Just in Case

This workout requires no equipment (except for the pull-up bar). I post it for your holiday enjoyment. I look forward to getting back to our group character building endeavor on Wednesday the 3rd. Happy New Year!


For 20:00

perform 1 pull-up, 2 burpees, 3 squats
4 pull-ups, 5 burpees, 6 squats
7 pull-ups, 8 burpees, 9 squats

and on and on and on.....

Record the last numbers you do. Only rest when you must. Then, when you have regained your cognitive abilities, you can add up your totals. Ain't math great!

12/20/06

5X5 Deadlift Practice

3 rounds for time

30 sit-ups
21 dumbbell swings (20lbs-55lbs)
15 pull-ups

Dan 8:03
Judy 12:06
Joe 9:10
Ron 10:58
Danielle 12:24
Garrett 10:57
Cody 8:38
Charles 6:32
Jordan 8:06

Merry Christmas!

12/18/06

40-30-20-10 reps of...

dumbbell thrusters
decline push-ups on the dumbbells
dips

Joe 28:54 (25lbs)
Jarvis 19:15 (30lbs)
Danielle 27:37 (15lbs)
Ronald 25;12 (20lbs)
Jordan 32:27 (25lbs)
Charles 20:26 (35lbs)

Sure does make you use your legs more on thrusters.

12/17/06

Max Rounds in 20;00

10 pull-ups
15 hindu push-ups
25 squats
run 200-250 meters

Jordan--4 rounds
John-- 5 rounds
Charles 6 rounds + 10 pu, 15hinpu, 25 squats

Cody
10 Turkish get-ups
15 sit-ups
25 squats
run 200-250 meters

4 rounds in 20:00

12/13/06

3 Rounds for Time w/2:00 Rest Interval between each round

Dumbbell Clean and Jerk X 21
Billboard run (aprox 300M)

**The gang was told after the first round that they could not increase their times by more than :15 for the subsequent rounds.

**Full squat cleans were prescribed but not always used.

**Most athletes ran their fastest times on the second round. This sounds like neuromuscular adaption.

Dessert
3 rounds alternating tag team
P1 1 Arm OH Lunge (10-15lbs)
P2 Sit-ups until P1 returns

Cody, Joe, John, Ronald, Jordan

12/11/06

Technical Workout

5X5 of...

Front squats and Squat Jumps

Power Cleans and 6 Lateral Plyo Push-ups on the box

Plenty of rest in between exercises

The tension required to control the front squats and maintain a lordotic (arched) curve in the lower lumbar region pre-exhausts the athlete prior to the jump squats. Keeping the reps low and the rest high allows for high contraction force (front squats)and rate of force production (jump squats).

The power cleans offer an explosive pull from the floor and are coupled with the plyometric push-ups. These focus on explosive sagittal plane pushing while requiring abdominal/lower back stabilizer strength. This same stabilization is not needed when you've got your back on a bench.

You ain't gonna have your back on a bench when you throw a palm to the nose! Don't worry, we're still gonna bench (it has a place).

Joe, Jordan, Ronald, Garrett

12/10/06

3 Rounds for Time

Aprox 400M-500M run
PVC OH Squat X 50
Push-Up X 40
Pull-Up X 30
Flying Burpee X 20
HS or Pike Push-up X 10

Bobby Time NA Completed (scaled)
Danielle 48:25 (first rd as rxed, scaled remaining rds)
Jordan 50:25
Garrett 51:13
Charles 35:00 to 38:00 (can't remember-no O2)

That was a pleasant surprise.

12/6/06

5 Rounds for Time

Dumbbell Thruster or 1 arm Dum Snatch X 25
Billboard Run
Pull-Ups X 15

Cody 25:00
Shawn 24:00
Jordan 26:09
Ronald 29:20
Charles 21:00 (aprox)

**Weights varied on the thrusters/snatch.

12/4/06

Tenderize the Meat

Tabata Squats
Tabata Sit-Ups
**Tabata intervals consist of 8 rounds of twenty seconds of work followed by ten seconds of recovery. By pre-exhausting the abdominal, hips and quadriceps, the athletes were forced to dig deep in the second phase. Life doesn't wait until you've recovered.

Second Phase

Max Rounds in 11:00

5 Handstand Push-Ups
7 Broad Jumps
9 Dumbbell Swings w/25lbs, 40 lbs or 55lbs

Everyone performed 7 rounds

Jordan, John, Garrett, Charles and Judy

11/29/06

"Fried"

5 Rounds for Time

10 Manmakers
20 Dips
30 Sit-ups

Shawn 23:09
Cody 23:11
Garrett 23:30 (3 rounds)
Joe 23:15 (4 rounds)

Linda from CrossFit

Jordan 31:57

11/27/06

Technical Deadlift and One Arm Press Workout

Judy, Ronald, Lon, John and Charles worked on the technical nuances of the posterior chain killer and the one arm press. Like Dan John says, you've got to train the muscles you don't see in the mirror. Jordan got in on the one arm press action. Everyone else did five sets of 3 reps of both movements.

