DE bench on Tuesday

I was feeling lonely with the family being in Idaho, so I went for a short DE bench workout tuesday night.

DE bench bar with unknown amount of weight in chains:

10 sets x 3

Tricep cable press downs:

4 sets whole stack.

Shoulder press machine:

4 sets of known weight ( I can still feel the bruise with overhead pressing, but thankfully only with overhead pressing. )

Speed deadlifts on Monday

I haven't really every done DE deadlifts, but I felt like it was the thing to do.  The deadlifts went as follows:

warmup:

135 x 8

135 x 8

225 x 5

315 x 5

I put the bands on, mini bands basically wrapped around twice, ie 4 bands thick.  Russ was trying to figure out how he usually wraps the bands around the platform, but couldn't remember.  He said that he does green bands, but when wrapped how we wrapped the mini's it was way too much.  Anyway, 135 with the bands as we did them felt like about 365 to me at lockout.

I did 6 sets x 3, here's a video clip.

I then did dumbell rows

100 x 8

120 x 7

120 x 7

100 x 8

Pull throughs:

5 sets I don't remember the weight.

Overall not a bad workout given that I've been tired lately.

Skiing with Eric on Sunday

There wasn't any new snow, and it warmed up considerably since Friday, almost all of the powder was gone, but the skiing was still pretty good. I met up with Eric and Jen. It was nice to ski with somebody. I had a good time.

Crappy ME bench session

For some reason (Becky), I haven't been sleeping very much lately. That and the skiing on friday made it so my body was completely not ready to lift saturday morning. I did two sets with my shirt and realized that there was not point in lifting, so I talked to Stump for a while and left to take a nap.

Powder skiing Friday

Lots of new powder. The canyon was closed until 10:30, but I was the second car up the road. It was worth waiting for, there was tons of new snow. Lots of deep untracked to track up.

ME Squats

It's hard squatting the day after skiing, but I had to get it done.

Squats:

Bar x 8

135 x 6

225 x 5

315 x 3

405 x 1

455 x 1

Rack pulls:

315 x 8

405 x 5

455 x 1

3 sets on the leg curl machine

Time to eat lunch.

Powder Tuesday

Snowbird got 15" of snow Monday night, so I took vacation time to enjoy the powder.  It's getting really good up there.

Deadlift PR

I deadlifted 500 pounds tonight...

I tried 515 and almost got it.  I tried it again and could barely get it off the ground.  OK, I'm done deadlifting.

Dumbell rows 

100x8

120x6

140x5

100x8

5 sets of Pull throughs.  I haven't done these before so I was just getting the feel of them.

Seated cable rows with the 2" handle.

80x8

90x6

100x5

Skiing sunday

No new powder, but decided to go up anyway.  I skied Pruvian gulch for the first time since the brusing, I had been hanging out in Gad Valley since then.  Skiing was good though, lots of people with NY accents on the lift.  Hopefully I saved enough energy for my deadlift training tomorrow.

PR during Max Effort bench session

We did reverse band flat bench press for our max effort exercise.  I did 495, which is a 20 pound PR.  Below is the video.

We then did some benching with chains, and I did some accessory work.  Below was my last set with chains only, kind of getting tired....

POWDER FRIDAY

Man, snowbird just keeps getting better and better.  I wasn't planning to go up on friday, but when the snow came I couldn't resist.  I got up there at 2:45 and skied until 4:30, and actually got a lot of skiing in.  When Gadzoom closed at 4:00, I went over to Wilbere and skied for another half hour.  I don't usually ski on Wilbere but it was awesome.  Powder, Powder everywhere!

Squat workout Thursday.

Monday's workout didn't really count for anything, so I squatted Thursday.  I did DE box squats working up to 315 with purple bands x 2.

I then did 3 sets on the leg curl machine, and some lat pulldowns and barbell rows.

I felt relatively strong, and it was a good workout.

POWDER Tuesday

I was able to take vacation time this tuesday as well, just in time to enjoy some of the best powder skiing in a long time.  I got up there at about 9:15 and it was snowing harder than I've ever seen it snow up there, seriously.   Before I left the house the snowcam was showing about 5" of new snow, but by the time I was on top of Gadzoom there was at least a foot, and by the time I was on top of Gad II, it was over my knees on the main runs.  Oh yeah, I was the second person up Gad II and was able to ski 3 runs tracking up knee deep powder down the main runs before it was tracked up enough to need to head for the trees to find untracked.  It was an amazing powder day at The Bird.

Monday Squats

I went to Ripped Fitness to squat monday night.  When I got there it was very clear that I've been over doing it, probably mostly caused by skiing.  I did maybe 5 sets of 225 and decided that I should just go home and rest, which is what I did.

Powder skiing at Snowbird today

Today was by far the best day so far this season.  There was 13" of new since friday night, and it's really opened up a lot more terrain on the mountain.  I skied some of the most technical terrain so far this year, like through the black forest, which is much harder skiing early season than it was last spring.

There was an avalanche on Mt Baldy today around 12:30.  Apparently somebody was life flighted out at 1:30 or so in critical condition.  Kind of scary, that's in the ski area and under snowbird's avalanche control.   Last year I skied over there all the time but haven't yet this year because I didn't think there was enough snow, but apparently there is if there's enough to slide.  Scary stuff, I could have been over there.

Mock Meet yesterday

Saturday we had a mock meet at Ripped Fitness.  CJ, Mike and I lifted, and Stump, Lance, Jacob Gunter judged/spotted/loaded weights.

I was happy with my performance, especially since I haven't been sleeping all that much lately.   My lifts were the following...

Squat:

315 ( good lift )

385 ( good lift )

445 ( Lance said I didn't get depth, from the video it was as deep as other good APF/AAPF lifts I've seen online, so IMHO I'm counting it especially since if I knew I needed to go lower, I easily could have, ie I thought I was low enough.  )

Bench:

285 (good lift)

315 (good lift, actually went up *really* easy )

330 (got the bar to about 6" off my chest and couldn't lock it out.  I'm kicking myself now, I don't think I strained with 100% of what I had )

Dead:

445 ( easy weight, but Lance wanted me to bend backward at the top, OK )

455 ( good lift )

500 ( URG!  SO dang close, but didn't get it.  I think I'll get this on my next ME deadlift session though. )

The mock meet was a great learning experience.  I really appreciate everybody's time/help/advice/encouragement.  

I think once I get used to the squat suit, 600 pounds could be possible by Feb.  Once my brain decided to let me keep my hips down a little longer pulling, I think 575-ish will be easily possibly by Feb.  I should have gotten that 330 bench, if I had another attempt at it I think I would have.

Strongman training with AF strongman group

I met with the AF strongman group to do some strongman training after work, they meet right down the street from my office, go figure!  I've never done any strongman stuff before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I guess the whole group wasn't there tonight, so we only did tire flipping and some deadlifting.   They gave me a little tutorial about how to flip the tire and asked if I wanted to try, well of course!  But I quickly found out that being tall means different technique.  For example they said to keep my chest on the tire, which put me at an angle where I was pushing down into the tire and not across.  Anyway, after forgetting what they said and just figuring out what felt right for me, I could flip the 800 pound tire pretty easily.  I can see that the strong man event of flipping it until it travels 60 feet would be more endurance than strength, at least that how it felt for me.  After a flip I was winded but felt like I had plenty of strength to do it again, ie being winded would be my limiting factor.

After that we did some deads, which I wasn't really prepared to do, I was wearing my boots and I deadlifted a couple of days ago.  Anyway, I worked up to 495 which I pulled off the ground but didn't get, URG.  that extra inch with my boots makes a big difference.  But the guys told me I had good form, I guess my working form is paying off.  But they pulled different than powerlifters though,  they use straps, and hitching is allowed, and they start with the bar out farther in front, and they really arch backward at the top.  I'm not sure what to think about that.

