Oct 5, 2009 SQUAT PR!

Oct 3, 2009

Sept 30, 2009

AAPF/APF Idaho Falls

WooHoo 400+ competition bench! (finally) Meet PR's on all three lifts too.

Sept 15 Strongman training

Sept 14

Sept 12

Sept 10

Sept 7

Sept 5

Sept 3

Strongman training Sept 1, 2009

Deadlifting Aug 31, 2009

Thursday Aug 27, 2009

Saturday heavy benching

First time squatting in my new suit

Trikke ridding in Omniture Parking lot

Tuesday night squatting

Driving Range during lunch

Strongman Tuesday night

Monday night rack pulls

Saturday raw benching

APF/AAPF meet Brigham City Utah August 1, 2009

Monday night no lifting

Instead of lifting, I just practiced my bench setup in my shirt.  I'm not making huge changes, but I want to learn how to be able to consistently set up.  In the past, sometimes it feels right, sometimes it doesn't, and I don't want that to happen at the meet.

Watching the video, it looks like to me, since my knees are so much higher than the bench, when I try to tighten my legs and glutes, it just causes my butt to raise up. I think I'm going to try moving my feet farther away from the bench, ie not wider because I can't do that, but farther away.

Last heavy session before meet

Monday night light box squats

Bench PR July 18, 2009

More overtraining thursday night

Strongman Training Tuesday Night

DE Deads

Thursday deload night

Tuesday DE bench

DE bench in AF.

Flat bench, bar + purple bands, 10 sets x 3

Tricep rope cable presses.

Monday night DE squats

MaxEffort Benching at Golds

I met Stump and Jeff for heavy benching because ripped fitness wasn't open.  I worked up to 405 with 3 boards and felt pretty strong with it.  I then did some tricep rope presses and face pulls.  I'm taking HD video now and it takes forever to upload so I'm only uploading them to youtube now.  The link to today's session is

Speed deads

Speed deads.  Did around 10 sets of singles working up to 225 plus mini bands.  Then did dumbell rows, 3 sets with the 120's.

And the boards go down...

ME benching at Ripped.  It went something like this

bar x 8

95 x 7

135 x 6

185 x 5

225 x 5

275 x 3

(shirt on )

315 x 3 3 brd

385 x 1 3 brd

405 x 1 2 brd

Wooo Hoo, I think I'm learning to how to use the shirt a little better to get me through my sticking points.  I still got stuck a little on the 405, but it's getting better.  Before I was happy to just get it off 4 boards and today I was stronger off 2 boards.  I'm happy with my bench progress.

Rack lockouts with the pins really low

315 x 5

315 x 5

315 x 4

I need to start doing these at this height,  It's a completely different exercise from when I usually do them.

Here's a video...

Max Effort Thursday night

Max effort night, I choose to do rack pulls. I've changed my workout. Monday night is always DE squats, Tuesday is DE bench and strongman events, Thursday is max effort squats/deads/goodmornings, Saturday ME bench. And so it has been decided. Tonight I worked up to 565 which I fail on. I wasn't feeling the best today because of my allergies and the allergy medicine that I took. It kind of made me feel like crap, but such is life.

Yoke walk PR!

Yoke walk PR!  Tonight I did 583 for the whole 50 feet without stopping.  It felt relatively easy.  Russ said it took me like 12 seconds, but it felt like an eternity, lol.

Tuesday DE bench

DE benching in AF.  They're building walls in the gym, kind of annoying.

10 sets x 3 with 135.  I forgot my bands

Tricep rope press downs

Face pulls.

Dell Taco.

Monday night DE squats

DE box squats.  Worked up to 315 plus purple bands choked around the bottom.  I'm much less parallel with the same "box", my glutes and hams must be getting bigger.  I went to a lower box and lost all explosiveness, but it was toward the end of the session too.  I'll start using the lower box, I didn't realize how high it was until I video-ed.  But lance said my max effort squat was basically parallel so I'm not all that worried about it.  I'll be good for September's meet.

Adductor/abductor work with bands.

Leg curl machine.

Rolling thunder one arm deads, no PR was feeling tired by then.

Thursday rack pulls, saturday nothing

Thursday:

Rack pulls at Golds.  Just below the knee.  I worked up to 535.

Dumbbell rows the the 150's.

Saturday:

Nothing, out of town, ready for a break anyway.

Squat PR!!!

Wow, I got a squat PR monday night.  AND Lance said it was like a 1/4 inch high, so it's probably good in the AAPF, lol.

Squats:

bar x 5

145 x 5

235 x 4

325 x 1

415 x 1

505 x 1

525 x 1

The 505 was high, but the 525 wasn't or at most it was millimeters high.

3 reps on leg curl machine

3 sets of pull throughs

2 sets seated calf raises

2 sets wrist roller

Very cool, I'm happy with the PR.  If my squats continue like this, I think it's possible I'll squat and dead 550+ at the next meet, and hopefully bench 400+.  So a 1500+ total is not out of the question.  That would be pretty cool.

Saturday max effort benching

flat bench with monster mini bands.  Raw worked up to 245 and 295 shirted.  I measured the bands at the top for me are about 160 pounds and about 100 at the bottom. 

