Training - 27th February 2007

Supplementary
Treadmill: 15mins hard
Pulldown Rows: warmups, stackx12x4
Neutral grip facepulls: 66x12x3
L Flyes: 12x12, 18x12x2
Overhead shrug: 20x12, 50x12x3
Seated cleans: 12x12x3
Snatch grip shrug: stackx12x3
Cycle: 15mins overall with 30:30x3x3 sprints
Stretch
Treadmill: 10mins light

Notes
Light day, shifting leg stuff to Friday to allow better recovery for bench. Everything else was just light back, no real stress, and cardio stuff, which the cycle was the hardest.

Well, with day three the action finally got up to speed at Jerez, with the qualifying session to win a new BMW M Series Z4 .

Randy Mamola had picked Casey Stoner for the win, however, he only managed 6th fastest in the session and ultimately Casey left the event in an Ambulance with a big smash in the final session.

Third placed was Edwards, followed closely by Nicky Hayden. Danny Pedrosa claimed second place, 0.133seconds back from Valentino Rossi, with a new circuit record of 1'38.394, around 0.5seconds quicker than last years mark set by Capriossi on his 990cc Ducati.

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Factory Yamaha Team (M) 1min 38.394 secs
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 38.527 secs
3. Colin Edwards USA Factory Yamaha Team (M) 1min 39.300 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 39.556 secs
5. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 39.832 secs
6. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 39.873 secs
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 39.887 secs
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 40.043 secs
9. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 1min 40.083 secs
10. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 1min 40.100 secs

Training - Monday 26th February

Warmups
Superset of pushdowns, standing rows, Sidebends: 66x12x3

Main move
Bench: warmups, 157.5(347)x5x5

Accessory
2board: 180(396)x5, 185(407)x5

Supplementary
Facepulls: 66x12x4
Pushup: 0x8x3 (med ball under one hand)

Notes
Had an ok sleep, and this was pretty comfortable, as it should be as the load was less than my closegrips last week. 2board felt heavy, but was predominantly tricep fatigue. Lockout is definitely weaker than it used to be.

MotoGP 2007 - Jerez Test

Ok, Day two is over.

Melandri is still in front, only just, from Rossi.

But none of this practice stuff measures up to the First Superbike Round for 2007, in Losail, Qatar.
With Suzuki's Max Biaggi and Honda's James Toseland bashing panels throughout the two races to share the lead of the championship.

MotoGP - 2007 Jerez Test

Well, the first day was nothing spectacular.

The sky has been leaking on Jerez on and off over the past few days, and today was no exception. So a few got reasonable performances, but the likes of World Champion Nicky Hayden was back in 19th, Rossi in 13th and Edwards in 11th. Hayden was three seconds off the lead, set by Marco Melandri, on his Honda.

If the weather improves, hopefully we will see some closer performances, especially on the final day. This is where the racers go all out for 40minutes to attempt to win a new BMW.

The Yamaha's of Rossi and Edwards were both coloured Yamaha Blue, and the team was entered under the title "Yamaha Factory Racing", so any sponsorship deal must be still under negotiation.

MotoGP 2007 - Jerez Test

In thirteen hours, give or take, the first Official MotoGP test for the year kicks off in Jerez, Spain.

With this test we should see who is on, and who is off, the pace. Not just in MotoGP, but the 250's and 125's, with the usual suspects being in the front in both of these classes.

The 250 class never ceases to amaze me, with these tiny (~100kg, 250cc) machines topping out at 240-250kmh on the track, and cornering like on rails.


We will also get to see who is the Rossi/Edwards team sponsor, rumored to be Fiat but I don't know yet.

From here, in two weeks, the real fun kicks off in Qatar, for the first round of the 2007 MotoGP championships, and hopefully a Rossi or Edwards victory.

Training - Friday 23rd February

Warmups
Treadmill: 15mins
Giant set: Pushdowns, facepull, pulldown abs, st arm pulldowns: 54x12, 66x12x2

Supplementary
Pendlay Row: warmups, 130(286)x5x2
Tbar (Bb): 55x8, 80x8, 95x8
Single arm cable row: 48x15, 54x15
Cable row: 2mins various weights
Sully Zottman: 13.5x15, 15.5x15
Bb Curls: 20x30x2
Treadmill: 10mins

Notes
End of the week and tired. the back workout went OK, in preparation for my bulking program. Its gonna be hard work!