Anyway, it was alot of fun, and I look forward to meeting with them again, and/or flipping tires and stuff with Russ at Ripped Fitness.

Powder Tuesday

Snowbird got about 10" of new snow monday evening, and the skies were clear as a bell tuesday morning, so I took the day off and went skiing.  It must have been windy when the snow fell, but still lots of fun. To the left is the photo of the day from snowbird's site. 

When I went back to my truck at lunch time, this little car had parked next to my truck leaving only a couple inches on the driver side of my truck.  URG!  At first I didn't see the guy was still there and I was seriously thinking about trying to deadlift the back end of the car and move it over a bit.  Then I saw that the driver was still there, so I walked around and asked him how I was supposed to get into my truck.  He said something like "oh I expected a little guy like me".  I loved the look on his face as I moved a little closer and said something like "well I'm not a little guy like you".  ( I wasn't trying to be a jerk, but he clearly shouldn't have parked there given there wasn't enough room.   Does it make me a jerk that I liked intimidating him a little with my size? )   He promptly moved his car.  I love being 6'8" 312 pounds, LOL.

I'm looking forward to meeting the the AF strongman people tonight.   

Light squats and deads

I decided to squat and pull today, but stayed relatively light...

Squats:

bar x 8

bar x 8

135 x 8

225 x 5

315 x 3

405 x 1

Deads:

225 x 5

315 x 3

315 x 3

405 x 1

405 x 1

URG, with the 315 I felt like I was keeping my hips down a little better, but not with 405.

3 sets of leg curls and 3 sets of leg extensions.

Today's the last powerlifting training session before saturday.  But I'm going to ski tomorrow morning, and then meet the AFSTRONGMAN people on wednesday.  

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday ME benching at Ripped Fitness

Kyle came, very cool. 

Benching ( from my imperfect memory )...

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 8

225 x 5

Stump presses ( ie weight hanging off the bar on straps )

135 x 8

185 x 8

225 x 5

225 x 5 

Stump presses definitely add another dimension to benching.  I think my slow style actually helps with these, although they were still REALLY hard.

Put on Stump's old shirt for the first time

Flat Board presses

135 x 8 with 5 boards (?)

225 x 5 with 3 boards (?)

275 ( don't really remember the # of boards or reps )

315 x 1 2 boards

315 x 1 2 boards

315 x 1 1 board

315 x 1 1 board

Hmmm, the shirt is interesting.  I didn't feel like it helped at all until maybe the last two presses.  On the last one I think I understand, maybe.  Definitely different than the denim that I tried a while ago.  Maybe at some point I'll try the denim again, but this seemed alot easier to get used to.  I think it's slightly big on me, but I'm still want to gain some weight.

3 sets of Chain presses with Russ, Tom, Scott, Brad...

After that I did various sets/reps of the following

tricep push downs

grip roller ( don't really know what to call this, but I *love* doing them )

a strongman one arm deadlift thingy with a 2" handle that rotates.  ( Cool, very cool, I've got to start working things like this )

Crap, I'm loosing weight, 307 pounds.  I guess I didn't eat enough for breakfast.

Sunday...  Skiing!

Whoo hoo.  The skiing was decent, Snowbird needs more snow, but it was sunny so that's a bonus.  My added weight is making skiing weird.  On the things that I have always skied well ( powder and off the main runs ), I still ski them really well, but on the things that I always have skied kind of crappy ( ie groomed runs ), man now I really suck.  Maybe it's just that I skied on the skis that I've been skiing on until June last season and they're pretty edge-less and in need of more of a tuning that I can do myself, but I can really feel how my added mass just causes me to skid on the groomed.  I LOVE the added mass in the powder though.  We need more powder!  And I *love* the added mass in general.

The *interesting* thing is that last year I would have skied until I was completely dead tired on a day like today, but today, while on the lift I was thinking about squatting tomorrow and to a lesser extent the little meet next weekend, so I came home early and I was completely satisfied with the amount of skiing that i did.  Very weird, lol.   I know I have horrible leverages for powerlifting, but I'm really finding myself loving it.

Pulling at Ripped

Deads ( sumo ):

135 x 10

225 x 7

315 x 4

365 x 3

(put squat suit on)

405 x 3

455 x 1

455 x 1

475 x 1

475 x 1

495 x 1

475 x 1

Dumbell rows

90 x 8

100 x 8

100 x 8

What a great workout, it was awesome getting everybody's help/suggestions.  It's very much appreciated.

I think I'll pull sumo at meets, I'm not going super wide, but sumo now feels more natural than conventional.  I'm not sure what caused that, but I think pulling sumo makes it easier for me to keep my hips down longer, and I never scrap my shins.  I'm not sure about doing deads in the squat suit though.  I'm not sure if it helps or not.

Enjoying some birthday powder skiing up at Snowbird and thoughts about my workout routine

Today's my birthday, and like almost every birthday since I was in graduate school, I went skiing.  Even though this season started early with storm that dumped over 4 feet in early November, the storms pretty much stopped since opening weekend.  BUT, last night Snowbird got about 5" of pretty decent snow.  Definitely not epic conditions, but it was by far the best day so far this season.  The hill was basically empty, even around lunch time, I made sets of crossed tracks in the powder on the left side of big emma ( ie one of the most crowded places on the hill ) .  What a great birthday gift from the snow Gods.

I'm considering changing my current workout schedule, which currently is 4 days a week, a ME and DE bench session, and a ME squat/dead session and a DE box squat session.  I think with the skiing, I can't squat 2 times a week.  And I also think that skiing is just as good for explosiveness with squats than doing DE squats.  Also, I don't think my squats suffer from the lack of explosiveness like I have with benching.   Even with my long legs I feel that I'm a fairly fast squatter.  Also, lately I feel like I hardly ever pull, I only do a max effort deadlift session once every 4 weeks.  The other thing driving this is that I really want to be able to try some strongman training.  Russ at Ripped Fitness said I can join him and its something that I'd really like to try, but I don't want to overtrain.  Anyway, so I'm thinking of going to a 3 day split.  I've considered just getting rid of my DE squat day, but I still fell like I'm not pulling enough.   I was thinking that powerlifting is 3 lifts, and I'm considering a 3 day a week workout, why not focus on one lift per session, hitting each one once a week.  I can let my body determine if it's a DE or ME session, which probably means I won't be doing a DE bench session, which I'm willing to try to see how it goes, I can always go back to what I'm currently doing.   But it means I'll pull every week, which I think I need right now.   Anyway, lots of rambling, but I think it's decided.   My routine's going to be like this

Saturday, ME bench

Monday, squats DE or ME depending on how I feel

Thrusday, deadlifting DE or ME depending on how I feel

I think this means that maybe wednesday I can try some strongman training with Russ as Ripped or the AFSTRONGMAN people ( he emailed me back, they train on wednesdays )

DE bench work as expected

After squatting 495 last night, I wasn't expecting too much today, and my body didn't disappoint...

DE benching:

Bar x 8

Bar x 8

8 sets of 135 x 3 with basically no speed what so ever.

Overhead presses

135 x 8  ( can still feel the chest injury some, not really pain, just tight)

155 x 5 ( not quite so bad )

155 x 5 ( urg, no not ready for this yet, thankfully I don't feel it at all benching, I haven't tried pulling yet )

Standing tricep cable push downs, didn't keep track.  I've got do start doing something else instead.

Face pulls, same, ie didn't keep track.

I'm feeling really stagnant/unmotivated with my bench workouts lately.  Maybe things will change when the group is back together, or maybe I just need a break.

Snowbird's getting snow this evening/tonight and It's my birthday tomorrow ( so I have the day off ), woo hoo.

ME squats in suit at Ripped

Today was my first time squatting in my Metal IPF Squatter, at Ripped Fitness.

