Practice # 9

Today was a nice cool autumn day here, but that is where the coolness stops. Parking was non-existent so I wound up having to walk. Of course that probably did me some good but now the ham strings are a bit tight. By the 1 hour mark of practice, I was sweating. After demonstrating de-cleaters and down blocking techniques, I was once again snapping balls. After what amounts to approximately 100 snaps, I was sweating pretty profusely.

I found out today that the coach will want me only to do a part time bit on Defense, not the full time one I am used to. I guess he figures we have the personnel, and I should focus on offense. But of course, that makes my job easier which is fine too.

We worked on down and drive blocking quite a bit and I think we have it. Our guards and I work together pretty well and if we can block like we do in practice, we should be unstoppable in the games.

One last hard work week (till Friday) and then it will be game time on Sunday! I am sure this one will go, even though we have a 6am departure time for traveling to play at 10:30am. That means 5 am wake up and 5:40 leaving. Ouch. I better fix my sleep patterns before Wednesday or Thursday.

Practice -- again finally

Today's practice went pretty well. While I was expecting to not be up to par, I found myself actually moving at a pretty decent clip on most plays. The weather changing to fall definitely helps and I was able to get through all of the drills without rolling over and dying of heat exhaustion for a change.

While my ribs still hurt a bit, I am doing better and after a good practice and then another workout pulling the shrine in the city festival today, I am ready for a good massage. (That will hopefully happen tomorrow after I get back from the football gear shop).

Two weeks to go to our next game. This one should go on as scheduled. But we will see. That's it from me for now.

Rolling back into training mode

Well, the Dr. said the ribs aren't broken. Just a bad muscle tear. So it is back to training mode. I guess I will wait a few more days until I quit hurting before I start lifting the heavy stuff but for now it is back to pushups and situps to the point of pain.

I am just glad I can get focused again. Of course, it does help to have two more weeks until the next game so that I can get healthy again.

Cancelled Again!!!

Well, today is turning out to be like the rest of the season. Our 2nd game was also canceled due to a forfeit by the other team. So we changed to a practice at our home ground. Then that was canceled due to heavy rain.

I guess that is a good thing for me as it is giving me some recovery time from my injury. I will find out the extent of the injury tomorrow when I have my MRI. I am not too hopeful at this point but I do have 3 more weeks to recover before our next game. I am hoping that will be enough time, but if not, this will be the first season I have played where I will miss a game due to injury in the middle of the season.

In the mean time, I am re-writing my speed training book to make it more extensive and to give a schedule by week for those looking for an extensive workout.

A New Book Available Now

I have just released my Speed Training Workout book for those of you who are interested in it. It covers the entire workout that I use for getting up to speed for the football season. This book is great for the athlete and the coach and provides a quick 1 page sheet at the end which has all of the set counts, exercises, rests and anything else applicable to the workout.

Get it now by clicking the link under the about box in the right column. You will need Adobe Reader in order to view the file.

Game Day ...errr...cancellation!

Well we are now 1-0. Not exactly the way we wanted to win especially since most of us could have used the full contact of a good game. But it was not to be. So we wound up taking it out on each other with a hard full contact practice.

Unfortunately, my ribs seem to be a point of problems for me this season. I really need to get a bit stronger in the chest. But now it is time to get ready for next weekend's game.

All the way to Kofu in Yamanashi to play a team that is from almost right down the road from us. It makes no sense but that is the way the league staff have decided to play the season. Travel for hours, play a game on dirt and then travel for hours home, when there are tons of nice grass fields and stadiums closer to home.

That's it from me this week. I am going to hit the bath and soak my body for a while.

Mid Week Post

Not much to talk about this week other than the workouts which are making me sore. I know that means they are working but one always wonders when you wake up and your chest feels like it has been through the grinder. But for those of you who want to follow my workout a bit, here is my routine:

Stretch (15 minutes)
Basic Squat x 50 x 3 sets
Wide Squat x 50 x 3 sets
Pushup 25 x 6 sets
Situp 25 x 6 sets
Bicep Curls 10 x 3 sets
Overhead tricep curls 10 x 3 sets
Military Press 10 x 3 sets
Basic Squat with weight 10 x 3 sets
Stretch 15 Minutes

Add this to all the steps you can do in the day. That means, no escalators and if you don't have a choice, then run the escalator or take the steps fast. I run the regular steps 2 at a time head down, full speed in order to get the maximum knee lift in the run. In Tokyo, there are tons of train stations with sets of stairs in the dozens. If I don't go to town then I use the stairs in my building to do the same thing. Unfortunately they are shorter than I like and not straight on.

The core of this workout is my stay at home workout and it can be adjusted if you feel that it is too much. This workout will make you sore. I do it every other day at the start of the season and then increase the number of days as the season goes along. By the time we are into the core of the season, I usually only do this 5 days a week and then Saturdays off and Sundays is games or practices.