Training Log: Wullie Falconer

Saturday 1st

Shot drills. Felt a little bit off on this today was struggling to get things going but it got better towards the end mainly 360 balance and full drills trying to hold the chest up and sweep in quick.

Snatch pyramid

6@60kg 5@67.5kg 4@72.5kg 3@77.5kg and 2@82.5 kg with straps. Sets up to 77.5 were reasonably good and I got the 82.5 first time but the quality wasn't there. More work required.

Straight leg deadlift pyramid from deficit

6@100kg 5@110kg 4@130kg 4@140kg 3@150kg. Was really trying to figure out how comfortable I am at certain weights. The reps don't include a normal deadlift from deficit before starting the straight leg works. They felt good but as I write this my hamstrings are noticeably tight. I think I will be starting from 140kg on this next week.

Squats

Warm up 60/100/140kg 6@180kg, 5@190kg, 4@200kg. Cut this short was low on time and my legs were feeling done at this point as I was goin to watch the rangers. Quality on what I done was good.

Monday I hope to get somewhere where I can get a full putting session in for timing purposes. It may have to be the indoor arena or something.

Haven't posted in ages due to one thing or another.

Season has been a bit hit and miss with everything a little down on my best. However my caber has been the best it has been for about four years. I have managed to turn a couple of cabers I have been trying to turn for a good ten years or so.

I have had a couple of weeks off and had first session back tonight. Nothing strenuous.

Body weight of 284lbs or 20st 4lb

Started with 15mins on bike and hitting 7.5k in distance in the time.

Then done 4x10 30kg a side dumbbell bench
3x10 7.5kg straight arm raise followed by 3x10 @2.5kg bottom to top straight arm raise mimicking hammer orbit.
3x10 12.5kg dumbbell curl

3x10 bar twist immediately followed by 10 incline sit-ups
6 15m length walks with 15kg plate swinging side to side.

Tomorrow I plan to do my barbell complex.

Plan is to do a couple of weeks general fitness then start strength endurance phase.

My only issue is that I have kid no2 due in November so the intended training plan may be scuppered this year.

Putt and 28lb last night. Weather for Glasgow is very good at the moment. Standing putts. Worked on staying torqued as much as I could be fore unwinding into the putt. Felt pretty good, distance not massive but it is a good base to start from. Definitely the best I have felt thus far this season. Just need to remember to keep the elbow up and try and initiate the throw from the legs.

Had my first home competition on Saturday at Bathgate Games. Finished 5th overall in a tough field that was won by Kyle Randalls who is starting to become a force to be reckoned with in Scotland.

Threw on Thursday shot, 28 and some hammer winds. Shot was much better compared to Mondays. Need to keep the feet hitting the right position and start work the legs more. 28 felt okay and just need to keep it long and keep it moving. Hammer winds weren't too bad just trying to keep the orbit correct.

Saturday I had Shotts Games. Finished 5th overall and a bit of a mixed bag.

16lb hammer. 31.30m. Swings felt okay here ans although distance wasn't great it was better than I was expecting. I need to work release and try and quicken the winds especially the last.

16lb shot. 12.75m first time I have had a throwing shoe on the right foot at a games in years. My spikes were just digging in with no give with two shoes on. Throws we're just too slow.

28wfd. 18.90m. Had a good first throw but went out of sector. Second throw one of the judges decided I had to wait before I throw she needed to run through the sector and that put me off. Final throw was best but didn't have fluency of the first.

Wfh. 12ft 3i Bit disappointed I had hit the bar at 13ft 3i but it didn't feel as good as last week. Don't think I was getting enough out the legs. Still not getting enough of the body into the throw before I pull with the arm. Need to get a video on this.

Caber. 3 mins to. This has been a nemesis here as I have failed this one the last couple of years. Get the first attempt over at 10 mins to. Second I slightly mistimed and only got it on end. Last attempt was one of the best timed hits I have had in a while.

Overall a 6 out of 10 for me the distance throws I need to work on more this coming week which will be difficult as I have a busy week at work coming up.

Next event is Ardrossan next Sunday. No hammer but a standing putt instead.

Thursday 9/6/16.

Done a lot of walking about at work today. Weather has been in the 20's Celsius and has been for the last couple of weeks. I felt a bit stiff. Anyway done some putting this evening.

Standing puts were a bit iffy. Not getting enough torque in before release. Reverse throws were next and I am still reversing a bit early and not getting enough in the throw.

Moved onto full throws and tried to get the feet placement right and also focus on a better sweep before the drive to the front. Was starting to get there but I need a lot more work. I must keep the feet turning before release.

I don't think I am too far away, I need to quicken up and get the timing better. Might try and get a throw in tomorrow if possible.

Ardrossan games are on Sunday and it is braemar, shot putt, 28wfd, 56wfh and caber.

Tuesday 14th June

21/6/16

Lifting tonight. Given I have about four weeks till the next competition I would try and get some strength training in rather than super setting. I will do this for a couple of weeks then return to fitness/super setting.

Squat 1x8@110kg, 1x6@125kg, 1x4@140kg, 1x3@155kg. Minute or so rest in between. This was done on the smith machine so I focused on depth as much as I could. These felt good though the core strength isn't quite where I want it too be. I need to do more squatting as my knee seems to play funny buggers when I don't squat for awhile.

Bench 1x8@100kg, 1x6@110kg, 1x4@120kg, 1x3@130kg. Minute or so rest I between. The heavier weights felt fairly slow and although I got the sets out okay I need this to be at least 20kg more for the reps I am doing.