Back Squats:

bar x 8

bar x 8

135 x 8

225 x 6

315 x 3

365 x 2

( put the suit on )

365 x 1

405 x 1

455 x 1

495 x 1

455 x 1

Thanks Russ for the spots.

Wow, I love the suit.  The last 455 was definitely to parallel ( by how my hands hit the pins, no mirror at ripped ), and I felt like it gave me a big explosive push at the bottom.   The 495 was real close to parallel, but not 100% sure it was there.   I still think it was good to try because it'll help me get used to holding the heavier weight.  Not bad at all for the first time wearing the suit.

Leg press machine, 5 sets didn't keep track of the weight.  I did 2 more sets with bands.  Oh, definitely done for tonight.

Max effort benching

Warm up:

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 8

Lighten method flat bench: 

315 x 10

405 x 7

455 x 3

475 x 1

405 x 7

405 x 7

Flat bench lockouts

315 x 8

365 x 6

405 x 3

405 x 3

Stopped those to do 

floor dumbell presses with the group.

3 sets with 80 pound dumbells.  

These were strange.  I haven't done dumbell presses in a long time.

Finished up with 4 supersets of tricep cable push downs and face pulls.

My weight's right at 310 pounds.

I talked to Russ about doing strongman stuff.  Sounds like fun.  He also said that he squats on mondays.  I'm going to try to join him, I'd love to have somebody to squat with.

DE Box squats

I didn't expect too much from todays workout after being super sore from ME squats on Sunday and moving this workout up a day because of thanksgiving..

Warm up

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 8

DE Box squats

10 sets of 2 reps working up to 275 + purple bands.

As expected the squats felt a little sluggish today.  No big deal.

Leg curl machine:

3 sets of 10 various weights ( I don't remember )

Short workout, but I WAS SOOO DONE!

Dynamic Effort bench in AF

After some pretty serious DOMS from squats on Sunday, which caused me to feel basically like I was run over by a truck this morning, I actually had a decent DE bench workout.

Warmup:

bar x 10

bar x 10

DE bench

10 sets of 135x3 (trying to learn how to be patient :) )

Standing tricep cable push downs 

5 sets up to 200 with two pullies

Face pulls

5 sets of 15-20 reps whole stack

Tried the shoulder press machine, but I can still feel the injury, weird that I can't feel it at all benching.  I probably should have tried just pressing a straight bar, but their rack isn't tall enough and I don't like doing them outside the rack since there are so many people who don't pay attention when they're walking by.

Overall a pretty good workout considering how sore I was this morning.

Squat PR

ME Squats at golds on 13th

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 7

225 x 6

315 x 3

405 x 1

445 x 1 (PR no knee wraps, no belt)

405 x 2

315 x 5

315 x 3

Still really happy with how squats are going.  I widened my stance slightly, but I'm realizing that I'm never going to be a really wide stance squatter, and that's ok.  I'm really happy with how the squats are going.

Leg press machine:

3 sets of 8 with as much weight as it can hold

Leg curl machine:

3 sets whole stack + 15

Max effort benching

Max effort benching at Ripped fitness

warm up:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

bench:

135 x 10

135 x 10

225 x 7

275 x 4

315 x 1

Board presses: 

Kind of forgot what I did.  I believe I went up to 335x 4 with 6 boards

Chain presses:

3 sets.  I have no idea how much the chains weigh, at the bottom it felt like maybe 150, at the top it felt like maybe 250 ( maybe a little more ).  It's hard to tell since it feels much less stable than having weight on the bar.

Tricep presses and Face pulls.

Not a bad workout for still being able to slightly feel my injury.  The energy seemed different than a normal saturday though.  

Next week, I'm hoping to try Stump's old shirt.

Good DE squat workout

warmup 

bar x 10

bar x 10

DE box squats

135x2

225x2

225x2

225 + purple bands x 2

275 + purple bands x 2

295 + purple bands x 2

315 + purple bands x 2

335 + purple bands x 2

355 no bands x 2

355 no bands x 2

275 no bands x 2

The squats felt GOOD, REALLY GOOD.  Glad to be squatting again after a missed ME session.

4 sets on leg curl machine with the whole stack

4 sets on leg extension machine up to the whole stack

Tuesday DE bench

Warmup:

bar x 10

bar x 10

DE Benching:

10 sets of 135 x 3

145 x 3

155 x 3

I actually felt pretty fast today.  Stump gave me crap for trying the 155 but I think I was about as fast with it as 135, after all sometimes I do 135 + mini's.  The sternum bruise is healing pretty good, lately I only feel it first thing in the morning.

Standing overhead shoulder presses:

I didn't do much weight here because I felt tight from the bruising.  

Tricep extensions, I forget how many sets, whole stack + 25 on the machine with 2 pullies

Face pulls, don't remember the weight or number of sets, I kept it light though.  They felt pretty good though.

I think I'll be back to normal for saturday's ME session.

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday:

I didn't bench more than the bar because I was too bruised up from a stupid skiing incident ( I've been skiing for 20+ years and nothing like that has ever happened, but I ended up going over a little dip in the flat run out part under the cirque and it threw all 305 pounds of me forward right over my skis.  My chest hit hard against some pretty hard packed snow.  The doctor said that I strained/bruised my sternum. )  I just tried to stretch out and get things moving a little, and I helped Stump a little.  I was able to do some tricep cable extensions and that was about it.  Moving the bar around seemed to help though.

Sunday:

Normally this would have been my max effort squat day but I didn't want to push it given I'm still a little bruised up ( but it's healing ).  I did leg presses for the first time since I started squatting.  Back then I probably would have put 4 plates on each side and called it good, but today I was able to really load the thing up and do reps with what had to be over 850 pounds ( I'm not sure how much the machine itself weights ).  I made sure that I went below "parallel" or what would be parallel if I was really doing squats.  After that I did leg curls, leg extensions and some calf work.  I miss doing squats!  But I'm healing quick and I'm sure next time I'll be back squatting again.

Pretty Decent DE box squat session

DE box squats at Golds in AF

bar x 8

bar x 8

135 x 2

2 sets of 135+mini+purple bands x 2

2 sets of 225 + mini + purple bands x 2

3 sets of 275 + mini + purple bands x 2

295 + mini + purple bands x 2

225 + mini + purple bands x 2

225 x 2

When I first started doing squats, I couldn't have done 295 period, let alone with mini + purple bands and in a somewhat explosive manner.  It feels nice to realize that I'm still making progress.

Rack pulls just below the knee

315 x 8

405 x 6

455 x 3

500 x 1

I actually felt really strong with the rack pulls today, but I was dead from the squats.

3 sets on the leg curl machine.

I got on the scale on the way out, 303#.   I love it.  My pants are getting tight around my legs but not my waist.  If the weight keeps going in the right places, I can see easily being 345# and not being "fat".

DE bench solo tonight ( Stump is training tomorrow )

Dynamic effort benching:

bar x 10

bar x 10

3 sets of 135 x 3

6 sets of 135+mini bands x 3

I actually felt pretty explosive today.

Standing overhead Stump presses

65 + 70 hanging x 10

85 + 70 hanging x 6

95 + 70 hanging x 5

105 + 70 hanging x 5

115 + 70 hanging x 5

I've got a long ways to go, but my shoulders ARE getting stronger.

Supersets of face pulls and standing tricep press downs.

Overall a good workout after a very stressful day at work today.  Thankfully I was not laid off.  Unfortunately the manager over my team was, very said because I felt like she was very good a her job.  I hope things work out for her.

Max effort squats with SSB

Monday, Squats at Ripped Fitness.

Safety Squat Bar squats

Bar x 8

155 x 8

205 x 6

245 x 5

295 x 2

295 x 2

315 x 1 ( PR for this bar )

315 x 1

The safety squat bar is HARD.  Compared to normal back squats, it felt like there was a bunch of weight pulling my core forward.  I can see how doing squats with this bar will really build core strength.

