Road to American Ninja Warrior - Day 40
Day 40
Monday Legday!
I honestly don't understand why 'Monday' doesn't officially change it's name to 'Legday'... it's the same number of letters, and <🇼🇦🇷🇳🇮🇳🇬, 🇩🇦🇩 🇯🇴🇰🇪 🇮🇳🇨🇴🇲🇮🇳🇬, 🇵🇷🇴🇨🇪🇪🇩 🇼🇮🇹🇭 🇨🇦🇺🇹🇮🇴🇳> who even trains their mon?
I started off with jump rope, and, ah, it was awesome.
I've got this really nice leather rope with weights in the handles and it's really cool... when it whips you it really stings so you really know you've done a bad job. The jump rope at the gym is just a super cheap plastic one... and I loved it so much.
Source
It was so quick and fun. I was still terrible, especially with an audience (all the cardio machines look onto that space) but man it was so fast... for at least 2 seconds I felt like a hardcore boxer guy.
I did some cardio before and after my workout, I really am trying to get in shape for my comp and the hike... tried the stair master, felt like a total goof so I didn't last long on that guy.
So, legday.
In my mind there's no real point putting on muscle for the sake of it, I don't want to be any heavier than I need to be, purely because when you're hanging from one arm, you feel every gram (or ounce, honestly you feel all the weights). Instead of deadlifts and leg presses I want to increase my functional movement, I want to jump and high and as far as I can.
Did some jumps, did some step ups, and I tried to jump over my water bottle but that freaked me out, so I just jumped over this box thing. Really super got the heart rate up.
Afterwards I tried the Hottest Jacuzzi In The World again at my hotel again, it is so hardcore. I really wish I was more consistent and scientific with my workouts so I could measure if heat actually makes a difference in recovery and DOMs or not.
Today's exercises
Warm up
5 minutes jump rope
5 minutes cross trainer
Legs workout
3 sets of:
8 deep jump squats
20 step ups (10 each leg)
8 box jumps
Cooldown
3 minutes on the stair master (I got too hungry)
Injuries & sore spots
Pretty good and raring to go!
Goals for January
- 20 minutes of stretching every day (inspired by @polebird)
- At least 2 classes of acroyoga (inspired by @karensuestudios)
- Hit the top of the 14' 6" wall with both hands (December's was 14")
- One armed pull up
- One handed pushup (challenged by @dolladu)
- 8 foot peg board (challenged by @skiesandsports)
- 15 minutes of meditation and visualization every day (challenged by @just2random)
Upcoming Events
- Ninja competition (UNAA) in Portland - 4th Feb
- American Ninja Warrior Experience in Phoenix - 10th Feb
- American Ninja Warrior Experience in San Diego - 3rd March
Images provided by Google Image Search of 'Australian Ninja Warrior'.
steemaroo divider and ninja upgoats drawn by the incredible @ryivhnn
Australian Ninja Warrior | Australian Ninja Games
I always skip leg day but it's something I should really do more of. I run and bike a lot, but not the kind of explosive power you need for Ninja! There was a guy in my final who was an insane trials bike rider, his name is Andre Burton, his static jump is just ridiculous. Seriously, the heights this guy can jump from standing are nuts, must be such a huge advantage on the course!!
Also, who knew you could get pro skipping ropes!!??
Do you have Ultimate Beast Master available to you? Watching that convinced me I need to get more hops in my week. They do so many big standing jumps, an episode or two really inspired and motivated a dude to get on it.
I've always had a good leap on me, but since I'm still struggling with Warped Walls it's definitely a necessary area of focus. Biking and running is huge for the tank, but yeah, you'll need to explode! Explode outta bed and explode into the gym and explode onto a box.
When I get some spare dough I really want to get some Plyo boxes then I can really start to push my static jump... but man they are pricey.
Yeah, actually I just missed applications for series 3 then when I did some course testing for NWUK this year I met one of the producers who said that I would probably have got on!! Mind you I couldn't have taken three weeks out in September so it's a kind of moot point anyway I guess!
I don't have a great leap but Warped Wall doesn't seem too bad for me, although I really do think that's a technique thing, it's weird how sometimes it feels like such a stretch and sometimes it feels easy.
Yeah those Plyo Boxes look pretty sweet if you have the space, couldn't you make something similar out of MDF?
@rollthedice
Shake shake shake, you roll the 6-sided die.
You rolled a 2.
@rollthedice
Shake shake shake, you roll the 6-sided die.
You rolled a 5.