05/29 Vaca-she-on!!!

On vacation this week, wont be updating but still lifting, fishing, and more than likely a bit of drinking..........L8R

05/22 DE Bench

DE Bench w/Minis 145x8x3
4 Board Press 315x3, 385x3, 405x3, 415x2x3
Pendalay Rows 205x4x6
#12 Pin Press Shoulders 185x3x4

Good workout considering i still kind of feel like crap from this flu thingy. Bench was fast and i alternated between pause and true DE. 4 Board was strong and felt pretty good, probably could have done more but wanted to save something for the rest. P-Rows i did without bands and justed upped the weight, i really concentrated on exploding these off the floor, very dynamic in nature. The #12 Pin Press were bitches again but i stuck em out feel better that i finished em up....thats it folks.....l8r

05/21 ME DL

Deadlift 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 525xMiss 510x1PR 460x3x1
KB Swingthru 53x3x15
Mini Band Leg Curl 3x12
Ab Pulldown Bands 3x15

Well this should have went better but i was too impatient. I went straight to the 525 and should have hit something in between. It wasnt a bad miss and i probably should have done it again. I missed the lockout and couldnt roll my shoulders for a complete lift. I decided to drop and at least get a PR for this lift. I will come back to the Deadlift in 4 weeks and see where i am at. The 460 down sets were pretty good definitely worked me good. While part of me was bummed at the 525 miss, i am still optimistic considering many other factors so i wont complain too much. I supersetted the KB Swingthrus and Leg Curls and took 30 sec rests in between so i was a sweaty mess by the end of it all......Well thats about it for now, not quite the PR i was looking for but a PR none the less...Until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy..........

05/18 ME Bench-PR's Woo-Hoo!!!

3 BD Press 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1, 410x1PR, 425x1PR, 405x2, 405x1
Triceps Pushdown 85x4x10
Chest Supported Rows 105x3x10
Shrugs 275x3x15

Was quite surprised tonight as i have a head cold thing going on where i seem to only have use of one nostril at a time, sometimes neither when apparently a shift turnover takes place. But i forged on, i was on the fence as to whether i should lift or go to bed and i guess since you're reading this you figured that mystery out. I had absolutely no intention of trying to beat my PR, i was just gonna work up to the previous 405 and do a bunch of singles but then felt like a pussy for thinkin like that. the 410 shot up extremely fast and i knew i had something left in the tank and decided to throw on the ole 425 (hindsight tells me i should have thrown on 430 but i digress). Again this shot up fast and i was quite happy. Realizing that my body is fighting something off and i didnt want to fry CNS too bad i back off for some down sets. I really had to force myself to finish this workout up. I felt like crap and was now tapped for energy but then thought about how it felt when i couldnt work out a couple days ago and that drove me. I still took it fairly easy for the remainder but given the cicumstances it was still taxing....now i shall just recover and get ready for ME Squat/DL day which i think calls for a ME on DL but i am not positive.....until next time, when Snot Rocketing, always have a mirror handy, you never know when that little sucker is gonna clear the nostril only to hang from your chin, unknowingly.......

05/17 SE Squat-Form Work

Part I-70 Minutes
Squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x5x3
Squat 365 for a bunch of singles

2hrs later-Part II 20 Minutes
Rev Hyper 25x3x12
Leg Curl 50x3x12
BB Sit-Ups 40x3x5

Took tonight to work on form and identify weaknesses in my form. My Hamstrings are definitely one and my mobility in my hips, specifically spreading the hips, i can do a front high kick over my head, but to the sides i am extremely tight. All said and done the squat portion took around 70 minutes and i must have done close to 100 reps i swear. Since i used to be a predominantly Quad squatter prior to switching to the wide stance, my hamstrings are causing my knees to go past 90 degrees. Not as bad as it used to be, but still there. So i decided to consult Matt from Westside barbell's site and he recommended and confirmed what i had suspected, weak Hammies and low back. Now i have the Rev Hyper that will help, i must be more diligent in hitting my posterior harder than i have been. I have devised an extra work out that will address this and bring up the weakness as i must make this a priority. That Rev Hyper i made is the balls, i threw 25 on there and that pansy weight kicked my ass, gee think your lower back is weak? boob!! leg curls should have been heavier and will next time, i havent done these in a long ass time on my machine so i didnt know where i was, now i do. The Barbell Sit-ups were a friggin eye-opener for my weak ass abs, i initally started with the olympic bar but quickly dropped to the standard bar i have with 10 lb plates on each side. I got this idea from elitefts in some article where they had mentioned Matt Dimel used to do these and that they were killers. Verdict?....These are killers, my last set was almost not completed, i had all the intentions of doing 3 sets of 12 but after the first set i found out otherwise.....Summary: Kind of disappointing yet refreshing at the same time as now i have the weakness identified and actually have a plan of attack this time rather than some half ass idea of what i am gonna do. In a few weeks i will Max on the squat and see where i am at, until then i just need to work my ass off............thats it from here, l8r

05/16 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Chains 185x8x3
4 Board Press 315x5, 365x5, 385x2x3, 405x3
Pendalay Row against Mini's 185x4x6
#12 Shoulder Pin Press 185x3x3