Thursday DE deads

9 sets deads with mini bands on jump stretch platform.  Up to 205 + mini bands.

seated cable rows with rolling thunder grip

Wrist roller.

Tuesday's training

Morning:

DE bench, purple only bands 10 sets of 3.

Tricep rope press downs, 3 sets didn't keep track of the weight

Evening:

Strongman training.  

800 pound tire flip:  I did it 3 times relatively quickly, not sure of the time though.  Looking back I kind of gave up and should have done the 4th flip.  Oh well.  Last fall I could only do it once.

Yoke walk:

350-ish ( or whatever it is ), easy

550-ish ( or whatever it exactly is? ) did 50 feet pretty easily, ie I was sure I was going to get it.  Russ didn't time me, I kind of wish he had.  It was by no means fast, but I don't think it took me all that long either.

630 pounds.  Easy to pick it, but really hard to walk with it.  It started moving side to side and then I felt like my hips weren't under me right so I set it down.  I don't know maybe 8 feet.  It was way harder than the 603 last week.

here's a video where I discuss some of my thoughts...

DE box squats

Box squats with mini bands

225 x 3

225 x 3

225 x 3

225 x 3

225 x 3

275 x 2

275 x 2

275 x 2

275 x 2

275 x 2

225 x 2

225 x 2

Grip work.  wrist roller, rolling thunder

3 sets on leg curl machine.

Here's the video...

Thoughts on training now that Snowbird has closed

Some thoughts on training now that snowbird has closed and starting strongman training...

Max effort benching

Flat bench with straight weight

bar x 8

135 x 5

225 x 5

275 x 5

(shirt on)

365 x 1 4brd

405 x 1 4brd

415 x 1 3brd

Tricep cable push downs

I was pretty happy with my benching.  the 405 was easy and the 415 felt good.  I really worked on tucking, maybe I'm starting to get it, it felt really good today.  I think raw is going to take a little longer to learn to tuck, but with in the shirt I think I'm doing pretty good.

Here's the entire video that I post to my youtube account...

Thursday night heavy deads

Deadlifts

135 x 7

225 x 6

315 x 3

405 x 1

495 x 1

535 x 0 miss, not surprised after adding in the strongman training tuesday night

Below is a video.

Dumbbell rows

130 x 8

150 x 5

110 with 2" handle x 5

pull throughs, whole stack ( ie 150 ) 3 sets of 8.

That's it, finished.

Not a bad session.  I would have liked to go higher with the deadlifts but I'm not surprised my body said no tonight with everything else I've been doing like the strongman training ( which I really want to continue but I've got to figure out the best way to do that ).

Tuesday night strongman training in AF

We did the yoke walk.  I did 350-ish EASY, then did 480-ish pretty EASY, and then tried 603, here's the video...

Man, pretty hard, but they all said it was really good for my first time trying.  

I could only stay for doing the farmers walk once with what I think was about 140 pounds on each side.  Piece of cake.  Russ said I had good technique and would not change anything.  Wow, a lot different than benching, lol.

Tuesday DE bench

DE bench in AF

12 sets x 3 with only purple bands.

Tricep rope push downs/face pulls.

A guy there was asking about my bands and wanted to try it to see what it felt like.  I've seen him there before, he can bench 315.  He asked how much "weight" were the bands, and I said it was about 125 per band at the top ( top for me ).  He wanted to try it, I said i'd spot him because it will feel really unstable.  I told him.  I lifted off for him, the bar wobbled all over and basically went right down to his chest.  It didn't just fall, I mean he was pressing it, so he wasn't going to get hurt but I think it really surprised him.  I said I liked how bands kind of mix it up and keeps you from adapting.  I think he got the benefit of it, he asked me where to buy some bands.

ME squats

ME squats with reverse bands

warm up ( straight weight )

bar x 8

bar x 8

135 x 6

reverse bands

315 x 3

405 x 2

495 x 1

585 x 1

The point was for me to get used to just holding the weight, ie I didn't care all that much about hitting parallel.  Anyway, the weight felt light.  Here's the 585

More grip work.  I got 180 pounds on the rolling thunder on my right hand.  Very cool.

Height check, ie too BIG for front door.

6'8" ( actually a little over ) 330 pounds and time to get a bigger/taller door/house.

DE deads and grip work

DE deadlifts with doubled over mini bands

8 sets of 2 with weight ranging from 185 to 205 plus about 200 in band tension at the top.  I was feeling pretty good with these.  I know I don't look fast, but I've got a long way to move the weight too.  I think my hips are staying down slightly longer, which is what I want, so I'm happy.

A few sets of pull throughs.  I think these are helping.

Grip work:

Rolling thunder just barely missed 180

Grip machine with 4 plates

Wrist roller

And then I tried plate hub pinch lifts.  I hadn't tried these before, but I could a 45 pound plate, woo hooo!  Very cool.

I think it's getting better

DE bench in AF. I'm continuing my experiement with doing only bands, no weight.

12 sets of purple bands only x 3

These felt really good today, even after squatting yesterday. My grip/forearm training must be working. The jury is still out about doing bands only for DE bench, but I did feel unusually explosive today.