For some reason I decided to do some pulling SUMO, which I haven't done in a while

135 x 10

225 x 8

315 x 5

365 x 3

405 x 1

Actually felt pretty good.  I'll have to continue pulling sumo.

Sunday, Skiing.  They opened purvian gulch which was covered with thick heavy powder.  My legs were sore, but not nearly as sore as after friday.

Max effort benching

Benching at Ripped Fitness with Stump, Jeff, Mike, Nick.  The Ripped fitness group was there too, Russ, Scott, Brad, Todd, another Mike that I just met today..

Lightened method pin presses, the pins were just above where the bar would touch my chest:

275 x 10

315 x 10

365 x 8

405 x 5

455 x 3

While unloading the bar we determined that the bands helped about 185 at the bottom and 90 at the top ( maybe less, it was hard to estimate the top).  

Board presses:

Probably 5 sets working up to 345x3 with 6 boards ( which is probably about the same as 3 boards for everybody else ).  I think if I hadn't done the reverse bands first, I could press 335 no boards.  I noticed that my first rep is always the hardest.  Stump said that it's because I'm letting the bar get out in front of my elbows.  Ie the bar is coming down low, but my elbows aren't under it, they're closer to my head.  Only on the first rep though.  Very good information.

Standing tricep cable extensions:

5 sets working up to 100 pounds ( only one pulley no mechanical advantage unlike when I do these over at golds ).

Face pulls:

5 sets didn't keep track of the weight

Grip roller,  this is the one I'm starting to love the pain of. LOL  It makes my forearms feel like they're on fire.

Good luck to everybody going to WABDL worlds next weekend.

Skiing!

I was on the first chair up the mountain this morning up at snowbird!  What an awesome first day of the season.  Tons of powder to track up.  Sooo much better than the first day of the season last year.

Tuesday and Thursday

Tuesday:  DE bench

Bench:

8 sets of 3, not very explosive today

Monday killed any explosiveness I would have on bench so I didn't worry too much about it.  

Overhead press lockouts:

worked up to a max of 2 reps, 245 

Tricep extension, and pulldowns

Thursday:  

DE squats:  8 sets x 2 worked up to 275# +purple+mini's x 2

Rack pulls: worked up to 545 x 1

3 sets on Leg curl machine

Max Effort Concentric Goodmornings

I finally have access to a safety squat bar to do concentric good mornings as on the westside DVD's

Concentric Goodmorning:

Bar x 6

Bar x 6

155 x 5

245 x 3

265 x 1

285 x 1

295 x 1

305 x 1

Wow, it's so much different with the safety squat bar than a straight bar off straps.  

Deads

225 x 7

315 x 3

405 x 1 ( dead after concentric goodmornings )

Dumbell rows:

100 x 8

120 x 8

120 x 8

120 x 8

Did some grip work, I don't really know what to call what I was doing, but my forearms are on FIRE and I can barely type right now.

BENCHING!

Benching at Ripped Fitness with Jeff, Stump, Mike, Nick ( still no Moosie/Parker, hope he's healing OK )

Flat bench:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

135 x 8

135 x 8

225 x 5

275 x 3

320 x 1 ( PR )

325 x 1 ( Stump or Jeff helped don't remember who not really sure how much )

I'm still feeling really good about benching, things are finally coming together.

Tricep standing cable extensions

whole stack x 20

whole stack x 20

whole stack + 25# x 15

whole stack + 25# x 15

whole stack + 25# x 15

5 sets of face pulls

4 sets on shoulder press machine ( I know, I know, but it was there  )

OK, Stump, next week I'm definitely changing my ME exercise.  Sorry I HAD to bench this week. 

Not the best DE squat workout

Box Squat warmup:

Bar x 8

Bar x 8

Dynamic Effort Squats:

Bar + purple bands x 2

135 + purple bands x 2

135 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple bands x 2

225 x 2

225 x 2

135 x 2

135 x 2

The God of explosiveness was not with me today.  Definitely not like last week.  I felt tired today.  Maybe some of the lack of explosiveness may be do to all the stretching I've been doing lately?

Dumbell rows:

115 x 8

120 x 8

120 x 8

Leg curl machine

150 x 8

150 x 8

150 x 8

Urg, not the best workout.   Off to get lunch and rest up for Saturday.

Tuesday's DE bench workout

DE bench workout with Stump at Golds on 7th east.

I decided no bands today because I think they've been hard on my joints.

Benching:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

12-15 sets of 135 x 3 ( kind of lost count of the number of sets, probably took too long in between some too )

Standing overhead shoulder presses:

bar + 70# hanging x 10

65 + 70# hanging x 8

65 + 70# hanging x 6

65 + 70# hanging x 6

bar + 70# hanging x 8

My shoulders are still clearly my weakest link for bench, but I am making progress.

Standing tricep cable push downs:

whole stack x 20

whole stack x 20

whole stack x 15

whole stack x 15

I didn't feel as strong with these as usual, maybe related to not sleeping all that great lately.

Face pulls:

whole stack x 20

whole stack x 20

140 x 16

140 x 16

I played around with raising my head while benching.  I think this along with the new grip width is going to take even more stress off my shoulder and hopefully mean I will be able to push more weight.  We will see.  Stump said just make sure I still keep my back tight.

I'm definitely 300# now.  I weight 299 last saturday, 300 on sunday 297 on tuesday, but back above 300 today ( wednesday ).  I know I'm obsessed, but it's just really cool to be at 300 at a fairly low body fat percentage ( at least for me ).  Last time I weighed 300#, I was fat and weak.  Now I'm not fat and feel strong.

Max effort squats and yet another Personal Record

Squats:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

135 x 8

225 x 5

315 x 1

365 x 1

415 x 1 ( PR )

425 x 1 ( PR )

315 x 1

135 x 5

Rack Pulls:

315 x 6

365 x 7

405 x 5

405 x 6

Leg curls

whole stack x 8

whole stack x 8

whole stack x 8

Boy, it doesn't look like much written down, but I was dead all afternoon.   Those max single squats are killers.

Big Bench PR and HUGE milestone

We benched at Ripped Fitness today.  The benching went as follows:

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 10

135 x 8

185 x 8

225 x 5

275 x 3

295 x 1

300x1

315x1 

That's a 15 pound PR and a huge milestone that in the past I was convinced I would never reach.

Benching with chains, I think I heard each side was 125# when off the floor,  5 sets ranging from 7-10 reps.

Tricep extensions: 

1 x 20 with whole stack

5 sets with whole stack + 25

Face Pulls:

130 x 20

140 x 14

140 x 14

150 x 12

150 x 12

I've moved my bench grip in two fingers width and it has made a HUGE difference.  Before when lowering the bar, I'd reach a point where my shoulder would get tight, but with the narrower grip it goes right down through it and my brain doesn't go into panic mode.  Also, I think it allows me to use some of the tricep strength that I have ( and previously felt like I could use it ).

There was a new guy there today.  Mike.  I think he has a lot of potential, if he gets his bench technique down ( arching and keeping tight ) I bet he could bench 400 no problem.

Lots of fun today, I really like the atmosphere at Ripped Fitness, it was definitely worth the price.

Thoughts on powerlifting

Captain Kirk Karwoski sums up my feelings about powerlifting, at then end of the trailer to "Power Unlimited" ....

DE squats

DE squats:

warmed up with just the bar 3 sets x 8-10 reps

Bar + purple bands x 2

Bar + purple bands x 2

135 + purple bands x 2

135 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple bands x 2

225 + purple and mini bands x 2

275 + purple and mini bands x 2

275 + blue bands x 2 ( too much, but I wanted to try )

275 + blue bands x 2 ( ditto )

275 x 2

275 x 2

225 x 2

( done with explosiveness )

135 x 6 holding the bottom and stretching hips

135 x 4 holding the bottom and stretching hips

Between each of the sets above, I would get down into a squat just at parallel and work on flexing/stretching my hips, etc.  Basically stretching and playing around with figuring out how to keep my shins perpinduclar to the floor.

