Saturday, July 29, 2006

07/29 Back from Cali, 3 Lifts Day

Squat worked up to 435x1
Bench worked up to 315x1
Deadlift (conventional) worked up to 425x1
Clean/High Pull 135x4x6

Duration (60 Minutes)

Since i havent been able to work out for the week i figured i would do all three lifts in one session and sort of reset. This California Trip got thrown together at the last second and was unexpected. A Total trip from hell but you gotta do what you gotta do.
None of these lifts were ME's, just wanted to squeeze all lifts into the 1 hour i had to train in. Tomorrow is my sons b-day so no training then either.......i got pretty drained by the end of this and probably sweat 5 lbs off, holy crap it was hot.....anyway, thats about it for now, time to go man the BBQ, cook some Meat and drink some beer!!!!.....later days willie mays.........

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

07/24 ME Bench

Floor Press 265x5x3
DB Tricep Ext 45x4x8
Pull-Ups 4x6
Blast Strap Push-Ups 3x10
Seated DB Powercleans 3x15

For a ME night i took it easy, since i dont have anything coming up too soon i figured i would go with super slow, paused reps with a decent enough weight (80%)to get some work in. These Floor Press were bitches and i hate them, but, i swore i would give them a chance and keep them in for a training cycle to see what happens. Just because i hate an exercise doesnt mean it wont work for me........the rest was Ho-Hum, extremely short breaks on all movements, 30-45 sec's so i was sweating my ass off......Think Rick Hussey doing "Sweatin to the Oldies" by his idol Mr. Richard Simmons...probably lost around 3 lbs in water alone......Well i will be travelling to California later today so my next workout will be on Friday, i get back Thursday but will probably be a bit drunk from the Airport bar where i will spend my long layover.........Woo-Hoo, Three Cheers for Beers!!!!

Monday, July 24, 2006

07/23 DE Squat

DE Box Squat 225x8x3
Rack Pulls 315x3x5
Avg Band Oblique
Ab Pull-Down
Lying Mini-Band Leg Curl

Good Night, shit was fast. Lower back was a bit tight but other than than, just easing back into it. Groin felt good, a bit tender but nothing too bad. Should be fine in a week. Not much else to report,.....l8r

Saturday, July 22, 2006

07/21 DE Bench-Back to Work

Speed Bench 175x8x3
Close Grip 4 Board Press 275x6, 315x4x6
BB Bent Row (Mid Chest)135x12, 175x10, 185x8
Mini Band Pull-Aparts 3x15

Felt good to get back into the basement, i am going to take it easy for the next couple of weeks and let everything heal properly. My focus on this next block of training will be to really push the training poundages in the broadest sense by adding in SE work every other week instead of speed work. I feel i still need the speed work as i am still a novice lifter and must train the body to fire correctly when asked to do so. I personally feel this approach will be good for me as it will give me more time under heavier weights with the big three. Here is the basic scheme:




Like i said, its good to be back training and i am looking forward to competing again. Training seems a bit more fun when you have a concrete goal in mind, so on that note.....whats your goal?

Sunday, July 16, 2006

07/15 Meet Results

BW: 196lbs
198 Open Division

Bench Press
1st-330lbs went easy
2nd-350 blew it up, Missed the rack comand
3rd-350 Missed Out of groove, see paragraph

Deadlift
1st-425 Slipped on platform, still got it, re-injured myself, altered 2nd and 3rd
2nd-450
3rd-475

Well for a first meet it wasnt the greatest. First of all the gym was about 100 degrees and humid as all hell, no Air Conditioning. Talk about being tapped for energy. The meet ran for around 9 hrs, definitely not the smoothest thing in the world. I got there at 8:30am and was told the meet would start promptly at 9:00am, that turned into 10:00. There were six flights of ten lifters on the bench press, i ended up 2nd to last in the 6th flight, so i ended up lifting at around 1:30 in the afternoon. I would have thought that they would have had the Bench Only people go separate but that was not the case, everyone was intermingled, for the deadlift as well. Deadlift didnt start until around 3:30. Strict curl was in between the Bench Press and Deadlift. So any way the following are the breakdowns:

Bench Press
1st attempt went up easily and i was really happy with this as i felt like i had no strength at all, the warm-ups felt heavy. All in all i was happy and felt confident for the next two.
2nd attempt i blew it up easy but got all squirrely and beat the rack command, Idiot!!! I firgured i would take it again, wasnt 100% sure i could increase it anyway.
3rd went bad from the start, i screwed up my set-up and had a hard time unracking the bar (more on that in the lessons learned segment of this long ass post) I touched the bar too low on my chest and got out of my groove and had to muscle it back, got it to the top and had the left side locked out but the right side was contricted by the shirt, struggled with for what i was told was the longest fight of the day....had to let em take it after i figured out i couldnt get it.

Deadlift
1st attempt was a disaster. Apparently they wiped off the platform after the lofter ahead of me and the friggin thing was still damp. Wasnt really paying too much attention to it, thought i had good footing. I pulled the bar about aninch off the floor and my right leg slipped and caused me to drop the bar. This little incident re-injured my just healed groin. They stopped the meet and asked me if i wanted to continue, at first i said no but then said fuck it, i aint traveling all this distance to go out like a bitch!!! After a few minutes i reapproached the bar and got the 425, though i knew my chance of hitting 510-525 were gone as i lost all power off the floor, after that it was pretty much all lower back baby.
2nd attempt was supposed to be 475 but i settled for 450 at wasnt really sure if i would be able to hit it, got it to my surprise...
3rd attempt i decided to try 475, really thought i would miss this sucker as the platform seemed to be superglued to the bar, by this time the friggin humidity and heat was catching up to me, i end up getting the 475 with a bit of room to spare....better than nothing.

