serratus23’s BodyBlog

Wow, am I running late with this week’s sprint update?!  We had another great day and basically attempted to repeat last week’s performance.  There were a few small changes . .

The weather was beautiful, but it was considerably hotter than usual.

Our initial flat-ground sprints were a decent bit longer than we did last week - 120, 100, 70, 50 vs 100, 80, 60, 40.  (Gazelle, you would’ve loved it!)

Our group was also a little different this week - Gazelle’s roaming around Germany and Italy schooling people on the flute (I’m not kidding).  My wife and Rhino were in attendance and we added a few rookies to the mix - Chew-becca (the demon-grunter) and Apple Jelly (a PE teacher that missed his calling as a world champion professional eater!).

I’ve got no pics to prove it, but all in all it was a great time and a great workout.  Next week, we may head back over to the track.  Regardless, I’ll try to snap some pics.

Hope everyone’s rockin’ on their current programs!

It was on today . . no rain . . no shin splints . . no excuses!  We had a fantastic day of sprinting and I’ve got pics to prove it!  Let’s get right to it . . .

- Weighted HILL “sprints” . . essentially, we each took turns carrying one another up the hill.  To bring this into perspective, Rhino weighs about 218, I’m around 185, and the ladies are both lower to mid 120’s.  Rhino and I both carried each other (pictured below), SUCKED wind for 3 or 4 mins and then raced carrying the girls.

- Slope Sprints: 5 rounds of sprinting up a much more gradual (but longer) incline and jogging back to the start.  We went in pairs and the rest period was over when the other runners got back to the start line (usually about 40 to 50s).

Overall, this was far and away the best sprinting day we’ve had.  It seemed like a perfect blend of speed work, hill work, and a touch of intense interval cardio at the end.  Nice.

Thanks for the messages everyone’s taken the time to send over the weeks!  We’re havin’ fun and certainly feel that our sprint days have been beneficial to our conditioning and leg development!

Finally, the forecast smiled on us and there was no rain!  Hallelujah!  Seizing the opportunity, we headed for the local athletic fields for some softer ground (versus a track) and hill sprints!  The hill is great, it’s about 25 to 35 yards and super-steep (probably at least 45 degrees).

Unfortunately, Rhino had to be placed on the DL with some fierce shin splints.  They began bothering him after our second week and have worsened each week.  Got him currently on an ice/NSAID regimen with some mild tibialis work every couple days.  Any ideas are welcome.  Have any of you had any successful strategies for knocking out shin splints?

For the rest of us, our workout looked like this . . .

- 100yd, 80yd, 60yd, 40yd, 100yd (all with strict 60sec rest intervals)

- 6 to 8 min rest while we walked to the hill

- 4 hill sprints (strict 60 sec rest intervals)

- 2 "weighted" hill sprints . . . translation: I carried Rhino (all 220lbs) up the hill on my back, then sucked wind for about 2 minutes before carrying my wife (only 120lbs)

Thank God for no rain . . on this particular day!  This allowed for some great variation in our routine.  We had fun and were whooped by the end!

The weather here is amazing . . . beautiful sunny skies with temps slowly creeping into the low 80’s as the week moves on UNTIL Saturday morning.  No kidding.  It rained for about 5 or 6 hours and our sprint time falls right in the middle of it.  We would have shifted, but we had a funeral to attend so it wasn’t an option.  I’m tired of soggy running.  I’m tired of writing about it, and you’ve gotta be tired of reading about it!  On to the workout . . .

Nothing too fancy this week. 

- four 60 yd (60 sec intervals)

- one 200 yd (large rest period) - we time our longer sprints.  I’m hitting 28 to 30s for the 200, while the others are 35 to 39.  We’re def not natural-born runners!

- one 400 yd (LARGE rest period) - improved my time to 65s.  If you’ve never run a true 400 sprint . . . you’re missing out.  Give it a go sometime . . nothing compares.

- one 200 yd to finish

Next week, we’re planning on some hill sprints (weather permitting!) and, while the gang doesn’t know it, I’m planning on bumping the volume up and shaving those rest periods down!

When the rain stops, the pics will come.  Thanks for stopping by.

I may be a little premature with this, but my wife seems dead-set on tightening things up before we go on a little cruise in June.  I may even try to tighten things a bit myself.

We’ll see how this goes.  I’ve almost got her talked into posting some progress pics.  So, along with the weekly sprint blog, I may be adding a Mrs. Serratus Transformation series.  Only time will tell!

