Todd's quest for muscle tissue

[ehlisl]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Bunch of 400m repeats at 800m pace for a total of 2.5 miles on the track.
good cool down after that.
I was pretty worked after that.
Man this getting dark super early sucks!
Oh that and at the JC we use the track at the sprinklers literally smell like sewage. Pleasant for each rounding lap lol

Solid work Todd! Bringing back memories of the 400m days..12x 500m repeats....enough to make you go PUKE

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by FATHER FLEX

You getting ready for running of the Turkeys 5k style?

Yeah. Sarah is trying to lay the smack down to her PR there. Pretty flat course with only 1 tiny hill towards the end. She already beat that time at a SUPER hilly course on Sunday. So this one should be pretty damn fast for her. I'll pace her for this one. There's many more 5K's n such in the fall/winter. So I'll have plenty of opportunities for me to go 'fast'.

Originally Posted by ehlisl

Solid work Todd! Bringing back memories of the 400m days..12x 500m repeats....enough to make you go PUKE

Yeah 10 was enough for sure.
Pretty soild for the first 8, but the last 2 final stretches were fairly difficult. Actually had to kick a bit for those ones lol
tell you this much I was still sweating 30 minutes post cool down!

[toddbz]

No training yesterday since I got a massage. Seems to defeat the purpose of getting one then train the same day. Especially when she broke up a bunch of stuff again. Killed my left adductor around mid to lower thigh. Good lord that was uncomfortable.
Jennifer was telling me that there is a direct corolation between tight hip flexors and issues with adductors/I.T. bands. When either (or both) of those muscles are tight or are immobile the don't allow the hip flexor to 'track' correctly, therefore putting a ton of strain on a realtively small muscle group. So while I have been getting far more mobility out of my I.T bands (from foam rolling daily). The adductors still are glaringly tight and gaurded. Now that those have had some of the adhesions worked out (as fun as it sounds), I can begin to increase the flexability in them. All the while also increasing the mobility and function of my hip flexors.
I can't wait cause both the condition and the cure hurts like a bitch! lol

[CM82682]

I'm with ya on all the IT band issues. Mine as so painful to foam roll that I could cry when doing them, so painful that before foam rolling I need to almost psych myself up to do them. Fun stuff

[Young9]

nothing worse than having jacked up hip flexers!

[gymratluke]

Originally Posted by Young9

nothing worse than having jacked up hip flexers!

Tell me bout it...my right one is soooo tight as of late! yoga is helping though! Just sayin...

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by CM82682

I'm with ya on all the IT band issues. Mine as so painful to foam roll that I could cry when doing them, so painful that before foam rolling I need to almost psych myself up to do them. Fun stuff

After about a week rolling them daily it gets much MUCH better. At first when I started it actually made me nauseous.
I've been rolling them daily for about a month now. Now it just feels like pressure. No pain at all. So that being said, YOU need to do your more often. At the beginning I'd only roll them maybe like 5 times up and down each side...cause that's all you can handle lol

Originally Posted by Young9

nothing worse than having jacked up hip flexers!

Such a pesky thing. I can't even call it a injury, cause nothings really 'hurt'. Shhh just don't move so it jacks me all up.

Originally Posted by gymratluke

Tell me bout it...my right one is soooo tight as of late! yoga is helping though! Just sayin...

Mine has more to do with other surounding muscles being tight/having tons of adhesions so the hip flexor can't move freely therefore it tries to dominate the leg motion. Waaayyyy to small a muscle to pull that off. If I were a bettin kinda guy, I'd say that if I were to squat right now my hip flexors are probably doing more than 50% of the work. Quads, glute, hammies are just along for the ride.
Funny though, when I run I don't feel it at all, but as soon as I deep knee bend...ohhhh yeah
Another funny thing is that the more pre/rehab stuff I try and do for certain things, the more I end up with lingering crap. Phuck it! I'm not moving any more!! ;P

[gymratluke]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Mine has more to do with other surounding muscles being tight/having tons of adhesions so the hip flexor can't move freely therefore it tries to dominate the leg motion. Waaayyyy to small a muscle to pull that off. If I were a bettin kinda guy, I'd say that if I were to squat right now my hip flexors are probably doing more than 50% of the work. Quads, glute, hammies are just along for the ride.
Funny though, when I run I don't feel it at all, but as soon as I deep knee bend...ohhhh yeah
Another funny thing is that the more pre/rehab stuff I try and do for certain things, the more I end up with lingering crap. Phuck it! I'm not moving any more!! ;P

But this is what Im sayin...the yoga Im doing is ALL ABOUT loosening up the glutes, hammies, quads, hip flexors and erectors! Seriously, I dont enjoy traditional yoga, but the class I am doing now is THE SHIAT!!!

