I did a "long" run this morning and was wiped out afterwards.

15-min warm-up with HR gradually increased from resting to 140bpm

20-min with HR intervals between 140-160bpm - would jog to get the HR up to the limit and walk for the recovery to 140

10-min cool-down with HR dropping from 140bpm

Stretched and foam rolled while eating a small meal, then saw the rowers, went home took a shower and napped on the couch for 35min. Feel much better now.

I found out that when you do aerobic exercise during pregnancy there is an effect that happens 6-12 months after the birth that is very similar to blood doping. I've never been more interested in aerobic running and fully intend to reap the performance benefits in the spring and summer of next year! Watch out 5K'ers. I'm not getting stronger right now, so I might as well get better conditioned.

- Sarah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8&feature=player_embedded

Romo

Having a good time training these days. I upped my weekly training to 7-8 hours/week about four weeks ago and have been feeling pretty amazing as a result. Trying to exercise more moderately and eat more was not the right balance for my body. I need to stick with closer to my normal weekly split in terms of hours spent exercising - the intensity is much lower, but at least total time is about the same or more.

A1 1" High Box Squat 5x5

A2 Foam Rolling - not sore or locked up today, so I didn't do much with the roller

B1 RDL 3x5 @ 135

B2 SL TKE 2x12/leg

C1 Lateral Stepup 3x8/leg @ body weight

C2 Standing Band Abduction/Adduction 2x12 all

Banded SL Goodmorning 2x12/leg

20 min of walk/jog with HR range at 120-140bpm - I'm experimenting with different shoes - the usual "running" shoe and a minimalist shoe. Today was the minimalist shoe and I liked it... yesterday was a brand new "running" shoe and it was too cushy, not a fan of that shoe.

Sarah

We've recently been having some problems with certain electronics and appliances at home. 1. TV turns closed captioning on without warning - and it's in Spanish (on-going problem for a while), 2. same TV turns itself off entirely without warning (last couple months), 3. Ryan's laptop's wireless and regular ethernet have stopped working (about 4-weeks ago), 4. the coffee pot broke last Monday, 5. our glass top stove shattered yesterday while in use to cook breakfast. Apparently we have done something terrible to upset the appliance gods that over see our home. My mother calls a situation like this an "appliance conspiracy" - I just thought she had really bad luck sometimes - I think she's right though. Homeownership is like this trick played on young people that started way back when the GI Bill made housing more affordable - it gets perpetuated by everyone who has ever bought a house and finds out it's not all that great.

Training from Monday morning:

5 min Walk, 20 min Jog/Walk 140-160bpm, 5 min walk

DE Incline Bench Press 6x3 @ 75

A1 Pullup/Chin-up 4x5 @ purple

A2/3 Scap Pullup/Banded Scap Pushup 2x10 ea

B1 BO DB Row 4x6 @ 30, 35, 40, 40

B2 SA Incline DB Chest Press Ecc's 4x3x:06 @ 25

C1 Pushdowns 3x10

C2 Band Curls 3x10

My knees and ankles felt about 400 years old today - Sarah

Conventional Deads 3x8@225
Pushups 3x25

Boooooorrrrring

Wheelin' and dealin',

Chris

My training was good today and yesterday. Before I go into it though, I want to mention that I finally came across extensive research about exercise as it relates to the pregnant woman. The book is Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by Dr. James Clapp III. I got it yesterday and sat captivated while I read for 3 hours straight. Basically, it shows that exercise through pregnancy produces healthier, more alert, and easier to care for babies that over long-term testing do better on a variety of intelligence and physical tests than do their peers who came from non-exercising women. Plus, the baby is born leaner (not fat) and is likely to stay lean throughout life. The exercise for the mothers can't be too low intensity (or there will be no benefit) nor should it be too high intensity, but you can apparently still work towards competitive goals even while pregnant. The book is unbelievably fascinating and anyone considering getting pregnant or who is already pregnant must read this one!

