The Bird Cage

The air is still. The night is dark. All are silent.
Bones cruch. Ligaments stetch. Muscles twitch.
The time has come for the beast to be awaken.

Ladies and Gentlemen…
welcome to the most anticipated and requested training log to ever exist…

unamended… he arises.

unbothered… he moves.

unapologetically… he grunts.

unafraid… he challenges.

unrelentigly… he wins.

unvoidabley… he exists.

unbeatable… he is.

unbelievably… he is here!
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theBird’s training log will commence soon.
All followers welcome.

Hi kids.
Welcome to my second installment of my log. Today we will discuss my background and training goals.

Im a 29 year old semi-pro soccer player. My goals are to be conditioned and strong, making me
the ultimate soccer player. My position is right back. Speed and power is of the essesnce.

age:29
weight:205 lbs.

my current numbers are not my best, but due to injuries I have had a 2 month break from lifting heavy.
Heavy lifting will re-commence this week. My current squat is embarrasing, but Im hoping thee numbers
will go throught the roof in the next few months.
My numbers are:
deadlift: 340 lbs
squat: 265 lbs
bench: 220 lbs.

Tomorrow is a rest day, training commences on Tuesday.

Lets get this party started.

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Hi bird watchers!
Lets get straight into it! Last night was my first session in my new training cycle.
I arrived home late from work last night, but I still felt good and started it
all with a bang!

Quick warm up, emphasising rotator cufffs.
Supersettted dB bench with pull ups;
8 reps of dB bench press at 70 lbs
7 reps of wide grip pull ups
8 reps of dB bench press at 70 lbs
7 reps of close grip chin ups
8 reps of dB bench press at 70 lbs
6 reps of wide grip pull ups
8 reps of dB bench press at 70 lbs
8 reps of close grip chin ups

3 sets of 10 reps at 70 lbs of dB bent over rows.

3 sets of 10 reps at 30 lbs of dB flyes.

I then attempted for my 1st time ever, tabata on a stationary bike.
I did feel like jelly afterwards and out of breath, but I think next time I could push myself harder.
I will also need a better stop watch. I plan to do tabata once a week.

Opinions welcome.
Keep it real bird watchers!

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Hi mumchkins!
Update time!

Last night soccer training: lots of passing and receiving with some small sided games.
Not too much running, which was good as the next sessions was squats.

Today:

AM:

Today I made my weekly visit to my personal trainer, who we will call “the pidgeon”.
Today with “the pidgeon” we started on some light weight squats.
I did 4 sets of 10 reps of squats at 180lbs.
The pidgeon noted that I was right sided dominant and after a few isolation tests he had concluded
that I have poor glute activation. Dam.
We then proceeded with single leg glute raises, where I learned that there was hardly any glute activation!
Also did some single leg lunge work with 2 35lbs dBs, 3 sets of 10 reps.

Now time to start reading about glute activation.

PM:

4.5 hours later and Im on the track. Warm up included some drills with the soccer ball.
Juggling, dribbling and controlling the ball from the air. About 30 minutes.
And then I did 4 350m runs, followed by 10 20m hill sprints.

Lightweight!

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Hey bird!

Looks decent - as a football player (cant help but say football, i’m english!) i’d be including some plyometrics to work on your explosivity (have a look at the neural charge vids that Thibs has done). I’d also say doing 350 meter runs isnt really of much use as you’ll never be running that distance in one go in an actual game. The hill sprints are much more sports specific or functional (apologies for swearing).

I’d replace the 350 meter runs with a series of 40m runs with minimal rest inbetween. Also i take it that you’re including lateral drills in your training as well as linear? Other than that, good work and hope you succeed in your goals.

Hi kids,

Todays session:

On my road bike. 30 km bike ride at a moderate pace. Finished with 6 x 150m hill repeats.
I know its not very “sport specific”, but I enjoy it and I feel it does great for
my cardiovascular fitness. Its easy on the joints aswell. I only ride the bike once a week.

dre1986:
Thanks for your input.
I dont do pylometrics as it was recommended by BBB not to do so, but instead lift explosively. I think
I get enough pylometric work with training with the ball anyway. I also think Im training my lateral
speed when im training dribbling between cones etc with the ball.
I like the 350m runs as I find it builds a good base of stamina/fitness. Once Im happy with my “base
fitness”, which I think will take 4-6 weeks, I will add in some more specific sprinting such as 40m.

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lol awesome

will be following

Hi tweeters,

Well its the day before game day… and hence no heavy lifting or hard running.