[Squizzzer]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Mine has more to do with other surounding muscles being tight/having tons of adhesions so the hip flexor can't move freely therefore it tries to dominate the leg motion. Waaayyyy to small a muscle to pull that off. If I were a bettin kinda guy, I'd say that if I were to squat right now my hip flexors are probably doing more than 50% of the work. Quads, glute, hammies are just along for the ride.
Funny though, when I run I don't feel it at all, but as soon as I deep knee bend...ohhhh yeah
Another funny thing is that the more pre/rehab stuff I try and do for certain things, the more I end up with lingering crap. Phuck it! I'm not moving any more!! ;P

don't know if you do already or not...but do some low back hyperextensions for a while...and see if that helps...its a theory i'm working on

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by gymratluke

But this is what Im sayin...the yoga Im doing is ALL ABOUT loosening up the glutes, hammies, quads, hip flexors and erectors! Seriously, I dont enjoy traditional yoga, but the class I am doing now is THE SHIAT!!!

Yeah the yoga calss I've done before was a yawner. Not enough stretching for me. Sarah loves that shhh though so I may have to try a different style cause she's done it plenty in the past and said that NORMALLY you stretch a ton.

Originally Posted by Squizzzer

don't know if you do already or not...but do some low back hyperextensions for a while...and see if that helps...its a theory i'm working on

strengthening the opposing side or dynamic stretch for the front? Or neither? ;P

[Squizzzer]

Originally Posted by toddbz

strengthening the opposing side or dynamic stretch for the front? Or neither? ;P

strengthening and stretching the hip flexor....


i know that's one thing i found myself getting caught up in...i used to think cuz something was tight meant it wasn't weak...well....i don't think thta's the case...

just from my personal experience that is

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by Squizzzer

strengthening and stretching the hip flexor....


i know that's one thing i found myself getting caught up in...i used to think cuz something was tight meant it wasn't weak...well....i don't think thta's the case...

just from my personal experience that is

Oh I have to agree completely. I actually tend to think more just the opposite. That if something is getting tight on a regular basis that it probably is weak and is incapable of moving in it's natural track.
Think of it like a quad isn't going to get tight is a hip flexor is weak. That line of thinking.

[gymratluke]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Yeah the yoga calss I've done before was a yawner. Not enough stretching for me. Sarah loves that shhh though so I may have to try a different style cause she's done it plenty in the past and said that NORMALLY you stretch a ton.

I'll ask my teacher the name of this kind so you can try and find a class similar...yeah man, 45 mins of stretching, its the bomb!

[graphlex]

Originally Posted by toddbz

russian kettlebell certified...or something like that lol

Only thing different between these and my Apollo (brand name) one is the handle is a bit smaller dia, narrower handle, and wider base. Wider base just means they don't rool around in your car so much. The rest means that they're easier to clean

Looks like you have really gotten into the kettlebells, Todd. My gym doesn't have any though they have a rack of odd triangular dumbbells that seem mainly for doing laterals with a loose grip while one of the three bars rest on your wrist (did a google search but couldn't come up with the name of these and haven't seen them in any other gyms).

[Quelly]

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by gymratluke

I'll ask my teacher the name of this kind so you can try and find a class similar...yeah man, 45 mins of stretching, its the bomb!

Yeah please do. Although I stretch daily. It's no where near 45 minutes lol

Originally Posted by graphlex

Looks like you have really gotten into the kettlebells, Todd. My gym doesn't have any though they have a rack of odd triangular dumbbells that seem mainly for doing laterals with a loose grip while one of the three bars rest on your wrist (did a google search but couldn't come up with the name of these and haven't seen them in any other gyms).