Training - Thursday 22nd February

Warmups
Band pushdown: gx12x3
Band Row: gx12x3
Band Sidebends: gx12x3 (per side)
Band starm pulldown: gx12x3

Accessory
Closegrip Bench: warmups, 160(352)x5x4
Closegrip Bench + GuB: 140(308)x5x2

Supplemental
Treadmill: 20mins mod

Notes
Rather tired today, tried to get to bed early but that was thwarted. Weights were OK, not too hard, but still working it. Still fatigued from previous weeks training, but from today I have three whole days off benching, so I have to make the effort to sleep more.

Training - Tuesday 20th February

Warmup
Treadmill: 10mins moderate

Supplementary
Leg Press: up to ~300(660)x8
Pendlay Row: warmups, 130(286)x5x3
MS Leg curl: warmups, 48x12, 54x12
MS Leg Extension: warmup, stackx20
MS Db Row: 57.5x25
Treadmill: 5mins moderate

Notes
Tired today, but I got to bed earlier so that's a start. Dunno exactly what weight was on the leg press, just threw on some plates and did some reps. Was a relatively warm morning so was sweating after this, especially the MS work.

Training - Monday 19 February

Warmups
Band Pushdown: 2mx20x3
Band Row: 2mx20x3
Band Sidebend: 2mx20x3
Band Starm pulldown: 2mx20x3
Band pullapart: px12, 2px12

Main move
Bench: warmups, 167.5(369)x3x6

Accessory
2board: 170(374)x3, 180(396)x3, 190(418)x3, 170x3

Supplementary
Neutral grip facepull: 48x12, 66x12x4
Treadmill: 15mins moderate

Notes
This is the first week in the specialisation/intensification phase, and I am still fatigued from last week, so it was harder than it normally would be. But I think this is a PR for sets on the weight. Everything is fatigued, so it will be nice to get the recovery gains occurring, and with that I need some speed. The lifts are solid, just slow rather than my normal speed. The specialisation includes specific speed work. Sleep would also help as well.

Training - Friday 16th February

Warmups
Superset of: pushdown, chest row, pulldown ab, starm pulldown: all 66x12x3

Accessory
Incline press+doubled minis: warmups, 100(220)x5x3
Pushpress: warmups, 80(176)x5x2

Supplementary
Chins: -2px5, -px5, 0x5x2
Pulldowns: stackx5x4
One arm cable row: 54x5x3
Shrugs: stackx12, stack+dble minix12, stack+2dble minix12
Sully Zottmans: 13x5, 18x5, 20x5
Preacher machine: 36x20x2
Band curls: rep till pump
Band pushdown: rep till pump

Notes
Enough work... pushpress sucked. Originally wanted to do overhead press but I was fatigued to death so pushpress it was. Will do seated overhead press from now on as it puts too much load on my back. Everything else was bleh.

Training - Thursday 15th February

Warmups
Band pushdown: gx12x3
Band Rows: gx12x3
Band Sidebends: gx12x3
Band Starm pulldown: gx12x3

Accessory
Closegrip bench: warmups, 155(341)x5x5
Reverse green bench(mod grip): 160(352)x5, 170(374)x5, 180(396)x5
Reverse green 2bd (Modgrip-speed-paused): 160x5x3
Reverse green 2bd (Compgrip-speed-paused): 160x5x3

Supplementary
Neutral grip facepull: 48x12, 66x12x3
Single arm facepull: 36x12, 42x12, 48x12

Notes
Felt like a lot of volume and it was hard. Tired, I think I swam a bit hard while out last night, but I did the sets I wanted. Had to shut down my brain to make it to the end of the workout.

Training - Tuesday 13th February

Warmups
Treadmill: 10mins mod

Accessory
Ol Squat: warmups, 180(396)x5
Good Morning: 100(220)x5, 150(330)x5, 170(374)x5

Supplementary
MS LEg Ext: 72x12, 84x12, stackx12
MS Leg Curl: 42x12, 54x12
CS Row: warmups, 90(198)x5, 110(242)x5
MS Db Row: 57.5x20

Notes
Felt sore and everything felt off. I scratched my back the other day and it was playing up, must be bruised or something, either that or my legs are going to fall off.

Training - Monday 12th February

Warmups
Bandpushdown: gx12x3
Band facepull: 2gx12x3
Band pulldown ab: gx20x3
Band st arm pulldown: gx12x3

Main move
Bench(paused last rep): warmups, 175(385)x3, 180(396)x3

Accessories
Bench+GuB: warmups, 175x1, 185(407)x1, 190(418)x1
Bench+GPuB: warmups, 160(352)x1, 175x1, 180x1
4board+GPuB: warmups, 180x5(wide), 180x5(med), 180x3(narrow)
Bench+GPuB: 100x20

Supplementary
Oh Shrug: 50x12, 60x12x2
Neutral grip facepull: 54x12x3
L Flyes: 18x12x3

Notes
I was slow today, but overall felt pretty strong. The lockout with the 190 bench+GuB was rough, but I did it.