Training from Thursday:

A1 BB Row from Pins 5x5

A2 Wall Goalposts 4x6

B1 Incline DB Bench Press 3x5 @ 45 (see proud pic)

B2 Band No-Money

C1 Lat Pulldown 3x8

C2 Pushdowns 3x8

C3 Hammer Curls 3x8

5-min Walk, 20-min Jog/Walk w/HR between 140-160, 5-min Walk

Friday:

DE Deadlift 10x1 @ 155

A1 Deadlift 5x5 @ 155, 155, 165, 165, 175

A2 Banded Thumb to Scap 3x10/arm

B1 Side Squat 3x5 @ 15, 25, 25

B2 SL TKE 3x10/leg

C1 Band Goodmorning 3x12 @ green

C2 Bird-Dog Iso Holds 3x:15/side

Stair Stepper for 25-min, kept HR below 140 throughout... this was a challenge, it wanted to be much higher.

Dr. Clapp taught me that pregnancy should not be used as an excuse. - Sarah

Training stunk this morning; I'd rather not recap it.

In a positive note, Walker (the kid on our homepage), had a great outing last night.  He pitched 5 strong, strking out 7, and only giving up 2 hits!  The kid was dealing!

Seeing some old friends this evening; should be out of control as always.

Romo

Today is an "off" day for my training. I ended up going for a walk down to the bank and to Trader Joe's - it's around a 1 mile round trip, maybe a little more. Well, as I approached the intersection where I needed to use the crosswalk, I began looking for the pedestrian signal button and found that it was blocked by a fence. The button is positioned so low and so far away from the fence that you couldn't even reach through the uprights to hit it. If you really needed that signal you would have to walk down a small hill. Anyway, I took a picture of the situation, I'm not sure the photo does the true configuration justice. This intersection is only about 4 months old, nice work. If you happen to be in a wheel chair or on crutches or have a similar challenge, it would be impossible to reach this signal button.

I don't understand how things like this happen - Sarah

Foam rolling, dynamic warm-up, and mobility drills until I had a nice glisten.

Sumo Deads 1x2 at 455, 1x2 at 475, 4x1 at 5 bills (right around 90%)

Speed Box Squats w/ SSB 5x3 at 225, :45 intervals

Abs and Hip work
-Ab wheel
-Standing band abduction and X-band walks

Dunski

Now for the tooting.  So the Brewer that trainined with us this winter improved his vertical jump by 3.5" since Mid-November.  Did I mention he also put on 15lbs of muscle?

Now get back to work,

Chris

Monday:

Rotator Cuff Circuit

A1 Incline BB Bench 3x5 @ 85

A2 Pullaparts 4x15 @ red

B1 Pullups 4x5 @ red + purple

B2 Incline Pushup Iso Holds 4x3 @ :06, :03, :01

C1 Inverted Row 3x8

C2 Pushdowns 3x10

Walk for 30 minutes with HR between 120-140 bpm

Tuesday:

Active stretching

A1 Box Squat 6x4

A2 Foam Rolling on piriformis and adductors

B1 RDL 4x8 @ 95

B2 BO DB Row 4x10 @ 30

C1 Split Squat 3x4/leg @ 25

C2 45 deg Back Exts 4x12

D1 Bird-dog 4x12

D2 Standing Band Abduction/Adduction 3x10 ea way

Walk 5 min, jog until HR reaches 160 bpm and walk to drop it to 140 bpm - did this for 20 min, walk 5 min for cool down.

My groin area was so sore today I had a tough time squatting (hence all the foam rolling) and could not extend my legs much during the jog. I happen to think that because my abdominals can't do much work to stabilize right now that there are a host of compensations occurring especially in the deep rotators about the hips and the very lowest portion of the transverse abdominis, internal and external obliques.

Oh well, I made it through! - Sarah

Tator/scapula work

Bench, up to 2x2 at 355 (90%)

Ultra wides, 1x6 at 275; felt a little funny in the right pec so I stopped.

Conventional speed pulls, 5x2 at 315

20 reps of both pullups and chinups

15 minutes on the stairs

Northern Iowa, really?

Chris

Finally came across some real research centered around competitive, elite, female athletes before, during, and after their pregnancies. James F. Clapp III, thank you! I look forward to reading your book and backing up what my intuition has been telling me.