Tricep rope presses. Several sets with entire stack + 45 pound plate.

Face pulls. Several sets with entire stack.

I felt really really good today, explosive and strong.

Monday Skiing in the morning, Squatting in the evening

Skiing

Today was the last day Mineral Basin is going to be open, and since yesterday was raining but today was pretty clear and sunny, I had to go up to ski in the morning.  It was decent, I could still ski to the bottom of the tram, but I'm guessing this will be the last weekend that's possible.  Mineral Basin was really good, lots of snow, I'm wondering why they're closing it down.  Even with SPF 50, it looks like I got yet another sunburn though. 

Training at Golds on 13th

Squats:

bar x 7

135 x 6

225 x 6

315 x 4

405 x 2

495 x 1

This was by far the easiest I've done 495 raw.  The weight felt really light tonight.

Rack pulls a few inches below the knee:

315 x 8

405 x 5

495 x 3

545 x 1

585 x 0.5 miss.  I pulled a callous off my hand, URG

495 x 3

Dumbell rows

125 x 8

125 x 8

125 x 8

125 x 8

Man these felt REALLY light tonight.

Body weight's at 335, but I'm not sure how accurate their scale is.  Usually I weigh myself at ripped.

2 PR's Thursday night at Ripped

SSB + rack pulls

135 bottom 145 top x 6

225 bottom 145 top x 5

315 bottom 145 top x 3

365 bottom 145 top x 2 (PR)

365 bottom 145 top x 1

365 bottom 165 top miss

365 bottom 145 top x 1

One arm deads with rolling thunder grip

105 x 3 right and left

145 x 3 right and left

170 x 2 right ( PR )

145 x 2 right and left

Few sets on the wrist roller 

Driving range during lunch

I decided to go to the driving range during lunch and see how it felt to swing a club again ( there's one right down the street from Omniture ). Not too bad, I've lost some flexibility which I'm sure will be easy to get back if I work on it. After warming up, I could hook and slice , but couldn't control how much, and pretty much hit one straight when I wanted to. It looked like my longest drive was in the 260-275 yard range. Not bad for not having touched a club for about 2 years, and for a club that's too short for me. My right forearm/elbow is a little sore, but I think that may be more from my grip training than the driver.

Captains of Crush #2

I got my CoC #2 and #2.5 gripper yesterday. I closed #2 after 3 tries, but then couldn't do it again. I didn't try the #2.5. So, I now know where I'm at and have the right ones to train with. I'm curious how long it will take to close the 2.5.

DE bench

Warmup:

bar x 8
bar x 8

DE benching ( urg, my usual bench is broken, the one I had to use was SHORT )

mini's only x 3
mini's only x 3
mini's only x 3
6 sets of purple only x 3

Since I wasn't feeling I was making any progress with becoming explosive by what I was doing, I decided to do bands only, no weight. As long as my joints don't feel stressed, I'm going to do this for the next few DE sessions to see how it goes. But it felt good today, and I think even with the purple bands I was prettty quick and getting close to explosive.

Tricep rope press downs, 5 sets with whole stack + 35 pounds.

Dumbell rows
125 x 8
140 x 5
140 x 5

face pulls, 5 sets of 12 with whole stack.

Body weight back down to 322, time to eat a ton of food, lol.

I felt really strong today, probably partially because I slept better than usual last night.

Monday night DE squats

DE box squats, straight weight

bar x 8

135 x 3

135 x 3

225 x 3

275 x 2

275 x 2

275 x 2

315 x 2

315 x 2

275 x 2

225 x 2

Based on how things felt tonight, I think my max squat is probably around 530.

A few sets on leg curl machine.

Wrist roller, and grip machine.

I then maxed out on the one hand deadlift with rotating grip, the rolling thunder grip. I got 168 pounds on my right hand and 152 pounds on the left ( I think my crooked left thumb from being broken may limit me on this with my left hand, maybe not ). Cool, I know where I'm at, and it's considerably more than the first time I tried it on a saturday a while ago when Brad said "hey Brian try to pick this up". Only another hundred pounds and I'll be close to a record, lol. Actually I can eventually getting there.

My body weight was at 327 pounds, and it's not fat ( mostly ).

Beyond spring skiing

I was able to make it up to Snowbird Sunday to enjoy the warm temps, sunny skies and slushy snow. I would say it was spring skiing, but it's beyond that now. Skiing down to the bottom of the tram is now considered back country. The bridge is now completely snowless, and now there's just barely enough snow to ski to where I like to park. I'm guessing there's may be one more weekend of being able to ski back down, after that it's riding the tram back down. The skiing was great today though.

The antics on the tram were fun (as always). My second ride up, I guess people were being unusually slow and the tram operator was telling people to hurry up ( not me though, he knows I'm always last ). Then this guy goes, "there's the enforcer ( talking about me, LOL ), he'll get everybody pushed back into the tram". Just to be clear, I'm NEVER a jerk getting on the tram, but I do like being last on ( it's my spot ), and I do make sure people move back ( as they're supposed to), but now I'm known as the enforcer, lol. OK, yes I kind of like it.