Training - Friday 9th February

Warmups
Treadmill: 5mins
Pushdowns, Rope rows, pulldown abs, st arm pulldown, kelso shrugs: 66x12x3

Accessory
Press behind head: warmups, 80(176)x5x3

Supplementary
Db Inc Press: 20x20
Db Inc Flye: 20x20
Pulldown row: warmups, stackx8x4
Seated cable row: stackx8x4
Machine row: stackx8x2
Db Curls: 11.5x5, 23.5x5, 25.5x5
Bb Curls: 27x20x2
Treadmill: 10mins

Notes
Moderately light day, was feeling tired from the early mornings, with the holidays that have been around recently its been hard to get used to the time I need to be getting up. Once I get back to gaining I will need to be up around 5am, so its gonna take some getting used to.

New toys

I received a new toy today, a AWA MP4 player.

Its visually virtually identical to an iPod Nano, as can be seen to the right, with it sitting next to my wife's Gen1 iPod Nano.

The memory is the same (2gb) but the AWA plays videos, has a recorder, and allows you to watch movie files.

The unit came with an AC adapter, USB cable, Headphones, Adapter to attach to external unit.

The main issue is the user interface is somewhat clumsy, the headphone socket s 2.5mm rather than the standard 3.5mm, however they provide an adapter to manage this difference.

The little screen looks pretty reasonable, definitely larger than the old iPod, but playing video is slightly jerky. Sound quality is excellent compared to my old MP3 player, bu the headphones may have something to do with this (I am using Apple headphones for my old MP3 player) because the new ones are moderately nice, but large.

The most important feature is the price, which was $98 NZ for the 2gb unit, from Dick Smith.

MotoGP 2007 - Sepang test

The final day of the Sepang test was completed today, with the Yamaha's of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi dipping under 2'01.

Edwards achieved a 2’00.248, under Valentino's qualifying record from last year on the 990cc bike. Rossi achieved a 2'00.793, which is just over the qualifying record.

So much for the capacity reduction reducing the speeds. Of course, this does not indicate the top speed, which will potentially be lower, but just the overall laptimes.

Its going to be an interesting year.

Training - Thursday 8th February

Warmups
Band pushdown: gx12x3
Band row: 2gx12x3
Band pulldownab: gx12x3
Band St arm row: gx12x3

Accessory
Closegrip Bench(last rep paused): warmups, 150(330)x5x4
Medium grip 3board: 160(352)x5, 180(396)x5
Medium grip speed+looped Greens: 100(220)x3x5
Comp Grip Speed+looped greens (Paused): 100x3x3, add looped purples, 100x3, add looped minis, 100x3

Supplementary
Neutral grip facepull: 66x12x3
L Flyes: 18x12x3
Pushdowns: 66x12x6

Notes
A nice day. Lockout is still suffering the low work capacity, predominantly triceps but the whole thing just starts shutting down early. The addition of creatine would help with this. Otherwise a pretty nice day.

Research Watch

Reference
Stallknecht B, Dela F, Helge JW. Are blood flow and lipolysis in subcutaneous adipose tissue influenced by contractions in adjacent muscles in humans? Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007;292:E394-E399

Abstract
Aerobic exercise increases whole body adipose tissue lipolysis, but is lipolysis higher in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) adjacent to contracting muscles than in SCAT adjacent to resting muscles? Ten healthy, overnight-fasted males performed one-legged knee extension exercise at 25% of maximal workload (W(max)) for 30 min followed by exercise at 55% W(max) for 120 min with the other leg and finally exercised at 85% W(max) for 30 min with the first leg. Subjects rested for 30 min between exercise periods. Femoral SCAT blood flow was estimated from washout of (133)Xe, and lipolysis was calculated from femoral SCAT interstitial and arterial glycerol concentrations and blood flow. In general, blood flow and lipolysis were higher in femoral SCAT adjacent to contracting than adjacent to resting muscle (time 15-30 min; blood flow: 25% W(max) 6.6 +/- 1.0 vs. 3.9 +/- 0.8 ml.100 g(-1).min(-1), P <> 0.05; lipolysis: 25% W(max) 102 +/- 19 vs. 55 +/- 14 nmol.100 g(-1).min(-1), P = 0.06; 55% W(max) 86 +/- 11 vs. 50 +/- 20 nmol.100 g(-1).min(-1), P > 0.05; 85% W(max) 88 +/- 31 vs. -9 +/- 25 nmol.100 g(-1).min(-1), P < class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">lipolysis are generally higher in SCAT adjacent to contracting than adjacent to resting muscle irrespective of exercise intensity. Thus specific exercises can induce "spot lipolysis" in adipose tissue.