"Women who voluntarily maintain their exercise regimen during pregnancy continue to exercise over time at a higher level than those who stop. Over time they also gain less weight (3.4 vs 9.9 kg), deposit less fat (2.2 vs 6.7 kg), have increased fitness, and have a lower cardiovascular risk profile than those who stop. Women who continue weight-bearing exercise during pregnancy maintain their long-term fitness and have a low cardiovascular risk profile in the perimenopausal period."

No warm-up to speak of - working with golf for 35 min prior... does that count?

DE Deadlift 10x1 @ 135

A1 Deadlift 5x5 @ 155

A2 Banded Thumb-to-Scap 4x8/arm

B1 SA/SL RDL Ecc's 4x3x:06 @ 40, 45, 50, 50

B2 Bird-dog Iso's 4x:15/side

B3 SL TKE 4x10/leg

C1 BB Goodmorning 5x5 @ 120

C2 Double Bumper Plate Pinch 3x:15 @ 25's

Took about an hour and a half off to eat and train rowing. Then finished with an hour of steady state cardio. Really trying to work on this as I am tired of getting out of breath while trying to walk and talk to someone at the same time. I wish I was kidding.

Approx 5 min jog warming up to 135bpm

5 min jog at 140bpm

5 min jog at 145bpm

5 min jog at 150bpm

Then because my pace was so pathetic I decided to do my, by comparison, much faster walk 50m/jog 50m for a mile and just let my heart rate get up to whatever (it peaked at 160)

15 min on the bike at 130-140bpm

Someone needs to publish better training information for pregnant women than what is out there now. The recommendations are for sedentary or almost sedentary women. Nothing is geared towards extremely active women/competitive athletes.

Maybe I'll do it - Sarah

Training:

A1 Reverse Grip BO BB Row 5x5

A2 Wall Goal Posts 4x6

B1 Incline DB Chest Press 3x10 @ 40 - this is a pregnancy PR

B2 Incline Band No-Money 2x5x:05

C1 Neutral Grip Pulldown 4x6

C2 Wide Grip Pushdowns 4x8

C3 DB Hammer Curls 4x6

Heart rate intervals on the elliptical for 30 minutes. The intervals weren't timed but their length was dictated by my heart rate. My heart rate recovery is sometimes sluggish and unpredictable, so I'm making it a point to work on trying to improve my work capacity.

- Sarah

A couple feathers in the SAPT cap:

-Had a minor league baseball player (Brewers organization) training with us this past winter.  During his examination, the team doctors said that he had the "healthiest shoulder they had seen all day."  He also had one of the top ten longest medballs throws at camp, 60+ft.  And, for the first time in quite a while he can now swing without having to wrap his wrists with mutiple rolls of tape.

-We have a 7ft'er prepping for his college basetball season next year.  In 5 months we've significantly improved his scoliosis and hip mobility as observed by his back specialist; x-rays don't lie people.  Now that he's standing up straighter he may be closer to 8ft.

I'm just sayin',

Chris

Foam Rolling
Hip and ankle mobility drills
Lateral Step-Downs
Standing Band ad and abduction

Sumo Pulls: 2x2@445, 5x1@475 (82-85%)

Low Box SS Bar: 3x5@255

Ab Roller

Dun

Engage the lats,

romo

Wednesday training:

Foam Roller for about 5 min.

Jog 50m/Walk 50m for 2 miles - allowing the heart rate to drop 20-30bpm during the walk

Jog 300m/Walk 100m for 1 mile

Anyone who has ever trained in a weight vest knows how challenging just walking a mile can be, not to mention doing anything else. But, the great thing about weight vests is you can always take it off when you're done training. My "natural" weight vest is getting heavier weekly, but I can't take it off for 14 more weeks.

People have been asking me about my cravings alot over the last few months. But, I haven't really had any until now. All I want is spicy food: primarily it's been hot sauce and salsa. But, yesterday I found two giant bottles of Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wings Sauce at Costco. It is amazing and finally satisfies the exact craving I've been having. Eggs, chicken, salmon, steak... it's all getting drowned in this stuff.