Finished with two sets of ab work with hammer twists, straight arm bar raises, oblique crunches with the bar and side to side twists with a 10kg plate.

This was done in about 35 minutes.

24/6/16

8/6/16

Just back from a weeks holiday with the wife and kids. Managed to get some training in but the facilities aren't the best for high intensity work. However, over the week I was in the pool a few times mainly keeping an eye on the kids and a couple of sessions in the gym where done the following.

15 mins on the exercise bike. 6x10 of squat followed by behind neck press with 40kg and a minutes rest in between and two sets of crunches, chinees and side to sides.

Had a couple of nights out with retirements and a wedding reception. Now I am needing to sort things out a little with my diet and training regime.

I plan initially to go to October without any more alcohol and really try and focus on eating a healthier breakfast rather than rolls and sausage which I have been doing recently. I also plan to try and cut the coffe intake also.

12/7/16

Didn't manage to get to the gym due to work commitments so ended up doing a small quick fitness session after getting the kids down.

Did a 2x circuit of

10x O/H Shot doing throw run throw
10x Hammer release with the shot doing throw run throw.
6x a side 28 swings side to side quickly followed by 12lb sledgehammer winds 10x a side.
30m run
10x burpees
30m run back

two sets.

Hopefully today ill ge tto the gym or do another small fitness session.

Eating has been a bit better the last few days as my weight was 21st 1lb after the holiday.

17/7/16

Didn't do any games this weekend due to planning to do a track and field meet on the Sunday. I wasn't going to do the SGHA world champs at Balloch even though it was the closest to me. The rest of the games on were at least a 3 hour drive away.

I decided to do a Scottish League match for the first time in two years and the first time I have thrown on concrete since then.

Only planned on doing the shot and I had a personal target of 13.50 to decide whether I would enter the Scottish Championships.

Warmed up well only had six warm ups two fixed stands one reverse and three full throw warm ups.

First round was 12.70 where I came off the throw but at least got the pints earner in for the club. Second round throw was 13.53 or so. This felt better but there was still more to come. Third round throw I took the lead with 13.67. Fourth round I then found myself down to third and my fourth round throw had nothing behind and it dropped at 13m so it was a walk out. Fifth round I hit my big throw of the day. I held the throw well and felt I was getting a good hit and felt a bit of a flick at the end and I came away with 13.84. Final round I was aiming for 14m which would have been my first time over 14 in three years in regulation competition. It felt good but it just dropped short of the 14m line.

Overall I was pleased with the intensity of my throwing I didn't get carried away and felt I was working through the throw much better than I have been doing thus far. I plan to continue to work out the circle for the next three to four weeks for the Scottish Track and Field Champs in mid august. I would hope to be able to get mid 14m if I get a good run of training and train smart.

The frustrating but pleasing thing is that I am throwing as good as I was in my very early twenties with less than a sixth of the amount of training. What I am taking form this is that I think I am concentrating a lot more on the throws to get quality out of it rather than throw for the sake of throwing. I feel I know when to stop when the throw breaks down during training.

Going to do another athletics match this Saturday. SO tonight I will be in the gym, Tuesday hopefully throw and Thursday throw and sprints.

Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st was mainly just standing throws due to time with some circuits thrown in. Just same of the usual but I am noticing that I need the stop board to allow me to try and get decent extension and not pull away from the throw.

Friday 22nd I decided to do some light circuits and hammer twists. Probably shouldn't have done it as I had a competition the next day but I was always looking at that as a traingin session anyway.

Saturday 23rd

I dodged the games again to concentrate on getting my shot putt back together. Went to an athletics throws meet and it was good seeing my coach again. The competition was a bit frustrating as we only got two warm up throws and it was a bit later in starting so I had to try and keep loose. Series is as follows

12.60, 13.11, 13.31, 13.41, NT, 13.33.

Felt lethargic all the way through and didn't seem to have the same feeling as the week before. All the throws were down the middle and the NT was a walk out. In those terms it was good but I was looking for a better distance than last week.

Monday 25th

Bunked off to crownpoint for a cheeky lunchtime throwing session. Weather is a bit gash and but managed to get a bit of clear weather to throw. Standing throws were 6x fixed foot, 6x reverse, 6x light full rotation and 4x competition, then the rain truly hit.

Standing throws were okay took a while to get the hit on the fixed foot but it was okay in the end. Reverse was frustrating as I was just jumping away from it and not getting enough torque in the early throws. I managed to sort this out after wards.

Full rotational at about 70% I tried to focus on getting the feet in and then trying to pop the hip in before release. I am starting to get that feeling back a little but I need to ge the timing between that and the final hit.

First couple of competition style were good and easily matched what I did at the weekend. My third throw I tried to get moving faster but I was punching flat and coming out the front. Tried to do that on the fourth but the rain had just started and it just popped out the air.

Usually my Monday throws are no good but it seemed to buck the trend. I need to get another session down here this week and possibly at the weekend. Next couple of sessions will be lifting and fitness work. I don't plan to do a games the next couple of weekends.

Since the last post I managed my target of 14m for the shot in the Scottish champs for second place. The games I had done since then were North Berwick, Birnam and Peebles to finish. Weight over the bar was the best of the events and some half decent 28wfd thrown in. Hammers were shocking though. Aim for the winter seems to be the usual with getting weight down and get more throwing in. Since the last games I have been doing mainly fitness work in the gym when I get the chance. 10 mins of bike on cardio setting followed by 4x10 in clean, bench and squat or deadlift with a minutes rest between sets. The weight is no more than 70kg. I will be doing this for a few more weeks then I will test mid October for max lifts to gauge percentages.