Work in Progress

My BB.COM profile has been pretty much inactive for the past few months. Ever since I started sprinting in January of 2008 the emphasis I placed on going to gym and tracking my strength and growth has shifted to running faster times in the 10o meter dash.

The goal which I had up on my BB profile since 2007 was to participate in the UWI Intercampus games in 2009. I am happy to say that I accomplished that goal and came 3rd in the 100 meter finals with a less than impressive time of 11.03 seconds. It was surely was not the best I could have done, as I had stumbled on my fourth step off of the line and had to recover. However I am guessing that I would have been able to run at least 10.9 or maybe 10.89 which would have been more than enough for 2nd place.

Over-all my first full season as a sprinter has been a good learning experience. I had a few obstacles and hurdles which I fought with throughout the season. Things began to go wrong when I purchased a pair of track spikes which were too small for my feet. The first thing it did was give me a nasty blister on my left foot. As the season progressed  my beloved shoes went on to give me calluses on the balls of both of my feet, more blisters and generally make it painful to run for the rest of the season (luckily I’ve since then bought a new pair).

I also got a couple injuries; first, from falling off of a bike and bruising up my leg badly and then by hurting my shin after I  kicked someone who pissed me off a couple times. Also my ankles got sore for unknown reasons and stayed sore up until just before UWI games. To top it off I strained my left hamstring two weeks before the St. Lucia National Championships which I was really looking forward too. Still injured I managed a controversial 3rd place in that race, (officials said 4th) running well over 11 seconds. I should also mention that I foolishly decided to stop doing weight training in February, (which is probably why I got injured).

In retrospect however, all things considered it was a fair season. Had conditions been more favorable, and had I trained until the end of the season, had I had a proper coach and followed a proper yearly program and had I not gotten injured I could have run 10.7 seconds or lower. Unfortunately "would’ve could’ve should’ve" is not a mantra I particularly subscribe to. The reality is that 11.03 was my fastest recorded electronic time. I ran a couple meets before that which I am sure were faster but I never got the electronic times for those since they were not finals.

…But next season will be better. My new goal is now posted on my profile, 10.4 before the end of next year’s season. I have better shoes, mistakes I’ve learned from and lots of plans. We’ll see what happens. Ironically I was going through my blog and I realized I had an entry about runners and their leg strength, and now I’m one of them, such is life.

My much loved BB.COM profile has been suffering from some serious neglect lately, and it’s not for the usual reasons as before, i.e. internet access not readily available. Truth is my focus has shifted off of training in the gym for mass and strength and onto training to become fast, training for speed. I’m trying to become a 100m-200m sprinter, and there is a long arduous journey ahead of me if that’s going to become a reality. I had my first meet today, didn’t do too badly, didn’t do too well. It was an experience that placed things in perspective somewhat. Had the chance to observe one of TT’s finest under 20 sprinters who has ran with the likes of Powell and Gay. It really helps to let you know where you stand. In the upcoming months if God spares life I’m going to be devoting my energy and attention into my training for this sport. It will involve some gym work, a lot of gym work actually, so there should be lifting stats and anthropometric and picture updates as usual, just at a lower frequency than before. So, for all those interested, who keep tabs on my profile, please stay tuned.

So I got an email from a guy, recommending that I specialize in doing pull ups, and commending me on my feature on BB.com. So I reply: "What feature? lol. Anyway about the pull ups…"

Last night my friend texts me and asks me if I know I got featured, so imagine me this morning scouring the site to see if it was true and to my surprise, (although it wasn’t a full feature) there I was for real.

I guess it’s because I use all the features on my bodyspace and keep my page relatively updated. This is great I’m thinking. I mean who would have thought? Small me from a small place like St. Lucia, (Do you even know where that is?) on a huge site like bodybuilding.com with my profile on the bodybuilders.com section.:) This is just the beginning, now I have even more motivation to keep making progress. Thanks bb.com.

Behold my new 6-Week regimen. Already Completed week 1!

Thigh Abd = Thigh Abductor Machine

This week and last I trained legs with guys who used to run track, (one used to play basketball) during secondary (high) school. It’s been 5 years now and neither of them pursued track after they left high school, although I assume they’ve continued to be moderately active via basketball. The point? Even after so long their legs were still surprisingly strong, one could have squatted 225 and the other 205 right off the bat! Both could leg press 450 x 12 for 3 sets and 125 x 12 for 3 sets of the leg extension machine. It took me forever to get to that weight! When I started off, the prospect of having to lift that weight was darned scary. This confirms what I knew at the back of my mind all along; if you want strong legs, run, sprint, jump or any combination of these three. I do not think anything else could produce the kind of definition and strength that comes from doing that really so come next year God willing I’m gonna hit the tracks, and see if I can reap the benefits in the gym and on the measuring tape.

The Scariest Exercise Ever

I am beginning to realize a trend with male bodybuilders. From my limited experience I have observed in the various gyms I have been in; that for the period of time I was there I hardly ever saw guys do barbell squats.

The few who actually did usually used the smith machine, with light weight, or used even lighter weight on the squat rack. I am talking about big looking guys; obviously capable of lifting more, I think to myself. Over the past year or so the only guy I’ve seen do barbell squats heavy is an old diabetic guy who came to the gym very often earlier this year when I was in St. Lucia. The leg press machine on the other hand, seems to be more frequently used, most use 3-4 plates, some I’ve seen use up to 10 (in my present gym) but only one or two of those guys actually go through the entire range of movement. And they still don’t squat.

So what’s so scary about squatting?

Home workouts have been proving to be effective thus far, more so in the smaller muscle groups. I did quads in the gym tonight after a week and 3 days off (legs) and I was afraid of experiencing a strength decrease - to my surprise it was the opposite; here is how it went:

B.Squat x 5

220 x 12
220 x 12
220 x 10
242 x 8
242 x 8

Seated Leg Press x 4

240 x 16
300 x 14
300 x 12
300 x 14

Leg Extension x 4

12 x 40 and hold on last rep
12 x 40
12 x 30
12 x 20 and hold for 15s on last rep

I usually do 150 on the leg press so as you can see my legs were wasted. GOOD DAY

..Was tonight and I still am not really convinced that I was really working out. The environment is strange. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts in my living room. Leg curls in my room. Lunges up an down the corridor. I mean it felt like a workout, I sweat like I was working out, but I just don’t feel like I will wake up feeling sore tomorrow. The weights are clumsy and I had to innovate to use enough weight to do leg curls. I guess I will have to wait and see. The convenience is nice though, I can wear whatever and eat immediately after I’m through just like before. Let’s hope I don’t make progress at the same rate, as before..

I am theoretically here in Saint Lucia, my home island, for vacation. I am supposed to be going back to Trinidad (second home now) for school in September but all of this may or may not happen. What has indeed happened is that my buddy finally got around to lending me that bench and weight set he promised since.. I came in July and now it is in my room! Now I can train on my own like I’m used to, on my own time, like 2 AM.. I theoretically have less than 2 weeks remaining in Saint Lucia though but.. I plan to make the most of every day, trust me. *** I’m really excited ***

Why am I blogging about a leg workout - because this is the first leg workout in a while which had my legs hurting me, the same night. I literally felt weakness and pain in my legs a couple hours after my workout and today, the pain is very present and I am not looking forward to tomorrow at all. So what did I do?

Routne: Quads

5 mins warm-up on exercise bike

5 drop sets barbell squats

5 increasing set leg press

5 squeeze and hold drop set leg extensions

And that was all it took, walked into the gym at 7pm, limped out at 8pm.