Various Things

This post won't be that exciting, I'm just writing about things that I would like to do with working out.

First off, my dad and I might be getting Plant Fitness passes soon! He wants to get in shape and lose some weight for tennis, and I want to get stronger and faster for track, soccer, and Ultimate. I don't have a ton of good equipment: I only have are a pull-up bar, a homemade forearm roller (too easy now), a heavy hand gripper (awesomely hard), two 20 pound dumbbells (and a way so I can combine them while doing curls), a 10 pound medicine ball (doesn't do much), and last but not least a 40 pound vest (the killer). That's probably more than your average 'home gym', but I can't do any heavy weight lifts with my legs. So going to the gym will give me many other weights, machines, and a good way to workout my legs!

A couple other things I would like to do is get 10-20 pound (per ankle) ankle weights. I mentioned this before. These are great for leg and ab workouts, and if they fit on your wrists, they could be great for arm workouts! The only problem is that to get good quality, heavy ankle weights is that they cost a lot.

Another tool that would be nice is a dip station. With one of these you can do much harder dips, body weight rows, and ab workouts.

Now, if I have the gym pass, I probably wouldn't want these as bad, but it's always nice to have things at home. Also if I get both of those (ankle weights and dip station), I might not really need the gym. I wouldn't have as heavy weights, but I could still do extremely challenging workouts. The main muscle group that a gym would be much better for is the legs. These are the heavy weights things I could do at a gym, but not at home: squats, leg curls, leg extensions, and leg press with calf raise. I guess that eventually the weighted vest and ankle weights with Plyometrics would be almost as good, but kind of hard on the joints.

I guess I'll add these to my wish list! For now, I don't really need the ankle weights or dip station, but in a few months I probably would like to have them. For example: Dips are already getting easier and easier: I dip 5 sets of 50 with the weighted vest on yesterday. That's a lot of toning, but not a ton of strengthening.

Now, to finish this off I'd like to mention that going to the gym would be great for me right now. Not only is it good for building leg strength, it has a much greater variation of weights and machines. The right now the best thing I can do for my chest (probably my weakest [comparatively] muscle group) is a push-up (with variations). At gyms they tend to have a bunch of chest machines and bench pressing benches. That would be awesome for me. Another thing is that my dumbbells can do 20 or 40 pounds. Right now I can curl 40 pounds only 7 times. Usually a good rep number is 10-15. So I'd say a 35 pound dumbbell would be perfect. Also shoulder pressing is very awkward and dangerous with two dumbbells in one hand, and none in the other, while doing one in each hand is too easy. To sum it up, I'd say I would benefit greatly from working out at a gym!

Insulation and Soccer!

Yesterday Kevin, a few guys from our church and I went over to our church around six am to insulate the windows for winter. This was kind of a project because the windows were more than six feet above the floor, and the windows were like 5-10 feet tall. It took is nearly all morning, but I'd say we did a very good job! You could barely even tell there was insulation plastic on the windows! The only problem with this was that I had to do my school in the afternoon, but that's a good advantage to homeschooling!

Now, on to something a bit more fun: soccer! Last night I also had a soccer game in the Topsham dome. A lot of our players were busy or sick, so we invited Calvin to come. He's plays for the local college. I though he'd be good, but not that good... He was probably our best player: fast, smart, skilled and agile. We still ended up losing, but we played MUCH better then we did last week. We actually had nearly as many shots as the other team, but the other team was very skilled and knew how to pick apart our defense, making their shots at a much more open goal than our shots. We lost, 5-0 I believe.

The Great Teen Weekend

Around 4:30pm last Friday Shannon, Colleen and I headed to Camp Goodnews for the Great Teen Weekend! On the way we went to Dunkin' Donuts and got some hot chocolate and Coolettas for the girls!

When we arrived there were not many people I knew, so I went to the restroom while I waited. I came out and there were about 20 people I knew there! A bunch of people I meant through last year's Great Teen Weekend, Teenpact and other various events. After that the fun started. I was among some of my great friends, there was soccer balls, Frisbees, a Foosball table, Ninja, a pool table, a ping pong table, great food, and great studies on being a leader!

I would write about everything I did, but I'm sure you would get bored of reading that, and I really don't feel like writing for a long time... so I'll just write about a few things that happened this weekend!