Judy, Ronald, Lon and John experimented with some breathing ladders from Mark Twight's programming. Failure was achieved via breathing duress, muscular failure and a combination thereof. Much more empirical research and play is needed in this form of training. That's why it's called The Proving Ground.

11/26/06

Murph from CrossFit

For Time--
Run 1 Mile
100 Pull-Ups
200 Push-Ups
300 Squats
Run 1 Mile

Let's see, it was Bobby, Lon, Charles, Jordan, Shawn and John. Judy worked with the sandbag and performed lunges, get-ups, sprints, pull-ups, v-ups and static holds. I would post the scaling and times, but I can't read them. Oh well, this is coming from someone who doesn't even check the schedule on his own blog.

11/22/06

Helen from CrossFit

Three Rounds for Time
Run 400M (to the billboard and back, probably 300 to 350 meters)
55lb Dumbbell Swings X 21 (some used less)
Pull-Ups X 12

Shawn-- 12:20
Ronald-- 13:28
Dan-- (longer run) 11:54
Cody-- 11:30
Charles--(longer run) 9:35
Jarvis-- 10:37

then...

Agricultural Abs

3 Rounds (untimed)

2 laps of Farmer's Walk (55lbs to 105lbs)
50 Sit-Ups

11/20/06

Tag Team

P1 10 Push-Ups and Double Shuttle Run
P2 Dumbbell Thrusters w/20 lbs until P1 is done
**Repeat 3 times

rest a few minutes and complete...

2 Rounds for Time

30 Burpees
30 Pull-Ups
30 Dips

OK, that really hurt.

John, Jordan and Charles

11/15/06

We spent 3:00 on each exercise with no rest in between exercises.

Dumbbell Swings
Sit-Ups
Dumbbell Clean and Jerk
Broad Jumps
Pull-Ups

11/13/06

Lynne from CrossFit

5 rounds of
max bodyweight bench press
max pull-ups

Ronald, Judy, Shawn and Charles

Judy--bp w/70 then 65 lbs 4-5-5-5-6
pulls 5-4-3-3-2

Ronald--bp 235 11-8-9-7-6
pulls ?-6-6-6-4

Shawn--bp195/185 5-3-4-3-2
pulls 6-4-3-3-4

Charles--75lbx2 dum bp 13-11-8-7-7
pulls 26-20-18-13-16

11/12/06

run aprox. 500M
20 pull-ups
40 push-ups
60 squats
run aprox 300M
50 burpees
run aprox 500M
60 lunges

various cool keg lifts and drills (pics to come)

Shawn, Jordan, Cody, Danielle, almost Danielle's boyfriend, John, Bobby, almost Charles' brother and Charles

11/8/06

Warm-up

Tag Team Style
3 Rounds
P1 Pull-Ups
P2 Overhead Lunges w/PVC until P1 is finished

The Workout

5 Rounds for Time
Dumbbell Push Press X 10 w/weight totaling 1/2 of bodyweight
Shuttle Run X 2
Push-Ups on Dumbbells X 25

Cody, Danielle, Jordan and Charles
It looked easier on paper.

11/6/06

Clean practice with the PVC
Sit-up/static holds from 10-1

then...

Cleans 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Handstand Push-Ups 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Jordan--13:30 w/90lb clean and full push-ups
Shawn--(incorrect rep scheme)11:30 w/45lb clean and pike push-ups
Judy--13:32 w/25lb clean and pike/wall push-ups

We will be taking photos for the blog. Affiliation is right around the corner.

11/1/06

Cody, Ronald, Shawn and Charles spent 1 minute at each of the following stations. They rinsed and repeated three times. Ahhh, the crisp fall air.

Dumbbell Swing @ 35lbs
Sit-Ups (unanchored)
Dumbbell Thrusters @ 2 X 25lbs
Jumping Rope
Burpees

No workout this Sunday. I'll see you Monday.

10/30/06

Because I Care!

100 reps for time of--

Turkish Get-up OR
Man Makers

Rest 2:00

100 un-timed sit-ups

Judy--10lb get-up in 10:28
Jordan--15lb get-up in 11:35
Jarvis--20lb man maker in 21:00
Charles--20lb man maker in 18:14

10/29/06

Divisible by Seven

Max Rounds in 21:00

7 Pull-Ups
14 Jump Squats
21 Push-Ups
Aprox. 250 M Run

John, Danielle, Jordan, and Charles took it outside. Post your scores to comments because I erased them.

10/25/06

21-18-15-12-9 reps of--

Dumbbell Swings
Burpees
Pull-Ups

Jordan, Cody, Jarvis, Ronald, John and Charles had absolutely no fun doing this. None whatsoever.

10/23/06

#1 Team Workout

Partner 1 Deadlift X 15
Partner 2 Decline Push-Ups until partner 1 is done
**Switch positions and repeat 3 times

#2 Maximum Rounds in 10:00

Overhead Squat X 5
V Ups X 10
Broad Jumps X 5

The level of tension necessary to complete the deadlifts on workout #1 does not allow the athlete to fall into a pattern of rhythmic breathing as one would in a steady state cyclic activity (running, swimming, etc.). The ability to function in a state of oxygen debt and erratic (not erotic) breathing is invaluable in sports and high stakes situations. Moving from the tension required by the deadlifts immediately to the decline push-ups requires near constant support from the stabilizers. All-in-all, a lot more fun then crunches!