Our gym recently got a set of kettlebells (2 each) from about 5lb to 53lb. Those things are a lot of fun!

Originally Posted by Quelly

Ahhhhhh HAHAHAA!!!
Damn Carl. Like when he sang the national anthem...should just stick to track ;P
But I'm sooooo shopping for that black outfit and the cute lil white belt thingy.
I mean WTF was he stalking Jane Fonda!?

[toddbz]

So really busy weekend. Last few games of the soccer season and the times between the kids games have been pretty crappy. So ran a 5k race Saturday morning. Went off course cause the layout was just neato. Ended up doing probably an addtional 3/4 mile lol
Oh and it was about 45 degrees out. Felt pretty good after the first 2 miles. Damn boy scouts get fired for not telling me I'm turning the wrong way! Ummmm followed the big ass arrow you painted in the road there skipper! ;P
The Sky played out of her mind and Morg played goalie and was a freakin beast. Blocked like 15 shots to keep the score nill. Diving on peoples feet the whole bit. That was cool.

Sunday ran probably 1K meter intervals on this HUGE grassy area at the local JC. Like 5 or 6 football/soccer fields combined. Would run one at a good pace, then jog one, repeated 4 times, then did some KB stuff at home.
Running on the grass was really cush.
Stretched, rolled, ate then massaged Sarah's tight foot HEHE

[Squizzzer]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Sunday ran probably 1K meter intervals on this HUGE grassy area at the local JC.

so...you ran 1000 1 meter intervals...
or you ran intervals that were 1000 meters
or you ran intervals for a total of 1000 meters


lol..
it seems you are really enjoying training a bit more now...its good to see that...

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by Squizzzer

so...you ran 1000 1 meter intervals...
or you ran intervals that were 1000 meters
or you ran intervals for a total of 1000 meters


lol..
it seems you are really enjoying training a bit more now...its good to see that...

Ha! Pecker head! lol
The intervals were about 1000 meters long.
Funny thing is this is the heaviest I've ever ran at and I think my calves are actually growing...oh that and glutes to lol

But yeah training has been really fun lately. I got bored with traditional BB stuff pretty bad.
Now if I could juuuuussssttt get back to doing squats...cause those are to fun to pass up really

[toddbz]

Relatively easy day. Sarah has a sore foot (from running to much on the angled side of the road). So we just hit the track. Since I've put in some decent mileage over the last few days, no repeated efforts today. Just a few 800m stride outs and one pretty much fast as you can go 600. First 500 was actually pretty easy...last 100 nope ;P. Still felt pretty fast really. I did it in the time it took Sarah to walk (at a decent pace) about 200m. So I'm cool with that.
Then just a really good cool down. Some stretching and rolling when I got home. Left groin/adductor is soooo freakin immobile. It feels crunchy. Stretched it for a solid 1:30 straight. Some interesting stuff going on there. Almost feels like I'm breaking up scar tissue. Makes me wonder if I've ever torn the bloody thing in the past.
Lifting tonight, so yeaaaa. Inside where it freakin warm! Thought my damn ears were gonna fall off last night. lol

[healthybodies]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Lifting tonight, so yeaaaa. Inside where it freakin warm! Thought my damn ears were gonna fall off last night. lol

Enjoy!!!

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by healthybodies

Enjoy!!!

Oh will do!
So you guys will dig this.
I just got invited to participate in the solid surface world championships. Sounds weird right? Well what it is, is this comp where people come and display art or other things their company has decoratively made in this huge venue in Las Vegas. We're (my company) is being sponsored by a mfg. of this material that is basically compressed colored paper. Hard as hell and what I make out of it they just flip their lids. For my first piece I made for them I made a replica of a Aztec calender but fully 3 dimensional.
While other folks who have done this comp in the past use the material like lego pieces. I simply shape it out of a solid chunk of the stuff. Since it is a paper/natural product I can even age it.
So we'll see if I can get my creative juices flowing and make something I feel would be worthy...and the trip to Vegas would be fun to ;P

Does this have anything to do with what I do on a normal daily basis? Nope, but I do like creating 'art'. Normally I just fly by the seat of my pants on this stuff lol

[cawiau]

Hello!!!!! How are we... my favorite old man of all time?