Probably one of the biggest highlights was the Ultimate and soccer games we had, even though my team didn't really win either. The soccer games were first. My team was pretty awesome. They all were there to have fun... and 4 out of 8 of us were soccer players. It was all fun playing soccer, but I felt a little bad for the non-soccer players. They were kind of out matched by the soccer players, so I was glad when we switched to a much more even sport: Ultimate. In Ultimate my team lost point wise, but got the golden point(the last point), which made it all good.

Overall, I had an amazing time, and can't wait for next year!

Plyometrics!

This post will be about Plyometrics! I have a love-hate relationship with Plyometrics. They are a great workout for me (being a sprinter), but they make me extremely sore until I'm used to doing them!

The reason I procrastinated doing this post is because it'll take awhile to write about... and I haven't done a Plyometric workout in months. I did one Thursday and my legs hated me until Saturday afternoon!

To start it off I'll tell you what Plyometric workouts do. They strength your legs, increase your speed, and increase your explosiveness! Explosiveness helps you start your sprints faster, and increases your jump! This is great for track and field, because a lot of races are won in the first 10-30 meters when you start. Also because there are a lot of jumping events in track. An even more important thing that Plyometrics do are help you in Ultimate Frisbee! Good jumping and running are very important things to have when playing the worlds best sport! Plyometrics pretty much help with any sport (besides golf and other not-so-active sports like that). That's a good enough reason for me to do them!

Alrighty, so because I don't know which workouts are the best, I'll just give you the workout my coach gave me!

To start this one off, you must warm up before hand. You should with all workouts, but this one really needs it! Good warm ups are high knees, rope skippers (pretend you're rope skipping), jumping jacks, torso twists, hug yourself (swing your arms back and forth so you're hugging yourself and swinging your arms out. This stretches your chest, arms and shoulders), and lunges with a hamstring stretch. Don't hold positions for long on the lunges, this is a warm up.

Now for the workout stuff! Try not to take breaks unless otherwise stated! If you have sharp pains or other bars things like that then stop. It's not worth injuries!

PART ONE

Jump Squats. With your feet shoulder width apart, touch the ground with your fingers (bending at the knees, quads parallel to the floor!) and then explode up and jump into the air as high as you can! If you have the celling room, throw your arms up to get a little higher! When you land, try to land softly (by bending at the knees) and touch the floor again. Do 10 jumps!

The next one the Four Count Rhythm Jumps. This time your feet should be slightly less then shoulder width apart. Your legs should be pretty straight, but always bend your knees some when you land so your won't injure your legs or back. Now that you're ready, jump a few inches off the ground three times and then on your forth time bend a little more at the leg and jump as high as you can. Then go back to the small jumps. You should keep a rhythm like: one-two-three-FOUR! One-two-three-FOUR!... Etc. Do this one 10 times. Each 'big' jump is one rep.

The Run-Stance Squat. I really like this one, it burns so much! To do this one, get ready to do a lunge (one foot in front, so that when you go down your legs bend at 90 degrees with your back leg's shin parallel to the floor and your front leg's quad parallel to the floor). Straighten your legs, but keep your feet in the same sport. Now squat down four times to the 90 degree position, then on your forth one jump into the air and switch your legs and do four more, and jump on the last one. Four squats and a jump are one. Do 10 (so 5 on each leg).

Airborne Heisman. This one works your hips and stabilizer muscles more than anything, not a lot of power, so this one will kinda rest your quads a little. To start off put your feet about shoulder width apart and jump to your left, and bring your right foot up so you can grab it with your right hand, and your knee with with your left hand. Hold for a couple of seconds, and jump to the other side. Jumping once to each side is one, do 10.

The next is Step Ups. This one could be hard to do if you can jump high, are tall, and/or have a lowish celling. To do these you also need a sturdy bench that you don't mind getting a little dirty. Now, stand facing the bench and step up on it with one leg and jump off off it, about 6-12 inches in the air. Drive your other leg up. On your way down, land on the same foot you jumped off of, and let your other foot hit the floor. Repeat 10 times, then switch legs and do that 10 times.

Now! The hardest one of all!!! Your water break. Should be less than 3 minutes. You may want to savor these minutes, because you just began!

Now, repeat part one. If you already repeated part one, then go on to part two.

PART TWO

Single Switching Runner Stance Squat. This one is just like the first runners stance squat, but instead of going down four time you switch every single squat. Doing each side once is one. Do 10.