Felt good to get back at it. The speed bench i switched it up every set with one being paused and the next being true speed bench. The weight was moving fast and the form was pretty dialed in. I gotta work on my hip flexibility to get a bit wider with the feet but for now i am happy as my bench has shown vast improvement since the beginning of Westside. The 4 Board Press was a new movement that i was a bit skeptical about as i figured the range of motion would be very little and thus the benefit as well. I was wrong, turns out this is a killer tricep movement and this morning proves it as my tri's feel pretty tight...roughly translated....Cool Beans. The P-Rows are kind of a mutation from last week where i did the BB Bent Rows against minis. From Stinns and Mikes blogs from awhile back i remembered these and wanted to throw them in. By doing rows in this fashion i felt much more explosive and will up the weight next time. To boot it seemed easier to stay rigid and not swing or dip as much. Thanks guys. Next up was The Shoulder Pin Press, i had the bar set at #12 on my rack which came to around the middle of my neck when sitting. These sucked alot worse than i had anticipated, i had planned on moving up to like 205 but was quite gassed from all the other work. Also i forgot how much harder it is to get a bar moving from a complete stop at the bottom of a movement. Like i said before, it was nice to get beck in there, still kinda pissed at missing the ME Box Squat day but such is life, my left knee is still tender from kneeling on the concrete floor so i think discretion is the best prescription at this point...unitl next time Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!! (No Rick, that aint Star Wars jargon you boob!!)

05/16 Flooded

My basement flooded a bit and has caused me to postpone lifting for a couple of days. I did however get in some GPP work with some sandbags i acquired for flood control. Did a bunch of variuations and copmplexes for 15 minutes and almost puked. Those fcking things work your grip like nobodies business as well...after the rains leave i will be back to normal and back on track, i am kinda pissed as i was scheduled to PR the Box Squat but my knees are hurtin after crawling around my basement on water patrol. I will just pick up where i left off, tonight will be DE Bench, i may change the DE Squat into a SE Box Squat night due to the missed workout.....anyway, thats it from flood central....atleast i didnt lose my house.........

05/12 New Addition-Reverse Hyper (Homemade)

Click ontitle to view Rev Hyper in Action.....damn dude, big pockets!!!












All said and done this cost around $20.00.....sweet deal!!!

05/11 ME Bench

Floor Press 155x5, 185x3, 25x2, 290x1, 315x1, 335x1PR 315x1, 300x3x1
KB Ext 58x4x6
Palms Facing Pull-Up Bwx4x6
Shrugs 315x3x10

Well I PR'd Floor press so i cant complain, i really hate this movement, its not fun, is a pain in the ass, and um......sucks. The rest was ho-hum. I just want to get to the next post and show everyone my new addition to my home gym.....check it out....

05/10 DE Squat/DL

Box Squat 215x8x3
Speed DL's agaqinst Doubled Mini's 300x12x1
Spread Eagle Sit-ups 3x12

Holy Crap!! Those DL's killed me!!! I ended up cuttin out the lower back and hamstrings as my legs were pretty shot after doing both these movements. I felt guilty and whipped out some SE Sit-ups for good measure but couldnt go on after the other ones as i was short on time and beat to hell....All in all it was a good work out. The squats were nice and fast and the form is geting to where i want it to be, the first set went like crap on the form side so i had to kick myself in the ass and really concentrate it. This is just really hard when your going with a really light weight. I know, you should set up like its 110% every time you get under the bar to get a routine down, but that shit is easier said than done. I did feel the remaining 7 sets were much cleaner and focused. I cant speak highly enough about these pulls against bands, these are justplain ass-kickers, i about crapped my pants when i saw 12x1 for 300, this shit felt super heavy on the first rep but seemed to lighten up as i got my form dialed in and the body warmed for it. I sweat my clams off during these and brewed a nice batch of Ball Soup by the end of them. Ball Soup for everyone, step right up, and dont forget your side of Swamp Ass Stew, Delicious fun for all!!! Okay, now im out of control, good bye for now..........

05/08 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Chains 185x8x3
#9 Pin Press 405x5x3
BB Bent Rows against Mini's 185x4x6
DB Shoulder Press 40x3x10

Bench was fast and controlled. I did the first four sets with 2-3 sec pauses then burst to the top, the final 4 were true speed Bench. The Pins presses were nice, felt them in the Tri's pretty good. The BB Rows against Mini's was a new movement for me, i first saw them around 2 weeks ago and kept them in the back of my head. These were quite painful towards the end. The DB Shoulder presses wre a last second add as i had nothing planned for shoulders and havent worked with DB's in a long time, so they're in for the next two weeks, figured i would hit these with a light weight for higher reps than i normally do for shoulders. Overall it was a pretty good workout. I guess i under estimated the AB GM's i did as my lower back and posterior are killing me still, now i feel better about putting these in the line up...that all for today, now i pose you with this question....Where's the Beef? Talk amongst yourselves..............