AM
This morning before work, I did my pre game day ritual of a light skill session. This involved
lots of touches on the ball including dribbling, juggling and wall passing. This is to familiarize
myself with the ball and my “touch”.
I finished with 2 sets of 10 of suitcase deadlift with a 33lbs dB. This was to help improve my
balance which I can lack on unilateral exercises on leg day

PM
Im about to head out to the beach and spend 10 minutes in the ocean(its 18 degrees celcius
here today!!). I am doing this in the attempt to soothe my sore muscles etc and be maximally
prepared for tomorrows game. Anybody else spend time in the ocean to help with recovery?

Anyway I better fly off before it gets dark!

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Hi bird watchers!

Today was game day. I was feeling a little sore after this weeks full training schedule.
Let me take you through my days events;

8am: breakfast including oats with blueberries, 3 poached eggs on sour-dough bread and green tea.

10:30am: Snack consisting of 2 scoops of whey protein, handful of alomonds and 2 plums.

12:30pm: Foam rolling and mobility sesssion. Just getting the joints lubed up and moving.

1:15pm: Pre-game meal of 1 slice of sour dough bread with jam, and a coffee.

2:00pm: Its time to head into the rooms to get dressed and ready for the game.

3:00pm: Kick off. We played a team that were one position behind us on the ladder. Physically
both teams matched up well. The game started in torrential rain which played some part in my team
scoring 2 own goals in the first half to put us on the back foot. Early in the second half we managed
to score early, but unfortunately they scored directly after with another defensive mistake.
Personally I felt I had little impact on the game, but it was one of those games in which it felt like
we were always struggling to get into the game. I feel I need to work on my first 20 yard speed
and fitness.

Back to the drawing board and time to refocus on next weeks cup game.

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I still find your tweet tweet insanely annoying, but as a futbol player myself I’m interested in what you got going on in here. A couple questions:

How often are you lifting during the week? What kind of lifting program are you running?

How often do you have team practice?

Right back, eh? Nice. I play in the mid. I don’t know, I definitely don’t think the 350m sprinting will hurt you, especially since you’ll have to haul ass back to the D if you make an offensive run and then lose possession. Certainly will build stamina, so I think you’re smart with that. But i do agree on getting in your short sprints too - esp with minimal rest in between.

Also, i do think plyos are beneficial, aside from lifting explosively. Jumping is a different animal compared to, say, cleans and squats, etc.

Sorry about the loss. I hate feeling ineffective in a match. Well done, none the less.

[quote]Mascherano wrote:

How often are you lifting during the week? What kind of lifting program are you running?

How often do you have team practice?

Right back, eh? Nice. I play in the mid. I don’t know, I definitely don’t think the 350m sprinting will hurt you, especially since you’ll have to haul ass back to the D if you make an offensive run and then lose possession. Certainly will build stamina, so I think you’re smart with that. But i do agree on getting in your short sprints too - esp with minimal rest in between.

Also, i do think plyos are beneficial, aside from lifting explosively. Jumping is a different animal compared to, say, cleans and squats, etc.

[/quote]

Hi Maschy.
Thanks for your input.
At the moment I lift twice a week. One upper body day(back and chest), and one lower body day(squats or deadlifts(alternate every 6 weeks)). Im thinking about adding another day of triceps and biceps, maybe on Saturday after my light ‘pre-game day skill session’. I try to progressively lift stronger every week, and I change the program every 6 weeks or so.

My tean only trains once a week, as we are only amateurs. We all have played at a higher level. We find that its too difficult to train as a team more than once a week due to family/work/school commitments. Although all of the other teams in our league train twice a week. Maybe thats why we are mid-table. :frowning:

Im a bit hesitant to get into pylos as the ankles have taken a beating over the past 10 years or so. I definatley have to start doing my shorter distance sprints again.

Todays update:

Today is rest day. I plan to do some mobility and stretching later tonight or tomorrow before breakfast.

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Hi ducklings.
Here is my latest update;

last night:
supersetted dB bench press with alternating pull ups/chin ups for 4 rounds.
5 reps of 87lbs dB presses.
7 reps of chin-ups/pull-ups.

3 sets of 8 reps of 87 lbs dB rows.

3 sets of 10 reps of 33lbs dB flyes.

I then proceeded to do tabata on my stationary bike. This was my second attempt with tabata and even though it did me get out of breath I still dont think I worked hard enough or used the right settings on the bike.

tonight:
I was meant to go to soccer training, but I woke up too late from my afternoon nap. I am extremely dissapointed in myself as we only have one team training session. Although I think it is a sign to myself that my body/mind is tired, and I must look at the positive side of the extra rest.