While riding up, this guy next to me started asking me tons of questions: You don't see big guys like you up here on the ski hill ( he's right it seems most skiers are little skinny guys ), you ever break your bindings off your skis? I'm surprised you float in the powder on those, ( I replied that although they're powder skis ( my 105mm's ) they aren't *my* powder skis, my powder skis are 140 mm under foot. ) "How much do you weigh? (330) What team did you play for?" ( I played golf in high school, although I'm pretty sure he wasn't asking about high school. )... LOL.

In talking to him though, I did have a thought, I bet with my added muscle mass and strength I could drive the crap out of a golf ball, but I bet with the right driver ( which I don't have, my clubs are too short ) I could really drive one FAR. I may have to try sometime.

Max effort benching at Ripped

Flat bench straight weight:

bar x 8

85 x 6

135 x 6

185 x 5

225 x 5

275 x 3

315 x 1

put shirt on

365 3 boards x 1

385 4 boards x 1

405 4 boards x 1 miss

405 4 boards x 1 less of a miss

405 4 boards x 1

Although I didn't get all the 405 attempts, I'm feeling much more confortable holding the weight. I'm still super slow on the way down, but I'm seriously wondering if that hurts me that much, especially since when I try to let it come down faster I loose strength.

More grip work, grip machine and wrist roller. Tricep press downs.

some videos

Last raw warmup set, benching 315 x 1. I know, I know I'm not explosive, I'm starting to wonder if I should care, or it's just how all 6'8" guys would bench ( if there were any others, lol). I know my technique is nowhere near perfect, but although I lift my left toes off the ground, I can see my leg drive now, which used to be non existent.

Loading up the grip machine ( I'm liking all the grip work lately )

Deadlifts

Deadlifts:


135 x 6 225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 1
495 x 1
535 x .75 ( maybe about 5 - 6" from locking it out )
535 x .5 ( urg, it seems like with deads I never get a missed 1st attempt on the second attempt )

I'm not happy with my deadlifts. It seems from talking to others, my deadlift technique is closer to right than my bench technique ( I'm not really sure I agree ), but benching is progressing and deadlifting is not. I think part of it is that my technique is never going to look like other people because I'm taller than most ( if not all ) powerlifters an my arms are probably a foot longer than most powerlifters. Oh well.



Dumbell rows
130 x 6
150 x 4
130 x 6
These felt really light, I think mostly because the grip work I've been doing. I used to have a hard time keeping a good hold on the 150's, that wasn't an issue in the slightest today.

Couple sets of CGM with the SSB
Couple sets of pull throughs.


I got my Captains of Crush #1 gripper. It's pretty easy to close, even after heavy deads. Here's a video...

DE bench and some more grip fun stuff

Warmup:
bar x 8
bar x 8

DE bench:
3 sets mini's only x 3
3 sets 135 + mini's x 3
3 sets 135 x 3

I don't know if I'm anymore explosive, but I'm trying. Hopefully I'll get there someday.

Supersets of triceps, face pulls, and standing pulldowns in from with arms straight ( whatever that's called, ie the exercise stump showed me a while ago ).

Then on to some more grip work. I can pick up pinched 35's, at least I could today. I'm liking this grip strength stuff.

Max effort squats and some grip work

Squats with reverse bands

225 x 6

315 x 5

405 x 3

495 x 1

575 x 1

Wow, that's the first time I've had that much weight on my back.  It wasn't all that bad, taxing but it felt really good.

Grip roller, worked up to a TON of weight, LOL.  Like 5 plates.  Pretty much maxed out on the other grip thingy that I need to learn what to call it.  I'm really enjoying this grip work, and my forearms feel perfect even after holding 575 on my back ( which before I started doing the grip work anything over 445 or so would bother my forearms ).

Sunday spring skiing

More spring skiing on Sunday at Snowbird.  There's still lots of snow, judging on how things went last year I'd say there's enough snow to stay open at least until the beginning of June.

Benching with Stump and Hefe at Golds

For a change of pace, I decided to bench with Stump and Hefe at Golds, and had a great time.

Flat bench:

bar x 8

bar x 8

135 x 7

135 x 7

225 x 5

275 x 3

(shirt on )

350 4 brd x 4

365 4 brd x 3

405 4 brd x 1

I was happy with my benching especially since I didn't want to go 100% today, and I didn't but am still making gains, ie I've never done 405 except when doing rack lockouts and it felt relatively easy, easier than the 395 last week. I like lifting with both Stump and Jeff they're good guys and gave me some good advice today.

Accessory work

Tricep stuff, face pulls, nothing special. I actually felt pretty strong today, surprising since I felt like poop yesterday.

Spring skiing at Snowbird.

After benching and lunch, I went up to snowbird to enjoy the snow and warm weather. I love this time of year in Utah, warm temps but still lots of snow in the mountains. It was close to 60 at 10,000 feet, and with all that snow on the ground it makes it feel like 100. I skied in my westside tank top to work on my tan, lol.

DE deads at ripped

warmup
135 x 7
135 x 7

Speed deadlifts:
8 sets with 135 + mini bands doubled over x 3

More grip/forearm work.

