Windskater's Journal

Hi everyone, I’m starting a journal to track my progess as I start a new weight lifting and conditioning program. Here’s a bit of info about me.

Age 17
6’1"
185 Lbs
Squat: 255 Lbs
Deadlift: 300 Lbs
Bench: 185 Lbs
Sport: Hockey

After making a ton of progress this summer with lots of help from the T-Nation articles, I’m transitioning into an inseason phase of training now that hockey has begun. My goal is to still make gains in my strength and speed while maintaining my bodyweight. I plan on lifting 2-3 days per week using Joe Defranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards program, I will also be doing some speed/agility workouts to supplement the weights. My journal entries will probably also include how my practices and games went. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy following my progress and it will be great to hear some feedback along the way.

Cheers

Looking forward to it.

September 9th, 2005

Hockey Tryouts are well underway and I’ve already had two practices, both of which went well.

I’m not sure what it is, but I’m feeling very unmotivated this year. It’s probably because this will be my third year playing on the same team (Midget AAA) so I’m already coming in expecting a spot on the team. That however could be a dangerous way of thinking and I should be careful not to get too comfortable because they’re doing things a little differently this year.

The evaluators this year are totally impartial (they don’t know any of the players at all) and get a 50% say on who makes the team, so I need to raise my level of effort and prove to a whole new set of people that I belong on the team I’ve played on for two years already, which is probably the way it should be. It’s just like an All Star player in the NHL, of course he makes the team every year because of his talent but it’s also because he works harder than anyone else, and shows it every year.

I’m going to start my inseason off-ice training once tryouts are over and I’m comfortable with the amount of practice I get during the week. I’m in good shape, but I’m not in that “game” shape that you get in after playing your sport for a few weeks.

Tonight we’re having intersquad games so this is where I really get an opportunity to show that I am the best player out on the ice, so I’m going to take advantage of it and light it up out there. I’ll post how I did later tonight.

September 10th, 2005

The first intersquad game I had last night didn’t go so well, I felt sluggish and tired and I felt like a was really forcing the play instead of letting it develop in front of me. My instincts were all wrong and my reaction time was very slow. A pretty poor performance overall.

Tonight went much better, my hands are starting to loosen up, I’m starting to generate some speed, I’m taking the body more and more and starting to throw some hard hits and my instincts are starting to kick in where I just would make the right play without even thinking. It was a much better effort than last night, and I’m expecting to be even better tomorrow.

September 12th, 2005

Tryouts are over and as expected I made the team. My coach has told me that this year he is going to be relying on me to be a leader on the team and to show the younger guys the ropes. I think he might be alluding to me being captain this year, which would be great, I’ve never been captain of a team before. Our first practice runs on wednesday night.

On tuesday night if I feel up to it, I’m going to hit the field for a speed and agility workout. I’ll probably week the weights later this week once I’m fully recovered from the weekend, my shoulders had a lot of use from all the punishment I was dishing out. :slight_smile:

That’s all for now.

September 13th, 2005

I had my first workout since tryouts. I haven’t touched weights in a while so I kept it extremely low volume and fairly low intensity, also because I wanted time to do some sprints. Here’s what I did…

Flat Bench
135x5x5

Incline Dumbbell
50’sx8x2

Dynamic Warm Up
High Knees
Butt Kicks
Side Shuffles
Leg Swings
Deep Lunges

Sprints (wave technique)
10 yr x 2
20 yr x 2
30 yr x 2
40 yr x 2
30 yr x 2
20 yr x 2
10 yr x 2

Obviously I’ll be using more volume and performing with more intensity as time goes on, but I want to build myself up slowly again so I’m still sharp for my practices and games. I’ve got my first team practice tomorrow.

September 15th, 2005

The last two days have been our first full team practices for hockey. It’s been going very well, the team looks very good. We have our first game this weekend against a town called Lake Cowichan; it’s just a tune-up game for us, we’ll probably kick their ass and gain a lot of confidence, which is key at the start of a season. Tomorrow if I’m feeling good I’ll hit the high school weight room, for a little “pull” work out.

September 17th, 2005

Today was out first game of the season, it was an exhibition. However it wasn’t against Lake Cowichan as I thought it would be. It was a team that represented the entire Cowichan Valley, this wasn’t going to be an easy game.

The game ended up as a 6-6 tie. We came out flyin in the first and were leading 5-1 halfway through the game, but “Cow” Valley started gaining momentum and managed to tie the game right at the end.

Overall I was fairly pleased with my play. I set up two guys for golden scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t bury the puck. I was very physical as well and threw my weight around, which is always fun.