Thoughts on todays squat session....  Holly crap! I'm VERY happy with how my squats are progressing.  I feel like I'm learning how to use my hips in an explosive manor, and weight that when I first started squatting felt heavy, now it feels like air and I can move it pretty quickly/explosively.

Dumbell rows:

115 x 8

125 x 7

125 x 7

Lat pulldowns ( in front )

120 x 10

170 x 8

170 x 8

I got on the scale, 295.  Lost a couple pounds, which I can't believe given how much I've been eating.

Time to go eat lunch.

Oops, I missed logging my DE bench workout on tuesday.  It should go under this entry.  It basically was a pretty standard session for me. 

Deadlift PR

Max effort deadlift session at golds on 13th.

Deadlifts:

225 x 8

315 x 5

405 x 3

455 x 2

475 x 1 ( easy PR , video clip below!)

495 x 0 I got it maybe 6" off the floor... URG. I don't think I waited long enough after the 475, I know I would have got this if I didn't do the 475 first.


Dumbell rows:
115 x 8
125 x 7
125 x 7
125 x 7
( URG, this gym has like 10 sets of 125's but nothing higher. )

Seated cable rows:
200 x 8
200 x 8
200 x 8

Leg curl machine:
whole stack x 8
whole stack x 8
whole stack x 8

Time for taco bell.

First shirt session with Stump and Jeff

Today was the first time benching in a shirt.  The workout went something like this

bar x 10

bar x 10

135 x 10

135 x 10

225 x 6

225 x 6

Put shirt on

4 boards 275 x 4 

4 boards 295 x 3

3 boards 315 x 3

3 boards 315 x 3

3 boards 295 x 3

The shirt was a lot different than I expected, but I'd say two sets out of the 5 above I felt like I was getting it.  I think the shirt fits OK, but every set it felt slightly different because the shirt would move and I wasn't able to get it in the same position every time.  Stump said that I don't need the velcro in the back, but I'm wondering if this would have made the shirt feel more consistent.

Lockouts:

225 x 6

275 x 8

315 x 9

345 x 8

365 x 7

Tricep cable push downs:

5 sets with the whole stack of weight with a 25# plate attached.

Face pulls:

140 x 12

150 x 10

150 x 10

150 x 10

DE squats at golds in AF

Probably not the thing to do, but I wanted to see how having a few days rest affects ME benching, so I moved my DE squat workout up a day ( wednesday instead of thursday ).

Squats:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

135 + purple bands x 2

135 + purple bands x 2

185 + purple bands x 2

185 + purple bands x 2

185 + purple and mini bands x 2

185 + purple and mini bands x 2

185 + purple and mini bands x 2

225 + purple and mini bands x 2

225 + purple and mini bands x 2

I'm starting to learn how to keep my shins perpendicular to the floor, I think it's related to the low bar placement ( which I still have problems with ), which allows the upper body to be forward enough.

Rack pulls

315 x 5

365 x 3

405 x 3

405 x 3

Hamstring leg curl machine

4 sets of 8 with whole stack

Speed bench training

Today was my DE bench workout.  The benching went as follows:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

Bar + mini bands x 3

Bar + mini bands x 3

5 sets 115 + mini bands x 3

4 sets 135 + mini bands x 3

Wow, I actually had a good DE bench workout, ie with explosiveness.  Very nice.  Even more surprising is that I think I'm actually learning how to arch, I swear my range of motion was 2" shorter today than normal.   Hopefully today wasn't a fluke and I'm actually making progress.

Standing tricep cable extensions:

150 ( the whole stack ) x 15  ( holly crap that was easy )

150 + 10# hanging on x 15  

150 + 25# hanging on x 12

150 + 25# hanging on x 10

150 + 25# hanging on x 9

OK those were WAY easier than usuall.  Note to self, learn how to use my triceps more on my bench, I think I have some power that I'm not tapping into.

Standing overhead presses:

Bar + 2 45's hanging on straps (3 feet below bar) x 4 ( too hard after everything else )

Bar + 2 35's hanging on straps x 7

Bar + 2 35's hanging on straps x 8

Bar with 20# + 2 35's hanging on straps x 7

My shoulders are weak.  How can my triceps feel so strong, but my shoulders so weak?

Face pulls, 

130 x 15

140 x 12

150 x 12

150 x 10

Got on the scale, 297#   LOL, Incredible, love it. 

ME squats

I've decided that I'm swapping my ME and DE squat days because I think i'll be able to recover faster from the DE day by saturday's ME bench.  So, I did another ME squat workout ( normally it would have been a DE workout ).

Squats

Bar x 8

Bar x 8

135 x 8

225 x 7

315 x 4

365 x 1

385 x 2 ( PR for reps )

405 x 1 ( PR previous was 400 )

315 x 2

315 x 2

135 x 6 ( staying down at the bottom for 15-20 seconds )

I only used my knee wraps and belt on the 405.

Goodmornings ( off straps )

135 x 7

185 x 7

225 x 6

255 x 7

Rack pulls

315 x 8

315 x 8

315 x 8

315 x 8

Dumbell rows

115 x 8

125 x 8

125 x 5

It doesn't look like a lot seeing it written down, but I could barely walk to my truck afterward.  All I could do for about 3 hours was lay on the couch and watch TV.

Fun max effort benching

Max effort bench workout with Stump, Jeff, Kyle and Parker.

Bench:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

135 x 10

225 x 6

225 x 6

275 x 2

295 x 1

225 x 5

Bench with chains ( this is all from memory, but I think its pretty close ):

135 + chains x 8

185 + chains x 6

205 + chains x 5

225 + chains x 2 ( urg, not the best form )

225 + chains x 2 ( MUCH better than the last.  I need to remember how this felt different than the set prior and learn how to reproduce this. )

225 + chains x 1

185 + chains x 8

I really liked benching with chains.  I'm going to have to get some.

4 sets of dips.  I'm still really weak with dips, but making some progress

4 sets of face pulls ( I didn't keep track of the weight, each set was 12+ reps).

3 sets of tricep cable extensions

(wooo, those two exercies make me feel good. )

3 sets of over head tricep cable extensions.

Oh yeah, I got on the scale... 293 pounds.    I've gained 30 pounds since july but not even an inch around my waist.  Incredible!

Overall, it was a good workout.  But I'm feeling stronger than my bench is showing, lol.  No complaints though, my bench is improving, as the meet showed.  I think most of the reason my my numbers aren't up on saturday morning is because I'm still not fully recovered from heavy squats on thursday.  I'm not sure what to do about that.

Afterward, everybody came over to my house for hamburgers and watched "Power Unlimited".  Great movie, lots of fun.  I enjoyed having everybody over.

Just a side note, since I haven't written it in my blog.  I felt that Taekwondo was getting in the way of my powerlifting training ( ie it prevented full recovery ), so I've stopped ( which is probably partly the reason that I've been able to put on some weight ).  I wasn't completely happy with the school that I've been associated with for the last 3 years anyway, so I think it's time to move on.  It's so obvious to me what I need to be doing, ie squatting, benching and deadlifting.  I don't completely understand it and can't explain it, but powerlifting means *everything* to me lately.  The iron bug has done much more than just bitten, it's totally consumed me.

The mountains got snow today.  Ski season will soon be here.  I'm excited for it, but this year it's a little different.  I'm also somewhat scared.  I LOVE powder skiing, always have and always will, but I also feel that for some reason the powerlifting thing is much more important ( if that makes any sense ).  I'm not sure how this will play out as winter progresses.  It's too bad Pete isn't here anymore, I'd be curious what he'd have to say about it.  I miss you Pete, you were a great person and good friend.