I end up 2nd in my division and got some cheesy trophy, gotta get something for your money i guess. But all in all i learned quite a bit about competing and myself when faced with adversity, below is a list of things i learned and will apply in the future, in no certain order:

1. i will take a lift-off in the bench, i wasted alot of energy in this area.

2. re-adjust the height of the rack pins that i bench out of as they are currently around 4-5 inches higher than a competition bench.

3. will not compete in the summer months in a gymnasium without AC, it was like lifting in a sauna and i think you can all imagine how that feels

4. verify the order of operations. i.e what is the order of comp.....that day it went bench press (all), strict curl, Deadlift(all)

5. will seek assistance to get my shirt on, or bring someone with me

6. check the platform every time i DL from here on out, that was a friggin nightmare and never should have happened, but such is life.

7. will chalk my shoes before all DL/Squat attempts

8. bring plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, i brought a ton of gatorade and water as well as food and am positive that had i not stayed hydrated and fueled i never would have made it through this day, humid or otherwise. Fuel is paramount!!!

9. remember to stay calm and listen to the commands

10. pay close attention to the size of the flights and the length of time each takes to complete

11. im sure theres about a million more but my pizza arrived and i am friggin starving....so the final bit of advice is this.....Get Stronger!!!


Later......

Monday, July 10, 2006

07/09 No Posts for the Week

I wont be posting any of my workouts this week. They will only consist of Very light Accessory work and wont be worth posting anyway. I will post my results after the meet.....until Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

07/05 DL Opener

Deadlift 135x5, 225x3, 315x1, 365x1, 420x2x1-Once with Squat suit
Rev Hypers 60x4x8
AB Wheel 3x15-No PR's on this Day
GHR w/Avg Band 3x8

Decided to work up to my opener and my warm-up approach and see how everything is, again no pain so that is good, but still not much pop either, not so good. i slapped on my loose squat suit to try and remedy that and did one, but i just dont like the postition this puts me into. My hips end up a bit higher than without the suit and im all bent over. So no suit for the meet. I figure my attempts to go like this 410 opener, 460-475 2nd, 510-525 final. All dependant on how i feel come saturday. The rest of the workout was just the boring support work, nothing too fancy...thats it for now, adios amigos............

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

07/04 SE Bench

Bench Press 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 280x4x5
KB Ext 58x8,6
DB Ext 45x3x8
One Arm Cable Row 55x2x(8x8)
Rear Delt Raise 25x2x(8x8)

Everything felt good until the KB Ext where i started getting elbow pain on the second set and swapped to DB's. The Bench was pretty easy, i held back from doing another set to stay within SE parameters. Like i said, the KB ext's brought a bit of pain on the second set so i swapped. I think in the future i will go with a lighter weight and higher reps, its an awkward movement to begin with so im not quite sure what i was thinking. The Cable rows and Delts were done in a different fashion than i normally do, basically after a set with my right side i go immediately into the left side and back to the right with no rest between, by the end of these i was sucking wind pretty good. All in all i felt pretty good after this one, after some ice and Aleve the elbow pain is gone so that is good, just gotta use my noggin next time....anyway, thats all folks, tune in next time for DE Squat with a DL opener...........l8r

Monday, July 03, 2006

07/02 ME Squat-PR on the AB Wheel!!!

High Box Squats 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1
Speed DL's 255x8x1
KB Swing thru 73x3x12
AB Crap....

Took it easy again, wanted to get in at least one heavy set but didnt want to push it and allow for what i hope will be full recovery in time for my meet The Fee's are paid and my cards in the mail, no turning back Gus. ANyway, I am still lacking pop, both in the hole and off the floor, but have absolutely no pain now. Generally, after i would pull, didnt matter what the weight, after i put the weight down and went to step away my groin would kill. Thats gone now (fingers crossed).
The AB Wheel was intense, you wanna talk about power, well let me tell you...the first rep was a grind, then came #2...the sauce crack was in full swing and threatening to turn into ball soup when rep 3 came to town and caused an outbreak of swamp ass and then....alright alright enough of this nonsense....the post was just too boring to type and my ADD just had to rear its ugly head...thats it for now.....Happy 4th of July everyone, raise ye cups and have some brew!!!

06/30 Opener Work in Shirt

Bench (RAW Warm-Up) 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 315x2
Bench Shirted 335x3x2, 335x1 (Super Long Pause), 355x1
Rope Pushdowns 75x4x8
Skipped rest due to tender Bicep incurred while wrestling with my son...that little shit!!!

Worked my opening weight tonight, i figure to open with 330 but knowing full well that a different weight set is going to feel heavier than mine i went 5 lbs heavier for insurance. Never fails, if i go somewhere else and lift, the weight always seem heavier than my basement...except that one time, at band camp....cut tonights workout short and will finish it up tomorrow, i was wrestling with my kid when he pulled a cheap shot and jump off the couch onto my left arm and did something to it,...never trust a 4 year old, you take your eyes off them one sec and BAM, lights out Sonny Jim!!! Guess it aint as bad as my buddy though, he was telling me once how his son jumped off the couch when he wasnt expecting it and hit him in the face and broke his nose, blood erverywhere and the kid laughed his ass off....guess i got off easy........

06/29 DE Squat

Speed Box Squat 255x8x3
Rev Hyper 60x3x8
Ab Crap
GHR 3x8

Boring......