Ken Griffey Jr. & Me - A Hamstring Rehab Story

[Boris]

Monday, April 10, 2006
Pull-Ups: x10, x10, x9, x6

Later in the evening:
Treadmill: 15mins
GHR: x6 x 4sets

Pull-ups were hard and I feel like I've lost shoulder flexibility from neglecting them. My hamstrings were still pretty sore from Saturday, so I did treadmill and GHR tonight.

[Boris]

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
BP: bar x 10-15 x 2sets, 135 x 10, 185 x 6, 185 x 12*, 185 x 8**

*=max set
**=drop off set

Wow, that was humbling... Oh well, in 8 days I'll be giving it another shot - I plan on doing much better.

[Johnny Mnemonic]

In your bench workout did you mean to use the same weight for your drop set? If so, how many reps were you shooting for(10 or 11)?

[Boris]

Yes, I was shooting for 10 or 11 reps. Probably would've been more realistic to drop the weight 10lbs, but I'm sure I'll be able to do better next week.

[Boris]

Friday, April 14, 2006
SQ: bar x 10, 135 x 10, 225 x 6 x 2sets, 225 x 8, 225 x 10, 225 x 6

The weight was light, and my hammy felt pretty good before I started squatting - it started to hurt though on the sets w. 225. I was feeling light-headed too and decided to err on the side of not enough rather than too much...


Saturday, April 15, 2006
Military Press (warm-up): bar x 10 x 2sets, 95 x 6
Military Press (15 seconds): 150 x 6, 140 x 6 x 2sets, 140 x 5
Pull-Ups (parallel grip): x8 x 3sets

150 for 6 was a pretty good effort. If I had had more time, I think I might've been able to do a couple more, but I think my weight and time selection was pretty good.

[Boris]

Monday, April 16, 2006
Treadmill: 15 mins
Band Leg Curls (purple/light): x10 x 3sets
GHR: x10 x 3sets

I would've done more, but had to put the lad to bed and ended up falling asleep.

[Boris]

Thursday, April 20 - BP
BP: bar x 10-15 x 2sets, 135 x 8 x 2sets, 185 x 6, 185 x 15*, 175 x 12**
Bent-Over Barbell Rows: bar x 10, 135 x 10 x 3sets

*= main set
**= drop off set

I was happy that I did better with this than I did last week. Still pretty weak, but better... Bench auxiliary on Monday and then it'll be time to change things up.

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Looking good. Nice to see you are sticking to AREG.

[Boris]

Thanks Johnny. Yeah, I plan on sticking with it for at least a few months. If you have suggestions for exercises, I'd like to hear them.

Sunday, April 23 - SQ
SQ: bar x 8, 135 x 8 x 2sets, 225 x 6 x 2sets, 250 x 6
45degree Hyperextension: x10 x 3or4 sets
Leg Adductor Machine: x10 x 3or4 sets

I worked out at a new place this morning and paid the daily fee. I hated it - mirrors and a narrow power rack were hard to get used to and I ended pinching my hands at least twice. It was nice to use a 45 degree hyperextension bench and the leg adductor machine for a change.

Hamstring felt all right today and I feel like I could go back to semi-regular training soon.

[Boris]

Monday, April 24 - BP Aux.
Military Press: bar x 10 x 2sets, 135 x 6, 135 x 4, 135 x 5, 135 x 4

I had very little time in the gym today and didn't have a pace clock, so I just estimated the time and tried to do 10 seconds for each set. 135 felt like a ton today, so I didn't try to go higher.

[Boris]

Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - Rehab
Treadmill: 15 mins
Light Band Leg Curls: x10 x 3sets
"CV DLs" (DLs off a low pulley): 100lbs x 10, 130 x 10, 150 x 10, 180 x 10
GHR: x10, x10

The "CV deadlifts" were hard! I had a hard time keeping my balance which is a good reason to do them... Different shoes might have helped, but no excuses. Time to ice and then off to bed!

[Boris]

Thursday, April 27, 2006 - Rehab (KB exercises done w. 53lb kettlebell)
KB Swing: x10
One-Arm KB Swing: x10
One Arm KB Hang Clean + Push Press: x10 x 2sets
Windmills: x20 x 2sets
One Arm Overhead SQ (w. 53lb KB): x10 x 2sets
GHR: x15, x10

[Boris]

Sunday, April 30, 2006
BP: bar x 15-20 x 2sets, 135 x 10 x 2sets, 205 x 4
DB BP: 75lbs x 15
SQ: bar x 10 x 2sets, 135 x 6 x 2sets, 225 x 6 x 2sets, 275 x 3

I still have trouble lifting in the new gym - mirrors, narrow squat rack, and unadjustable angled hooks on the bench made it tough. I ended up doing a set w. DBs for a single work set - next time I'll just use DBs from the beginning.

[Boris]

Monday, May 1, 2006
GM: bar x 10 x 2sets, 135lbs x 6 x 3sets
Pull-Ups: (parallel grip) x10, (pronated grip) x10
Bent-Over Barbell Rows: 155lbs x 10, 155lbs x 10

I went to the gym and hardly had time to even get started. I wanted to do some GMs to work out the soreness in my hamstrings and get at least a little upper back work in. Off to bed now.

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Keeping the Hammies strong:

As we talked about. I think changing up your workouts every now and then to include some power/speed stuff would be beneficial. Not allowing them to be too DUR dominant,as in The Sports Book says, would help you out. It sounds like you have made some good changes in your diet. Keep that up. Also, keep the high reps in the workouts as well. I know you concentrated on those for a while a few months ago but don't ignore them. They can have great recuperative powers. Below I put down some ideas for exercises and links to the inno-sport page demonstrating them.


Overspeed reactive squats(using bands)

Power PIM Bench Press

www.inno-sport.net/Strength-Speed.htm


Reactive Glute ham raise

Force Drop Absorption Beta Snatch

www.inno-sport.net/Speed-Strength.htm


OI HF Squats

OI Split squats

www.inno-sport.net/Strength-Endurance.htm


For now I think using two exercises per workout will work. As you feel stronger you can certainly add another. And if high reps don't excite you, you can also incorporate some compound and super sets. I know it sounds too Muscle & Fitness-ish but it may provide some great restoring volume to offset the heavy and intense days.

I would also suggest if you try to use Areg on the power/speed workouts go by the speed of the drop sets(slowing down). It can be a pain to try to use a stopwatch unless you have someone right there holding it for you. Obviously if you have any questions let me know. Good luck.