Updates

Perseverance is what I'm trying to get across in this blog. So more of my story. My workouts are going great. I'm still in a hypertrophy phase and next week I'm switching from back squats to front squats to prepare me for cleans. In the last few weeks I've gone from 215x6x3 to 220x6x3 with 210x8x3 in between (remember only one minute rest between sets). RDL's have gone from 175x8x3 to 175x10x3 and yesterday 185x6x3. Deadlifts are up to195x8x3 and as usual we won't talk about what I press :(

Ok something about me!

MY training is going fine. Three weeks ago I squated 210 x 6 x 3 with a minute rest in between the 3 sets. Two weeks ago I squated 205 x 8 x 3 with a minute rest. Unloaded last week because I played in a Polar bear 4 man Vb tournament yesterday. Had fun, knee was fine, could move good just wasn't really aggressive jumping. We got 3rd out of 6 teams. Stay tuned!

A little jumping to help with your reaction time

An easy exercise to do to help with your reaction time (quickness) is a simple Hop Hop Hop Land exercise. Take a hip width stance. Be relaxed in your ankles, knees and hips. Stay neutral in pelvis/low back. Now jump just high enough so your whole foot leaves the ground 3 times, make sure you land with little or no sound at all. After the third "hop" land softy in a half squat. Repeat 5 to 10 times. You may use an arm swing if you like. This is a good exercise to reintroduce you to jumping if you've had to take time off due to an injury.

Another back friendly skiing exercise

Here is a great exercise to practise your good spinal hygiene. Try single leg Romanian Deadlifts. First stand with your feet together. Next reach for a stable object like the back of a chair or anything about hip to waist high. The way you reach is to take one foot off of the ground while you flex at your hip and reach with the opposite hand. The foot/leg your not standing on swings gently backward staying in a straight line with the hand your reaching with. Try one set and 8 reps at first and you can work up to 3 or 4 set of 20 without any added weight. You should feel this in the hip(glute) of the leg your standing on. Good luck!

Movements (exercises) to help your skiing

Hopefully you have started stretching or Foam Rolling and now it's time to choose some movements that will help your skiing without bothering your back. The first movement I would try would be a low step up. Start with a step between "3 to "6 inches high. Either have your hands behind your head (hardest) on your hips or free to use for balance. Next facing the step, place one foot on the step with the foot pointing straight ahead. Putting a little more weight on the heel, try to drive the foot through the step as you lift the other foot off of the ground placing this foot next to the one on the step. To step back down reverse this movement trying not to fall down but rather lowering yourself down slowly. Try to work up to 4 sets of 20 reps with no weight to start and keep your rest time as little as possible. Stay tuned for more training tips!

Now a word from our sponsor!

Attention skiers NOW is the time to start training for the upcoming ski season! Those of you with back issues remember the first thing you lose when you quit training is flexibility. For a healthy low back that means hip flexibility and low back stability. Say tuned for more insights.

It's been too long part 2 or some numbers

I'm unloading this week but last week my back squat was 190lbs x 10)3, Deadlift off of 3" blocks 165 x 10)3, none of which was that hard.