The workout was much harder than it should have been, and I'm not feeling the best today (friday). I hope I'm not getting sick.

DE bench in AF

flat bench

bar x 8
bar x 8
9 sets of 135 x 3

Today I really focused on trying to arch more, sticking my belly up, and starting the press off my chest first with driving my heals into the floor ( something which I don't do very well ). I think all of these things will increase my max bench, especially when shirted.

Dumbell rows
115 x 8
125 x 7
140 x 6

Superset of tricep presses/face pulls.

URG, even with all the eating I've done, the skiing on sunday and squatting on monday has dropped my body weight down to 320. Im starting to think that I'll never stay above 320, as I'm not going to stop doing any non powerlifting activities to just keep my weight up. Maybe I'm worrying about the bodyweight too much, but in the past there's been a pretty good correlation between my body weight increase and my lifts increasing.

Sunday and Monday night at ripped fitness

Sunday:

Spring skiing up at snowbird. Gadzoom & Peruvian are closed so now I can ride the tram again. I love riding the tram. It was pretty much cloudy, but in May it doesn't take sunshine for spring skiing snow. But at 18 until 350 I'm much to heavy for my 105mm under foot skis.

Monday night at ripped:

SSB DE box squats, I wanted to stay rather light

bar x 3
bar x 3
145 x 3
145 x 3
195 x 3
195 x 3
235 x 3
235 x 3
235 x 3
235 x 3
145 + mini x 3
145 + mini x 3

supersets of leg curl machine and leg extension machine

I've been doing lots of grip/forearm work on squat days because apparently my forearms are a weak spot for squatting. But today was the first time I really maxed out on any of these. I put 3 plates and a quarter on the wrist roller thing, and about the same on the other grip thingy that I don't know the name of.

Getting close to 400 pound bench

Benching at rippped

bar x 6

bar x 6

95 x 6

135 x 6

185 x 3

225 x 3

275 x 1

315 3brd x 1

365 3brd x 1

385 3brd x 1

395 3brd x 1  ( cj put his hand on the bar because mike dumped one right before this he said he didn't help ).

Here's the video of the 395

I was pretty taxed after this, so nothing else today.  Wow, two decent ME bench sessions in a row.

couple pictures

Me at 320 pounds

SSB workout

SSB work.  Worked up to the above.

Then supersets of dumbell rows, grip roller, and the other grip thingy at ripped.

DE bench in AF

DE benching

Bar x 3
mini + bar x 3
mini + bar x 3
6 sets 135 + mini x 3

I stopped because my bicep tendon was hurting from the mishap yesterday.

Supersets of face pulls/tricep press downs with rope.

Lat pulldowns in front

Monday night squatting

Wrist roller, several sets with more weight than I've ever done before ( not sure how much though )

Squats:

bar x 8
135 x 7
135 x 7
225 x 4
315 x 3
405 x 1
495 x 1

Although it's not a PR, the 495 felt easier than it ever has before, and Lance verified that it was below parallel.  ( He also gave me a really nice complement saying something like I'm the strongest tall guy around. ) I should have been videoing my 495 squat. I probably could have gone up to 545 and given that a try, but I wanted to make sure my forearms didn't hurt afterward. But I think all the forearm/grip work I've been doing has made a difference, as well as squatting with wrist wraps. Next heavy squat session hopefully I'll try 545.


Finished up with several sets on leg curl machine.

ME benching

ME benching at Ripped Fitness.  We did flat bench with monster mini bands.  Scott estimated that the bands add about 150 ( for me ) at the top.  ( I'm guessing it maybe slightly more than that ).

Benching went like this ( from memory )

bar x 8

bar x 8

bands only x 5

85 + bands x 5

135 + bands x 5

185 + bands x 3

225 + bands x 1 ( didn't get it, but close )

225 + bands x 1 ( closer yet )

225 + bands x 1 ( basically got it.  Mike touched the bar, but IMHO he didn't need to )

225 + bands 5 boards x 4

245 + bands 5 boards x 3

245 + bands 5 boards x 3

255 + bands 5 boards x 2 but mike helped a lot

Here's a video of one of my 245 + bands 5 boards x 3...

Pin press lockouts:

315 x 5

405 x 3

425 x 1

455 x 0 ( crap, sooooo close!  I think this would have been a PR. )

Here's a video of my 425 x 1

Finished up with some tricep work.

Overall a much, much better bench session than last week.  The monster mini bands can kind of take you by surprise in a way.  They look so small, but man they added a lot, a lot more than my mini bands do.

Deadlift workout

Deadlifting at Ripped. It was a long day at work today so I just took my time working up to 495 and stopped. I probably should have done a DE workout instead, as this wasn't really max effort either.

My hips were still a little sore from squatting on monday. Hmm, maybe it's time for another chiro adjustment.

Dumbell rows
110 x 7
140 x 4
130 x 6
120 x 7

A few sets on the wrist roller and a few pulldowns ( bar in front ).

Body weight is at 320 pounds. Hmm, I didn't feel like I was gaining

Tuesady DE benching in AF

It felt a little weird lifting at golds in AF again. I hadn't lifted there since the layoff email from Move Networks.