Big PR at Golds in AF

ME squat workout.

Squats:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

135 x 10

225 x 5

275 x 3

315 x 2

365 x 1 

385 x 1 PR

400 x 1 PR

275 x 3 ( down way below parallel )

I know my butt was below my knee, but not sure if the crease of my hip was level with my knee or not, I was looking at my purple face in the mirror not my hips.

Rack pulls two holes up

225 x 5

315 x 5

405 x 3

455 x 0 ( nothing left after squats )

405 x 5

I then did a 3 sets of leg curls, the whole stack of weight ( not really sure how much it is ) for 8 reps.

Tuesday's DE benching with Stump

Speed bench workout with Stump in Sandy.

Bench:

Lots of sets of triples with various combinations of weight and bands.  Probably 12 sets.  Explosiveness with bench is still a huge issue for me and my really long arms.

4 sets of standing shoulder presses and then did 4 more sets with weights hanging off the bar with straps.   I feel like my weak shoulders are slowly making progress.

4 supersets of face pulls/tricep cable extensions.

DE box squats

Back at it today at golds in American Fork.  I did lots of box squats with bands, I didn't take notes, but I did various doubles and triples working up to 245 pounds with both purple and mini bands ( I'm not sure how much tension this makes, but it really felt like it was pulling me down at the top ), probably about 15 sets or so.  I felt super strong/explosive today, and the squats felt good even though I was slightly sore from pulling yesterday at the meet.  

After explosive doubles and triples with bands, I dropped down to just 135 with no bands, and played around with depth.  I moved the pins down out of the way, and squatted staying down below parallel for probably 30+ seconds trying to relax my hips, moving them back, and then exploaded up as much as possible.  I did 3 sets of 6 like this.  I think I'll have to play around with doing these again, I think it will help me in getting my hips back.

Dumbbell rows, 3 sets 125x8

8 day break and APF/AAPF meet

My 8 days staying out of the gym ended today with the APF/AAPF meet up in Idaho Falls.

First lesson learned from this meet:  I really need to learn how to pick my attempts better.  You can read all you want, but it really doesn't mean too much until you experience the importance of it in meet first hand ( at least I'm finding that to be true ).  

Bench:

I let my crappy workout a week ago effect how I picked my opening bench.  I went with something that was WAY ( WAY, WAY ) too light, 120 kilos or 264 pounds.  I ended up easily doing more than that warming up ( their warmup bench really sucked, my elbows couldn't not hit the bench, even when I was tucking more than I normally do.  It didn't seem to bother anybody else though, LOL ).  The good thing was my first attempt went up like nothing.  My next attempt I chose the same as my max on the previous meet, 130 kilos or 286 pounds.  This too was really easy, however it kind of messed up my choice for my third attempt because I wanted to make sure I ended up betting my last meet, thus I couldn't go all out on my third attempt, so I choose 135 kilos or 297 pounds.  It was also easy, way easier than I thought it would be.  Shoot, I could have easily broke 300 at a meet, and now I'm kicking myself for being way too conservative, or more correctly forcing myself to be too conservative on my third attempt because my choice for my second attempt ( if that makes any sense at all ).  Anyway, I ended up with a bench of 7.5 kilos more than last meet, and it was an easy lift.  So all in all, I'm pleased with my benching.  More importantly, the 7.5 kilo increase in a little over a month has motivated/encouraged me with benching.  I'll never have a huge bench, but I know that in time I'll be able to have a very respectable bench.

Deadlift:

I chose an opener that was just under my max at the last meet, 180 kilos or 396 pounds.  Once again, I EASILYworked up passed this in warm ups ( because everything was feeling light ).  And it was light, the 180 kilos felt like nothing.  Second attempt was 190 kilos or 418 pounds ( damn it Brian what's your problem ! ), way too easy!  Third attempt, 200 kilos=440 pounds.  This actually is a personal record by 5 pounds for a gym lift and 33 pounds over the last meet, but it too was easy, too easy for a 3rd attempt.  I didn't even have to strain.  After this attempt Mike said something like "you haven't even maxed out yet" over the loud speaker " do you want 4th attempt for a PR, but not part of the meet"?  I said sure.  I chose 210 kilos or 462 pounds ( damn it Brian, what's your problem! ).  I strained a little on this, but solidly got the lift.  Crap, in hind sight, I really think I could have pulled 500 pounds today, but I was a PUSSY for not going for it.  On the positive side, this 4th attempt was about a 60 pound meet PR and a 30 pound PR over my highest gym lift.  I'm very very happy about that.

The meet in general:

There were some really strong guys at this meet.  Some that come to mind, Bill who broke a deadlift record on every attempt, each well over 700 pounds, raw not even a belt.  ( I loved his T shirt, something like "I beat Anorexia".  Seemed like a nice guy too).  Kyle ( not Moosie, praying for a quick recovery of that pec injury ) who benched something like 450 raw to break a record.  Jason who attempted a 1003 pound squat, missed it, but was soooo damn close to getting it.  Nick, who I can't remember his numbers right now, had some really impressive lifts at a body weight of something like 145 pounds.

I really enjoyed watching the squats.  I used to say that my goal is to get my squats good enough to squat at a meet, but that's also just being a wimp.  I could have squatted at this meet and I chose not to.  ( Damn it Brian, what's your problem! ) 

Second lesson learned from this meet:  stop being a wimp and have confidence in myself ( I think that's the heart of what powerlifting is about ).  My body was totally ready to lift today, but just because I had one less than ideal workout 8 days ago, I let my mind convince me that my body wasn't ready.  Live and learn ( I hope )

Third lesson learned from this meet: I'm totally hooked.  I know I have a long way to go, but I seriously love this sport.  I'm grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to experience this.

Crappy bench session Friday Sept 26

I met Stump and Jeff at golds in Sandy.   The following all combined into making one crappy bench session:  

1.  Tired from a long day at work

2.  Recovering from a cold

3.  Lifted heavy squats and deads the day before

I just had no energy at all and felt weak.  I did a few sets of flat bench working up to 275 and it was clear that I needed to take a break.  I did a couple tricep exercises and that was it.

I'll be curious how this effects my performance at the meet next week.

Heavy squat session in AF

I'm feeling like I'm catching a little cold, but since I feel better today than yesterday, I decided to still do some squats and deads.

Squats:

Bar x 10

135 x 10

225 x 6

275 x 4

315 x 3

345 x 2

355 x 1

225 x 8

Wow, squatting felt good.  I'm not sure if the 345 and 355 were to parallel, but they were pretty damn close if they weren't.   I haven't squatted that much since I was in college ( over 20 years ago ), very cool.

Deads:

135 x 6

225 x 5

315 x 4

405 x 2

The 405 went up really easy but I was tired from squats so I didn't go up any higher today.

Dumbbell rows:

95x8

110x7

120x7 

Man the squats took everything out of me...  I'm sooo done.

I got on the scale on the way out, 285#!  Holly crap!  But my belt still fits the same.  

Tuesday speed bench

Speed bench training with Stump.    It was a pretty typical tuesday session.  12 sets of bench for 3 reps,  a few sets with just bands, a few with bands and weight and then a few with just weight.  Then I did some overhead presses not on the smith machine.  It felt pretty good, my shoulders are weak but at least they aren't bothering me anymore.  I then did some tricep extensions ( how can my triceps feel strong but my shoulders are sooo weak? ) and some face pulls ( I think doing these are helping my bench ).

We then both headed over to my house to watch "Power Unlimited".  Pretty cool movie.  Here's part of the trailer that I thought was pretty cool:

Taekwondo forms class

Even though my hips and legs were really sore from my DE squat workout yesterday, I went to Taekwondo class today.   Here are a couple forms from my warm up.