I’m more prompt with my post this morning, but I’m "picture-less."  Oh well, it’s just tough to work with the camera in the friggin’ rain.  Not only was it raining again, but our usual spot (the nicest track and field in town) was being used for a formal track meet.  So, the rain knocked us out of running hill sprints and our usual spot was taken . . . what to do, what to do?  We just headed to the local high school track - not quite as nice, but who needs "nice" - we just wanna get our sprint on.

The SMSC was in full force (myself, rhino, gazelle, and my wife) and we had a couple special guests.  My good friend and his girlfriend (both runners - more distance oriented) drove in from the ATL.  With 6 in tow, we had a great day consisting of . . .

- six 60 yd (60 sec intervals)

- two 200 yd (3 to 5 min intervals due to running in pairs and timing runs)

- bleachers for 4 min

We punked out on the 400 and my "distance friends" from atlanta decided to rip off a mile (a stinkin’ cool-down for them) to finish.  Overall it was a good, just getting a bit tired of running in the rain, but whatever . . . we like to think it means we’re a little more dedicated than the average joe.

  We’re kind of progressing slowly, because most of us are NOT natural runners (much more into lifting).  We’re looking forward to changing things up with the hill . . . if the weather EVER permits!

Any sprinters out there that would care to share their workout?  I’d LOVE to hear it.

I’m a little late, but I’m here and I’ve got pics!  3/4 of the sprint club decided to hit it this past Saturday despite the down-pour that we were experiencing here in the southeast.  8:45 rolled around and we rolled onto the track (and field - see pic) to rip into our fourth week of sprints.  The somewhat chilly, definitely rainy weather made us a little cautious and lengthened our warm-up considerably, but when all was said and done - we all put in some great effort! 
This week’s workout looked like this . . .

- eight 60 yd sprints
- 200 yd sprint
- 400 yd sprint (the sprint equivalent to 20-rep breathing squats!)
- 100 yd, speed walk back to starting line, then a final 100 yarder

It was our first time running a 400 this "season" (since early last fall) and it was . . . terrible.  We all had decent times (for non-runners).  If you’ve never ran an all-out 400 before . . . you’re missing out on a unique training experience that cannot be duplicated in the weight-room. Period.

As I said earlier, I posted a couple pics . . .
Pic 1 puts some faces to the sprint club.  It’s Sean (aka Rhino) on the left, Angela (aka Gazelle) in the middle, and me (aka Corey, ha!) on the right.  We were one short, since my wife decided to sit out due to a cold earlier in the week.

Pic 2 is where we run our 60’s and 100’s.

Next week, I hope to get some action shots as we’ll (hopefully) be heading to some different athletic fields for some HILL sprints! (and maybe some other intense surprises)

I appreciate the great feedback.  Thanks for checking out the SMSC!

I don’t know how many of you hardcore lifters like to occassionally pump out some sprints, but dang . . . they provide such a different yet phenomenal leg stimulation.  A small group (2 guys, 2 gals) from my gym have decided to hit some sprints and variations every saturday morning.  Today was week 2.  Currently we’re hitting . . .

-Eight 60-yd sprints (with 60 sec rest intervals)

-two 200-yd sprints (with large, probably 3 min rest intervals)

-four minutes of bleachers (up, down, up, down, fun, fun, yeah, right) straight

Of course, we do all this after a thorough warm-up.  Call me crazy, but after a hard sprint session, it just seems like there can’t be many things that have more fat-burning potential.  Between the lactate produced, super-large complex of muscles used, and variety of movement, they’re just tough to beat.

I’ve really sucked at keeping a consistent blog (I’m new to this), but I’m gonna do my best to keep a consistent record of our sprint days.  Hopefully, I’ll even have some pictures soon!

We’ll see how this goes!  Best to all!  Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

Are there any former competitors out there that are struggling to find that post-competition balance?  I’m not talking about that snippet of time when you’re not gaining and not on precontest.  I’m referring to life after you’ve decided to (at least temporarily) stop competing.

I "retired" (funny, since I’m not even 30) from competitive natural bodybuilding a few years ago and oftentimes find myself in a strange place.  After almost 10 years of either bulking or cutting for a show, it’s kind of like I’m in "no-man’s land."  I’m simply attempting to stay fit, muscular, and lean, but feel that I’m often just spinning my wheels.

I don’t mean to ramble. I would love to hear if anyone else is facing a similar scenario.  You’ve still got the passion, but you’re not staring down any competitions.