05/07 ME GM

Arch Back GM's 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3x3
Snatch Grip Deadlifts 385x3, 405x3
Mini band Leg Curls 3x15
Hanging Leg Raises 3x15
Dragged 100lb sled up and down street to neighbors amusement

I am always on the fence with the GM's as a ME Movement. When i am reading about them or thinking about implementing them it always seems like a great idea. But when i actually do them i dont feel i get much out of them or feel they will benefit me so much. Guess i will leave them in, this morning my lower back is a bit fried so something worked. I went with 315 which is sub-PR and i will PR this next time around (in 2 weeks). The SG DL's were actually easier than i had anticipated, i probably should have gone higher in the poundages but for intensity purposes i didnt. Definitely like the way these hit the upper back....well the rest was ho-hum, finally got the sled out, i have to start doing these at an earlier hour as the sound of this sucker going across the pavement is pretty hard on the ears.....On a side note, NERB was pretty awesome, some some strong guys, Brian Siders had a phenomenal day and posted a huge total followed closely by one of my favorite SHW's Donnie Thompson, from what i hear Thompson has been injured as of late so it was nice to see him still hit it and post huge, he came in second to Siders. We had some pretty sweet seats, we were in the front row center and literally 4-5 feet away from the action. We were so close that we smelled a fart that i suspect Ed Coan let fly but looked around to try and pass the blame....Good times, Good Times....

05/05 ME Bench

3 Board Press 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1, 365x1, 385x4x1
Shirt Work 365 for a butt-load of singles
KB Tricep Ext 53x4x6
Palms Facing Pull-Ups BWx4x5
Band Face Pulls 3x15

Dont remember much about how i felt this day, i do remember the shirt being a pain in the ass on some attempts, still figuring this sucker out.....oh well thats what i get for posting 3 days after the fact.....

05/03 SE Squat/DE DL

SE Free Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x4x5
Speed DL's against Doubled minis 250x8x1
Single Arm KB Swingthru 48x4x6
Spread Eagle Sit-Ups 3x10

The SE Squats were pretty easy, i just concentrated on form and really keeping my arch in the hole. I definitely saw a huge difference in my form on the PC as now i am more upright and sitting down into the squat. My hips are getting more accustomed to this wide stance thing too, doesnt feel like my legs are getting ripped from the sockets anymore. I was being a bit of an ostrich with this one as i was concentrating on getting my bench up and slacking in the Squat/DL area, thats what you get i guess. Back on track and moving the numbers up damn it!!! Those Speed DL's are brutal as hell, i almost puked after doing them, again with the 30 sec rest, what am i doing to myself? One thing is for sure, i should develop some killer speed off the floor and the lockout is coming along... should be interesting to see how everything pans out. Swingthroughs were well, swingthroughs, ho-hum. I foun dyet another way to torture my hipflexors, the spread eagle situp, holy crap these killed, i felt like such a puss ofr doing only 3x10, but my hips on the front side were burning up...these should definitely help with "in the hole issues"...well there's my blow by blow commentary, not too bad for a SE/DE day.....thanks for stopping by, later days willie mays!!!

05/02 DE Bench

Speed Bench 185x4x3 195x4x3
#8 Pin Press (Med Grip) 315x3, 335x3x3
KB Rows 93x4x7
KB Side/Front Swings 33x4x7

Bench was fast, i paused for around 3 seconds on all reps and threw the weight to the top. I am figuring this motion emulates what i do in a shirt, though the rest will be for around 1 sec in the shirt. The Pin Presses were a pain in the arse and done with a med grip, which i attribute the hatred for this movement to. But there again, that which doesnt kill you only makes you stronger. The rows and swings where bitches as well. Ive been on this kick lately where i have been taking 30 sec rests on all sets (except ME day, then its 2-3 minutes between heavy attempts at 90+%) and i get breathing and sweatin like a stuck pig. This kind of turns each session into a sort of GPP session as well. Speaking of GPP i have got to get my friggin sled out there and pull some weight around, hope this weekend will see me getting some time to do that, although i do have the New England Record Breakers to go to so we'll see.....well thats about it for now, i feel i have started this cycle off well and hope to garner some good results from it, time will tell when i get on the platform i guess, until then, keep it dark, keep it heavy!!!

04/30 ME Squat

Box Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x2, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 425x1, 405x3x1
Snatch Grip Deadlift 365x3x4
Band Leg Curls 4x12
Hanging Leg Raises 4x10

This was a decent night, i really worked on my form and definitely see it coming along. Never really realized how much there is to a good squat. I didnt go for a true max attempt tonight as this is the first week of the 2 week mini cycle for this movement. I have found that when i have my exercises set up for two week stints i do much better on the second week if i hit the first week in the 90-95% range, plus i had to do those friggin Snatch Grips DL's which turned out to be killer. I feel my traps this morning like nobodies business. I totally blew off my diet plan and turned my cheat meal into a 1 day cheat....but in the grand scheme i still fell into the 90% rule which if any of you ever heard of John Berardis "Precision Nutrition" program is still alright, now i got to hit it hard this week. My weight is down to around 202lbs as of this morning, around three weeks ago i was around 210 and decided that was it, time to drop. Powerbellies are nice and all but at the end of the day its just fat, and that aint pretty!!! l8r for now...