The Bird Cage 3. Redemption.

theStrongest.
theFastest.
theFittest.
theSmartest.

theBird.

Ladies and Gentlemen…

… welcome back to the training log of the most controversial member of T-Nation…

THIS IS THE CAGE.

Officially starting tomorrow.

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Hey man, nice to have you back!

Nice. Made any changes to what you’re going to be doing?

hater checking in

IN!

yeah im in too mate. Looking forward to it

I am in. Rip shit up, Mate.

Welcome back ducklings!!!

For those that have missed the first 2 chapters:
-Bird Cage 1;The Bird Cage - Training Logs - Forums - T Nation
-Bird Cage 2;The Bird Cage - Training Logs - Forums - T Nation

About theBird:
-30 years old, live in Australia, I play semi-proffesional football(soccer), and enjoy lifting.

Whats new to the cage?

  • bi-monthly weigh in and pictures
  • GPS readings/analysation of theBirds game performances
  • more performance videos/pictures

Where theBird is at?
-Right at this moment I am in the off-season. Pre-season training with the team starts at the end of January 2013. The season kicks off sometime half way through March

Goals for the oncoming season?

  • to dominate
  • remain at a realistic playing weight of 90-93kg (playing a ballistic sport at 105kg is not a good idea).
  • increase in cardiovascular performance/conditioning
  • to lift heavy ass weight in the gym

Lets get this party started. Bitches.

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Wednesday, 14th November 2012.

I am still recovering from some patella tendonitis that I picked up at the end of last season. Doing lots of glute activation and eccentric single leg squats. 90% of the discomfort is gone, but I am still been cautious.

I have decided to run “German Volume Training” for the offseason. Usually I lift heavy for low reps, so I thought this would be good to do something different for once. It will take me a few weeks in the gym before I get my routine/weights right.


TRAINING


AM

Agile 8, glute activation, and eccentric one-leg squats.

10 sets of;
10 reps of front squat at 30kg, followed by 10 reps of lying hamstring curls at 30kg.
90 seconds rest between each superset

3 sets of:
12 reps of calf raises with 40kg on the machine, followed by 12 reps of “swiss ball” roll-outs.
60 sesonds rest between each super set.

notes: Yes. That was very light-weight. Im going to ease myself back into the gym and Im been cautious with the knee. Also really need to improve my front squat flexibility. This may take a few weeks.

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Front squats = Kick ass.

Thursday, 15th November 2012.

So your all probably wondering what my schedule is for the offseason?? I plan to follow the following plan up to about January, when I will commence “preseason” training.

Monday: German volume method, shoulder and biceps.
Tuesday: 40km road bike ride with group, moderate to high intensity
Wednesday: German volume method, legs and abs.
Thursday: 40km road bike with group, moderate to high intensity
Friday: German volume method, chest and back.
Saturday: Either a low intensity 70km ride with the bike group, or maybe some laps in the pool with flippers and a kick board.
Sunday: Rest.

Im going to have to re-adjust my diet and take in some more carbs, especially on bike riding days.


TRAINING


AM

Went for a ride on the bike with the group. This is the 2nd time I have ridden with this group. The group consists of about 12 cyclists, including some triathletes and former semi-pro racers. They do a 40km course Tuesdays and Thursdays. They average a speed of about 35km/h.

I failed to complete the whole distance. At about the 25km mark, my legs could not keep up with the rest of the group as they steamed ahead. There was even a girl in the group who out did me, although she is the towns best female triathlete. My short term goal is to keep up with the group for the the whole 40km.

PM

Visited my masseur. Told him about my knee problem and he had a poke around. He seems to think that my knee is pretty healthy with no swelling or seriously torn tendons/ligaments. My plan is to continue on with training, although I will stop at anything that causes pain.

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Friday, 16th November 2012.


TRAINING


AM

Chest and back

Agile 8 and shoulder mobility work.

Supersetted 10 reps of 20kg dB bench press, with 6 reps of pull-up. 10 sets, with 90 seconds rest b/w each superset.
At set 6 I had to drop the pull-up reps to 5, as I was struggling.

Supersetted 10 reps of 25kg dB rows, with 15kg dB incline flyes. 3 sets, with 60 seconds rest b/w each superset.

notes: struggled with the pull-ups, especially on the last 3 sets. Should be ok to increase the dB weight for the benching next week. Keeping accessory weights the same.

Over and out.