My Thoughts
This piece of research was pre-published a few months back, and on the surface appears to support the concept of spot reduction. However, taking a slightly deeper look into the paper reveals the difference between statistical and clinical significance.

At the end of the discussion, the authors translate the difference in lipolysis to

"Assuming a molecular weight of 860 g/mol for TG, this corresponds to an extra breakdown of 0.6 –2.1 mg of TG in 30 min/100 g of adipose tissue adjacent to contracting muscles.."

So to lyse 1gram of additional fatty acid per 100gram of adipose would take

0.6mg/30mins = 1.2mg/hour
1000mg/1.2mg/hour = 833 hours of relatively intense activity

or

2.1mg/30mis = 4.2mg/hours
1000mg/4.2mg/hour = 238 hours of relatively intense activity

Sure we can measure it and show a significance difference, but what point is the difference of 1.2-4.2mg/hour/100g fat?

MotoGP 2007

In just over a month, the 2007 MotoGP championship kicks into gear with the Grand Prix of Quatar, on the 10th of March.

Before then, there are two final tests. One is currently taking place in Sepang, with only a few teams taking part. The final test is in Jerez, on the 25 of February, where the whole lot of the competitors get together.

The end of year, and early tests this year show some interesting statistics.

The change to 800cc capacity for these bikes has done very little for their ability to get around a track fast. Obviously the stupidly high power outputs of the 990cc beasts was just too large for the rear tyres, where as the 800ccs may produce less absolute power, but the overall delivery will be somewhat softer. Combine that with less inertia from the smaller engine and you have the ability to lay the bike over, and still produce drive out of the corner.

I have added a MotoGP news feed to the right of the screen, acquired from http://www.crash.net/, but I also track the progress and news under the official Motogp site http://www.motogp.com/ and the Australian Motorcycle News site http://www.mcnews.com.au/

Go Rossifumi!!

Training - Monday 5th February

Warmups
Bandpushdown: px12x3
Band facepull: 2px12x3
Band pulldown ab: px12x3
Band st arm pulldown: 2px12x3

Main move
Bench(paused last rep): warmups, 170(374)x3, 175(385)x3

Accessories
Bench+GuB: warmups, 170x1, 182.5(401)x1
Bench+GPuB: warmups, 165(363)x1, 175x1
Lockouts+GPuB: warmups, 170x3, 180(396)x3, 190(418)x3
Bench+GPuB: 100x20

Supplementary
Neutral grip facepull: 66x12x3
Oh Shrug: 50x12, 60x12, 65x12
L Flyes: 18x12, 24x8x2
Pushups: 0x8, onmedballx8x2

Notes
Wasn't working today, but went in moderately early anyway so I can play in the sun later in the day, well swimming again. Bench groove was better, but explosion off the chest wasn't good. Lockout has improved.

Tired now.

Training - Friday 2nd February

Warmups
Treadmill: 2mins
Pushdown: 66x12x3
Facepull: 66x12x3
Pulldown abs: 66x15x3

Accessory
Incline bench+dble mini: warmups, 80(176)x5, 110(242)x5, 120(264)x5

Supplementary
MS Pendlay Row: warmups, 140(308)x8
MS Closegrip Pulldown: warmups, 72x12
Db Curls: 10x5, 20x5, 23.5x5
Side Laterals: 10x12x3
Rear Laterals: 10x15x3
A1:Band pushdown: px30, p+mx30x2
A2: Band curls:px30, p+mx30, px30

Notes
OK day, I trained at lunchtime because I felt tired early on. Nothing extreme tho. Probably picked a too heavy weight for pendlay rows, but that will be fixed.

Training - Thursday 1st February

Warmups
Pushdown: 66x12x3
Facepull: 66x12x3
Pulldown abs: 66x20x3
St arm pulldown: 66x12x3

Accessory
Closegrip bench (paused last rep): warmups, 145(319)x5x3
Reverse green band bench (med grip): warmups, 170(374)x5, 190x4(418), 175(385)x5
Med grip 3board: 160(352)x5x3

Supplementary
Neutral grip facepull: 66x12x3
L flyes: 12x12, 18x12x2
Overhead shrug: 40x12, 50x12, 60x12

Notes
Not a bad day, but drop off from the triceps was quick. I think I have to start supplementing with creatine again, at least once I start bulking again.
Groove was definitely better, and maintained the position well until the 190kg set off reverse bands.