Workout #2 requires propulsion of the body in different planes via hip extension with a contraction movement (the v ups) thrown in for good measure.

What do you think?

10/20/06

5 Rounds for Time

Billboard Run and roll the die
1=20 Pull-ups
2=25 Burpees
3=50 Push-Ups
4=75 Squats
5=100 Sit-Ups
6=You call it

Interesting things start to happen when you make it random.
Jarvis, Cody, Judy, Charles and Ronald enjoyed this relaxing Friday evening workout.

10/18/06

Jordan's Birthday Workout

5 rounds for time
20 Dumbbell Swings
20 Sit-Ups
20 Dumbbell Push Presses

Tabata Squats
Waiter's Carry

Danielle, Judy, Jarvis, Shawn, and Charles celebrated Jordan's birthday. Jordan was mysteriously absent. African drum music courtesy of Cody.

Periodical Pain

Yesterday I was stuck at Books-A- Million while I was waiting for new tires to be mounted onto my car. Truthfully, I wasn't really "stuck" because I absolutely love hanging out in book stores. Unlimited reading material AND coffee! Despite what the Old Milwaukee ads said, it doesn't get any better than that!

Being the fitness nerd that I am, I scanned the "health and fitness" section of the magazine aisle. The usual suspects were there--you know, "Muscle and Fiction," "Flex," "Emaciated Runner's World" and the like. When I got past the seemingly endless ads for supplements to get me ripped, massive or improve my "relationship," I found a couple of articles. I made an observation during my caffeinated research that may be surprising to those of you who haven't read these magazines in a while (extra points to anyone in this group).

In between articles about gettin' huge and the latest in prostate enlargement technology, one author of a "train like an athlete" article actually demonstrated deadlifts and thrusters! I can hear it now, "what muscles do those exercises work?" The answer is all of them, kids. Now, if they would only get rid of the pinky finger isolation exercises and ease up on the fake tanner. Oh well, one thing at a time...

10/15/06

Field Trip!

At the not-so-sun-drenched Baton Rouge beach.

3 rounds for time of--
25 push-ups
50 squats
400 meter run (approximate)

then--
T.P. (team pull-ups)

Judy, Jordan, Danielle, Shawn, weirdo in a blue SUV and Charles built an extensive amount of character with this workout. Well, not so much the weirdo. Special guest star: the incomparable Dr. Lee!

10/13/06

Impromptu action @ Southside--

Jordan, Danielle and Charles did JT from CrossFit

21-15-9 reps of
handstand push-ups
ring dips
push-ups
*w/appropriate modifications of course!

In the "special class," Shawn and Jarvis knocked out--
max rds in 10:00 of
10 burpees
10 walking lunges

Happy Friday the 13th! (jay-jay-jay-son-son-son-kill-kill-kill)

10/11/06

While dodging those unfortunate souls doing lateral raises next to our pull-up bar, the sea level dwellers managed to pound out a pretty good mid- week workout. We had some clean and jerk technique practice followed by:

30, 20, 10 rep rounds of:

broad jumps
dumbbell split jerks
pull-ups

Survey Says: PAIN!!!

Jarvis, Jordan, Shawn, Judy, Charles, and our latest victim, uh, I mean member, Danielle performed a little shock and awe on the Southside YMCA members and staff. Cody and his Macgyver worthy homemade rings provided moral support and heckling. See you Sunday at 2!

Next

Our next session will be at 6:30 pm on Wed October 11 at Southside YMCA. Nothing but Tai Chi and water aerobics...

10/08/06

This is the workout we performed Sunday at the Southside YMCA. Charles, Cody, Judy, Shawn and Jordan all participated in the "fun." Good times, good times...

Kiefer Sutherland

24 dumbbell swings
24 sit-ups
24 man makers
24 pull-ups
24 handstand push-ups
24 knees to elbows
24 burpees

Loads were varied according to ability. This one started out as a sprint which only lasted until we got to the man makers. Hey kids, there's a reason they aren't called people makers.

Welcome to The Proving Ground!

You've arrived at the official blog for The Proving Ground Strength and Conditioning. Based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, The Proving Ground is an organization dedicated to coaching and training individuals from all walks of life who are interested in performance based physical fitness. Far removed from the glossy "fitness" magazine covers and bodybuilding programs prescribed by uninspired and undereducated trainers, The Proving Ground focuses on physical fitness and its real world applicability in daily life as well as sport.

Future posts on this blog will feature articles on numerous topics relating to fitness, health, and life in general. Also, we will be posting many of our workouts along with pictures of our members in action.

Finally, if you are in the Baton Rouge area and would like to join us for a training session or if you have any questions, just drop me an email at pelo377@yahoo.com with The Proving Ground as the subject. Thanks for visiting The Proving Ground!