Do San

Dan Gun

Definitely not my best forms, even for just warming up.  It's hard to do taekwondo when you're thinking about powerlifting.   The class wasn't bad though.  I went on to do 2 sets of all my ITF forms, up to Ge Beak.  

Box squats and deads at Golds on 13th

Box squats ( lower box today than in the past )

On all sets I worked on being explosive up from the bottom

Just the bar x 12

135 x 6

135 plus purple bands x 3

185 plus purple bands x 3

185 plus purple bands x 3

205 plus purple bands x 3

205 plus purple bands x 3

205 (no bands from here out )x 3

225 x 3

185 x 3

185 x 3

Deads ( worked on explosiveness )

225 x 3

315 x 3, 6 sets

Dumbbell rows

95 x 10

115 x 8

125 x 7

125 x 7

95 x 8

A few seated cable rows, and a few leg curls.

I don't really care for the golds on 13th, but it seems that I have good sessions there.  On the way out, I could tell that my hips, hams, and lower back got a good workout.  315 feels really light now for deads, light enough that I could be pretty explosive with it. The squats are definitely to parallel, and I continue to feel stronger doing them.  I think Im finally figuring out the low bar placement.

Friday night heavy benching

Friday night heavy benching with Jeff, Stump, Kyle, Parker in American Fork.

Bench warmup

empty bar x 15

135x12

I decided to do Jeff's pyramid again.  It went as follows:

200x8

230x5

250x3

290x1

290x1

290x1

230x7 ( I added 2 extra since it felt like the thing to do )

Stump said he helped a little on the third single.  In the spreadsheet, this pyramid is labeled 315.  I'm not really sure what that means, but I sure would be happy getting 315 at the meet ( I think I'm close ).

I then did some overhead presses on the smith machine, dips ( URG dips!  I'm sooo weak at dips ), and face pulls.

Overall a good workout, except Kyle dumped the weight on one of his singles ( with more plates on the bar than I could count,lol.  I think it was 495 ) and he thinks he pulled his pec.  Hopefully the big guy will heal up quickly.  

ME squats and deads

Squats

135x8

135x8

225x6

275x5

295x3

315x1

315x2 ( this is a new PR with my wide-ish stance, it still could be wider though )

315x1

Deads

225x8

315x3

405x1

425x1

425x1

Then a couple seated cable rows.  

Opps, time to get back to work for a meeting.  I wanted to do more, but it's probably best anyway since last week my squat/dead workout effected my heavy bench the next day.

Its been about 5 months since I first started changing my workouts into more of a power lifting workout.  I think today represents making the transition complete.  I'm finding my self instead of thinking about "working out" its become "training".  I no longer have "chest/tris" day and "back/bicep" days, but I have "bench" days, and "squat/deadlift" days.  Its a subtle change but I feel that it's significant.  Another thing to note is that it's been about 3 months since I've done bicep curls ( like I used to do all the time on my "back/bicep" day ), but my arms have grown ( my wife has noticed it ).

DE benching

135 x 12 sets ( I think ) of 3 reps as quick as possible ( I'm still feeling like I'm slow to bring the weight down even only 135.  I'm not really sure why other than it's in my brain ).

Smith machine overhead presses.  Worked up to "205" minus whatever the smith machine subtracts.

Did super sets of face pulls and tricep cable pushes.  I'm really liking the face pulls, I think they're the reason my shoulders are getting stronger while benching.  No dips today, probably should have done some.

Then on to watching "Bigger Stronger Faster" at Stumps house.  Very cool.

DE squat workout

DE Box squats:

185 with purple bands 5 sets of 3 reps

205 with purple bands 2 sets of 3 reps

225 with purple bands 2 sets of 3 reps

205 with purple bands 2 sets of 3 reps

185 purple bands 2 sets of 3 reps

Rack pulls, 4 holes up from the bottom, ie lower than last 2 times

225 x 8

315 x 6

265 x 4

405 x 3

405 x 3

405 x 3

405 x 3  

Good mornings

135 x 3

135 x 8

185 x 7

185 x 6

225 x 4

225 x 7

225 x 6

185 x 5

135 x 8

Then a couple sets of leg curls.

Man I was dead after todays workout.  The DE squats are a killer, probably need to drop down to 2 sets each set.  I don't know why, but 3 just seemed to "feel" right so that's what I did.   

It's a shame that the golds on 13th is the only one open on sunday.  I don't like the squat rack there, it wobbles ALOT, and I feel like everybody is watching me, especially using bands and doing goodmornings. 

ME bench workout Friday Sept 12

ME bench workout with Moosie and Jeff.

I decided to do Jeff's pyramid.   I think it went something like this ( I really need to take better notes in the gym )

200x8

225x5

275x3

290x1

290x1

290x1

225x5

Since I arrived at the gym first, I had done several sets of 135 and then 225 before this pyramid.  I think that effected my performance on the singles ( they were hard ).

I then did some shoulder overhead presses on the smith machine.  I think stump is right, I need to get off the smith machine.

Then we did dips.  I really need to work the dips.  It's been a long time since I've done them, and I'm weak with them in what feels to be the same way as my bench.

Then onto some cable tricep work.

It was a good workout.  I think next ME bench workout I need to change the exercise.  I don't want to start going backwards.

ME Concentric goodmornings with coach Stump

I've been wanting to do max effort concentric goodmornings for a while, but haven't done them because I would have had to do them off the pins of the power rack  with a normal squat bar ( and my hands could get in the way ).  Stump had straps which solved this issue so I finally got to do them.  The workout went as follows ( I could be remembering some of the specifics wrong ) :

A few sets with just the bar

135 x 5

135 x 7

185 x 4

185 x 5

225 x 3

225 x 3

255 x 0 ( I know I can do this, but still have to just get used to the movement )

255 x 2

255 x 2

I can see these helping my deadlift HUGE.  As with my deads, I can see being able to do quite a bit more weight with this after I get used to the motion.

On to some squats, working on the hip flexibility and getting to parallel

Maybe 5 sets of 135 x 5 to 7.  

Stump verified that I can get to parallel.  I know the weight's light, but this is HUGE!   

We figured out that if we set the pins on the 11th hole up, when Im at parallel the bar just touches the pins.  This is really going to help my squat workouts when I'm solo since it's hard for me to know when I'm actually parallel. 

135 x 5-6  to bar touching the pins

135 x 5-6 to bar touching the pins

Ah, lets set the pin to the 10th hole then only my hands need to touch because I was finding that I had to try to move my hands out of the way before.

135 x 5 (to hands touching the pins, ie they're all essentially to parallel)

185 x 4 

185 x 4

225 x 3

225 x 3

I feel like I'm really making progress on the squats, woohoo I can get to parallel!   Reaching my short term squat goal is in sight  ( ie being able to squat 315 to parallel with good form ).

I then did a few sets of back hyperextensions.  A few with no weight and a few holding on to a 25 pound plate.

It's coming...

Ski season that is....  

Hopefully it's 2 months away.  I'm getting my 140 mm under foot fat ( ie HUGELY FAT ) powder skis ready for the season.  Hopefully it's as good as last year.

Speed bench workout

Speed bench workout with Stump.  

After warming up with just the bar, the benching went as follows:

135 for 3 quick ( quick for me that is with my 6'11" wingspan,  promise that's they last time I used that excuse ) reps, no bands today.  I lost count of number of sets but I think I probably did around 12 sets.  I think I'm not recovering enough from my squat/deads workout on Sunday/Monday ( or taekwondo ) and it's affecting my speed on this workout.  But I guess that's kind of what this is all about, pushing yourself to make your body respond.