[Quelly]

Originally Posted by toddbz

Oh will do!
So you guys will dig this.
I just got invited to participate in the solid surface world championships. Sounds weird right? Well what it is, is this comp where people come and display art or other things their company has decoratively made in this huge venue in Las Vegas. We're (my company) is being sponsored by a mfg. of this material that is basically compressed colored paper. Hard as hell and what I make out of it they just flip their lids. For my first piece I made for them I made a replica of a Aztec calender but fully 3 dimensional.
While other folks who have done this comp in the past use the material like lego pieces. I simply shape it out of a solid chunk of the stuff. Since it is a paper/natural product I can even age it.
So we'll see if I can get my creative juices flowing and make something I feel would be worthy...and the trip to Vegas would be fun to ;P

Does this have anything to do with what I do on a normal daily basis? Nope, but I do like creating 'art'. Normally I just fly by the seat of my pants on this stuff lol

wow that's pretty cool....so what are you gonna make?

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by cawiau

Hello!!!!! How are we... my favorite old man of all time?

Why hello there youngster!

Originally Posted by Quelly

wow that's pretty cool....so what are you gonna make?

Dunno yet. The MFG who is sponsoring us is going to send me detailed pics of past years winners so I can get and idea of what this thing is all about. I was thinking of something that has possible movement by a natural source (since this stuff is paper based), such as wind or water. Something like that. Oh and it's probably going to be pretty bloody big. Size is always impressive right? Plus lets me get really detailed. I was even thinking of replicating one of those Japanese jade carvings of a bridge, but perhaps modernize it or even throw in some time warpy shhh in there. If I did one of those that was 5 feet long that would be pretty impressive IMO.

[toddbz]

Haven't really had a note worthy session in a bit, but this one was. So here it is.
Changed, or at least working on changing up my bench form.technique. Basically watched a bunch of Dave Tate vids and really liked his mojo. So thought I'd give it a shot. Have to say I like it after one session at least.

Bench
Bar x 10
135 x 10 x 2
155 x 10
185 x 3 (forgot to push with my feet so it was more difficult that need be)
205 x 3 soooo easy. Stopped there cause I didn't want to loose the form since it's brand new.
215 x 1
New form is a keeper. Noticed that my lower back gets a bit tight from trying to get the arch. Probably just tight. Set up is waaaaayyy different from what I used to do. This shortens the ROM considerably, yet felt like I used far more muscle engagement. Also allowed me to push with my feet far better than I have in the past. So I really look forward to working on this.

Incline DB
40 x 10
50 x 10
70 x 6
60 x 10

Machine Shoulder Press (wider grip than normal)
85 x 10
130 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 8

Tricep Extension (single pully)
70 x 10 x 3
70 x 8

And that was that. Really good feeling workout. Typically after benching I have a 'tightness' in my right shoulder. None of that. I'll tell you this though, dunno if it's that new form or what have you, but my chest and even my traps were pretty blown out after doing bench. Which is always cool. Just a lot more shoulder stability without really having to do that much. Sarah was on fire! Like 7 PR's lol...think she may be holdin out on me HEHE
Oh and it was warm inside! Yeaaaa

[Young9]

your going to have to share teh secretz wit me cuz my benching BLOWS!

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by Young9

your going to have to share teh secretz wit me cuz my benching BLOWS!

Ha! Yeah. At first I thought I got it from your thread, but nope.
Here it be.



And I really got a bunch from this one


Big differences for me at least. That whole powerlifting arch thing is really kind of a bitch to get into really. Made me feel far more stable side to side and in the shoulder joint though. And I actually felt the majority of my back of the bench...which is what you're going for.
I think I'll see my old PR go down pretty easy with this. I could also see how you could carry this over to floor press. Flat DB? Dunno yet. Perhaps though

[cawiau]

Thanks for the vids bro!

[toddbz]

Originally Posted by cawiau

Thanks for the vids bro!

Any time. 2nd one is money