today out of no where! Felt good!!)

Anyways this is what happened today!

• Skipping 10 mins
• Squats 40kg  5x5
• Bench Press 40kg 5x5
• Dead Lift 80kg 5x5 (NEW RECORD!!)
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 18kg 5x5
• Weighted Chins 15kg 5x4 (* Cant seem to get a 5th set for these! Something to work on!)

Was really pleased about the deadlift but i have to chuckle and it just shows sometimes you can suprise yourself. I actually wasn’t concentrating and thought id only loaded up 60 kg…. then realised it was 80kg… and was too embarrassed to unload it !!!! So thought balls to it lets see what happens (not an attitude id recommend normally) and it actually felt really good!

Once id finished i just had to get through an hour of boxing!!!

All in a days work!

Adios

Iv started my new regime and after a crappy day managed to do 2 training sessions back to back weights and then boxing!!!…. that feels better! Hopefully now im over this bit of man flu ill be back on it and improve. Will post up my routines and some notes later on and as i do them over the next few weeks for those interested.

Today i was off work which was nice but the draw back of that is i wanted to rest up this morning and made myself sluggish. I was basically lazy and didnt hit the gym until gone 3.30! But the workout itself wasnt too shabby! And im feeling it now! 

On another side note i spent the morning researching strength training and with some helpful advice iv got iv decided to change up my routine, im knocking the explosive strength day on the head and focusing on max strength x2 a week. This is because in the strength department im weak. And after alot of research despite what i thought my explosive training isnt benefiting as i need a good strength base to start with! 

Its lucky i like learning from my mistakes! 

Anyway back to conditioning!

today

Warm Up

• Skipping 10 mins

GPP Mini Circuit 30 second drills

• 30 sec Burpees With a press up
• 30 Sec rotational medball slams
• 30 Sec star jumps
• 30 Seconds Skipping (max effort)

Interval Work

• Rowing Machine 3 x 1000m , each was around the 4 minute mark 1 minute rest in between
• Versa Climber 3 x 3minute rounds , beat the computer on champion , lost (just) on eliminator setting and lost again dropping it back down to champion! …… I hate loosing! 

Upper Body

• Chin Ups 10 x 3, 1 x 8, 38
• Decline Push Ups 15 x 4

Core (this was a tad random today)

• V-Ups 8kg x 10
• Twists 8kg x 15
• High Rep Chinnies or leg raises x 20
• Plank 30 seconds

Completed as circuit 3 times

• Side Bends 28kg 6 each side x 3 sets

FINISHER! 

Kettle Bell Clean And Press one arm at a time swapping when needed for 3 MINS!

Plank Hold 1 minute

…. Collapse in a heap

This is an extract from Joe Defrancos Website. Iv heard alot about crossfit and never tried it myself so i can’t really judge. The whole idea/way its constructed doesnt really appeal to me. I think it is great for the vast majority of fitness buffs. And maybe even going through it for a while would benefit me! Although im no athlete (yet) and im no expert (yet) :-) i think the main problem i have with these type of crossfit, body pump, shred, 30 or 90 day programs is one they all sound like a quick fix approach (even if they are not) and two im not in control. Now you might say thats a good thing however i think i have enough experience and i KNOW how hard i push myself in training that i want to maintain that control over my workouts. Then i really can only blame myself and force myself to do the research if it doesnt work.

P.s this is not a knock at cross fit, but also programs like cross fit aren’t anything revolutionary so id rather save my cash

Anyway iv gone on enough

Q: Coach Defranco,

I just spent a few hours looking through your website and didn’t come across anything regarding your thoughts on nfl players and other athletes using crossfit. I know your big into the mental aspect of athletic preparation so I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Thanks for all your invaluable contributions to the industry sir. -Sam

A: Sam,

I’m going to preface my answer by saying that I have nothing against crossfit for the general fitness population. I know many police officers, fire fighters and weekend warriors who love the quick, challenging workouts associated with crossfit. I will also take Crossfit gyms over “carpet & chrome” health clubs any day of the week!!! But, with that being said, I am not a fan of Crossfit for high school, college or pro athletes. Here’s why…

There are a bunch of reasons why crossfit isn’t optimal for athletes, but my biggest problem with crossfit for athletes is that there is no specific focus to their workouts; it’s a “Jack of all Trades” type of mentality. I’ve seen crossfit workouts that consisted of 20 meter sprints, 30-rep sets of snatches, high rep ‘kipping’ pull-ups, squat jumps and handstand push-ups. This type of training isn’t optimal for athletes because athletes need to develop specific physical attributes to excel at their sport.

For example, football players need to develop maximal strength, explosive power, speed, agility, mobility, specific endurance, etc. BUT, the “catch” is that they don’tneed to develop every attribute equally. The key is knowing when, how much andhow often to train each attribute. Dave Tate spoke about this topic at a seminar at my gym a few years back; he used a great analogy that I still love to use today. He compared training to going out to dinner. When you go out to dinner, you’ll have a few appetizers, a main course and dessert. You don’t go too crazy on the appetizers because you want to save room for your main course. You really stuff yourself on the main course because that’s what you went out to dinner for in the first place. Then, you may or may not have dessert, depending if you have ‘room’ or not. Here’s how the “dinner analogy” compares to training athletes… Let’s take a football player/wide receiver as our example: a wide receiver should look at speed/agility as their “main course” in training. Maximal strength and mobility will probably be two of the “appetizers” for most NFL receivers. Hypertrophy training/bodybuilding methods may be “dessert” for some of the skinnier bastards in the NFL. If wide receivers “fill up” on one of their appetizers (maximal strength) by training too much like powerlifters, they won’t “have enough room” for their main course! In other words, if they’re maxing out on bench, squat and deadlift 3X a week, they won’t have enough energy (muscularly or neurologically) to put sufficient effort into their sprinting/route-running workouts! Hopefully this analogy hammered home my point. Simply put, every athlete needs to focus on improving different attributes (during different times of the year) in order to excel at their sport. They must first define these attributes and then define the order of importance on their specific “training menu” during different phases of the training year. 

The problem with crossfit is that EVERYTHING is the “main course” — aerobic endurance, maximal strength, strength endurance, jump training, anaerobic circuits, Olympic lifting, etc. This is like going out to dinner and ordering steak, tofu, pancakes, sushi, ravioli’s and cereal — THERE’S JUST TOO MUCH RANDOM FOOD TO DIGEST!! And you know what happens when you eat too much random foods that don’t mix welltogether? …YOU PUKE!

Hmm, sounds kinda like a crossfit workout!? 

The bottom line is that when you try and train for everything, you usually end up with nothing. If you want to get to a high level in any sport, you must focus your training on things that will specifically help you with the physical demands of your specific sport. 

-Joe D