"I put that s**t on everything." - Sarah

Made it through the first day of daylight savings with ease yesterday. This morning was another story.

Pregnant Lady Training:

Box Squat 6x3

A1 RDL 5x5 @ 115, 135x4

A2 Standing Band Abduction/Adduction 3x12 all

B1 Step-downs 3x3/leg @ :06 ecc

B2 BO DB Row 3x8 @ 30

C1 45 degree Low Back Exts 4x10 @ 10

C2 Bird-dog 3x10

66 does blow, so I couldn't help but take a picture - Sarah

 

It sucks being a genius,

Chris Einstein

Walk/Jog 1-mile - my heart rate was pretty high this morning; not resting, but during the mile. Must mean I'm retaining like 10lbs of water from what we ate this weekend.

Reactive MB Chest Pass 9x3 @ 10lbs - rest was determined by heart rate

A1 Banded Pullups 5x6

A2 Fat Bar Incline Bench Press 5x6 @ 85

B1 Incline Pushups 5x8

B2 Fat Bar Inverted Row 5x10

Logged 30min on the bike trainer when I went home to let the dog out and fix food for the rest of the day.

I don't feel as large as I am when I run, this is good - Sarah

Saturday was a day of high accomplishment for me:

1. Finished state and federal taxes for the business - yes, I did them myself - yes, this will be the last time I do that.

2. I cleaned my desk and filed everything that had piled up on it. See the pictures below. The clean area is my side and the messy desk is Chris' - mine looked worse than his when I started but I did not think to take a 'before" shot. Yes, I am proud of myself.

3. Managed to work with most of the kids who came in to train on Saturday.

Followed Saturday up with a strong Sunday, I did virtually nothing on Sunday - Sarah

 

Bunch of scap and tator work

Bench: 2x3 at 330 (82%), 2x2 at 340 (85%)

Bench Ecc's: 3x6,5,4,3,2,1 (245 & 265)

Convential Deads 2x6 at 315

Pullups 2x12

The end,

Chris

To no one's surprise we lost in the first round of the conference tournament yesterday. It's not surprising, but definitely disappointing. Everyone put in a lot of work and effort this year and we did see improvement, but not enough. It would be nice to get a break from the team, but my part starts in a big way next Thursday as we start post-season training. The primary focus will be on everyone learning how to work hard as a team. Other than that we are going to be getting strong, really strong. We also need to correct some mobility problems that have cropped up throughout the season and some slight injuries.

I'll be bringing the whistle to every session - Sarah

Yesterday at the hotel in Harrisonburg I hopped on a new StarTrac recumbent bike. It was a little too nice. Kind of like sitting in an arm chair with pedals. Anyway I did that for 60 minutes to counteract the Cracker Barrel breakfast I had with the team.

This morning:

Literally no warm-up - why? Because I didn't feel like it.

Dynamic Deadlift 10x1 @ 115

Deadlift 5x6 @ 135

A1 SL RDL 4x10 @ 30

A2 Bird-dog Iso Holds 4x:12/side

BB Goodmorning 5x5 @ 95, 105, 115x3

Went home and took a nap for 40 minutes.

It's rainy here today and I'm pregnant, I get to take naps - Sarah

Forgot to apply my Old Spice this morning; I think everyone enjoyed my blend.

Foam Roll
Dynamic Warmup
Mobility
Yelling
Grunting
Complaining

Squat, 5x2 at 440 (80%)

Bench, 3x4 at 290 (7_%?)

Row Variation, with so much weight you wouldn't even believe me if I told you.

Sarah and I had the opportunity to meet with the Fairfax High School baseball coaches last night.  Appropriately, we met at a bar.  We had a great time talking shop.  I hope we can help more of their guys this summer. 

Ripe,

RomoBO

-House Short Sales should in fact be called Really Long and Drawn-Out Pain in the A** Sales.

-The most underrate coaching cue for teaching the squat: slightly put your weight on the outside of your feet, and point your toes to the sky.