My new team doesn’t look too bad, we just have a lot of young inexperienced players who need to adapt to the challanges of the next level of hockey. At my level you don’t get a lot of time with the puck, you need to do something with it quickly or someone is going to be on top of you.

It’s back to the drawing board on tuesday, when we have out next practice. I’m going to hit the gym tomorrow, since I’ll have time to recover on monday.

September 20, 2005

Yesterday was my first leg workout in three weeks, and it really shows. The lack of weight training plus all the aerobic/anaerobic activity I’ve been seems to have made my legs weaker in terms of strength. I decided I needed to get back to training my legs again and suck it out if they get sore for practice. Here’s what I did

Squats
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
(increasing to weight next session by 5 pounds)

Bulgarian Split Squats (Leg elevated)
BW x 10
Holding 35 DB’s x 8
Holding 30 DB’s x 10

Swiss Ball Leg Curls (one leg)
2 sets x 20

I also did a bench workout last sunday…

Bench
5x5
140 Lbs (moving up another 5 pounds for next session)

Incline DB
50’s x 8
50’s x 8

I have a practice tonight and tomorrow is wednesday, I’ll be working the “pull” muscles in the weight room.

September 23rd, 2005

This is my workout from wednesday the 21st…

Bench
5x5 with 145 Lbs
(increasing by 5 pounds next session)

Incline DBs
2x10 with 50’s
(increasing to 55’s next session)

Chin Ups
5
4
3

What the hell happend here!? I could do 12 in a row two weeks ago, no exageration. I lose strength abnormally fast if I take time away from the gym I guess. The same thing happend with my next exercise

Machine Row (Plate Loaded)
100 x 10
100 x 10
100 x 10

This is also a big drop in my usual strength level.

DB Incline Curls
20’s x 10
20’s x 8
20’s x 8

I’m a little choked about my back strength. I’m going to have to work hard to get back to where I was before with my chin ups and rows

Tomorrow I have a hockey game out of town, and another game at home on sunday. I’ll post how it went…

September 27th, 2005

Last night my hockey team started our team dryland training sessions. This is what we did off the top of my head.

-Warm Up Jog
-2-3 minutes worth of static abdominal holds (bridge, six inches etc)
-100-125 Crunches
-100-125 Lying Pronated Hyperextensions
-5-6 Resistance Harness Sprints (Sideways)
-5-6 Resistance Harness Sprints (Running Staight)
-1 Timed Lap (1:16 which is pretty slow, but my legs were rubbery at this point)
-Tuck Jumps to Burpees (whole bunch of these)
-2 Slow Cool Down Laps
-Static Stretching

On the weekend we tied 3-3 with our opponent. I’m truly convinced my team can do a lot better. Every team we’ve faced I feel like we’re much stronger than them, that we should easily beat them; it’s a very frustraing feeling to have. Hopefully we’ll get our act together this weekend as we have two games against even weaker opponents.

Tonight is tuesday so I have practice. Tomorrow I hit the weights for upper body.

September 29th, 2005

Yesday I went to the gym for a full upper body workout, here’s what I did…

Bent Over Rows
135 x 10
135 x 8
135 x 8

Bench
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 3 (failure)
135 x 6

Incline DB
55’s x 8
55’s x 8

Wide Grip Pull Downs
130 x 12
150 x 10
150 x 8
150 x 8

Skull Crushers
50 x 15
50 x 15
50 x 10

Barbell Curls
50 x 10
50 x 8
50 x 8

October 4th, 2005

Yesterday was my team’s weekly dryland training session. Here’s what we did.

The main goal of these sessions is speed developement.

3 Sideways Sprints (resisted by a partner wearing a harness)
3 Sideways Sprints (resisted by Parachute)
4 Forwards Sprints (unresisted)
4 Sideways Sprints (unresisted)
Ab Work
Lower Back Work

I felt very fast. I finished first almost everytime for the sprints. All in all, a good night. Tonight I have practice, wednesday is weights.

October 6th, 2005

Yesterday was my weekly upper body training day, here’s what I did

Bench Press
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 5 (terrible form on this one)
135 x 6

Incline DB’s
55’s x 8
55’s x 6

Widegrip Pulldowns
150 x 12

150 x 8
150 x 8
150 x 6

Machine Row
100 x 10
100 x 8
100 x 8

Barbell Curls
50 x 8 x 3

Skull Crushers
60 x 8
60 x 6
60 x 5

Screw this machine row BS, I’m doing Bent over rows next session.

Good workout, I’ll probably hit 5x5 with 150 lbs next session, then move up to 155 lbs. I’ve started doing widegrip pulldowns with the intention of moving up to widegrip chinups in a reasonable amount of time

Hey,

Good luck in your training.
Have you noticed an increase of speed in yoru skating so far?