It was a pretty typical DE bench workout...

3 sets of 135 x 3
6 sets of 135 + mini bands doubled x 3


A few sets of tricep press downs with the rope and face pulls.

Sunday and Monday

Spring Skiing Sunday.

It was probably 60F up at 9000 feet on sunday. Skiing was great, but on the way home, they were stopping cars in the canyon and telling them to go back up the hill. They said the hill was unstable and it was going to be closed until temps cooled off. I bought some potato chips at general grits and sat on my tail gate and started eating them enjoying the sunshine, when these guys across the street said "hey you want a hambuger?" I said sure and walked over. The one guy said "hey, I know you, you're the guy with the flaming hat ( my westside barbell hat ), I saw you skiing little cloud on thursday" and he handed me a PBR. LOL, I'm famous. I ended up hanging out with them until the road opened, it was pretty fun, I hope I see them up there again sometime.

Monday.
My first day at Omniture. Spent the majority of the day orientation.

Squat training at Ripped Fitness.

I wanted to give my forearms a break so I decided to do SSB box squats. I still dont understand why my forearms hurt after squatting heavy. Pulling even heavier doesn't bother them. Go figure...

SSB box squats
bar x 7
bar x 7
145 x 6
145 x 6
195 x 4
235 x 3
285 x 2
315 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
335 x 1

The SSB kicks my butt and is much harder than normal back squats, but then again I did ski yesterday. Actually, I just looked back in my log and this was 20 pounds more than I did last time I tried them, so I guess I'm not doing SO bad.

A few sets on the leg extension and leg curl machine.

Deadlift workout at Ripped

Scott showed me these ( not sure what to call them )

They went like this..

135 top 135 bottom x 5

135 top 225 bottom x 4

145 top 225 bottom x 3

145 top 275 bottom x 2

145 top 315 bottom x 1

145 top 315 bottom x 1

Stopped here because it was the first time I've done them and didn't want to over do it.]

5 sets of pull throughs

dumbell rows

100 x 8

120 x 7

140 x 7

Thursday morning powder

Snowbird got 2 feet of snow in the last two days, so I decided to go up first thing in the morning and track it up.  It was really really good and could be the last powder day of the season.

Some videos of my lifts at AAPF nationals, April 6 2009

Squatting 465

Benching 368

Deadlifting 530

Squatting after skiing this morning

Box squats..

bar + green bands x 3

135 + green bands x 3

185 + green bands x 3

225 + green bands x 3

275 + green bands x 2

315 + green bands x 1

365 + green bands x 1

365 + green bands x 1

275 + green bands x 3

275 + green bands x 3

The green bands add at least 140 pounds at the top of my squat, so that's 505 at the top.  Not bad after skiing earlier today.

A few sets on leg curl machine and lots of grip work on wrist roller ( which seems to make my forearms feel better after squatting ).

Thursday, Saturday and Monday morning

Last Thursday...  Deadlift/core work.  Concentric good mornings with SSB.  Pull throughs, etc.

Saturday... ME bench.  I now realize the importance of having the same person help with the shirt.  I never quite got it feeling right and kind of had a crappy bench session.  The sleeve slipped a little when doing 365 and it felt horrible.

Monday morning... Spring skiing at the bird.  I skied on my racing skis because last time I went up my powder skis were too dull for the hard groomed.  Today, off trail in mineral basin looked really good, but my racing skis sucked in it.  I love my fat powder skis, but I really need to find an all around good ski since my fat powder skis really suck on the groomed ( and they bother my hips skiing on them on the groomed, getting old sucks ).

Monday spring skiing in Mineral basin

Snowbird has gotten 12 feet of snow in the last 12 days.  The season total is up to 577" so it looks like they'll have enough to stay open through May, hopefully longer.

I went up Monday, all the powder had turned in to pretty crappy stiff/crusty cement, but in Mineral basin the south facing groomed runs was a really nice soft slush, perfect for my powder skis.  I didn't ski much because I was pretty drained from the meet, but it was awesome to be up in the mountains with all that snow, sunshine and warm temps.

AAPF National in Idaho Falls

I wasn't really expecting too much at this meet, since I've been pretty stressed out lately, and I didn't sleep much at all the 3 nights before the meet since Josh doesn't sleep well when we're away from home )

Squat 210 kilos ( they were red lighting everybody on squats )

Bench 160 kilos ( 368 pounds, pretty much smoked it, probably could have done 15-20 pounds more )

Dead 240 kilos ( 529 pounds,  4 pound PR)

Total 610 kilos = 1345 pounds

Light speed bench workout

I did a light speed bench workout at Ripped fitness today.

10 sets of flat bench 135 x 3

A few sets of tricep push downs

I'm not really feeling all that prepaired for the meet.  The job hunt/interviews are pretty stressful and it's been affecting my training.  Perhaps after 5 days of rest, I'll be ready for the meet.