Left bicep feels awesome,

Chris

Foam Roll, ouch
Warm-up stuff
Lateral Step-downs

Sumo Deads:  12 total reps between 80-85% (425-450), sets of 3's and 2's

Low Box Safety Squat 3x6 at 335ish.  Made some really sweet Dave Tate-esque grunts as I drove off the box with tremendous exxxxxxxplosion.  

Snatch Grip RDL's 2x10 at 275,000,000lbs

Got some bicep work in today as well; inside joke for anyone who has seen me deadlift.  In the words of the great Ano Turnenieoandksndkendaldtianen, "bicep go brogen."  Not yet, but soon.

Keep it real,

Chris   

Leaving this afternoon  for the CAA tournament that is being held at JMU. Will this be the moment when Mason turns around the season to make an unstoppable run towards the CAA championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament? Do you believe in miracles? I don't. We are, however, hoping to make a decent showing and get past the first round, which is realistic.

My training this morning got off to a slow start. My warm-up involved sitting for about 10 minutes while I wrote out what I was going to do and then kind of laying on the foam roller for another 8 min while I watched Chris and Gabe finish their training. 

A1 Fat Bar BO Row 5x6 @ 95

A2 Wall Goalposts 4x6

B1 Incline DB Chest Press 4x8 @ 40

B2 Incline Band No-Money Iso Holds 3x:15

C1 Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown 3x8

C2 Band Lying Triceps Ext 3x10

C3 DB BO Rev Flyes 3x10

Done.

- Sarah

I love spring break - nothing was going on in the weight room, so I came in at 8 and took my sweet time warming up and going through the training.

General dynamic - 5 min, Foam rolling - 12 min, Static stretching - 10 min

A1 Foam Box Squat 6x3 

A2 MB Squat to Slam 6x3

B1 RDL 5x5 @ 95, 115, 135x3

B2 SA Band Row 4x10/arm

C1 DB Split Squat 3x8/leg @ 15

C2 Seated Band Abduction 3x5 @ :05

D1 Low Back Ext Holds 3x:10x3

D2 Bird-Dog 3x10

Walk/Jog 2x1-mile (:60 rest b/t sets)

At exactly 24-weeks, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball - Sarah

We are working hard on establishing a more specific position for SAPT. We will be working more closely with PT's, chiro's, and OT's. We will also be putting out our first detailed publication in the coming weeks. Should be some exciting new programs on the horizon.

If you're reading this and have any amazing contacts you think we should have then please let Chris or myself know!

- Sarah

Felt kind of nauseated this morning, so I took my sweet time getting started. As soon as I started moving I felt 100%.

Rotators and MB throws to warmup

MB Chest Pass 9x3 @ 6lb

Fat Bar Incline Chest Press 5x5

A1 Fat Bar Incline Pushups 5x8

A2 Inverted Row 5x8

B1 Band Assisted Pullups 5x5 @ red + purple

B2 Incline DB Chest Press Ecc's 3x3 @ 30

C1 DB Lat Raise Iso Holds 3x3 @ 10

C2 Hammer Curls 3x8 @ 20

C3 SA Band Pushdowns 3x10/arm 

Bike for 30 minutes.

Finally I Jogged/Walked 1 mile on the indoor track. This may or may not have been a terrible idea. I felt really good while I was doing it, but tomorrow my knees may tell a different story. The indoor track is 200m so I ran 50m and walked 50m continuously up to a mile.

We SAW the baby kick this weekend - Sarah

Cuff, scap, and some foam rolling.

5x3 at 82% (315)

Bench ISO's 3x6,5,4,3,2,1 holds at 245

Chest to Bar Pullups 4x5 with 25lbs, 1x8BW

Upperback Band work 4x15

Work harder,

Chris

It's nice out and the door is open - here comes spring!

Trained for about 40 min max today:

MB Scoop Throws 9x3 @ 8 (:20)

Fat Bar Deadlift 5x5 @ 135

A1 SL RDL 4x10 @ 25

A2 Bird-dog Iso's 4x:10/side

B1 BB Goodmorning 5x5 @ 85, 95, 105 x 3

B2 Plate Pinch Driver 3x10 ea way

Spring break starts next week at Mason!!! It's not like I get a full break, but it's at least some morning hours off. I'll take whatever I can get at this point. 

