Quest for the One Arm/Hand Chin-up

I had my best 5k time in the Arnold Pump and Run after training exclusively on one of these babies. I kind of forgot how potent they can be. Today, I decided to take a day off from running and get on one of these instead.

I did 25 minutes at level 7 on the Mount Ranier program. Average heart rate of 140 with high of 159 and low of 93. 374 calories burned.

What makes these things such good training tools is they are easy on your joints and once your heart rate gets up there, it doesn’t come back down anytime soon. I think I’ll incorporate one training session a week on one of these.

latest workouts on Stepmill

ok, after a bit of a break from logging workouts so let’s start up again
6-14 – ran 5 miles at Antrim Park – here are the splits
lap 1 – 8:38 – 136 HR
lap 2 – 8:10 – 159 HR
lap 3 – 8:14 – 164 HR
lap 4 – 8:05 – 167 HR
TOTAL TIME – 33:07 – COMPARE WITH ANTRIM WORKOUT BELOW
6-3 – 48 min run, 138 avg, 702 cal, 69 lo, 153 hi

4-24 – run, 42:31, avg hr 143, 79 lo, 159 hi, 662 calories
4-22 – run, 42:58, avg hr 146, 119 lo, 208 hi, 690 calories
4-20 – 45:26 min run – avg hr143, 707 cal, 160 hi
4-18 – hike up House Mountain
4-14 – 44:48 run 136 avg, 152 hi, 72 lo, 636 cal
4-12 run, Antrim Park, 6 miles,
lap 1-8:42 (136)
lap 2 – 8:13 (157)
lap 3 – 8:25 (159)
lap 4 – 8:44 (159)
lap 5 – 8:18 (161)
4-10 43 minute run route
4-9, stepmill, 30 min, level 8, 162 hi, 85 lo, 145 avg, 480 calories
4-6-09 – 43 minute run, 132 avg, 577 cal, 74 lo, 154 hi
4-4-09- stepmill, 20 min, 131 avg, 150 hi, 67 lo, 265 calories
4-3-09- 43 minute run
3-31-09 – stepmill, 35 min, 148 avg, 93 lo, 164 hi, 582 cal
3-30-09 – run, 43 minutes, 145 avg, 72 lo, 178 hi, 687 cal
3-27-09 – stepmill, 23 min, level 7, Mt. Rainier, 137avg, 332 cal, 63 min,157 max
3-25-09- stepmill, 22 minutes, level 7, Mt. Ranier, 136 avg, 313 calories, 64 min, 157 max
3-24-09 stepmill, 30 minutes, level 7, Mt. Ranier
3-23-09 run – 39:58 125 avg, 153 hi, 80 lo, 480 calories
3-20-09 run – 45:29, 143 avg, 708 calories
3-18-09 – 27 minutes at level 7 on Mt. Ranier. Avg hr = 137, hi of 159, lo of 68, 390 calories burned.
3-16-09 run – 40 minutes, avg hr = 134, hi of 150, lo of 60

If I didn’t have a previous commitment, I’d be there.

Pump-n-go registration form.

2009 Arnold Pump and Run Results – Men

59th overall and 52nd in Group – not bad! If I had the age 40+ handicap going, I would’ve been around 18th overall assuming I could do 5 more reps with about 20 lbs. less. I’ll take that bet any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

2009 Arnold Pump and Run Results – Women

Here’s Scott on the bench at the 2009 Arnold Pump and Run. He got 18, but for some reason they didn’t count two of his reps. I think he just got a stickler. Scott ran right around 17 minutes for the 5k and is ready for the Flying Pig in May.

Here’s me on the bench at the 2009 Pump and Run. I got to 10 reps no problem. In fact, it was almost too easy. I got to 15 and re-evaluated my condition – still seemed too easy. Got to 20 and knew I could surpass my goal of 23. Did 25 reps and almost 26. I guess the minute sets really helped. The bench coupled with a 19:30ish 5k got me to a net time of 7 minutes+. We’ll see how that places. Maybe top 40 overall – perhaps top 30. I was happy. My best overall time by far. On to the Flying Pig in May.

Start of the 5k

Other thoughts – I think the minute sets really helped out quite a bit. That was a great suggestion that I got from a weightlifting forum. If you’ve never done a pump and run, it is basically 3 stages of stress. Stage 1 is the weigh-in which doesn’t sound stressful but if you come in overweight you are going to be benching more than you planned on. Imagine going in thinking you will be benching 175 and find out that you have to do 180. Most people will scoff to themselves having read this and think – no big deal, only 5 more pounds. I’ve been training for 4-5 months with the thought of benching 175. Moving up 5 pounds is something I hadn’t planned on for those 4-5 months. A curveball on the day of the event is not something you want to face. Plus, I’m trying to do 175 for as many reps as possible. Now, I’ve got to do 180 for as many as possible? I’m probably going to lose 2-3 reps which translates to 60-90 seconds difference in overall time.

Stage 2 is the bench press. With the time change, we were basically benching at 7:00 in the morning. You’re never sure how your body is going to react. Your only warm up is push ups unless you bench at home beforehand. Scott was unlucky to have two of his reps disqualified. Imagine getting through several reps and then having the spotter tell you that the last rep didn’t count. That will really throw you off your game if you are not ready for it. If that doesn’t do it, imagine having a second rep disqualified. I was happy they moved the bench press out of the corner of the Expo hall. There was a lot more room to move around and it seemed much less cramped.

Stage 3 is the run which takes place almost 3 hours after the weigh in. You’re tired and you’ve already gone through a couple stages. You’ve been up since before 6 am with the time change. It’s tough to keep your mental focus for that long. I kind of lost mine during the run this year. Not that I would’ve gone much faster but I definitely felt like I was resting on the laurels of having exceeded my bench press goals. It would’ve helped to have run a 5k in February as a tune up. That also shows you how important the bench press is. You can make up a lot of time with just a couple more reps. I got two extra than I had dreamed of getting and kind of figured that busting my ass on the run wasn’t going to make as much difference.

I was jokingly telling Scott that they should add chin-ups as well to the event. Maybe if they added a 5 minute deduction for each one arm chin up, I’d win hands down.

No your other left, your other left, there ya go. Now stay there.

No, no, no! Point at the camera, sweetheart. There you go. I like those kind of high heels too. Don’t take them off, don’t take them off!
(more…)

arnoldeventhighlights

I even have relatives in the Philly area! What a nightmare! Just shows to go ya that you need to visit your favorite sites more often. I’ll be looking forward to the next seminar and plan on attending!

photo credit: Madrigal Photography

2009 – 19:35 25 bench presses of 175 = 7:05
2007 – 20:44 18 bench presses of 180 = 11:44
2005 – 20:22 16 bench presses of 180? = 12:22
2003 – 19:26 18 bench presses of 175? = 10:26

Went for an hour run today and did minute sets of 175. Got 7 sets of 6 and then 5,3,3 – average heart rate on the run was 144.

I should be in my best shape ever for this year’s pump and run. I’m looking to run sub 19 and do 23 bench presses. That would put me in the 7:30 range. Let’s make it happen.