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[quote]theBird wrote:
Monday: German volume method, shoulder and biceps.
Tuesday: 40km road bike ride with group, moderate to high intensity
Wednesday: German volume method, legs and abs.
Thursday: 40km road bike with group, moderate to high intensity
Friday: German volume method, chest and back.
Saturday: Either a low intensity 70km ride with the bike group, or maybe some laps in the pool with flippers and a kick board.
Sunday: Rest.
[/quote]

Ok, so Im thinking of maybe changing things around. The group road bike rides on Tuesday and Thursday are intense. Squatting on Wednesday, may not be optimal. Im thinking of maybe moving legs to Friday, and do chest and back on Wednesday. The ride on Saturday is a longer, although less intense. Another option, would be to move squats to Sunday, and schedule my rest day to Monday.

Let me know what you think, ducklings?

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I like volume training :slight_smile: -but you know this.
I’m wondering if the riding will mess with your knee? I’m no sports therapist, but is there someone you could consult? I couldn’t effectively squat or do leg work if I was riding that much. It’s a lot of cardio with volume training. Just something to think about.

[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I like volume training :slight_smile: -but you know this.
I’m wondering if the riding will mess with your knee? I’m no sports therapist, but is there someone you could consult? I couldn’t effectively squat or do leg work if I was riding that much. It’s a lot of cardio with volume training. Just something to think about.
[/quote]
I second this, bike riding destroys my knees especially if the seat height wasn’t adjusted for me.

[quote]DSSG wrote:

[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I like volume training :slight_smile: -but you know this.
I’m wondering if the riding will mess with your knee? I’m no sports therapist, but is there someone you could consult? I couldn’t effectively squat or do leg work if I was riding that much. It’s a lot of cardio with volume training. Just something to think about.
[/quote]
I second this, bike riding destroys my knees especially if the seat height wasn’t adjusted for me. [/quote]

So far the riding has not made my knee worse. Cycling is low impact, after a big ride my legs often feel tired, but never sore or beat-up, which is one of the reasons why I like cycling so much. I also enjoy been outdoors and the social side of cycling.

I have often been criticised for cycling on T-Nation, with many stating that its very poor sport specific for my training goals. I disagree. Im cycling in the attempt to build up an “endurance base” that I beleive will benefit me in the upcoming season. Because it is low impact, recovery is easy and risk of injury is low. My bike was professionally fitted for me.

I first started riding about 5 years ago for commuting reasons. I was riding 20km a day, 2 ways. I thought it would not have much impact on my fitness, although during that soccer season I dominated as I could run out the whole game, while most usually struggled in the last 20 minutes. I am after that effect again.

Saying all that, I still have the problems of trying to schedule my off-season training. I am now thinking of moving legs to Sunday, and move my rest day to Monday. Shoulders and biceps will be moved to Wednesday.

Thoughts?

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I get what you’re saying about cycling being low impact, it is. It’s also a tremendous amount of low impact reps. I don’t play sports now, but I used to, and it’s always been my impression from coaches that to get better at a sport you need to do sport specific things. I don’t see how cycling really translates to playing soccer (sorry, football). Wouldn’t you be better served sprinting, doing box jumps, plyometric stuff, that ladder thing you lay on the ground and do all the fancy foot work with. As well as getting your legs strong through weight training?
Just ideas…

[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
Wouldn’t you be better served sprinting, doing box jumps, plyometric stuff, that ladder thing you lay on the ground and do all the fancy foot work with. As well as getting your legs strong through weight training?
Just ideas…[/quote]

Thanks for the ideas.

Those sought of things I will gradually implement during pre-season(mid-January). Sprinting and jumping are great, but I feel I would be setting myself up for failure if I start doing that stuff now. I will probably stop cycling almost altogether as the season starts. I dont like cycling in the winter anyway.

In the past few seasons I feel my endurance has been very poor, and I believe I have been playing at weight that is too much for the sport of football. Especially compared to about 5 seasons ago when I was biking… theBird was unstoppable.

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Saturday, 17th November 2012.


TRAINING


Went for a moderate 30km bike ride by myself. Came home and ate an apple, a scoop of whey, 2 chicken breasts, a cup of noodles, and a whole packet of rice cakes (yes a whole packet).

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This is going to be cool to watch. It’d be awesome if you could get fitter than you’ve ever been and just turn up at the games in the new season as a seemingly tireless player who could run others into the ground.

I know you mentioned usually doing low reps/high weight and wanted to change it up for variety’s sake… but if you don’t want to get too heavy, is GVT the way to go, as you’ll probably start to blow up pretty quickly depending on how much you eat? Not doubting you mate, just curious about the rationale behind it?