- Sarah

The three days of training this week plus the emotional distress I was in last night while I watched basketball get beat by 40 points has left me pretty tired. I slept like the dead last night, but didn't quite get enough hours. Still managed to make it in to Mason to lift. I took it slow and it turned out to be a pretty good session.

Warm-up: Rotator cuff circuit, scapular wall slides, band scap row, scap pushups

A1 BB Row w/Fat Bar 5x5 @ 85, 95x4

A2 Pullaparts 3x15

B1 Incline DB Press 4x6 @ 35, 40x3

B2 Band No-Money Iso 3x:15

C1 Rope Pushdowns 3x10

C2 Hammer Curls 3x8

C3 SA Lat Raise 3x8/arm

20 min on the bike. Obviously, not terribly taxing as I was returning emails during my "ride."

CONGRATULATIONS to Ron and Dorian - they delivered their first baby last night. Johnny has been trying to come out for the past 6 weeks or so and he finally couldn't wait any longer. I think he was still about 6 weeks early, but weighed in at a healthy 6+lbs.

My work day is composed of nothing fun today - Sarah

I've been on tilt for the last 7 days. This morning was no exception. Some moron parked about 7 inches away from my car last night. Normally, I would have crawled through the passenger side to get in my seat. But women who are almost 6 months pregnant don't do crap like that - we just don't. So, I did a lateral slide of sorts through the space between the cars and squeezed myself into the driver's seat. Needless to say, my door hit the other car several times and since the Rav is pretty old, I don't care a whole bunch about little dings and dents. I'm assuming the owner of the Solara must not either, who parks that close to another car? Seriously.

Light recovery work and biking was the deal today:

A1 DB Swings 2x15 @ 30

A2 SL Banded Goodmorning 2x15/leg

A3 45 Degree Low Back Extension 2x15 @ :01

Foam Roller - 5 min

Easy bike - 20 min (surprisingly, I didn't die of boredom)

Interval program on bike - 20 min

- Another 4 weeks and I wouldn't have cleared the space - Sarah

Anyone get that reference above? Crushed this lift:

Warmup: X-band Walk, SL Banded Goodmorning 3x10 ea

A1 Box Squat *waaaaay below parallel* 6x3 @ weight that let me move fast

A2 MB Squat to Slam 6x3

B1 RDL 5x5

B2 Standing SA Banded Row 4x10/arm

C1 DB Front Squat to Stepback Lunge 4x3 

C2 Seated Banded Abduction 3x12

D1 Low Back Exts Iso Holds 3x3x:10

D2 Bird-dog 3x12

Finished up and rushed to Falls Church for my monthly prenatal checkup. The baby's heart beat sounded great, as usual, and she was moving around like crazy, again as usual.

- S.

Great weekend – worked a full Saturday at SAPT for the first time in months and capped the day with an introductory session for some volleyball girls. Women’s basketball finally won an away game down in Georgia. We hadn’t won an away game ALL season and this was our last chance. Sunday Ryan and I did some boring stuff around the house.

Training:

Did some stuff for warm-up, not sure what it was…

MB Chest Pass to wall 9x3 (:20-:30)

Incline BB Chest Press 5x5 @ 75 – I hate this lift, probably because I’m terrible at it and never do it regularly

A1 Incline Pushups 4x10 @ bw

A2 Seated Cable Row 4x12 @ 70, 70, 80, 80

B1 Lat Pulldown 4x12 @ 70x4

B2 SA DB Chest Press w/iso holds 3x3 + AMAP @ 30+3

Went home and shoveled some rogue piles of snow leftover in our parking lot.

I’m going to try jogging for about 10min at some point this week and see how that works out (or most likely – doesn’t work out) for me.

Today is Ryan’s birthday: he’s 31. I've known him since he was 17. Happy Birthday!!!

Sarah

The pain train for your posterior chain.

Tell your peeps,

Chris