I had another interview with the local company yesterday.  I met with 5 different people 30-45 minutes each.  Lots of technical questions, some involving writing code on the white board, some solving logic questions.  It ended with meeting with one of the VP's.  The HR person said this would probably be the last interview.  I felt like it went pretty good.  One of the engineers said he really liked my answers and that I had though of some things that nobody else had mentioned when answering his standard interview question.  The VP guy also said "good answer" to a few of my responses.  The other people where harder to read, I had a small bug in my code for one of the questions, but IMHO this is kind of expected writing things out on the white board, I doubt he thought it was much of an issue as it was obvious I knew the answer to his question.  They said that I should hear from them in the next couple days.  I really hope it works out it seems like a great place to work, and I feel I'm a really good fit for the job.

Monday Morning

Waist deep powder up at Snowbird.

Last heavy benching before the meet

I left for Charleston, SC Thursday, I didn't get there until midnight, and had an interview at 8AM and flew back to SLC friday afternoon, arriving home well after midnight.  So, I wasn't sure how the benching would go after being pretty tired from sitting in a little plane for so long, but it wasn't a bad bench session.

We did reverse bands, but could only find one blue band, so we did green bands with purple bands.  I believe it was slightly less tension than the blue bands.  

I should add that when I do these with the group, the bands are set pretty low for me, as they completely deload about half way up my press.  I guess it's good for working my lockout, but the bands help me much less than other people.

From memory the benching went like this...

135 x 10

225 x 8

275 x 5

315 x 3

365 x 1

405 x 0 miss

385 x 1  russ touched the bar, but not much

385 x 1  russ touched the bar, but I think even less than the first time

385 x 1  same thing, but it didn't help much ( I probably should have said don't touch it )

365 x 1

315 x 6

I then did some tricep accessory work.

Last time we did reverse bands, I got 405, but I think the blue bands helped more than the bands we used today.  I could be wrong, I hope not.  I don't feel like I'm getting weaker, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised with all this job hunting/interviewing stress.

About the job hunt.  The company in Charleston didn't make me an offer while I was there, however I think they will.  I got the feeling from the contractor guy who interviewed me that it was just a formality.  I didn't really get much of a feeling from the government guy, he was harder to read, he didn't want to eat lunch with us, and I gave him a copy of my resume and he gave it back to me at the end of the interview (I've never had anybody do that before, and I'm not sure if there's any meaning behind it or not).  I have another round of interviews at Omniture on Monday.  I'm meeting with 5 more people.  They seem to take pride in the fact that they are thorough in their interview process. 

Deload squat session

Squats

Bar x 8

Bar x 7

135 x 7

225 x 6

135 + green bands x 3

225 + green bands x 3

275 + green bands x 2

275 + green bands x 3

275 + green bands x 3

225 + green bands x 3

225 + green bands x 3

225 + green bands x 3

A few sets on the leg curl machine.

Not the best bench session

I've been pretty stressed out about the job search, so I'm not too surprised that I felt weak today.

Flat bench with Mike

bar x 10

135 x 8

185 x 8

225 x 5

275 x 3

(put shirt on)

345 x 1

345 x 1

355 x 1 not sure how much Mike helped

365 x 1 miss

Overall, I felt like crap today.  But it seems that 2 weeks out from a meet I always feel like crap.

I thought about doing some pin press lockouts, but I didn't see the point.  My body clearly wasn't wanting to bench press to day.

I did a few sets of tricep cable presses.

I'm going to Charleston this week for an interview with the company that I used to work for.  Life is confusing lately.

Thursday thoughts

I went skiing today.  I often feel like I'm the luckiest man alive when I go skiing.  Today wasn't different in that respect, but I couldn't help feeling like I'm the luckiest man alive, AND even in this horrible time of unemployment, I couldn't help but feel thankful for everything.  I'm thankful for my old skiing buddies who taught me to ski ( Todd, Corry, Mike, and later Danno ).  I'm thankful for the experiences that I've had, and the things I've been able to learn that has enabled me to be able to write software and support my family.  I'm thankful to Chris and Jody who very indirectly helped me to become a really, really, really good c++ programmer.  I'm thankful for everybody I've meet powerlifting ( Stump, Mike, Kyle, Russ, C.J,  Brad, Scott ) because for some reason, not completely clear to me, I feel that powerlifting is something I need to be doing, and they've all helped me out a lot.  I'm thankful to my wife Becky, because she completes me and has made me a better person.  I'm thankful to God for letting me experience everything I have.

On the needing to powerlift comment....  Today, while up on the ski hill, I couldn't help but feel that its because powerlifting needs to become a replacement for skiing, because my job search is going to take me away from Utah.  Although I don't want to move away, I've had only a couple local companies seem interested in my skills, but today my previous employer in Charleston called me about a couple of jobs they have open, and I must say, it felt right.  I loved my job back there, and always did even when my wife and I decided to move to Utah.   And I think for some reason the whole powerlifting thing was revealed to me last year as a replacement for skiing for when I eventually have to move away from Utah ( which I'm feeling might have to happen ).  Even as much as I love skiing, today on the ski hill I realized I'm fine with it.  I love skiing, and always will, and Snowbird without a doubt has the best powder skiing and terrain in the country, and I've had some incredible days up there skiing in amazingly deep snow on some incredible terrain, but for the most part I end up doing it alone.  I love it, but it's also very isolating.  Powerlifting is obviously an individual sport, but I've met some great people doing it, and I never feel alone ( even at the meet in Arizona ).  I haven't met many people skiing ( well, just one really ) and quite honestly, I'm kind of tired of the attitude of most skiers up at Snowbird.   Anyway, I don't want to move, but maybe it's time to move on.  I love powerlifting with all my heart, and even though I'll miss the people I've met here, I can do powerlifting anywhere.