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Update for yesterdays events:

AM
Leg day.
4 sets of 10 reps of squats at 200 lbs, with heaps of mobility work in-between sets. My main goal with squats at the moment is to improve flexibility/depth and form.

3 sets of 24 reps of alternating standing backward lunges with barbell at 110 lbs.

PM
Warm up with ball, including lots of dribbling, wall passes, and ball control drills for about 25 minutes.
5 x 350m runs.
10 x 15m hill sprints.

ps: my rumble roller arrived yesterday

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ooh. how do you like it??

[quote]alexus wrote:
ooh. how do you like it?? [/quote]

Hi Alexus.
I used it for the first time today. Its really good for the quads and upper back, although for the hamstrings and ITB I think my PVC pipe does a better job. Saying that, I still think it is a worthwhile investment.

Todays update:

40 minute long mobility session, with extra special attention to the hip flexors.
30km bike ride at moderate intensity.
I didnt do hill repeats today, as I blew a tyre tube with 2km left, and I also have a game tomorrow and I did not want to completely destroy my legs. I finished with 3 sets of 10 of bodyweight dips.

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[quote]theBird wrote:
I was meant to go to soccer training, but I woke up too late from my afternoon nap. I am extremely dissapointed in myself as we only have one team training session. Although I think it is a sign to myself that my body/mind is tired, and I must look at the positive side of the extra rest.

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I see sleep issues are still going on over here. This sounds right to me. Take the rest when you can. And props on the hill sprints. I’ve got some poor glute activation too, and not a lot of fast twitch going on. You are probably fairly explosive at least, with your soccer background. I plan to sprint more when I’m back on my game. :slight_smile:

Todays update;
Today was game day. We were playing a cup match, meaning it was do or die. We were playing a team 3 divisions below us, and hence we went in as heavy favourites. They came out hard and put us under pressure with lots of hard running and hard tackles. My team played more skillfully with more short passes and we scored early in the half. They equallised about 10 minutes later and the game was back on!
We lost 5-3 in the end, with the main difference been the other team was much fitter than us and wanted it more. It was an embarassing loss, as we were strong favourites.

Personally I felt heavy and drained today, and was lacking a little “bounce”. Maybe yesterdays bike ride was not the best idea. Maybe it was because I missed this weeks team training session. Im not sure, but usually at this time of the season Im feeling fit.
Anybody have any suggestions to get my fitness back to normal?? Im feeling unfit, even though I have been training hard for the past 2-3 weeks.

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Hi birdlovers!!

Sorry about the delayed update, but it has been a hectic week with work, and my training and nutrition have suffered because of it.
Here is a summary of this weeks events;

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday:
Supersetted 4 sets of dB bench presses(82.5lbs x 5 reps) with 8 bodyweight pull ups.
3 sets of dB rows(82.5lbs x 10 reps)
3 sets of dB flyes(27.5lbs x 12)
3 sets of 10 bodyweight pushups.

Wednesday:
Team soccer training. Due to terrential rain, we trained indoors. We played a series of indoor soccer games. Was not very beneficial. Not feeling too confident as this week we are playing the top team who would of most certainaly trained twice this week in rain, hail or shine!

Thursday:
Today I only had time for one session, not the usual 2. So I had decided to keep my squatting session, while I had to cancel my track session.
5 sets of squats(220lbs x 8 reps)
3 sets of bulgarian split squats(132lbs x 8 reps)
And lots of mobility work to help with my squat depth.

Until next time kiddies, keep tweeting!

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Hi cage dwellers!!

Today I usually ride the bike, but due to the rain and wind I had to cancel the ride. Instead I planned a track workout, although by the time I got home I was feeling pretty tired and ordinary after this weeks busy work schedule. So I decided to do a quick 30 minute skill session with the ball. Here’s hoping for a good nights sleep and some recovery tonight.

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Oh no! I’m sorry about that disappointing loss! That’s the worst. And its so true, sometimes the other team just wants it more, and then before you know it a bunch of unlucky goals are scored, and your team misses a few opportunities and then BAM, 5-3. Such is life.

Hmm…feeling unfit? You seem quite fit, so that sounds like just peripheral energy issues - stress, lack of sleep. What’s your nutrition like pre-game? I don’t eat before games but rely on carb-loads around the 3k calorie mark from the day before. I like this because I feel lighter on game day, but I have tons and tons of glycogen to burn.

Good luck with your next match! Get your head in it - stay focused. Just play like a boss and land play your game. You guys will redeem yourselves no doubt!

Btw, last weekend I went to the beach and waded in the water which is still incredibly cold. I did it for my knee, to keep some of that swelling down - thought of you!