I noticed that even with 135 on speed day, I'm slow to bring the weight down, just like I was with heavy weight last saturday.  I'm really trying to work on that on tuesdays, since hopefully it means that I won't use up all my energy lowering the weight when I bench heavy on saturday, and my 1RM will go up.  I don't know why this is so hard for me to get, but it is ( even harder then using my legs to drive which Stump emphasized to me today ).  But before I never even focused on these things, so I feel that "trying" to focus on them is an improvement in itself.  It's working, in general ( when I'm able to sleep enough ) I feel strong.  The bench is going up, the deads are going up even faster, the squats... well I'll get there eventually I'm sure.

Sorry, that got off track, back to the workout...

I then did some overhead presses on the smith machine, 4 sets of 7-9 reps with what I'd call 185 as the weight, ie the actual weight is what the smith machine subtracts, which I'm not sure what it is, and don't really care.  The "smith" machine at this gym hooks on in the opposite direction as the one down in AF that I used a few days ago.  LOL, my brain didn't like that, trying to figure out which way to twist the bar looking in the mirror.  

I then did super sets of lat pulldowns ( in front, I don't do them behind anymore ) and standing cable tricep push downs  (I need to start filling out this blog in the gym.... ) for about/probably 4 sets with the whole stack of weight.  I then did 5 sets of face pulls ( as shown on the westside barbell dvd ).  I can see these helping my weak shoulders more than the overhead smith machine presses ( which I need to cycle out of my workouts anyway since I've done them two DE bench workouts in a row ).

272# today, ie still gaining.  Free all I could eat lunch at work yesterday and  free even more than I could eat dinner at class last night seems to have helped build some mass, LOL.  Lets see the meet is about a month away, I'll probably continue with this until I get to 280 or so, and then drop down to just under 275 before the meet ( I can loose weight pretty quick when I try ).  Not that it really matters, my ultimate goal is to just be strong, but I'm curious to see if I can cycle my weight like that, and what it means to my strength.  The learning continues....

DE squats at golds on 13th

Dynamic effort box squats.  Got everything set up and did a few with just the bar, then

135 with mini bands, 5 sets of 2 quick reps ( too easy )

185 with mini bands, 4 sets of 2 quick reps ( still too easy )

135 with purple bands, 4 sets of 2 quick reps

185 with purple bands 4 sets of 2 quick reps ( I think next time I'll start here )

Assistance work: rack pulls from just below the knee

225x10

315x6

315x6

315x7 ( though about upping the weight, but then remember how I think doing this basically destroyed my DE bench workout on tuesday last week )

315x7

The rack pulls felt good, I think next time I'm going to lower the pins.  I think today it was just above my sticking point, so I'm not sure how much it's going to help my heavy deads.

Then did a few sets of leg curls.  I don't really care for the golds on 13th, but it's the only one that's close thats open on sunday.  I think the squats continue to improve, but the hips still need to get more flexible.

Saturdays' ME bench workout

Benching with Stump, Jeff, Moosie, Parker, Manny and Lindsey.

2 sets of 10 with just the bar

135x13

135x10

225x5

225x4

275x3

300x1 ( stump had to help a little )

300x1 ( still not quite, but really close, URG )

275x2 ( felt light after the 300 )

I then did 5 sets of overhead presses on the smith machine with 185, and a few sets of tricep extensions.

I was hoping to get the 300 today, it was really close, but not quite.  I think with the intensity at a meet, I would likely get it, based on how 285 felt at the last meet and the increase in my benching lately at the gym.

Overall a good workout, with the same positive energy as usual.  Good luck to everybody who's going to the meet next week.

ME Deads and some squats

Well, after two nights of pretty good sleep, I felt good enough to hit it hard again today.

ME Deads:

135x10

225x10

315x5

365x2

405x2

435x1

405x2

315x5 ( I don't really know why I did these last two, but at the time it seemed like the thing to do. )

OK, now I know what Stump means about learning how to struggle/strain ( and seeing stars after a tough lift ).  Before I started doing powerlifting workouts, if something felt too heavy from the beginning I wouldn't continue.  I'm also learning that I think my sticking point on deads is about a few inches below my knee, so that's about 3 feet off the floor, LOL just kidding.  The amazing thing is that on my last ME DL workout, I did 385, so today was 50 pounds more.  I know its only a phycological thing, but it's really cool that 405 is pretty easy now ( its easier than 315 seemed just a month ago ).

On to some squats:

135x5

135x5

225x3

225x3

275x2

275x2

On all of these I tried to keep my stance wide, toes out to the rack.  I think it's slowly getting there ( I'm closer to parallel than anybody else I see squatting at that gym ).  The weight felt pretty easy, I think once my hips/brain let me get to parallel, I could actually have a respectable squat ( especially considering how far I move the weight ).

I finished things out with 3 sets of seated cable rows, a couple sets on the leg curl machine, and some shrugs.

On my way out, I got on the scale.... 270.2.  OMG, I was trying to gain some weight, but that's more than I thought I had gained ( almost 10 pounds in 2 weeks ).  But my belt still fits the same, it must be a good thing.

Wednesday's thoughts

Its been 10 days since I went to Taekwondo class.  I'm seriously considering taking a break from it for a while.  I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it anymore.  The school is non-traditional and lately I find myself being annoyed at their horrible form technique and their sloppy sparring.  Im honestly embarrased when new potential students come into the school to watch a class.   It's also taking away from my ability to recover from my weight training workouts.  

Light bench work

My intention was to do a dynamic effort bench workout today, but my body felt drained, no energy, let alone any explosiveness.  I did maybe 6 sets of bench with 135 and the mini bands,  felt weak.  Then I did a few sets of overhead presses on the smith machine, an new shoulder exercise that Stump showed me, and then a few tricep presses.  Overall I felt drained and weak today, so I didn't push it.  Maybe I shouldn't have done the heavy-ish rack pulls yesterday.  Hopefully I'll sleep better over the next few days, and feel back to my normal weak self.

DE squat workout at Golds in St George

I was down in St. George so I decided to check out the Golds gym down there.  They have one crappy power rack, URG.  I couldn't even hook my bands to the pins because there was nothing keeping the pins from sliding out of the rack.   The workout went as follows:

12 sets of box squats, 2 quick reps with 135 with wide stance.

Rack pulls just below the knee:

225 x 5

275 x 3

315 x 3

405 x 3

405 x 3

315 x 3

I then did sets of seated cable pulls.  Then a set of dumbbell curls, yes rack pulls really do work your biceps, I could only do one set before I knew I was done.

I didn't care for the golds down here, way too much of a "fitness center" and not a weightlifting gym.  If I lived here, I'd have to find another place to lift.

Max effort bench workout with the gang at Golds in Sandy

Heavy bench workout with Stump, Kyle, Parker, and Jeff. Manny and others were there as well.  After warming up with the bar, the benching went as follows

135x10

135x10

225x5

225x5

275x3

275x3

295x1

We then went on to do board presses, 4 boards

295x4

315x3

315x3

315x3

On some of these, Kyle had to get the bar moving off the boards and then I was fine.  I think 4 boards is exactly at my sticking point ( based on this and how the 295 went without any boards ).  I'm still getting used to boards, ie changing from up to down that high up.  It seems like it shouldn't matter, but my brain says otherwise.

I then did some close grip presses with 135 and green bands with Moosie, Parker and Jeff.  LOL, they were pretty hard but I can see how it's going to make locking out heavy weight a lot easier.

I got in a few sets of shoulder presses on the smith machine with 185 ( i think my relatively weak shoulders is what's holding my bench back ).   And then a couple tricep exercises.

Overall a really good workout.  295 on the bench was a LOT easier than last time I tried it, maybe 3 weeks ago.  I really think adding the dynamic effort bench days is starting to make a difference.

We finished with some trikke riding in the parking lot.  It's been so long since I've been on mine, I kind of forgot how much fun they are.  I've got to start taking mine out more often, if nothing else it will get me ready for ski season.