Wednesday night deadlifting

Deads,

135 x 8

225 x 6

315 x 4

405 x 1

495 x 1

( Got it easy but felt really tired, not recovered from squatting monday night, so... )

405 x 2

315 x 3

done.

I was hoping for more, but I was done.  Everybody says I'm built to pull, but why is my dead stalling and my squat increasing?

dumbell rows

120 x 5

120 x 5

120 x 5

(obviously I'm not myself today, the 120's were hard )

Various grip work

Another DL workout that wasn't what I was hoping for, URG.

Monday night heavy squatting

Squats

bar x 8

bar x 7

135 x 6

225 x 6

315 x 2

tried squatting in my DL suit

405 x 1 hated it

put squat suit on

455 x 1

495 x 1

( Boy seeing it written down make it seem soo easy, but tonight was pretty taxing, although with my new grip, my forearms feel great. )

3 sets on Leg curl

3 sets of pull throughs

I had an interview today.  One of the guys who got laid off in the first round recommended me to his current company.  They called me on friday and I had an interview today.  The interview was with the HR Technical Recruiter and consisted of a few logic questions, which I answered correctly, and then we talked about the position and my background.  It sounds like an awesome job and I'm a great fit.  I have a second interview this friday!!

Saturday shirt benching

Flat benching, straight weight with Mike

bar x 10

135 x 8

185 x 6

225 x 7

275 x 2

(put shirt on)

315 x 1 ( way high, the shirt wasn't on right )

335 x 1 3 boards

345 x 1 3 boards

345 x 1 2 boards

365 x 1 no boards  barely touched, I brought it down slightly low to force it to touch. I was slow to lock out but I think with less volume/more rest before this attempt I would have easily gotten it.

rack lockouts 

315 x 10

405 x 5

405 x 5

flat bench with chains and 35's hanging from bands

set of 8

set of 4 

it was obvious I was finished for today

ME deads

Well, I was feeling tired from all the job hunting stress, so I wasn't sure how things would go.  I guess it wasn't all that bad, but not what I was hoping for....

Deadlifts

135 x 8

135 x 8

225 x 7

315 x 5

365 x 2

401 x 1

455 x 1

495 x 1

545 x 0 miss ( being stupid I didn't have my hands even, the weight was lopsided which threw me off so I missed it. STUPID! )

545 x 0 miss ( URG, this should be easy weight, but I think I was too quick with my setup, raised my hips too soon, and missed it.  CRAP! )

545 x 0 miss ( my body clearly had enough volume.  Shoot, I should have gotten both the first and second attempt, but I was being stupid and at this point I was just plain done.  URG, kind of disappointing. )

Bumbbell rows

120 x 9

( nick has the 140's.. )

130 x 7

130 x 6

130 x 6

Wrist roller thingy I don't know the weight

4 sets

2" handle one arm deadlifts

150x 1

150x1

150x1

Russ suggested that I do some deads with the bar where you stand inside with the weight out to the side ( not sure what you call it )

265 x 5

265 x 5

265 x 5

I really like these in that it feels like deadlifts but it's different enough so I can see my body not adapting to it.  I'll definitely do these for max effort some time.

The grip builder machine ( that I don't know what to call )

3 sets of 25 not sure of the weight but I think there was 4 35's on it.

It was a great workout, other than missing attempts that I should have gotten.  Man Russ is the pulling machine, and a great workout partner.  

I hope I don't have to move away from Utah to find a job.  I seem to be getting much more response from companies outside of Utah, unfortunately.  It's very sad because I love living here and don't want to move.  The companies around here have told me that I have too much experience ( even though they also said I was a perfect fit for the job ).  I've also been told from another company that I was a perfect fit, but they wouldn't hire me because Move Networks was paying me more money.  URG, you've got to be kidding me.  I took a risk with a start up company ( Move Networks ), so they paid me more because their benefits weren't all that great, and I get dinged for it.  I don't get it.  But I've been talking to companies in Huntsville, AL,  Las Vegas, New Jersey, Wisconson, Iowa, New York,... and they all seem very interested in my background.  But most of the companies around here either say I'm over qualified ( I don't understand why they don't view this as that they're getting more than what they're paying for ) or that they're looking for 10 specific things and I only have 9 ( and they don't value somebody's ability to learn new technology, which is something I have a proven track record of being really good at ). 

I had another local company tell me that they wouldn't consider me because I didn't have the background they were looking for, but I've had over 10 years experience with everything they listed on their job listing.

Another local company told me that they wouldn't consider me because they were looking for somebody with experience writing video processing code.  But that's exactly what I've been doing at my previous 2 positions for the last 4 years, and it's what I've done in developing my own software and creating a profitable business out of in my free time.  URG, are they stupid!

Overall my feeling is, crap, I'm going to have to move.