Pogo! Start off with your feet a few inches apart. Then start bouncing your heels an inch off the ground (keeping the weight on the balls of your feet), do this 10 times, then add another inch, so that your feet are barely staying on the floor, do that 10 times, and then add a few inches so you're barely getting off the floor. Do that 10 times. Now add a few more inches and do that 10 times. Next do Four Count Rhythm jumps 10 times and you're done with Pogo!

This next one will make you look dumb. It's called the Circle Run! Yeah. So all you really do is run in a small circle (as small as you can while running) clockwise for 30seconds. Then go counter-clockwise for 30seconds. To run fast in a small circle you have to lean into it. This works your ankles a lot, so this is more of an ankle workout. Not really a speed workout.

Jump Knee Tucks. Very challenging if you don't have much hip or quad strength. To start do a Jump Squat (going low, bending at the knees and then jump as high as you can), but while you're in the air bring your knees to your chest. Make sure you can put them down fast enough so that you can land pretty softly, and not fall backward or land on your tail bone. That would hurt. If you can't bring your knees to your chest and land safely, then just don't bring your knees as high. Repeat 10 times.

Single Leg Jump Knee Tuck. Yeah. This one is probably the toughest workout on here. Do the Jump Knee Tuck but with only one leg. Your other leg should just stay in the up position, or maybe a little lower if that's easier to balance. Do 10 times on each leg. If it's too hard then switch legs every jump.

Now your favorite part! Water break. Once you finish your water break do part 1, water break, and finish with part 2 again.

Make sure you stretch your calves, hamstrings, your quads, and anything else that might be sore, tired or tight! Also don't forget to eat and/or drink some protein!

Driver and Soccer

Well, to start it off I'll tell you what happened today: Shannon got her license!!! Because she's 18 she can drive anyone! I'm pretty pumped, and I'm sure she is too!

Tonight I have an end of the year 'banquet' with my team tonight. Should be pretty fun, and tons of food! Although, it's a sad reminder that I only have one more year of playing soccer on Leavitt's team.

The Push-up

The push-up can be one of the easiest exercises, but with a little bit of variation, can be one of the hardest. I'm going to start with what a 'normal' push-ups is, then the easiest push-up I know, and work my way up to the hardest.

The normal push-up is quite basic, and you probably already know how to do one. Just in case you don't, here it is: to start off get in a 'plank position' (body straight feet and hands on the ground with your arms extended), then let your body down so that your arms are bent at 90 degrees. There are a few variations on the normal push-up that can be still considered "normal". I'll get to those eventually.

The easiest one I know of is "the girl push-up". I don't think it should be named that because most girls can do a normal push-up, but it is what it is. The girl push-ups is just like a normal push-up, but you have your knees on the ground, making your load much lighter and requiring less core strength.

The next up is a incline push-up. This one is just like a normal push-up, but instead of having your arms on the floor or ground, you put them on a solid object 1-3 feet high and do push-ups like that.

The next one up would be the normal push-up, but I'll describe the "normal" variations. The first one is you put your hands under your shoulders or slightly farther down your torso with your arms pretty close to the body. This isolates your chest more than your triceps. The other variation is with your hand at shoulder level, but out wide, not close to the body. This isolates your triceps more than your chest.

The next hardest would probably be a fist push-up. Exactly the same as a normal one except your hands are in fists. This is better for your wrists if you have weak wrists, but can be painful to the knuckles depending on your weight, hand size and what surface you're doing push-ups on. The reason this one is harder than the normal push-up is that you have to balance you body a little more (engaging your core muscles), and you can 'go a little deeper' in your push-up.

The next is the dumbbell push-up. This is in my opinion better than the fist push-up in every way. All you have to do is grab dumbbells while you do push-ups. This is also very good for people with weak wrists. The reason why I think it's better than a fist push-up because it works on your grip a little, and you can go even deeper in this push-up than the fist push-up, and it doesn't hurt your knuckles!

I'd say the next one would be a stacked foot-staggered hand push-up. This one is like a mixture of both the normal push-ups, with your feet stacked (optional, feet stacked makes balancing much harder thus engaging your core). The way you mix the normal push-ups is by putting one of your hand by your side, the other up by your shoulder and out wide. When you go to the down position your arm that is by the shoulder goes out to the side, and the other one by your side goes parallel with your body. Switch hands every 3-5 push-ups. This one works your core a lot more than your normal push-up.

The next one I'd say is the decline push-up. It's pretty much the reverse of an incline push-up. your feet are 1-3 feet off the ground on a solid object, your hands on the floor. This works more shoulder than chest, which maybe what you want! This also makes a lot of blood flow to your head, so be carful.

I'd say the next is the diamond push-up. If you have a really strong core, but weaker shoulders, than this would be easier than a decline push-up. The way you do this push-up is by putting your hands together under you, making a 'diamond' with your hands. Going a little more than 90 degrees is good! This is a fun one!

I'd say a prison cell push-up would go here... A prison cell push-up is like three push-ups in one. To start, put your arms in the air, then snap down, put your hands on the ground and throw/snap your legs back (or walk your legs back if you can't snap or throw you legs back). Now do a push-up, then bring your right knee to your chest, do a push-up, bring your left knee to your chest, then do a push-up and jump into the air ending with your arms in the air. That's one, now repeat!

The dumbbell raise push-up (I made up the name, forgot what it was really called). To do this one do a push-up with dumbbells, once you get up bring one of the dumbbells even with your body, do another one and switch arms! This one varies greatly on the list of push-ups. It all depends on the weight you're using!

The finger push-up. Yeah. This one hurts, unless you have really strong hands. This in this one all you have to do is a push-up, but on the tips of your fingers. I don't like this push-up one bit, but it's great for working on block starts in track.

The next push-up is a single clap push-up. In this one you do a normal push-up, and snap back up, throwing your body up and then you bring your hands together, clapping. On your way down catch your self into the next push-up and repeat! This one could be considered easier than the finger push-up, but that just depends on your body's strength. Warning: if you can't complete this one and try it, it will hurt your face.

Ok, here's the 'cheating' one arm push-up. Do a push-up with one arm, but have the opposite leg out wide balancing your body. Example: your right arm is doing the push-up, so your left leg is out wide.

Now to the great (easy variation) handstand push-up! This one isn't too hard, because you use a wall and spotter. Just do a handstand against a wall, and do some push-ups! Very challenging! Also it works your shoulders, not your chest.

The Plank to Chaturanga Run! This one hurts. To start off get in the 'plank' (up) position of a push-up and start running in place. Do this for ten seconds, then go to the Chaturanga (down, so at least bent at 90 degrees) position and continue running in place, but your legs will be going to your sides. Hold that for 10 seconds, come up and you did one! Repeat! If you have very good cardio and not-so-good strength, then this could be easier than a handstand push-up.

Two clap push-up. Do a clap push-up but clap once in front of your chest, and once behind your back, the try and catch yourself! Tricky one!

Now I'd say the 'real' one arm push-up is next on the list. Just do a fake one with your legs together and in line with your body. Good luck, I haven't done one yet. I've come close, but haven't got it yet!

I'd say the three(+) clap push-up goes here. It's like the two clap, but with three claps, or more if you can! I haven't don't this one yet, though I have gotten three claps, just all in front of chest. This one could be considered easier than a one arm push-up. I put it here because it will probably take some mental power to risk doing it! (unless your are on a mat)

To finish it off I'd say the one hand handstand push-up wins. It's a toughy. I would put a clap handstand push-up next, but I don't even know if that's possible...

Now I must add if you want to make most of the workouts (not the handstand) in here harder, add a decline, or for easier an incline. Another way yo make them harder is to add a weighted vest (recommended) or have someone stand on your shoulders while you do them (not recommend). Oh, and just so you all know, I'm sure there are more variations of the push-up, but I don't feel like looking them all up. These are just the ones I remember.

Push-ups are great full (mainly upper) body workouts and don't require much for equipment, so do them!

Spartans and Babies!

Last night I had my first indoor soccer game! Shannon and I play on a team called the Spartans! Our team is made up of a bunch of people from different churches. It's a open mens league (pretty much saying girls can play, but it's going to be tough). Our team is probably one of the weaker teams. Most teams seem to have college players or fit and skilled men in their 30s. We have a group with a couple younger players such as myself, and some older gentlemen. Only a couple of those more fit and skilled players. I'm more of a fit-but-not-as-skilled-player. I haven't had quite as many years of experience as some of the guys playing have. Now our game went ok. It was really fun, but you could tell we were a new team. We lost 0-5. Also my ankle injury from this past soccer season came back to bite me. I guess I'm going to have research how to recover it.....

Oh, another thing happened last night! My baby niece was born!!! Her name is Adeline Leach! I haven't met her yet, but hopefully I will soon!